XXXI.
Sequitur Tiberi quartus, Drusi secundus consulatus, patris atque filii collegio insignis. nam triennio ante Germanici cum Tiberio idem honor neque patruo laetus neque natura tam conexus fuerat. eius anni principio Tiberius quasi firmandae valetudini in Campaniam concessit, longam et continuam absentiam paulatim meditans, sive ut amoto patre Drusus munia consulatus solus impleret. ac forte parva res magnum ad certamen progressa praebuit iuveni materiem apiscendi favoris. Domitius Corbulo praetura functus de L. Sulla nobili iuvene questus est apud senatum quod sibi inter spectacula gladiatorum loco non decessisset. pro Corbulone aetas, patrius mos, studia seniorum erant: contra Mamercus Scaurus et L. Arruntius aliique Sullae propinqui nitebantur. certabantque orationibus et memorabantur exempla maiorum qui iuventutis inreverentiam gravibus decretis notavissent, donec Drusus apta temperandis animis disseruit; et satisfactum Corbuloni per Mamercum qui patruus simul ac vitricus Sullae et oratorum [ea] aetate uberrimus erat. idem Corbulo plurima per Italiam itinera fraude mancipum et incuria magistratuum interrupta et impervia clamitando, executionem eius negotii libens suscepit; quod haud perinde publice usui habitum quam exitiosum multis quorum in pecuniam atque famam damnationibus et hasta saeviebat.
31.
The new year saw the fourth consulate of Tiberius and the second of Drusus, a very special event on account of father and son being colleagues. In actual fact, three years earlier Tiberius had shared the same office with Germanicus, but in that case, the partnership had given no pleasure to the uncle and the bond between them had not been one of blood. Early in the new year, Tiberius withdrew to Campania, ostensibly for health reasons, but intending either to prepare for his indefinite retirement or to allow his son to shoulder alone the responsibilities of a consul without the help of his father. A chance occurrence of minor import that turned into a complex problem offered the young Drusus an opportunity to distinguish himself. Domitius Corbulo, who had earlier been a praetor, expressed resentment in the senate against a young noble, Lucius Sulla, who had refused to yield him his seat at a gladiatorial spectacle. On the side of Corbulo was age, established custom, and the support of the older senators; on the other side Mamercus Scaurus, Lucius Arruntius, and other kinsmen of Sulla actively argued in their relative’s defense. A battle of words raged, and ancient precedents were brought to bear, all showing a lack of deference in young men duly castigated by severe decrees. Drusus at length intervened and calmed the spirits with words well suited to bring about conciliation. Satisfaction was given to Corbulo through Mamercus, who was Sulla’s uncle and stepfather and the most gifted speaker of those days. Corbulo, again, loudly denounced that most roads in Italy were cut off or impracticable and blamed the dishonesty of contractors or the indifference of the magistrates. He volunteered his services to solve the problem, and that turned out to be so little to the advantage of the state as it was to the ruin of many people whose property and reputation he viciously attacked through prosecutions and sequestrations.
XXXII.
Neque multo post missis ad senatum litteris Tiberius motam rursum Africam incursu Tacfarinatis docuit, iudicioque patrum deligendum pro consule gnarum militiae, corpore validum et bello suffecturum. quod initium Sex. Pompeius agitandi adversus Marcum Lepidum odii nanctus, ut socordem, inopem et maioribus suis dedecorum eoque etiam Asiae sorte depellendum incusavit, adverso senatu qui Lepidum mitem magis quam ignavum, paternas ei angustias et nobilitatem sine probro actam honori quam ignominiae habendam ducebat. igitur missus in Asiam et de Africa decretum ut Caesar legeret cui mandanda foret.
32.
Soon afterward, Tiberius sent a letter advising the senate that the province of Africa was again thrown into disorder by Tacfarinas’ incursions, and urging the fathers to choose a proconsul of proven military experience, strong enough in the body to bear the trials of a campaign. Sextus Pompeius availed himself of the circumstance to openly voice his dislike of Marcus Lepidus, reviling him as spiritless, indigent, unworthy of his ancestors, and therefore to be excluded even from the ballot for the province of Asia. The senate disagreed and defended Lepidus as being gentle rather than passive, and his hereditary poverty a credit to him rather than a blemish since in spite of it he had born his noble name with dignity. Consequently, Lepidus was sent to Asia and, in regard to Africa, it was decided to leave to Tiberius the choice of the man needed for the post.
