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CORNELII TACITI 

ANNALIUM 

LIBRI XIII-XVI 

WITH INTRODUCTIONS AND NOTES 

ABRIDGED FROM THE LARGER WORK 

OF henry' FURNEAUX, M.A., BY 

H. PITMAN, M.A., 

LECTURER IN CLASSICS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF BRISTOL 

OXFORD 

AT THE CLARENDON PRESS

Oxford University Press 

London Edinburgh Glasgow Copenhagen 

New York Toronto Melbourne Cape Town 

Bo)nbay Calcutta Madras Shanghai 

Humphrey Mllford Publisher to the University 

\ ' 

- '-' 

! jT^ 

Impression of 1925 

First edition, igo4 

Printed in England

PREFACE 

This abridgement has been made under the belief that 

the interest of Tacitus' history of the reign of Nero makes 

it a suitable subject for school reading, and in the hope 

that such a book may serve the needs of students desiring 

a less copious and advanced commentary than Mr. Furneaux' 

large edition of the Annals. 

The text is that contained in the second volume of the 

larger work, and is mainly that of Halm (ed. 4, Leipzig, 

1883), from which it varies in places in the direction of 

retaining or approaching more closely to the readings of the 

Medicean MS. 

In the Introductions and Notes Mr. Furneaux' con- 

clusions are carefully followed, though occasionally slight 

verbal alterations are made in his renderings, and of some 

passages, left without comment in the large edition, I have 

inserted explanations or translations where these seemed 

appropriate to a less advanced work. In the Introduc- 

tion on Syntax I have followed the lines of that given in 

the abridged edition of Antials i-iv, supplying illustrations 

from Books xiii-xvi : sections in which I have ventured on 

certain extensions or modifications of the original treatment 

are §§ 3 b, 16, 20, 22, and the last two paragraphs of § 41. 

My best thanks are due to my friend and colleague. 

Professor F. Brooks, of University College, Bristol, for his 

kind help in the work of scrutinizing the proof-sheets for 

misprints or mis-statements. 

University College, Bristol, 

Feb., 1904. 

H. Pitman.

INTRODUCTION 

: 

CONTENTS 

PAGE 

I. Life of Tacitus v 

II. On the Syntax and Style of Tacitus . ix 

III. Historical Introduction to these Books xxvi 

IV. Life of Nero ...... xxxiv 

V. Affairs in the East .... xxxix 

VI. Genealogy of the family of Augustus 

and of the Claudian Caesars . xliii-iv 

TEXT OF BOOKS XIII-XVI 

Appendix to Book XVI. Summary of the 

principal events between the end of Book 

XVI and the death of Nero . . . i 

Notes on the text , . . . . ^-146

INTRODUCTION 

I 

LIFE OF TACITUS 

§ I. Our knowledge of the chief facts and dates in the life of 

Tacitus rests mainly on allusions in his own writings and those 

of his friend the younger Pliny, who addresses several letters to 

him and often speaks of him in others. 

His praenomen is not mentioned in this correspondence, and 

is differently given by later authorities as Gaius or Publius. His 

family connexions are unknown ; but he would appear to have 

been the first of his name to attain senatorial rank, though of 

sufficient position to have begun his ' cursus honorum ' at the 

earliest, or almost the earliest, legal age ; as he can hardly have 

been born earlier than 52-54 A. D., and must have been quaestor 

not later than 79 A. D., by which time he had also received in 

marriage the daughter of Agricola, who was already a consular, 

and one of the first men in the State. 

His boyhood falls thus under the time of Nero ; 

his assumption 

of the ' toga virilis ' would coincide, or nearly so, with the terrible 

year of Galba, Otho, and Vitellius ; his early manhood was spent 

under Vespasian and Titus ; the prime of his life under Domitian ; 

the memory of whose tyranny is seen in all his historical writings, 

which were composed at various dates in the great time of Trajan. 

Most of his life may be supposed to have been spent in Rome, 

where he became one of the leaders of the Bar, and one of the 

best known literary names of Rome ; so that a stranger sitting 

next to him at the games, and finding him to be a man of letters, 

asked whether he was speaking to Tacitus or to Pliny ^ He is 

further known ^ as having been consul suffectus and in that 

capacity colleague with Nerva in 97 A. D., and as associated with 

Pliny in the prosecution of Marius Priscus, proconsul of Africa, in 

^ Plin. Etp. ix 23, 2. ^ lb. ii 1,6. 

V

INTRODUCTION 

looA.D. ' This is the last fact in his life definitely known, and 

there is no evidence that he outlived Trajan. 

§ 2. The Annals, more properly entitled ' Libri ab excessu divi 

Augusti,' comprising in sixteen Books the history of fifty-four 

years from the death of Augustus to that of Nero, are the latest 

in date of his writings, and are shown by an allusion to the 

Eastern conquests of Trajan (ii 6l, 2), to have been published 

at some date not earlier than 1 1 5 A. D., and probably before the 

retrocession of the Eastern frontier under Hadrian in 117 A. D. 

The first six Books, comprising the principate of Tiberius, rest on 

a single manuscript, called the First Medicean, written prob- 

ably in the tenth or eleventh century, and now preserved at 

Florence. The text of Books xiii-xvi, given in this volume, is 

based on a MS. known as the Second Medicean, which contains 

all that we have of Books xi-xvi, besides all the extant part of 

the Histories, with the exception of i 69-75 and i 86 — ii 2. It is 

known to have been sent from Florence to Rome in 1427 A. D., 

but it was shortly afterwards returned to Florence, where it passed 

to the Convent of St. Mark, and thence to the Laurentian Library, 

where it still remains. Other existing MSS. cannot be proved 

to be of earlier date, and are generally regarded as based, if not on 

the Medicean MS. itself, at any rate on the same source as that from 

which it was taken, their variations being either attempted emenda- 

tions or preserving the right text in places where the original letters of 

Med. have become illegible and been reproduced by a later hand. 

Materials available to Tacitus. 

§ 3. In xiii 17, 3 Tacitus refers to 'plerique eorum temporum 

scriptores.' Among those whose writings he consulted was C. Plinius 

Secundus (Pliny the Elder), who continued the history of Aufidius 

Bassus from the point where it ended, probably the reign of 

Claudius, to the fall of Jerusalem, and also wrote a separate 

history of Germany. His authority is definitely quoted, xiii 20, 3; 

XV 53, 4; and perhaps xiii 31, i contains a reference to him, 

but with the exception of the Natural History his works are lost 

to us. Other historians definitely quoted are M. Cluvius Rufus 

and Fabius Rusticus. The former (xiii 20, 3 ; xiv 2, i), who 

* Plin. Epp. ii 11, 2. 

vi


was consul some time before the death of Gaius, a companion of 

Nero in Greece, legatus of Spain under Galba, and one of Vitellius' 

courtiers, is thought to have written a history covering the period 

from Gaius to ViteUius, which was perhaps used by Josephus in 

his account of Gaius' death, and consulted by Plutarch as well as 

Tacitus. Fabius Rusticus (quoted in the same passages as Cluvius) 

is described as too partial to Seneca, but as being in eloquence 

and brilliancy the Livy of his age {A^r. lo, 3) 

: he described 

Britain, so perhaps his history began with Claudius' reign, and there 

are no allusions to it with reference to events later than Nero's time. 

Tacitus also refers to Corbulo's memoirs (xv 16, i) in his account of 

affairs in the East, and may also have consulted those of Suetonius 

Paulinas (used by Pliny, A''. N.) for events in Britain. 

Other available materials would be biographies, such as those 

of Thrasea and Helvidius by Arulenus Rusticus and Herennius 

Senecio, funeral orations on famous men, and letters of public men 

collected and published like those of the younger Pliny. There 

were also the public records : 

' acta ' or ' commentarii senatus ' 

had been kept since the first consulship of Julius Caesar, who at 

the same time also started the 'acta diurna urbis,' the daily 

gazette chronicling proceedings in the courts and chief events of 

public importance ; and Tacitus made use of both ; e.g. xv 74, 3 ; 

iii 3, 2, The events of which he wrote, too, were sufficiently near 

to his own day for a considerable amount of tradition about them 

to be still existing and worth recording, as the frequency of 

' ferunt,' 'traditur,' Sec, before stories cited by him indicates. 

Historical value of the Atifials. 

§ 4. As Dio complains, it was more difficult for historians to get 

at the truth under the Empire than under the Republic. Politics 

were no longer for the general public ; in jurisdiction, in the 

administration of the provinces, and in the conduct of war, much 

was done by the princeps and his private advisers that could only 

become known from official versions issued at the time, or from 

such reminiscences as generals or imperial officials cared to publish 

subsequently. Persons outside government circles remained at the 

mercy of the official version : reminiscences of a general might be 

mere gelf-glorification. Tacitus believed himself to be writing 

' 

vii

INTRODUCTION 

impartially, and was a diligent student and compiler of materials, 

aiming at basing his narrative on a ' consensus auctorum.' But 

like other ancient historians he probably had little sense of the 

necessity of correctly estimating the intrinsic merits of the authors 

from whom he drew his material. And in the earlier part of the 

Attnals it is more than probable that his portrait of Tiberius is 

unfairly coloured, because he has drawn for his facts upon au- 

thorities violently prejudiced against that monarch. P"or such 

suspicions against the subject-matter of the four last books there is 

less foundation. The events there recorded took place in Tacitus' 

own childhood: as a young man he must have had frequent 

opportunity of meeting and talking with people who had lived 

under Nero, and in the light of what he heard from them he 

would be less likely to be misled by the writers whom he con- 

sulted, if they were guilty of misrepresentation. And these 

writers were certainly in a position to know the facts. 

Tacitus' conception of the /unction of history. 

