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Title: The Lives of the Twelve Caesars, Complete

Author: Suetonius

Editor: Thomas Forester

Translator: M.D. Alexander Thomson

Release date: November 10, 2004 [eBook #6400]
Most recently updated: January 27, 2021

Language: English

Other information and formats: www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/6400

Credits: Produced by Tapio Riikonen and David Widger

*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LIVES OF
THE TWELVE CAESARS, COMPLETE ***

THE LIVES OF THE TWELVE
CAESARS

By C. Suetonius Tranquillus;
To which are added,

HIS LIVES OF THE GRAMMARIANS,
RHETORICIANS, AND POETS.
The Translation of Alexander Thomson, M.D.

Revised and corrected by T.Forester, Esq., A.M.

PREFACE
C. Suetonius Tranquillus was the son of a Roman knight who
commanded a legion, on the side of Otho, at the battle which decided the
fate of the empire in favour of Vitellius. From incidental notices in the
following History, we learn that he was born towards the close of the reign
of Vespasian, who died in the year 79 of the Christian era. He lived till the
time of Hadrian, under whose administration he filled the office of
secretary; until, with several others, he was dismissed for presuming on
familiarities with the empress Sabina, of which we have no further account
than that they were unbecoming his position in the imperial court. How
long he survived this disgrace, which appears to have befallen him in the
year 121, we are not informed; but we find that the leisure afforded him by
his retirement, was employed in the composition of numerous works, of
which the only portions now extant are collected in the present volume.
Several of the younger Pliny’s letters are addressed to Suetonius, with
whom he lived in the closest friendship. They afford some brief, but
generally pleasant, glimpses of his habits and career; and in a letter, in
which Pliny makes application on behalf of his friend to the emperor
Trajan, for a mark of favour, he speaks of him as “a most excellent,
honourable, and learned man, whom he had the pleasure of entertaining
under his own roof, and with whom the nearer he was brought into
communion, the more he loved him.” 1
The plan adopted by Suetonius in his Lives of the Twelve Caesars, led
him to be more diffuse on their personal conduct and habits than on public
events. He writes Memoirs rather than History. He neither dwells on the
civil wars which sealed the fall of the Republic, nor on the military
expeditions which extended the frontiers of the empire; nor does he attempt
to develop the causes of the great political changes which marked the
period of which he treats.
When we stop to gaze in a museum or gallery on the antique busts of the
Caesars, we perhaps endeavour to trace in their sculptured physiognomy the
characteristics of those princes, who, for good or evil, were in their times
masters of the destinies of a large portion of the human race. The pages of

Suetonius will amply gratify this natural curiosity. In them we find a series
of individual portraits sketched to the life, with perfect truth and rigorous
impartiality. La Harpe remarks of Suetonius, “He is scrupulously exact, and
strictly methodical. He omits nothing which concerns the person whose life
he is writing; he relates everything, but paints nothing. His work is, in some
sense, a collection of anecdotes, but it is very curious to read and consult.”
2
Combining as it does amusement and information, Suetonius’s “Lives of
the Caesars” was held in such estimation, that, so soon after the invention of
printing as the year 1500, no fewer than eighteen editions had been
published, and nearly one hundred have since been added to the number.
Critics of the highest rank have devoted themselves to the task of correcting
and commenting on the text, and the work has been translated into most
European languages. Of the English translations, that of Dr. Alexander
Thomson, published in 1796, has been made the basis of the present. He
informs us in his Preface, that a version of Suetonius was with him only a
secondary object, his principal design being to form a just estimate of
Roman literature, and to elucidate the state of government, and the manners
of the times; for which the work of Suetonius seemed a fitting vehicle. Dr.
Thomson’s remarks appended to each successive reign, are reprinted nearly
verbatim in the present edition. His translation, however, was very diffuse,
and retained most of the inaccuracies of that of Clarke, on which it was
founded; considerable care therefore has been bestowed in correcting it,
with the view of producing, as far as possible, a literal and faithful version.
To render the works of Suetonius, as far as they are extant, complete, his
Lives of eminent Grammarians, Rhetoricians, and Poets, of which a
translation has not before appeared in English, are added. These Lives
abound with anecdote and curious information connected with learning and
literary men during the period of which the author treats.

T. F.

CONTENTS

PREFACE

CAIUS JULIUS CASAR.
D. OCTAVIUS CAESAR AUGUSTUS.
TIBERIUS NERO CAESAR.
CAIUS CAESAR CALIGULA.
TIBERIUS CLAUDIUS DRUSUS CAESAR. [465]
NERO CLAUDIUS CAESAR.
SERGIUS SULPICIUS GALBA.
A. SALVIUS OTHO.
AULUS VITELLIUS.
T. FLAVIUS VESPASIANUS AUGUSTUS.
TITUS FLAVIUS VESPASIANUS AUGUSTUS.
TITUS FLAVIUS DOMITIANUS.

LIVES OF EMINENT GRAMMARIANS

LIVES OF EMINENT RHETORICIANS.

LIVES OF THE POETS.
THE LIFE OF TERENCE.
THE LIFE OF JUVENAL.
THE LIFE OF PERSIUS.
THE LIFE OF HORACE.
THE LIFE OF PLINY.

FOOTNOTES

INDEX

(1)

THE TWELVE CAESARS.

CAIUS JULIUS CASAR.
I. Julius Caesar, the Divine 3, lost his father 4 when he was in the
sixteenth year of his age 5; and the year following, being nominated to the
office of high-priest of Jupiter 6, he repudiated Cossutia, who was very
wealthy, although her family belonged only to the equestrian order, and to
whom he had been contracted when he was a mere boy. He then married (2)
Cornelia, the daughter of Cinna, who was four times consul; and had by her,
shortly afterwards, a daughter named Julia. Resisting all the efforts of the
dictator Sylla to induce him to divorce Cornelia, he suffered the penalty of
being stripped of his sacerdotal office, his wife’s dowry, and his own
patrimonial estates; and, being identified with the adverse faction 7, was
compelled to withdraw from Rome. After changing his place of
concealment nearly every night 8, although he was suffering from a quartan
ague, and having effected his release by bribing the officers who had
tracked his footsteps, he at length obtained a pardon through the
intercession of the vestal virgins, and of Mamercus Aemilius and Aurelius
Cotta, his near relatives. We are assured that when Sylla, having withstood
for a while the entreaties of his own best friends, persons of distinguished
rank, at last yielded to their importunity, he exclaimed—either by a divine
impulse, or from a shrewd conjecture: “Your suit is granted, and you may
take him among you; but know,” he added, “that this man, for whose safety
you are so extremely anxious, will, some day or other, be the ruin of the
party of the nobles, in defence of which you are leagued with me; for in this
one Caesar, you will find many a Marius.”
II. His first campaign was served in Asia, on the staff of the praetor, M.
Thermus; and being dispatched into Bithynia 9, to bring thence a fleet, he
loitered so long at the court of Nicomedes, as to give occasion to reports of
a criminal intercourse between him and that prince; which received
additional credit from his hasty return to Bithynia, under the pretext of
recovering a debt due to a freed-man, his client. The rest of his service was
more favourable to his reputation; and (3) when Mitylene 10 was taken by
storm, he was presented by Thermus with the civic crown. 11

III. He served also in Cilicia 12, under Servilius Isauricus, but only for a
short time; as upon receiving intelligence of Sylla’s death, he returned with
all speed to Rome, in expectation of what might follow from a fresh
agitation set on foot by Marcus Lepidus. Distrusting, however, the abilities
of this leader, and finding the times less favourable for the execution of this
project than he had at first imagined, he abandoned all thoughts of joining
Lepidus, although he received the most tempting offers.
IV. Soon after this civil discord was composed, he preferred a charge of
extortion against Cornelius Dolabella, a man of consular dignity, who had
obtained the honour of a triumph. On the acquittal of the accused, he
resolved to retire to Rhodes 13, with the view not only of avoiding the
public odium (4) which he had incurred, but of prosecuting his studies with
leisure and tranquillity, under Apollonius, the son of Molon, at that time the
most celebrated master of rhetoric. While on his voyage thither, in the
winter season, he was taken by pirates near the island of Pharmacusa 14,
and detained by them, burning with indignation, for nearly forty days; his
only attendants being a physician and two chamberlains. For he had
instantly dispatched his other servants and the friends who accompanied
him, to raise money for his ransom 15. Fifty talents having been paid down,
he was landed on the coast, when, having collected some ships 16, he lost
no time in putting to sea in pursuit of the pirates, and having captured them,
inflicted upon them the punishment with which he had often threatened
them in jest. At that time Mithridates was ravaging the neighbouring
districts, and on Caesar’s arrival at Rhodes, that he might not appear to lie
idle while danger threatened the allies of Rome, he passed over into Asia,
and having collected some auxiliary forces, and driven the king’s governor
out of the province, retained in their allegiance the cities which were
wavering, and ready to revolt.
V. Having been elected military tribune, the first honour he received from
the suffrages of the people after his return to Rome, he zealously assisted
those who took measures for restoring the tribunitian authority, which had
been greatly diminished during the usurpation of Sylla. He likewise, by an
act, which Plotius at his suggestion propounded to the people, obtained the
recall of Lucius Cinna, his wife’s brother, and others with him, who having
been the adherents of Lepidus in the civil disturbances, had after that
consul’s death fled to Sertorius 17; which law he supported by a speech.

VI. During his quaestorship he pronounced funeral orations from the
rostra, according to custom, in praise of his aunt (5) Julia, and his wife
Cornelia. In the panegyric on his aunt, he gives the following account of her
own and his father’s genealogy, on both sides: “My aunt Julia derived her
descent, by the mother, from a race of kings, and by her father, from the
Immortal Gods. For the Marcii Reges 18, her mother’s family, deduce their
pedigree from Ancus Marcius, and the Julii, her father’s, from Venus; of
which stock we are a branch. We therefore unite in our descent the sacred
majesty of kings, the chiefest among men, and the divine majesty of Gods,
to whom kings themselves are subject.” To supply the place of Cornelia, he
married Pompeia, the daughter of Quintus Pompeius, and grand-daughter of
Lucius Sylla; but he afterwards divorced her, upon suspicion of her having
been debauched by Publius Clodius. For so current was the report, that
Clodius had found access to her disguised as a woman, during the
celebration of a religious solemnity 19, that the senate instituted an enquiry
respecting the profanation of the sacred rites.
VII. Farther-Spain 20 fell to his lot as quaestor; when there, as he was
going the circuit of the province, by commission from the praetor, for the
administration of justice, and had reached Gades, seeing a statue of
Alexander the Great in the temple of Hercules, he sighed deeply, as if weary
of his sluggish life, for having performed no memorable actions at an age
21 at which Alexander had already conquered the world. He, therefore,
immediately sued for his discharge, with the view of embracing the first
opportunity, which might present itself in The City, of entering upon a more
exalted career. In the stillness of the night following, he dreamt that he lay
with his own mother; but his confusion was relieved, and his hopes were
raised to the highest pitch, by the interpreters of his dream, who expounded
it as an omen that he should possess universal empire; for (6) that the
mother who in his sleep he had found submissive to his embraces, was no
other than the earth, the common parent of all mankind.
VIII. Quitting therefore the province before the expiration of the usual
term, he betook himself to the Latin colonies, which were then eagerly
agitating the design of obtaining the freedom of Rome; and he would have
stirred them up to some bold attempt, had not the consuls, to prevent any
commotion, detained for some time the legions which had been raised for
service in Cilicia. But this did not deter him from making, soon afterwards,
a still greater effort within the precincts of the city itself.

IX. For, only a few days before he entered upon the aedileship, he
incurred a suspicion of having engaged in a conspiracy with Marcus
Crassus, a man of consular rank; to whom were joined Publius Sylla and
Lucius Autronius, who, after they had been chosen consuls, were convicted
of bribery. The plan of the conspirators was to fall upon the senate at the
opening of the new year, and murder as many of them as should be thought
necessary; upon which, Crassus was to assume the office of dictator, and
appoint Caesar his master of the horse 22. When the commonwealth had
been thus ordered according to their pleasure, the consulship was to have
been restored to Sylla and Autronius. Mention is made of this plot by
Tanusius Geminus 23 in his history, by Marcus Bibulus in his edicts 24, and
by Curio, the father, in his orations 25. Cicero likewise seems to hint at this
in a letter to Axius, where he says, that Caesar (7) had in his consulship
secured to himself that arbitrary power 26 to which he had aspired when he
was edile. Tanusius adds, that Crassus, from remorse or fear, did not appear
upon the day appointed for the massacre of the senate; for which reason
Caesar omitted to give the signal, which, according to the plan concerted
between them, he was to have made. The agreement, Curio says, was that
he should shake off the toga from his shoulder. We have the authority of the
same Curio, and of M. Actorius Naso, for his having been likewise
concerned in another conspiracy with young Cneius Piso; to whom, upon a
suspicion of some mischief being meditated in the city, the province of
Spain was decreed out of the regular course 27. It is said to have been
agreed between them, that Piso should head a revolt in the provinces, whilst
the other should attempt to stir up an insurrection at Rome, using as their
instruments the Lambrani, and the tribes beyond the Po. But the execution
of this design was frustrated in both quarters by the death of Piso.
X. In his aedileship, he not only embellished the Comitium, and the rest
of the Forum 28, with the adjoining halls 29, but adorned the Capitol also,
with temporary piazzas, constructed for the purpose of displaying some part
of the superabundant collections (8) he had made for the amusement of the
people 30. He entertained them with the hunting of wild beasts, and with
games, both alone and in conjunction with his colleague. On this account,
he obtained the whole credit of the expense to which they had jointly
contributed; insomuch that his colleague, Marcus Bibulus, could not forbear
remarking, that he was served in the manner of Pollux. For as the temple 31
erected in the Forum to the two brothers, went by the name of Castor alone,

so his and Caesar’s joint munificence was imputed to the latter only. To the
other public spectacles exhibited to the people, Caesar added a fight of
gladiators, but with fewer pairs of combatants than he had intended. For he
had collected from all parts so great a company of them, that his enemies
became alarmed; and a decree was made, restricting the number of
gladiators which any one was allowed to retain at Rome.
XI. Having thus conciliated popular favour, he endeavoured, through his
interest with some of the tribunes, to get Egypt assigned to him as a
province, by an act of the people. The pretext alleged for the creation of this
extraordinary government, was, that the Alexandrians had violently
expelled their king 32, whom the senate had complimented with the title of
an ally and friend of the Roman people. This was generally resented; but,
notwithstanding, there was so much opposition from the faction of the
nobles, that he could not carry his point. In order, therefore, to diminish
their influence by every means in his power, he restored the trophies erected
in honour of Caius Marius, on account of his victories over Jugurtha, the
Cimbri, and the Teutoni, which had been demolished by Sylla; and when
sitting in judgment upon murderers, he treated those as assassins, who, in
the late proscription, had received money from the treasury, for bringing in
the heads of Roman citizens, although they were expressly excepted in the
Cornelian laws.
XII. He likewise suborned some one to prefer an impeachment (9) for
treason against Caius Rabirius, by whose especial assistance the senate had,
a few years before, put down Lucius Saturninus, the seditious tribune; and
being drawn by lot a judge on the trial, he condemned him with so much
animosity, that upon his appealing to the people, no circumstance availed
him so much as the extraordinary bitterness of his judge.
XIII. Having renounced all hope of obtaining Egypt for his province, he
stood candidate for the office of chief pontiff, to secure which, he had
recourse to the most profuse bribery. Calculating, on this occasion, the
enormous amount of the debts he had contracted, he is reported to have said
to his mother, when she kissed him at his going out in the morning to the
assembly of the people, “I will never return home unless I am elected
pontiff.” In effect, he left so far behind him two most powerful competitors,
who were much his superiors both in age and rank, that he had more votes
in their own tribes, than they both had in all the tribes together.

XIV. After he was chosen praetor, the conspiracy of Catiline was
discovered; and while every other member of the senate voted for inflicting
capital punishment on the accomplices in that crime 33, he alone proposed
that the delinquents should be distributed for safe custody among the towns
of Italy, their property being confiscated. He even struck such terror into
those who were advocates for greater severity, by representing to them what
universal odium would be attached to their memories by the Roman people,
that Decius Silanus, consul elect, did not hesitate to qualify his proposal, it
not being very honourable to change it, by a lenient interpretation; as if it
had been understood in a harsher sense than he intended, and Caesar would
certainly have carried his point, having brought over to his side a great
number of the senators, among whom was Cicero, the consul’s brother, had
not a speech by Marcus Cato infused new vigour into the resolutions of the
senate. He persisted, however, in obstructing the measure, until a body of
the Roman knights, who stood under arms as a guard, threatened him with
instant death, if he continued his determined opposition. They even thrust at
him with their drawn swords, so that those who sat next him moved away;
(10) and a few friends, with no small difficulty, protected him, by throwing
their arms round him, and covering him with their togas. At last, deterred by
this violence, he not only gave way, but absented himself from the senate-
house during the remainder of that year.
XV. Upon the first day of his praetorship, he summoned Quintus Catulus
to render an account to the people respecting the repairs of the Capitol 34;
proposing a decree for transferring the office of curator to another person
35. But being unable to withstand the strong opposition made by the
aristocratical party, whom he perceived quitting, in great numbers, their
attendance upon the new consuls 36, and fully resolved to resist his
proposal, he dropped the design.
XVI. He afterwards approved himself a most resolute supporter of
Caecilius Metullus, tribune of the people, who, in spite of all opposition
from his colleagues, had proposed some laws of a violent tendency 37, until
they were both dismissed from office by a vote of the senate. He ventured,
notwithstanding, to retain his post and continue in the administration of
justice; but finding that preparations were made to obstruct him by force of
arms, he dismissed the lictors, threw off his gown, and betook himself
privately to his own house, with the resolution of being quiet, in a time so
unfavourable to his interests. He likewise pacified the mob, which two days

afterwards flocked about him, and in a riotous manner made a voluntary
tender of their assistance in the vindication of his (11) honour. This
happening contrary to expectation, the senate, who met in haste, on account
of the tumult, gave him their thanks by some of the leading members of the
house, and sending for him, after high commendation of his conduct,
cancelled their former vote, and restored him to his office.
XVII. But he soon got into fresh trouble, being named amongst the
accomplices of Catiline, both before Novius Niger the quaestor, by Lucius
Vettius the informer, and in the senate by Quintus Curius; to whom a reward
had been voted, for having first discovered the designs of the conspirators.
Curius affirmed that he had received his information from Catiline. Vettius
even engaged to produce in evidence against him his own hand-writing,
given to Catiline. Caesar, feeling that this treatment was not to be borne,
appealed to Cicero himself, whether he had not voluntarily made a
discovery to him of some particulars of the conspiracy; and so baulked
Curius of his expected reward. He, therefore, obliged Vettius to give
pledges for his behaviour, seized his goods, and after heavily fining him,
and seeing him almost torn in pieces before the rostra, threw him into
prison; to which he likewise sent Novius the quaestor, for having presumed
to take an information against a magistrate of superior authority.
XVIII. At the expiration of his praetorship he obtained by lot the Farther-
Spain 38, and pacified his creditors, who were for detaining him, by finding
sureties for his debts 39. Contrary, however, to both law and custom, he
took his departure before the usual equipage and outfit were prepared. It is
uncertain whether this precipitancy arose from the apprehension of an
impeachment, with which he was threatened on the expiration of his former
office, or from his anxiety to lose no time in relieving the allies, who
implored him to come to their aid. He had no (12) sooner established
tranquillity in the province, than, without waiting for the arrival of his
successor, he returned to Rome, with equal haste, to sue for a triumph 40,
and the consulship. The day of election, however, being already fixed by
proclamation, he could not legally be admitted a candidate, unless he
entered the city as a private person 41. On this emergency he solicited a
suspension of the laws in his favour; but such an indulgence being strongly
opposed, he found himself under the necessity of abandoning all thoughts
of a triumph, lest he should be disappointed of the consulship.

XIX. Of the two other competitors for the consulship, Lucius Luceius
and Marcus Bibulus, he joined with the former, upon condition that
Luceius, being a man of less interest but greater affluence, should promise
money to the electors, in their joint names. Upon which the party of the
nobles, dreading how far he might carry matters in that high office, with a
colleague disposed to concur in and second his measures, advised Bibulus
to promise the voters as much as the other; and most of them contributed
towards the expense, Cato himself admitting that bribery; under such
circumstances, was for the public good 42. He was accordingly elected
consul jointly with Bibulus. Actuated still by the same motives, the
prevailing party took care to assign provinces of small importance to the
new consuls, such as the care of the woods and roads. Caesar, incensed at
this indignity, endeavoured by the most assiduous and flattering attentions
to gain to his side Cneius Pompey, at that time dissatisfied with the senate
for the backwardness they shewed to confirm his acts, after his victories
over Mithridates. He likewise brought about a reconciliation between
Pompey and Marcus Crassus, who had been at variance from (13) the time
of their joint consulship, in which office they were continually clashing; and
he entered into an agreement with both, that nothing should be transacted in
the government, which was displeasing to any of the three.
XX. Having entered upon his office 43, he introduced a new regulation,
that the daily acts both of the senate and people should be committed to
writing, and published 44. He also revived an old custom, that an officer 45
should precede him, and his lictors follow him, on the alternate months
when the fasces were not carried before him. Upon preferring a bill to the
people for the division of some public lands, he was opposed by his
colleague, whom he violently drove out of the forum. Next day the insulted
consul made a complaint in the senate of this treatment; but such was the
consternation, that no one having the courage to bring the matter forward or
move a censure, which had been often done under outrages of less
importance, he was so much dispirited, that until the expiration of his office
he never stirred from home, and did nothing but issue edicts to obstruct his
colleague’s proceedings. From that time, therefore, Caesar had the sole
management of public affairs; insomuch that some wags, when they signed
any instrument as witnesses, did not add “in the consulship of Caesar and
Bibulus,” but, “of Julius and Caesar;” putting the same person down twice,

under his name and surname. The following verses likewise were currently
repeated on this occasion:

Non Bibulo quidquam nuper, sed Caesare factum est;
Nam Bibulo fieri consule nil memini.

Nothing was done in Bibulus’s year:
No; Caesar only then was consul here.

(14) The land of Stellas, consecrated by our ancestors to the gods, with
some other lands in Campania left subject to tribute, for the support of the
expenses of the government, he divided, but not by lot, among upwards of
twenty thousand freemen, who had each of them three or more children. He
eased the publicans, upon their petition, of a third part of the sum which
they had engaged to pay into the public treasury; and openly admonished
them not to bid so extravagantly upon the next occasion. He made various
profuse grants to meet the wishes of others, no one opposing him; or if any
such attempt was made, it was soon suppressed. Marcus Cato, who
interrupted him in his proceedings, he ordered to be dragged out of the
senate-house by a lictor, and carried to prison. Lucius Lucullus, likewise,
for opposing him with some warmth, he so terrified with the apprehension
of being criminated, that, to deprecate the consul’s resentment, he fell on his
knees. And upon Cicero’s lamenting in some trial the miserable condition of
the times, he the very same day, by nine o’clock, transferred his enemy,
Publius Clodius, from a patrician to a plebeian family; a change which he
had long solicited in vain 46. At last, effectually to intimidate all those of
the opposite party, he by great rewards prevailed upon Vettius to declare,
that he had been solicited by certain persons to assassinate Pompey; and
when he was brought before the rostra to name those who had been
concerted between them, after naming one or two to no purpose, not
without great suspicion of subornation, Caesar, despairing of success in this
rash stratagem, is supposed to have taken off his informer by poison.
XXI. About the same time he married Calpurnia, the daughter of Lucius
Piso, who was to succeed him in the consulship, and gave his own daughter
Julia to Cneius Pompey; rejecting Servilius Caepio, to whom she had been
contracted, and by whose means chiefly he had but a little before baffled
Bibulus. After this new alliance, he began, upon any debates in the senate,
to ask Pompey’s opinion first, whereas he used before to give that
distinction to Marcus Crassus; and it was (15) the usual practice for the

consul to observe throughout the year the method of consulting the senate
which he had adopted on the calends (the first) of January.
XXII. Being, therefore, now supported by the interest of his father-in-law
and son-in-law, of all the provinces he made choice of Gaul, as most likely
to furnish him with matter and occasion for triumphs. At first indeed he
received only Cisalpine-Gaul, with the addition of Illyricum, by a decree
proposed by Vatinius to the people; but soon afterwards obtained from the
senate Gallia-Comata 47 also, the senators being apprehensive, that if they
should refuse it him, that province, also, would be granted him by the
people. Elated now with his success, he could not refrain from boasting, a
few days afterwards, in a full senate-house, that he had, in spite of his
enemies, and to their great mortification, obtained all he desired, and that
for the future he would make them, to their shame, submissive to his
pleasure. One of the senators observing, sarcastically: “That will not be
very easy for a woman 48 to do,” he jocosely replied, “Semiramis formerly
reigned in Assyria, and the Amazons possessed great part of Asia.”
XXIII. When the term of his consulship had expired, upon a motion
being made in the senate by Caius Memmius and Lucius Domitius, the
praetors, respecting the transactions of the year past, he offered to refer
himself to the house; but (16) they declining the business, after three days
spent in vain altercation, he set out for his province. Immediately, however,
his quaestor was charged with several misdemeanors, for the purpose of
implicating Caesar himself. Indeed, an accusation was soon after preferred
against him by Lucius Antistius, tribune of the people; but by making an
appeal to the tribune’s colleagues, he succeeded in having the prosecution
suspended during his absence in the service of the state. To secure himself,
therefore, for the time to come, he was particularly careful to secure the
good-will of the magistrates at the annual elections, assisting none of the
candidates with his interest, nor suffering any persons to be advanced to any
office, who would not positively undertake to defend him in his absence for
which purpose he made no scruple to require of some of them an oath, and
even a written obligation.
XXIV. But when Lucius Domitius became a candidate for the consulship,
and openly threatened that, upon his being elected consul, he would effect
that which he could not accomplish when he was praetor, and divest him of
the command of the armies, he sent for Crassus and Pompey to Lucca, a

city in his province, and pressed them, for the purpose of disappointing
Domitius, to sue again for the consulship, and to continue him in his
command for five years longer; with both which requisitions they complied.
Presumptuous now from his success, he added, at his own private charge,
more legions to those which he had received from the republic; among the
former of which was one levied in Transalpine Gaul, and called by a Gallic
name, Alauda 49, which he trained and armed in the Roman fashion, and
afterwards conferred on it the freedom of the city. From this period he
declined no occasion of war, however unjust and dangerous; attacking,
without any provocation, as well the allies of Rome as the barbarous nations
which were its enemies: insomuch, that the senate passed a decree for
sending commissioners to examine into the condition of Gaul; and some
members even proposed that he should be delivered up to the enemy. But so
great had been the success of his enterprises, that he had the honour of
obtaining more days 50 (17) of supplication, and those more frequently,
than had ever before been decreed to any commander.
XXV. During nine years in which he held the government of the
province, his achievements were as follows: he reduced all Gaul, bounded
by the Pyrenean forest, the Alps, mount Gebenna, and the two rivers, the
Rhine and the Rhone, and being about three thousand two hundred miles in
compass, into the form of a province, excepting only the nations in alliance
with the republic, and such as had merited his favour; imposing upon this
new acquisition an annual tribute of forty millions of sesterces. He was the
first of the Romans who, crossing the Rhine by a bridge, attacked the
Germanic tribes inhabiting the country beyond that river, whom he defeated
in several engagements. He also invaded the Britons, a people formerly
unknown, and having vanquished them, exacted from them contributions
and hostages. Amidst such a series of successes, he experienced thrice only
any signal disaster; once in Britain, when his fleet was nearly wrecked in a
storm; in Gaul, at Gergovia, where one of his legions was put to the rout;
and in the territory of the Germans, his lieutenants Titurius and
Aurunculeius were cut off by an ambuscade.
XXVI. During this period 51 he lost his mother 52, whose death was
followed by that of his daughter 53, and, not long afterwards, of his
granddaughter. Meanwhile, the republic being in consternation at the
murder of Publius Clodius, and the senate passing a vote that only one
consul, namely, Cneius Pompeius, should be chosen for the ensuing year, he

prevailed with the tribunes of the people, who intended joining him in
nomination with Pompey, to propose to the people a bill, enabling him,
though absent, to become a candidate for his second consulship, when the
term of his command should be near expiring, that he might not be obliged
on that account to quit his province too soon, and before the conclusion of
the war. Having attained this object, carrying his views still higher, and
animated with the hopes of success, he omitted no (18) opportunity of
gaining universal favour, by acts of liberality and kindness to individuals,
both in public and private. With money raised from the spoils of the war, he
began to construct a new forum, the ground-plot of which cost him above a
hundred millions of sesterces 54. He promised the people a public
entertainment of gladiators, and a feast in memory of his daughter, such as
no one before him had ever given. The more to raise their expectations on
this occasion, although he had agreed with victuallers of all denominations
for his feast, he made yet farther preparations in private houses. He issued
an order, that the most celebrated gladiators, if at any time during the
combat they incurred the displeasure of the public, should be immediately
carried off by force, and reserved for some future occasion. Young
gladiators he trained up, not in the school, and by the masters, of defence,
but in the houses of Roman knights, and even senators, skilled in the use of
arms, earnestly requesting them, as appears from his letters, to undertake
the discipline of those novitiates, and to give them the word during their
exercises. He doubled the pay of the legions in perpetuity; allowing them
likewise corn, when it was in plenty, without any restriction; and sometimes
distributing to every soldier in his army a slave, and a portion of land.
XXVII. To maintain his alliance and good understanding with Pompey,
he offered him in marriage his sister’s grand-daughter Octavia, who had
been married to Caius Marcellus; and requested for himself his daughter,
lately contracted to Faustus Sylla. Every person about him, and a great part
likewise of the senate, he secured by loans of money at low interest, or none
at all; and to all others who came to wait upon him, either by invitation or
of their own accord, he made liberal presents; not neglecting even the freed-
men and slaves, who were favourites with their masters and patrons. He
offered also singular and ready aid to all who were under prosecution, or in
debt, and to prodigal youths; excluding from (19) his bounty those only
who were so deeply plunged in guilt, poverty, or luxury, that it was

impossible effectually to relieve them. These, he openly declared, could
derive no benefit from any other means than a civil war.
XXVIII. He endeavoured with equal assiduity to engage in his interest
princes and provinces in every part of the world; presenting some with
thousands of captives, and sending to others the assistance of troops, at
whatever time and place they desired, without any authority from either the
senate or people of Rome. He likewise embellished with magnificent public
buildings the most powerful cities not only of Italy, Gaul, and Spain, but of
Greece and Asia; until all people being now astonished, and speculating on
the obvious tendency of these proceedings, Claudius Marcellus, the consul,
declaring first by proclamation, that he intended to propose a measure of the
utmost importance to the state, made a motion in the senate that some
person should be appointed to succeed Caesar in his province, before the
term of his command was expired; because the war being brought to a
conclusion, peace was restored, and the victorious army ought to be
disbanded. He further moved, that Caesar being absent, his claims to be a
candidate at the next election of consuls should not be admitted, as Pompey
himself had afterwards abrogated that privilege by a decree of the people.
The fact was, that Pompey, in his law relating to the choice of chief
magistrates, had forgot to except Caesar, in the article in which he declared
all such as were not present incapable of being candidates for any office;
but soon afterwards, when the law was inscribed on brass, and deposited in
the treasury, he corrected his mistake. Marcellus, not content with depriving
Caesar of his provinces, and the privilege intended him by Pompey,
likewise moved the senate, that the freedom of the city should be taken
from those colonists whom, by the Vatinian law, he had settled at New
Como 55; because it had been conferred upon them with ambitious views,
and by a stretch of the laws.
(20) XXIX. Roused by these proceedings, and thinking, as he was often
heard to say, that it would be a more difficult enterprise to reduce him, now
that he was the chief man in the state, from the first rank of citizens to the
second, than from the second to the lowest of all, Caesar made a vigorous
opposition to the measure, partly by means of the tribunes, who interposed
in his behalf, and partly through Servius Sulpicius, the other consul. The
following year likewise, when Caius Marcellus, who succeeded his cousin
Marcus in the consulship, pursued the same course, Caesar, by means of an
immense bribe, engaged in his defence Aemilius Paulus, the other consul,

and Caius Curio, the most violent of the tribunes. But finding the opposition
obstinately bent against him, and that the consuls-elect were also of that
party, he wrote a letter to the senate, requesting that they would not deprive
him of the privilege kindly granted him by the people; or else that the other
generals should resign the command of their armies as well as himself; fully
persuaded, as it is thought, that he could more easily collect his veteran
soldiers, whenever he pleased, than Pompey could his new-raised troops. At
the same time, he made his adversaries an offer to disband eight of his
legions and give up Transalpine-Gaul, upon condition that he might retain
two legions, with the Cisalpine province, or but one legion with Illyricum,
until he should be elected consul.
XXX. But as the senate declined to interpose in the business, and his
enemies declared that they would enter into no compromise where the
safety of the republic was at stake, he advanced into Hither-Gaul 56, and,
having gone the circuit for the administration of justice, made a halt at
Ravenna, resolved to have recourse to arms if the senate should proceed to
extremity against the tribunes of the people who had espoused his cause.
This was indeed his pretext for the civil war; but it is supposed that there
were other motives for his conduct. Cneius Pompey used frequently to say,
that he sought to throw every thing into confusion, because he was unable,
with all his private wealth, to complete the works he had begun, and
answer, at his return, the vast expectations which he had excited in the
people. Others pretend that he was apprehensive of being (21) called to
account for what he had done in his first consulship, contrary to the
auspices, laws, and the protests of the tribunes; Marcus Cato having
sometimes declared, and that, too, with an oath, that he would prefer an
impeachment against him, as soon as he disbanded his army. A report
likewise prevailed, that if he returned as a private person, he would, like
Milo, have to plead his cause before the judges, surrounded by armed men.
This conjecture is rendered highly probable by Asinius Pollio, who informs
us that Caesar, upon viewing the vanquished and slaughtered enemy in the
field of Pharsalia, expressed himself in these very words: “This was their
intention: I, Caius Caesar, after all the great achievements I had performed,
must have been condemned, had I not summoned the army to my aid!”
Some think, that having contracted from long habit an extraordinary love of
power, and having weighed his own and his enemies’ strength, he embraced
that occasion of usurping the supreme power; which indeed he had coveted

from the time of his youth. This seems to have been the opinion entertained
by Cicero, who tells us, in the third book of his Offices, that Caesar used to
have frequently in his mouth two verses of Euripides, which he thus
translates:

Nam si violandum est jus, regnandi gratia
Violandum est: aliis rebus pietatem colas.

Be just, unless a kingdom tempts to break the laws,
For sovereign power alone can justify the cause. 57

XXXI. When intelligence, therefore, was received, that the interposition
of the tribunes in his favour had been utterly rejected, and that they
themselves had fled from the city, he immediately sent forward some
cohorts, but privately, to prevent any suspicion of his design; and, to keep
up appearances, attended at a public spectacle, examined the model of a
fencing-school which he proposed to build, and, as usual, sat down to table
with a numerous party of his friends. But after sun-set, mules being put to
his carriage from a neighbouring mill, he set forward on his journey with all
possible privacy, and a small retinue. The lights going out, he lost his way,
and (22) wandered about a long time, until at length, by the help of a guide,
whom he found towards day-break, he proceeded on foot through some
narrow paths, and again reached the road. Coming up with his troops on the
banks of the Rubicon, which was the boundary of his province 58, he halted
for a while, and, revolving in his mind the importance of the step he was on
the point of taking, he turned to those about him, and said: “We may still
retreat; but if we pass this little bridge, nothing is left for us but to fight it
out in arms.”
XXXII. While he was thus hesitating, the following incident occurred. A
person remarkable for his noble mien and graceful aspect, appeared close at
hand, sitting and playing upon a pipe. When, not only the shepherds, but a
number of soldiers also flocked from their posts to listen to him, and some
trumpeters among them, he snatched a trumpet from one of them, ran to the
river with it, and sounding the advance with a piercing blast, crossed to the
other side. Upon this, Caesar exclaimed, “Let us go whither the omens of
the Gods and the iniquity of our enemies call us. The die is now cast.”
XXXIII. Accordingly, having marched his army over the river, he shewed
them the tribunes of the people, who, upon their being driven from the city,
had come to meet him; and, in the presence of that assembly, called upon

the troops to pledge him their fidelity, with tears in his eyes, and his
garment rent from his bosom. It has been supposed, that upon this occasion
he promised to every soldier a knight’s estate; but that opinion is founded
on a mistake. For when, in his harangue to them, he frequently held out a
finger of his left hand, and declared, that to recompense those who should
support him in the defence of his honour, he would willingly part even with
his ring; the soldiers at a distance, who could more easily see than hear him
while he spoke, formed their conception of what he said, by the eye, not by
the ear; and accordingly gave out, that he had promised to each of them the
privilege (23) of wearing the gold ring, and an estate of four hundred
thousand sesterces. 60
XXXIV. Of his subsequent proceedings I shall give a cursory detail, in
the order in which they occurred 61. He took possession of Picenum,
Umbria, and Etruria; and having obliged Lucius Domitius, who had been
tumultuously nominated his successor, and held Corsinium with a garrison,
to surrender, and dismissed him, he marched along the coast of the Upper
Sea, to Brundusium, to which place the consuls and Pompey were fled with
the intention of crossing the sea as soon as possible. After vain attempts, by
all the obstacles he could oppose, to prevent their leaving the harbour, he
turned his steps towards Rome, where he appealed to the senate on the
present state of public affairs; and then set out for Spain, in which province
Pompey had a numerous army, under the command of three lieutenants,
Marcus Petreius, Lucius Afranius, and Marcus Varro; declaring amongst his
friends, before he set forward, “That he was going against an army without
a general, and should return thence against a general without an army.”
Though his progress was retarded both by the siege of Marseilles, which
shut her gates against him, and a very great scarcity of corn, yet in a short
time he bore down all before him.
XXXV. Thence he returned to Rome, and crossing the sea to Macedonia,
blocked up Pompey during almost four months, within a line of ramparts of
prodigious extent; and at last defeated him in the battle of Pharsalia.
Pursuing him in his flight to Alexandria, where he was informed of his
murder, he presently found himself also engaged, under all the
disadvantages of time and place, in a very dangerous war, with king
Ptolemy, who, he saw, had treacherous designs upon his life. It was winter,
and he, within the walls of a well-provided and subtle enemy, was destitute
of every thing, and wholly unprepared (24) for such a conflict. He

succeeded, however, in his enterprise, and put the kingdom of Egypt into
the hands of Cleopatra and her younger brother; being afraid to make it a
province, lest, under an aspiring prefect, it might become the centre of
revolt. From Alexandria he went into Syria, and thence to Pontus, induced
by intelligence which he had received respecting Pharnaces. This prince,
who was son of the great Mithridates, had seized the opportunity which the
distraction of the times offered for making war upon his neighbours, and his
insolence and fierceness had grown with his success. Caesar, however,
within five days after entering his country, and four hours after coming in
sight of him, overthrew him in one decisive battle. Upon which, he
frequently remarked to those about him the good fortune of Pompey, who
had obtained his military reputation, chiefly, by victory over so feeble an
enemy. He afterwards defeated Scipio and Juba, who were rallying the
remains of the party in Africa, and Pompey’s sons in Spain.
XXXVI. During the whole course of the civil war, he never once suffered
any defeat, except in the case of his lieutenants; of whom Caius Curio fell
in Africa, Caius Antonius was made prisoner in Illyricum, Publius
Dolabella lost a fleet in the same Illyricum, and Cneius Domitius Culvinus,
an army in Pontus. In every encounter with the enemy where he himself
commanded, he came off with complete success; nor was the issue ever
doubtful, except on two occasions: once at Dyrrachium, when, being
obliged to give ground, and Pompey not pursuing his advantage, he said
that “Pompey knew not how to conquer;” the other instance occurred in his
last battle in Spain, when, despairing of the event, he even had thoughts of
killing himself.
XXXVII. For the victories obtained in the several wars, he triumphed
five different times; after the defeat of Scipio: four times in one month, each
triumph succeeding the former by an interval of a few days; and once again
after the conquest of Pompey’s sons. His first and most glorious triumph
was for the victories he gained in Gaul; the next for that of Alexandria, the
third for the reduction of Pontus, the fourth for his African victory, and the
last for that in Spain; and (25) they all differed from each other in their
varied pomp and pageantry. On the day of the Gallic triumph, as he was
proceeding along the street called Velabrum, after narrowly escaping a fall
from his chariot by the breaking of the axle-tree, he ascended the Capitol by
torch-light, forty elephants 62 carrying torches on his right and left.
Amongst the pageantry of the Pontic triumph, a tablet with this inscription

was carried before him: I CAME, I SAW, I CONQUERED 63; not
signifying, as other mottos on the like occasion, what was done, so much as
the dispatch with which it was done.
XXXVIII. To every foot-soldier in his veteran legions, besides the two
thousand sesterces paid him in the beginning of the civil war, he gave
twenty thousand more, in the shape of prize-money. He likewise allotted
them lands, but not in contiguity, that the former owners might not be
entirely dispossessed. To the people of Rome, besides ten modii of corn,
and as many pounds of oil, he gave three hundred sesterces a man, which he
had formerly promised them, and a hundred more to each for the delay in
fulfilling his engagement. He likewise remitted a year’s rent due to the
treasury, for such houses in Rome as did not pay above two thousand
sesterces a year; and through the rest of Italy, for all such as did not exceed
in yearly rent five hundred sesterces. To all this he added a public
entertainment, and a distribution of meat, and, after his Spanish victory 64,
two public dinners. For, considering the first he had given as too sparing,
and unsuited to his profuse liberality, he, five days afterwards, added
another, which was most plentiful.
XXXIX. The spectacles he exhibited to the people were of various kinds;
namely, a combat of gladiators 65, and stage-plays in the several wards of
the city, and in different languages; likewise Circensian games 66,
wrestlers, and the representation of a sea-fight. In the conflict of gladiators
presented in the Forum, Furius Leptinus, a man of praetorian family,
entered the lists as a combatant, as did also Quintus Calpenus, formerly a
senator, and a pleader of causes. The Pyrrhic dance was performed by some
youths, who were sons to persons of the first distinction in Asia and
Bithynia. In the plays, Decimus Laberius, who had been a Roman knight,
acted in his own piece; and being presented on the spot with five hundred
thousand sesterces, and a gold ring, he went from the stage, through the
orchestra, and resumed his place in the seats (27) allotted for the equestrian
order. In the Circensisn games; the circus being enlarged at each end, and a
canal sunk round it, several of the young nobility drove chariots, drawn,
some by four, and others by two horses, and likewise rode races on single
horses. The Trojan game was acted by two distinct companies of boys, one
differing from the other in age and rank. The hunting of wild beasts was
presented for five days successively; and on the last day a battle was fought
by five hundred foot, twenty elephants, and thirty horse on each side. To

afford room for this engagement, the goals were removed, and in their space
two camps were pitched, directly opposite to each other. Wrestlers likewise
performed for three days successively, in a stadium provided for the
purpose in the Campus Martius. A lake having been dug in the little Codeta
67, ships of the Tyrian and Egyptian fleets, containing two, three, and four
banks of oars, with a number of men on board, afforded an animated
representation of a sea-fight. To these various diversions there flocked such
crowds of spectators from all parts, that most of the strangers were obliged
to lodge in tents erected in the streets, or along the roads near the city.
Several in the throng were squeezed to death, amongst whom were two
senators.
XL. Turning afterwards his attention to the regulation of the
commonwealth, he corrected the calendar 68, which had for (28) some time
become extremely confused, through the unwarrantable liberty which the
pontiffs had taken in the article of intercalation. To such a height had this
abuse proceeded, that neither the festivals designed for the harvest fell in
summer, nor those for the vintage in autumn. He accommodated the year to
the course of the sun, ordaining that in future it should consist of three
hundred and sixty-five days without any intercalary month; and that every
fourth year an intercalary day should be inserted. That the year might
thenceforth commence regularly with the calends, or first of January, he
inserted two months between November and December; so that the year in
which this regulation was made consisted of fifteen months, including the
month of intercalation, which, according to the division of time then in use,
happened that year.
XLI. He filled up the vacancies in the senate, by advancing several
plebeians to the rank of patricians, and also increased the number of
praetors, aediles, quaestors, and inferior magistrates; restoring, at the same
time, such as had been degraded by the censors, or convicted of bribery at
elections. The choice of magistrates he so divided with the people, that,
excepting only the candidates for the consulship, they nominated one half
of them, and he the other. The method which he practised in those cases
was, to recommend such persons as he had pitched upon, by bills dispersed
through the several tribes to this effect: “Caesar the dictator to such a tribe
(naming it). I recommend to you (naming likewise the persons), that by the
favour of your votes they may attain to the honours for which they sue.” He
likewise admitted to offices the sons of those who had been proscribed. The

trial of causes he restricted to two orders of judges, the equestrian and
senatorial; excluding the tribunes of the treasury who had before made a
third class. The revised census of the people he ordered to be taken neither
in the usual manner or place, but street by street, by the principal
inhabitants of the several quarters of the city; and he reduced the number of
those who received corn at the public cost, from three hundred and twenty,
to a hundred and fifty, thousand. To prevent any tumults on account of the
census, he ordered that the praetor should every year fill up by lot the
vacancies occasioned by death, from those who were not enrolled for the
receipt of corn.
(29) XLII. Eighty thousand citizens having been distributed into foreign
colonies 69, he enacted, in order to stop the drain on the population, that no
freeman of the city above twenty, and under forty, years of age, who was
not in the military service, should absent himself from Italy for more than
three years at a time; that no senator’s son should go abroad, unless in the
retinue of some high officer; and as to those whose pursuit was tending
flocks and herds, that no less than a third of the number of their shepherds
free-born should be youths. He likewise made all those who practised
physic in Rome, and all teachers of the liberal arts, free of the city, in order
to fix them in it, and induce others to settle there. With respect to debts, he
disappointed the expectation which was generally entertained, that they
would be totally cancelled; and ordered that the debtors should satisfy their
creditors, according to the valuation of their estates, at the rate at which
they were purchased before the commencement of the civil war; deducting
from the debt what had been paid for interest either in money or by bonds;
by virtue of which provision about a fourth part of the debt was lost. He
dissolved all the guilds, except such as were of ancient foundation. Crimes
were punished with greater severity; and the rich being more easily induced
to commit them because they were only liable to banishment, without the
forfeiture of their property, he stripped murderers, as Cicero observes, of
their whole estates, and other offenders of one half.
XLIII. He was extremely assiduous and strict in the administration of
justice. He expelled from the senate such members as were convicted of
bribery; and he dissolved the marriage of a man of pretorian rank, who had
married a lady two days after her divorce from a former husband, although
there was no suspicion that they had been guilty of any illicit connection.
He imposed duties on the importation of foreign goods. The use of litters

for travelling, purple robes, and jewels, he permitted only to persons of a
certain age and station, and on particular days. He enforced a rigid
execution of the sumptuary laws; placing officers about the markets, to
seize upon all meats exposed to sale contrary to the rules, and bring them to
him; sometimes sending his lictors and soldiers to (30) carry away such
victuals as had escaped the notice of the officers, even when they were upon
the table.
XLIV. His thoughts were now fully employed from day to day on a
variety of great projects for the embellishment and improvement of the city,
as well as for guarding and extending the bounds of the empire. In the first
place, he meditated the construction of a temple to Mars, which should
exceed in grandeur every thing of that kind in the world. For this purpose,
he intended to fill up the lake on which he had entertained the people with
the spectacle of a sea-fight. He also projected a most spacious theatre
adjacent to the Tarpeian mount; and also proposed to reduce the civil law to
a reasonable compass, and out of that immense and undigested mass of
statutes to extract the best and most necessary parts into a few books; to
make as large a collection as possible of works in the Greek and Latin
languages, for the public use; the province of providing and putting them in
proper order being assigned to Marcus Varro. He intended likewise to drain
the Pomptine marshes, to cut a channel for the discharge of the waters of
the lake Fucinus, to form a road from the Upper Sea through the ridge of
the Appenine to the Tiber; to make a cut through the isthmus of Corinth, to
reduce the Dacians, who had over-run Pontus and Thrace, within their
proper limits, and then to make war upon the Parthians, through the Lesser
Armenia, but not to risk a general engagement with them, until he had made
some trial of their prowess in war. But in the midst of all his undertakings
and projects, he was carried off by death; before I speak of which, it may
not be improper to give an account of his person, dress, and manners;
together with what relates to his pursuits, both civil and military.
XLV. It is said that he was tall, of a fair complexion, round limbed, rather
full faced, with eyes black and piercing; and that he enjoyed excellent
health, except towards the close of his life, when he was subject to sudden
fainting-fits, and disturbance in his sleep. He was likewise twice seized with
the falling sickness while engaged in active service. He was so nice in the
care of his person, that he not only kept the hair of his head closely cut and
had his face smoothly shaved, but (31) even caused the hair on other parts

of the body to be plucked out by the roots, a practice for which some
persons rallied him. His baldness gave him much uneasiness, having often
found himself upon that account exposed to the jibes of his enemies. He
therefore used to bring forward the hair from the crown of his head; and of
all the honours conferred upon him by the senate and people, there was
none which he either accepted or used with greater pleasure, than the right
of wearing constantly a laurel crown. It is said that he was particular in his
dress. For he used the Latus Clavus 70 with fringes about the wrists, and
always had it girded about him, but rather loosely. This circumstance gave
origin to the expression of Sylla, who often advised the nobles to beware of
“the ill-girt boy.”
XLVI. He first inhabited a small house in the Suburra 71, but after his
advancement to the pontificate, he occupied a palace belonging to the state
in the Via Sacra. Many writers say that he liked his residence to be elegant,
and his entertainments sumptuous; and that he entirely took down a villa
near the grove of Aricia, which he had built from the foundation and
finished at a vast expense, because it did not exactly suit his taste, although
he had at that time but slender means, and was in debt; and that he carried
about in his expeditions tesselated and marble slabs for the floor of his tent.
XLVII. They likewise report that he invaded Britain in hopes of finding
pearls 72, the size of which he would compare together, and ascertain the
weight by poising them in his hand; that he would purchase, at any cost,
gems, carved works, statues, and pictures, executed by the eminent masters
of antiquity; and that he would give for young and handy slaves a price so
extravagant, that he forbad its being entered in the diary of his expenses.
XLVIII. We are also told, that in the provinces he constantly maintained
two tables, one for the officers of the army, and the gentry of the country,
and the other for Romans of the highest rank, and provincials of the first
distinction. He was so very exact in the management of his domestic affairs,
both little and great, that he once threw a baker into prison, for serving him
with a finer sort of bread than his guests; and put to death a freed-man, who
was a particular favourite, for debauching the lady of a Roman knight,
although no complaint had been made to him of the affair.
XLIX. The only stain upon his chastity was his having cohabited with
Nicomedes; and that indeed stuck to him all the days of his life, and

exposed him to much bitter raillery. I will not dwell upon those well-known
verses of Calvus Licinius:

Whate’er Bithynia and her lord possess’d,
Her lord who Caesar in his lust caress’d. 73

