XI.
Isdem consulibus ludi saeculares octingentesimo post Romam conditam, quarto et sexagesimo quam Augustus ediderat, spectati sunt. utriusque principis rationes praetermitto, satis narratas libris quibus res imperatoris Domitiani composui. nam is quoque edidit ludos saecularis iisque intentius adfui sacerdotio quindecimvirali praeditus ac tunc praetor; quod non iactantia refero sed quia collegio quindecimvirum antiquitus ea cura et magistratus potissimum exequebantur officia caerimoniarum. sedente Claudio circensibus ludis, cum pueri nobiles equis ludicrum Troiae inirent interque eos Britannicus imperatore genitus et L. Domitius adoptione mox in imperium et cognomentum Neronis adscitus, favor plebis acrior in Domitium loco praesagii acceptus est. vulgabaturque adfuisse infantiae eius dracones in modum custodum, fabulosa et externis miraculis adsimilata: nam ipse, haudquaquam sui detractor, unam omnino anguem in cubiculo visam narrare solitus est.
11.
Under the same consulate, the Secular Games were celebrated eight hundred years after the foundation of Rome and sixty-four years after the last exhibition of the games under Augustus. The reckoning used by Augustus and Claudius I will omit here, having been sufficiently dealt with in the book I wrote about Domitian, for he also presented the games, which I myself attended with particular interest as both a priest of the Quindecimviri and a questor. This I do not mention from vainglory, but because from antiquity the organization of the games had been the special concern of the College of Fifteen, with the praetor seeing to the duties connected with the religious ceremonies. Claudius was present at the games in the circus, when a troop of very young nobles on horseback performed a ritual re-enactment of the grandeur of Troy. Among them was Britannicus, the emperor’s son, and Lucius Domitius Aenobarbus, who soon after, by adoption, became heir of the empire with the name of Nero. The warmer applause he received from the populace was seen as a presage of his great destiny. A tale made the rounds of the city that snakes had placed themselves near him when he was an infant, as if to guard him, a sort of fantastic tale made to imitate the prodigies of other lands, for Nero himself, never one to diminish his own greatness, always said that no more than a single snake was ever seen in his bedroom.
XII.
Verum inclinatio populi supererat ex memoria Germanici, cuius illa reliqua suboles virilis; et matri Agrippinae miseratio augebatur ob saevitiam Messalinae, quae semper infesta et tunc commotior quo minus strueret crimina et accusatores novo et furori proximo amore distinebatur. nam in C. Silium, iuventutis Romanae pulcherrimum, ita exarserat ut Iuniam Silanam, nobilem feminam, matrimonio eius exturbaret vacuoque adultero potiretur. neque Silius flagitii aut periculi nescius erat: sed certo si abnueret exitio et non nulla fallendi spe, simul magnis praemiis, operire futura et praesentibus frui pro solacio habebat. illa non furtim sed multo comitatu ventitare domum, egressibus adhaerescere, largiri opes honores; postremo, velut translata iam fortuna, servi liberti paratus principis apud adulterum visebantur.
12.
Yet, the people’s partiality for Nero was traceable to Germanicus’ lingering memory, since Nero was the only surviving male of his family, and the compassion his mother Agrippina inspired was enhanced by the cruelty of Messalina, who, always hostile to her and at that moment more enraged at her than ever, was prevented from inventing some crime and bribing accusers by a novel uncontrollable infatuation. Indeed, she had become so insanely enamoured of Gaius Silius, the best-looking young man in Rome, that she unceremoniously haled from his conjugal bed Julia Silana, a woman of high rank, and appropriated to herself the now wifeless and adulterous lover. It is not that Silius was blind to the infamy and inherent danger of the relation, but rejection meant certain death and there was a glimmer of hope of cheating Claudius without being exposed. Hence, tempted also by prospects of great rewards, he closed his eyes to the future and found solace in the present. On her side, without concealment and with a large train, she regularly went to his home, dogged his footsteps, lavished wealth and honors on him, and in the end, as if the empire had already changed hands, the slaves, the freedmen, and even the furniture of the prince were to be seen in the house of her paramour.
