LXXXI.
Interim Piso classem haud procul opperientem adpugnare frustra temptavit; regressusque et pro muris, modo semet adflictando, modo singulos nomine ciens, praemiis vocans, seditionem coeptabat, adeoque commoverat ut signifer legionis sextae signum ad eum transtulerit. tum Sentius occanere cornua tubasque et peti aggerem, erigi scalas iussit ac promptissimum quemque succedere, alios tormentis hastas saxa et faces ingerere. tandem victa pertinacia Piso oravit ut traditis armis maneret in castello, dum Caesar cui Syriam permitteret consulitur. non receptae condiciones nec aliud quam naves et tutum in urbem iter concessum est.
81.
Piso meanwhile attempted in vain to attack the fleet at rest not far away. Forced to withdraw, he tried from the walls to incite discord in the Roman ranks, now by showing the soldiers his desperation, now by appealing to them by name, now promising rewards. Such was the commotion he raised that a standard bearer of the Sixth legion crossed over to him. At that moment, Sentius ordered the trumpets and the horns to sound and had the men search for materials for building a ramp and get the scaling ladders into position. The most resolute soldiers were told to advance, the others to harass the opponent with spears, rocks, and fiery missiles hurled by catapults. In the end, his obstinacy was subdued, and Piso requested to remain in the fortress, after surrendering his arms, until Tiberius should decide to whom he would entrust the province. The request was denied and Piso obtained only some ships and secured passage to Rome.
LXXXII.
At Romae, postquam Germanici valetudo percrebuit cunctaque ut ex longinquo aucta in deterius adferebantur, dolor ira, et erumpebant questus. ideo nimirum in extremas terras relegatum, ideo Pisoni permissam provinciam; hoc egisse secretos Augustae cum Plancina sermones. vera prorsus de Druso seniores locutos: displicere regnantibus civilia filiorum ingenia, neque ob aliud interceptos quam quia populum Romanum aequo iure complecti reddita libertate agitaverint. hos vulgi sermones audita mors adeo incendit ut ante edictum magistratuum, ante senatus consultum sumpto iustitio desererentur fora, clauderentur domus. passim silentia et gemitus, nihil compositum in ostentationem; et quamquam neque insignibus lugentium abstinerent, altius animis maerebant. forte negotiatores vivente adhuc Germanico Syria egressi laetiora de valetudine eius attulere. statim credita, statim vulgata sunt: ut quisque obvius, quamvis leviter audita in alios atque illi in plures cumulata gaudio transferunt. cursant per urbem, molinutur templorum foris; iuvat credulitatem nox et promptior inter tenebras adfirmatio. nec obstitit falsis Tiberius donec tempore ac spatio vanescerent: et populus quasi rursum ereptum acrius doluit.
82.
In the city, at that moment, rumors about Germanicus’ sickness were spreading, made more alarming by the additions contributed by distance. There were public expressions of grief and anger and public indignation swelled. No wonder, it was said, that he had been relegated to the end of the world. That was the reason Syria had been assigned to Piso; this was what the secret talks between Augusta and Plancina had produced. Older men in the city had been right in saying when speaking of Drusus, that those in power were displeased by the egalitarian propensities of their sons: no other cause was responsible for their death but their intention of giving back to the Roman people full equality under the law with the return of civil liberty. The news of Germanicus’ death greatly exacerbated these popular sentiments, to such an extent that before the edict of the magistrates, before the recommendation of the senate, all business activities were voluntarily suspended in the sign of mourning: public places became deserted, houses were shut, and everywhere was silence, broken only by lamentations. Nothing was done for empty show, and though men did not refrain from wearing the exterior signs of grieving, the anguish came deep from the heart. It happened that some merchants who had left Syria when Germanicus was still alive, brought comforting news of his recovery, which was readily believed and divulged: as one man heard it, he at once passed on the news, tenuous though it be, to others and these in turn to more people, in an augmented form on account of their joy. They hurried through the city and forced the doors of the temples, their credulity encouraged by the night and assent favored by darkness. Tiberius did not oppose these false hopes and let time and distance dissipate them. The public mourned Germanicus all the more bitterly as if it had lost him a second time.
LXXXIII.