I pass over the speeches of Dolabella, and Curio, the father, in which the
former calls him “the queen’s rival, and the inner-side of the royal couch,”
and the latter, “the brothel of Nicomedes, and the Bithynian stew.” I would
likewise say nothing of the edicts of Bibulus, in which he proclaimed his
colleague under the name of “the queen of Bithynia;” adding, that “he had
formerly been in love with a king, but now coveted a kingdom.” At which
time, as Marcus Brutus relates, one Octavius, a man of a crazy brain, and
therefore the more free in his raillery, after he had in a crowded assembly
saluted Pompey by the title of king, addressed Caesar by that of queen.
Caius Memmius likewise upbraided him with serving the king at table,
among the rest of his catamites, in the presence of a large company, in
which were some merchants from Rome, the names of whom he mentions.
But Cicero was not content with writing in some of his letters, that he was
conducted by the royal attendants into the king’s bed-chamber, lay upon a
bed of gold with a covering of purple, and that the youthful bloom of this
scion of Venus had been tainted in Bithynia—but upon Caesar’s pleading
the cause of Nysa, the daughter of (32) Nicomedes before the senate, and
recounting the king’s kindnesses to him, replied, “Pray tell us no more of
that; for it is well known what he gave you, and you gave him.” To
conclude, his soldiers in the Gallic triumph, amongst other verses, such as
they jocularly sung on those occasions, following the general’s chariot,
recited these, which since that time have become extremely common:

The Gauls to Caesar yield, Caesar to Nicomede,
Lo! Caesar triumphs for his glorious deed,
But Caesar’s conqueror gains no victor’s meed. 74

L. It is admitted by all that he was much addicted to women, as well as
very expensive in his intrigues with them, and that he debauched many
ladies of the highest quality; among whom were Posthumia, the wife of
Servius Sulpicius; Lollia, the wife of Aulus Gabinius; Tertulla, the wife of
Marcus Crassus; and Mucia, the wife of Cneius Pompey. For it is certain
that the Curios, both father and son, and many others, made it a reproach to
Pompey, “That to gratify his ambition, he married the daughter of a man,

upon whose account he had divorced his wife, after having had three
children by her; and whom he used, with a deep sigh, to call Aegisthus.” 75
But the mistress he most loved, was Servilia, the mother of Marcus Brutus,
for whom he purchased, in his first consulship after the commencement of
their intrigue, a pearl which cost him six millions of sesterces; and in the
civil war, besides other presents, assigned to her, for a trifling consideration,
some valuable farms when they were exposed to public auction. Many
persons expressing their surprise at the lowness of the price, Cicero wittily
remarked, “To let you know the real value of the purchase, between
ourselves, Tertia was deducted:” for Servilia was supposed to have
prostituted her daughter Tertia to Caesar. 76
(34) LI. That he had intrigues likewise with married women in the
provinces, appears from this distich, which was as much repeated in the
Gallic Triumph as the former:—

Watch well your wives, ye cits, we bring a blade,
A bald-pate master of the wenching trade.
Thy gold was spent on many a Gallic w—-e;
Exhausted now, thou com’st to borrow more. 77

LII. In the number of his mistresses were also some queens; such as
Eunoe, a Moor, the wife of Bogudes, to whom and her husband he made, as
Naso reports, many large presents. But his greatest favourite was Cleopatra,
with whom he often revelled all night until the dawn of day, and would
have gone with her through Egypt in dalliance, as far as Aethiopia, in her
luxurious yacht, had not the army refused to follow him. He afterwards
invited her to Rome, whence he sent her back loaded with honours and
presents, and gave her permission to call by his name a son, who, according
to the testimony of some Greek historians, resembled Caesar both in person
and gait. Mark Antony declared in the senate, that Caesar had
acknowledged the child as his own; and that Caius Matias, Caius Oppius,
and the rest of Caesar’s friends knew it to be true. On which occasion,
Oppius, as if it had been an imputation which he was called upon to refute,
published a book to shew, “that the child which Cleopatra fathered upon
Caesar, was not his.” Helvius Cinna, tribune of the people, admitted to
several persons the fact, that he had a bill ready drawn, which Caesar had
ordered him to get enacted in his absence, allowing him, with the hope of
leaving issue, to take any wife he chose, and as many of them as he pleased;
and to leave no room for doubt of his infamous character for unnatural

lewdness and adultery, Curio, the father, says, in one of his speeches, “He
was every woman’s man, and every man’s woman.”
LIII. It is acknowledged even by his enemies, that in regard to wine, he
was abstemious. A remark is ascribed to Marcus Cato, “that Caesar was the
only sober man amongst all those who were engaged in the design to
subvert (35) the government.” In the matter of diet, Caius Oppius informs
us, “that he was so indifferent, that when a person in whose house he was
entertained, had served him with stale, instead of fresh, oil 78, and the rest
of the company would not touch it, he alone ate very heartily of it, that he
might not seem to tax the master of the house with rusticity or want of
attention.”
LIV. But his abstinence did not extend to pecuniary advantages, either in
his military commands, or civil offices; for we have the testimony of some
writers, that he took money from the proconsul, who was his predecessor in
Spain, and from the Roman allies in that quarter, for the discharge of his
debts; and plundered at the point of the sword some towns of the
Lusitanians, notwithstanding they attempted no resistance, and opened their
gates to him upon his arrival before them. In Gaul, he rifled the chapels and
temples of the gods, which were filled with rich offerings, and demolished
cities oftener for the sake of their spoil, than for any ill they had done. By
this means gold became so plentiful with him, that he exchanged it through
Italy and the provinces of the empire for three thousand sesterces the pound.
In his first consulship he purloined from the Capitol three thousand pounds’
weight of gold, and substituted for it the same quantity of gilt brass. He
bartered likewise to foreign nations and princes, for gold, the titles of allies
and kings; and squeezed out of Ptolemy alone near six thousand talents, in
the name of himself and Pompey. He afterwards supported the expense of
the civil wars, and of his triumphs and public spectacles, by the most
flagrant rapine and sacrilege.
LV. In eloquence and warlike achievements, he equalled at least, if he did
not surpass, the greatest of men. After his prosecution of Dolabella, he was
indisputably reckoned one of the most distinguished advocates. Cicero, in
recounting to Brutus the famous orators, declares, “that he does not see that
Caesar was inferior to any one of them;” and says, “that he (36) had an
elegant, splendid, noble, and magnificent vein of eloquence.” And in a letter
to Cornelius Nepos, he writes of him in the following terms: “What! Of all

the orators, who, during the whole course of their lives, have done nothing
else, which can you prefer to him? Which of them is more pointed or terse
in his periods, or employs more polished and elegant language?” In his
youth, he seems to have chosen Strabo Caesar for his model; from whose
oration in behalf of the Sardinians he has transcribed some passages
literally into his Divination. In his delivery he is said to have had a shrill
voice, and his action was animated, but not ungraceful. He has left behind
him some speeches, among which are ranked a few that are not genuine,
such as that on behalf of Quintus Metellus. These Augustus supposes, with
reason, to be rather the production of blundering short-hand writers, who
were not able to keep pace with him in the delivery, than publications of his
own. For I find in some copies that the title is not “For Metellus,” but
“What he wrote to Metellus;” whereas the speech is delivered in the name
of Caesar, vindicating Metellus and himself from the aspersions cast upon
them by their common defamers. The speech addressed “To his soldiers in
Spain,” Augustus considers likewise as spurious. We meet with two under
this title; one made, as is pretended, in the first battle, and the other in the
last; at which time, Asinius Pollio says, he had not leisure to address the
soldiers, on account of the suddenness of the enemy’s attack.
LVI. He has likewise left Commentaries of his own actions both in the
war in Gaul, and in the civil war with Pompey; for the author of the
Alexandrian, African, and Spanish wars is not known with any certainty.
Some think they are the production of Oppius, and some of Hirtius; the
latter of whom composed the last book, which is imperfect, of the Gallic
war. Of Caesar’s Commentaries, Cicero, in his Brutus, speaks thus: “He
wrote his Commentaries in a manner deserving of great approbation: they
are plain, precise, and elegant, without any affectation of rhetorical
ornament. In having thus prepared materials for others who might be
inclined to write his history, he may perhaps have encouraged some silly
creatures to enter upon such a work, who will needs be dressing up his
actions in all the extravagance a (37) bombast; but he has discouraged wise
men from ever attempting the subject.” Hirtius delivers his opinion of these
Commentaries in the following terms: “So great is the approbation with
which they are universally perused, that, instead of rousing, he seems to
have precluded, the efforts of any future historian. Yet, with respect to this
work, we have more reason to admire him than others; for they only know
how well and correctly he has written, but we know, likewise, how easily

and quickly he did it.” Pollio Asinius thinks that they were not drawn up
with much care, or with a due regard to truth; for he insinuates that Caesar
was too hasty of belief in regard to what was performed by others under his
orders; and that, he has not given a very faithful account of his own acts,
either by design, or through defect of memory; expressing at the same time
an opinion that Caesar intended a new and more correct edition. He has left
behind him likewise two books on Analogy, with the same number under
the title of Anti-Cato, and a poem entitled The Itinerary. Of these books, he
composed the first two in his passage over the Alps, as he was returning to
the army after making his circuit in Hither-Gaul; the second work about the
time of the battle of Munda; and the last during the four-and-twenty days he
employed in his journey from Rome to Farther-Spain. There are extant
some letters of his to the senate, written in a manner never practised by any
before him; for they are distinguished into pages in the form of a
memorandum book whereas the consuls and commanders till then, used
constantly in their letters to continue the line quite across the sheet, without
any folding or distinction of pages. There are extant likewise some letters
from him to Cicero, and others to his friends, concerning his domestic
affairs; in which, if there was occasion for secrecy, he wrote in cyphers; that
is, he used the alphabet in such a manner, that not a single word could be
made out. The way to decipher those epistles was to substitute the fourth for
the first letter, as d for a, and so for the other letters respectively. Some
things likewise pass under his name, said to have been written by him when
a boy, or a very young man; as the Encomium of Hercules, a tragedy
entitled Oedipus, and a collection of Apophthegms; all which Augustus
forbad to be published, in a short and plain letter to Pompeius Macer, who
was employed by him in the arrangement of his libraries.
(38) LVII. He was perfect in the use of arms, an accomplished rider, and
able to endure fatigue beyond all belief. On a march, he used to go at the
head of his troops, sometimes on horseback, but oftener on foot, with his
head bare in all kinds of weather. He would travel post in a light carriage 79
without baggage, at the rate of a hundred miles a day; and if he was stopped
by floods in the rivers, he swam across, or floated on skins inflated with
wind, so that he often anticipated intelligence of his movements. 80
LVIII. In his expeditions, it is difficult to say whether his caution or his
daring was most conspicuous. He never marched his army by roads which
were exposed to ambuscades, without having previously examined the

nature of the ground by his scouts. Nor did he cross over to Britain, before
he had carefully examined, in person 81, the navigation, the harbours, and
the most convenient point of landing in the island. When intelligence was
brought to him of the siege of his camp in Germany, he made his way to his
troops, through the enemy’s stations, in a Gaulish dress. He crossed the sea
from Brundisium and Dyrrachium, in the winter, through the midst of the
enemy’s fleets; and the troops, under orders to join him, being slow in their
movements, notwithstanding repeated messages to hurry them, but to no
purpose, he at last went privately, and alone, aboard a small vessel in the
night time, with his head muffled up; nor did he make himself known, or
suffer the master to put about, although the wind blew strong against them,
until they were ready to sink.
LIX. He was never deterred from any enterprise, nor retarded in the
prosecution of it, by superstition 82. When a victim, which he was about to
offer in sacrifice, made its (39) escape, he did not therefore defer his
expedition against Scipio and Juba. And happening to fall, upon stepping
out of the ship, he gave a lucky turn to the omen, by exclaiming, “I hold
thee fast, Africa.” To chide the prophecies which were spread abroad, that
the name of the Scipios was, by the decrees of fate, fortunate and invincible
in that province, he retained in the camp a profligate wretch, of the family
of the Cornelii, who, on account of his scandalous life, was surnamed
Salutio.
LX. He not only fought pitched battles, but made sudden attacks when an
opportunity offered; often at the end of a march, and sometimes during the
most violent storms, when nobody could imagine he would stir. Nor was he
ever backward in fighting, until towards the end of his life. He then was of
opinion, that the oftener he had been crowned with success, the less he
ought to expose himself to new hazards; and that nothing he could gain by a
victory would compensate for what he might lose by a miscarriage. He
never defeated the enemy without driving them from their camp; and giving
them no time to rally their forces. When the issue of a battle was doubtful,
he sent away all the horses, and his own first, that having no means of
flight, they might be under the greater necessity of standing their ground.
LXI. He rode a very remarkable horse, with feet almost like those of a
man, the hoofs being divided in such a manner as to have some
resemblance to toes. This horse he had bred himself, and the soothsayers

having interpreted these circumstances into an omen that its owner would
be master of the world, he brought him up with particular care, and broke
him in himself, as the horse would suffer no one else to mount him. A statue
of this horse was afterwards erected by Caesar’s order before the temple of
Venus Genitrix.
LXII. He often rallied his troops, when they were giving way, by his
personal efforts; stopping those who fled, keeping others in their ranks, and
seizing them by their throat turned them towards the enemy; although
numbers were so terrified, that an eagle-bearer 83, thus stopped, made a
thrust at him with (40) the spear-head; and another, upon a similar occasion,
left the standard in his hand.
LXIII. The following instances of his resolution are equally, and even
more remarkable. After the battle of Pharsalia, having sent his troops before
him into Asia, as he was passing the straits of the Hellespont in a ferry-boat,
he met with Lucius Cassius, one of the opposite party, with ten ships of
war; and so far from endeavouring to escape, he went alongside his ship,
and calling upon him to surrender, Cassius humbly gave him his
submission.
LXIV. At Alexandria, in the attack of a bridge, being forced by a sudden
sally of the enemy into a boat, and several others hurrying in with him, he
leaped into the sea, and saved himself by swimming to the next ship, which
lay at the distance of two hundred paces; holding up his left hand out of the
water, for fear of wetting some papers which he held in it; and pulling his
general’s cloak after him with his teeth, lest it should fall into the hands of
the enemy.
LXV. He never valued a soldier for his moral conduct or his means, but
for his courage only; and treated his troops with a mixture of severity and
indulgence; for he did not always keep a strict hand over them, but only
when the enemy was near. Then indeed he was so strict a disciplinarian, that
he would give no notice of a march or a battle until the moment of action, in
order that the troops might hold themselves in readiness for any sudden
movement; and he would frequently draw them out of the camp without any
necessity for it, especially in rainy weather, and upon holy-days.
Sometimes, giving them orders not to lose sight of him, he would suddenly
depart by day or by night, and lengthen the marches in order to tire them
out, as they followed him at a distance.

LXVI. When at any time his troops were dispirited by reports of the great
force of the enemy, he rallied their courage; not by denying the truth of
what was said, or by diminishing the facts, but, on the contrary, by
exaggerating every particular. (41) Accordingly, when his troops were in
great alarm at the expected arrival of king Juba, he called them together,
and said, “I have to inform you that in a very few days the king will be here,
with ten legions, thirty thousand horse, a hundred thousand light-armed
foot, and three hundred elephants. Let none of you, therefore, presume to
make further enquiry, or indulge in conjectures, but take my word for what I
tell you, which I have from undoubted intelligence; otherwise I shall put
them aboard an old crazy vessel, and leave them exposed to the mercy of
the winds, to be transported to some other country.”
LXVII. He neither noticed all their transgressions, nor punished them
according to strict rule. But for deserters and mutineers he made the most
diligent enquiry, and their punishment was most severe: other delinquencies
he would connive at. Sometimes, after a great battle ending in victory, he
would grant them a relaxation from all kinds of duty, and leave them to
revel at pleasure; being used to boast, “that his soldiers fought nothing the
worse for being well oiled.” In his speeches, he never addressed them by
the title of “Soldiers,” but by the kinder phrase of “Fellow-soldiers;” and
kept them in such splendid order, that their arms were ornamented with
silver and gold, not merely for parade, but to render the soldiers more
resolute to save them in battle, and fearful of losing them. He loved his
troops to such a degree, that when he heard of the defeat of those under
Titurius, he neither cut his hair nor shaved his beard, until he had revenged
it upon the enemy; by which means he engaged their devoted affection, and
raised their valour to the highest pitch.
LXVIII. Upon his entering on the civil war, the centurions of every
legion offered, each of them, to maintain a horseman at his own expense,
and the whole army agreed to serve gratis, without either corn or pay; those
amongst them who were rich, charging themselves with the maintenance of
the poor. No one of them, during the whole course of the war, deserted to
the enemy; and many of those who were made prisoners, though they were
offered their lives, upon condition of bearing arms against him, refused to
accept the terms. They endured want, and other hardships, not only (42)
when they were besieged themselves, but when they besieged others, to
such a degree, that Pompey, when blocked up in the neighbourhood of

Dyrrachium, upon seeing a sort of bread made of an herb, which they lived
upon, said, “I have to do with wild beasts,” and ordered it immediately to be
taken away; because, if his troops should see it, their spirit might be broken
by perceiving the endurance and determined resolution of the enemy. With
what bravery they fought, one instance affords sufficient proof; which is,
that after an unsuccessful engagement at Dyrrachium, they called for
punishment; insomuch that their general found it more necessary to comfort
than to punish them. In other battles, in different quarters, they defeated
with ease immense armies of the enemy, although they were much inferior
to them in number. In short, one cohort of the sixth legion held out a fort
against four legions belonging to Pompey, during several hours; being
almost every one of them wounded by the vast number of arrows
discharged against them, and of which there were found within the ramparts
a hundred and thirty thousand. This is no way surprising, when we consider
the conduct of some individuals amongst them; such as that of Cassius
Scaeva, a centurion, or Caius Acilius, a common soldier, not to speak of
others. Scaeva, after having an eye struck out, being run through the thigh
and the shoulder, and having his shield pierced in an hundred and twenty
places, maintained obstinately the guard of the gate of a fort, with the
command of which he was intrusted. Acilius, in the sea-fight at Marseilles,
having seized a ship of the enemy’s with his right hand, and that being cut
off, in imitation of that memorable instance of resolution in Cynaegirus
amongst the Greeks, boarded the enemy’s ship, bearing down all before him
with the boss of his shield.
LXIX. They never once mutinied during all the ten years of the Gallic
war, but were sometimes refractory in the course of the civil war. However,
they always returned quickly to their duty, and that not through the
indulgence, but in submission to the authority, of their general; for he never
yielded to them when they were insubordinate, but constantly resisted their
demands. He disbanded the whole ninth legion with ignominy at Placentia,
although Pompey was still in arms, and would (43) not receive them again
into his service, until they had not only made repeated and humble
entreaties, but until the ringleaders in the mutiny were punished.
LXX. When the soldiers of the tenth legion at Rome demanded their
discharge and rewards for their service, with violent threats and no small
danger to the city, although the war was then raging in Africa, he did not
hesitate, contrary to the advice of his friends, to meet the legion, and

disband it. But addressing them by the title of “Quirites,” instead of
“Soldiers,” he by this single word so thoroughly brought them round and
changed their determination, that they immediately cried out, they were his
“soldiers,” and followed him to Africa, although he had refused their
service. He nevertheless punished the most mutinous among them, with the
loss of a third of their share in the plunder, and the land destined for them.
LXXI. In the service of his clients, while yet a young man, he evinced
great zeal and fidelity. He defended the cause of a noble youth, Masintha,
against king Hiempsal, so strenuously, that in a scuffle which took place
upon the occasion, he seized by the beard the son of king Juba; and upon
Masintha’s being declared tributary to Hiempsal, while the friends of the
adverse party were violently carrying him off, he immediately rescued him
by force, kept him concealed in his house a long time, and when, at the
expiration of his praetorship, he went to Spain, he took him away in his
litter, in the midst of his lictors bearing the fasces, and others who had come
to attend and take leave of him.
LXXII. He always treated his friends with such kindness and good-
nature, that when Caius Oppius, in travelling with him through a forest, was
suddenly taken ill, he resigned to him the only place there was to shelter
them at night, and lay upon the ground in the open air. When he had placed
himself at the head of affairs, he advanced some of his faithful adherents,
though of mean extraction, to the highest offices; and when he was
censured for this partiality, he openly said, “Had I been assisted by robbers
and cut-throats in the defence of my honour, I should have made them the
same recompense.”
(44) LXXIII. The resentment he entertained against any one was never so
implacable that he did not very willingly renounce it when opportunity
offered. Although Caius Memmius had published some extremely virulent
speeches against him, and he had answered him with equal acrimony, yet he
afterwards assisted him with his vote and interest, when he stood candidate
for the consulship. When C. Calvus, after publishing some scandalous
epigrams upon him, endeavoured to effect a reconciliation by the
intercession of friends, he wrote to him, of his own accord, the first letter.
And when Valerius Catullus, who had, as he himself observed, fixed such a
stain upon his character in his verses upon Mamurra as never could be
obliterated, he begged his pardon, invited him to supper the same day; and

continued to take up his lodging with his father occasionally, as he had been
accustomed to do.
LXXIV. His temper was also naturally averse to severity in retaliation.
After he had captured the pirates, by whom he had been taken, having
sworn that he would crucify them, he did so indeed; but he first ordered
their throats to be cut 84. He could never bear the thought of doing any
harm to Cornelius Phagitas, who had dogged him in the night when he was
sick and a fugitive, with the design of carrying him to Sylla, and from
whose hands he had escaped with some difficulty by giving him a bribe.
Philemon, his amanuensis, who had promised his enemies to poison him, he
put to death without torture. When he was summoned as a witness against
Publicus Clodius, his wife Pompeia’s gallant, who was prosecuted for the
profanation of religious ceremonies, he declared he knew nothing of the
affair, although his mother Aurelia, and his sister Julia, gave the court an
exact and full account of the circumstances. And being asked why then he
had divorced his wife? “Because,” he said, “my family should not only be
free from guilt, but even from the suspicion of it.”
LXXV. Both in his administration and his conduct towards the
vanquished party in the civil war, he showed a wonderful moderation and
clemency. For while Pompey declared that he would consider those as
enemies who did not take arms in defence of the republic, he desired it to be
understood, that he (45) should regard those who remained neuter as his
friends. With regard to all those to whom he had, on Pompey’s
recommendation, given any command in the army, he left them at perfect
liberty to go over to him, if they pleased. When some proposals were made
at Ileria 85 for a surrender, which gave rise to a free communication
between the two camps, and Afranius and Petreius, upon a sudden change
of resolution, had put to the sword all Caesar’s men who were found in the
camp, he scorned to imitate the base treachery which they had practised
against himself. On the field of Pharsalia, he called out to the soldiers “to
spare their fellow-citizens,” and afterwards gave permission to every man in
his army to save an enemy. None of them, so far as appears, lost their lives
but in battle, excepting only Afranius, Faustus, and young Lucius Caesar;
and it is thought that even they were put to death without his consent.
Afranius and Faustus had borne arms against him, after obtaining their
pardon; and Lucius Caesar had not only in the most cruel manner destroyed
with fire and sword his freed-men and slaves, but cut to pieces the wild

beasts which he had prepared for the entertainment of the people. And
finally, a little before his death, he permitted all whom he had not before
pardoned, to return into Italy, and to bear offices both civil and military. He
even replaced the statues of Sylla and Pompey, which had been thrown
down by the populace. And after this, whatever was devised or uttered, he
chose rather to check than to punish it. Accordingly, having detected certain
conspiracies and nocturnal assemblies, he went no farther than to intimate
by a proclamation that he knew of them; and as to those who indulged
themselves in the liberty of reflecting severely upon him, he only warned
them in a public speech not to persist in their offence. He bore with great
moderation a virulent libel written against him by Aulus Caecinna, and the
abusive lampoons of Pitholaus, most highly reflecting on his reputation.
LXXVI. His other words and actions, however, so far outweigh all his
good qualities, that it is thought he abused his power, and was justly cut off.
For he not only obtained excessive honours, such as the consulship every
year, the dictatorship for life, and the censorship, but also the title of
emperor 86, (46) and the surname of FATHER OF HIS COUNTRY 87,
besides having his statue amongst the kings 88, and a lofty couch in the
theatre. He even suffered some honours to be decreed to him, which were
unbefitting the most exalted of mankind; such as a gilded chair of state in
the senate-house and on his tribunal, a consecrated chariot, and banners in
the Circensian procession, temples, altars, statues among the gods, a bed of
state in the temples, a priest, and a college of priests dedicated to himself,
like those of Pan; and that one of the months should be called by his name.
There were, indeed, no honours which he did not either assume himself, or
grant to others, at his will and pleasure. In his third and fourth consulship,
he used only the title of the office, being content with the power of dictator,
which was conferred upon him with the consulship; and in both years he
substituted other consuls in his room, during the three last months; so that
in the intervals he held no assemblies of the people, for the election of
magistrates, excepting only tribunes and ediles of the people; and appointed
officers, under the name of praefects, instead of the praetors, to administer
the affairs of the city during his absence. The office of consul having
become vacant, by the sudden death of one of the consuls the day before the
calends of January [the 1st Jan.], he conferred it on a person who requested
it of him, for a few hours. Assuming the same licence, and regardless of the
customs of his country, he appointed magistrates to hold their offices for

terms of years. He granted the insignia of the consular dignity to ten
persons of pretorian rank. He admitted into the senate some men who had
been made free of the city, and even natives of Gaul, who were semi-
barbarians. (47) He likewise appointed to the management of the mint, and
the public revenue of the state, some servants of his own household; and
entrusted the command of three legions, which he left at Alexandria, to an
old catamite of his, the son of his freed-man Rufinus.
LXXVII. He was guilty of the same extravagance in the language he
publicly used, as Titus Ampius informs us; according to whom he said,
“The republic is nothing but a name, without substance or reality. Sylla was
an ignorant fellow to abdicate the dictatorship. Men ought to consider what
is becoming when they talk with me, and look upon what I say as a law.” To
such a pitch of arrogance did he proceed, that when a soothsayer announced
to him the unfavourable omen, that the entrails of a victim offered for
sacrifice were without a heart, he said, “The entrails will be more
favourable when I please; and it ought not to be regarded as a prodigy that a
beast should be found wanting a heart.”
LXXVIII. But what brought upon him the greatest odium, and was
thought an unpardonable insult, was his receiving the whole body of the
conscript fathers sitting, before the temple of Venus Genitrix, when they
waited upon him with a number of decrees, conferring on him the highest
dignities. Some say that, on his attempting to rise, he was held down by
Cornelius Balbus; others, that he did not attempt to rise at all, but frowned
on Caius Trebatius, who suggested to him that he should stand up to receive
the senate. This behaviour appeared the more intolerable in him, because,
when one of the tribunes of the people, Pontius Aquila, would not rise up to
him, as he passed by the tribunes’ seat during his triumph, he was so much
offended, that he cried out, “Well then, you tribune, Aquila, oust me from
the government.” And for some days afterwards, he never promised a
favour to any person, without this proviso, “if Pontus Aquila will give me
leave.”
LXXIX. To this extraordinary mark of contempt for the senate, he added
another affront still more outrageous. For when, after the sacred rites of the
Latin festival, he was returning home, amidst the immoderate and unusual
acclamations (48) of the people, a man in the crowd put a laurel crown,
encircled with a white fillet 89, on one of his statues; upon which, the

tribunes of the people, Epidius Marullus, and Caesetius Flavus, ordered the
fillet to be removed from the crown, and the man to be taken to prison.
Caesar, being much concerned either that the idea of royalty had been
suggested to so little purpose, or, as was said, that he was thus deprived of
the merit of refusing it, reprimanded the tribunes very severely, and
dismissed them from their office. From that day forward, he was never able
to wipe off the scandal of affecting the name of king, although he replied to
the populace, when they saluted him by that title, “I am Caesar, and no
king.” And at the feast of the Lupercalia 90, when the consul Antony placed
a crown upon his head in the rostra several times, he as often put it away,
and sent it to the Capitol for Jupiter, the Best and the Greatest. A report was
very current, that he had a design of withdrawing to Alexandria or Ilium,
whither he proposed to transfer the imperial power, to drain Italy by new
levies, and to leave the government of the city to be administered by his
friends. To this report it was added, that in the next meeting of the senate,
Lucius Cotta, one of the fifteen 91, would make a motion, that as there was
in the Sibylline books a prophecy, that the Parthians would never be
subdued but by a king, Caesar should have that title conferred upon him.
LXXX. For this reason the conspirators precipitated the execution of
their design 92, that they might not be obliged to give their assent to the
proposal. Instead, therefore, of caballing any longer separately, in small
parties, they now united their counsels; the people themselves being
dissatisfied with the present state of affairs, both privately and publicly (49)
condemning the tyranny under which they lived, and calling on patriots to
assert their cause against the usurper. Upon the admission of foreigners into
the senate, a hand-bill was posted up in these words: “A good deed! let no
one shew a new senator the way to the house.” These verses were likewise
currently repeated:

The Gauls he dragged in triumph through the town,
Caesar has brought into the senate-house,
And changed their plaids 93 for the patrician gown.

Gallos Caesar in triumphum ducit: iidem in curiam
Galli braccas deposuerunt, latum clavum sumpserunt.

When Quintus Maximus, who had been his deputy in the consulship for
the last three months, entered the theatre, and the lictor, according to
custom, bid the people take notice who was coming, they all cried out, “He
is no consul.” After the removal of Caesetius and Marullus from their

office, they were found to have a great many votes at the next election of
consuls. Some one wrote under the statue of Lucius Brutus, “Would you
were now alive!” and under the statue of Caesar himself these lines:

Because he drove from Rome the royal race,
Brutus was first made consul in their place.
This man, because he put the consuls down,
Has been rewarded with a royal crown.

Brutus, quia reges ejecit, consul primus factus est:
Hic, quia consules ejecit, rex postremo factus est.

About sixty persons were engaged in the conspiracy against him, of
whom Caius Cassius, and Marcus and Decimus Brutus were the chief. It
was at first debated amongst them, whether they should attack him in the
Campus Martius when he was taking the votes of the tribes, and some of
them should throw him off the bridge, whilst others should be ready to stab
him upon his fall; or else in the Via Sacra, or at the entrance of the theatre.
But after public notice had been given by proclamation for the senate to
assemble upon the ides of March [15th March], in the senate-house built by
Pompey, they approved both of the time and place, as most fitting for their
purpose.
LXXXI. Caesar had warning given him of his fate by indubitable (50)
omens. A few months before, when the colonists settled at Capua, by virtue
of the Julian law, were demolishing some old sepulchres, in building
country-houses, and were the more eager at the work, because they
discovered certain vessels of antique workmanship, a tablet of brass was
found in a tomb, in which Capys, the founder of Capua, was said to have
been buried, with an inscription in the Greek language to this effect
“Whenever the bones of Capys come to be discovered, a descendant of
Iulus will be slain by the hands of his kinsmen, and his death revenged by
fearful disasters throughout Italy.” Lest any person should regard this
anecdote as a fabulous or silly invention, it was circulated upon the
authority of Caius Balbus, an intimate friend of Caesar’s. A few days
likewise before his death, he was informed that the horses, which, upon his
crossing the Rubicon, he had consecrated, and turned loose to graze without
a keeper, abstained entirely from eating, and shed floods of tears. The
soothsayer Spurinna, observing certain ominous appearances in a sacrifice
which he was offering, advised him to beware of some danger, which
threatened to befall him before the ides of March were past. The day before

the ides, birds of various kinds from a neighbouring grove, pursuing a wren
which flew into Pompey’s senate-house 94, with a sprig of laurel in its
beak, tore it in pieces. Also, in the night on which the day of his murder
dawned, he dreamt at one time that he was soaring above the clouds, and, at
another, that he had joined hands with Jupiter. His wife Calpurnia fancied in
her sleep that the pediment of the house was falling down, and her husband
stabbed on her bosom; immediately upon which the chamber doors flew
open. On account of these omens, as well as his infirm health, he was in
some doubt whether he should not remain at home, and defer to some other
opportunity the business which he intended to propose to the senate; but
Decimus Brutus advising him not to disappoint the senators, who were
numerously assembled, and waited his coming, he was prevailed upon to
go, and accordingly (51) set forward about the fifth hour. In his way, some
person having thrust into his hand a paper, warning him against the plot, he
mixed it with some other documents which he held in his left hand,
intending to read it at leisure. Victim after victim was slain, without any
favourable appearances in the entrails; but still, disregarding all omens, he
entered the senate-house, laughing at Spurinna as a false prophet, because
the ides of March were come, without any mischief having befallen him. To
which the soothsayer replied, “They are come, indeed, but not past.”
LXXXII. When he had taken his seat, the conspirators stood round him,
under colour of paying their compliments; and immediately Tullius Cimber,
who had engaged to commence the assault, advancing nearer than the rest,
as if he had some favour to request, Caesar made signs that he should defer
his petition to some other time. Tullius immediately seized him by the toga,
on both shoulders; at which Caesar crying out, “Violence is meant!” one of
the Cassii wounded him a little below the throat. Caesar seized him by the
arm, and ran it through with his style 95; and endeavouring to rush forward
was stopped by another wound. Finding himself now attacked on all hands
with naked poniards, he wrapped the toga 96 about his head, and at the
same moment drew the skirt round his legs with his left hand, that he might
fall more decently with the lower part of his body covered. He was stabbed
with three and twenty wounds, uttering a groan only, but no cry, at the first
wound; although some authors relate, that when Marcus Brutus fell upon
him, he exclaimed, “What! art thou, too, one of them? Thou, my son!” 97
The whole assembly instantly (52) dispersing, he lay for some time after he
expired, until three of his slaves laid the body on a litter, and carried it

home, with one arm hanging down over the side. Among so many wounds,
there was none that was mortal, in the opinion of the surgeon Antistius,
except the second, which he received in the breast. The conspirators meant
to drag his body into the Tiber as soon as they had killed him; to confiscate
his estate, and rescind all his enactments; but they were deterred by fear of
Mark Antony, and Lepidus, Caesar’s master of the horse, and abandoned
their intentions.
LXXXIII. At the instance of Lucius Piso, his father-in-law, his will was
opened and read in Mark Antony’s house. He had made it on the ides [13th]
of the preceding September, at his Lavican villa, and committed it to the
custody of the chief of the Vestal Virgins. Quintus Tubero informs us, that
in all the wills he had signed, from the time of his first consulship to the
breaking out of the civil war, Cneius Pompey was appointed his heir, and
that this had been publicly notified to the army. But in his last will, he
named three heirs, the grandsons of his sisters; namely, Caius Octavius for
three fourths of his estate, and Lucius Pinarius and Quintus Pedius for the
remaining fourth. Other heirs [in remainder] were named at the close of the
will, in which he also adopted Caius Octavius, who was to assume his
name, into his family; and nominated most of those who were concerned in
his death among the guardians of his son, if he should have any; as well as
Decimus Brutus amongst his heirs of the second order. Be bequeathed to the
Roman people his gardens near the Tiber, and three hundred sesterces each
man.
LXXXIV. Notice of his funeral having been solemnly proclaimed, a pile
was erected in the Campus Martius, near the tomb of his daughter Julia; and
before the Rostra was placed a gilded tabernacle, on the model of the
temple of Venus Genitrix; within which was an ivory bed, covered with
purple and cloth of gold. At the head was a trophy, with the [bloodstained]
robe in which he was slain. It being considered that the whole day would
not suffice for carrying the funeral oblations in solemn procession before
the corpse, directions were given for every one, without regard to order, to
carry them from the city into the Campus Martius, by what way they
pleased. To raise pity and indignation for his murder, in the plays acted at
the funeral, a passage was sung from Pacuvius’s tragedy, entitled, “The
Trial for Arms:”

That ever I, unhappy man, should save

Wretches, who thus have brought me to the grave! 98

And some lines also from Attilius’s tragedy of “Electra,” to the same
effect. Instead of a funeral panegyric, the consul Antony ordered a herald to
proclaim to the people the decree of the senate, in which they had bestowed
upon him all honours, divine and human; with the oath by which they had
engaged themselves for the defence of his person; and to these he added
only a few words of his own. The magistrates and others who had formerly
filled the highest offices, carried the bier from the Rostra into the Forum.
While some proposed that the body should be burnt in the sanctuary of the
temple of Jupiter Capitolinus, and others in Pompey’s senate-house; on a
sudden, two men, with swords by their sides, and spears in their hands, set
fire to the bier with lighted torches. The throng around immediately heaped
upon it dry faggots, the tribunals and benches of the adjoining courts, and
whatever else came to hand. Then the musicians and players stripped off the
dresses they wore on the present occasion, taken from the wardrobe of his
triumph at spectacles, rent them, and threw them into the flames. The
legionaries, also, of his (54) veteran bands, cast in their armour, which they
had put on in honour of his funeral. Most of the ladies did the same by their
ornaments, with the bullae 99, and mantles of their children. In this public
mourning there joined a multitude of foreigners, expressing their sorrow
according to the fashion of their respective countries; but especially the
Jews 100, who for several nights together frequented the spot where the
body was burnt.
LXXXV. The populace ran from the funeral, with torches in their hands,
to the houses of Brutus and Cassius, and were repelled with difficulty.
Going in quest of Cornelius Cinna, who had in a speech, the day before,
reflected severely upon Caesar, and mistaking for him Helvius Cinna, who
happened to fall into their hands, they murdered the latter, and carried his
head about the city on the point of a spear. They afterwards erected in the
Forum a column of Numidian marble, formed of one stone nearly twenty
feet high, and inscribed upon it these words, TO THE FATHER OF HIS
COUNTRY. At this column they continued for a long time to offer
sacrifices, make vows, and decide controversies, in which they swore by
Caesar.
LXXXVI. Some of Caesar’s friends entertained a suspicion, that he
neither desired nor cared to live any longer, on account of his declining
health; and for that reason slighted all the omens of religion, and the

warnings of his friends. Others are of opinion, that thinking himself secure
in the late decree of the senate, and their oaths, he dismissed his Spanish
guards who attended him with drawn swords. Others again suppose, that he
chose rather to face at once the dangers which threatened him on all sides,
than to be for ever on the watch against them. Some tell us that he used to
say, the commonwealth was more interested in the safety of his person than
himself: for that he had for some time been satiated with power and glory;
but that the commonwealth, if any thing should befall him, would have no
rest, and, involved in another civil war, would be in a worse state than
before.
(55) LXXXVII. This, however, was generally admitted, that his death
was in many respects such as he would have chosen. For, upon reading the
account delivered by Xenophon, how Cyrus in his last illness gave
instructions respecting his funeral, Caesar deprecated a lingering death, and
wished that his own might be sudden and speedy. And the day before he
died, the conversation at supper, in the house of Marcus Lepidus, turning
upon what was the most eligible way of dying, he gave his opinion in
favour of a death that is sudden and unexpected.
LXXXVIII. He died in the fifty-sixth year of his age, and was ranked
amongst the Gods, not only by a formal decree, but in the belief of the
vulgar. For during the first games which Augustus, his heir, consecrated to
his memory, a comet blazed for seven days together, rising always about
eleven o’clock; and it was supposed to be the soul of Caesar, now received
into heaven: for which reason, likewise, he is represented on his statue with
a star on his brow. The senate-house in which he was slain, was ordered to
be shut up 101, and a decree made that the ides of March should be called
parricidal, and the senate should never more assemble on that day.
LXXXIX. Scarcely any of those who were accessary to his murder,
survived him more than three years, or died a natural death 102. They were
all condemned by the senate: some were taken off by one accident, some by
another. Part of them perished at sea, others fell in battle; and some slew
themselves with the same poniard with which they had stabbed Caesar 103.
(56) 104 The termination of the civil war between Caesar and Pompey
forms a new epoch in the Roman History, at which a Republic, which had
subsisted with unrivalled glory during a period of about four hundred and
sixty years, relapsed into a state of despotism, whence it never more could

emerge. So sudden a transition from prosperity to the ruin of public
freedom, without the intervention of any foreign enemy, excites a
reasonable conjecture, that the constitution in which it could take place,
however vigorous in appearance, must have lost that soundness of political
health which had enabled it to endure through so many ages. A short view
of its preceding state, and of that in which it was at the time of the
revolution now mentioned, will best ascertain the foundation of such a
conjecture.
Though the Romans, upon the expulsion of Tarquin, made an essential
change in the political form of the state, they did not carry their detestation
of regal authority so far as to abolish the religious institutions of Numa
Pompilius, the second of their kings, according to which, the priesthood,
with all the influence annexed to that order, was placed in the hands of the
aristocracy. By this wise policy a restraint was put upon the fickleness and
violence of the people in matters of government, and a decided superiority
given to the Senate both in the deliberative and executive parts of
administration. This advantage was afterwards indeed diminished by the
creation of Tribunes of the people; a set of men whose ambition often
embroiled the Republic in civil dissensions, and who at last abused their
authority to such a degree, that they became instruments of aggrandizement
to any leading men in the state who could purchase their friendship. In
general, however, the majority of the Tribunes being actuated by views
which comprehended the interests of the multitude, rather than those of
individuals, they did not so much endanger the liberty, as they interrupted
the tranquillity, of the public; and when the occasional commotions
subsided, there remained no permanent ground for the establishment of
personal usurpation.
In every government, an object of the last importance to the peace and
welfare of society is the morals of the people; and in proportion as a
community is enlarged by propagation, or the accession of a multitude of
new members, a more strict attention is requisite to guard against that
dissolution of manners to which a crowded and extensive capital has a
natural tendency. Of this (57) the Romans became sensible in the growing
state of the Republic. In the year of the City 312, two magistrates were first
created for taking an account of the number of the people, and the value of
their estates; and soon after, they were invested with the authority not only
of inspecting the morals of individuals, but of inflicting public censure for

any licentiousness of conduct, or violation of decency. Thus both the civil
and religious institutions concurred to restrain the people within the bounds
of good order and obedience to the laws; at the same time that the frugal life
of the ancient Romans proved a strong security against those vices which
operate most effectually towards sapping the foundations of a state.
But in the time of Julius Caesar the barriers of public liberty were
become too weak to restrain the audacious efforts of ambitious and
desperate men. The veneration for the constitution, usually a powerful
check to treasonable designs, had been lately violated by the usurpations of
Marius and Sylla. The salutary terrors of religion no longer predominated
over the consciences of men. The shame of public censure was extinguished
in general depravity. An eminent historian, who lived at that time, informs
us, that venality universally prevailed amongst the Romans; and a writer
who flourished soon after, observes, that luxury and dissipation had
encumbered almost all so much with debt, that they beheld with a degree of
complacency the prospect of civil war and confusion.
The extreme degree of profligacy at which the Romans were now arrived
is in nothing more evident, than that this age gave birth to the most horrible
conspiracy which occurs in the annals of humankind, viz. that of Catiline.
This was not the project of a few desperate and abandoned individuals, but
of a number of men of the most illustrious rank in the state; and it appears
beyond doubt, that Julius Caesar was accessary to the design, which was no
less than to extirpate the Senate, divide amongst themselves both the public
and private treasures, and set Rome on fire. The causes which prompted to
this tremendous project, it is generally admitted, were luxury, prodigality,
irreligion, a total corruption of manners, and above all, as the immediate
cause, the pressing necessity in which the conspirators were involved by
their extreme dissipation.
The enormous debt in which Caesar himself was early involved,
countenances an opinion that his anxiety to procure the province of Gaul
proceeded chiefly from this cause. But during nine years in which he held
that province, he acquired such riches as must have rendered him, without
competition, the most opulent person in the state. If nothing more,
therefore, than a (58) splendid establishment had been the object of his
pursuit, he had attained to the summit of his wishes. But when we find him
persevering in a plan of aggrandizement beyond this period of his fortunes,

we can ascribe his conduct to no other motive than that of outrageous
ambition. He projected the building of a new Forum at Rome, for the
ground only of which he was to pay 800,000 pounds; he raised legions in
Gaul at his own charges: he promised such entertainments to the people as
had never been known at Rome from the foundation of the city. All these
circumstances evince some latent design of procuring such a popularity as
might give him an uncontrolled influence in the management of public
affairs. Pompey, we are told, was wont to say, that Caesar not being able,
with all his riches, to fulfil the promises which he had made, wished to
throw everything into confusion. There may have been some foundation for
this remark: but the opinion of Cicero is more probable, that Caesar’s mind
was seduced with the temptations of chimerical glory. It is observable that
neither Cicero nor Pompey intimates any suspicion that Caesar was
apprehensive of being impeached for his conduct, had he returned to Rome
in a private station. Yet, that there was reason for such an apprehension, the
positive declaration of L. Domitius leaves little room to doubt: especially
when we consider the number of enemies that Caesar had in the Senate, and
the coolness of his former friend Pompey ever after the death of Julia. The
proposed impeachment was founded upon a notorious charge of prosecuting
measures destructive of the interests of the commonwealth, and tending
ultimately to an object incompatible with public freedom. Indeed,
considering the extreme corruption which prevailed amongst the Romans at
this time, it is more than probable that Caesar would have been acquitted of
the charge, but at such an expense as must have stripped him of all his
riches, and placed him again in a situation ready to attempt a disturbance of
the public tranquillity. For it is said, that he purchased the friendship of
Curio, at the commencement of the civil war, with a bribe little short of half
a million sterling.
Whatever Caesar’s private motive may have been for taking arms against
his country, he embarked in an enterprise of a nature the most dangerous:
and had Pompey conducted himself in any degree suitable to the reputation
which he had formerly acquired, the contest would in all probability have
terminated in favour of public freedom. But by dilatory measures in the
beginning, by imprudently withdrawing his army from Italy into a distant
province, and by not pursuing the advantage he had gained by the vigorous
repulse of Caesar’s troops in their attack upon his camp, this commander
lost every opportunity of extinguishing a war which was to determine the

fate, and even the existence, of the Republic. It was accordingly determined
on the plains of Pharsalia, where Caesar obtained a victory which was not
more decisive than unexpected. He was now no longer amenable either to
the tribunal of the Senate or the power of the laws, but triumphed at once
over his enemies and the constitution of his country.
It is to the honour of Caesar, that when he had obtained the supreme
power, he exercised it with a degree of moderation beyond what was
generally expected by those who had fought on the side of the Republic. Of
his private life either before or after this period, little is transmitted in
history. Henceforth, however, he seems to have lived chiefly at Rome, near
which he had a small villa, upon an eminence, commanding a beautiful
prospect. His time was almost entirely occupied with public affairs, in the
management of which, though he employed many agents, he appears to
have had none in the character of actual minister. He was in general easy of
access: but Cicero, in a letter to a friend, complains of having been treated
with the indignity of waiting a considerable time amongst a crowd in an
anti-chamber, before he could have an audience. The elevation of Caesar
placed him not above discharging reciprocally the social duties in the
intercourse of life. He returned the visits of those who waited upon him, and
would sup at their houses. At table, and in the use of wine, he was
habitually temperate. Upon the whole, he added nothing to his own
happiness by all the dangers, the fatigues, and the perpetual anxiety which
he had incurred in the pursuit of unlimited power. His health was greatly
impaired: his former cheerfulness of temper, though not his magnanimity,
appears to have forsaken him; and we behold in his fate a memorable
example of illustrious talents rendered, by inordinate ambition, destructive
to himself, and irretrievably pernicious to his country.
From beholding the ruin of the Roman Republic, after intestine divisions,
and the distractions of civil war, it will afford some relief to take a view of
the progress of literature, which flourished even during those calamities.
The commencement of literature in Rome is to be dated from the
reduction of the Grecian States, when the conquerors imported into their
own country the valuable productions of the Greek language, and the first
essay of Roman genius was in dramatic composition. Livius Andronicus,
who flourished about 240 years before the Christian aera, formed the
Fescennine verses into a kind of regular drama, upon the model of the

Greeks. He was followed some time after by Ennius, who, besides dramatic
and other compositions, (60) wrote the annals of the Roman Republic in
heroic verse. His style, like that of Andronicus, was rough and unpolished,
in conformity to the language of those times; but for grandeur of sentiment
and energy of expression, he was admired by the greatest poets in the
subsequent ages. Other writers of distinguished reputation in the dramatic
department were Naevius, Pacuvius, Plautus, Afranius, Caecilius, Terence,
Accius, etc. Accius and Pacuvius are mentioned by Quintilian as writers of
extraordinary merit. Of twenty-five comedies written by Plautus, the
number transmitted to posterity is nineteen; and of a hundred and eight
which Terence is said to have translated from Menander, there now remain
only six. Excepting a few inconsiderable fragments, the writings of all the
other authors have perished. The early period of Roman literature was
distinguished for the introduction of satire by Lucilius, an author celebrated
for writing with remarkable ease, but whose compositions, in the opinion of
Horace, though Quintilian thinks otherwise, were debased with a mixture of
feculency. Whatever may have been their merit, they also have perished,
with the works of a number of orators, who adorned the advancing state of
letters in the Roman Republic. It is observable, that during this whole
period, of near two centuries and a half, there appeared not one historian of
eminence sufficient to preserve his name from oblivion.
Julius Caesar himself is one of the most eminent writers of the age in
which he lived. His commentaries on the Gallic and Civil Wars are written
with a purity, precision, and perspicuity, which command approbation. They
are elegant without affectation, and beautiful without ornament. Of the two
books which he composed on Analogy, and those under the title of Anti-
Cato, scarcely any fragment is preserved; but we may be assured of the
justness of the observations on language, which were made by an author so
much distinguished by the excellence of his own compositions. His poem
entitled The Journey, which was probably an entertaining narrative, is
likewise totally lost.
The most illustrious prose writer of this or any other age is M. Tullius
Cicero; and as his life is copiously related in biographical works, it will be
sufficient to mention his writings. From his earliest years, he applied
himself with unremitting assiduity to the cultivation of literature, and,
whilst he was yet a boy, wrote a poem, called Glaucus Pontius, which was
extant in Plutarch’s time. Amongst his juvenile productions was a

translation into Latin verse, of Aratus on the Phaenomena of the Heavens;
of which many fragments are still extant. He also published a poem of the
heroic kind, in honour of his countryman C. Marius, who was born at
Arpinum, the birth-place of Cicero. (61) This production was greatly
admired by Atticus; and old Scaevola was so much pleased with it, that in
an epigram written on the subject, he declares that it would live as long as
the Roman name and learning subsisted. From a little specimen which
remains of it, describing a memorable omen given to Marina from an oak at
Arpinum, there is reason to believe that his poetical genius was scarcely
inferior to his oratorical, had it been cultivated with equal industry. He
published another poem called Limon, of which Donatus has preserved four
lines in the life of Terence, in praise of the elegance and purity of that poet’s
style. He composed in the Greek language, and in the style and manner of
Isocrates, a Commentary or Memoirs of the Transactions of his Consulship.
This he sent to Atticus, with a desire, if he approved it, to publish it in
Athens and the cities of Greece. He sent a copy of it likewise to Posidonius
of Rhodes, and requested of him to undertake the same subject in a more
elegant and masterly manner. But the latter returned for answer, that,
instead of being encouraged to write by the perusal of his tract, he was quite
deterred from attempting it.
Upon the plan of those Memoirs, he afterwards composed a Latin poem
in three books, in which he carried down the history to the end of his exile,
but did not publish it for several years, from motives of delicacy. The three
books were severally inscribed to the three Muses; but of this work there
now remain only a few fragments, scattered in different parts of his other
writings. He published, about the same time, a collection of the principal
speeches which he had made in his consulship, under the title of his
Consular Orations. They consisted originally of twelve; but four are entirely
lost, and some of the rest are imperfect. He now published also, in Latin
verse, a translation of the Prognostics of Aratus, of which work no more
than two or three small fragments now remain. A few years after, he put the
last hand to his Dialogues upon the Character and Idea of the perfect Orator.
This admirable work remains entire; a monument both of the astonishing
industry and transcendent abilities of its author. At his Cuman villa, he next
began a Treatise on Politics, or on the best State of a City, and the Duties of
a Citizen. He calls it a great and a laborious work, yet worthy of his pains, if
he could succeed in it. This likewise was written in the form of a dialogue,

in which the speakers were Scipio, Laelius, Philus, Manilius, and other
great persons in the former times of the Republic. It was comprised in six
books, and survived him for several ages, though it is now unfortunately
lost. From the fragments which remain, it appears to have been a masterly
production, in which all the important questions in politics and morality
were discussed with elegance and accuracy.
(62) Amidst all the anxiety for the interests of the Republic, which
occupied the thoughts of this celebrated personage, he yet found leisure to
write several philosophical tracts, which still subsist, to the gratification of
the literary world. He composed a treatise on the Nature of the Gods, in
three books, containing a comprehensive view of religion, faith, oaths,
ceremonies, etc. In elucidating this important subject, he not only delivers
the opinions of all the philosophers who had written anything concerning it,
but weighs and compares attentively all the arguments with each other;
forming upon the whole such a rational and perfect system of natural
religion, as never before was presented to the consideration of mankind, and
approaching nearly to revelation. He now likewise composed in two books,
a discourse on Divination, in which he discusses at large all the arguments
that may be advanced for and against the actual existence of such a species
of knowledge. Like the preceding works, it is written in the form of
dialogue, and in which the chief speaker is Laelius. The same period gave
birth to his treatise on Old Age, called Cato Major; and to that on
Friendship, written also in dialogue, and in which the chief speaker is
Laelius. This book, considered merely as an essay, is one of the most
entertaining productions of ancient times; but, beheld as a picture drawn
from life, exhibiting the real characters and sentiments of men of the first
distinction for virtue and wisdom in the Roman Republic, it becomes
doubly interesting to every reader of observation and taste. Cicero now also
wrote his discourse on Fate, which was the subject of a conversation with
Hirtius, in his villa near Puteoli; and he executed about the same time a
translation of Plato’s celebrated Dialogue, called Timaeus, on the nature and
origin of the universe. He was employing himself also on a history of his
own times, or rather of his own conduct; full of free and severe reflections
on those who had abused their power to the oppression of the Republic.
Dion Cassius says, that he delivered this book sealed up to his son, with
strict orders not to read or publish it till after his death; but from this time
he never saw his son, and it is probable that he left the work unfinished.