§ 5. Tacitus' professed purpose in writing history is a moral 

one, 'to rescue virtue from oblivion, and that base words and 

deeds should have the fear of posthumous infamy' (iii 65, i) ; he 

wishes, in fact, to influence men in the right direction by holding 

up examples of noble conduct for imitation, of base conduct for 

avoidance. At the same time it is his aim to point out the right 

' political conduct for the subjects of the principate ; how even 

under bad princes there can be good citizens' {Agr. 42, 5) that 

; 

the best course is at the same time the safest, and is one of digni- 

fied moderation, such as that followed by Manius Lepidus under 

Tiberius, Memmius Regulus under Nero, and Agricola under 

Domitian, avoiding on the one hand the vile obsequiousness of 

the flatterers and tools, who after all were discarded by their master 

or punished by his successor, and on the other such truculent and 

ostentatious opposition as that of Helvidius Priscus, inviting and 

incurring destruction. 

This point of view gives his work a wider range than that of 

a mere biographer like Suetonius. To Tacitus the general working 

of the Roman system is interesting as a field for the display of 

character, and events are selected and represented in illustration 

viii


of the motives of the agents. This outlook makes him careless 

about exact details of strategy, geography, and chronology, such 

as are expected of a modem historian, and brings him into line 

with the satirists, whom he further resembles in his bold characterization, 

his vivid contrasts and tendencies to exaggeration, and 

the epigrammatic style of his diction. 

II 

ON THE SYNTAX AND STYLE OF TACITUS 

Note—Most of what is here said is applicable to the writings of Tacitus 

as a whole, and especially to the Aiinah; but the instances given are 

almost wholly from the four Books contained in this volume. 

By the time of Tacitus, Latin prose composition had already 

departed much from the standard of Cicero or Caesar, through 

the frequent adoption of words and forms of expression from the 

great classic poets, who had by that time become textbooks in 

every grammar-school ; also through an increasing tolerance of 

Greek words and grammatical Graecisms, partly due to such 

study of Augustan poetry, partly to an increasing taste for what 

was Greek as such \ 

The special qualities of the style of Tacitus have been held to 

consist chiefly in rhetorical or poetical colouring, in the study of 

brevity, and in that of variety ; all of which characteristics are 

no doubt due mainly to his professional career ^ He has him- 

self told us that the pleader in his day could no longer expatiate 

like Cicerd, but was bound to be terse, epigrammatic, and 

striking, and to grace his style with poetic colouring from the 

treasury of Vergil and Horace, or even from more recent poets ^ 

In falling in with this fashion, Tacitus draws the poetic element 

in his style almost exclusively from Vergil, to whom he is re- 

peatedly and abundantly indebted ; while his chief prose models 

are Sallust and Livy, his great predecessors in the field of 

^ Jnvenal mentions (7, 226) the use of Horace and Vergil as school- 

books, and aho dwells at length (3, 61 foil.) on the extent to which the 

Rome of his day had become L.reek. 

' See Inlr. i, § i. ' Dial, de Oratoribus, 19, 20. 

ix

INTRODUCTION 

history'. The effort at variety of expression, besides being part 

of the habitual skill of an orator, is further due to the historian's 

desire to relieve what he feels to be the oppressive monotony of 

his subject ", by saying the same thing with the utmost variety of 

expression, by often giving the sentence an unexpected turn, by 

inventing new words or new senses of words, or reviving such as 

had become somewhat obsolete. 

Of the various usages noted in the following sections, com- 

paratively few are altogether peculiar to Tacitus ; but many are 

new in prose, and all are so far Tacitean that they are used by 

him with more boldness and freedom than by earlier prose 

authors. 

A. SYNTAX 

[The references in square brackets are to the paragraphs in the Introduction 

on Syntax, large edition, Vol. I] 

I. Substantives, Adjectives, and Pronouns. 

1 [i, 3]. Abstract nouns are used frequently in place of concrete, 

most commonly in the plural : dominationibus aliis fastiditus, 

xiii I, I ; a clientelis et servitiis Octaviae, xiv 61, 3; validam 

quoque et laudatam antiquitatem, xv 13, 3; imperatoriae iuventae, 

xiii 2, 2 (cf. pueritiae Neronis, xiv 3, 5) ; superbia nmliebris, 

xiii 14, I ; imbellis aetas, xiii 54, 2. 

Note also the adoption from poets of the adjectival use of sub- 

stantives in apposition ; as sidus cometes, xiv 22, i ; mare Hadria, 

XV 34, 2. 

2 [4,6]. A. Adjectives are used substantivally with much freedom ; 

(a) in masc, as equester, xiii 10, 3 ; militares, xiv 33, 4. (i) in 

neut., as triste . . . providum, xv 34, I ; breve et incertum, xiv 29, 3; 

secretum, xvi 25, 2 ; in incerto, xv 36, I ; imaginem honesti, 

xvi 32, 3 (cf. also scripto usum, xiii 23, 3). (c) neut. plur., 

suprema (= death), xvi 11, 3. 

B. Adjectives are often used adverbially, as secondary predi- 

* See below, § 08. * See iv 32 and 33.

SYNTAX 

cates, as steterunt diversi, xvi 30, 4 ; fiequens adesse, xiii 35, 7 ; 

priores audere (piignam), xiii 36, I ; properi inferuntur, xvi 11, 4. 

3 [8]. (a) Pronouns belonging to the third person are often 

omitted, especially in the accus., even so as sometimes to involve 

harshness or obscurity: thus se is omitted in xiii 49, 5 ; xv 27, 3 ; 

XV 43, 2 ; eum, xiv 52, 3 ; eos, xv 52, 2. 

(d) The indefinite quis is not confined to subordinate clauses 

introduced by si, ne, &c. ; see xiii 57, 6; xiv 33, 6; xv 38, 3; 

xvi 19, 5. 

II. Cases. 

A- Accusath'e. 

4 [11]. The poetical or Greek accusative of the part concerned, 

rare in prose, is employed : praeriguisse manus, xiii 35, 6 ; frigidus 

artus, XV 64, 3 ; flexus genu, xvi 4, 3. 

5 [10]. The accusative of the place towards which motion takes 

place is used without preposition : Oceanum decurrerent, xiii 53, 3. 

6 [12]. Transitive accusatives are used 

{a) in apposition to the sentence, i.e. explanatory of an action 

described, not of a single substantive in the sentence; xiv 53, 4; 

xvi 8, I ; xvi 17, 4. 

(b) after verbs expressing mental feelings ; agmen pavescere, 

xiv 30, 2. 

{c) after compound verbs, where a dative or a repetition of the 

preposition with its proper case would be regular; malos prae- 

mineret, xv 34, 3; munimenta propugnabant, xv 13, 2; genua 

advolvi, XV 71, i. 

7 [14]. The use of adverbial accusatives, as id temporis, xiii 18, i, 

is extended, new forms being introduced, as idem aetatis, xiii 16, i. 

B. Dative. 

8 {a) [15]. After compound verbs expressing deprivation Tacitus 

follows poets and Livy in using dative where ablative with preposi- 

tion would be more usual: subtrahere oculis, xiii 17, 4 ; poenae 

eximere, xiv 40, 5 ; urbi detractum, xiv 24, 7 ; &c. 

{b) [21]. After compound verbs Tacitus follows poets in using 

dative, rather than ad or in, as oneri adhaerentes, "xUi.^ 35, 6; 

xi

INTRODUCTION 

moenibus admovere, xiii 39, 4; balineis inferuntur, xvi 11, 4; 

rather than cum, licentiae permixtus, xiii 24, i ; Poppaeae con- 

iungitur, xiv 60, i. 

9 [17]. Dativus Commodi : (a) rebus conducere, xiv 61, 6, and 

the much bolder non referre dedecori, xv 65, 2, should be noted. 

[19]. (d) the dative of a noun, so closely connected with another 

that a genitive would be expected, is frequent in poets and also in 

Livy, and still more in Tacitus : cf. ministeria magistratibus et 

sacerdotibus, xiii 27, 2 ; flagitiis et sceleribus velamenta, xiii 47, i ; 

vulneribus ligamenta, xv 54, 4. 

10 [18]. The Dative of Agent is used without restriction to the 

gerundive or adjectives in -bills, and without any prominence of 

the idea of the 'interest' of the agent: as Neroni trahebatur, 

xiii 20, i: cf. xv 35, i; sibi compertum, xiii 43, 4; Corbuloni 

audita, xv 3, i. To this case rather than ablative should be 

referred such phrases as cupita aliis, xiii 13, 5 ; suspecta maiori- 

bus, xiv 44, 4 ; sapientioribus deliberatum, xiv 44, I ; iter Lucullo 

penetratum, xv 27, l ; parta maioribus, xv 2, 3. See also § 16. 

11 [22]. The Dative of Purpose or Work contemplated is very 

frequent: the gerund or gerundive in this case may follow an adj., 

as dignam . . . suscipiendo . . . imperio, xiii 14, 3 ; or stand with 

a verb, as equivalent to a final clause, as testificando . . . vulgabat, 

xiii II, 2; subruendo vallo inducit, xiii 39, 4, and many other 

instances, e.g. contegendis, xiii 13, 2; supplendis, xiii 7, i ; firmando, 

xiii 41, 3 ; visendis, xv 10, 4. The same use of this case is 

extended to substantives : dux bello delectus, xiii 9, 6 ; venditioni 

exposita, xiii 25, i ; verberibus nianus intenderent, xiii 26, 2; see 

also ultioni, xiii 32, 1 ; viae, xiii 40, 2 ; sermoni, xiv 53, i ; colloquio, 

XV 28, I. 