Honores ut quis amore in Germanicum aut ingenio validus reperti decretique: ut nomen eius Saliari carmine caneretur; sedes curules sacerdotum Augustalium locis superque eas querceae coronae statuerentur; ludos circensis eburna effigies praeiret neve quis flamen aut augur in locum Germanici nisi gentis Iuliae crearetur. arcus additi Romae et apud ripam Rheni et in monte Syriae Amano cum inscriptione rerum gestarum ac mortem ob rem publicam obisse. sepulchrum Antiochiae ubi crematus, tribunal Epidaphnae quo in loco vitam finierat. statuarum locorumve in quis coleretur haud facile quis numerum inierit. cum censeretur clipeus auro et magnitudine insignis inter auctores eloquentiae, adseveravit Tiberius solitum paremque ceteris dicaturum: neque enim eloquentiam fortuna discerni et satis inlustre si veteres inter scriptores haberetur. equester ordo cuneum Germanici appellavit qui iuniorum dicebatur, instituitque uti turmae idibus Iuliis imaginem eius sequerentur. pleraque manent: quaedam statim omissa sunt aut vetustas oblitteravit.
83.
Honors were proposed and decreed to Germanicus according to the imagination and love of each senator. It was decided that his name be included in the song of the Salii, that curule chairs, with oak crowns above them, be reserved for him in the places assigned to the priests of Augustus, that his ivory image should open the procession at the games at the circus, and that no one is elected flamen or augur in his place unless he was a member of the Julian family. In addition, arches were erected in Rome, on the bank of the Rhine, and on Mount Amanus in Syria, with inscriptions listing his deeds and words and stating that he had sacrificed his life for the state. A cenotaph was erected in Antioch and a tumulus in Epidaphna, where he died. The number of statues and the places in which he was to be honored would be difficult to determine. When it was proposed to dedicate to him a golden medallion that would stand out for its size among the masters of eloquence, Tiberius declared that he would dedicate one of normal size, equal to all others, since eloquence was not distinguished by wealth and it was honor enough to be included among the ancient writers. The equestrian order named after Germanicus the sector of the theater known as ‘of the young’ and decided that their cavalcade was to follow his image during the parade of the ides of July. Many of the honors have survived, some were soon dropped or the time has obliterated them.
LXXXIV.
Ceterum recenti adhuc maestitia soror Germanici Livia, nupta Druso, duos virilis sexus simul enixa est. quod rarum laetumque etiam modicis penatibus tanto gaudio principem adfecit ut non temperaverit quin iactaret apud patres nulli ante Romanorum eiusdem fastigii viro geminam stirpem editam: nam cuncta, etiam fortuita, ad gloriam vertebat. sed populo tali in tempore id quoque dolorem tulit, tamquam auctus liberis Drusus domum Germanici magis urgeret.
84.
The general sadness for the recent death of Germanicus, however, was lessened by the birth of twins to Livia, Germanicus’ sister and wife of Drusus. The event, unusual and festive even in modest families, rejoiced Tiberius to the extent that, unable to contain himself, boasted in the senate that never before, to a man of equally high standing, had two heirs been born at the same time. He had the tendency to make anything, be it ever so casual, a source of glory for himself. But even this event caused pain at such a time to the people, as if Drusus, by the new addition to his family, had brought more affliction to the house of Germanicus.
LXXXV.
Eodem anno gravibus senatus decretis libido feminarum coercita cautumque ne quaestum corpore faceret cui avus aut pater aut maritus eques Romanus fuisset. nam Vistilia praetoria familia genita licentiam stupri apud aedilis vulgaverat, more inter veteres recepto, qui satis poenarum adversum impudicas in ipsa professione flagitii credebant. exactum et a Titidio Labeone Vistiliae marito cur in uxore delicti manifesta ultionem legis omisisset. atque illo praetendente sexaginta dies ad consultandum datos necdum praeterisse, satis visum de Vistilia statuere; eaque in insulam Seriphon abdita est. actum et de sacris Aegyptiis Iudaicisque pellendis factumque patrum consultum ut quattuor milia libertini generis ea superstitione infecta quis idonea aetas in insulam Sardiniam veherentur, coercendis illic latrociniis et, si ob gravitatem caeli interissent, vile damnum; ceteri cederent Italia nisi certam ante diem profanos ritus exuissent.
85.
In the same year, the senate severely curtailed the dissolute behaviour of women by issuing a decree prohibiting any of them who had had a Roman knight as an ancestor or a father or a husband, from prostituting herself. Vistilia, a woman of a praetorian family, had in fact advertised her profession by having her name added to the aedile’s list, taking advantage of the ancient custom, according to which it was considered sufficient punishment for loose women to force them to publicly reveal their activities. Vistilia’s husband, Titidius Labeo, on being asked to explain why he had failed to bring charges against the wife, a confessed offender, justified himself by saying that the sixty days allowed to decide whether or not to accuse her had not yet expired. The senate limited itself to issuing a verdict in regard to Vistilia, who was relegated to the island of Seriphon. Attention was given to the banishment of Egyptian and Judaic cults from Rome and it was decided that four thousand freedmen infected by those kinds of superstition and of suitable age be transported to Sardinia to fight brigandage: even if they died on account of the unhealthy climate, the loss would be negligible. The rest, if they refused to abjure their rites before a set date, were to leave Italy.