Afterwards, however, some copies of it were circulated; from which his
commentator, Asconius, has quoted several particulars.
During a voyage which he undertook to Sicily, he wrote his treatise on
Topics, or the Art of finding Arguments on any Question. This was an
abstract from Aristotle’s treatise on the same subject; and though he had
neither Aristotle nor any other book to assist him, he drew it up from his
memory, and finished it as he sailed along the coast of Calabria. The last
(63) work composed by Cicero appears to have been his Offices, written for
the use of his son, to whom it is addressed. This treatise contains a system
of moral conduct, founded upon the noblest principles of human action, and
recommended by arguments drawn from the purest sources of philosophy.
Such are the literary productions of this extraordinary man, whose
comprehensive understanding enabled him to conduct with superior ability
the most abstruse disquisitions into moral and metaphysical science. Born
in an age posterior to Socrates and Plato, he could not anticipate the
principles inculcated by those divine philosophers, but he is justly entitled
to the praise, not only of having prosecuted with unerring judgment the
steps which they trod before him, but of carrying his researches to greater
extent into the most difficult regions of philosophy. This too he had the
merit to perform, neither in the station of a private citizen, nor in the leisure
of academic retirement, but in the bustle of public life, amidst the almost
constant exertions of the bar, the employment of the magistrate, the duty of
the senator, and the incessant cares of the statesman; through a period
likewise chequered with domestic afflictions and fatal commotions in the
Republic. As a philosopher, his mind appears to have been clear, capacious,
penetrating, and insatiable of knowledge. As a writer, he was endowed with
every talent that could captivate either the judgment or taste. His researches
were continually employed on subjects of the greatest utility to mankind,
and those often such as extended beyond the narrow bounds of temporal
existence. The being of a God, the immortality of the soul, a future state of
rewards and punishments, and the eternal distinction of good and evil; these
were in general the great objects of his philosophical enquiries, and he has
placed them in a more convincing point of view than they ever were before
exhibited to the pagan world. The variety and force of the arguments which
he advances, the splendour of his diction, and the zeal with which he
endeavours to excite the love and admiration of virtue, all conspire to place

his character, as a philosophical writer, including likewise his incomparable
eloquence, on the summit of human celebrity.
The form of dialogue, so much used by Cicero, he doubtless adopted in
imitation of Plato, who probably took the hint of it from the colloquial
method of instruction practised by Socrates. In the early stage of
philosophical enquiry, this mode of composition was well adapted, if not to
the discovery, at least to the confirmation of moral truth; especially as the
practice was then not uncommon, for speculative men to converse together
on important subjects, for mutual information. In treating of any subject
respecting which the different sects of philosophers differed (64) from each
other in point of sentiment, no kind of composition could be more happily
suited than dialogue, as it gave alternately full scope to the arguments of the
various disputants. It required, however, that the writer should exert his
understanding with equal impartiality and acuteness on the different sides of
the question; as otherwise he might betray a cause under the appearance of
defending it. In all the dialogues of Cicero, he manages the arguments of
the several disputants in a manner not only the most fair and interesting, but
also such as leads to the most probable and rational conclusion.
After enumerating the various tracts composed and published by Cicero,
we have now to mention his Letters, which, though not written for
publication, deserve to be ranked among the most interesting remains of
Roman literature. The number of such as are addressed to different
correspondents is considerable, but those to Atticus alone, his confidential
friend, amount to upwards of four hundred; among which are many of great
length. They are all written in the genuine spirit of the most approved
epistolary composition; uniting familiarity with elevation, and ease with
elegance. They display in a beautiful light the author’s character in the
social relations of life; as a warm friend, a zealous patron, a tender husband,
an affectionate brother, an indulgent father, and a kind master. Beholding
them in a more extensive view, they exhibit an ardent love of liberty and the
constitution of his country: they discover a mind strongly actuated with the
principles of virtue and reason; and while they abound in sentiments the
most judicious and philosophical, they are occasionally blended with the
charms of wit, and agreeable effusions of pleasantry. What is likewise no
small addition to their merit, they contain much interesting description of
private life, with a variety of information relative to public transactions and
characters of that age. It appears from Cicero’s correspondence, that there

was at that time such a number of illustrious Romans, as never before
existed in any one period of the Republic. If ever, therefore, the authority of
men the most respectable for virtue, rank, and abilities, could have availed
to overawe the first attempts at a violation of public liberty, it must have
been at this period; for the dignity of the Roman senate was now in the
zenith of its splendour.
Cicero has been accused of excessive vanity, and of arrogating to himself
an invidious superiority, from his extraordinary talents but whoever peruses
his letters to Atticus, must readily acknowledge, that this imputation
appears to be destitute of truth. In those excellent productions, though he
adduces the strongest arguments for and against any object of consideration,
that the (65) most penetrating understanding can suggest, weighs them with
each other, and draws from them the most rational conclusions, he yet
discovers such a diffidence in his own opinion, that he resigns himself
implicitly to the judgment and direction of his friend; a modesty not very
compatible with the disposition of the arrogant, who are commonly
tenacious of their own opinion, particularly in what relates to any decision
of the understanding.
It is difficult to say, whether Cicero appears in his letters more great or
amiable: but that he was regarded by his contemporaries in both these
lights, and that too in the highest degree, is sufficiently evident. We may
thence infer, that the great poets in the subsequent age must have done
violence to their own liberality and discernment, when, in compliment to
Augustus, whose sensibility would have been wounded by the praises of
Cicero, and even by the mention of his name, they have so industriously
avoided the subject, as not to afford the most distant intimation that this
immortal orator and philosopher had ever existed. Livy however, there is
reason to think, did some justice to his memory: but it was not until the race
of the Caesars had become extinct, that he received the free and unanimous
applause of impartial posterity. Such was the admiration which Quintilian
entertained of his writings, that he considered the circumstance or being
delighted with them, as an indubitable proof of judgment and taste in
literature. Ille se profecisse sciat, cui Cicero valde placebit. 105
In this period is likewise to be placed M. Terentius Varro, the celebrated
Roman grammarian, and the Nestor of ancient learning. The first mention
made of him is, that he was lieutenant to Pompey in his piratical wars, and

obtained in that service a naval crown. In the civil wars he joined the side of
the Republic, and was taken by Caesar; by whom he was likewise
proscribed, but obtained a remission of the sentence. Of all the ancients, he
has acquired the greatest fame for his extensive erudition; and we may add,
that he displayed the same industry in communicating, as he had done in
collecting it. His works originally amounted to no less than five hundred
volumes, which have all perished, except a treatise De Lingua Latina, and
one De Re Rustica. Of the former of these, which is addressed to Cicero,
three books at the beginning are also lost. It appears from the introduction
of the fourth book, that they all related to etymology. The first contained
such observations as might be made against it; the second, such as might be
made in its favour; and the third, observations upon it. He next proceeds to
investigate the origin of (66) Latin words. In the fourth book, he traces
those which relate to place; in the fifth, those connected with the idea of
time; and in the sixth, the origin of both these classes, as they appear in the
writings of the poets. The seventh book is employed on declension; in
which the author enters upon a minute and extensive enquiry,
comprehending a variety of acute and profound observations on the
formation of Latin nouns, and their respective natural declinations from the
nominative case. In the eighth, he examines the nature and limits of usage
and analogy in language; and in the ninth and last book on the subject, takes
a general view of what is the reverse of analogy, viz. anomaly. The
precision and perspicuity which Varro displays in this work merit the
highest encomiums, and justify the character given him in his own time, of
being the most learned of the Latin grammarians. To the loss of the first
three books, are to be added several chasms in the others; but fortunately
they happen in such places as not to affect the coherency of the author’s
doctrine, though they interrupt the illustration of it. It is observable that this
great grammarian makes use of quom for quum, heis for his, and generally
queis for quibus. This practice having become rather obsolete at the time in
which he wrote, we must impute his continuance of it to his opinion of its
propriety, upon its established principles of grammar, and not to any
prejudice of education, or an affectation of singularity. As Varro makes no
mention of Caesar’s treatise on Analogy, and had commenced author long
before him, it is probable that Caesar’s production was of a much later date;
and thence we may infer, that those two writers differed from each other, at
least with respect to some particulars on that subject.

This author’s treatise De Re Rustica was undertaken at the desire of a
friend, who, having purchased some lands, requested of Varro the favour of
his instructions relative to farming, and the economy of a country life, in its
various departments. Though Varro was at this time in his eightieth year, he
writes with all the vivacity, though without the levity, of youth, and sets out
with invoking, not the Muses, like Homer and Ennius, as he observes, but
the twelve deities supposed to be chiefly concerned in the operations of
agriculture. It appears from the account which he gives, that upwards of
fifty Greek authors had treated of this subject in prose, besides Hesiod and
Menecrates the Ephesian, who both wrote in verse; exclusive likewise of
many Roman writers, and of Mago the Carthaginian, who wrote in the
Punic language. Varro’s work is divided into three books, the first of which
treats of agriculture; the second, of rearing of cattle; and the third, of
feeding animals for the use of the table. (67) In the last of these, we meet
with a remarkable instance of the prevalence of habit and fashion over
human sentiment, where the author delivers instructions relative to the best
method of fattening rats.
We find from Quintilian, that Varro likewise composed satires in various
kinds of verse. It is impossible to behold the numerous fragments of this
venerable author without feeling the strongest regret for the loss of that vast
collection of information which he had compiled, and of judicious
observations which he had made on a variety of subjects, during a life of
eighty-eight years, almost entirely devoted to literature. The remark of St.
Augustine is well founded, That it is astonishing how Varro, who read such
a number of books, could find time to compose so many volumes; and how
he who composed so many volumes, could be at leisure to peruse such a
variety of books, and to gain so much literary information.
Catullus is said to have been born at Verona, of respectable parents; his
father and himself being in the habit of intimacy with Julius Caesar. He was
brought to Rome by Mallius, to whom several of his epigrams are
addressed. The gentleness of his manners, and his application to study, we
are told, recommended him to general esteem; and he had the good fortune
to obtain the patronage of Cicero. When he came to be known as a poet, all
these circumstances would naturally contribute to increase his reputation for
ingenuity; and accordingly we find his genius applauded by several of his
contemporaries. It appears that his works are not transmitted entire to

posterity; but there remain sufficient specimens by which we may be
enabled to appreciate his poetical talents.
Quintilian, and Diomed the grammarian, have ranked Catullus amongst
the iambic writers, while others have placed him amongst the lyric. He has
properly a claim to each of these stations; but his versification being chiefly
iambic, the former of the arrangements seems to be the most suitable. The
principal merit of Catullus’s Iambics consists in a simplicity of thought and
expression. The thoughts, however, are often frivolous, and, what is yet
more reprehensible, the author gives way to gross obscenity: in vindication
of which, he produces the following couplet, declaring that a good poet
ought to be chaste in his own person, but that his verses need not be so.

Nam castum esse decet pium poetam
Ipsum: versiculos nihil necesse est.

This sentiment has been frequently cited by those who were inclined to
follow the example of Catullus; but if such a practice be in any case
admissible, it is only where the poet personates (68) a profligate character;
and the instances in which it is adopted by Catullus are not of that
description. It had perhaps been a better apology, to have pleaded the
manners of the times; for even Horace, who wrote only a few years after,
has suffered his compositions to be occasionally debased by the same kind
of blemish.
Much has been said of this poet’s invective against Caesar, which
produced no other effect than an invitation to sup at the dictator’s house. It
was indeed scarcely entitled to the honour of the smallest resentment. If any
could be shewn, it must have been for the freedom used by the author, and
not for any novelty in his lampoon. There are two poems on this subject,
viz. the twenty-ninth and fifty-seventh, in each of which Caesar is joined
with Mamurra, a Roman knight, who had acquired great riches in the Gallic
war. For the honour of Catullus’s gratitude, we should suppose that the
latter is the one to which historians allude: but, as poetical compositions,
they are equally unworthy of regard. The fifty seventh is nothing more than
a broad repetition of the raillery, whether well or ill founded, with which
Caesar was attacked on various occasions, and even in the senate, after his
return from Bithynia. Caesar had been taunted with this subject for upwards
of thirty years; and after so long a familiarity with reproach, his sensibility
to the scandalous imputation must now have been much diminished, if not

entirely extinguished. The other poem is partly in the same strain, but
extended to greater length, by a mixture of common jocular ribaldry of the
Roman soldiers, expressed nearly in the same terms which Caesar’s legions,
though strongly attached to his person, scrupled not to sport publicly in the
streets of Rome, against their general, during the celebration of his triumph.
In a word, it deserves to be regarded as an effusion of Saturnalian
licentiousness, rather than of poetry. With respect to the Iambics of
Catullus, we may observe in general, that the sarcasm is indebted for its
force, not so much to ingenuity of sentiment, as to the indelicate nature of
the subject, or coarseness of expression.
The descriptive poems of Catullus are superior to the others, and discover
a lively imagination. Amongst the best of his productions, is a translation of
the celebrated ode of Sappho:

Ille mi par esse Deo videtur,
me, etc.

This ode is executed both with spirit and elegance; it is, however,
imperfect; and the last stanza seems to be spurious. Catullus’s epigrams are
entitled to little praise, with regard either to sentiment or point; and on the
whole, his merit, as a poet, appears to have been magnified beyond its real
extent. He is said to have died about the thirtieth year of his age.
(69) Lucretius is the author of a celebrated poem, in six books, De Rerum
Natura; a subject which had been treated many ages before by Empedocles,
a philosopher and poet of Agrigentum. Lucretius was a zealous partizan of
Democritus, and the sect of Epicurus, whose principles concerning the
eternity of matter, the materiality of the soul, and the non-existence of a
future state of rewards and punishments, he affects to maintain with a
certainty equal to that of mathematical demonstration. Strongly
prepossessed with the hypothetical doctrines of his master, and ignorant of
the physical system of the universe, he endeavours to deduce from the
phenomena of the material world conclusions not only unsupported by
legitimate theory, but repugnant to the principles of the highest authority in
metaphysical disquisition. But while we condemn his speculative notions as
degrading to human nature, and subversive of the most important interests
of mankind, we must admit that he has prosecuted his visionary hypothesis
with uncommon ingenuity. Abstracting from it the rhapsodical nature of this
production, and its obscurity in some parts, it has great merit as a poem.

The style is elevated, and the versification in general harmonious. By the
mixture of obsolete words, it possesses an air of solemnity well adapted to
abstruse researches; at the same time that by the frequent resolution of
diphthongs, it instils into the Latin the sonorous and melodious powers of
the Greek language.
While Lucretius was engaged in this work, he fell into a state of insanity,
occasioned, as is supposed, by a philtre, or love-potion, given him by his
wife Lucilia. The complaint, however, having lucid intervals, he employed
them in the execution of his plan, and, soon after it was finished, laid
violent hands upon himself, in the forty-third year of his age. This fatal
termination of his life, which perhaps proceeded from insanity, was
ascribed by his friends and admirers to his concern for the banishment of
one Memmius, with whom he was intimately connected, and for the
distracted state of the republic. It was, however, a catastrophe which the
principles of Epicurus, equally erroneous and irreconcilable to resignation
and fortitude, authorized in particular circumstances. Even Atticus, the
celebrated correspondent of Cicero, a few years after this period, had
recourse to the same desperate expedient, by refusing all sustenance, while
he laboured under a lingering disease.
It is said that Cicero revised the poem of Lucretius after the death of the
author, and this circumstance is urged by the abettors of atheism, as a proof
that the principles contained in the work had the sanction of his authority.
But no inference in favour of Lucretius’s doctrine can justly be drawn from
this circumstance. (70) Cicero, though already sufficiently acquainted with
the principles of the Epicurean sect, might not be averse to the perusal of a
production, which collected and enforced them in a nervous strain of
poetry; especially as the work was likely to prove interesting to his friend
Atticus, and would perhaps afford subject for some letters or conversation
between them. It can have been only with reference to composition that the
poem was submitted to Cicero’s revisal: for had he been required to
exercise his judgment upon its principles, he must undoubtedly have so
much mutilated the work, as to destroy the coherency of the system. He
might be gratified with the shew of elaborate research, and confident
declamation, which it exhibited, but he must have utterly disapproved of the
conclusions which the author endeavoured to establish. According to the
best information, Lucretius died in the year from the building of Rome 701,
when Pompey was the third time consul. Cicero lived several years beyond

this period, and in the two last years of his life, he composed those valuable
works which contain sentiments diametrically repugnant to the visionary
system of Epicurus. The argument, therefore, drawn from Cicero’s revisal,
so far from confirming the principle of Lucretius, affords the strongest tacit
declaration against their validity; because a period sufficient for mature
consideration had elapsed, before Cicero published his own admirable
system of philosophy. The poem of Lucretius, nevertheless, has been
regarded as the bulwark of atheism—of atheism, which, while it impiously
arrogates the support of reason, both reason and nature disclaim.
Many more writers flourished in this period, but their works have totally
perished. Sallust was now engaged in historical productions; but as they
were not yet completed, they will be noticed in the next division of the
review.

D. OCTAVIUS CAESAR AUGUSTUS.
(71)

I. That the family of the Octavii was of the first distinction in Velitrae
106, is rendered evident by many circumstances. For in the most frequented
part of the town, there was, not long since, a street named the Octavian; and
an altar was to be seen, consecrated to one Octavius, who being chosen
general in a war with some neighbouring people, the enemy making a
sudden attack, while he was sacrificing to Mars, he immediately snatched
the entrails of the victim from off the fire, and offered them half raw upon
the altar; after which, marching out to battle, he returned victorious. This
incident gave rise to a law, by which it was enacted, that in all future times
the entrails should be offered to Mars in the same manner; and the rest of
the victim be carried to the Octavii.
II. This family, as well as several in Rome, was admitted into the senate
by Tarquinius Priscus, and soon afterwards placed by Servius Tullius
among the patricians; but in process of time it transferred itself to the
plebeian order, and, after the lapse of a long interval, was restored by Julius
Caesar to the rank of patricians. The first person of the family raised by the
suffrages of the people to the magistracy, was Caius Rufus. He obtained the
quaestorship, and had two sons, Cneius and Caius; from whom are
descended the two branches of the Octavian family, which have had very
different fortunes. For Cneius, and his descendants in uninterrupted
succession, held all the highest offices of the state; whilst Caius and his
posterity, whether from their circumstances or their choice, remained in the
equestrian order until the father of Augustus. The great-grandfather of
Augustus served as a military tribune in the second Punic war in Sicily,
under the command of Aemilius Pappus. His grandfather contented himself
with bearing the public offices of his own municipality, and grew old in the
tranquil enjoyment of an ample patrimony. Such is the account given (72)
by different authors. Augustus himself, however, tells us nothing more than
that he was descended of an equestrian family, both ancient and rich, of
which his father was the first who obtained the rank of senator. Mark

Antony upbraidingly tells him that his great-grandfather was a freedman of
the territory of Thurium 107, and a rope-maker, and his grandfather a
usurer. This is all the information I have any where met with, respecting the
ancestors of Augustus by the father’s side.
III. His father Caius Octavius was, from his earliest years, a person both
of opulence and distinction: for which reason I am surprised at those who
say that he was a money-dealer 108, and was employed in scattering bribes,
and canvassing for the candidates at elections, in the Campus Martius. For
being bred up in all the affluence of a great estate, he attained with ease to
honourable posts, and discharged the duties of them with much distinction.
After his praetorship, he obtained by lot the province of Macedonia; in his
way to which he cut off some banditti, the relics of the armies of Spartacus
and Catiline, who had possessed themselves of the territory of Thurium;
having received from the senate an extraordinary commission for that
purpose. In his government of the province, he conducted himself with
equal justice and resolution; for he defeated the Bessians and Thracians in a
great battle, and treated the allies of the republic in such a manner, that
there are extant letters from M. Tullius Cicero, in which he advises and
exhorts his brother Quintus, who then held the proconsulship of Asia with
no great reputation, to imitate the example of his neighbour Octavius, in
gaining the affections of the allies of Rome.
IV. After quitting Macedonia, before he could declare himself a candidate
for the consulship, he died suddenly, leaving behind him a daughter, the
elder Octavia, by Ancharia; and another daughter, Octavia the younger, as
well as Augustus, by Atia, who was the daughter of Marcus Atius Balbus,
and Julia, sister to Caius Julius Caesar. Balbus was, by the father’s (73)
side, of a family who were natives of Aricia 109, and many of whom had
been in the senate. By the mother’s side he was nearly related to Pompey
the Great; and after he had borne the office of praetor, was one of the
twenty commissioners appointed by the Julian law to divide the land in
Campania among the people. But Mark Antony, treating with contempt
Augustus’s descent even by the mother’s side, says that his great grand-
father was of African descent, and at one time kept a perfumer’s shop, and
at another, a bake-house, in Aricia. And Cassius of Parma, in a letter, taxes
Augustus with being the son not only of a baker, but a usurer. These are his
words: “Thou art a lump of thy mother’s meal, which a money-changer of

Nerulum taking from the newest bake-house of Aricia, kneaded into some
shape, with his hands all discoloured by the fingering of money.”
V. Augustus was born in the consulship of Marcus Tullius Cicero and
Caius Antonius 110, upon the ninth of the calends of October [the 23rd
September], a little before sunrise, in the quarter of the Palatine Hill 111,
and the street called The Ox-Heads 112, where now stands a chapel
dedicated to him, and built a little after his death. For, as it is recorded in the
proceedings of the senate, when Caius Laetorius, a young man of a
patrician family, in pleading before the senators for a lighter sentence, upon
his being convicted of adultery, alleged, besides his youth and quality, that
he was the possessor, and as it were the guardian, of the ground which the
Divine Augustus first touched upon his coming into the world; and
entreated that (74) he might find favour, for the sake of that deity, who was
in a peculiar manner his; an act of the senate was passed, for the
consecration of that part of his house in which Augustus was born.
VI. His nursery is shewn to this day, in a villa belonging to the family, in
the suburbs of Velitrae; being a very small place, and much like a pantry. An
opinion prevails in the neighbourhood, that he was also born there. Into this
place no person presumes to enter, unless upon necessity, and with great
devotion, from a belief, for a long time prevalent, that such as rashly enter it
are seized with great horror and consternation, which a short while since
was confirmed by a remarkable incident. For when a new inhabitant of the
house had, either by mere chance, or to try the truth of the report, taken up
his lodging in that apartment, in the course of the night, a few hours
afterwards, he was thrown out by some sudden violence, he knew not how,
and was found in a state of stupefaction, with the coverlid of his bed, before
the door of the chamber.
VII. While he was yet an infant, the surname of Thurinus was given him,
in memory of the birth-place of his family, or because, soon after he was
born, his father Octavius had been successful against the fugitive slaves, in
the country near Thurium. That he was surnamed Thurinus, I can affirm
upon good foundation, for when a boy, I had a small bronze statue of him,
with that name upon it in iron letters, nearly effaced by age, which I
presented to the emperor 113, by whom it is now revered amongst the other
tutelary deities in his chamber. He is also often called Thurinus
contemptuously, by Mark Antony in his letters; to which he makes only this

reply: “I am surprised that my former name should be made a subject of
reproach.” He afterwards assumed the name of Caius Caesar, and then of
Augustus; the former in compliance with the will of his great-uncle, and the
latter upon a motion of Munatius Plancus in the senate. For when some
proposed to confer upon him the name of Romulus, as being, in a manner, a
second founder of the city, it was resolved that he should rather be called
Augustus, a surname not only new, but of more dignity, because places
devoted to religion, and those in which anything (75) is consecrated by
augury, are denominated august, either from the word auctus, signifying
augmentation, or ab avium gestu, gustuve, from the flight and feeding of
birds; as appears from this verse of Ennius:

When glorious Rome by august augury was built. 114

VIII. He lost his father when he was only four years of age; and, in his
twelfth year, pronounced a funeral oration in praise of his grand-mother
Julia. Four years afterwards, having assumed the robe of manhood, he was
honoured with several military rewards by Caesar in his African triumph,
although he took no part in the war, on account of his youth. Upon his
uncle’s expedition to Spain against the sons of Pompey, he was followed by
his nephew, although he was scarcely recovered from a dangerous sickness;
and after being shipwrecked at sea, and travelling with very few attendants
through roads that were infested with the enemy, he at last came up with
him. This activity gave great satisfaction to his uncle, who soon conceived
an increasing affection for him, on account of such indications of character.
After the subjugation of Spain, while Caesar was meditating an expedition
against the Dacians and Parthians, he was sent before him to Apollonia,
where he applied himself to his studies; until receiving intelligence that his
uncle was murdered, and that he was appointed his heir, he hesitated for
some time whether he should call to his aid the legions stationed in the
neighbourhood; but he abandoned the design as rash and premature.
However, returning to Rome, he took possession of his inheritance,
although his mother was apprehensive that such a measure might be
attended with danger, and his step-father, Marcius Philippus, a man of
consular rank, very earnestly dissuaded him from it. From this time,
collecting together a strong military force, he first held the government in
conjunction with Mark Antony and Marcus Lepidus, then with Antony only,

for nearly twelve years, and at last in his own hands during a period of four
and forty.
IX. Having thus given a very short summary of his life, I shall prosecute
the several parts of it, not in order of time, but arranging his acts into
distinct classes, for the sake of (76) perspicuity. He was engaged in five
civil wars, namely those of Modena, Philippi, Perugia, Sicily, and Actium;
the first and last of which were against Antony, and the second against
Brutus and Cassius; the third against Lucius Antonius, the triumvir’s
brother, and the fourth against Sextus Pompeius, the son of Cneius
Pompeius.
X. The motive which gave rise to all these wars was the opinion he
entertained that both his honour and interest were concerned in revenging
the murder of his uncle, and maintaining the state of affairs he had
established. Immediately after his return from Apollonia, he formed the
design of taking forcible and unexpected measures against Brutus and
Cassius; but they having foreseen the danger and made their escape, he
resolved to proceed against them by an appeal to the laws in their absence,
and impeach them for the murder. In the mean time, those whose province it
was to prepare the sports in honour of Caesar’s last victory in the civil war,
not daring to do it, he undertook it himself. And that he might carry into
effect his other designs with greater authority, he declared himself a
candidate in the room of a tribune of the people who happened to die at that
time, although he was of a patrician family, and had not yet been in the
senate. But the consul, Mark Antony, from whom he had expected the
greatest assistance, opposing him in his suit, and even refusing to do him so
much as common justice, unless gratified with a large bribe, he went over to
the party of the nobles, to whom he perceived Sylla to be odious, chiefly for
endeavouring to drive Decius Brutus, whom he besieged in the town of
Modena, out of the province, which had been given him by Caesar, and
confirmed to him by the senate. At the instigation of persons about him, he
engaged some ruffians to murder his antagonist; but the plot being
discovered, and dreading a similar attempt upon himself, he gained over
Caesar’s veteran soldiers, by distributing among them all the money he
could collect. Being now commissioned by the senate to command the
troops he had gathered, with the rank of praetor, and in conjunction with
Hirtius and Pansa, who had accepted the consulship, to carry assistance to
Decius Brutus, he put an end to the war by two battles in three months.

Antony writes, that in the former of these he ran away, and two days
afterwards made his appearance (77) without his general’s cloak and his
horse. In the last battle, however, it is certain that he performed the part not
only of a general, but a soldier; for, in the heat of the battle; when the
standard-bearer of his legion was severely wounded, he took the eagle upon
his shoulders, and carried it a long time.
XI. In this war 115, Hirtius being slain in battle, and Pansa dying a short
time afterwards of a wound, a report was circulated that they both were
killed through his means, in order that, when Antony fled, the republic
having lost its consuls, he might have the victorious armies entirely at his
own command. The death of Pansa was so fully believed to have been
caused by undue means, that Glyco, his surgeon, was placed in custody, on
a suspicion of having poisoned his wound. And to this, Aquilius Niger adds,
that he killed Hirtius, the other consul, in the confusion of the battle, with
his own hands.
XII. But upon intelligence that Antony, after his defeat, had been
received by Marcus Lepidus, and that the rest of the generals and armies
had all declared for the senate, he, without any hesitation, deserted from the
party of the nobles; alleging as an excuse for his conduct, the actions and
sayings of several amongst them; for some said, “he was a mere boy,” and
others threw out, “that he ought to be promoted to honours, and cut off,” to
avoid the making any suitable acknowledgment either to him or the veteran
legions. And the more to testify his regret for having before attached
himself to the other faction, he fined the Nursini in a large sum of money,
which they were unable to pay, and then expelled them from the town, for
having inscribed upon a monument, erected at the public charge to their
countrymen who were slain in the battle of Modena, “That they fell in the
cause of liberty.”
XIII. Having entered into a confederacy with Antony and Lepidus, he
brought the war at Philippi to an end in two battles, although he was at that
time weak, and suffering from sickness 116. In the first battle he was driven
from his camp, (78) and with some difficulty made his escape to the wing
of the army commanded by Antony. And now, intoxicated with success, he
sent the head of Brutus 117 to be cast at the foot of Caesar’s statue, and
treated the most illustrious of the prisoners not only with cruelty, but with
abusive language; insomuch that he is said to have answered one of them

who humbly intreated that at least he might not remain unburied, “That will
be in the power of the birds.” Two others, father and son, who begged for
their lives, he ordered to cast lots which of them should live, or settle it
between themselves by the sword; and was a spectator of both their deaths:
for the father offering his life to save his son, and being accordingly
executed, the son likewise killed himself upon the spot. On this account, the
rest of the prisoners, and amongst them Marcus Favonius, Cato’s rival,
being led up in fetters, after they had saluted Antony, the general, with
much respect, reviled Octavius in the foulest language. After this victory,
dividing between them the offices of the state, Mark Antony 118 undertook
to restore order in the east, while Caesar conducted the veteran soldiers
back to Italy, and settled them in colonies on the lands belonging to the
municipalities. But he had the misfortune to please neither the soldiers nor
the owners of the lands; one party complaining of the injustice done them,
in being violently ejected from their possessions, and the other, that they
were not rewarded according to their merit. 119
XIV. At this time he obliged Lucius Antony, who, presuming upon his
own authority as consul, and his brother’s power, was raising new
commotions, to fly to Perugia, and forced him, by famine, to surrender at
last, although not without having been exposed to great hazards, both before
the war and during its continuance. For a common soldier having got into
the seats of the equestrian order in the theatre, at the public spectacles,
Caesar ordered him to be removed by an officer; and a rumour being thence
spread by his enemies, that he had (79) put the man to death by torture, the
soldiers flocked together so much enraged, that he narrowly escaped with
his life. The only thing that saved him, was the sudden appearance of the
man, safe and sound, no violence having been offered him. And whilst he
was sacrificing under the walls of Perugia, he nearly fell into the hands of a
body of gladiators, who sallied out of the town.
XV. After the taking of Perugia 120, he sentenced a great number of the
prisoners to death, making only one reply to all who implored pardon, or
endeavoured to excuse themselves, “You must die.” Some authors write,
that three hundred of the two orders, selected from the rest, were
slaughtered, like victims, before an altar raised to Julius Caesar, upon the
ides of March [15th April] 121. Nay, there are some who relate, that he
entered upon the war with no other view, than that his secret enemies, and
those whom fear more than affection kept quiet, might be detected, by

declaring themselves, now they had an opportunity, with Lucius Antony at
their head; and that having defeated them, and confiscated their estates, he
might be enabled to fulfil his promises to the veteran soldiers.
XVI. He soon commenced the Sicilian war, but it was protracted by
various delays during a long period 122; at one time for the purpose of
repairing his fleets, which he lost twice by storm, even in the summer; at
another, while patching up a peace, to which he was forced by the clamours
of the people, in consequence of a famine occasioned by Pompey’s cutting
off the supply of corn by sea. But at last, having built a new fleet, and
obtained twenty thousand manumitted slaves 123, who were given him for
the oar, he formed the Julian harbour at Baiae, by letting the sea into the
Lucrine and Avernian lakes; and having exercised his forces there during
the whole winter, he defeated Pompey betwixt Mylae and Naulochus;
although (80) just as the engagement commenced, he suddenly fell into
such a profound sleep, that his friends were obliged to wake him to give the
signal. This, I suppose, gave occasion for Antony’s reproach: “You were not
able to take a clear view of the fleet, when drawn up in line of battle, but lay
stupidly upon your back, gazing at the sky; nor did you get up and let your
men see you, until Marcus Agrippa had forced the enemies’ ships to sheer
off.” Others imputed to him both a saying and an action which were
indefensible; for, upon the loss of his fleets by storm, he is reported to have
said: “I will conquer in spite of Neptune;” and at the next Circensian games,
he would not suffer the statue of that God to be carried in procession as
usual. Indeed he scarcely ever ran more or greater risks in any of his wars
than in this. Having transported part of his army to Sicily, and being on his
return for the rest, he was unexpectedly attacked by Demochares and
Apollophanes, Pompey’s admirals, from whom he escaped with great
difficulty, and with one ship only. Likewise, as he was travelling on foot
through the Locrian territory to Rhegium, seeing two of Pompey’s vessels
passing by that coast, and supposing them to be his own, he went down to
the shore, and was very nearly taken prisoner. On this occasion, as he was
making his escape by some bye-ways, a slave belonging to Aemilius
Paulus, who accompanied him, owing him a grudge for the proscription of
Paulus, the father of Aemilius, and thinking he had now an opportunity of
revenging it, attempted to assassinate him. After the defeat of Pompey, one
of his colleagues 124, Marcus Lepidus, whom he had summoned to his aid
from Africa, affecting great superiority, because he was at the head of

twenty legions, and claiming for himself the principal management of
affairs in a threatening manner, he divested him of his command, but, upon
his humble submission, granted him his life, but banished him for life to
Circeii.
XVII. The alliance between him and Antony, which had always been
precarious, often interrupted, and ill cemented by repeated reconciliations,
he at last entirely dissolved. And to make it known to the world how far
Antony had degenerated from patriotic feelings, he caused a will of his,
which had been left at Rome, and in which he had nominated Cleopatra’s
children, amongst others, as his heirs, to be opened and read in an assembly
of the people. Yet upon his being declared an enemy, he sent to him all his
relations and friends, among whom were Caius Sosius and Titus Domitius,
at that time consuls. He likewise spoke favourably in public of the people of
Bologna, for joining in the association with the rest of Italy to support his
cause, because they had, in former times, been under the protection of the
family of the Antonii. And not long afterwards he defeated him in a naval
engagement near Actium, which was prolonged to so late an hour, that, after
the victory, he was obliged to sleep on board his ship. From Actium he went
to the isle of Samoa to winter; but being alarmed with the accounts of a
mutiny amongst the soldiers he had selected from the main body of his
army sent to Brundisium after the victory, who insisted on their being
rewarded for their service and discharged, he returned to Italy. In his
passage thither, he encountered two violent storms, the first between the
promontories of Peloponnesus and Aetolia, and the other about the
Ceraunian mountains; in both which a part of his Liburnian squadron was
sunk, the spars and rigging of his own ship carried away, and the rudder
broken in pieces. He remained only twenty-seven days at Brundisium, until
the demands of the soldiers were settled, and then went, by way of Asia and
Syria, to Egypt, where laying siege to Alexandria, whither Antony had fled
with Cleopatra, he made himself master of it in a short time. He drove
Antony to kill himself, after he had used every effort to obtain conditions of
peace, and he saw his corpse 126. Cleopatra he anxiously wished to save for
his triumph; and when she was supposed to have been bit to death by an
asp, he sent for the Psylli 127 to (82) endeavour to suck out the poison. He
allowed them to be buried together in the same grave, and ordered a
mausoleum, begun by themselves, to be completed. The eldest of Antony’s
two sons by Fulvia he commanded to be taken by force from the statue of

Julius Caesar, to which he had fled, after many fruitless supplications for
his life, and put him to death. The same fate attended Caesario, Cleopatra’s
son by Caesar, as he pretended, who had fled for his life, but was retaken.
The children which Antony had by Cleopatra he saved, and brought up and
cherished in a manner suitable to their rank, just as if they had been his own
relations.
XVIII. At this time he had a desire to see the sarcophagus and body of
Alexander the Great, which, for that purpose, were taken out of the cell in
which they rested 128; and after viewing them for some time, he paid
honours to the memory of that prince, by offering a golden crown, and
scattering flowers upon the body 129. Being asked if he wished to see the
tombs of the Ptolemies also; he replied, “I wish to see a king, not dead
men.” 130 He reduced Egypt into the form of a province and to render it
more fertile, and more capable of supplying Rome with corn, he employed
his army to scour the canals, into which the Nile, upon its rise, discharges
itself; but which during a long series of years had become nearly choked up
with mud. To perpetuate the glory of his victory at Actium, he built the city
of Nicopolis on that part of the coast, and established games to be
celebrated there every five years; enlarging likewise an old temple of
Apollo, he ornamented with naval trophies 131 the spot on which he had
pitched his camp, and consecrated it to Neptune and Mars.
(83) XIX. He afterwards 132 quashed several tumults and insurrections,
as well as several conspiracies against his life, which were discovered, by
the confession of accomplices, before they were ripe for execution; and
others subsequently. Such were those of the younger Lepidus, of Varro
Muraena, and Fannius Caepio; then that of Marcus Egnatius, afterwards
that of Plautius Rufus, and of Lucius Paulus, his grand-daughter’s husband;
and besides these, another of Lucius Audasius, an old feeble man, who was
under prosecution for forgery; as also of Asinius Epicadus, a Parthinian
mongrel 133, and at last that of Telephus, a lady’s prompter 134; for he was
in danger of his life from the plots and conspiracies of some of the lowest of
the people against him. Audasius and Epicadus had formed the design of
carrying off to the armies his daughter Julia, and his grandson Agrippa,
from the islands in which they were confined. Telephus, wildly dreaming
that the government was destined to him by the fates, proposed to fall both
upon Octavius and the senate. Nay, once, a soldier’s servant belonging to
the army in Illyricum, having passed the porters unobserved, was found in

the night-time standing before his chamber-door, armed with a hunting-
dagger. Whether the person was really disordered in the head, or only
counterfeited madness, is uncertain; for no confession was obtained from
him by torture.
XX. He conducted in person only two foreign wars; the Dalmatian,
whilst he was yet but a youth; and, after Antony’s final defeat, the
Cantabrian. He was wounded in the former of these wars; in one battle he
received a contusion in the right knee from a stone—and in another, he was
much hurt in (84) one leg and both arms, by the fall of a fridge 135. His
other wars he carried on by his lieutenants; but occasionally visited the
army, in some of the wars of Pannonia and Germany, or remained at no
great distance, proceeding from Rome as far as Ravenna, Milan, or
Aquileia.
XXI. He conquered, however, partly in person, and partly by his
lieutenants, Cantabria 136, Aquitania and Pannonia 137, Dalmatia, with all
Illyricum and Rhaetia 138, besides the two Alpine nations, the Vindelici and
the Salassii 139. He also checked the incursions of the Dacians, by cutting
off three of their generals with vast armies, and drove the Germans beyond
the river Elbe; removing two other tribes who submitted, the Ubii and
Sicambri, into Gaul, and settling them in the country bordering on the
Rhine. Other nations also, which broke into revolt, he reduced to
submission. But he never made war upon any nation without just and
necessary cause; and was so far from being ambitious either to extend the
empire, or advance his own military glory, that he obliged the chiefs of
some barbarous tribes to swear in the temple of Mars the Avenger 140, that
they would faithfully observe their engagements, and not violate the peace
which they had implored. Of some he demanded a new description of
hostages, their women, having found from experience that they cared little
for their men when given as hostages; but he always afforded them the
means of getting back their hostages whenever they wished it. Even those
who engaged most frequently and with the greatest perfidy in their
rebellion, he never punished more severely than by selling their captives, on
the terms (85) of their not serving in any neighbouring country, nor being
released from their slavery before the expiration of thirty years. By the
character which he thus acquired, for virtue and moderation, he induced
even the Indians and Scythians, nations before known to the Romans by
report only, to solicit his friendship, and that of the Roman people, by

ambassadors. The Parthians readily allowed his claim to Armenia; restoring
at his demand, the standards which they had taken from Marcus Crassus
and Mark Antony, and offering him hostages besides. Afterwards, when a
contest arose between several pretenders to the crown of that kingdom, they
refused to acknowledge any one who was not chosen by him.
XXII. The temple of Janus Quirinus, which had been shut twice only,
from the era of the building of the city to his own time, he closed thrice in a
much shorter period, having established universal peace both by sea and
land. He twice entered the city with the honours of an Ovation 141, namely,
after the war of Philippi, and again after that of Sicily. He had also three
curule triumphs 142 for his several victories in (86) Dalmatia, at Actium,
and Alexandria; each of which lasted three days.
XXIII. In all his wars, he never received any signal or ignominious
defeat, except twice in Germany, under his lieutenants Lollius and Varus.
The former indeed had in it more of dishonour than disaster; but that of
Varus threatened the security of the empire itself; three legions, with the
commander, his lieutenants, and all the auxiliaries, being cut off. Upon
receiving intelligence of this disaster, he gave orders for keeping a strict
watch over the city, to prevent any public disturbance, and prolonged the
appointments of the prefects in the provinces, that the allies might be kept
in order by experience of persons to whom they were used. He made a vow
to celebrate the great games in honour of Jupiter, Optimus, Maximus, “if he
would be pleased to restore the state to more prosperous circumstances.”
This had formerly been resorted to in the Cimbrian and Marsian wars. In
short, we are informed that he was in such consternation at this event, that
he let the hair of his head and beard grow for several months, and
sometimes knocked his head against the door-posts, crying out, “O,
Quintilius Varus! Give me back my legions!” And (87) ever after, he
observed the anniversary of this calamity, as a day of sorrow and mourning.
XXIV. In military affairs he made many alterations, introducing some
practices entirely new, and reviving others, which had become obsolete. He
maintained the strictest discipline among the troops; and would not allow
even his lieutenants the liberty to visit their wives, except reluctantly, and in
the winter season only. A Roman knight having cut off the thumbs of his
two young sons, to render them incapable of serving in the wars, he
exposed both him and his estate to public sale. But upon observing the

farmers of the revenue very greedy for the purchase, he assigned him to a
freedman of his own, that he might send him into the country, and suffer
him to retain his freedom. The tenth legion becoming mutinous, he
disbanded it with ignominy; and did the same by some others which
petulantly demanded their discharge; withholding from them the rewards
usually bestowed on those who had served their stated time in the wars. The
cohorts which yielded their ground in time of action, he decimated, and fed
with barley. Centurions, as well as common sentinels, who deserted their
posts when on guard, he punished with death. For other misdemeanors he
inflicted upon them various kinds of disgrace; such as obliging them to
stand all day before the praetorium, sometimes in their tunics only, and
without their belts, sometimes to carry poles ten feet long, or sods of turf.
XXV. After the conclusion of the civil wars, he never, in any of his
military harangues, or proclamations, addressed them by the title of
“Fellow-soldiers,” but as “Soldiers” only. Nor would he suffer them to be
otherwise called by his sons or step-sons, when they were in command;
judging the former epithet to convey the idea of a degree of condescension
inconsistent with military discipline, the maintenance of order, and his own
majesty, and that of his house. Unless at Rome, in case of incendiary fires,
or under the apprehension of public disturbances during a scarcity of
provisions, he never employed in his army slaves who had been made
freedmen, except upon two occasions; on one, for the security of the
colonies bordering upon Illyricum, and on the other, to guard (88) the banks
of the river Rhine. Although he obliged persons of fortune, both male and
female, to give up their slaves, and they received their manumission at
once, yet he kept them together under their own standard, unmixed with
soldiers who were better born, and armed likewise after different fashion.
Military rewards, such as trappings, collars, and other decorations of gold
and silver, he distributed more readily than camp or mural crowns, which
were reckoned more honourable than the former. These he bestowed
sparingly, without partiality, and frequently even on common soldiers. He
presented M. Agrippa, after the naval engagement in the Sicilian war, with a
sea-green banner. Those who shared in the honours of a triumph, although
they had attended him in his expeditions, and taken part in his victories, he
judged it improper to distinguish by the usual rewards for service, because
they had a right themselves to grant such rewards to whom they pleased. He
thought nothing more derogatory to the character of an accomplished

general than precipitancy and rashness; on which account he had frequently
in his mouth those proverbs:

Speude bradeos,
Hasten slowly,

And

‘Asphalaes gar est’ ameinon, hae erasus strataelataes.
The cautious captain’s better than the bold.