XXXIII.
Inter quae Severus Caecina censuit ne quem magistratum cui provincia obvenisset uxor comitaretur, multum ante repetito concordem sibi coniugem et sex partus enixam, seque quae in publicum statueret domi servavisse, cohibita intra Italiam, quamquam ipse pluris per provincias quadraginta stipendia explevisset. haud enim frustra placitum olim ne feminae in socios aut gentis externas traherentur: inesse mulierum comitatui quae pacem luxu, bellum formidine morentur et Romanum agmen ad similitudinem barbari incessus convertant. non imbecillum tantum et imparem laboribus sexum sed, si licentia adsit, saevum, ambitiosum, potestatis avidum; incedere inter milites, habere ad manum centuriones; praesedisse nuper feminam exercitio cohortium, decursu legionum. cogitarent ipsi quotiens repetundarum aliqui arguerentur plura uxoribus obiectari: his statim adhaerescere deterrimum quemque provincialium, ab his negotia suscipi, transigi; duorum egressus coli, duo esse praetoria, pervicacibus magis et impotentibus mulierum iussis quae Oppiis quondam aliisque legibus constrictae nunc vinclis exolutis domos, fora, iam et exercitus regerent.
33.
During the same senate meeting, Severus Caecina proposed that magistrates placed in charge of provinces should not be accompanied by their wives. First, he declared more than once that he had always lived in harmony with his wife, who had given him six children, and that what he intended as a rule for everyone he had already observed in his own home, having kept his wife confined to Italy in spite of his forty years of service in several provinces. The practice of former times that forbade taking our women among the allies or into foreign countries was not without reason: in a body of women, he said, there were always some who caused delays in peace through the love of luxury, in war through faint-heartedness, and made a Roman army look like a barbarian horde on the move. Women were not only weak and unable to tolerate fatigue, but, given a free hand, turned cruel, ambitious, and hungry for power. They went among the soldiers and had centurions responding to their slightest whim. Caecina even cited the recent case of a woman who had wanted to direct the training of the cohorts and the parade of the legions. He invited the senators to reflect that in every trial for misappropriation, most of the charges were directed at the women. It was with them that the worst elements in every province always ended up being in the league. It was the women who dealt with and settled business matters. Not one, but two persons must be provided with escort and attendance when they appear in public; dictates came not from one, but two headquarters and the more despotic and unreasonable were those of the women, who once were restrained by the Oppian and other laws. After those fetters were removed, they held the reins within the home, in public life, and even in the army.
XXXIV.
Paucorum haec adsensu audita: plures obturbabant neque relatum de negotio neque Caecinam dignum tantae rei censorem. mox Valerius Messalinus, cui parens Messala ineratque imago paternae facundiae, respondit multa duritiae veterum [in] melius et laetius mutata; neque enim, ut olim, obsideri urbem bellis aut provincias hostilis esse. et pauca feminarum necessitatibus concedi quae ne coniugum quidem penatis, adeo socios non onerent; cetera promisca cum marito nec ullum in eo pacis impedimentum. bella plane accinctis obeunda: sed revertentibus post laborem quod honestius quam uxorium levamentum? at quasdam in ambitionem aut avaritiam prolapsas. quid? ipsorum magistratuum nonne plerosque variis libidinibus obnoxios? non tamen ideo neminem in provinciam mitti. corruptos saepe pravitatibus uxorum maritos: num ergo omnis caelibes integros? placuisse quondam Oppias leges, sic temporibus rei publicae postulantibus: remissum aliquid postea et mitigatum, quia expedierit. frustra nostram ignaviam alia ad vocabula transferri: nam viri in eo culpam si femina modum excedat. porro ob unius aut alterius imbecillum animum male eripi maritis consortia rerum secundarum adversarumque. simul sexum natura invalidum deseri et exponi suo luxu, cupidinibus alienis. vix praesenti custodia manere inlaesa coniugia: quid fore si per pluris annos in modum discidii oblitterentur? sic obviam irent iis quae alibi peccarentur ut flagitiorum urbis meminissent. addidit pauca Drusus de matrimonio suo; nam principibus adeunda saepius longinqua imperii. quoties divum Augustum in Occidentem atque Orientem meavisse comite Livia! se quoque in Illyricum profectum et, si ita conducat, alias ad gentis iturum, haud semper aeque animo si ab uxore carissima et tot communium liberorum parente divelleretur. sic Caecinae sententia elusa.