XIII.
At Claudius matrimonii sui ignarus et munia censoria usurpans, theatralem populi lasciviam severis edictis increpuit, quod in Publium Pomponium consularem (is carmina scaenae dabat) inque feminas inlustris probra iecerat. et lege lata saevitiam creditorum coercuit, ne in mortem parentum pecunias filiis familiarum faenori darent. fontisque aquarum Simbruinis collibus deductos urbi intulit. ac novas litterarum formas addidit vulgavitque, comperto Graecam quoque litteraturam non simul coeptam absolutamque.
13.
Claudius, meanwhile, who was unaware of his wife’s doings, was kept busy by his duties as censor. He severely repressed, through strict edicts, the license in the theater, where the populace had insulted the consular Publius Pomponius –who wrote for the stage – and women of noble birth. He curbed by legislation the extorsions of money lenders, making it a crime to extend credit to sons still under parental tutelage against promise of payment after the father’s death. He channeled into Rome the waters from the hills of Simbruvium and, having found out that the Greek alphabet had not been undertaken and completed all at one time, he likewise devised and spread the use of new letters.
XIV.
Primi per figuras animalium Aegyptii sensus mentis effingebant (ea antiquissima monimenta memoriae humanae impressa saxis cernuntur), et litterarum semet inventores perhibent; inde Phoenicas, quia mari praepollebant, intulisse Graeciae gloriamque adeptos, tamquam reppererint quae acceperant. quippe fama est Cadmum classe Phoenicum vectum rudibus adhuc Graecorum populis artis eius auctorem fuisse. quidam Cecropem Atheniensem vel Linum Thebanum et temporibus Troianis Palamedem Argivum memorant sedecim litterarum formas, mox alios ac praecipuum Simoniden ceteras repperisse. at in Italia Etrusci ab Corinthio Demarato, Aborigines Arcade ab Evandro didicerunt; et forma litteris Latinis quae veterrimis Graecorum. sed nobis quoque paucae primum fuere, deinde additae sunt. quo exemplo Claudius tres litteras adiecit, quae usui imperitante eo, post oblitteratae, aspiciuntur etiam nunc in aere +publico+ dis plebiscitis per fora ac templa fixo.
14.
The first to use symbols to represent thought were the Egyptians through animal figures. These most ancient memorials of human thinking can be seen graved in stone. Another claim they make is the invention of the alphabet. Then the Phoenicians, who had command of the sea, introduced it into Greece, appropriating the credit of being discoverers of what they merely borrowed. Indeed, the tradition is that Cadmus arrived in Greece in a Phoenician ship and transmitted the art to the local tribes, which as yet possessed no culture. Others maintain that Cecrops, an Athenian, or Linus of Thebes, and in Trojan times Palamedes of Argos devised the shape of sixteen letters, and that others, especially Simonides, added the rest. In Italy the Etruscans learned them from Demaratus of Corinth, and the Aborigines from Evander the Arcadian. In their form the Latin letters are similar to the most ancient Greek characters, but also in our case the number of letters was initially small and later others were added. On that example, Claudius contributed three new letters, which were used for the duration of his reign, then fell into disuse. They can still be seen in bronze tablets posted in public squares and temples, to give the public notice of new laws.
XV.
Rettulit deinde ad senatum super collegio haruspicum, ne vetustissima Italiae disciplina per desidiam exolesceret: saepe adversis rei publicae temporibus accitos, quorum monitu redintegratas caerimonias et in posterum rectius habitas; primoresque Etruriae sponte aut patrum Romanorum impulsu retinuisse scientiam et in familias propagasse: quod nunc segnius fieri publica circa bonas artes socordia, et quia externae superstitiones valescant. et laeta quidem in praesens omnia, sed benignitati deum gratiam referendam, ne ritus sacrorum inter ambigua culti per prospera oblitterarentur. factum ex eo senatus consultum, viderent pontifices quae retinenda firmandaque haruspicum.