12 [23]. This should be distinguished from 'predicative' datives 

showing that which a thing or person serves as or occasions, such 

as spectaculo, xiii 9, 4; crimini, xiii 10, 3; muneri, xiv 31, 3; 

irrisui, xiv 39, 3 ; documento, xv 27, 2 ; ostentui, xv 29, 7 ; indutui, 

xvi 4, 2 ; Usui, xvi 19, 5. 

C. Ablative. 

13 [24]. The Ablative of Place whence is used freely, without 

preposition, both of proper names, as Italia pellerentur, xiii 25, 4; 

xii

SYNTAX 

Armenia abscessere, xiii 7, 2 ; Pontico mari . . . adventantes, xiii 39, 1 

and of common names, as cubiculo prorumpit, xiii 44, 6 ; 

; 

pellit 

sedibus xv ; 27, 4 often after compound verbs implying separation, 

as matrimonio depulsam, xiii 19, 2; sententia decessit, xiv 49, 5 ; 

demovet cura, xiii 14, i ; exuerent sedibus, xiii 39, 3 ; contuberniis 

extracti, xv 13, 2. 

14 [25]. The Ablative of Place at which is used, without preposi- 

tion, as freely as in poetry, as Cappadocia, xiii 8, ; 2 insula Pandateria, 

xiv 63, I ; tenere se munimentis, xiii 36, 2 ; curru . . . vehens, 

xiv 35, I ; foro ac templis, xiv 61, i ; foribus, xv 31, i ; sedilibus, 

xvi 5, 2. Note also medio, xv 18, i ; xv 29, 5. So too of the way 

by which, as Rhodano, xiii 53, 3 ; saltibus (co-ordinated with per 

lacus), xiii 54, 2. 

1 

5 

[26]. Time throughout which (a post- Augustan use), as reliquo 

noctis, xiv 10, i ; medio temporis, xiii 28, 3 ; triumphis, votis, 

XV 45, 2 ; triennio, xvi 22, i. On the other hand Tacitus some- 

times uses ' in ' to express time in the course of which, as in tribunatu 

plebis, xiv 48, i. 

16 [27], Instrumental Ablative is sometimes extended to persons 

(a poetical use), centurione comitatus, xiv 8, 5 ; Corbuloni certis 

nuntiis audita sunt, xv 3, i ; repentinis hostibus circumventi, xv 4, 4. 

The use of this case to describe the force with which military 

operations are conducted resembles such Greek constructions as 

(itpfii/ a-Tparca : see xv 7, 2 duabus legionibus Arm^niam intrat ; 

totis regni viribus advenisse, xv 13, 5 ; cf. also expeditis legionibus, 

xiii 41, I ; non infenso exercitu, xiv 23, i ; ipse legionibus citis, 

xiv 26, 1 ; which may be referred to this rather than ablative absolute. 

17 [28]. The Ablative of Manner or Modal Ablative is employed 

boldly without any adjective, as vigilatam convivio noctem, xiii 20, 5 ; 

see also ignavia, xiv 20, 3 ; impetu, xiv 32, 5 and xv ; 38, 4 cuneo, 

xiv 37, I. 

18 [29]. The Ablative of Quality is often used of persons 

without the addition of the verb ' esse ' or of a common name 

(cf, § 25), as Plautum magnis opibus, xiv 57, 5 ; habebatur . . . 

erudito luxu, xvi 18, i ; Eprium Marcellum acri eloquentia, 

xvi 22, 10. 

19 [30J. The Causal Ablative is used with much freedom in the 

Annuls, where a preposition, or ' causa ' or 'gratia ' with genitive, 

xiii

INTRODUCTION 

would be expected, both of subjective motives, as caritate suorum, 

^"^ 38, 7 ; spe, xvi 24, 2 pugnam iniperitia poscebant, xiii ; 36, 3 

(note also facinorum recordatione, xv 36, 3 ; inclinatione quadam 

hostiuni, xiii ; 9, 5) and of objective causes, as fervore aspernabatur, 

xiii 16, 3 ; magni nominis miseratione, xiv 58, 3. Both types are 

seen in xiv 31, 4, qua contumelia et metu graviorum. Note also 

non militate publica sed in saevitiam unius, xv 44, 8 ; publica 

fortuna, xiv II, 2; aequitate deum, xvi 33, 

seu vitiorum imitatione, xvi 18, 4. 

i ; revolutus ad vitia 

20. A very noticeable extension of this use is its frequent employment 

as giving the ground of fame, good or bad, as multarum 

rerum experientia cognitos, xiii 6, 4 ; 

experientia probatos, xiii 29, 3 ; 

cognomento . . . non insigne, sed copia negotiatorum . . . celebre, 

xiv 33, I ; insignis genere fama lascivia, xiii 19, 2 ; celeberrimae 

luxu famaque, xv 37, 2 ; vita famaque laudatum, xv 50, 4 ; amicitiae 

fide et arte medicinae probatum, xv 64, 3 ; notum 

amore uxoris, 

XV 53, 5 ; Chaldaeorum arte famosum, xvi 14, i ; matrimonio 

senatoris baud ignota, xvi 20, i. (So too ex primoribus peritia 

legum, xiii 30, 3.) 

21 [31]. Ablative absolute: some characteristic uses should be 

noticed 

: 

(a) the participle sometimes stands in ablative neuter without 

noun or pronoun, multum disceptato, xv 14, 4 ; 

semel edito, xvi 16, 3. 

{d) the neuter ablative of the participle stands as predicate, with 

a sentence as subject, as satis comperto Vologesen attineri, xiii ;^7, 6 

scripto . . . ut . . . ostenderet, xiii 56, 4 ; see also cognito, xiv 34, 2 ; 

praedicto, xvi 33, 3. (Such an ablative neuter participle may be 

sometimes understood from a participle previously used in another 

gender ; cf. xiv 33, 2 ; xv i, i.) 

(t) ablative absolute is sometimes used though the words might 

be brought into more direct construction with the verb of the 

sentence, as perfecto demum scelere magnitudo eius intellecta est, 

xiv 10, I ; cunctantibus (sc. coniuratis) . . . Epicharis . . . arguere 

coniuratos, xv 51, i ; hausto veneno, tarditatem eius perosus, 

xvi 14, 6. 

{(i) the ablative is thus used by itself without demonstrative or 

relative pronoun when the subject can easily be supplied from the 

sense ; as vulgantibus, xiii 7, i ; promittentibus, xiii 15, 8, 

xiv 

;

SYNTAX 

(e) there is frequently an omission of the antecedent pronoun, 

where a relative clause follows participle or adjective ; adulantibus 

qui . . ., xiv 47, i; sociis .'. . quos, xiv 40, 4; apertis quae, 

XV 27, I, &c. 

22. It should be remembered that the ablative has the wide 

general function of expressing the circumstances attendant on an 

action. This explains 

(a) the frequent occurrence of a substantive and adjective in 

ablative not definitely referable to the categories 'absolute,' 

' causal,' &c., which are names for special developments of the 

general function. Besides ordinary 'absolute' ablatives like acri 

etiam turn libertate, xiii 50, 3 ; incolumi Agrippina, xiv i, i ; 

; there are many for which 

mediis decimanorum delectis, xiii 40, 3 

'ablative of attendant circumstance' would be a better name, as 

crebra vulgi fama, xiii i, 2; magnis patrum laudibus, xiii 11, i 

difficili effugio, xiv 27> 3 ; nulla palam causa, xiv 32, i ; see also 

XV 29, 4. Sometimes there is an approach to the ' causal ' use, as 

errore longo, xiii 56, 6 ; talibus Uteris, xv 25, I ; tali iam Britannici 

exitio, xiv 3, 3. In xv 54, i multo sermone, and xvi 31, i longo 

fletu et silentio, the ablatives have the form of ablative of ' description,' 

but are co-ordinated with a past participle and accompanied 

with adverbs of time, showing that they are meant to indicate 

action, as though equivalent to past participles, i.e. = ablative 

absolute. This makes the strange ablative of description dux 

diversis artibus, xiv 23, 3, more intelligible. 

(d) the ablative of gerund or gerundive as equivalent to a present 

participle or temporal clause introduced by dum ; as trahen?, 

callidumque et simulatorem interpretando, xiii 47, I ; exercendo, 

xiv 20, 5 ; in edita assurgens et rursus inferiora populando, xv 38, 4 ; 

exturbabant . . . appellando, xiv 31, 5 ; explenda simulatione 

(causal, cf. § 19), xiv 4, 8 percursando, xv ; 

8, 3; protegendo, xv 57, 3; 

alendo, xvi 30, i. 

D. Genitive. 

23 [32]. Partitive or quasi-partitive. Such are abundant, the 

partitive meaning being often lost sight of, and the construction 

being equivalent, as in poetry (e.g. ' strata viarum,' Lucr. Verg.), 

to a simple substantive and adjective. 

XV 

;

INTRODUCTION 

(a) after neut. sing., as reliquo noctis, xiv lo, i ; lubricum ado- 

lescentiae, xiv 56, 2 ; plus feminarum, xiv 36, i ; nihil hostium, 

xiv 34, 2 ; idem virium, xiv 52, i ; quidqiiid hoc in nobis auctori- 

tatis est, xiv 43, 2. 

(d) after neut. plur., as reliqua belli, xiv 38, I ; cuncta scelerum, 

xiv 60, I ; occulta coniurationis, xv 74, i. 

(c) after masc. or fem., also frequently, as with pauci, multi, &c. 

and in expressions like obvii servorum, xiv 8, 3 ; praevalidi pro- 

vincialium, xv 20, i. 

{d) with adverbs, as eo contemptionis descensum, xv i, 2. 

(e) 'pensi habere,' xiii 15, 5, adopted from previous writers, is 

referred to this head by Madvig, but to the genitive (or locative) of 

price by Roby (11 86). 