And “That is done fast enough, which is done well enough.”
He was wont to say also, that “a battle or a war ought never to be
undertaken, unless the prospect of gain overbalanced the fear of loss. For,”
said he, “men who pursue small advantages with no small hazard, resemble
those who fish with a golden hook, the loss of which, if the line should
happen to break, could never be compensated by all the fish they might
take.”
XXVI. He was advanced to public offices before the age at which he was
legally qualified for them; and to some, also, of a new kind, and for life. He
seized the consulship in the twentieth year of his age, quartering his legions
in a threatening manner near the city, and sending deputies to demand it for
him in the name of the army. When the senate demurred, (89) a centurion,
named Cornelius, who was at the head of the chief deputation, throwing
back his cloak, and shewing the hilt of his sword, had the presumption to
say in the senate-house, “This will make him consul, if ye will not.” His
second consulship he filled nine years afterwards; his third, after the
interval of only one year, and held the same office every year successively
until the eleventh. From this period, although the consulship was frequently
offered him, he always declined it, until, after a long interval, not less than
seventeen years, he voluntarily stood for the twelfth, and two years after
that, for a thirteenth; that he might successively introduce into the forum, on
their entering public life, his two sons, Caius and Lucius, while he was
invested with the highest office in the state. In his five consulships from the
sixth to the eleventh, he continued in office throughout the year; but in the
rest, during only nine, six, four, or three months, and in his second no more
than a few hours. For having sat for a short time in the morning, upon the
calends of January [1st January], in his curule chair 143, before the temple
of Jupiter Capitolinus, he abdicated the office, and substituted another in his

room. Nor did he enter upon them all at Rome, but upon the fourth in Asia,
the fifth in the Isle of Samos, and the eighth and ninth at Tarragona. 144
XXVII. During ten years he acted as one of the triumvirate for settling
the commonwealth, in which office he for some time opposed his
colleagues in their design of a proscription; but after it was begun, he
prosecuted it with more determined rigour than either of them. For whilst
they were often prevailed upon, by the interest and intercession of friends,
to shew mercy, he alone strongly insisted that no one should be spared, and
even proscribed Caius Toranius 145, his guardian; who had (90) been
formerly the colleague of his father Octavius in the aedileship. Junius
Saturnius adds this farther account of him: that when, after the proscription
was over, Marcus Lepidus made an apology in the senate for their past
proceedings, and gave them hopes of a more mild administration for the
future, because they had now sufficiently crushed their enemies; he, on the
other hand, declared that the only limit he had fixed to the proscription was,
that he should be free to act as he pleased. Afterwards, however, repenting
of his severity, he advanced T. Vinius Philopoemen to the equestrian rank,
for having concealed his patron at the time he was proscribed. In this same
office he incurred great odium upon many accounts. For as he was one day
making an harangue, observing among the soldiers Pinarius, a Roman
knight, admit some private citizens, and engaged in taking notes, he ordered
him to be stabbed before his eyes, as a busy-body and a spy upon him. He
so terrified with his menaces Tedius Afer, the consul elect 146, for having
reflected upon some action of his, that he threw himself from a great height,
and died on the spot. And when Quintus Gallius, the praetor, came to
compliment him with a double tablet under his cloak, suspecting that it was
a sword he had concealed, and yet not venturing to make a search, lest it
should be found to be something else, he caused him to be dragged from his
tribunal by centurions and soldiers, and tortured like a slave: and although
he made no confession, ordered him to be put to death, after he had, with
his own hands, plucked out his eyes. His own account of the matter,
however, is, that Quintus Gallius sought a private conference with him, for
the purpose of assassinating him; that he therefore put him in prison, but
afterwards released him, and banished him the city; when he perished either
in a storm at sea, or by falling into the hands of robbers.
He accepted of the tribunitian power for life, but more than once chose a
colleague in that office for two lustra 147 successively. He also had the

supervision of morality and observance of the laws, for life, but without the
title of censor; yet he thrice (91) took a census of the people, the first and
third time with a colleague, but the second by himself.
XXVIII. He twice entertained thoughts of restoring the republic 148;
first, immediately after he had crushed Antony, remembering that he had
often charged him with being the obstacle to its restoration. The second
time was in consequence of a long illness, when he sent for the magistrates
and the senate to his own house, and delivered them a particular account of
the state of the empire. But reflecting at the same time that it would be both
hazardous to himself to return to the condition of a private person, and
might be dangerous to the public to have the government placed again
under the control of the people, he resolved to keep it in his own hands,
whether with the better event or intention, is hard to say. His good
intentions he often affirmed in private discourse, and also published an
edict, in which it was declared in the following terms: “May it be permitted
me to have the happiness of establishing the commonwealth on a safe and
sound basis, and thus enjoy the reward of which I am ambitious, that of
being celebrated for moulding it into the form best adapted to present
circumstances; so that, on my leaving the world, I may carry with me the
hope that the foundations which I have laid for its future government, will
stand firm and stable.”
XXIX. The city, which was not built in a manner suitable to the grandeur
of the empire, and was liable to inundations of the Tiber 149, as well as to
fires, was so much improved under his administration, that he boasted, not
without reason, that he “found it of brick, but left it of marble.” 150 He also
rendered (92) it secure for the time to come against such disasters, as far as
could be effected by human foresight. A great number of public buildings
were erected by him, the most considerable of which were a forum 151,
containing the temple of Mars the Avenger, the temple of Apollo on the
Palatine hill, and the temple of Jupiter Tonans in the Capitol. The reason of
his building a new forum was the vast increase in the population, and the
number of causes to be tried in the courts, for which, the two already
existing not affording sufficient space, it was thought necessary to have a
third. It was therefore opened for public use before the temple of Mars was
completely finished; and a law was passed, that causes should be tried, and
judges chosen by lot, in that place. The temple of Mars was built in
fulfilment of a vow made during the war of Philippi, undertaken by him to

avenge his father’s murder. He ordained that the senate should always
assemble there when they met to deliberate respecting wars and triumphs;
that thence should be despatched all those who were sent into the provinces
in the command of armies; and that in it those who returned victorious from
the wars, should lodge the trophies of their triumphs. He erected the temple
of Apollo 152 in that part of his house on the Palatine hill which had been
struck with lightning, and which, on that account, the soothsayers declared
the God to have chosen. He added porticos to it, with a library of Latin and
Greek authors 153; and when advanced in years, (93) used frequently there
to hold the senate, and examine the rolls of the judges.
He dedicated the temple to Apollo Tonans 154, in acknowledgment of his
escape from a great danger in his Cantabrian expedition; when, as he was
travelling in the night, his litter was struck by lightning, which killed the
slave who carried a torch before him. He likewise constructed some public
buildings in the name of others; for instance, his grandsons, his wife, and
sister. Thus he built the portico and basilica of Lucius and Caius, and the
porticos of Livia and Octavia 155, and the theatre of Marcellus 156. He also
often exhorted other persons of rank to embellish the city by new buildings,
or repairing and improving the old, according to their means. In
consequence of this recommendation, many were raised; such as the temple
of Hercules and the Muses, by Marcius Philippus; a temple of Diana by
Lucius Cornificius; the Court of Freedom by Asinius Pollio; a temple of
Saturn by Munatius Plancus; a theatre by Cornelius Balbus 157; an
amphitheatre by Statilius Taurus; and several other noble edifices by
Marcus Agrippa. 158
(94) XXX. He divided the city into regions and districts, ordaining that
the annual magistrates should take by lot the charge of the former; and that
the latter should be superintended by wardens chosen out of the people of
each neighbourhood. He appointed a nightly watch to be on their guard
against accidents from fire; and, to prevent the frequent inundations, he
widened and cleansed the bed of the Tiber, which had in the course of years
been almost dammed up with rubbish, and the channel narrowed by the
ruins of houses 159. To render the approaches to the city more
commodious, he took upon himself the charge of repairing the Flaminian
way as far as Ariminum 160, and distributed the repairs of the other roads
amongst several persons who had obtained the honour of a triumph; to be
defrayed out of the money arising from the spoils of war. Temples decayed

by time, or destroyed by fire, he either repaired or rebuilt; and enriched
them, as well as many others, with splendid offerings. On a single occasion,
he deposited in the cell of the temple of Jupiter Capitolinus, sixteen
thousand pounds of gold, with jewels and pearls to the amount of fifty
millions of sesterces.
XXXI. The office of Pontifex Maximus, of which he could (95) not
decently deprive Lepidus as long as he lived 161, he assumed as soon as he
was dead. He then caused all prophetical books, both in Latin and Greek,
the authors of which were either unknown, or of no great authority, to be
brought in; and the whole collection, amounting to upwards of two
thousand volumes, he committed to the flames, preserving only the
Sibylline oracles; but not even those without a strict examination, to
ascertain which were genuine. This being done, he deposited them in two
gilt coffers, under the pedestal of the statue of the Palatine Apollo. He
restored the calendar, which had been corrected by Julius Caesar, but
through negligence was again fallen into confusion 162, to its former
regularity; and upon that occasion, called the month Sextilis 163, by his
own name, August, rather than September, in which he was born; because in
it he had obtained his first consulship, and all his most considerable
victories 164. He increased the number, dignity, and revenues of the priests,
and especially those of the Vestal Virgins. And when, upon the death of one
of them, a new one was to be taken 165, and many persons made interest
that their daughters’ names might be omitted in the lists for election, he
replied with an oath, “If either of my own grand-daughters were old
enough, I would have proposed her.”
He likewise revived some old religious customs, which had become
obsolete; as the augury of public health 166, the office of (96) high priest of
Jupiter, the religious solemnity of the Lupercalia, with the Secular, and
Compitalian games. He prohibited young boys from running in the
Lupercalia; and in respect of the Secular games, issued an order, that no
young persons of either sex should appear at any public diversions in the
night-time, unless in the company of some elderly relation. He ordered the
household gods to be decked twice a year with spring and summer flowers
167, in the Compitalian festival.
Next to the immortal gods, he paid the highest honours to the memory of
those generals who had raised the Roman state from its low origin to the

highest pitch of grandeur. He accordingly repaired or rebuilt the public
edifices erected by them; preserving the former inscriptions, and placing
statues of them all, with triumphal emblems, in both the porticos of his
forum, issuing an edict on the occasion, in which he made the following
declaration: “My design in so doing is, that the Roman people may require
from me, and all succeeding princes, a conformity to those illustrious
examples.” He likewise removed the statue of Pompey from the senate-
house, in which Caius Caesar had been killed, and placed it under a marble
arch, fronting the palace attached to Pompey’s theatre.
XXXII. He corrected many ill practices, which, to the detriment of the
public, had either survived the licentious habits of the late civil wars, or else
originated in the long peace. Bands of robbers showed themselves openly,
completely armed, under colour of self-defence; and in different parts of the
country, travellers, freemen and slaves without distinction, were forcibly
carried off, and kept to work in the houses of correction 168. Several
associations were formed under the specious (97) name of a new college,
which banded together for the perpetration of all kinds of villany. The
banditti he quelled by establishing posts of soldiers in suitable stations for
the purpose; the houses of correction were subjected to a strict
superintendence; all associations, those only excepted which were of
ancient standing, and recognised by the laws, were dissolved. He burnt all
the notes of those who had been a long time in arrear with the treasury, as
being the principal source of vexatious suits and prosecutions. Places in the
city claimed by the public, where the right was doubtful, he adjudged to the
actual possessors. He struck out of the list of criminals the names of those
over whom prosecutions had been long impending, where nothing further
was intended by the informers than to gratify their own malice, by seeing
their enemies humiliated; laying it down as a rule, that if any one chose to
renew a prosecution, he should incur the risk of the punishment which he
sought to inflict. And that crimes might not escape punishment, nor
business be neglected by delay, he ordered the courts to sit during the thirty
days which were spent in celebrating honorary games. To the three classes
of judges then existing, he added a fourth, consisting of persons of inferior
order, who were called Ducenarii, and decided all litigations about trifling
sums. He chose judges from the age of thirty years and upwards; that is five
years younger than had been usual before. And a great many declining the
office, he was with much difficulty prevailed upon to allow each class of

judges a twelve-month’s vacation in turn; and the courts to be shut during
the months of November and December. 169
XXXIII. He was himself assiduous in his functions as a judge, and would
sometimes prolong his sittings even into the night 170: if he were
indisposed, his litter was placed before (98) the tribunal, or he administered
justice reclining on his couch at home; displaying always not only the
greatest attention, but extreme lenity. To save a culprit, who evidently
appeared guilty of parricide, from the extreme penalty of being sewn up in a
sack, because none were punished in that manner but such as confessed the
fact, he is said to have interrogated him thus: “Surely you did not kill your
father, did you?” And when, in a trial of a cause about a forged will, all
those who had signed it were liable to the penalty of the Cornelian law, he
ordered that his colleagues on the tribunal should not only be furnished with
the two tablets by which they decided, “guilty or not guilty,” but with a
third likewise, ignoring the offence of those who should appear to have
given their signatures through any deception or mistake. All appeals in
causes between inhabitants of Rome, he assigned every year to the praetor
of the city; and where provincials were concerned, to men of consular rank,
to one of whom the business of each province was referred.
XXXIV. Some laws he abrogated, and he made some new ones; such as
the sumptuary law, that relating to adultery and the violation of chastity, the
law against bribery in elections, and likewise that for the encouragement of
marriage. Having been more severe in his reform of this law than the rest,
he found the people utterly averse to submit to it, unless the penalties were
abolished or mitigated, besides allowing an interval of three years after a
wife’s death, and increasing the premiums on marriage. The equestrian
order clamoured loudly, at a spectacle in the theatre, for its total repeal;
whereupon he sent for the children of Germanicus, and shewed them partly
sitting upon his own lap, and partly on their father’s; intimating by his looks
and gestures, that they ought not to think it a grievance to follow the
example of that young man. But finding that the force of the law was
eluded, by marrying girls under the age of puberty, and by frequent change
of wives, he limited the time for consummation after espousals, and
imposed restrictions on divorce.
XXXV. By two separate scrutinies he reduced to their former number and
splendour the senate, which had been swamped by a disorderly crowd; for

they were now more than a (99) thousand, and some of them very mean
persons, who, after Caesar’s death, had been chosen by dint of interest and
bribery, so that they had the nickname of Orcini among the people 171. The
first of these scrutinies was left to themselves, each senator naming another;
but the last was conducted by himself and Agrippa. On this occasion he is
believed to have taken his seat as he presided, with a coat of mail under his
tunic, and a sword by his side, and with ten of the stoutest men of senatorial
rank, who were his friends, standing round his chair. Cordus Cremutius 172
relates that no senator was suffered to approach him, except singly, and
after having his bosom searched [for secreted daggers]. Some he obliged to
have the grace of declining the office; these he allowed to retain the
privileges of wearing the distinguishing dress, occupying the seats at the
solemn spectacles, and of feasting publicly, reserved to the senatorial order
173. That those who were chosen and approved of, might perform their
functions under more solemn obligations, and with less inconvenience, he
ordered that every senator, before he took his seat in the house, should pay
his devotions, with an offering of frankincense and wine, at the altar of that
God in whose temple the senate then assembled 174, and that their stated
meetings should be only twice in the month, namely, on the calends and
ides; and that in the months of September and October 175, a certain
number only, chosen by lot, such as the law required to give validity to a
decree, should be required to attend. For himself, he resolved to choose
every six (100) months a new council, with whom he might consult
previously upon such affairs as he judged proper at any time to lay before
the full senate. He also took the votes of the senators upon any subject of
importance, not according to custom, nor in regular order, but as he pleased;
that every one might hold himself ready to give his opinion, rather than a
mere vote of assent.
XXXVI. He also made several other alterations in the management of
public affairs, among which were these following: that the acts of the senate
should not be published 176; that the magistrates should not be sent into the
provinces immediately after the expiration of their office; that the
proconsuls should have a certain sum assigned them out of the treasury for
mules and tents, which used before to be contracted for by the government
with private persons; that the management of the treasury should be
transferred from the city-quaestors to the praetors, or those who had already
served in the latter office; and that the decemviri should call together the

court of One hundred, which had been formerly summoned by those who
had filled the office of quaestor.
XXXVII. To augment the number of persons employed in the
administration of the state, he devised several new offices; such as
surveyors of the public buildings, of the roads, the aqueducts, and the bed
of the Tiber; for the distribution of corn to the people; the praefecture of the
city; a triumvirate for the election of the senators; and another for
inspecting the several troops of the equestrian order, as often as it was
necessary. He revived the office of censor 177, which had been long
disused, and increased the number of praetors. He likewise required that
whenever the consulship was conferred on him, he should have two
colleagues instead of one; but his proposal (101) was rejected, all the
senators declaring by acclamation that he abated his high majesty quite
enough in not filling the office alone, and consenting to share it with
another.
XXXVIII. He was unsparing in the reward of military merit, having
granted to above thirty generals the honour of the greater triumph; besides
which, he took care to have triamphal decorations voted by the senate for
more than that number. That the sons of senators might become early
acquainted with the administration of affairs, he permitted them, at the age
when they took the garb of manhood 178, to assume also the distinction of
the senatorian robe, with its broad border, and to be present at the debates in
the senate-house. When they entered the military service, he not only gave
them the rank of military tribunes in the legions, but likewise the command
of the auxiliary horse. And that all might have an opportunity of acquiring
military experience, he commonly joined two sons of senators in command
of each troop of horse. He frequently reviewed the troops of the equestrian
order, reviving the ancient custom of a cavalcade 179, which had been long
laid aside. But he did not suffer any one to be obliged by an accuser to
dismount while he passed in review, as had formerly been the practice. As
for such as were infirm with age, or (102) any way deformed, he allowed
them to send their horses before them, coming on foot to answer to their
names, when the muster roll was called over soon afterwards. He permitted
those who had attained the age of thirty-five years, and desired not to keep
their horse any longer, to have the privilege of giving it up.

XXXIX. With the assistance of ten senators, he obliged each of the
Roman knights to give an account of his life: in regard to those who fell
under his displeasure, some were punished; others had a mark of infamy set
against their names. The most part he only reprimanded, but not in the same
terms. The mildest mode of reproof was by delivering them tablets 180, the
contents of which, confined to themselves, they were to read on the spot.
Some he disgraced for borrowing money at low interest, and letting it out
again upon usurious profit.
XL. In the election of tribunes of the people, if there was not a sufficient
number of senatorian candidates, he nominated others from the equestrian
order; granting them the liberty, after the expiration of their office, to
continue in whichsoever of the two orders they pleased. As most of the
knights had been much reduced in their estates by the civil wars, and
therefore durst not sit to see the public games in the theatre in the seats
allotted to their order, for fear of the penalty provided by the law in that
case, he enacted, that none were liable to it, who had themselves, or whose
parents had ever, possessed a knight’s estate. He took the census of the
Roman people street by street: and that the people might not be too often
taken from their business to receive the distribution of corn, it was his
intention to deliver tickets three times a year for four months respectively;
but at their request, he continued the former regulation, that they should
receive their (103) share monthly. He revived the former law of elections,
endeavouring, by various penalties, to suppress the practice of bribery.
Upon the day of election, he distributed to the freemen of the Fabian and
Scaptian tribes, in which he himself was enrolled, a thousand sesterces
each, that they might look for nothing from any of the candidates.
Considering it of extreme importance to preserve the Roman people pure,
and untainted with a mixture of foreign or servile blood, he not only
bestowed the freedom of the city with a sparing hand, but laid some
restriction upon the practice of manumitting slaves. When Tiberius
interceded with him for the freedom of Rome in behalf of a Greek client of
his, he wrote to him for answer, “I shall not grant it, unless he comes
himself, and satisfies me that he has just grounds for the application.” And
when Livia begged the freedom of the city for a tributary Gaul, he refused
it, but offered to release him from payment of taxes, saying, “I shall sooner
suffer some loss in my exchequer, than that the citizenship of Rome be
rendered too common.” Not content with interposing many obstacles to

either the partial or complete emancipation of slaves, by quibbles respecting
the number, condition and difference of those who were to be manumitted;
he likewise enacted that none who had been put in chains or tortured,
should ever obtain the freedom of the city in any degree. He endeavoured
also to restore the old habit and dress of the Romans; and upon seeing once,
in an assembly of the people, a crowd in grey cloaks 181, he exclaimed
with indignation, “See there,

Romanos rerum dominos, gentemque togatem.” 182

Rome’s conquering sons, lords of the wide-spread globe,
Stalk proudly in the toga’s graceful robe.

And he gave orders to the ediles not to permit, in future, any Roman to be
present in the forum or circus unless they took off their short coats, and
wore the toga.
(104) XLI. He displayed his munificence to all ranks of the people on
various occasions. Moreover, upon his bringing the treasure belonging to
the kings of Egypt into the city, in his Alexandrian triumph, he made money
so plentiful, that interest fell, and the price of land rose considerably. And
afterwards, as often as large sums of money came into his possession by
means of confiscations, he would lend it free of interest, for a fixed term, to
such as could give security for the double of what was borrowed. The estate
necessary to qualify a senator, instead of eight hundred thousand sesterces,
the former standard, he ordered, for the future, to be twelve hundred
thousand; and to those who had not so much, he made good the deficiency.
He often made donations to the people, but generally of different sums;
sometimes four hundred, sometimes three hundred, or two hundred and
fifty sesterces upon which occasions, he extended his bounty even to young
boys, who before were not used to receive anything, until they arrived at
eleven years of age. In a scarcity of corn, he would frequently let them have
it at a very low price, or none at all; and doubled the number of the money
tickets.
XLII. But to show that he was a prince who regarded more the good of
his people than their applause, he reprimanded them very severely, upon
their complaining of the scarcity and dearness of wine. “My son-in-law,
Agrippa,” he said, “has sufficiently provided for quenching your thirst, by
the great plenty of water with which he has supplied the town.” Upon their
demanding a gift which he had promised them, he said, “I am a man of my

word.” But upon their importuning him for one which he had not promised,
he issued a proclamation upbraiding them for their scandalous impudence;
at the same time telling them, “I shall now give you nothing, whatever I
may have intended to do.” With the same strict firmness, when, upon a
promise he had made of a donative, he found many slaves had been
emancipated and enrolled amongst the citizens, he declared that no one
should receive anything who was not included in the promise, and he gave
the rest less than he had promised them, in order that the amount he had set
apart might hold out. On one occasion, in a season of great scarcity, which
it was difficult to remedy, he ordered out of the city the troops of slaves
brought for sale, the gladiators (105) belonging to the masters of defence,
and all foreigners, excepting physicians and the teachers of the liberal
sciences. Part of the domestic slaves were likewise ordered to be dismissed.
When, at last, plenty was restored, he writes thus “I was much inclined to
abolish for ever the practice of allowing the people corn at the public
expense, because they trust so much to it, that they are too lazy to till their
lands; but I did not persevere in my design, as I felt sure that the practice
would some time or other be revived by some one ambitious of popular
favour.” However, he so managed the affair ever afterwards, that as much
account was taken of husbandmen and traders, as of the idle populace. 183
XLIII. In the number, variety, and magnificence of his public spectacles,
he surpassed all former example. Four-and-twenty times, he says, he treated
the people with games upon his own account, and three-and-twenty times
for such magistrates as were either absent, or not able to afford the expense.
The performances took place sometimes in the different streets of the city,
and upon several stages, by players in all languages. The same he did not
only in the forum and amphitheatre, but in the circus likewise, and in the
septa 184: and sometimes he exhibited only the hunting of wild beasts. He
entertained the people with wrestlers in the Campus Martius, where wooden
seats were erected for the purpose; and also with a naval fight, for which he
excavated the ground near the Tiber, where there is now the grove of the
Caesars. During these two entertainments he stationed guards in the city,
lest, by robbers taking advantage of the small number of people left at
home, it might be exposed to depredations. In the circus he exhibited
chariot and foot races, and combats with wild beasts, in which the
performers were often youths of the highest rank. His favourite spectacle
was the Trojan game, acted by a select number of boys, in parties differing

in age and station; thinking (106) that it was a practice both excellent in
itself, and sanctioned by ancient usage, that the spirit of the young nobles
should be displayed in such exercises. Caius Nonius Asprenas, who was
lamed by a fall in this diversion, he presented with a gold collar, and
allowed him and his posterity to bear the surname of Torquati. But soon
afterwards he gave up the exhibition of this game, in consequence of a
severe and bitter speech made in the senate by Asinius Pollio, the orator, in
which he complained bitterly of the misfortune of Aeserninus, his grandson,
who likewise broke his leg in the same diversion.
Sometimes he engaged Roman knights to act upon the stage, or to fight
as gladiators; but only before the practice was prohibited by a decree of the
senate. Thenceforth, the only exhibition he made of that kind, was that of a
young man named Lucius, of a good family, who was not quite two feet in
height, and weighed only seventeen pounds, but had a stentorian voice. In
one of his public spectacles, he brought the hostages of the Parthians, the
first ever sent to Rome from that nation, through the middle of the
amphitheatre, and placed them in the second tier of seats above him. He
used likewise, at times when there were no public entertainments, if any
thing was brought to Rome which was uncommon, and might gratify
curiosity, to expose it to public view, in any place whatever; as he did a
rhinoceros in the Septa, a tiger upon a stage, and a snake fifty cubits lung in
the Comitium. It happened in the Circensian games, which he performed in
consequence of a vow, that he was taken ill, and obliged to attend the
Thensae 185, reclining on a litter. Another time, in the games celebrated for
the opening of the theatre of Marcellus, the joints of his curule chair
happening to give way, he fell on his back. And in the games exhibited by
his (107) grandsons, when the people were in such consternation, by an
alarm raised that the theatre was falling, that all his efforts to re-assure them
and keep them quiet, failed, he moved from his place, and seated himself in
that part of the theatre which was thought to be exposed to most danger.
XLIV. He corrected the confusion and disorder with which the spectators
took their seats at the public games, after an affront which was offered to a
senator at Puteoli, for whom, in a crowded theatre, no one would make
room. He therefore procured a decree of the senate, that in all public
spectacles of any sort, and in any place whatever, the first tier of benches
should be left empty for the accommodation of senators. He would not even
permit the ambassadors of free nations, nor of those which were allies of

Rome, to sit in the orchestra; having found that some manumitted slaves
had been sent under that character. He separated the soldiery from the rest
of the people, and assigned to married plebeians their particular rows of
seats. To the boys he assigned their own benches, and to their tutors the
seats which were nearest it; ordering that none clothed in black should sit in
the centre of the circle 186. Nor would he allow any women to witness the
combats of gladiators, except from the upper part of the theatre, although
they formerly used to take their places promiscuously with the rest of the
spectators. To the vestal virgins he granted seats in the theatre, reserved for
them only, opposite the praetor’s bench. He excluded, however, the whole
female sex from seeing the wrestlers: so that in the games which he
exhibited upon his accession to the office of high-priest, he deferred
producing a pair of combatants which the people called for, until the next
morning; and intimated by proclamation, “his pleasure that no woman
should appear in the theatre before five o’clock.”
XLV. He generally viewed the Circensian games himself, from the upper
rooms of the houses of his friends or freedmen; sometimes from the place
appointed for the statues of the gods, and sitting in company with his wife
and children. He (108) occasionally absented himself from the spectacles
for several hours, and sometimes for whole days; but not without first
making an apology, and appointing substitutes to preside in his stead. When
present, he never attended to anything else either to avoid the reflections
which he used to say were commonly made upon his father, Caesar, for
perusing letters and memorials, and making rescripts during the spectacles;
or from the real pleasure he took in attending those exhibitions; of which he
made no secret, he often candidly owning it. This he manifested frequently
by presenting honorary crowns and handsome rewards to the best
performers, in the games exhibited by others; and he never was present at
any performance of the Greeks, without rewarding the most deserving,
according to their merit. He took particular pleasure in witnessing pugilistic
contests, especially those of the Latins, not only between combatants who
had been trained scientifically, whom he used often to match with the Greek
champions; but even between mobs of the lower classes fighting in streets,
and tilting at random, without any knowledge of the art. In short, he
honoured with his patronage all sorts of people who contributed in any way
to the success of the public entertainments. He not only maintained, but
enlarged, the privileges of the wrestlers. He prohibited combats of

gladiators where no quarter was given. He deprived the magistrates of the
power of correcting the stage-players, which by an ancient law was allowed
them at all times, and in all places; restricting their jurisdiction entirely to
the time of performance and misdemeanours in the theatres. He would,
however, admit, of no abatement, and exacted with the utmost rigour the
greatest exertions of the wrestlers and gladiators in their several encounters.
He went so far in restraining the licentiousness of stage-players, that upon
discovering that Stephanio, a performer of the highest class, had a married
woman with her hair cropped, and dressed in boy’s clothes, to wait upon
him at table, he ordered him to be whipped through all the three theatres,
and then banished him. Hylas, an actor of pantomimes, upon a complaint
against him by the praetor, he commanded to be scourged in the court of his
own house, which, however, was open to the public. And Pylades he not
only banished from the city, but from Italy also, for pointing with his finger
at a spectator by whom he was hissed, and turning the eyes of the audience
upon him.
(109) XLVI. Having thus regulated the city and its concerns, he
augmented the population of Italy by planting in it no less than twenty-eight
colonies 187, and greatly improved it by public works, and a beneficial
application of the revenues. In rights and privileges, he rendered it in a
measure equal to the city itself, by inventing a new kind of suffrage, which
the principal officers and magistrates of the colonies might take at home,
and forward under seal to the city, against the time of the elections. To
increase the number of persons of condition, and of children among the
lower ranks, he granted the petitions of all those who requested the honour
of doing military service on horseback as knights, provided their demands
were seconded by the recommendation of the town in which they lived; and
when he visited the several districts of Italy, he distributed a thousand
sesterces a head to such of the lower class as presented him with sons or
daughters.
XLVII. The more important provinces, which could not with ease or
safety be entrusted to the government of annual magistrates, he reserved for
his own administration: the rest he distributed by lot amongst the
proconsuls: but sometimes he made exchanges, and frequently visited most
of both kinds in person. Some cities in alliance with Rome, but which by
their great licentiousness were hastening to ruin, he deprived of their
independence. Others, which were much in debt, he relieved, and rebuilt

such as had been destroyed by earthquakes. To those that could produce any
instance of their having deserved well of the Roman people, he presented
the freedom of Latium, or even that of the City. There is not, I believe, a
province, except Africa and Sardinia, which he did not visit. After forcing
Sextus Pompeius to take refuge in those provinces, he was indeed preparing
to cross over from Sicily to them, but was prevented by continual and
violent storms, and afterwards there was no occasion or call for such a
voyage.
XLVIII. Kingdoms, of which he had made himself master by the right of
conquest, a few only excepted, he either restored to their former possessors
188, or conferred upon aliens. Between (110) kings of alliance with Rome,
he encouraged most intimate union; being always ready to promote or
favour any proposal of marriage or friendship amongst them; and, indeed,
treated them all with the same consideration, as if they were members and
parts of the empire. To such of them as were minors or lunatics he
appointed guardians, until they arrived at age, or recovered their senses; and
the sons of many of them he brought up and educated with his own.
XLIX. With respect to the army, he distributed the legions and auxiliary
troops throughout the several provinces, he stationed a fleet at Misenum,
and another at Ravenna, for the protection of the Upper and Lower Seas
189. A certain number of the forces were selected, to occupy the posts in the
city, and partly for his own body-guard; but he dismissed the Spanish guard,
which he retained about him till the fall of Antony; and also the Germans,
whom he had amongst his guards, until the defeat of Varus. Yet he never
permitted a greater force than three cohorts in the city, and had no
(pretorian) camps 190. The rest he quartered in the neighbourhood of the
nearest towns, in winter and summer camps. All the troops throughout the
empire he reduced to one fixed model with regard to their pay and their
pensions; determining these according to their rank in the army, the time
they had served, and their private means; so that after their discharge, they
might not be tempted by age or necessities to join the agitators for a
revolution. For the purpose of providing a fund always ready to meet their
pay and pensions, he instituted a military exchequer, and appropriated new
taxes to that object. In order to obtain the earliest intelligence of what was
passing in the provinces, he established posts, consisting at first of young
men stationed at moderate distances along the military roads, and
afterwards of regular couriers with fast vehicles; which appeared to him the

most commodious, because the persons who were the bearers of dispatches,
written on the spot, might then be questioned about the business, as
occasion occurred.
L. In sealing letters-patent, rescripts, or epistles, he at first used the figure
of a sphinx, afterwards the head of Alexander (111) the Great, and at last his
own, engraved by the hand of Dioscorides; which practice was retained by
the succeeding emperors. He was extremely precise in dating his letters,
putting down exactly the time of the day or night at which they were
dispatched.
LI. Of his clemency and moderation there are abundant and signal
instances. For, not to enumerate how many and what persons of the adverse
party he pardoned, received into favour, and suffered to rise to the highest
eminence in the state; he thought it sufficient to punish Junius Novatus and
Cassius Patavinus, who were both plebeians, one of them with a fine, and
the other with an easy banishment; although the former had published, in
the name of young Agrippa, a very scurrilous letter against him, and the
other declared openly, at an entertainment where there was a great deal of
company, “that he neither wanted inclination nor courage to stab him.” In
the trial of Aemilius Aelianus, of Cordova, when, among other charges
exhibited against him, it was particularly insisted upon, that he used to
calumniate Caesar, he turned round to the accuser, and said, with an air and
tone of passion, “I wish you could make that appear; I shall let Aelianus
know that I have a tongue too, and shall speak sharper of him than he ever
did of me.” Nor did he, either then or afterwards, make any farther inquiry
into the affair. And when Tiberius, in a letter, complained of the affront with
great earnestness, he returned him an answer in the following terms: “Do
not, my dear Tiberius, give way to the ardour of youth in this affair; nor be
so indignant that any person should speak ill of me. It is enough, for us, if
we can prevent any one from really doing us mischief.”
LII. Although he knew that it had been customary to decree temples in
honour of the proconsuls, yet he would not permit them to be erected in any
of the provinces, unless in the joint names of himself and Rome. Within the
limits of the city, he positively refused any honour of that kind. He melted
down all the silver statues which had been erected to him, and converted the
whole into tripods, which he consecrated to the Palatine Apollo. And when
the people importuned him to accept the dictatorship, he bent down on one

knee, with his toga thrown over his shoulders, and his breast exposed to
view, begging to be excused.
(112) LIII. He always abhorred the title of Lord 191, as ill-omened and
offensive. And when, in a play, performed at the theatre, at which he was
present, these words were introduced, “O just and gracious lord,” and the
whole company, with joyful acclamations, testified their approbation of
them, as applied to him, he instantly put a stop to their indecent flattery, by
waving his hand, and frowning sternly, and next day publicly declared his
displeasure, in a proclamation. He never afterwards would suffer himself to
be addressed in that manner, even by his own children or grand-children,
either in jest or earnest and forbad them the use of all such complimentary
expressions to one another. He rarely entered any city or town, or departed
from it, except in the evening or the night, to avoid giving any person the
trouble of complimenting him. During his consulships, he commonly
walked the streets on foot; but at other times, rode in a close carriage. He
admitted to court even plebeians, in common with people of the higher
ranks; receiving the petitions of those who approached him with so much
affability, that he once jocosely rebuked a man, by telling him, “You present
your memorial with as much hesitation as if you were offering money to an
elephant.” On senate days, he used to pay his respects to the Conscript
Fathers only in the house, addressing them each by name as they sat,
without any prompter; and on his departure, he bade each of them farewell,
while they retained their seats. In the same manner, he maintained with
many of them a constant intercourse of mutual civilities, giving them his
company upon occasions of any particular festivity in their families; until
he became advanced in years, and was incommoded by the crowd at a
wedding. Being informed that Gallus Terrinius, a senator, with whom he
had only a slight acquaintance, had suddenly lost his sight, and under that
privation had resolved to starve himself to death, he paid him a visit, and by
his consolatory admonitions diverted him from his purpose.
LIV. On his speaking in the senate, he has been told by (113) one of the
members, “I did not understand you,” and by another, “I would contradict
you, could I do it with safety.” And sometimes, upon his being so much
offended at the heat with which the debates were conducted in the senate, as
to quit the house in anger, some of the members have repeatedly exclaimed:
“Surely, the senators ought to have liberty of speech on matters of
government.” Antistius Labeo, in the election of a new senate, when each,

as he was named, chose another, nominated Marcus Lepidus, who had
formerly been Augustus’s enemy, and was then in banishment; and being
asked by the latter, “Is there no other person more deserving?” he replied,
“Every man has his own opinion.” Nor was any one ever molested for his
freedom of speech, although it was carried to the extent of insolence.
LV. Even when some infamous libels against him were dispersed in the
senate-house, he was neither disturbed, nor did he give himself much
trouble to refute them. He would not so much as order an enquiry to be
made after the authors; but only proposed, that, for the future, those who
published libels or lampoons, in a borrowed name, against any person,
should be called to account.
LVI. Being provoked by some petulant jests, which were designed to
render him odious, he answered them by a proclamation; and yet he
prevented the senate from passing an act, to restrain the liberties which
were taken with others in people’s wills. Whenever he attended at the
election of magistrates, he went round the tribes, with the candidates of his
nomination, and begged the votes of the people in the usual manner. He
likewise gave his own vote in his tribe, as one of the people. He suffered
himself to be summoned as a witness upon trials, and not only to be
questioned, but to be cross-examined, with the utmost patience. In building
his Forum, he restricted himself in the site, not presuming to compel the
owners of the neighbouring houses to give up their property. He never
recommended his sons to the people, without adding these words, “If they
deserve it.” And upon the audience rising on their entering the theatre,
while they were yet minors, and giving them applause in a standing
position, he made it a matter of serious complaint.
(114) He was desirous that his friends should be great and powerful in
the state, but have no exclusive privileges, or be exempt from the laws
which governed others. When Asprenas Nonius, an intimate friend of his,
was tried upon a charge of administering poison at the instance of Cassius
Severus, he consulted the senate for their opinion what was his duty under
the circumstances: “For,” said he, “I am afraid, lest, if I should stand by him
in the cause, I may be supposed to screen a guilty man; and if I do not, to
desert and prejudge a friend.” With the unanimous concurrence, therefore,
of the senate, he took his seat amongst his advocates for several hours, but
without giving him the benefit of speaking to character, as was usual. He

likewise appeared for his clients; as on behalf of Scutarius, an old soldier of
his, who brought an action for slander. He never relieved any one from
prosecution but in a single instance, in the case of a man who had given
information of the conspiracy of Muraena; and that he did only by
prevailing upon the accuser, in open court, to drop his prosecution.
LVII. How much he was beloved for his worthy conduct in all these
respects, it is easy to imagine. I say nothing of the decrees of the senate in
his honour, which may seem to have resulted from compulsion or
deference. The Roman knights voluntarily, and with one accord, always
celebrated his birth for two days together; and all ranks of the people,
yearly, in performance of a vow they had made, threw a piece of money into
the Curtian lake 192, as an offering for his welfare. They likewise, on the
calends [first] of January, presented for his acceptance new-year’s gifts in
the Capitol, though he was not present with which donations he purchased
some costly images of the Gods, which he erected in several streets of the
city; as that of Apollo Sandaliarius, Jupiter Tragoedus 193, and others.
When his house on the Palatine hill was accidentally destroyed by fire, the
veteran soldiers, the judges, the tribes, and even the people, individually,
contributed, according to the ability of each, for rebuilding it; but he would
(115) accept only of some small portion out of the several sums collected,
and refused to take from any one person more than a single denarius 194.
Upon his return home from any of the provinces, they attended him not
only with joyful acclamations, but with songs. It is also remarked, that as
often as he entered the city, the infliction of punishment was suspended for
the time.
LVIII. The whole body of the people, upon a sudden impulse, and with
unanimous consent, offered him the title of FATHER OF HIS COUNTRY.
It was announced to him first at Antium, by a deputation from the people,
and upon his declining the honour, they repeated their offer on his return to
Rome, in a full theatre, when they were crowned with laurel. The senate
soon afterwards adopted the proposal, not in the way of acclamation or
decree, but by commissioning M. Messala, in an unanimous vote, to
compliment him with it in the following terms: “With hearty wishes for the
happiness and prosperity of yourself and your family, Caesar Augustus, (for
we think we thus most effectually pray for the lasting welfare of the state),
the senate, in agreement with the Roman people, salute you by the title of
FATHER OF YOUR COUNTRY.” To this compliment Augustus replied,

with tears in his eyes, in these words (for I give them exactly as I have done
those of Messala): “Having now arrived at the summit of my wishes, O
Conscript Fathers 195, what else have I to beg of the Immortal (116) Gods,
but the continuance of this your affection for me to the last moments of my
life?”
LIX. To the physician Antonius Musa 196, who had cured him of a
dangerous illness, they erected a statue near that of Aesculapius, by a
general subscription. Some heads of families ordered in their wills, that
their heirs should lead victims to the Capitol, with a tablet carried before
them, and pay their vows, “Because Augustus still survived.” Some Italian
cities appointed the day upon which he first visited them, to be thenceforth
the beginning of their year. And most of the provinces, besides erecting
temples and altars, instituted games, to be celebrated to his honour, in most
towns, every five years.
LX. The kings, his friends and allies, built cities in their respective
kingdoms, to which they gave the name of Caesarea; and all with one
consent resolved to finish, at their common expense, the temple of Jupiter
Olympius, at Athens, which had been begun long before, and consecrate it
to his Genius. They frequently also left their kingdoms, laid aside the
badges of royalty, and assuming the toga, attended and paid their respects to
him daily, in the manner of clients to their patrons; not only at Rome, but
when he was travelling through the provinces.
LXI. Having thus given an account of the manner in which he filled his
public offices both civil and military, and his conduct in the government of
the empire, both in peace and war; I shall now describe his private and
domestic life, his habits at home and among his friends and dependents, and
the fortune attending him in those scenes of retirement, from his youth to
the day of his death. He lost his mother in his first consulship, and his sister
Octavia, when he was in the fifty-fourth year of his age 197. He behaved
towards them both with the utmost kindness whilst living, and after their
decease paid the highest honours to their memory.
(117) LXII. He was contracted when very young to the daughter of
Publius Servilius Isauricus; but upon his reconciliation with Antony after
their first rupture 198, the armies on both sides insisting on a family
alliance between them, he married Antony’s step-daughter Claudia, the
daughter of Fulvia by Publius Claudius, although at that time she was

scarcely marriageable; and upon a difference arising with his mother-in-law
Fulvia, he divorced her untouched, and a pure virgin. Soon afterwards he
took to wife Scribonia, who had before been twice married to men of
consular rank 199, and was a mother by one of them. With her likewise he
parted 200, being quite tired out, as he himself writes, with the perverseness
of her temper; and immediately took Livia Drusilla, though then pregnant,
from her husband Tiberius Nero; and she had never any rival in his love and
esteem.
LXIII. By Scribonia he had a daughter named Julia, but no children by
Livia, although extremely desirous of issue. She, indeed, conceived once,
but miscarried. He gave his daughter Julia in the first instance to Marcellus,
his sister’s son, who had just completed his minority; and, after his death, to
Marcus Agrippa, having prevailed with his sister to yield her son-in-law to
his wishes; for at that time Agrippa was married to one of the Marcellas,
and had children by her. Agrippa dying also, he for a long time thought of
several matches for Julia in even the equestrian order, and at last resolved
upon selecting Tiberius for his step-son; and he obliged him to part with his
wife at that time pregnant, and who had already brought him a child. Mark
Antony writes, “That he first contracted Julia to his son, and afterwards to
Cotiso, king of the Getae 201, demanding at the same time the king’s
daughter in marriage for himself.”
(118) LXIV. He had three grandsons by Agrippa and Julia, namely, Caius,
Lucius, and Agrippa; and two grand-daughters, Julia and Agrippina. Julia he
married to Lucius Paulus, the censor’s son, and Agrippina to Germanicus,
his sister’s grandson. Caius and Lucius he adopted at home, by the
ceremony of purchase 202 from their father, advanced them, while yet very
young, to offices in the state, and when they were consuls-elect, sent them
to visit the provinces and armies. In bringing up his daughter and grand-
daughters, he accustomed them to domestic employments, and even
spinning, and obliged them to speak and act every thing openly before the
family, that it might be put down in the diary. He so strictly prohibited them
from all converse with strangers, that he once wrote a letter to Lucius
Vinicius, a handsome young man of a good family, in which he told him,
“You have not behaved very modestly, in making a visit to my daughter at
Baiae.” He usually instructed his grandsons himself in reading, swimming,
and other rudiments of knowledge; and he laboured nothing more than to
perfect them in the imitation of his hand-writing. He never supped but he

had them sitting at the foot of his couch; nor ever travelled but with them in
a chariot before him, or riding beside him.
LXV. But in the midst of all his joy and hopes in his numerous and well-
regulated family, his fortune failed him. The two Julias, his daughter and
grand-daughter, abandoned themselves to such courses of lewdness and
debauchery, that he banished them both. Caius and Lucius he lost within the
space of eighteen months; the former dying in Lycia, and the latter at
Marseilles. His third grandson Agrippa, with his step-son Tiberius, he
adopted in the forum, by a law passed for the purpose by the Sections 203;
but he soon afterwards discarded Agrippa for his coarse and unruly temper,
and confined him at Surrentum. He bore the death of his relations with
more patience than he did their disgrace; for he was not overwhelmed by
the loss of Caius and Lucius; but in the case of his daughter, he stated the
facts to the senate in a message read to them by (119) the quaestor, not
having the heart to be present himself; indeed, he was so much ashamed of
her infamous conduct, that for some time he avoided all company, and had
thoughts of putting her to death. It is certain that when one Phoebe, a freed-
woman and confidant of hers, hanged herself about the same time, he said,
“I had rather be the father of Phoebe than of Julia.” In her banishment he
would not allow her the use of wine, nor any luxury in dress; nor would he
suffer her to be waited upon by any male servant, either freeman or slave,
without his permission, and having received an exact account of his age,
stature, complexion, and what marks or scars he had about him. At the end
of five years he removed her from the island [where she was confined] to
the continent 204, and treated her with less severity, but could never be
prevailed upon to recall her. When the Roman people interposed on her
behalf several times with much importunity, all the reply he gave was: “I
wish you had all such daughters and wives as she is.” He likewise forbad a
child, of which his grand-daughter Julia was delivered after sentence had
passed against her, to be either owned as a relation, or brought up. Agrippa,
who was equally intractable, and whose folly increased every day, he
transported to an island 205, and placed a guard of soldiers about him;
procuring at the same time an act of the senate for his confinement there
during life. Upon any mention of him and the two Julias, he would say, with
a heavy sigh,

Aith’ ophelon agamos t’ emenai, agonos t’ apoletai.

Would I were wifeless, or had childless died! 206

nor did he usually call them by any other name than that of his “three
imposthumes or cancers.”
LXVI. He was cautious in forming friendships, but clung to them with
great constancy; not only rewarding the virtues and merits of his friends
according to their deserts, but bearing likewise with their faults and vices,
provided that they were (120) of a venial kind. For amongst all his friends,
we scarcely find any who fell into disgrace with him, except Salvidienus
Rufus, whom he raised to the consulship, and Cornelius Gallus, whom he
made prefect of Egypt; both of them men of the lowest extraction. One of
these, being engaged in plotting a rebellion, he delivered over to the senate,
for condemnation; and the other, on account of his ungrateful and malicious
temper, he forbad his house, and his living in any of the provinces. When,
however, Gallus, being denounced by his accusers, and sentenced by the
senate, was driven to the desperate extremity of laying violent hands upon
himself, he commended, indeed, the attachment to his person of those who
manifested so much indignation, but he shed tears, and lamented his
unhappy condition, “That I alone,” said he, “cannot be allowed to resent the
misconduct of my friends in such a way only as I would wish.” The rest of
his friends of all orders flourished during their whole lives, both in power
and wealth, in the highest ranks of their several orders, notwithstanding
some occasional lapses. For, to say nothing of others, he sometimes
complained that Agrippa was hasty, and Mecaenas a tattler; the former
having thrown up all his employments and retired to Mitylene, on suspicion
of some slight coolness, and from jealousy that Marcellus received greater
marks of favour; and the latter having confidentially imparted to his wife
Terentia the discovery of Muraena’s conspiracy.
He likewise expected from his friends, at their deaths as well as during
their lives, some proofs of their reciprocal attachment. For though he was
far from coveting their property, and indeed would never accept of any
legacy left him by a stranger, yet he pondered in a melancholy mood over
their last words; not being able to conceal his chagrin, if in their wills they
made but a slight, or no very honourable mention of him, nor his joy, on the
other hand, if they expressed a grateful sense of his favours, and a hearty
affection for him. And whatever legacies or shares of their property were
left him by such as were parents, he used to restore to their children, either

immediately, or if they were under age, upon the day of their assuming the
manly dress, or of their marriage; with interest.
LXVII. As a patron and master, his behaviour in general was mild and
conciliating; but when occasion required it, he (121) could be severe. He
advanced many of his freedmen to posts of honour and great importance, as
Licinus, Enceladus, and others; and when his slave, Cosmus, had reflected
bitterly upon him, he resented the injury no further than by putting him in
fetters. When his steward, Diomedes, left him to the mercy of a wild boar,
which suddenly attacked them while they were walking together, he
considered it rather a cowardice than a breach of duty; and turned an
occurrence of no small hazard into a jest, because there was no knavery in
his steward’s conduct. He put to death Proculus, one of his most favourite
freedmen, for maintaining a criminal commerce with other men’s wives. He
broke the legs of his secretary, Thallus, for taking a bribe of five hundred
denarii to discover the contents of one of his letters. And the tutor and other
attendants of his son Caius, having taken advantage of his sickness and
death, to give loose to their insolence and rapacity in the province he
governed, he caused heavy weights to be tied about their necks, and had
them thrown into a river.
LXVIII. In his early youth various aspersions of an infamous character
were heaped upon him. Sextus Pompey reproached him with being an
effeminate fellow; and M. Antony, with earning his adoption from his uncle
by prostitution. Lucius Antony, likewise Mark’s brother, charges him with
pollution by Caesar; and that, for a gratification of three hundred thousand
sesterces, he had submitted to Aulus Hirtius in the same way, in Spain;
adding, that he used to singe his legs with burnt nut-shells, to make the hair
become softer 207. Nay, the whole concourse of the people, at some public
diversions in the theatre, when the following sentence was recited, alluding
to the Gallic priest of the mother of the gods 208, beating a drum 209,

Videsne ut cinaedus orbem digito temperet?
See with his orb the wanton’s finger play!

applied the passage to him, with great applause.
(122) LXIX. That he was guilty of various acts of adultery, is not denied
even by his friends; but they allege in excuse for it, that he engaged in those
intrigues not from lewdness, but from policy, in order to discover more
easily the designs of his enemies, through their wives. Mark Antony,

besides the precipitate marriage of Livia, charges him with taking the wife
of a man of consular rank from table, in the presence of her husband, into a
bed-chamber, and bringing her again to the entertainment, with her ears
very red, and her hair in great disorder: that he had divorced Scribonia, for
resenting too freely the excessive influence which one of his mistresses had
gained over him: that his friends were employed to pimp for him, and
accordingly obliged both matrons and ripe virgins to strip, for a complete
examination of their persons, in the same manner as if Thoranius, the dealer
in slaves, had them under sale. And before they came to an open rupture, he
writes to him in a familiar manner, thus: “Why are you changed towards
me? Because I lie with a queen? She is my wife. Is this a new thing with
me, or have I not done so for these nine years? And do you take freedoms
with Drusilla only? May health and happiness so attend you, as when you
read this letter, you are not in dalliance with Tertulla, Terentilla, Rufilla 210,
or Salvia Titiscenia, or all of them. What matters it to you where, or upon
whom, you spend your manly vigour?”
LXX. A private entertainment which he gave, commonly called the
Supper of the Twelve Gods 211, and at which the guests (123) were dressed
in the habit of gods and goddesses, while he personated Apollo himself,
afforded subject of much conversation, and was imputed to him not only by
Antony in his letters, who likewise names all the parties concerned, but in
the following well-known anonymous verses:

Cum primum istorum conduxit mensa choragum,
Sexque deos vidit Mallia, sexque deas
Impia dum Phoebi Caesar mendacia ludit,
Dum nova divorum coenat adulteria:
Omnia se a terris tunc numina declinarunt:
Fugit et auratos Jupiter ipse thronos.

When Mallia late beheld, in mingled train,
Twelve mortals ape twelve deities in vain;
Caesar assumed what was Apollo’s due,
And wine and lust inflamed the motley crew.
At the foul sight the gods avert their eyes,
And from his throne great Jove indignant flies.

What rendered this supper more obnoxious to public censure, was that it
happened at a time when there was a great scarcity, and almost a famine, in
the city. The day after, there was a cry current among the people, “that the
gods had eaten up all the corn; and that Caesar was indeed Apollo, but
Apollo the Tormentor;” under which title that god was worshipped in some

quarter of the city 212. He was likewise charged with being excessively
fond of fine furniture, and Corinthian vessels, as well as with being
addicted to gaming. For, during the time of the proscription, the following
line was written upon his statue:—

Pater argentarius, ego Corinthiarius;
My father was a silversmith 213, my dealings are in brass;

because it was believed, that he had put some persons upon the list of the
proscribed, only to obtain the Corinthian vessels in (124) their possession.
And afterwards, in the Sicilian war, the following epigram was published:
—

Postquam bis classe victus naves perdidit,
Aliquando ut vincat, ludit assidue aleam.

Twice having lost a fleet in luckless fight,
To win at last, he games both day and night.