15.
Claudius then referred to the senate his idea of establishing a board of diviners to prevent, as he put it, “the disappearance through apathy of the most ancient science in Italy”. Frequently, he said, in case of public calamity, soothsayers had been called in and by their counsel ceremonies had been reintroduced and their correct observance improved for future times. Members of the Etruscan nobility, either of their own accord or prompted by the Roman senate, had kept the science alive by passing it from one generation to the next within their families. Now, that work was performed in a negligent manner, from general disregard for the pursuit of knowledge and the spread also of foreign superstitions. At that moment the state was flourishing , he said, but gratitude must be shown for the favor of the gods by not forgetting in prosperity the ceremonies we observe in difficult times. At the urging of the prince, a decree was passed in the senate that assigned to the pontiffs the task of deciding what to retain and what needed improvement in the art of divination.
XVI.
Eodem anno Cheruscorum gens regem Roma petivit, amissis per interna bella nobilibus et uno reliquo stirpis regiae, qui apud urbem habebatur nomine Italicus. paternum huic genus e Flavo fratre Arminii, mater ex Actumero principe Chattorum erat; ipse forma decorus et armis equisque in patrium nostrumque morem exercitus. igitur Caesar auctum pecunia, additis stipatoribus, hortatur gentile decus magno animo capessere: illum primum Romae ortum nec obsidem, sed civem ire externum ad imperium. ac primo laetus Germanis adventus atque eo quod nullis discordiis imbutus pari in omnis studio ageret celebrari, coli, modo comitatem et temperantiam, nulli invisa, saepius vinolentiam ac libidines, grata barbaris, usurpans. iamque apud proximos, iam longius clarescere, cum potentiam eius suspectantes qui factionibus floruerant discedunt ad conterminos populos ac testificantur adimi veterem Germaniae libertatem et Romanas opes insurgere. adeo neminem isdem in terris ortum qui principem locum impleat, nisi exploratoris Flavi progenies super cunctos attollatur? frustra Arminium praescribi: cuius si filius hostili in solo adultus in regnum venisset, posse extimesci, infectum alimonio servitio cultu, omnibus externis: at si paterna Italico mens esset, non alium infensius arma contra patriam ac deos penatis quam parentem eius exercuisse.
16.
In that same year, the nation of the Cherusci applied to Rome for a king, their nobles having perished in domestic wars and only one man of royal blood living in Rome remaining. His name was Italicus, the son of Flavus, Arminius’ brother, and of the daughter of Actumerus, a warlord of the Chatti. A fine looking man, he was well trained to use arms and to ride a horse in both the Roman and the German manner. Claudius, therefore, provided him with money and escort and urged him to enter his ancestral office with good hopes. He was, he reminded him, the only native of Rome, not a hostage but a citizen, about to occupy a foreign throne. His arrival among the Cherusci was first welcomed with joy, also because he was not influenced by partisan preferences and behaved with the same courtesy towards all. In return he received homage from all and became very popular in his new homeland, sometimes by his affability, which is never disagreeable to anyone, but more often by indulging in drunkenness and debauchery, things dear to the Germans. Already his reputation was expanding far and wide, when a factious minority that had profited from internal troubles, now jealous of his power, withdrew among the neighboring nations, lamenting that Germany had lost her ancient freedoms and that Roman dominance was expanding more than ever. Had the country, they asked, come to such a pass that no native man could be found to lead the Germans without placing the son of that outrider Flavus above all others? It was in vain that Arminius’ name was being invoked. If the son of Arminius had come to rule over them, after being brought up in Rome, they would be justified to mistrust him, infected by Roman nurturing, servitude, way of life, all corrupting foreign influences. And if Italicus had his father’s temper, who had ever been a more inexorable enemy of his homeland than Flavus was?
XVII.