24 [33]- Objective Genitive. 

(a) with verbs. The elliptical genitive, common with verbs of 

accusing and judging, is extended to new examples, as interrogare, 

xiii 14, 2 ; deferre, xiv 48, 2 ; aemulationis suspectos, xiii 9, 2. 

(i) with participles, frequently, as with cupiens, xvi 6, I ; patiens, 

XV 6, 6 ; and (according to one reading) retinens, xvi 5, i. 

(c) with adjectives, frequently ; the genitive sometimes expressing 

the direct object, where accusative with participle might be sub- 

stituted, as imminentium nescius, xv 9, 2 ; 

or a more remote object, 

where ablative with de would be usual, as certus eventus, xiv 

36, 5 ; incuriosum fratris, xv. 31, I ; oftenest expressing the thing 

in point of which a term is applied to a person, as procax otii et 

potestatis temperantior, xiii 46, 5 ; morum diversus, xiv 19 ; morum 

spernendus, xiv 40, 3 ; laborum segnes, xiv ; 33, 4 maeroris immodicus, 

XV 23, ; S occasionum haud segnis, xvi 14, i ; and mani- 

festus, with vanitatis, xiii 23, 2; criminum, xiii 26, 5 ; ambitionis, 

xiv 29, I pavoris, xv 66, ; 

; 3 and coniurationis, xv 60, 3. So too 

'animi validus,' xv 53, 2 (a development of the locative ; Roby, 1 168). 

25 [34]. 

' Quahtative genitive, arising from the meaning belong- 

ing to,' 'a mark of,' as impetus antiqui, xiii 54, 6; tui muneris, 

xiv 55, 

I ; sui muneris, xv 52, 4 ; used with the same brachylogy 

as the ablative of quality, cf. § 18, as semper Romanae ditionis, 

XV 13, 4. To this may be referred diurni quoque victus, xv 38, 7. 

26 [37]. The gerundive genitive. 

(a) This is much used as a defining genitive, as materiem 

xvi 

:

SYNTAX 

arguendae sententiae, xiii 49, l ; interficiendi domini animum, 

xiv 44, I ; constantiam opperiendae mortis, xiv 59, 2. Sometimes 

it is epexegetic of a neuter adjective, as nee grave manu missis . . . 

retinendi libertatem, xiii 26, 4 (supply the idea of ' opus ') ; Vologesi 

vetus et penitus infixum erat arma Romana vitandi, xv 5, 3 (supply 

the idea of 'consilium'). So, perhaps, ostentandi, xv 21, 3, sup- 

plying ' ius ' from the context. 

(d) A remarkable use is iactandi ingenii, xiii il, 2, an imitation 

of the Greek genitive of infinitive expressing purpose, like to 

'KjjaTKov Kadrjpn, tov tus npoauSovs fxaWov levai avT(c (Thuc, i. 4). 

III. Verbs. 

27 [38, 39]. Tacitus uses more freedom than earlier classical 

writers in the omission of verbs of speaking, as in xiii 56, i ; xv 

17, 2, and many other passages ; motion, xiv 8, 4; see also teneri 

(sc. poterat), xiii 41, 3 ; and the elliptical expressions in xiv 7, 2. 

Parts of ' esse,' other than present indicative and infinitive, are 

omitted, especially in relative or dependent clauses, as quod 

peditum (sc. fuit), interfecit, xiv 32, 6 qua proximum . . . 

; Armenios 

petivit, XV 12, I. The subjunctive of this verb is also freely 

omitted when another subjunctive follows, and in oratio obliqua, 

as xiii 55, 5. Note also omission of ' fuisse ' after a future participle, 

XV 16, I ; XV 24, ; 3 xv 67, i. 

28 [40]. Simple verbs are often used in place of compound, a 

poetical use ; as pressus for oppressus, xiv 5,2; for repressus, xiv 

64, 3 ; nosco for cognosce, xv ; 73, 3 haurio (or exhaurio, xvi 18, I 

egerat for coegerat, xvi 34, 

est, xvi 13, 5. 

2. Cf. also movetur, xiv 60, 5 ; solatus 

29 [41]. Verbs usually transitive are used intransitively, as ago, 

xiii 24, I, iS:c. ; verto, xiii 37, 4, &c. ; flecto, xv6i,6 ; moveo, xv 46, 3. 

30 [42]. The personal passives regnantur, xiii 54, 2, and dubi- 

taretur, xiv 7, i, are peculiar. 

IV. Moods and Tenses. 

A. Infinitive. 

31 [43]. Verbs of commanding, entreating, and advising, and 

those expressing effort and compulsion, which in earlier classical 

PITMAN xvii B 

;

INTRODUCTION 

prose are usually followed by ut or ne with subjunctive, occur in 

great numbers in Tacitus followed by infinitive, as orabant cavcre, 

xiii 13, 4 ; mori adactus est, xiii 25, 2 ; perpulit suscipere, xiii 54, 3; 

abire subegit, xiv 26, I ; see also the infinitives after mandavit, 

XV 2, 5 ; monebat, xv 12, 3 ; placuit, xv 14, 5 ; scribitur, xv 25, 6; 

imperavit, xv 28, 3 ; hortarentur, xv 59, i ; suadenti, xvi 9, 3. 

32 [44]. The use of the accusative and infinitive is extended so 

as to follow accusare, xiv 18, i, and dubitare negatived, xv j^, 3. 

33 [45]- The infinitive depending on a verb in a personal construction 

is used in some cases where an impersonal construction 

would be usual in earlier classical prose, as deferuntur consensisse, 

xiii 23, I ; baud creditus sufficere, xiii 30, 3 ; adnotatus . . . praeri- 

guisse, xiii 35, 6 ; adventare audiebatur, xv 6, 4. 

34 [46]. The historic infinitive is very frequent in lively descrip- 

tions, as xiii 13, I and following; xiii 27, i; "Src. ; and is even used 

in temporal clauses when the time at which a state of things began 

has already been specified by a finite verb ; thus with cum, xiv 5, 2 ; 

donee, xiii 57, 6. 

35 [47]. The epexegetic infinitive, a Graecism common in Horace, 

is employed, as factus . . . et exercitus . . . velare, xiv 56, 5. 

B. Indicative. 

36 [48]. The historic present is very common : it is so far treated 

as a past tense as to be sometimes joined with a perfect, as in 

xv 10, 5 and to have a subjunctive dependent upon it in the 

; 

imperfect tense, as ut omitteret maritum emercatur, xiii 44, i ; cf. 

also XV 9, 2. 

37 [49]. Parenthetical or explanatory clauses in the indicative 

are inserted in the midst of oratio obliqua, as with dum, xiii 15, 7, 

&c. quoties, xiv ; 64, 5 ; and relative, xv 61, 6. 

38 [50]. The indicative is used rhetorically in place of subjunctive 

in the apodosis of conditional clauses, stating what might have 

happened as though it had actually occurred ; as exstimula- 

verant . . . nisi impunitatis cupido retinuisset, xv 50, 7; or an in- 

complete action or tendency, showing vividly what was on the 

point of happening, as ibatur in caedes, nisi . . . obviam issent, 

xiii 2, I ; or what would have been, in contrast to what did happen, 

xviii

SYNTAX 

as si . . . ponte transgrederentur, sub ictum dabantur, xiii 39, 8, 

See also xv 6, 6 ; xv 10, i } xv 8, 2. 

C. Subjtttictive. 

39 [si]' The potential subjunctive is frequently employed; in 

the imperfect, as requireies, xiii 3, 6 ; crederes, xvi 4,4: in the 

perfect, as nee facile memoraverim, xv 49, i ; haud promptum 

fuerit, XV 41, i ; neque . . . crediderim, xvi 6, i. 

40 [53]. The subjunctive is used, denoting a fact, with quamquam, 

xiv 36, I ; with quamvis, xv 51,6; and with donee, even when no 

idea of purpose or expectation is implied, xiii 13, I ; xiv 8, 3. 

41 [52]. The subjunctive of cases frequently occurring is comrnsjn 

in Tacitus in subordinate clauses : with unde, xiii 45, 3 ; qua, 

xiv 13, 2 ; ubi, xv 58, 3 ; so too perhaps quae . . . incusaret, 

xiv I, I (though this may also be explained as causal). 

Non quantum inimici cuperent demissus, xiii 42, i,may be referred 

to such limitative uses of subjunctive with relative as the phrase 

'nihil quod sciam'; so also nulla caeli intemperie quae ocuJis 

occur reret, xvi 13, i. 

Notice the use of imperfect subjunctive retaining its past con- 

ditional force though following consecutive ut, in xvi 14, 5 

; adeo 

ut . . . nemo obsignaret nisi Tigellinus auctor exstitisset (for obsi- 

gnaturus fuerit). 

Cf. also § 21. 

V. Participles. 

42 [54]. The aoristic use of the present participle should be noticed 

{n) in ablative absolute, initium faciente Cossutiano, xvi 28, i ; {b) as 

equivalent to a relative clause with a past tense, vincentium, xiv 36, 2. 

43 [54]- The future participle is used expressing Purpose, oppressura, 

xiii 57, 7 ; elusurus, xiv 41, 2, &c. 

44. A participle takes the place of protasis to a conditional 

sentence, as nee . . . defuissent . . . agenti, xiv 55,4; placabilioreir 

fore . . . rebatur nulla sollicitudine turbatum, xiv 59, i. 

45 [55]- A participial expression is preferred to the use of an 

abstract noun followed by a genitive ; captarum pecuniarum crimina, 

xiii 52, I ; receptae Armeniae decus, xiv 29, 2 ; pudore deprehensi 

sceleris, xiv 7, 7 ; evulgatus pudor, xiv 14, 5. 

xix

INTRODUCTION 

VI. Prepositions. 

Cf. also for their omission §§ 5, 8, 13, 14, 19; anastrophe, § 55. 