LXXI. With respect to the charge or imputation of loathsome impurity
before-mentioned, he very easily refuted it by the chastity of his life, at the
very time when it was made, as well as ever afterwards. His conduct
likewise gave the lie to that of luxurious extravagance in his furniture,
when, upon the taking of Alexandria, he reserved for himself nothing of the
royal treasures but a porcelain cup, and soon afterwards melted down all the
vessels of gold, even such as were intended for common use. But his
amorous propensities never left him, and, as he grew older, as is reported,
he was in the habit of debauching young girls, who were procured for him,
from all quarters, even by his own wife. To the observations on his gaming,
he paid not the smallest regard; but played in public, but purely for his
diversion, even when he was advanced in years; and not only in the month
of December 214, but at other times, and upon all days, whether festivals or
not. This evidently appears from a letter under his own hand, in which he
says, “I supped, my dear Tiberius, with the same company. We had, besides,
Vinicius, and Silvius the father. We gamed at supper like old fellows, both
yesterday and today. And as any one threw upon the tali 215 aces or sixes,
he put down for every talus a denarius; all which was gained by him who
threw a Venus.” 216 In another letter, he says: “We had, my dear Tiberius, a
pleasant time of it during the festival of Minerva: for we played every day,
and kept the gaming-board warm. Your brother uttered many exclamations
at a desperate run of ill-fortune; but recovering by degrees, and

unexpectedly, he in the end lost not much. I lost twenty thousand sesterces
for my part; but then I was profusely (125) generous in my play, as I
commonly am; for had I insisted upon the stakes which I declined, or kept
what I gave away, I should have won about fifty thousand. But this I like
better for it will raise my character for generosity to the skies.” In a letter to
his daughter, he writes thus: “I have sent you two hundred and fifty denarii,
which I gave to every one of my guests; in case they were inclined at supper
to divert themselves with the Tali, or at the game of Even-or-Odd.”
LXXII. In other matters, it appears that he was moderate in his habits,
and free from suspicion of any kind of vice. He lived at first near the
Roman Forum, above the Ring-maker’s Stairs, in a house which had once
been occupied by Calvus the orator. He afterwards moved to the Palatine
Hill, where he resided in a small house 217 belonging to Hortensius, no
way remarkable either for size or ornament; the piazzas being but small, the
pillars of Alban stone 218, and the rooms without any thing of marble, or
fine paving. He continued to use the same bed-chamber, both winter and
summer, during forty years 219: for though he was sensible that the city did
not agree with his health in the winter, he nevertheless resided constantly in
it during that season. If at any time he wished to be perfectly retired, and
secure from interruption, he shut himself up in an apartment at the top of his
house, which he called his Syracuse or Technophuon 220, or he went to
some villa belonging to his freedmen near the city. But when he was
indisposed, he commonly took up his residence in the house of Mecaenas
221. Of all the places of retirement from the city, he (126) chiefly
frequented those upon the sea-coast, and the islands of Campania 222, or
the towns nearest the city, such as Lanuvium, Praeneste, and Tibur 223,
where he often used to sit for the administration of justice, in the porticos of
the temple of Hercules. He had a particular aversion to large and sumptuous
palaces; and some which had been raised at a vast expense by his grand-
daughter, Julia, he levelled to the ground. Those of his own, which were far
from being spacious, he adorned, not so much with statues and pictures, as
with walks and groves, and things which were curious either for their
antiquity or rarity; such as, at Capri, the huge limbs of sea-monsters and
wild beasts, which some affect to call the bones of giants; and also the arms
of ancient heroes.
LXXIII. His frugality in the furniture of his house appears even at this
day, from some beds and tables still remaining, most of which are scarcely

elegant enough for a private family. It is reported that he never lay upon a
bed, but such as was low, and meanly furnished. He seldom wore any
garment but what was made by the hands of his wife, sister, daughter, and
grand-daughters. His togas 224 were neither scanty nor full; (127) and the
clavus was neither remarkably broad or narrow. His shoes were a little
higher than common, to make him appear taller than he was. He had always
clothes and shoes, fit to appear in public, ready in his bed-chamber for any
sudden occasion.
LXXIV. At his table, which was always plentiful and elegant, he
constantly entertained company; but was very scrupulous in the choice of
them, both as to rank and character. Valerius Messala informs us, that he
never admitted any freedman to his table, except Menas, when rewarded
with the privilege of citizenship, for betraying Pompey’s fleet. He writes,
himself, that he invited to his table a person in whose villa he lodged, and
who had formerly been employed by him as a spy. He often came late to
table, and withdrew early; so that the company began supper before his
arrival, and continued at table after his departure. His entertainments
consisted of three entries, or at most of only six. But if his fare was
moderate, his courtesy was extreme. For those who were silent, or talked in
whispers, he encouraged to join in the general conversation; and introduced
buffoons and stage players, or even low performers from the circus, and
very often itinerant humourists, to enliven the company.
LXXV. Festivals and holidays he usually celebrated very expensively, but
sometimes only with merriment. In the Saturnalia, or at any other time
when the fancy took him, he distributed to his company clothes, gold, and
silver; sometimes coins of all sorts, even of the ancient kings of Rome and
of foreign nations; sometimes nothing but towels, sponges, rakes, and
tweezers, and other things of that kind, with tickets on them, which were
enigmatical, and had a double meaning 225. He used likewise to sell by lot
among his guests articles of very unequal value, and pictures with their
fronts reversed; and so, by the unknown quality of the lot, disappoint or
gratify the expectation of the purchasers. This sort of traffic (128) went
round the whole company, every one being obliged to buy something, and
to run the chance of loss or gain wits the rest.
LXXVI. He ate sparingly (for I must not omit even this), and commonly
used a plain diet. He was particularly fond of coarse bread, small fishes,

new cheese made of cow’s milk 226, and green figs of the sort which bear
fruit twice a year 227. He did not wait for supper, but took food at any time,
and in any place, when he had an appetite. The following passages relative
to this subject, I have transcribed from his letters. “I ate a little bread and
some small dates, in my carriage.” Again. “In returning home from the
palace in my litter, I ate an ounce of bread, and a few raisins.” Again. “No
Jew, my dear Tiberius, ever keeps such strict fast upon the Sabbath 228, as I
have to-day; for while in the bath, and after the first hour of the night, I only
ate two biscuits, before I began to be rubbed with oil.” From this great
indifference about his diet, he sometimes supped by himself, before his
company began, or after they had finished, and would not touch a morsel at
table with his guests.
LXXVII. He was by nature extremely sparing in the use of wine.
Cornelius Nepos says, that he used to drink only three times at supper in the
camp at Modena; and when he indulged himself the most, he never
exceeded a pint; or if he did, his stomach rejected it. Of all wines, he gave
the (129) preference to the Rhaetian 229, but scarcely ever drank any in the
day-time. Instead of drinking, he used to take a piece of bread dipped in
cold water, or a slice of cucumber, or some leaves of lettuce, or a green,
sharp, juicy apple.
LXXVIII. After a slight repast at noon, he used to seek repose 230,
dressed as he was, and with his shoes on, his feet covered, and his hand
held before his eyes. After supper he commonly withdrew to his study, a
small closet, where he sat late, until he had put down in his diary all or most
of the remaining transactions of the day, which he had not before registered.
He would then go to bed, but never slept above seven hours at most, and
that not without interruption; for he would wake three or four times during
that time. If he could not again fall asleep, as sometimes happened, he
called for some one to read or tell stories to him, until he became drowsy,
and then his sleep was usually protracted till after day-break. He never liked
to lie awake in the dark, without somebody to sit by him. Very early rising
was apt to disagree with him. On which account, if he was obliged to rise
betimes, for any civil or religious functions, in order to guard as much as
possible against the inconvenience resulting from it, he used to lodge in
some apartment near the spot, belonging to any of his attendants. If at any
time a fit of drowsiness seized him in passing along the streets, his litter
was set down while he snatched a few moments’ sleep.

LXXIX. In person he was handsome and graceful, through every period
of his life. But he was negligent in his dress; and so careless about dressing
his hair, that he usually had it done in great haste, by several barbers at a
time. His beard he sometimes clipped, and sometimes shaved; and either
read or wrote during the operation. His countenance, either when
discoursing or silent, was so calm and serene, that a (130) Gaul of the first
rank declared amongst his friends, that he was so softened by it, as to be
restrained from throwing him down a precipice, in his passage over the
Alps, when he had been admitted to approach him, under pretence of
conferring with him. His eyes were bright and piercing; and he was willing
it should be thought that there was something of a divine vigour in them. He
was likewise not a little pleased to see people, upon his looking steadfastly
at them, lower their countenances, as if the sun shone in their eyes. But in
his old age, he saw very imperfectly with his left eye. His teeth were thin
set, small and scaly, his hair a little curled, and inclining to a yellow colour.
His eye-brows met; his ears were small, and he had an aquiline nose. His
complexion was betwixt brown and fair; his stature but low; though Julius
Marathus, his freedman, says he was five feet and nine inches in height.
This, however, was so much concealed by the just proportion of his limbs,
that it was only perceivable upon comparison with some taller person
standing by him.
LXXX. He is said to have been born with many spots upon his breast and
belly, answering to the figure, order, and number of the stars in the
constellation of the Bear. He had besides several callosities resembling
scars, occasioned by an itching in his body, and the constant and violent use
of the strigil 231 in being rubbed. He had a weakness in his left hip, thigh,
and leg, insomuch that he often halted on that side; but he received much
benefit from the use of sand and reeds. He likewise sometimes found the
fore-finger of his right hand so weak, that when it was benumbed and
contracted with cold, to use it in writing, he was obliged to have recourse to
a circular piece of horn. He had occasionally a complaint in the bladder; but
upon voiding some stones in his urine, he was relieved from that pain.
LXXXI. During the whole course of his life, he suffered, at times,
dangerous fits of sickness, especially after the conquest of Cantabria; when
his liver being injured by a defluxion (131) upon it, he was reduced to such
a condition, that he was obliged to undergo a desperate and doubtful
method of cure: for warm applications having no effect, Antonius Musa 232

directed the use of those which were cold. He was likewise subject to fits of
sickness at stated times every year; for about his birth-day 233 he was
commonly a little indisposed. In the beginning of spring, he was attacked
with an inflation of the midriff; and when the wind was southerly, with a
cold in his head. By all these complaints, his constitution was so shattered,
that he could not easily bear either heat or cold.
LXXXII. In winter, he was protected against the inclemency of the
weather by a thick toga, four tunics, a shirt, a flannel stomacher, and
swathings upon his legs and thighs 234. In summer, he lay with the doors of
his bedchamber open, and frequently in a piazza, refreshed by a bubbling
fountain, and a person standing by to fan him. He could not bear even the
winter’s sun; and at home, never walked in the open air without a broad-
brimmed hat on his head. He usually travelled in a litter, and by night: and
so slow, that he was two days in going to Praeneste or Tibur. And if he
could go to any place by sea, he preferred that mode of travelling. He
carefully nourished his health against his many infirmities, avoiding chiefly
the free use of the bath; but he was often rubbed with oil, and sweated in a
stove; after which he was washed with tepid water, warmed either by a fire,
or by being exposed to the heat of the sun. When, upon account of his
nerves, he was obliged to have recourse to sea-water, or the waters of
Albula 235, he was contented with sitting over a wooden tub, which he
called by a Spanish name (132) Dureta, and plunging his hands and feet in
the water by turns.
LXXXIII. As soon as the civil wars were ended, he gave up riding and
other military exercises in the Campus Martius, and took to playing at ball,
or foot-ball; but soon afterwards used no other exercise than that of going
abroad in his litter, or walking. Towards the end of his walk, he would run
leaping, wrapped up in a short cloak or cape. For amusement he would
sometimes angle, or play with dice, pebbles, or nuts, with little boys,
collected from various countries, and particularly Moors and Syrians, for
their beauty or amusing talk. But dwarfs, and such as were in any way
deformed, he held in abhorrence, as lusus naturae (nature’s abortions), and
of evil omen.
LXXXIV. From early youth he devoted himself with great diligence and
application to the study of eloquence, and the other liberal arts. In the war
of Modena, notwithstanding the weighty affairs in which he was engaged,

he is said to have read, written, and declaimed every day. He never
addressed the senate, the people, or the army, but in a premeditated speech,
though he did not want the talent of speaking extempore on the spur of the
occasion. And lest his memory should fail him, as well as to prevent the
loss of time in getting up his speeches, it was his general practice to recite
them. In his intercourse with individuals, and even with his wife Livia,
upon subjects of importance he wrote on his tablets all he wished to
express, lest, if he spoke extempore, he should say more or less than was
proper. He delivered himself in a sweet and peculiar tone, in which he was
diligently instructed by a master of elocution. But when he had a cold, he
sometimes employed a herald to deliver his speeches to the people.
LXXXV. He composed many tracts in prose on various subjects, some of
which he read occasionally in the circle of his friends, as to an auditory.
Among these was his “Rescript to Brutus respecting Cato.” Most of the
pages he read himself, although he was advanced in years, but becoming
fatigued, he gave the rest to Tiberius to finish. He likewise read over to
(133) his friends his “Exhortations to Philosophy,” and the “History of his
own Life,” which he continued in thirteen books, as far as the Cantabrian
war, but no farther. He likewise made some attempts at poetry. There is
extant one book written by him in hexameter verse, of which both the
subject and title is “Sicily.” There is also a book of Epigrams, no larger than
the last, which he composed almost entirely while he was in the bath. These
are all his poetical compositions for though he begun a tragedy with great
zest, becoming dissatisfied with the style, he obliterated the whole; and his
friends saying to him, “What is your Ajax doing?” he answered, “My Ajax
has met with a sponge.” 236
LXXXVI. He cultivated a style which was neat and chaste, avoiding
frivolous or harsh language, as well as obsolete words, which he calls
disgusting. His chief object was to deliver his thoughts with all possible
perspicuity. To attain this end, and that he might nowhere perplex, or retard
the reader or hearer, he made no scruple to add prepositions to his verbs, or
to repeat the same conjunction several times; which, when omitted,
occasion some little obscurity, but give a grace to the style. Those who used
affected language, or adopted obsolete words, he despised, as equally faulty,
though in different ways. He sometimes indulged himself in jesting,
particularly with his friend Mecaenas, whom he rallied upon all occasions
for his fine phrases 237, and bantered by imitating his way of talking. Nor

did he spare Tiberius, who was fond of obsolete and far-fetched
expressions. He charges Mark Antony with insanity, writing rather to make
men stare, than to be understood; and by way of sarcasm upon his depraved
and fickle taste in the choice of words, he writes to him thus: “And are you
yet in doubt, whether Cimber Annius or Veranius Flaccus be more proper
for your imitation? Whether you will adopt words which Sallustius Crispus
has borrowed from the ‘Origines’ of Cato? Or do you think that the verbose
empty bombast of Asiatic orators is fit to be transfused into (134) our
language?” And in a letter where he commends the talent of his grand-
daughter, Agrippina, he says, “But you must be particularly careful, both in
writing and speaking, to avoid affectation.”
LXXXVII. In ordinary conversation, he made use of several peculiar
expressions, as appears from letters in his own hand-writing; in which, now
and then, when he means to intimate that some persons would never pay
their debts, he says, “They will pay at the Greek Calends.” And when he
advised patience in the present posture of affairs, he would say, “Let us be
content with our Cato.” To describe anything in haste, he said, “It was
sooner done than asparagus is cooked.” He constantly puts baceolus for
stultus, pullejaceus for pullus, vacerrosus for cerritus, vapide se habere for
male, and betizare for languere, which is commonly called lachanizare.
Likewise simus for sumus, domos for domus in the genitive singular 238.
With respect to the last two peculiarities, lest any person should imagine
that they were only slips of his pen, and not customary with him, he never
varies. I have likewise remarked this singularity in his hand-writing; he
never divides his words, so as to carry the letters which cannot be inserted
at the end of a line to the next, but puts them below the other, enclosed by a
bracket.
LXXXVIII. He did not adhere strictly to orthography as laid down by the
grammarians, but seems to have been of the opinion of those who think,
that we ought to write as we speak; for as to his changing and omitting not
only letters but whole syllables, it is a vulgar mistake. Nor should I have
taken notice of it, but that it appears strange to me, that any person should
have told us, that he sent a successor to a consular lieutenant of a province,
as an ignorant, illiterate fellow, upon his observing that he had written ixi
for ipsi. When he had occasion to write in cypher, he put b for a, c for b,
and so forth; and instead of z, aa.

LXXXIX. He was no less fond of the Greek literature, in which he made
considerable proficiency; having had Apollodorus (135) of Pergamus, for
his master in rhetoric; whom, though much advanced in years, he took with
him from The City, when he was himself very young, to Apollonia.
Afterwards, being instructed in philology by Sephaerus, he received into his
family Areus the philosopher, and his sons Dionysius and Nicanor; but he
never could speak the Greek tongue readily, nor ever ventured to compose
in it. For if there was occasion for him to deliver his sentiments in that
language, he always expressed what he had to say in Latin, and gave it
another to translate. He was evidently not unacquainted with the poetry of
the Greeks, and had a great taste for the ancient comedy, which he often
brought upon the stage, in his public spectacles. In reading the Greek and
Latin authors, he paid particular attention to precepts and examples which
might be useful in public or private life. Those he used to extract verbatim,
and gave to his domestics, or send to the commanders of the armies, the
governors of the provinces, or the magistrates of the city, when any of them
seemed to stand in need of admonition. He likewise read whole books to the
senate, and frequently made them known to the people by his edicts; such
as the orations of Quintus Metellus “for the Encouragement of Marriage,”
and those of Rutilius “On the Style of Building;” 239 to shew the people
that he was not the first who had promoted those objects, but that the
ancients likewise had thought them worthy their attention. He patronised
the men of genius of that age in every possible way. He would hear them
read their works with a great deal of patience and good nature; and not only
poetry 240 and history, but orations and dialogues. He was displeased,
however, that anything should be written upon himself, except in a grave
manner, and by men of the most eminent abilities: and he enjoined the
praetors not to suffer his name to be made too common in the contests
amongst orators and poets in the theatres.
XC. We have the following account of him respecting his (136) belief in
omens and such like. He had so great a dread of thunder and lightning that
he always carried about him a seal’s skin, by way of preservation. And upon
any apprehension of a violent storm, he would retire to some place of
concealment in a vault under ground; having formerly been terrified by a
flash of lightning, while travelling in the night, as we have already
mentioned. 241

XCI. He neither slighted his own dreams nor those of other people
relating to himself. At the battle of Philippi, although he had resolved not to
stir out of his tent, on account of his being indisposed, yet, being warned by
a dream of one of his friends, he changed his mind; and well it was that he
did so, for in the enemy’s attack, his couch was pierced and cut to pieces,
on the supposition of his being in it. He had many frivolous and frightful
dreams during the spring; but in the other parts of the year, they were less
frequent and more significative. Upon his frequently visiting a temple near
the Capitol, which he had dedicated to Jupiter Tonans, he dreamt that
Jupiter Capitolinus complained that his worshippers were taken from him,
and that upon this he replied, he had only given him The Thunderer for his
porter 242. He therefore immediately suspended little bells round the
summit of the temple; because such commonly hung at the gates of great
houses. In consequence of a dream, too, he always, on a certain day of the
year, begged alms of the people, reaching out his hand to receive the dole
which they offered him.
XCII. Some signs and omens he regarded as infallible. If in the morning
his shoe was put on wrong, the left instead of the right, that boded some
disaster. If when he commenced a long journey, by sea or land, there
happened to fall a mizzling rain, he held it to be a good sign of a speedy and
happy return. He was much affected likewise with any thing out of the
common course of nature. A palm-tree 243 which (137) chanced to grow up
between some stone’s in the court of his house, he transplanted into a court
where the images of the Household Gods were placed, and took all possible
care to make it thrive in the island of Capri, some decayed branches of an
old ilex, which hung drooping to the ground, recovered themselves upon his
arrival; at which he was so delighted, that he made an exchange with the
Republic 244 of Naples, of the island of Oenaria [Ischia], for that of Capri.
He likewise observed certain days; as never to go from home the day after
the Nundiae 245, nor to begin any serious business upon the nones 246;
avoiding nothing else in it, as he writes to Tiberius, than its unlucky name.
XCIII. With regard to the religious ceremonies of foreign nations, he was
a strict observer of those which had been established by ancient custom; but
others he held in no esteem. For, having been initiated at Athens, and
coming afterwards to hear a cause at Rome, relative to the privileges of the
priests of the Attic Ceres, when some of the mysteries of their sacred rites
were to be introduced in the pleadings, he dismissed those who sat upon the

bench as judges with him, as well as the by-standers, and beard the
argument upon those points himself. But, on the other hand, he not only
declined, in his progress through Egypt, to go out of his way to pay a visit
to Apis, but he likewise commended his grandson Caius (138) for not
paying his devotions at Jerusalem in his passage through Judaea. 247
XCIV. Since we are upon this subject, it may not be improper to give an
account of the omens, before and at his birth, as well as afterwards, which
gave hopes of his future greatness, and the good fortune that constantly
attended him. A part of the wall of Velletri having in former times been
struck with thunder, the response of the soothsayers was, that a native of
that town would some time or other arrive at supreme power; relying on
which prediction, the Velletrians both then, and several times afterwards,
made war upon the Roman people, to their own ruin. At last it appeared by
the event, that the omen had portended the elevation of Augustus.
Julius Marathus informs us, that a few months before his birth, there
happened at Rome a prodigy, by which was signified that Nature was in
travail with a king for the Roman people; and that the senate, in alarm,
came to the resolution that no child born that year should be brought up; but
that those amongst them, whose wives were pregnant, to secure to
themselves a chance of that dignity, took care that the decree of the senate
should not be registered in the treasury.
I find in the theological books of Asclepiades the Mendesian 248, that
Atia, upon attending at midnight a religious solemnity in honour of Apollo,
when the rest of the matrons retired home, fell asleep on her couch in the
temple, and that a serpent immediately crept to her, and soon after
withdrew. She awaking upon it, purified herself, as usual after the embraces
of her husband; and instantly there appeared upon her body a mark in the
form of a serpent, which she never after could efface, and which obliged
her, during the subsequent part of her life, to decline the use of the public
baths. Augustus, it was added, was born in the tenth month after, and for
that reason was thought to be the son of Apollo. The (139) same Atia,
before her delivery, dreamed that her bowels stretched to the stars, and
expanded through the whole circuit of heaven and earth. His father
Octavius, likewise, dreamt that a sun-beam issued from his wife’s womb.
Upon the day he was born, the senate being engaged in a debate on
Catiline’s conspiracy, and Octavius, in consequence of his wife’s being in

childbirth, coming late into the house, it is a well-known fact, that Publius
Nigidius, upon hearing the occasion of his coming so late, and the hour of
his wife’s delivery, declared that the world had got a master. Afterwards,
when Octavius, upon marching with his army through the deserts of Thrace,
consulted the oracle in the grove of father Bacchus, with barbarous rites,
concerning his son, he received from the priests an answer to the same
purpose; because, when they poured wine upon the altar, there burst out so
prodigious a flame, that it ascended above the roof of the temple, and
reached up to the heavens; a circumstance which had never happened to any
one but Alexander the Great, upon his sacrificing at the same altars. And
next night he dreamt that he saw his son under a more than human
appearance, with thunder and a sceptre, and the other insignia of Jupiter,
Optimus, Maximus, having on his head a radiant crown, mounted upon a
chariot decked with laurel, and drawn by six pair of milk-white horses.
Whilst he was yet an infant, as Caius Drusus relates, being laid in his
cradle by his nurse, and in a low place, the next day he was not to be found,
and after he had been sought for a long time, he was at last discovered upon
a lofty tower, lying with his face towards the rising sun 249. When he first
began to speak, he ordered the frogs that happened to make a troublesome
noise, upon an estate belonging to the family near the town, to be silent; and
there goes a report that frogs never croaked there since that time. As he was
dining in a grove at the fourth mile-stone on the Campanian road, an eagle
suddenly snatched a piece of bread out of his hand, and, soaring to a
prodigious height, after hovering, came down most unexpectedly, and
returned it to him.
Quintus Catulus had a dream, for two nights successively after his
dedication of the Capitol. The first night he dreamt (140) that Jupiter, out of
several boys of the order of the nobility who were playing about his altar,
selected one, into whose bosom he put the public seal of the
commonwealth, which he held in his hand; but in his vision the next night,
he saw in the bosom of Jupiter Capitolinus, the same boy; whom he ordered
to be removed, but it was forbidden by the God, who declared that it must
be brought up to become the guardian of the state. The next day, meeting
Augustus, with whom till that hour he had not the least acquaintance, and
looking at him with admiration, he said he was extremely like the boy he
had seen in his dream. Some give a different account of Catulus’s first
dream, namely, that Jupiter, upon several noble lads requesting of him that

they might have a guardian, had pointed to one amongst them, to whom
they were to prefer their requests; and putting his fingers to the boy’s mouth
to kiss, he afterwards applied them to his own.
Marcus Cicero, as he was attending Caius Caesar to the Capitol,
happened to be telling some of his friends a dream which he had the
preceding night, in which he saw a comely youth, let down from heaven by
a golden chain, who stood at the door of the Capitol, and had a whip put
into his hands by Jupiter. And immediately upon sight of Augustus, who
had been sent for by his uncle Caesar to the sacrifice, and was as yet
perfectly unknown to most of the company, he affirmed that it was the very
boy he had seen in his dream. When he assumed the manly toga, his
senatorian tunic becoming loose in the seam on each side, fell at his feet.
Some would have this to forbode, that the order, of which that was the
badge of distinction, would some time or other be subject to him.
Julius Caesar, in cutting down a wood to make room for his camp near
Munda 250, happened to light upon a palm-tree, and ordered it to be
preserved as an omen of victory. From the root of this tree there put out
immediately a sucker, which, in a few days, grew to such a height as not
only to equal, but overshadow it, and afford room for many nests of wild
pigeons which built in it, though that species of bird particularly avoids a
hard and rough leaf. It is likewise reported, that Caesar was chiefly
influenced by this prodigy, to prefer his sister’s grandson before all others
for his successor.
(141) In his retirement at Apollonia, he went with his friend Agrippa to
visit Theogenes, the astrologer, in his gallery on the roof. Agrippa, who first
consulted the fates, having great and almost incredible fortunes predicted of
him, Augustus did not choose to make known his nativity, and persisted for
some time in the refusal, from a mixture of shame and fear, lest his fortunes
should be predicted as inferior to those of Agrippa. Being persuaded,
however, after much importunity, to declare it, Theogenes started up from
his seat, and paid him adoration. Not long afterwards, Augustus was so
confident of the greatness of his destiny, that he published his horoscope,
and struck a silver coin, bearing upon it the sign of Capricorn, under the
influence of which he was born.
XCV. After the death of Caesar, upon his return from Apollonia, as he
was entering the city, on a sudden, in a clear and bright sky, a circle

resembling the rainbow surrounded the body of the sun; and, immediately
afterwards, the tomb of Julia, Caesar’s daughter, was struck by lightning. In
his first consulship, whilst he was observing the auguries, twelve vultures
presented themselves, as they had done to Romulus. And when he offered
sacrifice, the livers of all the victims were folded inward in the lower part; a
circumstance which was regarded by those present, who had skill in things
of that nature, as an indubitable prognostic of great and wonderful fortune.
XCVI. He certainly had a presentiment of the issue of all his wars. When
the troops of the Triumviri were collected about Bolognia, an eagle, which
sat upon his tent, and was attacked by two crows, beat them both, and
struck them to the ground, in the view of the whole army; who thence
inferred that discord would arise between the three colleagues, which would
be attended with the like event: and it accordingly happened. At Philippi, he
was assured of success by a Thessalian, upon the authority, as he pretended,
of the Divine Caesar himself, who had appeared to him while he was
travelling in a bye-road. At Perugia, the sacrifice not presenting any
favourable intimations, but the contrary, he ordered fresh victims; the
enemy, however, carrying off the sacred things in a sudden sally, it was
agreed amongst the augurs, that all the (142) dangers and misfortunes
which had threatened the sacrificer, would fall upon the heads of those who
had got possession of the entrails. And, accordingly, so it happened. The
day before the sea-fight near Sicily, as he was walking upon the shore, a
fish leaped out of the sea, and laid itself at his feet. At Actium, while he was
going down to his fleet to engage the enemy, he was met by an ass with a
fellow driving it. The name of the man was Eutychus, and that of the
animal, Nichon 251. After the victory, he erected a brazen statue to each, in
a temple built upon the spot where he had encamped.
XCVII. His death, of which I shall now speak, and his subsequent
deification, were intimated by divers manifest prodigies. As he was
finishing the census amidst a great crowd of people in the Campus Martius,
an eagle hovered round him several times, and then directed its course to a
neighbouring temple, where it settled upon the name of Agrippa, and at the
first letter. Upon observing this, he ordered his colleague Tiberius to put up
the vows, which it is usual to make on such occasions, for the succeeding
Lustrum. For he declared he would not meddle with what it was probable
he should never accomplish, though the tables were ready drawn for it.
About the same time, the first letter of his name, in an inscription upon one

of his statues, was struck out by lightning; which was interpreted as a
presage that he would live only a hundred days longer, the letter C denoting
that number; and that he would be placed amongst the Gods, as Aesar,
which is the remaining part of the word Caesar, signifies, in the Tuscan
language, a God 252. Being, therefore, about dispatching Tiberius to
Illyricum, and designing to go with him as far as Beneventum, but being
detained by several persons who applied to him respecting causes they had
depending, he cried out, (and it was afterwards regarded as an omen of his
death), “Not all the business in the world, shall detain me at home one
moment longer;” and setting out upon his journey, he went (143) as far as
Astura 253; whence, contrary to his custom, he put to sea in the night-time,
as there was a favourable wind.
XCVIII. His malady proceeded from diarrhoea; notwithstanding which,
he went round the coast of Campania, and the adjacent islands, and spent
four days in that of Capri; where he gave himself up entirely to repose and
relaxation. Happening to sail by the bay of Puteoli, the passengers and
mariners aboard a ship of Alexandria 254, just then arrived, clad all in
white, with chaplets upon their heads, and offering incense, loaded him with
praises and joyful acclamations, crying out, “By you we live, by you we sail
securely, by you enjoy our liberty and our fortunes.” At which being greatly
pleased, he distributed to each of those who attended him, forty gold pieces,
requiring from them an assurance on oath, not to employ the sum given
them in any other way, than the purchase of Alexandrian merchandize. And
during several days afterwards, he distributed Togae 255 and Pallia, among
other gifts, on condition that the Romans should use the Greek, and the
Greeks the Roman dress and language. He likewise constantly attended to
see the boys perform their exercises, according to an ancient custom still
continued at Capri. He gave them likewise an entertainment in his presence,
and not only permitted, but required from them the utmost freedom in
jesting, and scrambling for fruit, victuals, and other things which he threw
amongst them. In a word, he indulged himself in all the ways of amusement
he could contrive.
He called an island near Capri, Apragopolis, “The City of the Do-littles,”
from the indolent life which several of his party led there. A favourite of
his, one Masgabas 256, he used (144) to call Ktistaes. as if he had been the
planter of the island. And observing from his room a great company of

people with torches, assembled at the tomb of this Masgabas, who died the
year before, he uttered very distinctly this verse, which he made extempore.

Ktistou de tumbo, eisoro pyroumenon.
Blazing with lights I see the founder’s tomb.

Then turning to Thrasyllus, a companion of Tiberius, who reclined on the
other side of the table, he asked him, who knew nothing about the matter,
what poet he thought was the author of that verse; and on his hesitating to
reply, he added another:

Oras phaessi Masgaban timomenon.
Honor’d with torches Masgabas you see;

and put the same question to him concerning that likewise. The latter
replying, that, whoever might be the author, they were excellent verses 257,
he set up a great laugh, and fell into an extraordinary vein of jesting upon it.
Soon afterwards, passing over to Naples, although at that time greatly
disordered in his bowels by the frequent returns of his disease, he sat out the
exhibition of the gymnastic games which were performed in his honour
every five years, and proceeded with Tiberius to the place intended. But on
his return, his disorder increasing, he stopped at Nola, sent for Tiberius back
again, and had a long discourse with him in private; after which, he gave no
further attention to business of any importance.
XCIX. Upon the day of his death, he now and then enquired, if there was
any disturbance in the town on his account; and calling for a mirror, he
ordered his hair to be combed, and his shrunk cheeks to be adjusted. Then
asking his friends who were admitted into the room, “Do ye think that I
have acted my part on the stage of life well?” he immediately subjoined,

Ei de pan echei kalos, to paignio
Dote kroton, kai pantes umeis meta charas ktupaesate.

If all be right, with joy your voices raise,
In loud applauses to the actor’s praise.

(145) After which, having dismissed them all, whilst he was inquiring of
some persons who were just arrived from Rome, concerning Drusus’s
daughter, who was in a bad state of health, he expired suddenly, amidst the
kisses of Livia, and with these words: “Livia! live mindful of our union;
and now, farewell!” dying a very easy death, and such as he himself had

always wished for. For as often as he heard that any person had died quickly
and without pain, he wished for himself and his friends the like euthanasian
(an easy death), for that was the word he made use of. He betrayed but one
symptom, before he breathed his last, of being delirious, which was this: he
was all on a sudden much frightened, and complained that he was carried
away by forty men. But this was rather a presage, than any delirium: for
precisely that number of soldiers belonging to the pretorian cohort, carried
out his corpse.
C. He expired in the same room in which his father Octavius had died,
when the two Sextus’s, Pompey and Apuleius, were consuls, upon the
fourteenth of the calends of September [the 19th August], at the ninth hour
of the day, being seventy-six years of age, wanting only thirty-five days
258. His remains were carried by the magistrates of the municipal 259
towns and colonies, from Nola to Bovillae 260, and in the nighttime,
because of the season of the year. During the intervals, the body lay in some
basilica, or great temple, of each town. At Bovillae it was met by the
Equestrian Order, who carried it to the city, and deposited it in the vestibule
of his own house. The senate proceeded with so much zeal in the
arrangement of his funeral, and paying honour to his memory, that, amongst
several other proposals, some were for having the funeral procession made
through the triumphal gate, preceded by the image of Victory which is in
the senate-house, and the children of highest rank and of both sexes singing
the funeral (146) dirge. Others proposed, that on the day of the funeral, they
should lay aside their gold rings, and wear rings of iron; and others, that his
bones should be collected by the priests of the principal colleges. One
likewise proposed to transfer the name of August to September, because he
was born in the latter, but died in the former. Another moved, that the whole
period of time, from his birth to his death, should be called the Augustan
age, and be inserted in the calendar under that title. But at last it was judged
proper to be moderate in the honours paid to his memory. Two funeral
orations were pronounced in his praise, one before the temple of Julius, by
Tiberius; and the other before the rostra, under the old shops, by Drusus,
Tiberius’s son. The body was then carried upon the shoulders of senators
into the Campus Martius, and there burnt. A man of pretorian rank affirmed
upon oath, that he saw his spirit ascend from the funeral pile to heaven. The
most distinguished persons of the equestrian order, bare-footed, and with
their tunics loose, gathered up his relics 261, and deposited them in the

mausoleum, which had been built in his sixth consulship between the
Flaminian Way and the bank of the Tiber 262; at which time likewise he
gave the groves and walks about it for the use of the people.
CI. He had made a will a year and four months before his death, upon the
third of the nones of April [the 11th of April], in the consulship of Lucius
Plancus, and Caius Silius. It consisted of two skins of parchment, written
partly in his own hand, and partly by his freedmen Polybius and Hilarian;
and had been committed to the custody of the Vestal Virgins, by whom it
was now produced, with three codicils under seal, as well as the will: all
these were opened and read in the senate. He appointed as his direct heirs,
Tiberius for two (147) thirds of his estate, and Livia for the other third, both
of whom he desired to assume his name. The heirs in remainder were
Drusus, Tiberius’s son, for one third, and Germanicus with his three sons
for the residue. In the third place, failing them, were his relations, and
several of his friends. He left in legacies to the Roman people forty millions
of sesterces; to the tribes 263 three millions five hundred thousand; to the
pretorian troops a thousand each man; to the city cohorts five hundred; and
to the legions and soldiers three hundred each; which several sums he
ordered to be paid immediately after his death, having taken due care that
the money should be ready in his exchequer. For the rest he ordered
different times of payment. In some of his bequests he went as far as twenty
thousand sesterces, for the payment of which he allowed a twelvemonth;
alleging for this procrastination the scantiness of his estate; and declaring
that not more than a hundred and fifty millions of sesterces would come to
his heirs: notwithstanding that during the twenty preceding years, he had
received, in legacies from his friends, the sum of fourteen hundred millions;
almost the whole of which, with his two paternal estates 264, and others
which had been left him, he had spent in the service of the state. He left
orders that the two Julias, his daughter and grand-daughter, if anything
happened to them, should not be buried in his tomb 265. With regard to the
three codicils before-mentioned, in one of them he gave orders about his
funeral; another contained a summary of his acts, which he intended should
be inscribed on brazen plates, and placed in front of his mausoleum; in the
third he had drawn up a concise account of the state of the empire; the
number of troops enrolled, what money there was in the treasury, the
revenue, and arrears of taxes; to which were added the names of the
freedmen and slaves from whom the several accounts might be taken.

* * * * * *

(148) OCTAVIUS CAESAR, afterwards Augustus, had now attained to
the same position in the state which had formerly been occupied by Julius
Caesar; and though he entered upon it by violence, he continued to enjoy it
through life with almost uninterrupted tranquillity. By the long duration of
the late civil war, with its concomitant train of public calamities, the minds
of men were become less averse to the prospect of an absolute government;
at the same time that the new emperor, naturally prudent and politic, had
learned from the fate of Julius the art of preserving supreme power, without
arrogating to himself any invidious mark of distinction. He affected to
decline public honours, disclaimed every idea of personal superiority, and
in all his behaviour displayed a degree of moderation which prognosticated
the most happy effects, in restoring peace and prosperity to the harassed
empire. The tenor of his future conduct was suitable to this auspicious
commencement. While he endeavoured to conciliate the affections of the
people by lending money to those who stood in need of it, at low interest, or
without any at all, and by the exhibition of public shows, of which the
Romans were remarkably fond; he was attentive to the preservation of a
becoming dignity in the government, and to the correction of morals. The
senate, which, in the time of Sylla, had increased to upwards of four
hundred, and, during the civil war, to a thousand, members, by the
admission of improper persons, he reduced to six hundred; and being
invested with the ancient office of censor, which had for some time been
disused, he exercised an arbitrary but legal authority over the conduct of
every rank in the state; by which he could degrade senators and knights, and
inflict upon all citizens an ignominious sentence for any immoral or
indecent behaviour. But nothing contributed more to render the new form of
government acceptable to the people, than the frequent distribution of corn,
and sometimes largesses, amongst the commonalty: for an occasional
scarcity of provisions had always been the chief cause of discontents and
tumults in the capital. To the interests of the army he likewise paid
particular attention. It was by the assistance of the legions that he had risen
to power; and they were the men who, in the last resort, if such an
emergency should ever occur, could alone enable him to preserve it.
History relates, that after the overthrow of Antony, Augustus held a
consultation with Agrippa and Mecaenas about restoring the republican

form of government; when Agrippa gave his opinion in favour of that
measure, and Mecaenas opposed it. (149) The object of this consultation, in
respect to its future consequences on society, is perhaps the most important
ever agitated in any cabinet, and required, for the mature discussion of it,
the whole collective wisdom of the ablest men in the empire. But this was a
resource which could scarcely be adopted, either with security to the public
quiet, or with unbiassed judgment in the determination of the question. The
bare agitation of such a point would have excited immediate and strong
anxiety for its final result; while the friends of a republican government,
who were still far more numerous than those of the other party, would have
strained every nerve to procure a determination in their own favour; and the
pretorian guards, the surest protection of Augustus, finding their situation
rendered precarious by such an unexpected occurrence, would have readily
listened to the secret propositions and intrigues of the republicans for
securing their acquiescence to the decision on the popular side. If, when the
subject came into debate, Augustus should be sincere in the declaration to
abide by the resolution of the council, it is beyond all doubt, that the
restoration of a republican government would have been voted by a great
majority of the assembly. If, on the contrary, he should not be sincere,
which is the more probable supposition, and should incur the suspicion of
practising secretly with members for a decision according to his wish, he
would have rendered himself obnoxious to the public odium, and given rise
to discontents which might have endangered his future security.
But to submit this important question to the free and unbiassed decision
of a numerous assembly, it is probable, neither suited the inclination of
Augustus, nor perhaps, in his opinion, consisted with his personal safety.
With a view to the attainment of unconstitutional power, he had formerly
deserted the cause of the republic when its affairs were in a prosperous
situation; and now, when his end was accomplished, there could be little
ground to expect, that he should voluntarily relinquish the prize for which
he had spilt the best blood of Rome, and contended for so many years. Ever
since the final defeat of Antony in the battle of Actium, he had governed the
Roman state with uncontrolled authority; and though there is in the nature
of unlimited power an intoxicating quality, injurious both to public and
private virtue, yet all history contradicts the supposition of its being endued
with any which is unpalatable to the general taste of mankind.

There were two chief motives by which Augustus would naturally be
influenced in a deliberation on this important subject; namely, the love of
power, and the personal danger which (150) he might incur from
relinquishing it. Either of these motives might have been a sufficient
inducement for retaining his authority; but when they both concurred, as
they seem to have done upon this occasion, their united force was
irresistible. The argument, so far as relates to the love of power, rests upon a
ground, concerning the solidity of which, little doubt can be entertained: but
it may be proper to inquire, in a few words, into the foundation of that
personal danger which he dreaded to incur, on returning to the station of a
private citizen.
Augustus, as has been already observed, had formerly sided with the
party which had attempted to restore public liberty after the death of Julius
Caesar: but he afterwards abandoned the popular cause, and joined in the
ambitious plans of Antony and Lepidus to usurp amongst themselves the
entire dominion of the state. By this change of conduct, he turned his arms
against the supporters of a form of government which he had virtually
recognized as the legal constitution of Rome; and it involved a direct
implication of treason against the sacred representatives of that government,
the consuls, formally and duly elected. Upon such a charge he might be
amenable to the capital laws of his country. This, however, was a danger
which might be fully obviated, by procuring from the senate and people an
act of oblivion, previously to his abdication of the supreme power; and this
was a preliminary which doubtless they would have admitted and ratified
with unanimous approbation. It therefore appears that he could be exposed
to no inevitable danger on this account: but there was another quarter where
his person was vulnerable, and where even the laws might not be sufficient
to protect him against the efforts of private resentment. The bloody
proscription of the Triumvirate no act of amnesty could ever erase from the
minds of those who had been deprived by it of their nearest and dearest
relations; and amidst the numerous connections of the illustrious men
sacrificed on that horrible occasion, there might arise some desperate
avenger, whose indelible resentment nothing less would satisfy than the
blood of the surviving delinquent. Though Augustus, therefore, might not,
like his great predecessor, be stabbed in the senate-house, he might perish
by the sword or the poniard in a less conspicuous situation. After all, there
seems to have been little danger from this quarter likewise for Sylla, who in

the preceding age had been guilty of equal enormities, was permitted, on
relinquishing the place of perpetual dictator, to end his days in quiet
retirement; and the undisturbed security which Augustus ever afterwards
enjoyed, affords sufficient proof, that all apprehension of danger to his
person was merely chimerical.
(151) We have hitherto considered this grand consultation as it might be
influenced by the passions or prejudices of the emperor: we shall now take
a short view of the subject in the light in which it is connected with
considerations of a political nature, and with public utility. The arguments
handed down by history respecting this consultation are few, and
imperfectly delivered; but they may be extended upon the general principles
maintained on each side of the question.
For the restoration of the republican government, it might be contended,
that from the expulsion of the kings to the dictatorship of Julius Caesar,
through a period of upwards of four hundred and sixty years, the Roman
state, with the exception only of a short interval, had flourished and
increased with a degree of prosperity unexampled in the annals of
humankind: that the republican form of government was not only best
adapted to the improvement of national grandeur, but to the security of
general freedom, the great object of all political association: that public
virtue, by which alone nations could subsist in vigour, was cherished and
protected by no mode of administration so much as by that which
connected, in the strongest bonds of union, the private interests of
individuals with those of the community: that the habits and prejudices of
the Roman people were unalterably attached to the form of government
established by so long a prescription, and they would never submit, for any
length of time, to the rule of one person, without making every possible
effort to recover their liberty: that though despotism, under a mild and wise
prince, might in some respects be regarded as preferable to a constitution
which was occasionally exposed to the inconvenience of faction and
popular tumults, yet it was a dangerous experiment to abandon the
government of the nation to the contingency of such a variety of characters
as usually occurs in the succession of princes; and, upon the whole, that the
interests of the people were more safely entrusted in the hands of annual
magistrates elected by themselves, than in those of any individual whose
power was permanent, and subject to no legal control.

In favour of despotic government it might be urged, that though Rome
had subsisted long and gloriously under a republican form of government,
yet she had often experienced such violent shocks from popular tumults or
the factions of the great, as had threatened her with imminent destruction:
that a republican government was only accommodated to a people amongst
whom the division of property gave to no class of citizens such a degree of
pre-eminence as might prove dangerous to public freedom: that there was
required in that form of political constitution, a simplicity (152) of life and
strictness of manners which are never observed to accompany a high degree
of public prosperity: that in respect of all these considerations, such a form
of government was utterly incompatible with the present circumstances of
the Romans that by the conquest of so many foreign nations, by the
lucrative governments of provinces, the spoils of the enemy in war, and the
rapine too often practised in time of peace, so great had been the
aggrandizement of particular families in the preceding age, that though the
form of the ancient constitution should still remain inviolate, the people
would no longer live under a free republic, but an aristocratical usurpation,
which was always productive of tyranny: that nothing could preserve the
commonwealth from becoming a prey to some daring confederacy, but the
firm and vigorous administration of one person, invested with the whole
executive power of the state, unlimited and uncontrolled: in fine, that as
Rome had been nursed to maturity by the government of six princes
successively, so it was only by a similar form of political constitution that
she could now be saved from aristocratical tyranny on one hand, or, on the
other, from absolute anarchy.
On whichever side of the question the force of argument may be thought
to preponderate, there is reason to believe that Augustus was guided in his
resolution more by inclination and prejudice than by reason. It is related,
however, that hesitating between the opposite opinions of his two
counsellors, he had recourse to that of Virgil, who joined with Mecaenas in
advising him to retain the imperial power, as being the form of government
most suitable to the circumstances of the times.
It is proper in this place to give some account of the two ministers above-
mentioned, Agrippa and Mecaenas, who composed the cabinet of Augustus
at the settlement of his government, and seem to be the only persons
employed by him in a ministerial capacity during his whole reign.

M. Vipsanius Agrippa was of obscure extraction, but rendered himself
conspicuous by his military talents. He obtained a victory over Sextus
Pompey; and in the battles of Philippi and Actium, where he displayed great
valour, he contributed not a little to establish the subsequent power of
Augustus. In his expeditions afterwards into Gaul and Germany, he
performed many signal achievements, for which he refused the honours of a
triumph. The expenses which others would have lavished on that frivolous
spectacle, he applied to the more laudable purpose of embellishing Rome
with magnificent buildings, one of which, the Pantheon, still remains. In
consequence of a dispute with Marcellus, the nephew of Augustus, he
retired to Mitylene, (153) whence, after an absence of two years, he was
recalled by the emperor. He first married Pomponia, the daughter of the
celebrated Atticus, and afterwards one of the Marcellas, the nieces of
Augustus. While this lady, by whom he had children, was still living, the
emperor prevailed upon his sister Octavia to resign to him her son-in-law,
and gave him in marriage his own daughter Julia; so strong was the desire
of Augustus to be united with him in the closest alliance. The high degree of
favour in which he stood with the emperor was soon after evinced by a
farther mark of esteem: for during a visit to the Roman provinces of Greece
and Asia, in which Augustus was absent two years, he left the government
of the empire to the care of Agrippa. While this minister enjoyed, and
indeed seems to have merited, all the partiality of Augustus, he was
likewise a favourite with the people. He died at Rome, in the sixty-first year
of his age, universally lamented; and his remains were deposited in the
tomb which Augustus had prepared for himself. Agrippa left by Julia three
sons, Caius, Lucius, and Posthumus Agrippa, with two daughters, Agrippina
and Julia.
C. Cilnius Mecaenas was of Tuscan extraction, and derived his descent
from the ancient kings of that country. Though in the highest degree of
favour with Augustus, he never aspired beyond the rank of the equestrian
order; and though he might have held the government of extensive
provinces by deputies, he was content with enjoying the praefecture of the
city and Italy; a situation, however, which must have been attended with
extensive patronage. He was of a gay and social disposition. In principle he
is said to have been of the Epicurean sect, and in his dress and manners to
have bordered on effeminacy. With respect to his political talents, we can
only speak from conjecture; but from his being the confidential minister of

a prince of so much discernment as Augustus, during the infancy of a new
form of government in an extensive empire, we may presume that he was
endowed with no common abilities for that important station. The liberal
patronage which he displayed towards men of genius and talents, will
render his name for ever celebrated in the annals of learning. It is to be
regretted that history has transmitted no particulars of this extraordinary
personage, of whom all we know is derived chiefly from the writings of
Virgil and Horace; but from the manner in which they address him, amidst
the familiarity of their intercourse, there is the strongest reason to suppose,
that he was not less amiable and respectable in private life, than illustrious
in public situation. “O my glory!” is the emphatic expression employed by
them both.

(154) O decus, O famae merito pars maxima nostrae. Vir. Georg. ii.
Light of my life, my glory, and my guide!
O et praesidium et dulce decus meum. Hor. Ode I.
My glory and my patron thou!

One would be inclined to think, that there was a nicety in the sense and
application of the word decus, amongst the Romans, with which we are
unacquainted, and that, in the passages now adduced, it was understood to
refer to the honour of the emperor’s patronage, obtained through the means
of Mecaenas; otherwise, such language to the minister might have excited
the jealousy of Augustus. But whatever foundation there may be for this
conjecture, the compliment was compensated by the superior adulation
which the poets appropriated to the emperor, whose deification is more than
insinuated, in sublime intimations, by Virgil.

Tuque adeo quem mox quae sint habitura deorum
Concilia, incertum est; urbisne invisere, Caesar,
Terrarumque velis curam; et te maximus orbis
Auctorem frugum, tempestatumque potentem
Accipiat, cingens materna tempora myrto:
An Deus immensi venias maris, ac tua nautae
Numina sola colant: tibi serviat ultima Thule;
Teque sibi generum Tethys emat omnibus undis. Geor. i. 1. 25, vi.

Thou Caesar, chief where’er thy voice ordain
To fix midst gods thy yet unchosen reign—
Wilt thou o’er cities fix thy guardian sway,
While earth and all her realms thy nod obey?
The world’s vast orb shall own thy genial power,
Giver of fruits, fair sun, and favouring shower;
Before thy altar grateful nations bow,
And with maternal myrtle wreathe thy brow;
O’er boundless ocean shall thy power prevail,

Thee her sole lord the world of waters hail,
Rule where the sea remotest Thule laves,
While Tethys dowers thy bride with all her waves. Sotheby.

Horace has elegantly adopted the same strain of compliment.

Te multa prece, te prosequitur mero
Defuso pateris; et Laribus tuum
Miscet numen, uti Graecia Castoris
Et magni memor Herculis. Carm. IV. 5.

To thee he chants the sacred song,
To thee the rich libation pours;
Thee placed his household gods among,
With solemn daily prayer adores
So Castor and great Hercules of old,
Were with her gods by grateful Greece enrolled.

(155) The panegyric bestowed upon Augustus by the great poets of that
time, appears to have had a farther object than the mere gratification of
vanity. It was the ambition of this emperor to reign in the hearts as well as
over the persons of his subjects; and with this view he was desirous of
endearing himself to their imagination. Both he and Mecaenas had a
delicate sensibility to the beauties of poetical composition; and judging
from their own feelings, they attached a high degree of influence to the
charms of poetry. Impressed with these sentiments, it became an object of
importance, in their opinion, to engage the Muses in the service of the
imperial authority; on which account, we find Mecaenas tampering with
Propertius, and we may presume, likewise with every other rising genius in
poetry, to undertake an heroic poem, of which Augustus should be the hero.
As the application to Propertius cannot have taken place until after
Augustus had been amply celebrated by the superior abilities of Virgil and
Horace, there seems to be some reason for ascribing Mecaenas’s request to
a political motive. Caius and Lucius, the emperor’s grandsons by his
daughter Julia, were still living, and both young. As one of them, doubtless,
was intended to succeed to the government of the empire, prudence justified
the adoption of every expedient that might tend to secure a quiet succession
to the heir, upon the demise of Augustus. As a subsidiary resource,
therefore, the expedient above mentioned was judged highly plausible; and
the Roman cabinet indulged the idea of endeavouring to confirm imperial
authority by the support of poetical renown. Lampoons against the
government were not uncommon even in the time of Augustus; and elegant
panegyric on the emperor served to counteract their influence upon the

minds of the people. The idea was, perhaps, novel in the time of Augustus;
but the history of later ages affords examples of its having been adopted,
under different forms of government, with success.
The Roman empire, in the time of Augustus, had attained to a prodigious
magnitude; and, in his testament, he recommended to his successors never
to exceed the limits which he had prescribed to its extent. On the East it
stretched to the Euphrates; on the South to the cataracts of the Nile, the
deserts of Africa, and Mount Atlas; on the West to the Atlantic Ocean; and
on the North to the Danube and the Rhine; including the best part of the
then known world. The Romans, therefore, were not improperly called
rerum domini 266, and Rome, pulcherrima rerum 267, maxima rerum 268.
Even the historians, Livy and Tacitus, (156) actuated likewise with
admiration, bestow magnificent epithets on the capital of their country. The
succeeding emperors, in conformity to the advice of Augustus, made few
additions to the empire. Trajan, however, subdued Mesopotamia and
Armenia, east of the Euphrates, with Dacia, north of the Danube; and after
this period the Roman dominion was extended over Britain, as far as the
Frith of Forth and the Clyde.
It would be an object of curiosity to ascertain the amount of the Roman
revenue in the reign of Augustus; but such a problem, even with respect to
contemporary nations, cannot be elucidated without access to the public
registers of their governments; and in regard to an ancient monarchy, the
investigation is impracticable. We can only be assured that the revenue must
have been immense, which arose from the accumulated contribution of such
a number of nations, that had supported their own civil establishments with
great splendour, and many of which were celebrated for their extraordinary
riches and commerce. The tribute paid by the Romans themselves, towards
the support of the government, was very considerable during the latter ages
of the republic, and it received an increase after the consulship of Hirtius
and Pansa. The establishments, both civil and military, in the different
provinces, were supported at their own expense; the emperor required but a
small naval force, an arm which adds much to the public expenditure of
maritime nations in modern times; and the state was burdened with no
diplomatic charges. The vast treasure accruing from the various taxes
centered in Rome, and the whole was at the disposal of the emperor,
without any control. We may therefore justly conclude that, in the amount
of taxes, customs, and every kind of financial resources, Augustus exceeded

all sovereigns who had hitherto ever swayed the sceptre of imperial
dominion; a noble acquisition, had it been judiciously employed by his
successors, in promoting public happiness, with half the profusion in which
it was lavished in disgracing human nature, and violating the rights of
mankind.
The reign of Augustus is distinguished by the most extraordinary event
recorded in history, either sacred or profane, the nativity of the Saviour of
mankind; which has since introduced a new epoch into the chronology of
all Christian nations. The commencement of the new aera being the most
flourishing period of the Roman empire, a general view of the state of
knowledge and taste at this period, may here not be improper.
Civilization was at this time extended farther over the world than it had
ever been in any preceding period; but polytheism rather increased than
diminished with the advancement of commercial (157) intercourse between
the nations of Europe, Asia, and Africa; and, though philosophy had been
cultivated during several ages, at Athens, Cyrene, Rome, and other seats of
learning, yet the morals of mankind were little improved by the diffusion of
speculative knowledge. Socrates had laid an admirable foundation for the
improvement of human nature, by the exertion of reason through the whole
economy of life; but succeeding inquirers, forsaking the true path of ethic
investigation, deviated into specious discussions, rather ingenious than
useful; and some of them, by gratuitously adopting principles, which, so far
from being supported by reason, were repugnant to its dictates,
endeavoured to erect upon the basis of their respective doctrines a system
peculiar to themselves. The doctrines of the Stoics and Epicureans were, in
fact, pernicious to society; and those of the different academies, though
more intimately connected with reason than the two former, were of a
nature too abstract to have any immediate or useful influence on life and
manners. General discussions of truth and probability, with magnificent
declamations on the to kalon, and the summum bonum, constituted the chief
objects of attention amongst those who cultivated moral science in the
shades of academical retirement. Cicero endeavoured to bring back
philosophy from speculation to practice, and clearly evinced the social
duties to be founded in the unalterable dictates of virtue; but it was easier to
demonstrate the truth of the principles which he maintained, than to enforce
their observance, while the morals of mankind were little actuated by the
exercise of reason alone.