His atque talibus magnas copias coegere, nec pauciores Italicum sequebantur. non enim inrupisse ad invitos sed accitum memorabat, quando nobilitate ceteros anteiret: virtutem experirentur, an dignum se patruo Arminio, avo Actumero praeberet. nec patrem rubori, quod fidem adversus Romanos volentibus Germanis sumptam numquam omisisset. falso libertatis vocabulum obtendi ab iis qui privatim degeneres, in publicum exitiosi, nihil spei nisi per discordias habeant. adstrepebat huic alacre vulgus; et magno inter barbaros proelio victor rex, dein secunda fortuna ad superbiam prolapsus pulsusque ac rursus Langobardorum opibus refectus per laeta per adversa res Cheruscas adflictabat.
17.
By these and similar argumentation, a large force was assembled, but Italicus’ followers were equally numerous. He reminded them that he had not forced himself on them uninvited, but that he had been sent for, since he was ahead of all the rest in nobility. Let them put to the test his courage, to see whether he would prove worthy of his uncle Arminius or of his grandfather Actumerus. He needed not be ashamed of his father’s unshakeable loyalty he had sworn to the Romans with the approval of the Germans. The word liberty was being deceitfully bandied about by men who, dissolute in private and baneful to their country, had no prospect but from internal turmoil. The people loudly approved his words and in the ensuing fierce battle of Germans against Germans, the king came up victorious. Soon, however, his success made him arrogant and was driven from the throne, but he recaptured it with the help of the Longobards. His alternation of victories and defeats considerably weakened the nation of the Cherushi.
XVIII.
Per idem tempus Chauci nulla dissensione domi et morte Sanquinii alacres, dum Corbulo adventat, inferiorem Germaniam incursavere duce Gannasco, qui natione Canninefas, auxiliare stipendium meritus, post transfuga, levibus navigiis praedabundus Gallorum maxime oram vastabat, non ignarus ditis et imbellis esse. at Corbulo provinciam ingressus magna cum cura et mox gloria, cui principium illa militia fuit, triremis alveo Rheni, ceteras navium, ut quaeque habiles, per aestuaria et fossas adegit; luntribusque hostium depressis et exturbato Gannasco, ubi praesentia satis composita sunt, legiones operum et laboris ignavas, populationibus laetantis, veterem ad morem reduxit, ne quis agmine decederet nec pugnam nisi iussus iniret. stationes vigiliae, diurna nocturnaque munia in armis agitabantur; feruntque militem quia vallum non accinctus, atque alium quia pugione tantum accinctus foderet, morte punitos. quae nimia et incertum an falso iacta originem tamen e severitate ducis traxere; intentumque et magnis delictis inexorabilem scias cui tantum asperitatis etiam adversus levia credebatur.
18.
Meanwhile the Chatti, at that time untroubled by divisions among themselves, encouraged by the death of Sanquinius, conducted raids in Lower Germany ahead of Corbulo’s arrival. They were led by Gannascus, by origin a Canninefate, who formerly had served in our auxiliary forces, then defected. With some light vessels he was engaged in plundering excursions mainly on the coast of Gaul, which he knew was inhabited by rich and peace-loving people. Then Corbulo came to the province, and with the methodical care that later brought him renown and was first seen in this campaign, he had the triremes navigate the Rhine and the other vessels the estuaries and the canals that were large and deep enough to accept them, sinking in the process the enemy boats and driving Gannascus out of the area. After settling matters locally to his satisfaction, he busied himself in restoring the legions — which had grown averse to their duties and labors in favor of rapine and brigandage — to their ancient discipline. Leaving the column during a march or initiating an action without orders were now strictly prohibited. Picket and sentry work, vigils, day or night duties, all were carried out under arms. Two soldiers, it is rumored, were executed, one for digging an entrenchment unarmed and the other for wearing his dagger only. These rumors may well be exaggerated or false, yet at their origin was still the rigor of the general. You may be certain that a man credited with such severity in small matters must have been truly inexorable when the offences were serious.
XIX.