34.
The speech met with little support: the majority of the senators strongly protested that the matter was not on the agenda for the day and that Caecina was not a qualified censor on a question of such relevance. At this point, Valerius Messalinus, the son of Messala, who retained a certain likeness of his father’s eloquence, answered that many aspects of the ancient severity had been changed for the better and made softer. After all, the city no longer was, as in the past, hemmed in by enemies, the provinces were no longer hostile. To accommodate some of the needs of women a few concessions were made that imposed no extra onus even on the husbands’ families, any more than they did on our allies. The rest was shared equally between man and wife and in that there was no impediment to peace. To the wars, one must of course go unhampered, but upon returning from the great trials of the wars, what greater comfort was there than a wife’s company? True, some of the wives had stooped to scheming and malpractice: were not many of the magistrates subject to a variety of temptations themselves? That would not be a reason for not sending anyone to the provinces. Husbands were often led astray by the weaknesses of their wives, but are all men without wives faultless? The Oppian laws were thought necessary to suit the needs of the times; they were later modified and moderated in response to altered circumstances. It served no purpose to mask our failings by calling them something else, for the husband is responsible if the woman forgets herself. Besides, it would not be right to deprive all husbands of their partner in good and bad times because of one or two weak dunderheads among them, while the weaker sex was left exposed to its own sensuality and to the passions of other men. Hardly marriages survive even when the custodians were present. What would the case be if years of separation would erase the memory of the union, just as a divorce would? Thus, let remedies be found, he concluded, for the sins committed elsewhere, provided the scandals in the city were not forgotten. Drusus added a few words in relation to his own marriage: he said that princes often had to visit the remotest parts of the empire. How many times, in fact, had the divine Augustus traveled to the East and to the West with Livia at his side! He himself had gone to Illyricum and, if duty called, he was ready to go to other nations, but not always without regret, if he had to be separated from his beloved wife, the parent of their several children. So Caecina’s motion was rejected.
XXXV.
Et proximo senatus die Tiberius per litteras, castigatis oblique patribus quod cuncta curarum ad principem reicerent, M’. Lepidum et Iunium Blaesum nominavit ex quis pro consule Africae legeretur. tum audita amborum verba, intentius excusante se Lepido, cum valetudinem corporis, aetatem liberum, nubilem filiam obtenderet, intellegereturque etiam quod silebat, avunculum esse Seiani Blaesum atque eo praevalidum. respondit Blaesus specie recusantis sed neque eadem adseveratione et consensu adulantium adiutus est.
35.
When the senate next convened, a letter from Tiberius was read which, while impliedly blaming the fathers for referring all matters of state to him, named Manius Lepidus and Junius Blaesus as the men from whom to choose the new governor of Africa. Then both of these spoke in the senate, Lepidus turning down the offer rather firmly giving various reasons, such as poor health, the age of his children, and his unmarried daughter, but passing under silence the main reason, understood by everyone, namely the fact that Blaesus was Sejanus’ uncle, thus too formidable a rival to be withstood. Blaesus answered as if he meant to refuse but was far less insistent and the unanimous support of his adulators prevailed on him to accept.
XXXVI.
Exim promptum quod multorum intimis questibus tegebatur. incedebat enim deterrimo cuique licentia impune probra et invidiam in bonos excitandi arrepta imagine Caesaris: libertique etiam ac servi, patrono vel domino cum voces, cum manus intentarent, ultro metuebantur. igitur C. Cestius senator disseruit principes quidem instar deorum esse, sed neque a diis nisi iustas supplicum preces audiri neque quemquam in Capitolium aliave urbis templa perfugere ut eo subsidio ad flagitia utatur. abolitas leges et funditus versas, ubi in foro, in limine curiae ab Annia Rufilla, quam fraudis sub iudice damnavisset, probra sibi et minae intendantur, neque ipse audeat ius experiri ob effigiem imperatoris oppositam. haud dissimilia alii et quidam atrociora circumstrepebant, precabanturque Drusum daret ultionis exemplum, donec accitam convictamque attineri publica custodia iussit.