46 [56-63]. The following are some of the most characteristic 

usages in Tacitus :— 

Apud is much used with names of places and countries as well as 

with common names, in place of locative or in with ablative ; as 

apud urbem, xiv 26, i ; apud Aegeas, xiii 8, 4 ; see also xiii 8, i ; 

xiv 14, 2 ; xvi 15, i. 

Circa=' concerning' (a meaning originating with Seneca and 

Pliny mai.), xvi 8, 3. 

In (a) with accusative, much used in expressing the effect in- 

tended or resulting, like «Vt or nfio?, as in deterius, xiii 14, i ; in 

mains, xiii 8, i ; in mollius, xiv 39, 4 ; in subsidium, xiii 18, 3. 

(d) with ablative of a neuter adjective, as alternative to em- 

ploying the adjective attributively, as in integro, xv 2, ; 4 in 

obscuro, XV 16, 3 ; in incerto, xv 36, 7. 

luxta is used metaphorically as an adverb in the sense of 

'pariter,' xiii 32, l. 

Per has frequently the force of a simple ablative, or ablative with 

ex or in: as per noctem = noctu, xiii 38, 6; crebris crimina- 

tionibus, aliquando per facetias, xiv i, i ; cf xvi 18, i. 

Super is used equivalent to de, xiv 43, i xv ; 5, 5, &c. 

The following are rare, and in no earlier prose : 

Abusque (Verg.), xiii 47, 2 ; xv 37, 5. 

Adusque (Verg., Horace, Ovid), xiv 58, 4. 

VII. Adverbs and Conjunctions. 

47 [64]. Comparative sentences are often abbreviated 

(a) by supplying ' magis ' or ' potius ' before ' ' quam (as in Greek 

liaXXov before rj) ; libens quam coactus acciret dominani, xiv 61, 6 ; 

{^) by the use of a positive with ' quanto,' without the addition 

of magis ; quanto inopina tanto maiora i 68, 5. 

(t) by omission of tanto in apodosis ; i 74) 7 xiii ! 13, I. 

(d) Note also such ' compendious ' expressions of comparison as 

clara et antiquis victoriis par . . . laus parta, xiv 37, 5 ; artibus tuis 

pares xiv 55, 6. 

48 [65]. The omission of conjunctions (asyndeton) is frequent, 

owing to Tacitus' rhetorical tendencies; in lively narration, xiv 61, 1 

XX 

— 

— 

;

SYNTAX 

in enumerations, often leading up to a climax, villas arva vicos, xiii 

57, 5 ; ratione consilio praeceptis, xiv 55, 4 ; senatores eques miles 

feminae etiam, xv 48, I ; and in antitheses, plana edita xv 27, 4. 

49 [66]. Adverbs are used as adjectives, attributively, as in Greek, 

honestis an secus amicis, xiii 6, 6 ; [cuncta extra, xiii 41, 4] ; nulla 

palam causa, xiv 32, i ; cuncta circum, xv 39, i ; cf. circum, xvi 

3, 2 predicatively as dicta inpune erant, i 72, ; 3 ; id . . . inpune 

. . . vertit, xiii 32, 5. 

50 [67]. Tamquam, quasi, and (less frequently) velut are used— 

(a) of something falsely pretended or alleged as reason for the 

action described, quasi subsidium . . . oraret . . . genibus principis 

accidens, xv 53, 2 ; ficta valetudine quasi aeger nervis, xv 45, 5 ; 

tamquam Naxum deveheretur Ostiam amotus, xvi 9, 2 : 

(d) but often the reason alleged may be taken as the real one, or 

at any rate believed in by the person alleging it ; intercessit . . . 

tamquam satis expleta ultione, xiii 43, 7 ; so xiv 41, i ; xv 59, 7 ; 

Neapolim quasi Graecam urbem delegit, xv 33, 2 ; gestabat velut 

. . , sacrum, xv 53, 3 

: 

{c) and in some passages these particles simply introduce a 

reported speech or thought ; vulgi opinio est tamquam mutationem 

regis portendat, xiv 22, i ; so after ' nuntios,' xiv 59, 2 ; after 

' rumore,' xv 73, 2 ; vulgato . . . quasi, xiv 8, i ; conscientia quasi, 

xiv 10, 5. 

Note also xiv 52, 2, where 'tamquam' and 'quasi' are co- 

ordinated with and used as variants for ' quod.' 

Other references are, for 'tamquam,' xiii 28, 5 ; xiii 33, 4; xiv 

33, 6 : for 'quasi,' xiii 18, 3 ; xiii 38, 6; xiv 65, i ; xv 50, ; 4 and 

for ' velut,' xvi 2, i. 

B. STYLE 

I. Innovations in Vocabulary. 

51 [69, 70]. Tacitus constantly prefers unusual forms, as claritudo, 

tirmitudo, to the fo.ms in -as cognomentum to the form in -men ; 

; 

medicamen, tegumen, to the forms in -mentum besides introducing 

; 

words not previously found, or found only in poets. 

The following are some of the most noticeable : 

(a) New verbal substantives, expressing (i) Agent, concertator, 

xiv 29, 2; patrator, xiv 62, 3; profligator, xvi 18, i : (2) Action, 

xxi

INTRODUCTION 

aeimilatus, xiii 46, 5 ; escensus, xiii 39, 6; relatus (perhaps), xv 22, 1 

subvectus, XV 4, 4. 

{b) new negative adjective ; inturbidus, xiv 22, 5. 

{c) new intensive forms ; perornare, xvi 26, 3 ; persimplex, 

XV 45, 6; perseverus, xv 48, 5; praerigescere, xiii 35, 6; praeum- 

brare, xiv 47, i ; praecalidus, xiii 16, 3. 

(d) frequentative forms are preferred to simple ; mansito, xiv 

42, 2 ; occulto, xiv 44, 2 ; factito, xiv 48, i. 

Other new words are deprecabundus, xv 53, 2 ; infensare, 

xiii 37, I ; professorius, xiii 14, 5 ; properato, xiii I, 4; sesquiplaga, 

XV 67, 8: used in new sense, amovere = banish, xiv 57, 

; ; ; 

i ; in- 

troduced from poets, adolere = kindle, xiv 30, 3; ambedere, xv 5, 4; 

breve = shallow water (from ' brevia,' Verg.), xiv 29, 3 indefessus, 

; 

xvi 22, I ; livere, xiii 42, 4; mersare, xv 69, 3; notescere, xiv 16, I 

reclinis, xiii 16, 5 ; transmovere, xiii 35, 2. So too ignarus, xv 62, 3, 

and nescius, xvi 14, 3, are used, as in poets, with passive meaning: the 

passive use of ' gnarus,' as in xv 61, 3, is almost peculiar to Tacitus. 

Besides these words, many of the syntactical usages already 

mentioned are innovations of Tacitus. 

II. Rhetorical and Poetical Colouring. 

To this head belong many syntactical usages already mentioned. 

52 [74]. Among the most noticeable metaphorical expressions in 

these books are the following ; 

{a) verbs, vergente iam die, xiii 38, 7 ; 

exueret magistrum, xiv 52, 6; in mucronem ardescere, xv 54, i ; 

libertas Thrascae servitium aliorum rupit, xiv 49, I ; corrumpere = 

nullify, XV 71, 4; volvere = ponder, xiv 53, 5 provolvere = degrade, 

; 

xiv 2, 4; haurire = destroy, waste, xiii 42, 7; xvi 18, I ; nos prima 

imperii spatia ingredimur, xiv 56, I : {b) substantives, moles, 

xiv 65, 2; XV 2, 5; locorum facies, xiv 10, 5: {c) adjectives, 

lubricus, xiii 2, 2; turbidus, xiv 59, 5: {d) adverb, colles clementer 

adsurgentes, xiii 38, 5. 

53 [75]- Personification is employed to render expressions 

forcible: nox eadem necem Britannici ct rogum coniunxit, xiii 17, i 

so dies, xiv 41, i ; annus, xiii 33, i : cf. also venia, xiii 35, 9 ; Con- 

cordia, xiii 48, 3 ; licentia, xiv 50, 2 ; memoria, xiv 40, 5 ; miseri- 

cordia, xiv 45, 4. 

54 [76]. Hendiadys, the co-ordination of two words of which the

STYLE 

one defines the other like an adjective or genitive, is used by 

Tacitus more frequently than by earlier prose authors : testamenta 

et orbos, xiii 42, 7 

audacia, xv 42, i ; Stoicorum adrogantia sectaque, xiv 57, 5 ; cubi- 

culum ac sinum, xiii 13, 2, 

(cf. opibus et orbitate, xiii 19, 2) ; ingenium atque 

55 [77]- Anastrophe (a) of prepositions is frequent in the case of 

ab, ad, apud, ex, in and inter, but not found with circa, praeter, 

prope, sine, supra, and pro : note also abusque, xiii 47, 2 ; coram, 

XV 24, 3; extra, xiii 47,2; super, xvi 35, 2: following a genitive, 

cubiculum Caesaris iuxta, xiii 15, 8 ; so propter, xiv 9, 3 : between 

two substantives in apposition, Ferentino in oppido, xv 53, 3. 

(/>) of conjunctions ; si occurring fifth word, xiv 3, 3 ; quasi 

seventh, xiv 52, i ; see also quamquam, xiv 21, 7 ; ut, xv 14, i ; 

donee, xiii 33, i. 

56. Anaphora: qui,xiii 21, 7 ; quantum, xiii 28, 4; no.i, xiii 35, 3 ; 

sine, xiii 35, 3 ; &c. 