The science chiefly cultivated at this period was rhetoric, which appears
to have differed considerably from what now passes under the same name.
The object of it was not so much justness of sentiment and propriety of
expression, as the art of declaiming, or speaking copiously upon any
subject. It is mentioned by Varro as the reverse of logic; and they are
distinguished from each other by a simile, that the former resembles the
palm of the hand expanded, and the latter, contracted into the fist. It is
observable that logic, though a part of education in modern times, seems
not to have been cultivated amongst the Romans. Perhaps they were
apprehensive, lest a science which concentered the force of argument, might
obstruct the cultivation of that which was meant to dilate it. Astronomy was
long before known in the eastern nations; but there is reason to believe,
from a passage in Virgil 269, that it was little cultivated by the Romans; and
it is certain, that in the reformation of the calendar, Julius Caesar was
chiefly indebted to the scientific knowledge of (158) Sosigenes, a
mathematician of Alexandria. The laws of the solar system were still but
imperfectly known; the popular belief, that the sun moved round the earth,
was universally maintained, and continued until the sixteenth century, when
the contrary was proved by Copernicus. There existed many celebrated
tracts on mathematics; and several of the mechanical powers, particularly
that of the lever, were cultivated with success. The more necessary and
useful rules of arithmetic were generally known. The use of the load-stone
not being as yet discovered, navigation was conducted in the day-time by
the sun, and in the night, by the observation of certain stars. Geography was
cultivated during the present period by Strabo and Mela. In natural
philosophy little progress was made; but a strong desire of its improvement
was entertained, particularly by Virgil. Human anatomy being not yet
introduced, physiology was imperfect. Chemistry, as a science, was utterly
unknown. In medicine, the writings of Hippocrates, and other Greek
physicians, were in general the standard of practice; but the Materia Medica
contained few remedies of approved quality, and abounded with useless
substances, as well as with many which stood upon no other foundation
than the whimsical notions of those who first introduced them. Architecture
flourished, through the elegant taste of Vitruvius, and the patronage of the
emperor. Painting, statuary, and music, were cultivated, but not with that
degree of perfection which they had obtained in the Grecian states. The
musical instruments of this period were the flute and the lyre, to which may

be added the sistrum, lately imported from Egypt. But the chief glory of the
period is its literature, of which we proceed to give some account.
At the head of the writers of this age, stands the emperor himself, with
his minister Mecaenas; but the works of both have almost totally perished.
It appears from the historian now translated, that Augustus was the author
of several productions in prose, besides some in verse. He wrote Answers to
Brutus in relation to Cato, Exhortations to Philosophy, and the History of
his own Life, which he continued, in thirteen books, down to the war of
Cantabria. A book of his, written in hexameter verse, under the title of
Sicily, was extant in the time of Suetonius, as was likewise a book of
Epigrams. He began a tragedy on the subject of Ajax, but, being dissatisfied
with the composition, destroyed it. Whatever the merits of Augustus may
have been as an author, of which no judgment can be formed, his
attachment to learning and eminent writers affords a strong presumption
that he was not destitute of taste. Mecaenas is said to have written two
tragedies, Octavia and Prometheus; a History of (159) Animals; a Treatise
on Precious Stones; a Journal of the Life of Augustus; and other
productions. Curiosity is strongly interested to discover the literary talents
of a man so much distinguished for the esteem and patronage of them in
others; but while we regret the impossibility of such a development, we
scarcely can suppose the proficiency to have been small, where the love and
admiration were so great.
History was cultivated amongst the Romans during the present period,
with uncommon success. This species of composition is calculated both for
information and entertainment; but the chief design of it is to record all
transactions relative to the public, for the purpose of enabling mankind to
draw from past events a probable conjecture concerning the future; and, by
knowing the steps which have led either to prosperity or misfortune, to
ascertain the best means of promoting the former, and avoiding the latter of
those objects. This useful kind of narrative was introduced about five
hundred years before by Herodotus, who has thence received the
appellation of the Father of History. His style, in conformity to the habits of
thinking, and the simplicity of language, in an uncultivated age, is plain and
unadorned; yet, by the happy modulation of the Ionic dialect, it gratified the
ear, and afforded to the states of Greece a pleasing mixture of
entertainment, enriched not only with various information, often indeed
fabulous or unauthentic, but with the rudiments, indirectly interspersed, of

political wisdom. This writer, after a long interval, was succeeded by
Thucydides and Xenophon, the former of whom carried historical narrative
to the highest degree of improvement it ever attained among the States of
Greece. The plan of Thucydides seems to have continued to be the model of
historical narrative to the writers of Rome; but the circumstances of the
times, aided perhaps by the splendid exertion of genius in other departments
of literature, suggested a new resource, which promised not only to
animate, but embellish the future productions of the historic Muse. This
innovation consisted in an attempt to penetrate the human heart, and
explore in its innermost recesses the sentiments and secret motives which
actuate the conduct of men. By connecting moral effects with their probable
internal and external causes, it tended to establish a systematic consistency
in the concatenation of transactions apparently anomalous, accidental, or
totally independent of each other.
The author of this improvement in history was SALLUST, who likewise
introduced the method of enlivening narrative with the occasional aid of
rhetorical declamation, particularly in his account of the Catilinian
conspiracy. The notorious (160) characters and motives of the principal
persons concerned in that horrible plot, afforded the most favourable
opportunity for exemplifying the former; while the latter, there is reason to
infer from the facts which must have been at that time publicly known,
were founded upon documents of unquestionable authority. Nay, it is
probable that Sallust was present in the senate during the debate respecting
the punishment of the Catilinian conspirators; his detail of which is
agreeable to the characters of the several speakers: but in detracting, by
invidious silence, or too faint representation, from the merits of Cicero on
that important occasion, he exhibits a glaring instance of the partiality
which too often debases the narratives of those who record the transactions
of their own time. He had married Terentia, the divorced wife of Cicero;
and there subsisted between the two husbands a kind of rivalship from that
cause, to which was probably added some degree of animosity, on account
of their difference in politics, during the late dictatorship of Julius Caesar,
by whom Sallust was restored to the senate, whence he had been expelled
for licentiousness, and was appointed governor of Numidia. Excepting the
injustice with which Sallust treats Cicero, he is entitled to high
commendation. In both his remaining works, the Conspiracy of Catiline,
and the War of Jugurtha, there is a peculiar air of philosophical sentiment,

which, joined to the elegant conciseness of style, and animated description
of characters, gives to his writings a degree of interest, superior to that
which is excited in any preceding work of the historical kind. In the
occasional use of obsolete words, and in laboured exordiums to both his
histories, he is liable to the charge of affectation; but it is an affectation of
language which supports solemnity without exciting disgust; and of
sentiment which not only exalts human nature, but animates to virtuous
exertions. It seems to be the desire of Sallust to atone for the dissipation of
his youth by a total change of conduct; and whoever peruses his exordiums
with the attention which they deserve, must feel a strong persuasion of the
justness of his remarks, if not the incentives of a resolution to be governed
by his example. It seems to be certain, that from the first moment of his
reformation, he incessantly practised the industry which he so warmly
recommends. He composed a History of Rome, of which nothing remains
but a few fragments. Sallust, during his administration of Numidia, is said
to have exercised great oppression. On his return to Rome he built a
magnificent house, and bought delightful gardens, the name of which, with
his own, is to this day perpetuated on the spot which they formerly
occupied. Sallust was born at Amiternum, in the country of the Sabines, and
(161) received his education at Rome. He incurred great scandal by an
amour with Fausta, the daughter of Sylla, and wife of Milo; who detecting
the criminal intercourse, is said to have beat him with stripes, and extorted
from him a large sum of money. He died, according to tradition, in the fifty-
first year of his age.
CORNELIUS NEPOS was born at Hostilia, near the banks of the Po. Of
his parentage we meet with no account; but from his respectable
connections early in life, it is probable that he was of good extraction.
Among his most intimate friends were Cicero and Atticus. Some authors
relate that he composed three books of Chronicles, with a biographical
account of all the most celebrated sovereigns, generals, and writers of
antiquity.
The language of Cornelius Nepos is pure, his style perspicuous, and he
holds a middle and agreeable course between diffuseness and brevity. He
has not observed the same rule with respect to the treatment of every
subject; for the account of some of the lives is so short, that we might
suspect them to be mutilated, did they not contain evident marks of their
being completed in miniature. The great extent of his plan induced him, as

he informs us, to adopt this expedient. “Sed plura persequi, tum magnitudo
voluminis prohibet, tum festinatio, ut ea explicem, quae exorsus sum.” 270
Of his numerous biographical works, twenty-two lives only remain,
which are all of Greeks, except two Carthaginians, Hamilcar and Hannibal;
and two Romans, M. Porcius Cato and T. Pomponius Atticus. Of his own
life,—of him who had written the lives of so many, no account is
transmitted; but from the multiplicity of his productions, we may conclude
that it was devoted to literature.
TITUS LIVIUS may be ranked among the most celebrated historians the
world has ever produced. He composed a history of Rome from the
foundation of the city, to the conclusion of the German war conducted by
Drusus in the time of the emperor Augustus. This great work consisted,
originally, of one hundred and forty books; of which there now remain only
thirty-five, viz., the first decade, and the whole from book twenty-one to
book forty-five, both inclusive. Of the other hundred and five books,
nothing more has survived the ravages of time and barbarians than their
general contents. In a perspicuous arrangement of his subject, in a full and
circumstantial account of transactions, in the delineation of characters and
other objects of description, to justness and aptitude of sentiment, and in an
air of majesty (162) pervading the whole composition, this author may be
regarded as one of the best models extant of historical narrative. His style is
splendid without meretricious ornament, and copious without being
redundant; a fluency to which Quintilian gives the expressive appellation of
“lactea ubertas.” Amongst the beauties which we admire in his writings,
besides the animated speeches frequently interspersed, are those concise
and peculiarly applicable eulogiums, with which he characterises every
eminent person mentioned, at the close of their life. Of his industry in
collating, and his judgment in deciding upon the preference due to,
dissentient authorities, in matters of testimony, the work affords numberless
proofs. Of the freedom and impartiality with which he treated even of the
recent periods of history, there cannot be more convincing evidence, than
that he was rallied by Augustus as a favourer of Pompey; and that, under the
same emperor, he not only bestowed upon Cicero the tribute of warm
approbation, but dared to ascribe, in an age when their names were
obnoxious, even to Brutus and Cassius the virtues of consistency and
patriotism. If in any thing the conduct of Livy violates our sentiments of
historical dignity, it is the apparent complacency and reverence with which

he every where mentions the popular belief in omens and prodigies; but this
was the general superstition of the times; and totally to renounce the
prejudices of superstitious education, is the last heroic sacrifice to
philosophical scepticism. In general, however, the credulity of Livy appears
to be rather affected than real; and his account of the exit of Romulus, in the
following passage, may be adduced as an instance in confirmation of this
remark.
“His immortalibus editis operibus, quum ad exercitum recensendum
concionem in campo ad Caprae paludem haberet, subita coorta tempestate
cum magno fragore tonitribusque tam denso regem operuit nimbo, ut
conspectum ejus concioni abstulerit; nec deinde in terris Romulus fuit.
Romana pubes, sedato tandem pavore, postquam ex tam turbido die serena,
et tranquilla lux rediit, ubi vacuam sedem regiam vidit; etsi satis credebat
Patribus, qui proximi steterant, sublimem raptum procella; tamen veluti
orbitatis metu icta, maestum aliquamdiu silentium obtinuit. Deinde a paucis
initio facto, Deum, Deo natum, regem parentemque urbis Romanae, salvere
universi Romulum jubent; pacem precibus exposcunt, uti volens propitius
suam semper sospitet progeniem. Fuisse credo tum quoque aliquos, qui
discerptum regem Patrum manibus taciti arguerent; manavit enim haec
quoque, et perobscura, fama. Illam alteram admiratio viri, et pavor praesens
nobilitavit. Consilio etiam unius hominis addita rei dicitur fides; namque
Proculus Julius sollicita civitate desiderio (163) regis, et infensa Patribus,
gravis, ut traditur, quamvis magnae rei auctor, in concionem prodit.
‘Romulus, inquit, Quirites, parens urbis hujus, prima hodierna luce coelo
repente delapsus, se mihi obvium dedit; quam profusus horrore
venerabundusque astitissem, petens precibus, ut contra intueri fas esset;
Abi, nuncia, inquit, Romanis, Coelestes ita velle, ut mea Roma caput orbis
terrarum sit; proinde rem militarem colant; sciantque, et ita posteris tradant,
nullas opes humanas armis Romanis resistere posse.’ Haec, inquit, locutus,
sublimis abiit. Mirum, quantum illi viro nuncianti haec fidei fuerit;
quamque desiderium Romuli apud plebem exercitumque, facta fide
immortalitatis, lenitum sit.” 271
Scarcely any incident in ancient history savours more of the (164)
marvellous than the account above delivered respecting the first Roman
king; and amidst all the solemnity with which it is related, we may perceive
that the historian was not the dupe of credulity. There is more implied than
the author thought proper to avow, in the sentence, Fuisse credo, etc. In

whatever light this anecdote be viewed, it is involved in perplexity. That
Romulus affected a despotic power, is not only highly probable, from his
aspiring disposition, but seems to be confirmed by his recent appointment
of the Celeres, as a guard to his person. He might, therefore, naturally incur
the odium of the patricians, whose importance was diminished, and their
institution rendered abortive, by the increase of his power. But that they
should choose the opportunity of a military review, for the purpose of
removing the tyrant by a violent death, seems not very consistent with the
dictates even of common prudence; and it is the more incredible, as the
circumstance which favoured the execution of the plot is represented to
have been entirely a fortuitous occurrence. The tempest which is said to
have happened, is not easily reconcilable with our knowledge of that
phenomenon. Such a cloud, or mist, as could have enveloped Romulus from
the eyes of the assembly, is not a natural concomitant of a thunder-storm.
There is some reason to suspect that both the noise and cloud, if they
actually existed, were artificial; the former intended to divert the attention
of the spectators, and the latter to conceal the transaction. The word fragor,
a noise or crash, appears to be an unnecessary addition where thunder is
expressed, though sometimes so used by the poets, and may therefore,
perhaps, imply such a noise from some other cause. If Romulus was killed
by any pointed or sharp-edged weapon, his blood might have been
discovered on the spot; or, if by other means, still the body was equally an
object for public observation. If the people suspected the patricians to be
guilty of murder, why did they not endeavour to trace the fact by this
evidence? And if the patricians were really innocent, why did they not urge
the examination? But the body, without doubt, was secreted, to favour the
imposture. The whole narrative is strongly marked with circumstances
calculated to affect credulity with ideas of national importance; and, to
countenance the design, there is evidently a chasm in the Roman history
immediately preceding this transaction and intimately connected with it.
Livy was born at Patavium 272, and has been charged by Asinius Pollio
and others with the provincial dialect of his country. The objections to his
Pativinity, as it is called, relate chiefly to the (165) spelling of some words;
in which, however, there seems to be nothing so peculiar, as either to
occasion any obscurity or merit reprehension.
Livy and Sallust being the only two existing rivals in Roman history, it
may not be improper to draw a short comparison between them, in respect

of their principal qualities, as writers. With regard to language, there is less
apparent affectation in Livy than in Sallust. The narrative of both is
distinguished by an elevation of style: the elevation of Sallust seems to be
often supported by the dignity of assumed virtue; that of Livy by a majestic
air of historical, and sometimes national, importance. In delineating
characters, Sallust infuses more expression, and Livy more fulness, into the
features. In the speeches ascribed to particular persons, these writers are
equally elegant and animated.
So great was the fame of Livy in his own life-time, that people came
from the extremity of Spain and Gaul, for the purpose only of beholding so
celebrated a historian, who was regarded, for his abilities, as a prodigy. This
affords a strong proof, not only of the literary taste which then prevailed
over the most extensive of the Roman provinces, but of the extraordinary
pains with which so great a work must have been propagated, when the art
of printing was unknown. In the fifteenth century, on the revival of learning
in Europe, the name of this great writer recovered its ancient veneration;
and Alphonso of Arragon, with a superstition characteristic of that age,
requested of the people of Padua, where Livy was born, and is said to have
been buried, to be favoured by them with the hand which had written so
admirable a work.—
The celebrity of VIRGIL has proved the means of ascertaining his birth
with more exactness than is common in the biographical memoirs of ancient
writers. He was born at Andes, a village in the neighbourhood of Mantua,
on the 15th of October, seventy years before the Christian aera. His parents
were of moderate condition; but by their industry acquired some territorial
possessions, which descended to their son. The first seven years of his life
was spent at Cremona, whence he went to Mediolanum, now Milan, at that
time the seat of the liberal arts, denominated, as we learn from Pliny the
younger, Novae Athenae. From this place he afterwards moved to Naples,
where he applied himself with great assiduity to Greek and Roman
literature, particularly to the physical and mathematical sciences; for which
he expressed a strong predilection in the second book of his Georgics.

Me vero primum dulces ante omnia Musae,
Quarum sacra fero ingenti perculsus amore,
(166) Accipiant; coelique vias et sidera monstrent;
Defectus Solis varios, Lunaeque labores:
Unde tremor terris: qua vi maria alta tumescant
Obicibus ruptis, rursusque in seipsa residant:

Quid tantum Oceano properent se tingere soles
Hiberni: vel quae tardis mora noctibus obstet.
Geor. ii. 1. 591, etc.

But most beloved, ye Muses, at whose fane,
Led by pure zeal, I consecrate my strain,
Me first accept! And to my search unfold,
Heaven and her host in beauteous order rolled,
The eclipse that dims the golden orb of day,
And changeful labour of the lunar ray;
Whence rocks the earth, by what vast force the main
Now bursts its barriers, now subsides again;
Why wintry suns in ocean swiftly fade,
Or what delays night’s slow-descending shade. Sotheby.

When, by a proscription of the Triumvirate, the lands of Cremona and
Mantua were distributed amongst the veteran soldiers, Virgil had the good
fortune to recover his possessions, through the favour of Asinius Pollio, the
deputy of Augustus in those parts; to whom, as well as to the emperor, he
has testified his gratitude in beautiful eclogues.
The first production of Virgil was his Bucolics, consisting of ten
eclogues, written in imitation of the Idyllia or pastoral poems of Theocritus.
It may be questioned whether any language which has its provincial
dialects, but is brought to perfection, can ever be well adapted, in that state,
to the use of pastoral poetry. There is such an apparent incongruity between
the simple ideas of the rural swain and the polished language of the courtier,
that it seems impossible to reconcile them together by the utmost art of
composition. The Doric dialect of Theocritus, therefore, abstractedly from
all consideration of simplicity of sentiment, must ever give to the Sicilian
bard a pre-eminence in this species of poetry. The greater part of the
Bucolics of Virgil may be regarded as poems of a peculiar nature, into
which the author has happily transfused, in elegant versification, the native
manners and ideas, without any mixture of the rusticity of pastoral life.
With respect to the fourth eclogue, addressed to Pollio, it is avowedly of a
nature superior to that of pastoral subjects:

Sicelides Musae, paullo majora canamus.
Sicilian Muse, be ours a loftier strain.

Virgil engaged in bucolic poetry at the request of Asinius Pollio, whom
he highly esteemed, and for one of whose sons in particular, (167) with
Cornelius Gallus, a poet likewise, he entertained the warmest affection. He
has celebrated them all in these poems, which were begun, we are told, in
the twenty-ninth year of his age, and completed in three years. They were

held in so great esteem amongst the Romans, immediately after their
publication, that it is said they were frequently recited upon the stage for the
entertainment of the audience. Cicero, upon hearing some lines of them,
perceived that they were written in no common strain of poetry, and desired
that the whole eclogue might be recited: which being done, he exclaimed,
“Magnae spes altera Romae.” Another hope of mighty Rome! 273
Virgil’s next work was the Georgics, the idea of which is taken from the
Erga kai Hmerai, the Works and Days of Hesiod, the poet of Ascra. But
between the productions of the two poets, there is no other similarity than
that of their common subject. The precepts of Hesiod, in respect of
agriculture, are delivered with all the simplicity of an unlettered cultivator
of the fields, intermixed with plain moral reflections, natural and apposite;
while those of Virgil, equally precise and important, are embellished with
all the dignity of sublime versification. The work is addressed to Mecaenas,
at whose request it appears to have been undertaken. It is divided into four
books. The first treats of ploughing; the second, of planting; the third, of
cattle, horses, sheep, goats, dogs, and of things which are hurtful to cattle;
the fourth is employed on bees, their proper habitations, food, polity, the
diseases to which they are liable, and the remedies of them, with the method
of making honey, and a variety of other considerations connected with the
subject. The Georgics (168) were written at Naples, and employed the
author during a period of seven years. It is said that Virgil had concluded
the Georgics with a laboured eulogium on his poetical friend Gallus; but the
latter incurring about this time the displeasure of Augustus, he was induced
to cancel it, and substitute the charming episode of Astaeus and Eurydice.
These beautiful poems, considered merely as didactic, have the justest
claim to utility. In what relates to agriculture in particular, the precepts were
judiciously adapted to the climate of Italy, and must have conveyed much
valuable information to those who were desirous of cultivating that
important art, which was held in great honour amongst the Romans. The
same remark may be made, with greater latitude of application, in respect of
the other subjects. But when we examine the Georgics as poetical
compositions, when we attend to the elevated style in which they are
written, the beauty of the similes, the emphatic sentiments interspersed, the
elegance of diction, the animated strain of the whole, and the harmony of
the versification, our admiration is excited, at beholding subjects, so

common in their nature, embellished with the most magnificent decorations
of poetry.
During four days which Augustus passed at Atella, to refresh himself
from fatigue, in his return to Rome, after the battle of Actium, the Georgics,
just then finished, were read to him by the author, who was occasionally
relieved in the task by his friend Mecaenas. We may easily conceive the
satisfaction enjoyed by the emperor, at finding that while he himself had
been gathering laurels in the achievements of war, another glorious wreath
was prepared by the Muses to adorn his temples; and that an intimation was
given of his being afterwards celebrated in a work more congenial to the
subject of heroic renown.
It is generally supposed that the Aeneid was written at the particular
desire of Augustus, who was ambitious of having the Julian family
represented as lineal descendants of the Trojan Aeneas. In this celebrated
poem, Virgil has happily united the characteristics of the Iliad and Odyssey,
and blended them so judiciously together, that they mutually contribute to
the general effect of the whole. By the esteem and sympathy excited for the
filial piety and misfortunes of Aeneas at the catastrophe of Troy, the reader
is strongly interested in his subsequent adventures; and every obstacle to the
establishment of the Trojans in the promised land of Hesperia produces
fresh sensations of increased admiration and attachment. The episodes,
characters, and incidents, all concur to give beauty or grandeur to the poem.
The picture of Troy in flames can never be sufficiently (169) admired! The
incomparable portrait of Priam, in Homer, is admirably accommodated to a
different situation, in the character of Anchises, in the Aeneid. The
prophetic rage of the Cumaean Sibyl displays in the strongest colours the
enthusiasm of the poet. For sentiment, passion, and interesting description,
the episode of Dido is a master-piece in poetry. But Virgil is not more
conspicuous for strength of description than propriety of sentiment; and
wherever he takes a hint from the Grecian bard, he prosecutes the idea with
a judgment peculiar to himself. It may be sufficient to mention one instance.
In the sixth book of the Iliad, while the Greeks are making great slaughter
amongst the Trojans, Hector, by the advice of Helenus, retires into the city,
to desire that his mother would offer up prayers to the goddess Pallas, and
vow to her a noble sacrifice, if she would drive Diomede from the walls of
Troy. Immediately before his return to the field of battle, he has his last
interview with Andromache, whom he meets with his infant son Astyanax,

carried by a nurse. There occurs, upon this occasion, one of the most
beautiful scenes in the Iliad, where Hector dandles the boy in his arms, and
pours forth a prayer, that he may one day be superior in fame to his father.
In the same manner, Aeneas, having armed himself for the decisive combat
with Turnus, addresses his son Ascanius in a beautiful speech, which, while
expressive of the strongest paternal affection, contains, instead of a prayer,
a noble and emphatic admonition, suitable to a youth who had nearly
attained the period of adult age. It is as follows:

Disce, puer, virtutem ex me, verumque laborem;
Fortunam ex aliis; nunc te mea dextera bello
Defensum dabit, et magna inter praemia ducet.
Tu facito, mox cum matura adoleverit aetas,
Sis memor: et te animo repetentem exempla tuorum,
Et pater Aeneas, et avunculus excitet Hector.—Aeneid, xii.

My son! from my example learn the war
In camps to suffer, and in feuds to dare,
But happier chance than mine attend thy care!
This day my hand thy tender age shall shield,
And crown with honours of the conquered field:
Thou when thy riper years shall send thee forth
To toils of war, be mindful of my worth;
Assert thy birthright, and in arms be known,
For Hector’s nephew and Aeneas’ son.

Virgil, though born to shine by his own intrinsic powers, certainly owed
much of his excellence to the wonderful merits of Homer. His susceptible
imagination, vivid and correct, was (170) impregnated by the Odyssey, and
warmed with the fire of the Iliad. Rivalling, or rather on some occasions
surpassing his glorious predecessor in the characters of heroes and of gods,
he sustains their dignity with so uniform a lustre, that they seem indeed
more than mortal.
Whether the Iliad or the Aeneid be the more perfect composition, is a
question which has often been agitated, but perhaps will never be
determined to general satisfaction. In comparing the genius of the two
poets, however, allowance ought to be made for the difference of
circumstances under which they composed their respective works. Homer
wrote in an age when mankind had not as yet made any great progress in
the exertion of either intellect or imagination, and he was therefore indebted
for big resources to the vast capacity of his own mind. To this we must add,
that he composed both his poems in a situation of life extremely
unfavourable to the cultivation of poetry. Virgil, on the contrary, lived at a

period when literature had attained to a high state of improvement. He had
likewise not only the advantage of finding a model in the works of Homer,
but of perusing the laws of epic poetry, which had been digested by
Aristotle, and the various observations made on the writings of the Greek
bard by critics of acuteness and taste; amongst the chief of whom was his
friend Horace, who remarks that

————quandoque bonus dormitat Homerus.—De Arte Poet.

E’en sometimes the good Homer naps.

Virgil, besides, composed his poem in a state remote from indigence,
where he was roused to exertion by the example of several contemporary
poets; and what must have animated him beyond every other consideration,
he wrote both at the desire, and under the patronage of the emperor and his
minister Mecaenas. In what time Homer composed either of his poems, we
know not; but the Aeneid, we are informed, was the employment of Virgil
during eleven years. For some years, the repeated entreaties of Augustus
could not extort from him the smallest specimen of the work; but at length,
when considerably advanced in it, he condescended to recite three books—
the second, the fourth, and the sixth—in the presence of the emperor and his
sister Octavia, to gratify the latter of whom, in particular, the recital of the
last book now mentioned, was intended. When the poet came to the words,
Tu Marcellus eris, alluding to Octavia’s son, a youth of great hopes, who
had lately died, the mother fainted. After she had recovered from this fit, by
the care of her attendants, she ordered ten sesterces to be given to Virgil for
every line relating (171) to that subject; a gratuity which amounted to about
two thousand pounds sterling.
In the composition of the Aeneid, Virgil scrupled not to introduce whole
lines of Homer, and of the Latin poet Ennius; many of whose sentences he
admired. In a few instances he has borrowed from Lucretius. He is said to
have been at extraordinary pains in polishing his numbers; and when he was
doubtful of any passage, he would read it to some of his friends, that he
might have their opinion. On such occasions, it was usual with him to
consult in particular his freedman and librarian Erotes, an old domestic,
who, it is related, supplied extempore a deficiency in two lines, and was
desired by his master to write them in the manuscript.

When this immortal work was completed, Virgil resolved on retiring into
Greece and Asia for three years, that he might devote himself entirely to
polishing it, and have leisure afterwards to pass the remainder of his life in
the cultivation of philosophy. But meeting at Athens with Augustus, who
was on his return from the East, he determined on accompanying the
emperor back to Rome. Upon a visit to Megara, a town in the
neighbourhood of Athens, he was seized with a languor, which increased
during the ensuing voyage; and he expired a few days after landing at
Brundisium, on the 22nd of September, in the fifty-second year of his age.
He desired that his body might be carried to Naples, where he had passed
many happy years; and that the following distich, written in his last
sickness, should be inscribed upon his tomb:

Mantua me genuit: Calabri rapuere: tenet nunc
Parthenope: cecini pascua, rura, duces. 274

He was accordingly interred, by the order of Augustus, with great funeral
pomp, within two miles of Naples, near the road to Puteoli, where his tomb
still exists. Of his estate, which was very considerable by the liberality of
his friends, he left the greater part to Valerius Proculus and his brother, a
fourth to Augustus, a twelfth to Mecaenas, besides legacies to L. Varius and
Plotius Tucca, who, in consequence of his own request, and the command
of Augustus, revised and corrected the Aeneid after his death. Their
instructions from the emperor were, to expunge whatever they thought
improper, but upon no account to make any addition. This restriction is
supposed to be the cause that many lines in the Aeneid are imperfect.
Virgil was of large stature, had a dark complexion, and his (172) features
are said to have been such as expressed no uncommon abilities. He was
subject to complaints of the stomach and throat, as well as to head-ache,
and had frequent discharges of blood upwards: but from what part, we are
not informed. He was very temperate both in food and wine. His modesty
was so great, that at Naples they commonly gave him the name of
Parthenias, “the modest man.” On the subject of his modesty; the following
anecdote is related.
Having written a distich, in which he compared Augustus to Jupiter, he
placed it in the night-time over the gate of the emperor’s palace. It was in
these words:

Nocte pluit tota, redeunt spectacula mane:
Divisum imperium cum Jove Caesar habet.

All night it rained, with morn the sports appear,
Caesar and Jove between them rule the year.

By order of Augustus, an inquiry was made after the author; and Virgil
not declaring himself, the verses were claimed by Bathyllus, a contemptible
poet, but who was liberally rewarded on the occasion. Virgil, provoked at
the falsehood of the impostor, again wrote the verses on some conspicuous
part of the palace, and under them the following line:

Hos ego versiculos feci, tulit alter honorem;
I wrote the verse, another filched the praise;

with the beginning of another line in these words:

Sic vos, non vobis,
Not for yourselves, you——

repeated four times. Augustus expressing a desire that the lines should be
finished, and Bathyllus proving unequal to the task, Virgil at last filled up
the blanks in this manner:

Sic vos, non vobis, nidificatis, aves;
Sic vos, non vobis, vellera fertis, oves;
Sic vos, non vobis, mellificatis, apes;
Sic vos, non vobis, fertis aratra, boves.

Not for yourselves, ye birds, your nests ye build;
Not for yourselves, ye sheep, your fleece ye yield;
Not for yourselves, ye bees, your cells ye fill;
Not for yourselves, ye beeves, ye plough and till.

The expedient immediately evinced him to be the author of the distich,
and Bathyllus became the theme of public ridicule.
When at any time Virgil came to Rome, if the people, as was commonly
the case, crowded to gaze upon him, or pointed at him with the finger in
admiration, he blushed, and stole away (173) from them; frequently taking
refuge in some shop. When he went to the theatre, the audience universally
rose up at his entrance, as they did to Augustus, and received him with the
loudest plaudits; a compliment which, however highly honourable, he
would gladly have declined. When such was the just respect which they
paid to the author of the Bucolics and Georgics, how would they have
expressed their esteem, had they beheld him in the effulgence of epic

renown! In the beautiful episode of the Elysian fields, in the Aeneid, where
he dexterously introduced a glorious display of their country, he had
touched the most elastic springs of Roman enthusiasm. The passion would
have rebounded upon himself, and they would, in the heat of admiration,
have idolized him.
HORACE was born at Venusia, on the tenth of December, in the
consulship of L. Cotta and L. Torquatus. According to his own
acknowledgment, his father was a freedman; by some it is said that he was a
collector of the revenue, and by others, a fishmonger, or a dealer in salted
meat. Whatever he was, he paid particular attention to the education of his
son, for, after receiving instruction from the best masters in Rome, he sent
him to Athens to study philosophy. From this place, Horace followed
Brutus, in the quality of a military tribune, to the battle of Philippi, where,
by his own confession, being seized with timidity, he abandoned the
profession of a soldier, and returning to Rome, applied himself to the
cultivation of poetry. In a short time he acquired the friendship of Virgil and
Valerius, whom he mentions in his Satires, in terms of the most tender
affection.

Postera lux oritur multo gratissima: namque
Plotius et Varius Sinuessae, Virgiliusque,
Occurrunt; animae, quales neque candidiores
Terra tulit, neque queis me sit devinctior alter.
O qui complexus, et gaudia quanta fuerunt!
Nil ego contulerim jucundo sanus amico.—Sat. I. 5.

Next rising morn with double joy we greet,
For Plotius, Varius, Virgil, here we meet:
Pure spirits these; the world no purer knows,
For none my heart with more affection glows:
How oft did we embrace, our joys how great!
For sure no blessing in the power of fate
Can be compared, in sanity of mind,
To friends of such companionable kind.—Francis.

By the two friends above mentioned, he was recommended to the
patronage not only of Mecaenas, but of Augustus, with whom he, as well as
Virgil, lived on a footing of the greatest intimacy. Satisfied with the luxury
which he enjoyed at the first tables in (174) Rome, he was so unambitious
of any public employment, that when the emperor offered him the place of
his secretary, he declined it. But as he lived in an elegant manner, having,
besides his house in town, a cottage on his Sabine farm, and a villa at Tibur,
near the falls of the Anio, he enjoyed, beyond all doubt. a handsome

establishment, from the liberality of Augustus. He indulged himself in
indolence and social pleasure, but was at the same time much devoted to
reading; and enjoyed a tolerable good state of health, although often
incommoded with a fluxion of rheum upon the eyes.

Horace, in the ardour of youth, and when his bosom beat high with the
raptures of fancy, had, in the pursuit of Grecian literature, drunk largely, at
the source, of the delicious springs of Castalia; and it seems to have been
ever after his chief ambition, to transplant into the plains of Latium the
palm of lyric poetry. Nor did he fail of success:

Exegi monumentum aere perennius.—Carm. iii. 30.
More durable than brass a monument I’ve raised.

In Greece, and other countries, the Ode appears to have been the most
ancient, as well as the most popular species of literary production. Warm in
expression, and short in extent, it concentrates in narrow bounds the fire of
poetical transport: on which account, it has been generally employed to
celebrate the fervours of piety, the raptures of love, the enthusiasm of
praise; and to animate warriors to glorious exertions of valour:

Musa dedit fidibus Divos, puerosque Deorum,
Et pugilem victorem, et equum certamine primnm,
Et juvenum curas, et libera vina referre.—Hor. De Arte Poet.

The Muse to nobler subjects tunes her lyre;
Gods, and the sons of Gods, her song inspire;
Wrestler and steed, who gained the Olympic prize,
Love’s pleasing cares, and wine’s unbounded joys.—Francis.

Misenum Aeoliden, quo non praestantior alter
Aere ciere viros, Martemque accendere cnatu. 275
Virgil, Aeneid, vi.
. . . . . . . . . . . .

Sed tum forte cava dum personat aequora concha
Demens, et canto vocat in certamina Divos.—Ibid.

Misenus, son of Oeolus, renowned
The warrior trumpet in the field to sound;
With breathing brass to kindle fierce alarms,
And rouse to dare their fate in honourable arms.

. . . . . . . . . . . .

(175) Swollen with applause, and aiming still at more,
He now provokes the sea-gods from the shore.—Dryden

There arose in this department, among the Greeks, nine eminent poets,
viz. Alcaeus, Alcman, Anacreon, Bacchylides, Ibicus, Sappho, Stesichorus,
Simonides, and Pindar. The greater number of this distinguished class are
now known only by name. They seem all to have differed from one another,
no less in the kind of measure which they chiefly or solely employed, than
in the strength or softness, the beauty or grandeur, the animated rapidity or

the graceful ease of their various compositions. Of the amorous effusions of
the lyre, we yet have examples in the odes of Anacreon, and the
incomparable ode of Sappho: the lyric strains which animated to battle,
have sunk into oblivion; but the victors in the public games of Greece have
their fame perpetuated in the admirable productions of Pindar.
Horace, by adopting, in the multiplicity of his subjects, almost all the
various measures of the different Greek poets, and frequently combining
different measures in the same composition, has compensated for the
dialects of that tongue, so happily suited to poetry, and given to a language
less distinguished for soft inflexions, all the tender and delicate modulations
of the Eastern song. While he moves in the measures of the Greeks with an
ease and gracefulness which rivals their own acknowledged excellence, he
has enriched the fund of lyric harmony with a stanza peculiar to himself. In
the artificial construction of the Ode, he may justly be regarded as the first
of lyric poets. In beautiful imagery, he is inferior to none: in variety of
sentiment and felicity of expression, superior to every existing competitor
in Greek or Roman poetry. He is elegant without affectation; and what is
more remarkable, in the midst of gaiety he is moral. We seldom meet in his
Odes with the abrupt apostrophes of passionate excursion; but his
transitions are conducted with ease, and every subject introduced with
propriety.
The Carmen Seculare was written at the express desire of Augustus, for
the celebration of the Secular Games, performed once in a hundred years,
and which continued during three days and three nights, whilst all Rome
resounded with the mingled effusions of choral addresses to gods and
goddesses, and of festive joy. An occasion which so much interested the
ambition of the poet, called into exertion the most vigorous efforts of his
genius. More concise in mythological attributes than the hymns ascribed to
Homer, this beautiful production, in variety and grandeur of invocation, and
in pomp of numbers, surpasses all that Greece, (176) melodious but simple
in the service of the altar, ever poured forth from her vocal groves in solemn
adoration. By the force of native genius, the ancients elevated their heroes
to a pitch of sublimity that excites admiration, but to soar beyond which
they could derive no aid from mythology; and it was reserved for a bard,
inspired with nobler sentiments than the Muses could supply, to sing the
praises of that Being whose ineffable perfections transcend all human

imagination. Of the praises of gods and heroes, there is not now extant a
more beautiful composition, than the 12th Ode of the first book of Horace:

Quem virum aut heroa lyra vel acri
Tibia sumes celebrare, Clio?
Quem Deum? cujus recinet jocosa
Nomen imago,
Aut in umbrosis Heliconis oris, etc.

What man, what hero, on the tuneful lyre,
Or sharp-toned flute, will Clio choose to raise,
Deathless, to fame? What God? whose hallowed name
The sportive image of the voice
Shall in the shades of Helicon repeat, etc.

The Satires of Horace are far from being remarkable for poetical
harmony, as he himself acknowledges. Indeed, according to the plan upon
which several of them are written, it could scarcely be otherwise. They are
frequently colloquial, sometimes interrogatory, the transitions quick, and
the apostrophes abrupt. It was not his object in those compositions, to
soothe the ear with the melody of polished numbers, but to rally the frailties
of the heart, to convince the understanding by argument, and thence to put
to shame both the vices and follies of mankind. Satire is a species of
composition, of which the Greeks furnished no model; and the preceding
Roman writers of this class, though they had much improved it from its
original rudeness and licentiousness, had still not brought it to that degree
of perfection which might answer the purpose of moral reform in a polished
state of society. It received the most essential improvement from Horace,
who has dexterously combined wit and argument, raillery and sarcasm, on
the side of morality and virtue, of happiness and truth.
The Epistles of this author may be reckoned amongst the most valuable
productions of antiquity. Except those of the second book, and one or two in
the first, they are in general of the familiar kind; abounding in moral
sentiments, and judicious observations on life and manners.
The poem De Arte Poetica comprises a system of criticism, in justness of
principle and extent of application, correspondent to the various exertions
of genius on subjects of invention and taste. (177) That in composing this
excellent production, he availed himself of the most approved works of
Grecian original, we may conclude from the advice which he there
recommends:

——————Vos exemplaria Graeca

Nocturna versate manu, versate diurna.

Make the Greek authors your supreme delight;
Read them by day, and study them by night.—Francis.

In the writings of Horace there appears a fund of good sense, enlivened
with pleasantry, and refined by philosophical reflection. He had cultivated
his judgment with great application, and his taste was guided by intuitive
perception of moral beauty, aptitude, and propriety. The few instances of
indelicacy which occur in his compositions, we may ascribe rather to the
manners of the times, than to any blameable propensity in the author.
Horace died in the fifty-seventh year of his age, surviving his beloved
Mecaenas only three weeks; a circumstance which, added to the declaration
in an ode 276 to that personage, supposed to have been written in
Mecaenas’s last illness, has given rise to a conjecture, that Horace ended his
days by a violent death, to accompany his friend. But it is more natural to
conclude that he died of excessive grief, as, had he literally adhered to the
affirmation contained in the ode, he would have followed his patron more
closely. This seems to be confirmed by a fact immediately preceding his
death; for though he declared Augustus heir to his whole estate, he was not
able, on account of weakness, to put his signature to the will; a failure
which it is probable that he would have taken care to obviate, had his death
been premeditated. He was interred, at his own desire, near the tomb of
Mecaenas.——
OVID was born of an equestrian family, at Sulmo, a town of the Peligni,
on the 21st of March, in the consulship of Hirtius and Pansa. His father
intended him for the bar; and after passing him through the usual course of
instruction at Rome, he was sent to Athens, the emporium of learning, to
complete his education. On his return to Rome, in obedience to the desire of
his father, he entered upon the offices of public life in the forum, and
declaimed with great applause. But this was the effect of paternal authority,
not of choice: for, from his earliest years, he discovered an extreme
attachment to poetry; and no sooner was his father dead, than, renouncing
the bar, he devoted himself entirely to the cultivation of that fascinating art,
his propensity to which was invincible. His productions, all written either in
heroic or pentameter verse, are numerous, and on various subjects. It will be
sufficient to mention them briefly.
(178) The Heroides consist of twenty-one Epistles, all which, except
three, are feigned to be written from celebrated women of antiquity, to their

husbands or lovers, such as Penelope to Ulysses, Dido to Aeneas, Sappho to
Phaon, etc. These compositions are nervous, animated and elegant: they
discover a high degree of poetic enthusiasm, but blended with that
lascivious turn of thought, which pervades all the amorous productions of
this celebrated author.
The elegies on subjects of love, particularly the Ars Amandi, or Ars
Amatoria, though not all uniform in versification, possess the same general
character, of warmth of passion, and luscious description, as the epistles.
The Fasti were divided into twelve books, of which only the first six now
remain. The design of them was to deliver an account of the Roman
festivals in every month of the year, with a description of the rites and
ceremonies, as well as the sacrifices on those occasions. It is to be regretted,
that, on a subject so interesting, this valuable work should not have been
transmitted entire: but in the part which remains, we are furnished with a
beautiful description of the ceremonial transactions in the Roman calendar,
from the first of January to the end of June. The versification, as in all the
compositions of this author, is easy and harmonious.
The most popular production of this poet is his Metamorphoses, not less
extraordinary for the nature of the subject, than for the admirable art with
which the whole is conducted. The work is founded upon the traditions and
theogony of the ancients, which consisted of various detached fables. Those
Ovid has not only so happily arranged, that they form a coherent series of
narratives, one rising out of another; but he describes the different changes
with such an imposing plausibility, as to give a natural appearance to the
most incredible fictions. This ingenious production, however perfect it may
appear, we are told by himself, had not received his last corrections when he
was ordered into banishment.
In the Ibis, the author imitates a poem of the same name, written by
Callimachus. It is an invective against some person who publicly traduced
his character at Rome, after his banishment. A strong sensibility,
indignation, and implacable resentment, are conspicuous through the whole.
The Tristia were composed in his exile, in which, though his vivacity
forsook him, he still retained a genius prolific in versification. In these
poems, as well as in many epistles to different persons, he bewails his
unhappy situation, and deprecates in the strongest terms the inexorable
displeasure of Augustus.

Several other productions written by Ovid are now lost, and (179)
amongst them a tragedy called Medea, of which Quintilian expresses a high
opinion. Ovidii Medea videtur mihi ostendere quantum vir ille praestare
potuerit, si ingenio suo temperare quam indulgere maluisset 277. Lib. x. c.
1.
It is a peculiarity in the productions of this author, that, on whatever he
employs his pen, he exhausts the subject; not with any prolixity that
fatigues the attention, but by a quick succession of new ideas, equally
brilliant and apposite, often expressed in antitheses. Void of obscenity in
expression, but lascivious in sentiment, he may be said rather to stimulate
immorally the natural passions, than to corrupt the imagination. No poet is
more guided in versification by the nature of his subject than Ovid. In
common narrative, his ideas are expressed with almost colloquial
simplicity; but when his fancy glows with sentiment, or is animated by
objects of grandeur, his style is proportionably elevated, and he rises to a
pitch of sublimity.
No point in ancient history has excited more variety of conjectures than
the banishment of Ovid; but after all the efforts of different writers to
elucidate the subject, the cause of this extraordinary transaction remains
involved in obscurity. It may therefore not be improper, in this place, to
examine the foundation of the several conjectures which have been formed,
and if they appear to be utterly imadmissible, to attempt a solution of the
question upon principles more conformable to probability, and
countenanced by historical evidence.
The ostensible reason assigned by Augustus for banishing Ovid, was his
corrupting the Roman youth by lascivious publications; but it is evident,
from various passages in the poet’s productions after this period, that there
was, besides, some secret reason, which would not admit of being divulged.
He says in his Tristia, Lib. ii. 1—

Perdiderent cum me duo crimina, carmen et errors. 278

It appears from another passage in the same work, that this inviolable
arcanum was something which Ovid had seen, and, as he insinuates,
through his own ignorance and mistake.

Cur aliquid vidi? cur conscia lumina feci?
Cur imprudenti cognita culpa mihi est?—Ibid.

* * * * * *
(180) Inscia quod crimen viderunt lumina, plector:
Peccatumque oculos est habuisse meum. 279 De Trist. iii. 5.

It seems, therefore, to be a fact sufficiently established, that Ovid had
seen something of a very indecent nature, in which Augustus was
concerned. What this was, is the question. Some authors, conceiving it to
have been of a kind extremely atrocious, have gone so far as to suppose,
that it must have been an act of criminality between Augustus and his own
daughter Julia, who, notwithstanding the strict attention paid to her
education by her father, became a woman of the most infamous character;
suspected of incontinence during her marriage with Agrippa, and openly
profligate after her union with her next husband, Tiberius. This supposition,
however, rests entirely upon conjecture, and is not only discredited by its
own improbability, but by a yet more forcible argument. It is certain that
Julia was at this time in banishment for her scandalous life. She was about
the same age with Tiberius, who was now forty seven, and they had not
cohabited for many years. We know not exactly the year in which Augustus
sent her into exile, but we may conclude with confidence, that it happened
soon after her separation from Tiberius; whose own interest with the
emperor, as well as that of his mother Livia, could not fail of being exerted,
if any such application was necessary, towards removing from the capital a
woman, who, by the notoriety of her prostitution, reflected disgrace upon
all with whom she was connected, either by blood or alliance. But no
application from Tiberius or his mother could be necessary, when we are
assured that Augustus even presented to the senate a narrative respecting the
infamous behaviour of his daughter, which was read by the quaestor. He
was so much ashamed of her profligacy, that he for a long time declined all
company, and had thoughts of putting her to death. She was banished to an
island on the coast of Campania for five years; at the expiration of which
period, she was removed to the continent, and the severity of her treatment
a little mitigated; but though frequent applications were made in her behalf
by the people, Augustus never could be prevailed upon to permit her return.
(181) Other writers have conjectured, that, instead of Julia, the daughter
of Augustus, the person seen with him by Ovid may have been Julia his
grand-daughter, who inherited the vicious disposition of her mother, and
was on that account likewise banished by Augustus. The epoch of this
lady’s banishment it is impossible to ascertain; and therefore no argument
can be drawn from that source to invalidate the present conjecture. But

Augustus had shown the same solicitude for her being trained up in virtuous
habits, as he had done in respect of her mother, though in both cases
unsuccessfully; and this consideration, joined to the enormity of the
supposed crime, and the great sensibility which Augustus had discovered
with regard to the infamy of his daughter, seems sufficient to exonerate his
memory from so odious a charge. Besides, is it possible that he could have
sent her into banishment for the infamy of her prostitution, while (upon the
supposition of incest) she was mistress of so important a secret, as that he
himself had been more criminal with her than any other man in the empire?
Some writers, giving a wider scope to conjecture, have supposed the
transaction to be of a nature still more detestable, and have even dragged
Mecaenas, the minister, into a participation of the crime. Fortunately,
however, for the reputation of the illustrious patron of polite learning, as
well as for that of the emperor, this crude conjecture may be refuted upon
the evidence of chronology. The commencement of Ovid’s exile happened
in the ninth year of the Christian aera, and the death of Mecaenas, eight
years before that period. Between this and other calculations, we find a
difference of three or four years; but allowing the utmost latitude of
variation, there intervened, from the death of Mecaenas to the banishment
of Ovid, a period of eleven years; an observation which fully invalidates the
conjecture above-mentioned.
Having now refuted, as it is presumed, the opinions of the different
commentators on this subject, we shall proceed to offer a new conjecture,
which seems to have a greater claim to probability than any that has hitherto
been suggested.
Suetonius informs us, that Augustus, in the latter part of his life,
contracted a vicious inclination for the enjoyment of young virgins, who
were procured for him from all parts, not only with the connivance, but by
the clandestine management of his consort Livia. It was therefore probably
with one of those victims that he was discovered by Ovid. Augustus had for
many years affected a decency of behaviour, and he would, therefore,
naturally be not a little disconcerted at the unseasonable intrusion of the
poet. That Ovid knew not of Augustus’s being in the place, is beyond all
doubt: and Augustus’s consciousness (182) of this circumstance, together
with the character of Ovid, would suggest an unfavourable suspicion of the
motive which had brought the latter thither. Abstracted from the immorality

of the emperor’s own conduct, the incident might be regarded as ludicrous,
and certainly was more fit to excite the shame than the indignation of
Augustus. But the purpose of Ovid’s visit appears, from his own
acknowledgment, to have been not entirely free from blame, though of what
nature we know not:

Non equidem totam possum defendere culpam:
Sed partem nostri criminis error habet.
De Trist. Lib. iii. Eleg. 5.