36.
Soon afterwards, something was brought to public notice that was being kept hidden in spite of the secret complaints of many. It was becoming increasingly common for the worst scoundrels of society to arrogate to themselves the license to direct insults and slanders against honorable people and go unpunished by taking hold of an effigy of the prince. Even freedmen and slaves were now given to using abusive language or menacing gestures with their patrons and masters, thus becoming a source of fear for the latter. Consequently, Gaius Cestius declared in the senate that princes were indeed equal to the gods, but that the gods did not listen to the prayers of the faithful unless they were just and that no one sought refuge in the Capitol or in other temples of the city to use that protection as a shield for one’s crimes. The laws were being reduced to nothing and turned upside down, he said, if someone like Annia Rufilla, whom he had convicted for fraud in court, could in the Forum itself, on the doorsteps of the senate house, abuse and threaten him with impunity. He had not dared to take legal action because the woman was sheltering under an image of the emperor. At this, a storm of voices broke out in the chamber, each denouncing similar or even worse incidents and urging Drusus to set a wholesome example to correct such abuses. In the end Drusus had Rufilla summoned and condemned to serve time in prison.
XXXVII.
Et Considius Aequus et Caelius Cursor equites Romani quod fictis maiestatis criminibus Magium Caecilianum praetorem petivissent auctore principe ac decreto senatus puniti. utrumque in laudem Drusi trahebatur: ab eo in urbe inter coetus et sermones hominum obversante secreta patris mitigari. neque luxus in iuvene adeo displicebat: huc potius intenderet, diem aedificationibus noctem conviviis traheret, quam solus et nullis voluptatibus avocatus maestam vigilantiam et malas curas exerceret.
37.
Punished were also, through decree of the senate and Drusus’ intervention, two Roman knights, Considius Aequus and Caelius Cursor, for inventing charges of treason against the praetor Magius Caecilianus. Both sanctions contributed to Drusus’ popularity: it was believed that his continuous presence in Rome, his active participation in the social life of the city and in the talks of the people were mitigating the secretive schemes of the father. Not even his love of pleasure, in a man so young, did raise many eyebrows. Better, it was said, that he should spend his days constructing buildings and his nights banqueting than to live in solitude, a stranger to all amusements, absorbed in sullen watch and ruinous designs.
XXXVIII.
Non enim Tiberius, non accusatores fatiscebant. et Ancharius Priscus Caesium Cordum pro consule Cretae postulaverat repetundis, addito maiestatis crimine, quod tum omnium accusationum complementum erat. Caesar Antistium Veterem e primoribus Macedoniae, absolutum adulterii, increpitis iudicibus ad dicendam maiestatis causam retraxit, ut turbidum et Rhescuporidis consiliis permixtum, qua tempestate Cotye [fratre] interfecto bellum adversus nos volverat. igitur aqua et igni interdictum reo, adpositumque ut teneretur insula neque Macedoniae neque Thraeciae opportuna. nam Thraecia diviso imperio in Rhoemetalcen et libetos Cotyis, quis ob infantiam tutor erat Trebellenus Rufus, insolentia nostri discors agebat neque minus Rhoemetalcen quam Trebellenum incusans popularium iniurias inultas sinere. Coelaletae Odrusaeque et Dii, validae nationes, arma cepere, ducibus diversis et paribus inter se per ignobilitatem; quae causa fuit ne in bellum atrox coalescerent. pars turbant praesentia, alii montem Haemum transgrediuntur ut remotos populos concirent; plurimi ac maxime compositi regem urbemque Philippopolim, a Macedone Philippo sitam, circumsidunt.
38.