57. The following expressions may also be noticed here : 

(a) instead of using a concrete substantive qualirted by adjective 

or partic, Tacitus often employs an abstract substantive coupled 

with a concrete in the 'defining' genitive: obiectus moliuni, for 

moles obiectas, xiv 8, 2 ; contrario sagittarum iactu, xv 9, i 

( = sagittis ex adverso iactis) ; communione parietum, xv 43, 4. 

(6) an adjective is sometimes used in agreement with a substan- 

tive to which it does not appear properly to belong, (' Hypaliage ') 

novus nuntius contumeliae, xv i, 2 ; diros sacrorum ritus, xvi 8, 2. 

The idiom is common in Greek tragedy (e.g. velKos dvdpav ^vvcufAnv, 

Soph. Afi/. 793), and arises from regarding the substantive with its 

qualifying genitive as a single notion. 

III. Influence of the Study of Brevity. 

58 [80]. Ellipses. Many such have been already noted, as the 

omission of verbs, § 27, of prepositions, §§ 5, 8, 13, 14, 19, and other 

particles, § 48, as well as many usages adopted for conciseness of 

expiession. 

Note also the passage nee amplius quam &c., xiii 40,6 ; qui . . . 

cremabantur, xvi 13, 2 ; aspexeritne &c., xiv 9, i. 

59 [82]. Parenthetical remarks are sometimes expressed concisely 

by one or more words apparently in apposition in the nominative 

xxiii 

— 

:

INTRODUCTION 

and equivalent to a relative clause ; see rarum, xiii 2, I ; incertum, 

xiv 7, 2. This is to be distinguished from the use noted in § 6, a. 

60 [82]- Zeugma is frequent ; cf. ostendere, xiii 35, 7 ; sumpsere, 

xiv 17, 2 ; exercendo, xiv 20, 5 ; accenderant, xv 4, 4; ardesceret, 

xvi 29, I. 

61 [84]. Pregnant constructions are adopted for conciseness : 

comitia . . . composuit, xiv 28, i ; cf. menses, xvi 12, 3 ; dies con- 

temptus, XV 57, 2. 

IV. Influence of the Study of Variety. 

62 [85]. To this may be ascribed variations in the form of 

Eastern names, as Artaxata, varying between ist and 3rd declen- 

sions, ii 56, 3; xiii 41, 4; so also Tigranocerta, xiv 24, 6; xv 

4, 2 ; xiv 23, I ; xv 6, 2 : and Vologeses, varying between 2nd 

and 3rd, xiii 37, I ; xiii 7, 2. So too Tacitus uses both alioqui and 

alioquin ; balneae and balneum ; dein and deinde ; grates and 

gratias agere ; 

— 

inermis and inermus; senecta and senectus, &c. 

63 [86J. Names often mentioned are varied ; cf. Paetus Thrasea, 

xiii 49, I, but Thrasea Paetus, xiv 12, 2 ; and in many other places 

simply Thrasea, as xvi 21, &c. : or the cognomen alone is used, 

when the name has been given more fully above. 

64 [87-91]. Changes in the form of the expression are often 

introduced in corresponding clauses, simply for the sake of variety ; 

some of the commonest are 

(a) From one preposition to another of similar meaning; adversus 

. . . contra, xiii 35, I ; in . . . apud, xiv 14, 2. 

(d) from a simple case to a case with a preposition ; adversa 

pravitati ipsius, prospera ad fortunam referebat, xiv 38, 5. 

(t) from asyndeta to conjunctions, or from one conjunction to 

another. 

(Often however such changes mark different grades of connexion.) 

{d) change of case or of number, pedes equites, xiv 29, 4 ; 

senatores eques miles feminae, xv 48, i. 

(e) change of Voice : prorupisse rursum Parthos et rapi Arme- 

nian!, xiii 6, I ; trepidatur . . . diffugiunt, xiii 16, 4 ; ef. also xiv 24, 7. 

(/) from ablative to participle, pars mora, pars festinans, xv 38, 5 ; 

cf. inpunitate ... occultus, xiii ; 25, 4 familiaritate . . . adductus.xiv 4, 8 

cupidine . . . metuenti, xv 36, 6 ; revolutus . . . imitatione, xvi 18, 4. 

xxiv 

;

STYLE 

(^) from participle to final or causal clause; sivc . . . suspectans 

. . sive ut . . . , xiii 39, i ; sive . . . incautus . . . sive ut . . ., 

xiii 46, I ; cf. also xv 69, 2 ; or from a noun to such a clause, fato 

quodam an quia praevalent inlicita, xiii 12, 2; supplicationes . .. 

utque, xiii 8, i ; statuae . . . utque, xiii 41, 5. 

(//) from gerundial ablative to participle, trahens . . . interpre- 

tando, xiii 47, i ; adsurgens . . . populando, xv 3S, 4. 

65 [93]- Tacitus further takes evident pains to vary the expression 

of facts that have to be stated often ; 

the great number of different 

phrases used by him for such events as death, suicide, banishment 

will be readily noticed on reading the text. 

V. Influence of Imitation. 

66 [95]. The Graecisms in Tacitus are chiefly such as had 

already become naturalized in Latin, and most have been noticed 

in previous paragraphs. To these may be added ut quisque 

audentiae habuisset, xv 53, 3 ; ut coniectare erat, xvi 34, 2. 

67 [96]. Archaic words revived by Tacitus are mercimonium, 

XV 38, 2 (Plautus), and perduellis, xiv 29, 2 (Ennius, Plautus, &c.). 

68 [97]. The debt of Tacitus to his chief predecessors in historical 

writing and to the great classical poets may here be illustrated by 

a few instances : others can be gathered from previous sections, cf. 

§ 51 {(I) ; and many others are pointed out in the notes on the text. 

(1) Sallust 

: 

Afuuils 

Cat. 25, 5 ingenium eius haut absurdum . . xiii 45, 2 

Jug. 4, 2 memet studium meum laudando extoUere 

Cat. 2, 3 aequabilius atque constantius 

Fr. H. 2, 30 advorsa in pravitatem declinando 

Fr. //. 4, 31 volentia plebi facturus 

y^'g- 5) 3 pauca supra repetam 

(2) Livy: 

vii 37, 14 velut indagine .... 

vii 17, 3 sacerdotes eorum and foil, 

(3) Vergil: 

Aefi. ii 374 rapiunt ( = diripiunt) . 

„ x 532 belli commercia . . . 

„ iii 55 fas omne abrumpit 

XXV 

XIV 43>

INTRODUCTION 

III 

HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION TO THESE BOOKS 

§ I. In the constitution solemnly inaugurated by his acceptance 

of the title of ' Augustus ' at the beginning of B. c. 27, Octavian 

was content to be designated not as 'king' or 'dictator,' but only 

as ' prince.' If this term is, as has been commonly supposed, 

shortened from ' princeps senatus,' it implied only that (as was 

no doubt the fact) his name stood first on the roll of senators, and 

would convey no idea of his relation to the stale. The fact, 

however, that he is always spoken of not as 'princeps senatus' but 

as simply ' princeps ' seems, together with many other considera- 

tions, to point to the conclusion that the term, if an abbreviation 

of any kind, is rather that of some such an expression as ' princeps 

civitatis,'and was intended to designate his general position as first 

citizen of the Republic, which he claimed to have in other respects 

restored in its entirety. 

Thus understood, the title conveys no monarchical idea, and 

does not even imply magistracy ; though certain powers always 

held with it made the princeps first magistrate of the state. 

§ 2. Of these, the first and most important was the ' imperium 

proconsulare,' whereby, in contrast to those holding a more 

limited 'imperium,' he was distinctively the sole 'imperator\' or 

'emperor,' of the Roman empire, and commander-in-chief of all 

its fleets and armies. Not only the ' legati ' of his own special 

provinces, but also the proconsuls of those left to the senate, 

ranked as his subordinates ; and all miiitary operations were held 

by a fiction to be conducted under his ' auspicia '^ 

' ; while, by 

a further extension, this power was valid also in Italy and even 

within the walls of Rome, giving him not only the supreme 

command of the home army and police, but also power of life and 

death over all citizens, even of senatorial rank, and a special juris- 

1 The use of this title, as comitiemorative of victories (see on xiii 41, 

5), is distinct from its uê to denote supreme command. 

" xiii 6, 5 ; xv 26, 3. 

xxvi

HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION 

diction, whereby he could either try in person criminal and civil 

charges of every description, or remit them, as he thought fit, to 

other tribunals. 

§ 3. Hardly less important was the ' tribunitia potestas.' In 

the later time of the Republic, the office of tribune had been 

generally the most powerful urban magistracy, as that of proconsul 

had been the chief title of military command ; and the princeps 

was as much above ordinary tribunes as above ordinary proconsuls. 

He held office for life, was hampered by the veto of no 

colleague \ and was known to be able, if need be, to support any 

coercive action by military force. From this office he derived 

personal inviolability ; it was through it that he could summon the 

senate and propose questions to it, as well as intervene to forbid 

or modify any decree displeasing to him. Also, in this capacity, 

he seems to have so far represented the people, that the old civic 

right of ' provocatio ad populum' from the sentence of the magis- 

trate passes into an appeal to Caesar, and the whole prerogative 

of pardon is thus vested in him I 

§ 4. By a third power, that of the ' regimen legum et morum,' 

he retained to himself the most important powers belonging to the 

ancient censorship^, such as the revision of the lists of senators 

and knights, and the expulsion of unworthy members of those 

bodies. 

§ 5. Another office, regularly held by the princeps from and 

after B.C. 12, was that of 'pbntifex maximus,' whereby he became 

the supreme authority in many of the chief religious questions 

belonging to the state. 