I know I cannot wholly be defended,
Yet plead ‘twas chance, no ill was then intended.—Catlin.

Ovid was at this time turned of fifty, and though by a much younger man
he would not have been regarded as any object of jealousy in love, yet by
Augustus, now in his sixty-ninth year, he might be deemed a formidable
rival. This passion, therefore, concurring with that which arose from the
interruption or disappointment of gratification, inflamed the emperor’s
resentment, and he resolved on banishing to a distant country a man whom
he considered as his rival, and whose presence, from what had happened, he
never more could endure.
Augustus having determined on the banishment of Ovid, could find little
difficulty in accommodating the ostensible to the secret and real cause of
this resolution.
No argument to establish the date of publication, can be drawn from the
order in which the various productions of Ovid are placed in the collection
of his works: but reasoning from probability, we should suppose that the
Ars Amandi was written during the period of his youth; and this seems to be
confirmed by the following passage in the second book of the Fasti:

Certe ego vos habui faciles in amore ministros;
Cum lusit numeris prima juventa suis. 280

That many years must have elapsed since its original publication, is
evident from the subsequent lines in the second book of the Tristia:

Nos quoque jam pridem scripto peccavimus uno.
Supplicium patitur non nova culpa novum.
Carminaque edideram, cum te delicta notantem
Praeterii toties jure quietus eques.
(183) Ergo, quae juveni mihi non nocitura putavi
Scripta parum prudens, nunc nocuere seni? 281

With what show, then, of justice, it may be asked, could Augustus now
punish a fault, which, in his solemn capacity of censor, he had so long and
repeatedly overlooked? The answer is obvious: in a production so popular
as we may be assured the Ars Amandi was amongst the Roman youth, it
must have passed through several editions in the course of some years: and
one of those coinciding with the fatal discovery, afforded the emperor a
specious pretext for the execution of his purpose. The severity exercised on
this occasion, however, when the poet was suddenly driven into exile,
unaccompanied even by the partner of his bed, who had been his
companion for many years, was an act so inconsistent with the usual
moderation of Augustus, that we cannot justly ascribe it to any other motive
than personal resentment; especially as this arbitrary punishment of the
author could answer no end of public utility, while the obnoxious
production remained to affect, if it really ever did essentially affect, the
morals of society. If the sensibility of Augustus could not thenceforth admit
of any personal intercourse with Ovid, or even of his living within the limits
of Italy, there would have been little danger from the example, in sending
into honourable exile, with every indulgence which could alleviate so
distressful a necessity, a man of respectable rank in the state, who was
charged with no actual offence against the laws, and whose genius, with all
its indiscretion, did immortal honour to his country. It may perhaps be
urged, that, considering the predicament in which Augustus stood, he
discovered a forbearance greater than might have been expected from an
absolute prince, in sparing the life of Ovid. It will readily be granted, that
Ovid, in the same circumstances, under any one of the four subsequent
emperors, would have expiated the incident with his blood. Augustus, upon
a late occasion, had shown himself equally sanguinary, for he put to death,
by the hand of Varus, a poet of Parma, named Cassius, on account of his
having written some satirical verses against him. By that recent example,
therefore, and the power of pardoning which the emperor still retained,
there was sufficient hold of the poet’s secrecy respecting the fatal
transaction, which, if divulged (184) to the world, Augustus would
reprobate as a false and infamous libel, and punish the author accordingly.
Ovid, on his part, was sensible, that, should he dare to violate the important
but tacit injunction, the imperial vengeance would reach him even on the
shores of the Euxine. It appears, however, from a passage in the Ibis, which

can apply to no other than Augustus, that Ovid was not sent into banishment
destitute of pecuniary provision:

Di melius! quorum longe mihi maximus ille,
Qui nostras inopes noluit esse vias.
Huic igitur meritas grates, ubicumque licebit,
Pro tam mansueto pectore semper agam.

The gods defend! of whom he’s far the chief,
Who lets me not, though banished, want relief.
For this his favour therefore whilst I live,
Where’er I am, deserved thanks I’ll give.

What sum the emperor bestowed, for the support of a banishment which
he was resolved should be perpetual, it is impossible to ascertain; but he
had formerly been liberal to Ovid, as well as to other poets.
If we might hazard a conjecture respecting the scene of the intrigue
which occasioned the banishment of Ovid, we should place it in some
recess in the emperor’s gardens. His house, though called Palatium, the
palace, as being built on the Palatine hill, and inhabited by the sovereign,
was only a small mansion, which had formerly belonged to Hortensius, the
orator. Adjoining to this place Augustus had built the temple of Apollo,
which he endowed with a public library, and allotted for the use of poets, to
recite their compositions to each other. Ovid was particularly intimate with
Hyginus, one of Augustus’s freedmen, who was librarian of the temple. He
might therefore have been in the library, and spying from the window a
young female secreting herself in the gardens, he had the curiosity to follow
her.
The place of Ovid’s banishment was Tomi 282, now said to be Baba, a
town of Bulgaria, towards the mouth of the Ister, where is a lake still called
by the natives Ouvidouve Jesero, the lake of Ovid. In this retirement, and
the Euxine Pontus, he passed the remainder of his life, a melancholy period
of seven years. Notwithstanding the lascivious writings of Ovid, it does not
appear that he was in his conduct a libertine. He was three times married:
his first wife, who was of mean extraction, and (185) whom he had married
when he was very young, he divorced; the second he dismissed on account
of her immodest behaviour; and the third appears to have survived him. He
had a number of respectable friends, and seems to have been much beloved
by them.——

TIBULLUS was descended of an equestrian family, and is said, but
erroneously, as will afterwards appear, to have been born on the same day
with Ovid. His amiable accomplishments procured him the friendship of
Messala Corvinus, whom he accompanied in a military expedition to the
island of Corcyra. But an indisposition with which he was seized, and a
natural aversion to the toils of war, induced him to return to Rome, where
he seems to have resigned himself to a life of indolence and pleasure,
amidst which he devoted a part of his time to the composition of elegies.
Elegiac poetry had been cultivated by several Greek writers, particularly
Callimachus, Mimnermus, and Philetas; but, so far as we can find, had,
until the present age, been unknown to the Romans in their own tongue. It
consisted of a heroic and pentameter line alternately, and was not, like the
elegy of the moderns, usually appropriated to the lamentation of the
deceased, but employed chiefly in compositions relative to love or
friendship, and might, indeed, be used upon almost any subject; though,
from the limp in the pentameter line, it is not suitable to sublime subjects,
which require a fulness of expression, and an expansion of sound. To this
species of poetry Tibullus restricted his application, by which he cultivated
that simplicity and tenderness, and agreeable ease of sentiment, which
constitute the characteristic perfections of the elegiac muse.
In the description of rural scenes, the peaceful occupations of the field,
the charms of domestic happiness, and the joys of reciprocal love, scarcely
any poet surpasses Tibullus. His luxuriant imagination collects the most
beautiful flowers of nature, and he displays them with all the delicate
attraction of soft and harmonious numbers. With a dexterity peculiar to
himself, in whatever subject he engages, he leads his readers imperceptibly
through devious paths of pleasure, of which, at the outset of the poem, they
could form no conception. He seems to have often written without any
previous meditation or design. Several of his elegies may be said to have
neither middle nor end: yet the transitions are so natural, and the gradations
so easy, that though we wander through Elysian scenes of fancy, the most
heterogeneous in their nature, we are sensible of no defect in the
concatenation which has joined them together. It is, however, to be regretted
that, in some instances, Tibullus betrays that licentiousness of manners
which (186) formed too general a characteristic even of this refined age. His
elegies addressed to Messala contain a beautiful amplification of sentiments

founded in friendship and esteem, in which it is difficult to say, whether the
virtues of the patron or the genius of the poet be more conspicuous.
Valerius Messala Corvinus, whom he celebrates, was descended of a very
ancient family. In the civil wars which followed the death of Julius Caesar
he joined the republican party, and made himself master of the camp of
Octavius at Philippi; but he was afterwards reconciled to his opponent, and
lived to an advanced age in favour and esteem with Augustus. He was
distinguished not only by his military talents, but by his eloquence,
integrity, and patriotism.
From the following passage in the writings of Tibullus, commentators
have conjectured that he was deprived of his lands by the same proscription
in which those of Virgil had been involved:

Cui fuerant flavi ditantes ordine sulci
Horrea, faecundas ad deficientia messes,
Cuique pecus denso pascebant agmine colles,
Et domino satis, et nimium furique lupoque:
Nunc desiderium superest: nam cura novatur,
Cum memor anteactos semper dolor admovet annos.
Lib. iv. El. 1.

But this seems not very probable, when we consider that Horace, several
years after that period, represents him as opulent.

Dii tibi divitias dederant, artemque fruendi.
Epist. Lib. i. 4.
To thee the gods a fair estate
In bounty gave, with heart to know
How to enjoy what they bestow.—Francis.

We know not the age of Tibullus at the time of his death; but in an elegy
written by Ovid upon that occasion, he is spoken of as a young man. Were it
true, as is said by biographers, that he was born the same day with Ovid, we
must indeed assign the event to an early period: for Ovid cannot have
written the elegy after the forty-third year of his own life, and how long
before is uncertain. In the tenth elegy of the fourth book, De Tristibus, he
observes, that the fates had allowed little time for the cultivation of his
friendship with Tibullus.

Virgilium vidi tantum: nec avara Tibullo
Tempus amicitiae fata dedere meae.
Successor fuit hic tibi, Galle; Propertius illi:
Quartus ab his serie temporis ipse fui.
Utque ego majores, sic me coluere minores.

(187) Virgil I only saw, and envious fate
Did soon my friend Tibullus hence translate.
He followed Gallus, and Propertius him,
And I myself was fourth in course of time.—Catlin.

As both Ovid and Tibullus lived at Rome, were both of the equestrian
order, and of congenial dispositions, it is natural to suppose that their
acquaintance commenced at an early period; and if, after all, it was of short
duration, there would be no improbability in concluding, that Tibullus died
at the age of some years under thirty. It is evident, however, that
biographers have committed a mistake with regard to the birth of this poet;
for in the passage above cited of the Tristia, Ovid mentions Tibullus as a
writer, who, though his contemporary, was much older than himself. From
this passage we should be justified in placing the death of Tibullus between
the fortieth and fiftieth year of his age, and rather nearer to the latter period;
for, otherwise, Horace would scarcely have mentioned him in the manner he
does in one of his epistles.

Albi, nostrorum sermonum candide judex,
Quid nunc te dicam facere in regione Pedana?
Scribere quod Cassi Parmensis opuscula vincat;
An tacitum silvas inter reptare salubres,
Curantem quicquid dignam sapiente bonoque est?—Epist. i. 4.

Albius, in whom my satires find
A critic, candid, just, and kind,
Do you, while at your country seat,
Some rhyming labours meditate,
That shall in volumed bulk arise,
And e’en from Cassius bear the prize;
Or saunter through the silent wood,
Musing on what befits the good.—Francis.

This supposition is in no degree inconsistent with the authority of Ovid,
where he mentions him as a young man; for the Romans extended the
period of youth to the fiftieth year.——
PROPERTIUS was born at Mevania, a town of Umbria, seated at the
confluence of the Tina and Clitumnus. This place was famous for its herds
of white cattle, brought up there for sacrifice, and supposed to be
impregnated with that colour by the waters of the river last mentioned.

Hinc albi, Clitumne, greges, et maxima taurus
Victima, saepe tuo perfusi fluorine sacro,
Romanos ad templa Deum duxere triumphos.—Georg. ii.

And where thy sacred streams, Clitumnus! flow,

White herds, and stateliest bulls that oft have led
Triumphant Rome, and on her altars bled.—Sotheby.

(188) His father is said by some to have been a Roman knight, and they
add, that he was one of those who, when L. Antony was starved out of
Perasia, were, by the order of Octavius, led to the altar of Julius Caesar, and
there slain. Nothing more is known with certainty, than that Propertius lost
his father at an early age, and being deprived of a great part of his
patrimony, betook himself to Rome, where his genius soon recommended
him to public notice, and he obtained the patronage of Mecaenas. From his
frequent introduction of historical and mythological subjects into his
poems, he received the appellation of “the learned.”
Of all the Latin elegiac poets, Propertius has the justest claim to purity of
thought and expression. He often draws his imagery from reading, more
than from the imagination, and abounds less in description than sentiment.
For warmth of passion he is not conspicuous, and his tenderness is seldom
marked with a great degree of sensibility; but, without rapture, he is
animated, and, like Horace, in the midst of gaiety, he is moral. The stores
with which learning supplies him diversify as well as illustrate his subject,
while delicacy every where discovers a taste refined by the habit of
reflection. His versification, in general, is elegant, but not uniformly
harmonious.
Tibullus and Propertius have each written four books of Elegies; and it
has been disputed which of them is superior in this department of poetry.
Quintilian has given his suffrage in favour of Tibullus, who, so far as
poetical merit alone is the object of consideration, seems entitled to the
preference.——
GALLUS was a Roman knight, distinguished not only for poetical, but
military talents. Of his poetry we have only six elegies, written, in the
person of an old man, on the subject of old age, but which, there is reason to
think, were composed at an earlier part of the author’s life. Except the fifth
elegy, which is tainted with immodesty, the others, particularly the first, are
highly beautiful, and may be placed in competition with any other
productions of the elegiac kind. Gallus was, for some time, in great favour
with Augustus, who appointed him governor of Egypt. It is said, however,
that he not only oppressed the province by extortion, but entered into a
conspiracy against his benefactor, for which he was banished. Unable to
sustain such a reverse of fortune, he fell into despair, and laid violent hands

on himself. This is the Gallus in honour of whom Virgil composed his tenth
eclogue.
Such are the celebrated productions of the Augustan age, which have
been happily preserved, for the delight and admiration of mankind, and will
survive to the latest posterity. Many (189) more once existed, of various
merit, and of different authors, which have left few or no memorials behind
them, but have perished promiscuously amidst the indiscriminate ravages of
time, of accidents, and of barbarians. Amongst the principal authors whose
works are lost, are Varius and Valgius; the former of whom, besides a
panegyric upon Augustus, composed some tragedies. According to
Quintilian, his Thyestes was equal to any composition of the Greek tragic
poets.
The great number of eminent writers, poets in particular, who adorned
this age, has excited general admiration, and the phenomenon is usually
ascribed to a fortuitous occurrence, which baffles all inquiry: but we shall
endeavour to develop the various causes which seem to have produced this
effect; and should the explanation appear satisfactory, it may favour an
opinion, that under similar circumstances, if ever they should again be
combined, a period of equal glory might arise in other ages and nations.
The Romans, whether from the influence of climate, or their mode of
living, which in general was temperate, were endowed with a lively
imagination, and, as we before observed, a spirit of enterprise. Upon the
final termination of the Punic war, and the conquest of Greece, their ardour,
which had hitherto been exercised in military achievements, was diverted
into the channel of literature; and the civil commotions which followed,
having now ceased, a fresh impulse was given to activity in the ambitious
pursuit of the laurel, which was now only to be obtained by glorious
exertions of intellect. The beautiful productions of Greece, operating
strongly upon their minds, excited them to imitation; imitation, when
roused amongst a number, produced emulation; and emulation cherished an
extraordinary thirst of fame, which, in every exertion of the human mind, is
the parent of excellence. This liberal contention was not a little promoted by
the fashion introduced at Rome, for poets to recite their compositions in
public; a practice which seems to have been carried even to a ridiculous
excess.—Such was now the rage for poetical composition in the Roman
capital, that Horace describes it in the following terms:

Mutavit mentem populus levis, et calet uno
Scribendi studio: pueri patresque severi
Fronde comas vincti coenant, et carmina dictant.—Epist. ii. 1.
* * * * * *

Now the light people bend to other aims;
A lust of scribbling every breast inflames;
Our youth, our senators, with bays are crowned,
And rhymes eternal as our feasts go round.

(190) Scribimus indocti doctique poemata passim.—Hor. Epeat. ii. 1.

But every desperate blockhead dares to write,
Verse is the trade of every living wight.—Francis.

The thirst of fame above mentioned, was a powerful incentive, and is
avowed both by Virgil and Horace. The former, in the third book of his
Georgics, announces a resolution of rendering himself celebrated, if
possible.

————tentanda via est qua me quoque possim
Tollere humo, victorque virum volitare per ora.

I, too, will strive o’er earth my flight to raise,
And wing’d by victory, catch the gale of praise.—Sotheby.

And Horace, in the conclusion of his first Ode, expresses himself in
terms which indicate a similar purpose.

Quad si me lyricis vatibis inseres,
Sublimi feriam sidera vertice.

But if you rank me with the choir,
Who tuned with art the Grecian lyre;
Swift to the noblest heights of fame,
Shall rise thy poet’s deathless name.—Francis.

Even Sallust, a historian, in his introduction to Catiline’s Conspiracy,
scruples not to insinuate the same kind of ambition. Quo mihi rectius
videtur ingenii quam virium opibus gloriam quaerere; et quoniam vita ipsa,
qua fruimur, brevis est, memoriam nostri quam maxume longam efficere.
283
Another circumstance of great importance, towards the production of
such poetry as might live through every age, was the extreme attention
which the great poets of this period displayed, both in the composition, and
the polishing of their works. Virgil, when employed upon the Georgics,
usually wrote in the morning, and applied much of the subsequent part of
the day to correction and improvement. He compared himself to a bear, that

licks her cub into form. If this was his regular practice in the Georgics, we
may justly suppose that it was the same in the Aeneid. Yet, after all this
labour, he intended to devote three years entirely to its farther amendment.
Horace has gone so far in recommending careful correction, that he
figuratively mentions nine years as an adequate period for that purpose. But
whatever may be the time, there is no precept which he urges either oftener
or more forcibly, than a due attention to this important subject.

(191) Saepe stylum vertas, iterum quae digna legi sint
Scripturus.—Sat. i. x.

Would you a reader’s just esteem engage?
Correct with frequent care the blotted page.—Francis.

————Vos, O
Pompilius sanguis, carmen reprehendite, quod non
Multa dies et multa litura coercuit, atque
Perfectum decies non castigavit ad uuguem.
De. Art. Poet.

Sons of Pompilius, with contempt receive,
Nor let the hardy poem hope to live,
Where time and full correction don’t refine
The finished work, and polish every line.—Francis.

To the several causes above enumerated, as concurring to form the great
superiority of the Augustan age, as respects the productions of literature,
one more is to be subjoined, of a nature the most essential: the liberal and
unparalleled encouragement given to distinguished talents by the emperor
and his minister. This was a principle of the most powerful energy: it fanned
the flame of genius, invigorated every exertion; and the poets who basked
in the rays of imperial favour, and the animating patronage of Mecaenas,
experienced a poetic enthusiasm which approached to real inspiration.
Having now finished the proposed explanation, relative to the celebrity of
the Augustan age, we shall conclude with recapitulating in a few words the
causes of this extraordinary occurrence.
The models, then, which the Romans derived from Grecian poetry, were
the finest productions of human genius; their incentives to emulation were
the strongest that could actuate the heart. With ardour, therefore, and
industry in composing, and with unwearied patience in polishing their
compositions, they attained to that glorious distinction in literature, which
no succeeding age has ever rivalled.

TIBERIUS NERO CAESAR.
(192)

I. The patrician family of the Claudii (for there was a plebeian family of
the same name, no way inferior to the other either in power or dignity)
came originally from Regilli, a town of the Sabines. They removed thence
to Rome soon after the building of the city, with a great body of their
dependants, under Titus Tatius, who reigned jointly with Romulus in the
kingdom; or, perhaps, what is related upon better authority, under Atta
Claudius, the head of the family, who was admitted by the senate into the
patrician order six years after the expulsion of the Tarquins. They likewise
received from the state, lands beyond the Anio for their followers, and a
burying-place for themselves near the capitol 284. After this period, in
process of time, the family had the honour of twenty-eight consulships, five
dictatorships, seven censorships, seven triumphs, and two ovations. Their
descendants were distinguished by various praenomina and cognomina 285,
but rejected by common consent the praenomen of (193) Lucius, when, of
the two races who bore it, one individual had been convicted of robbery,
and another of murder. Amongst other cognomina, they assumed that of
Nero, which in the Sabine language signifies strong and valiant.
II. It appears from record, that many of the Claudii have performed signal
services to the state, as well as committed acts of delinquency. To mention
the most remarkable only, Appius Caecus dissuaded the senate from
agreeing to an alliance with Pyrrhus, as prejudicial to the republic 286.
Claudius Candex first passed the straits of Sicily with a fleet, and drove the
Carthaginians out of the island 287. Claudius Nero cut off Hasdrubal with a
vast army upon his arrival in Italy from Spain, before he could form a
junction with his brother Hannibal 288. On the other hand, Claudius Appius
Regillanus, one of the Decemvirs, made a violent attempt to have a free
virgin, of whom he was enamoured, adjudged a slave; which caused the
people to secede a second time from the senate 289. Claudius Drusus
erected a statue of himself wearing a crown at Appii Forum 290, and
endeavoured, by means of his dependants, to make himself master of Italy.

Claudius Pulcher, when, off the coast of Sicily 291, the pullets used for
taking augury would not eat, in contempt of the omen threw them
overboard, as if they should drink at least, if they would not eat; and then
engaging the enemy, was routed. After his defeat, when he (194) was
ordered by the senate to name a dictator, making a sort of jest of the public
disaster, he named Glycias, his apparitor.
The women of this family, likewise, exhibited characters equally opposed
to each other. For both the Claudias belonged to it; she, who, when the ship
freighted with things sacred to the Idaean Mother of the Gods 292, stuck
fast in the shallows of the Tiber, got it off, by praying to the Goddess with a
loud voice, “Follow me, if I am chaste;” and she also, who, contrary to the
usual practice in the case of women, was brought to trial by the people for
treason; because, when her litter was stopped by a great crowd in the
streets, she openly exclaimed, “I wish my brother Pulcher was alive now, to
lose another fleet, that Rome might be less thronged.” Besides, it is well
known, that all the Claudii, except Publius Claudius, who, to effect the
banishment of Cicero, procured himself to be adopted by a plebeian 293,
and one younger than himself, were always of the patrician party, as well as
great sticklers for the honour and power of that order; and so violent and
obstinate in their opposition to the plebeians, that not one of them, even in
the case of a trial for life by the people, would ever condescend to put on
mourning, according to custom, or make any supplication to them for
favour; and some of them in their contests, have even proceeded to lay
hands on the tribunes of the people. A Vestal Virgin likewise of the family,
when her brother was resolved to have the honour of a triumph contrary to
the will of the people, mounted the chariot with him, and attended him into
the Capitol, that it might not be lawful for any of the tribunes to interfere
and forbid it. 294
III. From this family Tiberius Caesar is descended; indeed both by the
father and mother’s side; by the former from Tiberius Nero, and by the
latter from Appius Pulcher, who were both sons of Appius Caecus. He
likewise belonged to the family of the Livii, by the adoption of his mother’s
grandfather into it; which family, although plebeian, made a (195)
distinguished figure, having had the honour of eight consulships, two
censorships, three triumphs, one dictatorship, and the office of master of the
horse; and was famous for eminent men, particularly, Salinator and the
Drusi. Salinator, in his censorship 295, branded all the tribes, for their

inconstancy in having made him consul a second time, as well as censor,
although they had condemned him to a heavy fine after his first consulship.
Drusus procured for himself and his posterity a new surname, by killing in
single combat Drausus, the enemy’s chief. He is likewise said to have
recovered, when pro-praetor in the province of Gaul, the gold which was
formerly given to the Senones, at the siege of the Capitol, and had not, as is
reported, been forced from them by Camillus. His great-great-grandson,
who, for his extraordinary services against the Gracchi, was styled the
“Patron of the Senate,” left a son, who, while plotting in a sedition of the
same description, was treacherously murdered by the opposite party. 296
IV. But the father of Tiberius Caesar, being quaestor to Caius Caesar, and
commander of his fleet in the war of Alexandria, contributed greatly to its
success. He was therefore made one of the high-priests in the room of
Publius Scipio 297; and was sent to settle some colonies in Gaul, and
amongst the rest, those of Narbonne and Arles 298. After the assassination
of Caesar, however, when the rest of the senators, for fear of public
disturbances; were for having the affair buried in oblivion, he proposed a
resolution for rewarding those who had killed the tyrant. Having filled the
office of praetor 299, and at the end of the year a disturbance breaking out
amongst the triumviri, he kept the badges of his office beyond the legal
time; and following Lucius Antonius the consul, brother of the triumvir, to
Perusia 300, though the rest submitted, yet he himself continued firm to the
party, and escaped first to Praeneste, and then to Naples; whence, having in
vain invited the slaves to liberty, he fled over to Sicily. But resenting (196)
his not being immediately admitted into the presence of Sextus Pompey,
and being also prohibited the use of the fasces, he went over into Achaia to
Mark Antony; with whom, upon a reconciliation soon after brought about
amongst the several contending parties, he returned to Rome; and, at the
request of Augustus, gave up to him his wife Livia Drusilla, although she
was then big with child, and had before borne him a son. He died not long
after; leaving behind him two sons, Tiberius and Drusus Nero.
V. Some have imagined that Tiberius was born at Fundi, but there is only
this trifling foundation for the conjecture, that his mother’s grandmother
was of Fundi, and that the image of Good Fortune was, by a decree of the
senate, erected in a public place in that town. But according to the greatest
number of writers, and those too of the best authority, he was born at Rome,
in the Palatine quarter, upon the sixteenth of the calends of December [16th

Nov.], when Marcus Aemilius Lepidus was second time consul, with Lucius
Munatius Plancus 301, after the battle of Philippi; for so it is registered in
the calendar, and the public acts. According to some, however, he was born
the preceding year, in the consulship of Hirtius and Pansa; and others say, in
the year following, during the consulship of Servilius Isauricus and Antony.
VI. His infancy and childhood were spent in the midst of danger and
trouble; for he accompanied his parents everywhere in their flight, and
twice at Naples nearly betrayed them by his crying, when they were
privately hastening to a ship, as the enemy rushed into the town; once, when
he was snatched from his nurse’s breast, and again, from his mother’s
bosom, by some of the company, who on the sudden emergency wished to
relieve the women of their burden. Being carried through Sicily and Achaia,
and entrusted for some time to the care of the Lacedaemonians, who were
under the protection of the Claudian family, upon his departure thence when
travelling by night, he ran the hazard of his life, by a fire which, suddenly
bursting out of a wood on all sides, surrounded the whole party so closely,
that part of Livia’s dress and hair was burnt. The presents which were made
him (197) by Pompeia, sister to Sextus Pompey, in Sicily, namely, a cloak,
with a clasp, and bullae of gold, are still in existence, and shewn at Baiae to
this day. After his return to the city, being adopted by Marcus Gallius, a
senator, in his will, he took possession of the estate; but soon afterwards
declined the use of his name, because Gallius had been of the party opposed
to Augustus. When only nine years of age, he pronounced a funeral oration
in praise of his father upon the rostra; and afterwards, when he had nearly
attained the age of manhood, he attended the chariot of Augustus, in his
triumph for the victory at Actium, riding on the left-hand horse, whilst
Marcellus, Octavia’s son, rode that on the right. He likewise presided at the
games celebrated on account of that victory; and in the Trojan games
intermixed with the Circensian, he commanded a troop of the biggest boys.
VII. After assuming the manly habit, he spent his youth, and the rest of
his life until he succeeded to the government, in the following manner: he
gave the people an entertainment of gladiators, in memory of his father, and
another for his grandfather Drusus, at different times and in different places:
the first in the forum, the second in the amphitheatre; some gladiators who
had been honourably discharged, being induced to engage again, by a
reward of a hundred thousand sesterces. He likewise exhibited public
sports, at which he was not present himself. All these he performed with

great magnificence, at the expense of his mother and father-in-law. He
married Agrippina, the daughter of Marcus Agrippa, and grand-daughter of
Caecilius Atticus, a Roman knight, the same person to whom Cicero has
addressed so many epistles. After having by her his son Drusus, he was
obliged to part with her 302, though she retained his affection, and was
again pregnant, to make way for marrying Augustus’s daughter Julia. But
this he did with extreme reluctance; for, besides having the warmest
attachment to Agrippina, he was disgusted with the conduct of Julia, who
had made indecent advances to him during the lifetime of her former
husband; and that she was a woman of loose character, was the general
opinion. At divorcing Agrippina he felt the deepest regret; and upon
meeting her afterwards, (198) he looked after her with eyes so passionately
expressive of affection, that care was taken she should never again come in
his sight. At first, however, he lived quietly and happily with Julia; but a
rupture soon ensued, which became so violent, that after the loss of their
son, the pledge of their union, who was born at Aquileia and died in infancy
303, he never would sleep with her more. He lost his brother Drusus in
Germany, and brought his body to Rome, travelling all the way on foot
before it.
VIII. When he first applied himself to civil affairs, he defended the
several causes of king Archelaus, the Trallians, and the Thessalians, before
Augustus, who sat as judge at the trials. He addressed the senate on behalf
of the Laodiceans, the Thyatireans, and Chians, who had suffered greatly by
an earthquake, and implored relief from Rome. He prosecuted Fannius
Caepio, who had been engaged in a conspiracy with Varro Muraena against
Augustus, and procured sentence of condemnation against him. Amidst all
this, he had besides to superintend two departments of the administration,
that of supplying the city with corn, which was then very scarce, and that of
clearing the houses of correction 304 throughout Italy, the masters of which
had fallen under the odious suspicion of seizing and keeping confined, not
only travellers, but those whom the fear of being obliged to serve in the
army had driven to seek refuge in such places.
IX. He made his first campaign, as a military tribune, in the Cantabrian
war 305. Afterwards he led an army into the East 306, where he restored the
kingdom of Armenia to Tigranes; and seated on a tribunal, put a crown
upon his head. He likewise recovered from the Parthians the standards
which they had taken from Crassus. He next governed, for nearly a year, the

province of Gallia Comata, which was then in great disorder, on account of
the incursions of the barbarians, and the feuds of the chiefs. He afterwards
commanded in the several wars against the Rhaetians, Vindelicians,
Pannonians, and Germans. In the Rhaetian and Vindelician wars, he
subdued the nations in the Alps; and in the Pannonian wars the Bruci, and
(199) the Dalmatians. In the German war, he transplanted into Gaul forty
thousand of the enemy who had submitted, and assigned them lands near
the banks of the Rhine. For these actions, he entered the city with an
ovation, but riding in a chariot, and is said by some to have been the first
that ever was honoured with this distinction. He filled early the principal
offices of state; and passed through the quaestorship 307, praetorship 308,
and consulate 309 almost successively. After some interval, he was chosen
consul a second time, and held the tribunitian authority during five years.
X. Surrounded by all this prosperity, in the prime of life and in excellent
health, he suddenly formed the resolution of withdrawing to a greater
distance from Rome 310. It is uncertain whether this was the result of
disgust for his wife, whom he neither durst accuse nor divorce, and the
connection with whom became every day more intolerable; or to prevent
that indifference towards him, which his constant residence in the city
might produce; or in the hope of supporting and improving by absence his
authority in the state, if the public should have occasion for his service.
Some are of opinion, that as Augustus’s sons were now grown up to years
of maturity, he voluntarily relinquished the possession he had long enjoyed
of the second place in the government, as Agrippa had done before him;
who, when M. Marcellus was advanced to public offices, retired to
Mitylene, that he might not seem to stand in the way of his promotion, or in
any respect lessen him by his presence. The same reason likewise Tiberius
gave afterwards for his retirement; but his pretext at this time was, that he
was satiated with honours, and desirous of being relieved from the fatigue
of business; requesting therefore that he might have leave to withdraw. And
neither the earnest entreaties of his mother, nor the complaint of his father-
in-law made even in the senate, that he was deserted by him, could prevail
upon him to alter his resolution. Upon their persisting in the design of
detaining him, he refused to take any sustenance for four days together. At
last, having obtained permission, leaving his wife and son at Rome, he
proceeded (200) to Ostia 311, without exchanging a word with those who
attended him, and having embraced but very few persons at parting.

XI. From Ostia, journeying along the coast of Campania, he halted
awhile on receiving intelligence of Augustus’s being taken ill, but this
giving rise to a rumour that he stayed with a view to something
extraordinary, he sailed with the wind almost full against him, and arrived
at Rhodes, having been struck with the pleasantness and healthiness of the
island at the time of his landing therein his return from Armenia. Here
contenting himself with a small house, and a villa not much larger, near the
town, he led entirely a private life, taking his walks sometimes about the
Gymnasia 312, without any lictor or other attendant, and returning the
civilities of the Greeks with almost as much complaisance as if he had been
upon a level with them. One morning, in settling the course of his daily
excursion, he happened to say, that he should visit all the sick people in the
town. This being not rightly understood by those about him, the sick were
brought into a public portico, and ranged in order, according to their several
distempers. Being extremely embarrassed by this unexpected occurrence,
he was for some time irresolute how he should act; but at last he determined
to go round them all, and make an apology for the mistake even to the
meanest amongst them, and such as were entirely unknown to him. One
instance only is mentioned, in which he appeared to exercise his tribunitian
authority. Being a constant attendant upon the schools and lecture-rooms of
the professors of the liberal arts, on occasion of a quarrel amongst the
wrangling (201) sophists, in which he interposed to reconcile them, some
person took the liberty to abuse him as an intruder, and partial in the affair.
Upon this, withdrawing privately home, he suddenly returned attended by
his officers, and summoning his accuser before his tribunal, by a public
crier, ordered him to be taken to prison. Afterwards he received tidings that
his wife Julia had been condemned for her lewdness and adultery, and that a
bill of divorce had been sent to her in his name, by the authority of
Augustus. Though he secretly rejoiced at this intelligence, he thought it
incumbent upon him, in point of decency, to interpose in her behalf by
frequent letters to Augustus, and to allow her to retain the presents which he
had made her, notwithstanding the little regard she merited from him. When
the period of his tribunitian authority expired 313, declaring at last that he
had no other object in his retirement than to avoid all suspicion of rivalship
with Caius and Lucius, he petitioned that, since he was now secure in that
respect, as they were come to the age of manhood, and would easily
maintain themselves in possession of the second place in the state, he might

be permitted to visit his friends, whom he was very desirous of seeing. But
his request was denied; and he was advised to lay aside all concern for his
friends, whom he had been so eager to greet.
XII. He therefore continued at Rhodes much against his will, obtaining,
with difficulty, through his mother, the title of Augustus’s lieutenant, to
cover his disgrace. He thenceforth lived, however, not only as a private
person, but as one suspected and under apprehension, retiring into the
interior of the country, and avoiding the visits of those who sailed that way,
which were very frequent; for no one passed to take command of an army,
or the government of a province, without touching at Rhodes. But there
were fresh reasons for increased anxiety. For crossing over to Samos, on a
visit to his step-son Caius, who had been appointed governor of the East, he
found him prepossessed against him, by the insinuations of Marcus Lollius,
his companion and director. He likewise fell under suspicion of sending by
some centurions who had been promoted by himself, upon their return to
the camp after a furlough, mysterious messages to several persons there,
intended, apparently, to (202) tamper with them for a revolt. This jealousy
respecting his designs being intimated to him by Augustus, he begged
repeatedly that some person of any of the three Orders might be placed as a
spy upon him in every thing he either said or did.
XIII. He laid aside likewise his usual exercises of riding and arms; and
quitting the Roman habit, made use of the Pallium and Crepida 314. In this
condition he continued almost two years, becoming daily an object of
increasing contempt and odium; insomuch that the people of Nismes pulled
down all the images and statues of him in their town; and upon mention
being made of him at table one of the company said to Caius, “I will sail
over to Rhodes immediately, if you desire me, and bring you the head of the
exile;” for that was the appellation now given him. Thus alarmed not only
by apprehensions, but real danger, he renewed his solicitations for leave to
return; and, seconded by the most urgent supplications of his mother, he at
last obtained his request; to which an accident somewhat contributed.
Augustus had resolved to determine nothing in the affair, but with the
consent of his eldest son. The latter was at that time out of humour with
Marcus Lollius, and therefore easily disposed to be favourable to his father-
in-law. Caius thus acquiescing, he was recalled, but upon condition that he
should take no concern whatever in the administration of affairs.

XIV. He returned to Rome after an absence of nearly eight years 315,
with great and confident hopes of his future elevation, which he had
entertained from his youth, in consequence of various prodigies and
predictions. For Livia, when pregnant with him, being anxious to discover,
by different modes of divination, whether her offspring would be a son,
amongst others, took an egg from a hen that was sitting, and kept it warm
with her own hands, and those of her maids, by turns, until a fine cock-
chicken, with a large comb, was hatched. Scribonius, the astrologer,
predicted great things of him when he was a mere child. “He will come in
time,” said the prophet, “to be even a king, but without the usual badge of
royal dignity;” the rule of the Caesars being as yet unknown. When he was
(203) making his first expedition, and leading his army through Macedonia
into Syria, the altars which had been formerly consecrated at Philippi by the
victorious legions, blazed suddenly with spontaneous fires. Soon after, as he
was marching to Illyricum, he stopped to consult the oracle of Geryon, near
Padua; and having drawn a lot by which he was desired to throw golden tali
into the fountain of Aponus 316, for an answer to his inquiries, he did so,
and the highest numbers came up. And those very tali are still to be seen at
the bottom of the fountain. A few days before his leaving Rhodes, an eagle,
a bird never before seen in that island, perched on the top of his house. And
the day before he received intelligence of the permission granted him to
return, as he was changing his dress, his tunic appeared to be all on fire. He
then likewise had a remarkable proof of the skill of Thrasyllus, the
astrologer, whom, for his proficiency in philosophical researches, he had
taken into his family. For, upon sight of the ship which brought the
intelligence, he said, good news was coming whereas every thing going
wrong before, and quite contrary to his predictions, Tiberius had intended
that very moment, when they were walking together, to throw him into the
sea, as an impostor, and one to whom he had too hastily entrusted his
secrets.
XV. Upon his return to Rome, having introduced his son Drusus into the
forum, he immediately removed from Pompey’s house, in the Carinae, to
the gardens of Mecaenas, on the Esquiline 317, and resigned himself
entirely to his ease, performing only the common offices of civility in
private life, without any preferment in the government. But Caius and
Lucius being both carried off in the space of three years, he was adopted by
Augustus, along with their brother Agrippa; being obliged in the first place

to adopt Germanicus, his brother’s son. After his adoption, he never more
acted as master of a (204) family, nor exercised, in the smallest degree, the
rights which he had lost by it. For he neither disposed of anything in the
way of gift, nor manumitted a slave; nor so much as received any estate left
him by will, nor any legacy, without reckoning it as a part of his peculium
or property held under his father. From that day forward, nothing was
omitted that might contribute to the advancement of his grandeur, and much
more, when, upon Agrippa being discarded and banished, it was evident
that the hope of succession rested upon him alone.
XVI. The tribunitian authority was again conferred upon him for five
years 318, and a commission given him to settle the affairs of Germany. The
ambassadors of the Parthians, after having had an audience of Augustus,
were ordered to apply to him likewise in his province. But on receiving
intelligence of an insurrection in Illyricum 319, he went over to superintend
the management of that new war, which proved the most serious of all the
foreign wars since the Carthaginian. This he conducted during three years,
with fifteen legions and an equal number of auxiliary forces, under great
difficulties, and an extreme scarcity of corn. And though he was several
times recalled, he nevertheless persisted; fearing lest an enemy so powerful,
and so near, should fall upon the army in their retreat. This resolution was
attended with good success; for he at last reduced to complete subjection all
Illyricum, lying between Italy and the kingdom of Noricum, Thrace,
Macedonia, the river Danube, and the Adriatic gulf.
XVII. The glory he acquired by these successes received an increase
from the conjuncture in which they happened. For almost about that very
time 320 Quintilius Varus was cut off with three legions in Germany; and it
was generally believed that the victorious Germans would have joined the
Pannonians, had not the war of Illyricum been previously concluded. A
triumph, therefore, besides many other great honours, was decreed him.
Some proposed that the surname of “Pannonicus,” others that of
“Invincible,” and others, of “O Pius,” should be conferred on him; but
Augustus interposed, engaging for him that he would be satisfied with that
to which he would succeed at his death. He postponed his triumph, because
(205) the state was at that time under great affliction for the disaster of
Varus and his army. Nevertheless, he entered the city in a triumphal robe,
crowned with laurel, and mounting a tribunal in the Septa, sat with
Augustus between the two consuls, whilst the senate gave their attendance

standing; whence, after he had saluted the people, he was attended by them
in procession to the several temples.
XVIII. Next year he went again to Germany, where finding that the
defeat of Varus was occasioned by the rashness and negligence of the
commander, he thought proper to be guided in everything by the advice of a
council of war; whereas, at other times, he used to follow the dictates of his
own judgment, and considered himself alone as sufficiently qualified for the
direction of affairs. He likewise used more cautions than usual. Having to
pass the Rhine, he restricted the whole convoy within certain limits, and
stationing himself on the bank of the river, would not suffer the waggons to
cross the river, until he had searched them at the water-side, to see that they
carried nothing but what was allowed or necessary. Beyond the Rhine, such
was his way of living, that he took his meals sitting on the bare ground 321,
and often passed the night without a tent; and his regular orders for the day,
as well as those upon sudden emergencies, he gave in writing, with this
injunction, that in case of any doubt as to the meaning of them, they should
apply to him for satisfaction, even at any hour of the night.
XIX. He maintained the strictest discipline amongst the troops; reviving
many old customs relative to punishing and degrading offenders; setting a
mark of disgrace even upon the commander of a legion, for sending a few
soldiers with one of his freedmen across the river for the purpose of
hunting. Though it was his desire to leave as little as possible in the power
of fortune or accident, yet he always engaged the enemy with more
confidence when, in his night-watches, the lamp failed and went out of
itself; trusting, as he said, in an omen which had never failed him and his
ancestors (206) in all their commands. But, in the midst of victory, he was
very near being assassinated by some Bructerian, who mixing with those
about him, and being discovered by his trepidation, was put to the torture,
and confessed his intended crime.
XX. After two years, he returned from Germany to the city, and
celebrated the triumph which he had deferred, attended by his lieutenants,
for whom he had procured the honour of triumphal ornaments 322. Before
he turned to ascend the Capitol, he alighted from his chariot, and knelt
before his father, who sat by, to superintend the solemnity. Bato, the
Pannonian chief, he sent to Ravenna, loaded with rich presents, in gratitude
for his having suffered him and his army to retire from a position in which

he had so enclosed them, that they were entirely at his mercy. He afterwards
gave the people a dinner at a thousand tables, besides thirty sesterces to
each man. He likewise dedicated the temple of Concord 323, and that of
Castor and Pollux, which had been erected out of the spoils of the war, in
his own and his brother’s name.
XXI. A law having been not long after carried by the consuls 324 for his
being appointed a colleague with Augustus in the administration of the
provinces, and in taking the census, when that was finished he went into
Illyricum 325. But being hastily recalled during his journey, he found
Augustus alive indeed, but past all hopes of recovery, and was with him in
private a whole day. I know, it is generally believed, that upon Tiberius’s
quitting the room, after their private conference, those who were in waiting
overheard Augustus say, “Ah! unhappy Roman people, to be ground by the
jaws of such a slow devourer!” Nor am I ignorant of its being reported by
some, that Augustus so openly and undisguisedly condemned the sourness
of his temper, that sometimes, upon his coming in, he would break off any
jocular conversation in which he was engaged; and that he was only
prevailed upon by the (207) importunity of his wife to adopt him; or
actuated by the ambitious view of recommending his own memory from a
comparison with such a successor. Yet I must hold to this opinion, that a
prince so extremely circumspect and prudent as he was, did nothing rashly,
especially in an affair of so great importance; but that, upon weighing the
vices and virtues of Tiberius with each other, he judged the latter to
preponderate; and this the rather since he swore publicly, in an assembly of
the people, that “he adopted him for the public good.” Besides, in several of
his letters, he extols him as a consummate general, and the only security of
the Roman people. Of such declarations I subjoin the following instances:
“Farewell, my dear Tiberius, and may success attend you, whilst you are
warring for me and the Muses 326. Farewell, my most dear, and (as I hope
to prosper) most gallant man, and accomplished general.” Again. “The
disposition of your summer quarters? In truth, my dear Tiberius, I do not
think, that amidst so many difficulties, and with an army so little disposed
for action, any one could have behaved more prudently than you have done.
All those likewise who were with you, acknowledge that this verse is
applicable to you:”

Unus homo nobis vigilando restituit rem. 327
One man by vigilance restored the state.

“Whenever,” he says, “anything happens that requires more than ordinary
consideration, or I am out of humour upon any occasion, I still, by
Hercules! long for my dear Tiberius; and those lines of Homer frequently
occur to my thoughts:”

Toutou d’ espomenoio kai ek pyros aithomenoio
Ampho nostaesuimen, epei peri oide noaesai. 328

Bold from his prudence, I could ev’n aspire
To dare with him the burning rage of fire.