In fact, neither Tiberius nor the informers were showing signs of tiring. As an example, Ancharius Priscus had accused Caesius Cordus, proconsul of Crete, of embezzlement, adding also the charge of treason, then the necessary complement of every arraignment. In another case, Tiberius sharply rebuked the judges who had absolved Antistius Vertus, a notable of Macedonia, of the charge of adultery and summoned him to be tried again, this time for treason, in view of his seditious behaviour and connivance with Rhescuporis, when the latter contemplated making war against us after killing his brother Cotys. The defendant was condemned to exile and also relegated to an island difficult to reach from either Thrace or Macedonia. Indeed Thrace, once power was divided between Rhoemetalces and the children of Cotys, to whom Trebellienus Rufus had been assigned as guardian in view of their minority, was very unhappy with our administration, a novelty for the country, and held Rhoemetalces and Trebellienus equally responsible for letting the injuries suffered by the nation go unpunished. The Coelaletes, the Odrusae, and the Dii, three mighty tribes, had recourse to arms under different leaders, all equally obscure: this fact prevented them to coalesce in a war that promised to be bloody. Part of their forces stormed the neighboring districts; others crossed over Mount Haemus to bring into the war the distant tribes; the largest and best organized part of the forces lay siege to Philippopolis, the city founded by Philip of Macedon and the seat of king Rhoemetalces.
XXXIX.
Quae ubi cognita P. Vellaeo (is proximum exercitum praesidebat), alarios equites ac levis cohortium mittit in eos qui praedabundi aut adsumendis auxiliis vagabantur, ipse robur peditum ad exolvendum obsidium ducit. simulque cuncta prospere acta, caesis populatoribus et dissensione orta apud obsidentis regisque opportuna eruptione et adventu legionis. neque aciem aut proelium dici decuerit in quo semermi ac palantes trucidati sunt sine nostro sanguine.
39.
On hearing of the siege, Publius Vellaeus, who commanded the nearest army, sent auxiliary cavalry and units of infantry against the rebels, while these were dispersed in search of plunder or of reinforcements; Vellaeus himself led the main body of the infantry to liberate the besieged. All went well at the same time: the plunderers were cut down, dissention arose among the besiegers, and a sortie was made by the king just as the Roman legion arrived. It would not be proper to call that massacre of poorly armed vagabonds a pitched battle or even a fight, as no blood was lost on our side.
XL.
Eodem anno Galliarum civitates ob magnitudinem aeris alieni rebellionem coeptavere, cuius extimulator acerrimus inter Treviros Iulius Florus, apud Aeduos Iulius Sacrovir. nobilitas ambobus et maiorum bona facta eoque Romana civitas olim data, cum id rarum nec nisi virtuti pretium esset. ii secretis conloquiis, ferocissimo quoque adsumpto aut quibus ob egestatem ac metum ex flagitiis maxima peccandi necessitudo, componunt Florus Belgas, Sacrovir propiores Gallos concire. igitur per conciliabula et coetus seditiosa disserebant de continuatione tributorum, gravitate faenoris, saevitia ac superbia praesidentium, et discordare militem audito Germanici exitio. egregium resumendae libertati tempus, si ipsi florentes quam inops Italia, quam inbellis urbana plebes, nihil validum in exercitibus nisi quod externum, cogitarent.
40.
That same year some of the Gallic nations, oppressed by heavy debt, embarked on a rebellion, the most impassioned promoters being Julius Florus among the Treveri and Julius Sacrovir among the Aedui. Both were of noble origin, born of ancestors whose credit had won them Roman citizenship at a time when this was a rare distinction awarded exclusively for merit. In secret gatherings, they took into their confidence men known for their ruthlessness, or those whom penury or fear of shameful retribution drove to crime, and worked out a plan according to which Florus would persuade the Belgae and Sacrovir the communities near his own to revolt. Thus, at public meeting places and private conferences they held seditious talks about the never-ending tribute, the crushing burden of usury, the harshness and high-handedness of the governors, and further described the army as being in a state of turmoil after the news of Germanicus’ murder. The occasion was favorable, they urged, for reconquering their freedom, if they considered the abundance of their own resources compared to the weakness of Italy, the unwarlike temper of the populace of Rome, and the fact that the only strength in the Roman army resided in the foreign soldiers.