§ 6. It will be seen that the form of the Roman Republic was 

preserved ; that the Caesars professedly derived their power from 

their tenure of republican magistracies or modifications of such, 

and were supreme by a combination of such offices, and by such 

extension of their functions as would not seem inconsistent with 

' The suggestion of a tribune, to veto a decision of the senate known to 

be in accordance with Nero's wishes, was scouted as futile, xvi 26, 6. 

' xiii 43, 7 ; xiv 48, 3, 

' The censorship itself was allowed to drop after K. c. 22, and was very 

rarely revived by subsequent emperors. 

xxvii

INTRODUCTION 

their original idea. Not unfrequently the princeps also filled one 

of the consulships^, rather as a recognition of the dignity of the 

office than as deriving any additional power from it. Otherwise, 

the annual magistracies existed on their ancient footing, and dis- 

charged their usual duties of routine ; the most important being 

those of the consuls, as the regular presidents of the senate, and of 

the praetors, as presiding over and regulating the ' iudicia publica.' 

Side by side with them were important new officers directly appointed 

by the princeps ; of whom the ' praefectus praetorlo ' and 

'praefectus vigilum' were his military and police vicegerents in 

Rome, while the ' praefectus urbi ' and ' praefectus annonae ' must 

have encroached on some functions of the republican magistrates 

§ 7. Passing from the magistrates to the senate and the comitia, 

we find that one of the first acts of Tiberius was practically to 

annihilate the latter body, by transferring the election of magis- 

trates to the senate ^ The people may probably have felt that 

the substance of power had long since departed from them, and 

that only the shadow had now followed it : at any rate, the 

change took place without serious opposition, and the populace 

were left with nothing henceforth to care for but their bread and 

their amusements *. 

§ 8. With the senate ii was outwardly far otherwise. In place 

of the ' senatus populusque Romanus,' in whose name the acts of 

Rome used to run, this august body alone remained, with ap- 

parently still more than its ancient majesty. ' Affairs that con- 

cerned the state, and the most important affairs which concerned 

individuals^,' were still handled by it with apparent freedom; its 

decrees come to differ only in form from laws ; in choosing magis- 

trates, who by virtue of such magistracy tecome senators ^ it is 

formally a self-elective body ; in form even the right of choosing 

the princeps himself devolves upon it ^ ; the whole narrative of 

' xiii 1 1 ; xiii 31 ; xiii 34. 

^ An attempt to bring a criminal before a praetor rather than the 

praefectus urbi is noticed in xiv 41, 2. 

^ xiv 28. * ' Panem et circenses,' Juv. 10, 81. ' iv 6, 2. 

* As a rule, the senate was entered through the quacstorship. 

' Thus afier the death of Claudius the senate confiimed the soldiers' 

choice of Nero, xii 69, 3. 

xxviii 

^


Tacitus is full of its debates and decisions. As of old, it awards 

triumphal honours and other recognition of victories^, and sends 

its thanks or rewards to allied kings as representative of the state ; 

it decrees public funerals ^ and other honours to the dead ' ; it 

makes regulations to repress disorder*, and curb extravagance^ 

and immorality, and to deal stringently with the abuses of religious 

or superstitious practices ; while, abroad, all important questions 

appertaining to the administration of its own provinces are referred 

to it. Besides all this, the senate has supplanted the praetor's 

tribunal as the great high court of criminal justice, before which 

culprits of rank are almost always arraigned, especially on the 

constantly recurring charge of ' maiestas".' 

§ 9. Those, however, who could look below the surface knew 

well that, not the senate, but the emperor through the senate, 

governed ; and that it acted rather as representative of him than 

of the state. Every magistrate was really so far his nominee that 

only such candidates as had his recommendation, or at least his 

approval ''. could be chosen ; and as the entry to the senate itself 

was through magistracy " or by the direct nomination of the princeps', 

every senator must have felt that he owed his position to the 

emperor ; who, besides the powers formally conferred on him, had 

all the advantage arising from the general recognition that, who- 

ever was master of the legions, was master of as much else as he 

thought fit to claim. 

§ 10. If we look to the practical working of the imperial administration, 

the chief difference felt by the inhabitants of Rome 

must have consisted in the greater maintenance of order. Seven 

thousand ' vigiles ' were distributed over the city ; a more distinctly 

^ xiii 8 ; xiii 41 ; xv 18, i. ^ xiii 2, 6. ' xv 23, 4. * xiv 17, 4. 

' xiii 5, I. ^ xiii 42, 43 ; xvi 22, 9. 

' The princeps ' commended ' two out of the twenty quaestors annually 

elecled, four out of the twelve praetors, and ' nominated ' the consuls. The 

consulship was rarely held for a full year : the two consuls who gave their 

name to the year retired after a few months, and were succeeded by 

' consules suffecti.' Two months eventually became the ordinary length of 

tenure of this office, so that there were twelve consuls per annum. 

' i. e. by the quaestorship (see above, § 8). 

' Some senators are styled 'adlecti a principe,' 

xxix

INTRODUCTION 

military police force of three urban cohorts, each a thousand strong, 

enforced the summary jurisdiction of the city praefect ; and nine 

praetorian cohorts of similar strength were at hand, if needed. 

This security must have been in itself no small boon to trade and 

industry ; and even the poorest class must have found their gain 

in the more systematic regulation of the corn supply. 

§ II. In the empire outside, the most important change to 

notice is the division of provinces made in B. c. 27 between 

Augustus and the senate, whereby only the more peaceful were 

retained by the latter ; 

those lately acquired, or otherwise needing 

the presence of military force, being taken over by the emperor. 

§ 12. Of the senatorial provinces, the two chief were Asia and 

Africa. The former, comprising a large triangular tract with its 

base on the western coast of Asia Minor, included generally Mysia, 

Lydia, Caria, and nearly all Phrygia, with most of the islands in 

the Aegean, and had its metropolis and seat of government at 

Ephesus. The latter would coincide in modern geography with 

the western part of Tripoli, the whole of Tunis, and a considerable 

portion of Algeria, its chief cities being Utica and the new Julian 

colony of Carthage. 

§ 13. For the proconsulshi^j of these two great provinces lots 

were drawn annually by the two senior consulars who had not 

previously held either. The other senatorial provinces, eight or 

nine in number', were similarly allotted to annual governors, also 

styled proconsuls, though usually only of praetorian rank. Their 

duties, as a rule, were civil only, nor are any soldiers, except a few 

by way of police, to be found generally in these provinces ''. Besides 

the assistance of one or more legati of high senatorial rank, each 

proconsul was attended by a quaestor, who received all sums due 

to the aerarium. 

§ 14. The Caesarian provinces, whose revenues formed the 

main support of the fiscus, comprised all those fronting the enemies 

' Those usually .-o reckoned were .Sicily, Sardinia (with Corsica), 

HispaniaBaetica, Gallia Narbonensis, Macedonia, Achaia, Bithynia, Cyprus, 

and Crete (with Cyrene) ; but some of these were at times given over to 

Caesar. 

' Afiica formed an exccjition to this rule, having a regular force of one 

legion. 

XXX


of the empire, and many other important countries. Their 

governors, appointed directly by the princeps, held office during 

his pleasure, usually for from three to five years, but often for much 

longer periods ', and, like proconsuls of senatorial provinces, had 

the assistance of 'Icgati,' as also of a 'procurator fisci,' whose 

duties answered to those of the quaestor. Holding often the command 

of large armies, and having much fuller power of life and 

death -, these governors were in a far higher real position than that 

of a senatorial proconsul; although, in recognition of the sole 

' proconsulare imperium ' of the emperor, none had a higher title 

than that of ' lega'.us Augusti propraetore.' 

§ 15. To the greatest provinces, in which large forces were 

stationed, legati of consular rank were always sent \ Foremost 

among these are Upper and Lower Germany and Syria, each with 

its garrison of four legions, those of the German armies full/ 

organized and trained by war against the unsubdued tribes beyond 

the Rhine, and those of Syria charged with maintaining the prestige 

of Rome against Parthia. 

§ 16. Another class, corresponding to the second class of 

senatorial provinces, comprised those in which only a single legion, 

or even a smaller force, was stationed. In these the legatus was 

usually only of praetorian rank, but had otherwise the same status 

as in the greater provinces. As an example of such may be taken 

the three divisions of Gaul, Gallia Belgica, Lugdunensis, and 

Aquitania, for all of which insignificant forces seem ordinarily to 

have sufficed, with the German legions in reserve in case of a rising. 

§ 17. In a third class of provinces of still less importance, the 

procurator, of only equestrian rank, instead of being placed under 

a legatus, is himself the acting governor, perhaps usually in some 

subordination to the legatus of a neighbouring province. One wellknown 

instance of such a government in the time of Tiberius, that 

' See note on Poppaeus Sabinus, xiii 45, i ; and note the length of 

Corbulo's appointment in the East. 

* Senatorial proconsuls coukl not (except in Africa) execute a soldier; and 

any citizen, under a capital charge, could appeal from any governor to 

Caesar. A well-known instance is that of St. Paul (Acts xxv. 11). 

'' 

Besides those here mentioned, Ilispania Tarraconensis, Moesia, 

Pannonia, and Dalmatia, belonged to this class. 

xxxi

INTRODUCTION 

of Pontius Pilatus in Judaea, shows that an officer even of this r?nk 

might have command of at least a cohort '. 

§ 18. Egypt, as the great granary of Rome, had an exceptional 

position, and, though held by a considerable force, was entrusted 

to no legatus, but jealously retained by the princeps under his own 

control, with a vicegerent of equestrian rank styled ' praefectus.' 