“When I hear and read that you are much impaired by the (208)
continued fatigues you undergo, may the gods confound me if my whole
frame does not tremble! So I beg you to spare yourself, lest, if we should
hear of your being ill, the news prove fatal both to me and your mother, and
the Roman people should be in peril for the safety of the empire. It matters
nothing whether I be well or no, if you be not well. I pray heaven preserve
you for us, and bless you with health both now and ever, if the gods have
any regard for the Roman people.”
XXII. He did not make the death of Augustus public, until he had taken
off young Agrippa. He was slain by a tribune who commanded his guard,
upon reading a written order for that purpose: respecting which order, it was
then a doubt, whether Augustus left it in his last moments, to prevent any
occasion of public disturbance after his decease, or Livia issued it, in the
name of Augustus; and whether with the knowledge of Tiberius or not.
When the tribune came to inform him that he had executed his command,
he replied, “I commanded you no such thing, and you must answer for it to
the senate;” avoiding, as it seems, the odium of the act for that time. And
the affair was soon buried in silence.
XXIII. Having summoned the senate to meet by virtue of his tribunitian
authority, and begun a mournful speech, he drew a deep sigh, as if unable to
support himself under his affliction; and wishing that not his voice only, but
his very breath of life, might fail him, gave his speech to his son Drusus to
read. Augustus’s will was then brought in, and read by a freedman; none of
the witnesses to it being admitted, but such as were of the senatorian order,
the rest owning their hand-writing without doors. The will began thus:
“Since my ill-fortune has deprived me of my two sons, Caius and Lucius,
let Tiberius Caesar be heir to two-thirds of my estate.” These words
countenanced the suspicion of those who were of opinion, that Tiberius was

appointed successor more out of necessity than choice, since Augustus
could not refrain from prefacing his will in that manner.
XXIV. Though he made no scruple to assume and exercise immediately
the imperial authority, by giving orders that he (209) should be attended by
the guards, who were the security and badge of the supreme power; yet he
affected, by a most impudent piece of acting, to refuse it for a long time;
one while sharply reprehending his friends who entreated him to accept it,
as little knowing what a monster the government was; another while
keeping in suspense the senate, when they implored him and threw
themselves at his feet, by ambiguous answers, and a crafty kind of
dissimulation; insomuch that some were out of patience, and one cried out,
during the confusion, “Either let him accept it, or decline it at once;” and a
second told him to his face, “Others are slow to perform what they promise,
but you are slow to promise what you actually perform.” At last, as if forced
to it, and complaining of the miserable and burdensome service imposed
upon him, he accepted the government; not, however, without giving hopes
of his resigning it some time or other. The exact words he used were these:
“Until the time shall come, when ye may think it reasonable to give some
rest to my old age.”
XXV. The cause of his long demur was fear of the dangers which
threatened him on all hands; insomuch that he said, “I have got a wolf by
the ears.” For a slave of Agrippa’s, Clemens by name, had drawn together a
considerable force to revenge his master’s death; Lucius Scribonius Libo, a
senator of the first distinction, was secretly fomenting a rebellion; and the
troops both in Illyricum and Germany were mutinous. Both armies insisted
upon high demands, particularly that their pay should be made equal to that
of the pretorian guards. The army in Germany absolutely refused to
acknowledge a prince who was not their own choice; and urged, with all
possible importunity, Germanicus 329, who commanded them, to take the
government on himself, though he obstinately refused it. It was Tiberius’s
apprehension from this quarter, which made him request the senate to
assign him some part only in the administration, such as they should judge
proper, since no man could be sufficient for the whole, without one or more
to assist him. He pretended likewise to be in a bad state of health, that
Germanicus might the more patiently wait in hopes of speedily succeeding
him, or at least of being (210) admitted to be a colleague in the government.
When the mutinies in the armies were suppressed, he got Clemens into his

hands by stratagem. That he might not begin his reign by an act of severity,
he did not call Libo to an account before the senate until his second year,
being content, in the mean time, with taking proper precautions for his own
security. For upon Libo’s attending a sacrifice amongst the high-priests,
instead of the usual knife, he ordered one of lead to be given him; and when
he desired a private conference with him, he would not grant his request,
but on condition that his son Drusus should be present; and as they walked
together, he held him fast by the right hand, under the pretence of leaning
upon him, until the conversation was over.
XXVI. When he was delivered from his apprehensions, his behaviour at
first was unassuming, and he did not carry himself much above the level of
a private person; and of the many and great honours offered him, he
accepted but few, and such as were very moderate. His birth-day, which
happened to fall at the time of the Plebeian Circensian games, he with
difficulty suffered to be honoured with the addition of only a single chariot,
drawn by two horses. He forbad temples, flamens, or priests to be appointed
for him, as likewise the erection of any statues or effigies for him, without
his permission; and this he granted only on condition that they should not
be placed amongst the images of the gods, but only amongst the ornaments
of houses. He also interposed to prevent the senate from swearing to
maintain his acts; and the month of September from being called Tiberius,
and October being named after Livia. The praenomen likewise of
EMPEROR, with the cognomen of FATHER OF HIS COUNTRY, and a
civic crown in the vestibule of his house, he would not accept. He never
used the name of AUGUSTUS, although he inherited it, in any of his
letters, excepting those addressed to kings and princes. Nor had he more
than three consulships; one for a few days, another for three months, and a
third, during his absence from the city, until the ides [fifteenth] of May.
XXVII. He had such an aversion to flattery, that he would never suffer
any senator to approach his litter, as he passed the streets in it, either to pay
him a civility, or upon business. (211) And when a man of consular rank, in
begging his pardon for some offence he had given him, attempted to fall at
his feet, he started from him in such haste, that he stumbled and fell. If any
compliment was paid him, either in conversation or a set speech, he would
not scruple to interrupt and reprimand the party, and alter what he had said.
Being once called “lord,” 330 by some person, he desired that he might no
more be affronted in that manner. When another, to excite veneration, called

his occupations “sacred,” and a third had expressed himself thus: “By your
authority I have waited upon the senate,” he obliged them to change their
phrases; in one of them adopting persuasion, instead of “authority,” and in
the other, laborious, instead of “sacred.”
XXVIII. He remained unmoved at all the aspersions, scandalous reports,
and lampoons, which were spread against him or his relations; declaring,
“In a free state, both the tongue and the mind ought to be free.” Upon the
senate’s desiring that some notice might be taken of those offences, and the
persons charged with them, he replied, “We have not so much time upon
our hands, that we ought to involve ourselves in more business. If you once
make an opening 331 for such proceedings, you will soon have nothing else
to do. All private quarrels will be brought before you under that pretence.”
There is also on record another sentence used by him in the senate, which is
far from assuming: “If he speaks otherwise of me, I shall take care to
behave in such a manner, as to be able to give a good account both of my
words and actions; and if he persists, I shall hate him in my turn.”
XXIX. These things were so much the more remarkable in him, because,
in the respect he paid to individuals, or the whole body of the senate, he
went beyond all bounds. Upon his differing with Quintus Haterius in the
senate-house, “Pardon me, sir,” he said, “I beseech you, if I shall, as a
senator, speak my mind very freely in opposition to you.” Afterwards,
addressing the senate in general, he said: “Conscript Fathers, I have often
said it both now and at other times, that a good (212) and useful prince,
whom you have invested with so great and absolute power, ought to be a
slave to the senate, to the whole body of the people, and often to individuals
likewise: nor am I sorry that I have said it. I have always found you good,
kind, and indulgent masters, and still find you so.”
XXX. He likewise introduced a certain show of liberty, by preserving to
the senate and magistrates their former majesty and power. All affairs,
whether of great or small importance, public or private, were laid before the
senate. Taxes and monopolies, the erecting or repairing edifices, levying
and disbanding soldiers, the disposal of the legions and auxiliary forces in
the provinces, the appointment of generals for the management of
extraordinary wars, and the answers to letters from foreign princes, were all
submitted to the senate. He compelled the commander of a troop of horse,
who was accused of robbery attended with violence, to plead his cause

before the senate. He never entered the senate-house but unattended; and
being once brought thither in a litter, because he was indisposed, he
dismissed his attendants at the door.
XXXI. When some decrees were made contrary to his opinion, he did not
even make any complaint. And though he thought that no magistrates after
their nomination should be allowed to absent themselves from the city, but
reside in it constantly, to receive their honours in person, a praetor-elect
obtained liberty to depart under the honorary title of a legate at large. Again,
when he proposed to the senate, that the Trebians might have leave granted
them to divert some money which had been left them by will for the
purpose of building a new theatre, to that of making a road, he could not
prevail to have the will of the testator set aside. And when, upon a division
of the house, he went over to the minority, nobody followed him. All other
things of a public nature were likewise transacted by the magistrates, and in
the usual forms; the authority of the consuls remaining so great, that some
ambassadors from Africa applied to them, and complained, that they could
not have their business dispatched by Caesar, to whom they had been sent.
And no wonder; since it was observed that he used to rise up as the consuls
approached, and give them the way.
(213) XXXII. He reprimanded some persons of consular rank in
command of armies, for not writing to the senate an account of their
proceedings, and for consulting him about the distribution of military
rewards; as if they themselves had not a right to bestow them as they judged
proper. He commended a praetor, who, on entering office, revived an old
custom of celebrating the memory of his ancestors, in a speech to the
people. He attended the corpses of some persons of distinction to the
funeral pile. He displayed the same moderation with regard to persons and
things of inferior consideration. The magistrates of Rhodes, having
dispatched to him a letter on public business, which was not subscribed, he
sent for them, and without giving them so much as one harsh word, desired
them to subscribe it, and so dismissed them. Diogenes, the grammarian,
who used to hold public disquisitions, at Rhodes every sabbath-day, once
refused him admittance upon his coming to hear him out of course, and sent
him a message by a servant, postponing his admission until the next seventh
day. Diogenes afterwards coming to Rome, and waiting at his door to be
allowed to pay his respects to him, he sent him word to come again at the
end of seven years. To some governors, who advised him to load the

provinces with taxes, he answered, “It is the part of a good shepherd to
shear, not flay, his sheep.”
XXXIII. He assumed the sovereignty 332 by slow degrees, and exercised
it for a long time with great variety of conduct, though generally with a due
regard to the public good. At first he only interposed to prevent ill
management. Accordingly, he rescinded some decrees of the senate; and
when the magistrates sat for the administration of justice, he frequently
offered his service as assessor, either taking his place promiscuously
amongst them, or seating himself in a corner of the tribunal. If a rumour
prevailed, that any person under prosecution was likely to be acquitted by
his interest, he would suddenly make his appearance, and from the floor of
the court, (214) or the praetor’s bench, remind the judges of the laws, and of
their oaths, and the nature of the charge brought before them, he likewise
took upon himself the correction of public morals, where they tended to
decay, either through neglect, or evil custom.
XXXIV. He reduced the expense of the plays and public spectacles, by
diminishing the allowances to actors, and curtailing the number of
gladiators. He made grievous complaints to the senate, that the price of
Corinthian vessels was become enormous, and that three mullets had been
sold for thirty thousand sesterces: upon which he proposed that a new
sumptuary law should be enacted; that the butchers and other dealers in
viands should be subject to an assize, fixed by the senate yearly; and the
aediles commissioned to restrain eating-houses and taverns, so far as not
even to permit the sale of any kind of pastry. And to encourage frugality in
the public by his own example, he would often, at his solemn feasts, have at
his tables victuals which had been served up the day before, and were partly
eaten, and half a boar, affirming, “It has all the same good bits that the
whole had.” He published an edict against the practice of people’s kissing
each other when they met; and would not allow new-year’s gifts 333 to be
presented after the calends [the first] of January was passed. He had been in
the habit of returning these offerings four-fold, and making them with his
own hand; but being annoyed by the continual interruption to which he was
exposed during the whole month, by those who had not the opportunity of
attending him on the festival, he returned none after that day.
XXXV. Married women guilty of adultery, though not prosecuted
publicly, he authorised the nearest relations to punish by agreement among

themselves, according to ancient custom. He discharged a Roman knight
from the obligation of an oath he had taken, never to turn away his wife;
and allowed him to divorce her, upon her being caught in criminal
intercourse with her son-in-law. Women of ill-fame, divesting themselves of
the rights and dignity of matrons, had now begun a practice of professing
themselves prostitutes, to avoid (215) the punishment of the laws; and the
most profligate young men of the senatorian and equestrian orders, to
secure themselves against a decree of the senate, which prohibited their
performing on the stage, or in the amphitheatre, voluntarily subjected
themselves to an infamous sentence, by which they were degraded. All
those he banished, that none for the future might evade by such artifices the
intention and efficacy of the law. He stripped a senator of the broad stripes
on his robe, upon information of his having removed to his gardens before
the calends [the first] of July, in order that he might afterwards hire a house
cheaper in the city. He likewise dismissed another from the office of
quaestor, for repudiating, the day after he had been lucky in drawing his lot,
a wife whom he had married only the day before.
XXXVI. He suppressed all foreign religions, and the Egyptian 334 and
Jewish rites, obliging those who practised that kind of superstition, to burn
their vestments, and all their sacred utensils. He distributed the Jewish
youths, under the pretence of military service, among the provinces noted
for an unhealthy climate; and dismissed from the city all the rest of that
nation as well as those who were proselytes to that religion 335, under pain
of slavery for life, unless they complied. He also expelled the astrologers;
but upon their suing for pardon, and promising to renounce their profession,
he revoked his decree.
XXXVII. But, above all things, he was careful to keep the (216) public
peace against robbers, burglars, and those who were disaffected to the
government. He therefore increased the number of military stations
throughout Italy; and formed a camp at Rome for the pretorian cohorts,
which, till then, had been quartered in the city. He suppressed with great
severity all tumults of the people on their first breaking out; and took every
precaution to prevent them. Some persons having been killed in a quarrel
which happened in the theatre, he banished the leaders of the parties, and
the players about whom the disturbance had arisen; nor could all the
entreaties of the people afterwards prevail upon him to recall them 336. The
people of Pollentia having refused to permit the removal of the corpse of a

centurion of the first rank from the forum, until they had extorted from his
heirs a sum of money for a public exhibition of gladiators, he detached a
cohort from the city, and another from the kingdom of Cottius 337; who
concealing the cause of their march, entered the town by different gates,
with their arms suddenly displayed, and trumpets sounding; and having
seized the greatest part of the people, and the magistrates, they were
imprisoned for life. He abolished every where the privileges of all places of
refuge. The Cyzicenians having committed an outrage upon some Romans,
he deprived them of the liberty they had obtained for their good services in
the Mithridatic war. Disturbances from foreign enemies he quelled by his
lieutenants, without ever going against them in person; nor would he even
employ his lieutenants, but with much reluctance, and when it was
absolutely necessary. Princes who were ill-affected towards him, he kept in
subjection, more by menaces and remonstrances, than by force of arms.
Some whom he induced to come to him by fair words and promises, he
never would permit to return home; as Maraboduus the German,
Thrascypolis the (217) Thracian, and Archelaus the Cappadocian, whose
kingdom he even reduced into the form of a province.
XXXVIII. He never set foot outside the gates of Rome, for two years
together, from the time he assumed the supreme power; and after that
period, went no farther from the city than to some of the neighbouring
towns; his farthest excursion being to Antium 338, and that but very
seldom, and for a few days; though he often gave out that he would visit the
provinces and armies, and made preparations for it almost every year, by
taking up carriages, and ordering provisions for his retinue in the municipia
and colonies. At last he suffered vows to be put up for his good journey and
safe return, insomuch that he was called jocosely by the name of Callipides,
who is famous in a Greek proverb, for being in a great hurry to go forward,
but without ever advancing a cubit.
XXXIX. But after the loss of his two sons, of whom Germanicus died in
Syria, and Drusus at Rome, he withdrew into Campania 339; at which time
opinion and conversation were almost general, that he never would return,
and would die soon. And both nearly turned out to be true. For indeed he
never more came to Rome; and a few days after leaving it, when he was at a
villa of his called the Cave, near Terracina 340, during supper a great many
huge stones fell from above, which killed several of the guests and
attendants; but he almost hopelessly escaped.

XL. After he had gone round Campania, and dedicated the capitol at
Capua, and a temple to Augustus at Nola 341, which he made the pretext of
his journey, he retired to Capri; being (218) greatly delighted with the
island, because it was accessible only by a narrow beach, being on all sides
surrounded with rugged cliffs, of a stupendous height, and by a deep sea.
But immediately, the people of Rome being extremely clamorous for his
return, on account of a disaster at Fidenae 342, where upwards of twenty
thousand persons had been killed by the fall of the amphitheatre, during a
public spectacle of gladiators, he crossed over again to the continent, and
gave all people free access to him; so much the more, because, at his
departure from the city, he had caused it to be proclaimed that no one
should address him, and had declined admitting any persons to his presence,
on the journey.
XLI. Returning to the island, he so far abandoned all care of the
government, that he never filled up the decuriae of the knights, never
changed any military tribunes or prefects, or governors of provinces, and
kept Spain and Syria for several years without any consular lieutenants. He
likewise suffered Armenia to be seized by the Parthians, Moesia by the
Dacians and Sarmatians, and Gaul to be ravaged by the Germans; to the
great disgrace, and no less danger, of the empire.
XLII. But having now the advantage of privacy, and being remote from
the observation of the people of Rome, he abandoned himself to all the
vicious propensities which he had long but imperfectly concealed, and of
which I shall here give a particular account from the beginning. While a
young soldier in the camp, he was so remarkable for his excessive
inclination to wine, that, for Tiberius, they called him Biberius; for
Claudius, Caldius; and for Nero, Mero. And after he succeeded to the
empire, and was invested with the office of reforming the morality of the
people, he spent a whole night and two days together in feasting and
drinking with Pomponius Flaccus and Lucius Piso; to one of whom he
immediately gave the province of Syria, and to the other the prefecture of
the city; declaring them, in his letters-patent, to be “very pleasant
companions, and friends fit for all occasions.” He made an appointment to
sup with Sestius Gallus, a lewd and prodigal old fellow, who had been
disgraced by Augustus, and reprimanded by himself but a few days before
in the senate-house; upon condition that he should not recede in the least
from his usual method of entertainment, and that they should be attended at

table by naked girls. He preferred a very obscure candidate for the
quaestorship, before the most noble competitors, only for taking off, in
pledging him at table, an amphora of wine at a draught 343. He presented
Asellius Sabinus with two hundred thousand sesterces, for writing a
dialogue, in the way of dispute, betwixt the truffle and the fig-pecker, the
oyster and the thrush. He likewise instituted a new office to administer to
his voluptuousness, to which he appointed Titus Caesonius Priscus, a
Roman knight.
XLIII. In his retreat at Capri 344, he also contrived an apartment
containing couches, and adapted to the secret practice of abominable
lewdness, where he entertained companies of girls and catamites, and
assembled from all quarters inventors of unnatural copulations, whom he
called Spintriae, who defiled one another in his presence, to inflame by the
exhibition the languid appetite. He had several chambers set round with
pictures and statues in the most lascivious attitudes, and furnished with the
books of Elephantis, that none might want a pattern for the execution of any
lewd project that was prescribed him. He likewise contrived recesses in
woods and groves for the gratification of lust, where young persons of both
sexes prostituted themselves in caves and hollow rocks, in the disguise of
little Pans and Nymphs 345. So that he was publicly and commonly called,
by an abuse of the name of the island, Caprineus. 346
XLIV. But he was still more infamous, if possible, for an (220)
abomination not fit to be mentioned or heard, much less credited. 347
—————————When a picture, painted by Parrhasius, in which the
artist had represented Atalanta in the act of submitting to Meleager’s lust in
a most unnatural way, was bequeathed to him, with this proviso, that if the
subject was offensive to him, he might receive in lieu of it a million of
sesterces, he not only chose the picture, but hung it up in his bed-chamber.
It is also reported that, during a sacrifice, he was so captivated with the
form of a youth who held a censer, that, before the religious rites were well
over, he took him aside and abused him; as also a brother of his who had
been playing the flute; and soon afterwards broke the legs of both of them,
for upbraiding one another with their shame.
XLV. How much he was guilty of a most foul intercourse with women
even of the first quality 348, appeared very plainly by the death of one
Mallonia, who, being brought to his bed, but resolutely refusing to comply

with his lust, he gave her up to the common informers. Even when she was
upon her trial, he frequently called out to her, and asked her, “Do you
repent?” until she, quitting the court, went home, and stabbed herself;
openly upbraiding the vile old lecher for his gross obscenity 349. Hence
there was an allusion to him in a farce, which was acted at the next public
sports, and was received with great applause, and became a common topic
of ridicule 350: that the old goat————
XLVI. He was so niggardly and covetous, that he never allowed to his
attendants, in his travels and expeditions, any salary, but their diet only.
Once, indeed, he treated them liberally, at the instigation of his step-father,
when, dividing them into three classes, according to their rank, he gave the
(221) first six, the second four, and the third two, hundred thousand
sesterces, which last class he called not friends, but Greeks.
XLVII. During the whole time of his government, he never erected any
noble edifice; for the only things he did undertake, namely, building the
temple of Augustus, and restoring Pompey’s Theatre, he left at last, after
many years, unfinished. Nor did he ever entertain the people with public
spectacles; and he was seldom present at those which were given by others,
lest any thing of that kind should be requested of him; especially after he
was obliged to give freedom to the comedian Actius. Having relieved the
poverty of a few senators, to avoid further demands, he declared that he
should for the future assist none, but those who gave the senate full
satisfaction as to the cause of their necessity. Upon this, most of the needy
senators, from modesty and shame, declined troubling him. Amongst these
was Hortalus, grandson to the celebrated orator Quintus Hortensius, who
[marrying], by the persuasion of Augustus, had brought up four children
upon a very small estate.
XLVIII. He displayed only two instances of public munificence. One was
an offer to lend gratis, for three years, a hundred millions of sesterces to
those who wanted to borrow; and the other, when, some large houses being
burnt down upon Mount Caelius, he indemnified the owners. To the former
of these he was compelled by the clamours of the people, in a great scarcity
of money, when he had ratified a decree of the senate obliging all money-
lenders to advance two-thirds of their capital on land, and the debtors to pay
off at once the same proportion of their debts, and it was found insufficient
to remedy the grievance. The other he did to alleviate in some degree the

pressure of the times. But his benefaction to the sufferers by fire, he
estimated at so high a rate, that he ordered the Caelian Hill to be called, in
future, the Augustan. To the soldiery, after doubling the legacy left them by
Augustus, he never gave any thing, except a thousand denarii a man to the
pretorian guards, for not joining the party of Sejanus; and some presents to
the legions in Syria, because they alone had not paid reverence to the
effigies of Sejanus among their standards. He seldom gave discharges to the
veteran soldiers, calculating (222) on their deaths from advanced age, and
on what would be saved by thus getting rid of them, in the way of rewards
or pensions. Nor did he ever relieve the provinces by any act of generosity,
excepting Asia, where some cities had been destroyed by an earthquake.
XLIX. In the course of a very short time, he turned his mind to sheer
robbery. It is certain that Cneius Lentulus, the augur, a man of vast estate,
was so terrified and worried by his threats and importunities, that he was
obliged to make him his heir; and that Lepida, a lady of a very noble family,
was condemned by him, in order to gratify Quirinus, a man of consular
rank, extremely rich, and childless, who had divorced her twenty years
before, and now charged her with an old design to poison him. Several
persons, likewise, of the first distinction in Gaul, Spain, Syria, and Greece,
had their estates confiscated upon such despicably trifling and shameless
pretences, that against some of them no other charge was preferred, than
that they held large sums of ready money as part of their property. Old
immunities, the rights of mining, and of levying tolls, were taken from
several cities and private persons. And Vonones, king of the Parthians, who
had been driven out of his dominions by his own subjects, and fled to
Antioch with a vast treasure, claiming the protection of the Roman people,
his allies, was treacherously robbed of all his money, and afterwards
murdered.
L. He first manifested hatred towards his own relations in the case of his
brother Drusus, betraying him by the production of a letter to himself, in
which Drusus proposed that Augustus should be forced to restore the public
liberty. In course of time, he shewed the same disposition with regard to the
rest of his family. So far was he from performing any office of kindness or
humanity to his wife, when she was banished, and, by her father’s order,
confined to one town, that he forbad her to stir out of the house, or converse
with any men. He even wronged her of the dowry given her by her father,
and of her yearly allowance, by a quibble of law, because Augustus had

made no provision for them on her behalf in his will. Being harassed by his
mother, Livia, who claimed an equal share in the government with him, he
frequently avoided (223) seeing her, and all long and private conferences
with her, lest it should be thought that he was governed by her counsels,
which, notwithstanding, he sometimes sought, and was in the habit of
adopting. He was much offended at the senate, when they proposed to add
to his other titles that of the Son of Livia, as well as Augustus. He,
therefore, would not suffer her to be called “the Mother of her Country,”
nor to receive any extraordinary public distinction. Nay, he frequently
admonished her “not to meddle with weighty affairs, and such as did not
suit her sex;” especially when he found her present at a fire which broke out
near the Temple of Vesta 351, and encouraging the people and soldiers to
use their utmost exertions, as she had been used to do in the time of her
husband.
LI. He afterwards proceeded to an open rupture with her, and, as is said,
upon this occasion. She having frequently urged him to place among the
judges a person who had been made free of the city, he refused her request,
unless she would allow it to be inscribed on the roll, “That the appointment
had been extorted from him by his mother.” Enraged at this, Livia brought
forth from her chapel some letters from Augustus to her, complaining of the
sourness and insolence of Tiberius’s temper, and these she read. So much
was he offended at these letters having been kept so long, and now
produced with so much bitterness against him, that some considered this
incident as one of the causes of his going into seclusion, if not the principal
reason for his so doing. In the (224) whole years she lived during his
retirement, he saw her but once, and that for a few hours only. When she
fell sick shortly afterwards, he was quite unconcerned about visiting her in
her illness; and when she died, after promising to attend her funeral, he
deferred his coming for several days, so that the corpse was in a state of
decay and putrefaction before the interment; and he then forbad divine
honours being paid to her, pretending that he acted according to her own
directions. He likewise annulled her will, and in a short time ruined all her
friends and acquaintance; not even sparing those to whom, on her death-
bed, she had recommended the care of her funeral, but condemning one of
them, a man of equestrian rank, to the treadmill. 352
LII. He entertained no paternal affection either for his own son Drusus, or
his adopted son Germanicus. Offended at the vices of the former, who was

of a loose disposition and led a dissolute life, he was not much affected at
his death; but, almost immediately after the funeral, resumed his attention to
business, and prevented the courts from being longer closed. The
ambassadors from the people of Ilium coming rather late to offer their
condolence, he said to them by way of banter, as if the affair had already
faded from his memory, “And I heartily condole with you on the loss of
your renowned countryman, Hector.” He so much affected to depreciate
Germanicus, that he spoke of his achievements as utterly insignificant, and
railed at his most glorious victories as ruinous to the state; complaining of
him also to the senate for going to Alexandria without his knowledge, upon
occasion of a great and sudden famine at Rome. It was believed that he took
care to have him dispatched by Cneius Piso, his lieutenant in Syria. This
person was afterwards tried for the murder, and would, as was supposed,
have produced his orders, had they not been contained in a private and
confidential dispatch. The following words therefore were posted up in
many places, and frequently shouted in the night: “Give us back our
Germanicus.” This suspicion was afterwards confirmed by the barbarous
treatment of his wife and children.
(225) LIII. His daughter-in-law Agrippina, after the death of her husband,
complaining upon some occasion with more than ordinary freedom, he took
her by the hand, and addressed her in a Greek verse to this effect: “My dear
child, do you think yourself injured, because you are not empress?” Nor did
he ever vouchsafe to speak to her again. Upon her refusing once at supper
to taste some fruit which he presented to her, he declined inviting her to his
table, pretending that she in effect charged him with a design to poison her;
whereas the whole was a contrivance of his own. He was to offer the fruit,
and she to be privately cautioned against eating what would infallibly cause
her death. At last, having her accused of intending to flee for refuge to the
statue of Augustus, or to the army, he banished her to the island of
Pandataria 353. Upon her reviling him for it, he caused a centurion to beat
out one of her eyes; and when she resolved to starve herself to death, he
ordered her mouth to be forced open, and meat to be crammed down her
throat. But she persisting in her resolution, and dying soon afterwards, he
persecuted her memory with the basest aspersions, and persuaded the senate
to put her birth-day amongst the number of unlucky days in the calendar.
He likewise took credit for not having caused her to be strangled and her
body cast upon the Gemonian Steps, and suffered a decree of the senate to

pass, thanking him for his clemency, and an offering of gold to be made to
Jupiter Capitolinus on the occasion.
LIV. He had by Germanicus three grandsons, Nero, Drusus, and Caius;
and by his son Drusus one, named Tiberius. Of these, after the loss of his
sons, he commended Nero and Drusus, the two eldest sons of Germanicus,
to the senate; and at their being solemnly introduced into the forum,
distributed money among the people. But when he found that on entering
upon the new year they were included in the public vows for his own
welfare, he told the senate, “that such honours ought not to be conferred but
upon those who had been proved, and were of more advanced years.” By
thus betraying his private feelings towards them, he exposed them to all
sorts of accusations; and after practising many artifices to provoke (226)
them to rail at and abuse him, that he might be furnished with a pretence to
destroy them, he charged them with it in a letter to the senate; at the same
time accusing them, in the bitterest terms, of the most scandalous vices.
Upon their being declared enemies by the senate, he starved them to death;
Nero in the island of Ponza, and Drusus in the vaults of the Palatium. It is
thought by some, that Nero was driven to a voluntary death by the
executioner’s shewing him some halters and hooks, as if he had been sent to
him by order of the senate. Drusus, it is said, was so rabid with hunger, that
he attempted to eat the chaff with which his mattress was stuffed. The relics
of both were so scattered, that it was with difficulty they were collected.
LV. Besides his old friends and intimate acquaintance, he required the
assistance of twenty of the most eminent persons in the city, as counsellors
in the administration of public affairs. Out of all this number, scarcely two
or three escaped the fury of his savage disposition. All the rest he destroyed
upon one pretence or another; and among them Aelius Sejanus, whose fall
was attended with the ruin of many others. He had advanced this minister to
the highest pitch of grandeur, not so much from any real regard for him, as
that by his base and sinister contrivances he might ruin the children of
Germanicus, and thereby secure the succession to his own grandson by
Drusus.
LVI. He treated with no greater leniency the Greeks in his family, even
those with whom he was most pleased. Having asked one Zeno, upon his
using some far-fetched phrases, “What uncouth dialect is that?” he replied,
“The Doric.” For this answer he banished him to Cinara 354, suspecting

that he taunted him with his former residence at Rhodes, where the Doric
dialect is spoken. It being his custom to start questions at supper, arising out
of what he had been reading in the day, and finding that Seleucus, the
grammarian, used to inquire of his attendants what authors he was then
studying, and so came prepared for his enquiries—he first turned him out of
his family, and then drove him to the extremity of laying violent hands upon
himself.
(227) LVII. His cruel and sullen temper appeared when he was still a
boy; which Theodorus of Gadara 355, his master in rhetoric, first
discovered, and expressed by a very apposite simile, calling him sometimes,
when he chid him, “Mud mixed with blood.” But his disposition shewed
itself still more clearly on his attaining the imperial power, and even in the
beginning of his administration, when he was endeavouring to gain the
popular favour, by affecting moderation. Upon a funeral passing by, a wag
called out to the dead man, “Tell Augustus, that the legacies he bequeathed
to the people are not yet paid.” The man being brought before him, he
ordered that he should receive what was due to him, and then be led to
execution, that he might deliver the message to his father himself. Not long
afterwards, when one Pompey, a Roman knight, persisted in his opposition
to something he proposed in the senate, he threatened to put him in prison,
and told him, “Of a Pompey I shall make a Pompeian of you;” by a bitter
kind of pun playing upon the man’s name, and the ill-fortune of his party.
LVIII. About the same time, when the praetor consulted him, whether it
was his pleasure that the tribunals should take cognizance of accusations of
treason, he replied, “The laws ought to be put in execution;” and he did put
them in execution most severely. Some person had taken off the head of
Augustus from one of his statues, and replaced it by another 356. The
matter was brought before the senate, and because the case was not clear,
the witnesses were put to the torture. The party accused being found guilty,
and condemned, this kind of proceeding was carried so far, that it became
capital for a man to beat his slave, or change his clothes, near the statue of
Augustus; to carry his head stamped upon the coin, or cut in the stone of a
ring, into a necessary house, or the stews; or to reflect upon anything that
had been either said or done by him. In fine, a person was condemned to
death, for suffering some honours to be decreed to him in the colony where
he lived, upon the same day on which they had formerly been decreed to
Augustus.

(228) LIX. He was besides guilty of many barbarous actions, under the
pretence of strictness and reformation of manners, but more to gratify his
own savage disposition. Some verses were published, which displayed the
present calamities of his reign, and anticipated the future. 357

Asper et immitis, breviter vis omnia dicam?
Dispeream si te mater amare potest.
Non es eques, quare? non sunt tibi millia centum?
Omnia si quaeras, et Rhodos exsilium est.
Aurea mutasti Saturni saecula, Caesar:
Incolumi nam te, ferrea semper erunt.
Fastidit vinum, quia jam sit it iste cruorem:
Tam bibit hunc avide, quam bibit ante merum.
Adspice felicem sibi, non tibi, Romule, Sullam:
Et Marium, si vis, adspice, sed reducem.
Nec non Antoni civilia bella moventis
Nec semel infectas adspice caeda manus.
Et dic, Roma perit: regnabit sanguine multo,
Ad regnum quisquis venit ab exsilio.

Obdurate wretch! too fierce, too fell to move
The least kind yearnings of a mother’s love!
No knight thou art, as having no estate;
Long suffered’st thou in Rhodes an exile’s fate,
No more the happy Golden Age we see;
The Iron’s come, and sure to last with thee.
Instead of wine he thirsted for before,
He wallows now in floods of human gore.
Reflect, ye Romans, on the dreadful times,
Made such by Marius, and by Sylla’s crimes.
Reflect how Antony’s ambitious rage
Twice scar’d with horror a distracted age,
And say, Alas! Rome’s blood in streams will flow,
When banish’d miscreants rule this world below.

At first he would have it understood, that these satirical verses were
drawn forth by the resentment of those who were impatient under the
discipline of reformation, rather than that they spoke their real sentiments;
and he would frequently say, “Let them hate me, so long as they do but
approve my conduct.” 358 At length, however, his behaviour showed that
he was sensible they were too well founded.
(229) LX. A few days after his arrival at Capri, a fisherman coming up to
him unexpectedly, when he was desirous of privacy, and presenting him
with a large mullet, he ordered the man’s face to be scrubbed with the fish;
being terrified at the thought of his having been able to creep upon him
from the back of the island, over such rugged and steep rocks. The man,
while undergoing the punishment, expressing his joy that he had not
likewise offered him a large crab which he had also taken, he ordered his
face to be farther lacerated with its claws. He put to death one of the

pretorian guards, for having stolen a peacock out of his orchard. In one of
his journeys, his litter being obstructed by some bushes, he ordered the
officer whose duty it was to ride on and examine the road, a centurion of the
first cohorts, to be laid on his face upon the ground, and scourged almost to
death.
LXI. Soon afterwards, he abandoned himself to every species of cruelty,
never wanting occasions of one kind or another, to serve as a pretext. He
first fell upon the friends and acquaintance of his mother, then those of his
grandsons, and his daughter-in-law, and lastly those of Sejanus; after whose
death he became cruel in the extreme. From this it appeared, that he had not
been so much instigated by Sejanus, as supplied with occasions of
gratifying his savage temper, when he wanted them. Though in a short
memoir which he composed of his own life, he had the effrontery to write,
“I have punished Sejanus, because I found him bent upon the destruction of
the children of my son Germanicus,” one of these he put to death, when he
began to suspect Sejanus; and another, after he was taken off. It would be
tedious to relate all the numerous instances of his cruelty: suffice it to give a
few examples, in their different kinds. Not a day passed without the
punishment of some person or other, not excepting holidays, or those
appropriated to the worship of the gods. Some were tried even on New-
Year’s-Day. Of many who were condemned, their wives and children shared
the same fate; and for those who were sentenced to death, the relations were
forbid to put on mourning. Considerable rewards were voted for the
prosecutors, and sometimes for the witnesses also. The information of any
person, without exception, was taken; and all offences were capital, even
speaking (230) a few words, though without any ill intention. A poet was
charged with abusing Agamemnon; and a historian 359, for calling Brutus
and Cassius “the last of the Romans.” The two authors were immediately
called to account, and their writings suppressed; though they had been well
received some years before, and read in the hearing of Augustus. Some,
who were thrown into prison, were not only denied the solace of study, but
debarred from all company and conversation. Many persons, when
summoned to trial, stabbed themselves at home, to avoid the distress and
ignominy of a public condemnation, which they were certain would ensue.
Others took poison in the senate house. The wounds were bound up, and all
who had not expired, were carried, half-dead, and panting for life, to prison.
Those who were put to death, were thrown down the Gemonian stairs, and

then dragged into the Tiber. In one day, twenty were treated in this manner;
and amongst them women and boys. Because, according to an ancient
custom, it was not lawful to strangle virgins, the young girls were first
deflowered by the executioner, and afterwards strangled. Those who were
desirous to die, were forced to live. For he thought death so slight a
punishment, that upon hearing that Carnulius, one of the accused, who was
under prosecution, had killed himself, he exclaimed, “Carnulius has
escaped me.” In calling over his prisoners, when one of them requested the
favour of a speedy death, he replied, “You are not yet restored to favour.” A
man of consular rank writes in his annals, that at table, where he himself
was present with a large company, he was suddenly asked aloud by a dwarf
who stood by amongst the buffoons, why Paconius, who was under a
prosecution for treason, lived so long. Tiberius immediately reprimanded
him for his pertness; but wrote to the senate a few days after, to proceed
without delay to the punishment of Paconius.
LXII. Exasperated by information he received respecting the death of his
son Drusus, he carried his cruelty still farther. He imagined that he had died
of a disease occasioned (231) by his intemperance; but finding that he had
been poisoned by the contrivance of his wife Livilla 360 and Sejanus, he
spared no one from torture and death. He was so entirely occupied with the
examination of this affair, for whole days together, that, upon being
informed that the person in whose house he had lodged at Rhodes, and
whom he had by a friendly letter invited to Rome, was arrived, he ordered
him immediately to be put to the torture, as a party concerned in the
enquiry. Upon finding his mistake, he commanded him to be put to death,
that he might not publish the injury done him. The place of execution is still
shown at Capri, where he ordered those who were condemned to die, after
long and exquisite tortures, to be thrown, before his eyes, from a precipice
into the sea. There a party of soldiers belonging to the fleet waited for them,
and broke their bones with poles and oars, lest they should have any life left
in them. Among various kinds of torture invented by him, one was, to
induce people to drink a large quantity of wine, and then to tie up their
members with harp-strings, thus tormenting them at once by the tightness of
the ligature, and the stoppage of their urine. Had not death prevented him,
and Thrasyllus, designedly, as some say, prevailed with him to defer some
of his cruelties, in hopes of longer life, it is believed that he would have
destroyed many more: and not have spared even the rest of his

grandchildren: for he was jealous of Caius, and hated Tiberius as having
been conceived in adultery. This conjecture is indeed highly probable; for
he used often to say, “Happy Priam, who survived all his children!” 361
LXIII. Amidst these enormities, in how much fear and apprehension, as
well as odium and detestation, he lived, is evident from many indications.
He forbade the soothsayers to be consulted in private, and without some
witnesses being present. He attempted to suppress the oracles in the
neighbourhood of the city; but being terrified by the divine authority of the
(232) Praenestine Lots 362, he abandoned the design. For though they were
sealed up in a box, and carried to home, yet they were not to be found in it,
until it was returned to the temple. More than one person of consular rank,
appointed governors of provinces, he never ventured to dismiss to their
respective destinations, but kept them until several years after, when he
nominated their successors, while they still remained present with him. In
the meantime, they bore the title of their office; and he frequently gave
them orders, which they took care to have executed by their deputies and
assistants.
LXIV. He never removed his daughter-in-law, or grandsons 363, after
their condemnation, to any place, but in fetters and in a covered litter, with a
guard to hinder all who met them on the road, and travellers, from stopping
to gaze at them.
LXV. After Sejanus had plotted against him, though he saw that his birth-
day was solemnly kept by the public, and divine honours paid to golden
images of him in every quarter, yet it was with difficulty at last, and more
by artifice than his imperial power, that he accomplished his death. In the
first place, to remove him from about his person, under the pretext of doing
him honour, he made him his colleague in his fifth consulship; which,
although then absent from the city, he took upon him for that purpose, long
after his preceding consulship. Then, having flattered him with the hope of
an alliance by marriage with one of his own kindred, and the prospect of the
tribunitian authority, he suddenly, while Sejanus little expected it, charged
him with treason, in an abject and pitiful address to the senate; in which,
among other things, he begged them “to send one of the consuls, to conduct
himself, a poor solitary old man, with a guard of soldiers, into their
presence.” Still distrustful, however, and apprehensive of an insurrection, he
ordered his grandson, Drusus, whom he still kept in confinement at Rome,

to be set at liberty, and if occasion required, to head the troops. He had
likewise ships in readiness to transport him to any of the legions to which
he might consider it expedient to make his escape. Meanwhile, he was upon
the (233) watch, from the summit of a lofty cliff, for the signals which he
had ordered to be made if any thing occurred, lest the messengers should be
tardy. Even when he had quite foiled the conspiracy of Sejanus, he was still
haunted as much as ever with fears and apprehensions, insomuch that he
never once stirred out of the Villa Jovis for nine months after.
LXVI. To the extreme anxiety of mind which he now experienced, he had
the mortification to find superadded the most poignant reproaches from all
quarters. Those who were condemned to die, heaped upon him the most
opprobrious language in his presence, or by hand-bills scattered in the
senators’ seats in the theatre. These produced different effects: sometimes
he wished, out of shame, to have all smothered and concealed; at other
times he would disregard what was said, and publish it himself. To this
accumulation of scandal and open sarcasm, there is to be subjoined a letter
from Artabanus, king of the Parthians, in which he upbraids him with his
parricides, murders, cowardice, and lewdness, and advises him to satisfy the
furious rage of his own people, which he had so justly excited, by putting
an end to his life without delay.
LXVII. At last, being quite weary of himself, he acknowledged his
extreme misery, in a letter to the senate, which begun thus: “What to write
to you, Conscript Fathers, or how to write, or what not to write at this time,
may all the gods and goddesses pour upon my head a more terrible
vengeance than that under which I feel myself daily sinking, if I can tell.”
Some are of opinion that he had a foreknowledge of those things, from his
skill in the science of divination, and perceived long before what misery
and infamy would at last come upon him; and that for this reason, at the
beginning of his reign, he had absolutely refused the title of the “Father of
his Country,” and the proposal of the senate to swear to his acts; lest he
should afterwards, to his greater shame, be found unequal to such
extraordinary honours. This, indeed, may be justly inferred from the
speeches which he made upon both those occasions; as when he says, “I
shall ever be the same, and shall never change my conduct, so long as I
retain my senses; but to avoid giving a bad precedent to posterity, the senate
ought to beware of binding themselves to the acts of (234) any person
whatever, who might by some accident or other be induced to alter them.”

And again: “If ye should at any time entertain a jealousy of my conduct,
and my entire affection for you, which heaven prevent by putting a period
to my days, rather than I should live to see such an alteration in your
opinion of me, the title of Father will add no honour to me, but be a
reproach to you, for your rashness in conferring it upon me, or inconstancy
in altering your opinion of me.”
LXVIII. In person he was large and robust; of a stature somewhat above
the common size; broad in the shoulders and chest, and proportionable in
the rest of his frame. He used his left hand more readily and with more
force than his right; and his joints were so strong, that he could bore a fresh,
sound apple through with his finger, and wound the head of a boy, or even a
young man, with a fillip. He was of a fair complexion, and wore his hair so
long behind, that it covered his neck, which was observed to be a mark of
distinction affected by the family. He had a handsome face, but it was often
full of pimples. His eyes, which were large, had a wonderful faculty of
seeing in the night-time, and in the dark, for a short time only, and
immediately after awaking from sleep; but they soon grew dim again. He
walked with his neck stiff and upright: generally with a frowning
countenance, being for the most part silent: when he spoke to those about
him, it was very slowly, and usually accompanied with a slight gesticulation
of his fingers. All which, being repulsive habits and signs of arrogance,
were remarked by Augustus, who often endeavoured to excuse them to the
senate and people, declaring that “they were natural defects, which
proceeded from no viciousness of mind.” He enjoyed a good state of health,
without interruption, almost during the whole period of his rule; though,
from the thirtieth year of his age, he treated it himself according to his own
discretion, without any medical assistance.
LXIX. In regard to the gods, and matters of religion, he discovered much
indifference; being greatly addicted to astrology, and fully persuaded that
all things were governed by fate. Yet he was extremely afraid of lightning,
and when the sky was in a disturbed state, always wore a laurel crown on
his head; because it is supposed that the leaf of that tree is never touched by
the lightning.
(235) LXX. He applied himself with great diligence to the liberal arts,
both Greek and Latin. In his Latin style, he affected to imitate Messala
Corvinus 364, a venerable man, to whom he had paid much respect in his

own early years. But he rendered his style obscure by excessive affectation
and abstruseness, so that he was thought to speak better extempore, than in
a premeditated discourse. He composed likewise a lyric ode, under the title
of “A Lamentation upon the death of Lucius Caesar;” and also some Greek
poems, in imitation of Euphorion, Rhianus, and Parthenius 365. These poets
he greatly admired, and placed their works and statues in the public
libraries, amongst the eminent authors of antiquity. On this account, most of
the learned men of the time vied with each other in publishing observations
upon them, which they addressed to him. His principal study, however, was
the history of the fabulous ages, inquiring even into its trifling details in a
ridiculous manner; for he used to try the grammarians, a class of men
which, as I have already observed, he much affected, with such questions as
these: “Who was Hecuba’s mother? What name did Achilles assume among
the virgins? What was it that the Sirens used to sing?” And the first day that
he entered the senate-house, after the death of Augustus, as if he intended to
pay respect at once to his father’s memory and to the gods, he made an
offering of frankincense and wine, but without any music, in imitation of
Minos, upon the death of his son.
LXXI. 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 emblaema (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 (236) who was examined as a witness
upon a trial, in Greek 366, he would not allow to reply, except in Latin.
LXXII. 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 367, 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 368; but recovering a little, went on to Circeii 369. 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 over-heating 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 370, omitted nothing (237) 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.
LXXIII. 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 371, and the twenty-third of his reign, upon
the seventeenth of the calends of April (16th March), in the consulship of
Cneius Acerronius Proculus and Caius Pontius Niger. Some think that a
slow-consuming poison was given him by Caius 372. 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 373, 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, (238) and no

one answering the call, he rose; but his strength failing him, he fell down at
a short distance from his bed.”
LXXIV. 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 374; 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.
LXXV. 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 375, and being half
burnt there (239) in the amphitheatre. It was, however, brought to Rome,
and burnt with the usual ceremony.
LXXVI. 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.

* * * * * *

At the death of Augustus, there had elapsed so long a period from the
overthrow of the republic by Julius Caesar, that few were now living who
had been born under the ancient constitution of the Romans; and the mild
and prosperous administration of Augustus, during forty-four years, had by
this time reconciled the minds of the people to a despotic government.
Tiberius, the adopted son of the former sovereign, was of mature age; and
though he had hitherto lived, for the most part, abstracted from any concern
with public affairs, yet, having been brought up in the family of Augustus,
he was acquainted with his method of government, which, there was reason
to expect, he would render the model of his own. Livia, too, his mother, and
the relict of the late emperor, was still living, a woman venerable by years,
who had long been familiar with the councils of Augustus, and from her
high rank, as well as uncommon affability, possessed an extensive influence
amongst all classes of the people.
Such were the circumstances in favour of Tiberius’s succession at the
demise of Augustus; but there were others of a tendency disadvantageous to
his views. His temper was haughty and reserved: Augustus had often
apologised for the ungraciousness of his manners. He was disobedient to his
mother; and though he had not openly discovered any propensity to vice, he
enjoyed none of those qualities which usually conciliate popularity. To these
considerations it is to be added, that Postumus Agrippa, the grandson of
Augustus by Julia, was living; and if consanguinity was to be the rule of
succession, his right was indisputably preferable to that of an adopted son.
Augustus had sent this youth into exile a few years before; but, towards the
close (240) of his life, had expressed a design of recalling him, with the
view, as was supposed, of appointing him his successor. The father of
young Agrippa had been greatly beloved by the Romans; and the fate of his
mother, Julia, though she was notorious for her profligacy, had ever been
regarded by them with peculiar sympathy and tenderness. Many, therefore,
attached to the son the partiality entertained for his parents; which was
increased not only by a strong suspicion, but a general surmise, that his
elder brothers, Caius and Lucius, had been violently taken off, to make way
for the succession of Tiberius. That an obstruction was apprehended to

Tiberius’s succession from this quarter, is put beyond all doubt, when we
find that the death of Augustus was industriously kept secret, until young
Agrippa should be removed; who, it is generally agreed, was dispatched by
an order from Livia and Tiberius conjointly, or at least from the former.
Though, by this act, there remained no rival to Tiberius, yet the
consciousness of his own want of pretensions to the Roman throne, seems
to have still rendered him distrustful of the succession; and that he should
have quietly obtained it, without the voice of the people, the real inclination
of the senate, or the support of the army, can be imputed only to the
influence of his mother, and his own dissimulation. Ardently solicitous to
attain the object, yet affecting a total indifference; artfully prompting the
senate to give him the charge of the government, at the time that he
intimated an invincible reluctance to accept it; his absolutely declining it in
perpetuity, but fixing no time for an abdication; his deceitful insinuation of
bodily infirmities, with hints likewise of approaching old age, that he might
allay in the senate all apprehensions of any great duration of his power, and
repress in his adopted son, Germanicus, the emotions of ambition to
displace him; form altogether a scene of the most insidious policy,
inconsistency, and dissimulation.
In this period died, in the eighty-sixth year of her age, Livia Drusilla,
mother of the emperor, and the relict of Augustus, whom she survived
fifteen years. She was the daughter of L. Drusus Calidianus and married
Tiberius Claudius Nero, by whom she had two sons, Tiberius and Drusus.
The conduct of this lady seems to justify the remark of Caligula, that “she
was an Ulysses in a woman’s dress.” Octavius first saw her as she fled from
the danger which threatened her husband, who had espoused the cause of
Antony; and though she was then pregnant, he resolved to marry her;
whether with her own inclination or not, is left by Tacitus undetermined. To
pave the way for this union, he divorced his wife Scribonia, and with the
approbation of the Augurs, which he could have no difficulty in obtaining,
celebrated (241) his nuptials with Livia. There ensued from this marriage no
issue, though much desired by both parties; but Livia retained, without
interruption, an unbounded ascendancy over the emperor, whose confidence
she abused, while the uxorious husband little suspected that he was
cherishing in his bosom a viper who was to prove the destruction of his
house. She appears to have entertained a predominant ambition of giving an
heir to the Roman empire; and since it could not be done by any fruit of her

marriage with Augustus, she resolved on accomplishing that end in the
person of Tiberius, the eldest son by her former husband. The plan which
she devised for this purpose, was to exterminate all the male offspring of
Augustus by his daughter Julia, who was married to Agrippa; a stratagem
which, when executed, would procure for Tiberius, through the means of
adoption, the eventual succession to the empire. The cool yet sanguinary
policy, and the patient perseverance of resolution, with which she
prosecuted her design, have seldom been equalled. While the sons of Julia
were yet young, and while there was still a possibility that she herself might
have issue by Augustus, she suspended her project, in the hope, perhaps,
that accident or disease might operate in its favour; but when the natural
term of her constitution had put a period to her hopes of progeny, and when
the grandsons of the emperor were risen to the years of manhood, and had
been adopted by him, she began to carry into execution what she long had
meditated. The first object devoted to destruction was C. Caesar Agrippa,
the eldest of Augustus’s grandsons. This promising youth was sent to
Armenia, upon an expedition against the Persians; and Lollius, who had
been his governor, either accompanied him thither from Rome, or met him
in the East, where he had obtained some appointment. From the hand of this
traitor, perhaps under the pretext of exercising the authority of a preceptor,
but in reality instigated by Livia, the young prince received a fatal blow, of
which he died some time after.
The manner of Caius’s death seems to have been carefully kept from the
knowledge of Augustus, who promoted Lollius to the consulship, and made
him governor of a province; but, by his rapacity in this station, he
afterwards incurred the emperor’s displeasure. The true character of this
person had escaped the keen discernment of Horace, as well as the sagacity
of the emperor; for in two epistles addressed to Lollius, he mentions him as
great and accomplished in the superlative degree; maxime Lolli, liberrime
Lolli; so imposing had been the manners and address of this deceitful
courtier.
Lucius, the second son of Julia, was banished into Campania, (242) for
using, as it is said, so litious language against his grandfather. In the seventh
year of his exile Augustus proposed to recall him; but Livia and Tiberius,
dreading the consequences of his being restored to the emperor’s favour,
put in practice the expedient of having him immediately assassinated.
Postumus Agrippa, the third son, incurred the displeasure of his grandfather

in the same way as Lucius, and was confined at Surrentum, where he
remained a prisoner until he was put to death by the order either of Livia
alone, or in conjunction with Tiberius, as was before observed.
Such was the catastrophe, through the means of Livia, of all the
grandsons of Augustus; and reason justifies the inference, that she who
scruple not to lay violent hands upon those young men, had formerly
practised every artifice that could operate towards rendering them
obnoxious to the emperor. We may even ascribe to her dark intrigues the
dissolute conduct of Julia for the woman who could secretly act as
procuress to her own husband, would feel little restraint upon her mind
against corrupting his daughter, when such an effect might contribute to
answer the purpose which she had in view. But in the ingratitude of
Tiberius, however undutiful and reprehensible in a son towards a parent,
she at last experienced a just retribution for the crimes in which she had
trained him to procure the succession to the empire. To the disgrace of her
sex, she introduced amongst the Romans the horrible practice of domestic
murder, little known before the times when the thirst or intoxication of
unlimited power had vitiated the social affections; and she transmitted to
succeeding ages a pernicious example, by which immoderate ambition
might be gratified, at the expense of every moral obligation, as well as of
humanity.
One of the first victims in the sanguinary reign of the present emperor,
was Germanicus, the son of Drusus, Tiberius’s own brother, and who had
been adopted by his uncle himself. Under any sovereign, of a temper
different from that of Tiberius, this amiable and meritorious prince would
have been held in the highest esteem. At the death of his grandfather
Augustus, he was employed in a war in Germany, where he greatly
distinguished himself by his military achievements; and as soon as
intelligence of that event arrived, the soldiers, by whom he was extremely
beloved, unanimously saluted him emperor. Refusing, however, to accept
this mark of their partiality, he persevered in allegiance to the government
of his uncle, and prosecuted the war with success. Upon the conclusion of
this expedition, he was sent, with the title of emperor in the East, to repress
the seditions of the Armenians, in which he was equally successful. But the
(243) fame which he acquired, served only to render him an object of
jealousy to Tiberius, by whose order he was secretly poisoned at Daphne,
near Antioch, in the thirty-fourth year of his age. The news of Germanicus’s

death was received at Rome with universal lamentation; and all ranks of the
people entertained an opinion, that, had he survived Tiberius, he would
have restored the freedom of the republic. The love and gratitude of the
Romans decreed many honours to his memory. It was ordered, that his
name should be sung in a solemn procession of the Salii; that crowns of
oak, in allusion to his victories, should be placed upon curule chairs in the
hall pertaining to the priests of Augustus; and that an effigy of him in ivory
should be drawn upon a chariot, preceding the ceremonies of the Circensian
games. Triumphal arches were erected, one at Rome, another on the banks
of the Rhine, and a third upon Mount Amanus in Syria, with inscriptions of
his achievements, and that he died for his services to the republic. 376
His obsequies were celebrated, not with the display of images and funeral
pomp, but with the recital of his praises and the virtues which rendered him
illustrious. From a resemblance in his personal accomplishments, his age,
the manner of his death, and the vicinity of Daphne to Babylon, many
compared his fate to that of Alexander the Great. He was celebrated for
humanity and benevolence, as well as military talents, and amidst the toils
of war, found leisure to cultivate the arts of literary genius. He composed
two comedies in Greek, some epigrams, and a translation of Aratus into
Latin verse. He married Agrippina, the daughter of M. Agrippa, by whom
he had nine children. This lady, who had accompanied her husband into the
east, carried his ashes to Italy, and accused his murderer, Piso; who, unable
to bear up against the public odium incurred by that transaction, laid violent
hands upon himself. Agrippina was now nearly in the same predicament
with regard to Tiberius, that Ovid had formerly been in respect of Augustus.
He was sensible, that when she accused Piso, she was not ignorant of the
person by whom the perpetrator of the murder had been instigated; and her
presence, therefore, seeming continually to reproach him with his guilt, he
resolved to rid himself of a person become so obnoxious to his sight, and
banished her to the island of Pandataria, where she died some time
afterwards of famine.
But it was not sufficient to gratify this sanguinary tyrant, that he had,
without any cause, cut off both Germanicus and his wife Agrippina: the
distinguished merits and popularity of that prince were yet to be revenged
upon his children; and accordingly he (244) set himself to invent a pretext
for their destruction. After endeavouring in vain, by various artifices, to
provoke the resentment of Nero and Drusus against him, he had recourse to