LXXXVI.
Post quae rettulit Caesar capiendam virginem in locum Occiae, quae septem et quinquaginta per annos summa sanctimonia Vestalibus sacris praesederat; egitque grates Fonteio Agrippae et Domitio Pollioni quod offerendo filias de officio in rem publicam certarent. praelata est Pollionis filia, non ob aliud quam quod mater eius in eodem coniugio manebat; nam Agrippa discidio domum imminuerat. et Caesar quamvis posthabitam decies sestertii dote solatus est.
86.
After these decrees, Tiberius proposed that a virgin girl be chosen to replace Occia, who for fifty-seven years had presided over the cult of Vesta with scrupulous observance. He thanked Fronteius Agrippa and Domitius Pollio for offering their daughters and vying for the honor of serving their country. Pollio’s daughter was chosen for no other reason than the fact that her mother was still married to the same man since Agrippa had lessened the prestige of his house by a divorce. Tiberius, however, consoled Fronteius’ daughter, though she was passed over, with a dowry of one million sesterces.
LXXXVII.
Saevitiam annonae incusante plebe statuit frumento pretium quod emptor penderet, binosque nummos se additurum negotiatoribus in singulos modios. neque tamen ob ea parentis patriae delatum et antea vocabulum adsumpsit, acerbeque increpuit eos qui divinas occupationes ipsumque dominum dixerant. unde angusta et lubrica oratio sub principe qui libertatem metuebat adulationem oderat.
87.
Confronted by popular unrest caused by the excessive cost of living, Tiberius fixed the price of grain to be paid by the consumer, promising the suppliers that he would add two sesterces for every peck of grain as a subsidy. He refused the title of father of the country because of these measures, already offered to him in precedence. He severely rebuked those who had called his initiatives divine and himself master. Narrow and slippery indeed was the path of homage under a prince who feared liberty, yet despised servility.
LXXXVIII.
Reperio apud scriptores senatoresque eorundem temporum Adgandestrii principis Chattorum lectas in senatu litteras, quibus mortem Arminii promittebat si patrandae neci venenum mitteretur, responsumque esse non fraude neque occultis, sed palam et armatum populum Romanum hostis suos ulcisci. qua gloria aequabat se Tiberius priscis imperatoribus qui venenum in Pyrrum regem vetuerant prodiderantque. ceterum Arminius abscedentibus Romanis et pulso Maroboduo regnum adfectans libertatem popularium adversam habuit, petitusque armis cum varia fortuna certaret, dolo propinquorum cecidit: liberator haud dubie Germaniae et qui non primordia populi Romani, sicut alii reges ducesque, sed florentissimum imperium lacessierit, proeliis ambiguus, bello non victus. septem et triginta annos vitae, duodecim potentiae explevit, caniturque adhuc barbaras apud gentis, Graecorum annalibus ignotus, qui sua tantum mirantur, Romanis haud perinde celebris, dum vetera extollimus recentium incuriosi.
88.
I find in the writings of some senators of that time that a letter was read in the senate sent by Adgandestrius, a prince of the Chatti, in which he was promising the death of Arminius if only he would receive the poison for the performance of the deed. The answer was that not by fraudulent means and secret dealings, but in the open and sword in hand the Roman people took revenge on their enemies. By such vainglory, Tiberius was trying to equal the generals of the past, who had refused to employ poison against king Pyrrhus and even exposed the would-be assassin. In regard to Arminius, after the Romans had left and Maroboduus was expelled, he met resistance from his freedom-loving people when trying to make himself king, and, confronted by the armed opposition, he fought with unequal fortune and fell betrayed by his own kinsmen. Without doubt, he was the defender of German liberty [against us]: he challenged Rome not in her infancy, like other kings and war leaders, but in the full flowering of her empire. His successes in the field were uneven, but he was never vanquished in war. His life lasted thirty-seven years, twelve of which were in power. He lives on even today in the songs of barbarian nations, ignored only by the Greeks, who solely admire their own accomplishments. He is not celebrated as he deserves by us Romans, who, oblivious of present glory, exalt the past only.