Ceterum is terror milites hostisque in diversum adfecit: nos virtutem auximus, barbari ferociam infregere. et natio Frisiorum, post rebellionem clade L. Apronii coeptam infensa aut male fida, datis obsidibus consedit apud agros a Corbulone descriptos: idem senatum, magistratus, leges imposuit. ac ne iussa exuerent praesidium immunivit, missis qui maiores Chaucos ad deditionem pellicerent, simul Gannascum dolo adgrederentur. nec inritae aut degeneres insidiae fuere adversus transfugam et violatorem fidei. sed cacde eius motae Chaucorum mentes, et Corbulo semina rebellionis praebebat, ut laeta apud plerosque, ita apud quosdam sinistra fama. cur hostem conciret? adversa in rem publicam casura: sin prospere egisset, formidolosum paci virum insignem et ignavo principi praegravem. igitur Claudius adeo novam in Germanias vim prohibuit ut referri praesidia cis Rhenum iuberet.
19.
For the rest, the fear Corbulo caused by his severity had opposite effects on our troops and on the Germans, namely it strengthened our courage while it depressed the aggressiveness of the barbarians. The Frisii, inimical and seditious after the rebellion following the setback of Lucius Apronius, offered hostages, and settled on land assigned to them by Corbulo, who in addition gave them a senate, magistrates, and laws. To prevent their disregard of his orders, he established a fort among them and sent emissaries to persuade the Greater Chauci to accept submission and to eliminate Gannascus by setting a trap. The stratagem worked well without dishonor to us, the man being nothing but a deserter and a perjurer. The Chauci, however, were gravely provoked by his death and Corbulo appeared responsible of sowing the seeds of revolt. The reports of his doings were received by most with joy, but to some they appeared nothing short of ominous. Why, they asked, was Corbulo making new enemies? If he failed, the disaster would weigh heavily on the state; if he won, a famous general could become a danger to peace, in that he would be seen as a competitor to an ineffective prince. In response, Claudius prohibited so firmly any further military action in Germany as to order a withdrawal of all garrisons to the west side of the Rhine.
XX.
Iam castra in hostili solo molienti Corbuloni eae litterae redduntur. ille re subita, quamquam multa simul offunderentur, metus ex imperatore, contemptio ex barbaris, ludibrium apud socios, nihil aliud prolocutus quam ‘beatos quondam duces Romanos,’ signum receptui dedit. ut tamen miles otium exueret, inter Mosam Rhenumque trium et viginti milium spatio fossam perduxit, qua incerta Oceani vitarentur. insignia tamen triumphi indulsit Caesar, quamvis bellum negavisset. Nec multo post Curtius Rufus eundem honorem adipiscitur, qui in agro Mattiaco recluserat specus quaerendis venis argenti; unde tenuis fructus nec in longum fuit: at legionibus cum damno labor, effodere rivos, quaeque in aperto gravia, humum infra moliri. quis subactus miles, et quia pluris per provincias similia tolerabantur, componit occultas litteras nomine exercituum, precantium imperatorem, ut, quibus permissurus esset exercitus, triumphalia ante tribueret.
20.
Corbulo was already establishing his camp on hostile soil, when he received Claudius’ message. He was surprised, but though many thoughts crowded into his mind – unease about the prince’s message, contempt from the Germans, the ridicule incurred among the allies – he said nothing but these words: “Happy the Roman generals of the past!”, then he gave the signal of retreat. Yet, to prevent the troops from being degraded by sloth, he had them dig a canal twenty-three miles long between the Rhine and the Meuse, as a way to avoid exposing vessels to the perils of the ocean. Claudius, even though he vetoed the war, awarded Corbulo the triumphal insignia. Soon after, Curtius Rufus received the same distinction. He had dug a mine in the land of the Mattiaci to collect silver from some veins of the metal, which turned out to be small and soon exhausted. The legions, meanwhile, dug channels for the waters, suffering much hardship, doing work underground that would already have been unbearable on the surface. Forced to submit to debilitating labor, the soldiers, also because troops in other provinces were made to tolerate similar conditions, secretly sent an appeal to the emperor, in the name of all the armies, beseeching him to confer in advance the triumphal distinction to those he would put at the head of armies.