§ 19. All governors of provinces had fixed salaries from the 

and cruelty and extortion, though by no means things of 

treasury ; 

the past, enjoyed far less impunity than such as collusive accusers, 

or judges interested in connivance, had often secured for the 

culprit in former times. From this cause, probably also from the 

more equitable assessment of tribute through a systematic census, 

the provinces are admitted to have been gainers by the fall of the 

Republic, and there is evidence that those placed under the 

emperor were more economically governed than the senatorial. 

§ 20. Several states and kingdoms not formally reduced to 

provinces, but left semi-independent under native rulers, helped 

to strengthen the empire against hostile nations ^ 

§ 21. The great mihtary force of the empire was massed along 

its north-eastern frontier, formed, roughly speaking, by the Rhine, 

Danube, and Euphrates. The eight legions of Germany and the 

four of Syria have been already mentioned ; the line of the Danube 

was secured by five in Moesia and Pannonia, supported by two 

more in Dalmatia ; to these are to be added two in Egypt, one in 

Africa, and three in Spain, making- up the whole standing force of 

twenty-five legions. Italy had no other garrison than the prae- 

torian and urban cohorts (whose head quarters were in Rome), and 

the fleets of Misenum and Ravenna. 

§ 22. The legion, commanded by a legatus of senatorial, often 

even of praetorian rank, consisted of ten cohorts, each subdivided 

into three maniples, each of which contained two centuries. All 

its soldiers, though recruited freely from all parts of the empire, 

were Roman citizens ; but a large auxiliary or non-citizen force 

was always attached to it, supplementing it chiefly with light troops 

and cavalry : the whole corps being thus made up to a strength of 

about 1 0,000 of all arms and descriptions. The main armies may 

St. Malt, x.xvii 27, i


thus be rated in the aggregate at about 250,000 men ; to which 

perhaps 100,000 may be added for the troops of Italy, the marines of 

the fleets, and the detached bodies stationed in peaceful provinces. 

§ 23. This organization as a whole dates from Augustus, and 

was maintained by Tiberius as he found it, without other change 

of importance than the transference of the election of magistrates to 

the senate, and the concentration of the praetorian guard in Rome. 

On alterations under Claudius and Nero. 

§ 24. Under Claudius more and more of the work of the State 

passed out of the hands of the senate and its magistrates ; and 

knights or freedmen, as ministers of the emperor, responsible to 

him alone, were appointed over new departments of administration 

at home and abroad. Nero professed to restore to the senate and 

law-courts functions that had been usurped by his predecessor's 

creatures (xiii 4, 3). But this restoration, even if sincerely intended 

at the outset, was out of harmony with the natural trend of events 

the old-fashioned, cumbrous machinery of the senate made it a 

hindrance rather than a help in the work of government. Again, 

from its quasi-independent status, the senate was, in the emperor's 

eyes, a perpetual source of possible rebellion. And so in the course 

of his reign Nero's original attitude of professed respect for the 

senate changed to one of fear and suspicion. He exterminated its 

noblest and most eminent members, and it is recorded that he even 

threatened at one time to abolish the whole order and govern solely 

through knights and freedmen (Suet. Ner. 37). 

§ 25. As the breach between the emperor and the aristocracy 

continually widened, he was brought into closer relation with the 

populace. The transference of the cost of the corn dole from the 

aerarium to the fiscus, whether actually the work of Claudius or 

Nero, seems to have borne its chief fruit under the latter. The 

mass, who now thus, in the most direct way, looked to the princeps 

for their food, dispensed in his name and by his officers, and supplemented 

by gifts of various kinds and by constant and gratuitous 

amusements, formed a vast and increasing 'clientela Caesaris,' in 

comparison with which the adherents of the shattered and im- 

poverished aristocratic houses could have been no more than a 

handful. 

piTMAS xxxiii C 

:

INTRODUCTION 

IV 

LIFE OF NERO 

§ I. He was born in December, 37 a.d. About two years later his 

father, Cn. Domitius, died, and his mother Agrippina, daughter of 

Germanicus, the favourite hero of both army and people, wâs 

banished on the discovery of Lentulus Gaetuiicus' plot against 

Gaius. She was however recalled by Claudius shortly after his 

accession, January 41, A.D., her son having meanwhile been under 

the charge of his aunt Domitia Lepida. In his early childhood he 

was exposed to the jealous dislike of Messalina, but, owing doubt- 

less to his descent from Germanicus, he was a favourite of the 

people, and in 47 A. D., at his appearance in the 'ludus Troiae ' in 

the ' ludi saeculares' together with Messalina's son Britannicus, he 

obtained a noticeable preponderance of applause. 

§ 2. On Messalina's overthrow, 48 a.d., Agrippina became wife 

of Claudius, and did not rest till she had secured her own son's 

preference over the head of Britannicus. In 49 A. D., he was 

betrothed to Octavia, daughter of Claudius, and in the next year 

v/as adopted by the emperor, a step recommended as likely to 

strengthen Britannicus' position ! He now laid aside the name of 

L. Domitius and took that of Ti. Claudius Nero Caesar, or, more 

fully, Nero Claudius Caesar Drusus Germanicus, and was soon 

enabled to supplant the 'brother' whom he was supposed to 

support. Being three years older than Britannicus, he now took 

precedence as Claudius' eldest son ; in 51 a.d. he assumed the 

toga virilis before the rightful age, received the title of princeps 

iuventutis, held proconsulare imperium except within the city, and 

was designated to hold the consulship in his twentieth year. These 

honours, and his appearance in the circus in the state dress of 

a Roman magistrate where Britannicus was simultaneously seen 

in mere boy's 'praetexta' sufficiently indicated which of the two 

was designed to be Claudius' successor. The powerful freedman 

Narcissus attempted to secure a reaction against Agrippina's in- 

fluence and to ensure the succession for Britannicus, but Agrippina 

removed the emperor by poison lest his vacillation might undo her 

schemes ; the praetorians were commanded by her nominee Burrus, 

xxxiv

LIFE OF NERO 

and they and the legions had large rewards to expect for support- 

ing her ; a single sitting of the senate confirmed Nero in all the 

imperial powers and privileges, and he accordingly entered on his 

rule in October, 54 A. D., being now two months short of his seven- 

teenth year. 

§ 3. In the first five years of his reign, covered by Book xiii, the 

faults of Nero's character were not fatal to good government. The 

better influences around him were sufficiently strong to secure 

outwardly a period of improved administration, and this ' quinquennium 

Neronis' was subsequently eulogized by Trajan as the 

best period of government since the foundation of the principate. 

It was his avowed aim to avoid the abuses of the late reign, in 

which public policy and the administration of justice had become 

matters of palace intrigue (xiii 4). The senate was encouraged to 

resume its executive functions, and passed numerous measures, 

some even in subversion of what Agrippina championed as 'acta 

Claudii' (chs. 5, 26, 28, 32) ; as chief criminal court, it dealt with 

corrupt practices under the late reign (chs. 42, 43), as well as with 

provincial misgovernment, of which twelve cases were tried between 

the years 54 and 61 A.D., a large number for a period of that length. 

Foreign policy was vigorously conducted : the crisis in the East 

was met by the judicious appointment of Corbulo ; in Germany, 

encroachments previously overlooked were checked by a new legatus 

provincial governors were deprived of one of their methods 

(ch. 54) ; 

of evading the legal consequences of maladministration (ch. 31,5). 

As regards theprinceps' own share in government, Pallas, Claudius' 

favourite, was dismissed from the control of the emperor's privy 

purse, and apart from direct bids for populari-y, such as the largesses 

given at the beginning of his reign, the withdrawal of the guard 

from the theatre (ch. 24), and the erection of a new amphitheatre 

in Rome (ch. 31), we may trace a genuine desire for the benefit of 

his subjects in his regulations against the extortions of the publicani 

(ch. 51), in his chimerical scheme to abolish the vectigalia through- 

out the empire and derive the state revenues solely from the tributa 

from which citizens were exempt (ch. 50), and in his assignment of 

lands to veterans to recruit the dwindling population of Italian 

towns (xiv 27). But the responsibilities of government did not 

have the effect of drawing out the better qualities of Nero's 

XXXV

INTRODUCTION 

character, as was often the case with Romans even of profligate 

life (of. the case of Otho, ch. 46, and Petronius, xvi 18). His 

vicious tendencies were merely disguised, or for the present 

repressed, and even at this time his brutal rioting at night and 

in the theatre (ch. 25), his murder of Britannicus (chs. 15-17), 

his expulsion of Sulla (ch. 47), and his adultery with Poppaea 

(ch. 46), were ominous signs of what he was to become. 

§ 4. In the next Book (xiv), his wickedness reaches its culmination. 

The earlier chapters are occupied with his murder of his mother, 

a crime prompted by personal fear and dislike. While she lived, 

he dared not divorce Octavia, or gratify his vanity by publicly 

exhibiting his accomplishments as musician and charioteer. That 

there was any danger that Agrippina might head a movement for 

his overthrow is unlikely; though she could still count on the 

devotion of the army (ch. 7, 5), her previous assertion (xiii 21, 8) 

that she had more to lose than gain by the deposition of her son 

still represented her position ; and in the document sent to the 

senate to justify the murder, the charge of attempted assassination 

brought against her was so manifestly untenable that main emphasis 

was thrown upon the additional enumeration of charges relating to 

her previous life (crimina longius repetita, ch. 11), to prove that 

her existence in the state was undesirable on general grounds. 

Nothing however is so characteristic in Nero as his cowardice in 

the face of public opinion. Though he had obtained the servile 

acquiescence of all classes (publici servitii victor, ch. 13, 3) in the 

murder, he feared to be too precipitate in carrying out the designs 

which his mother's removal made easier to him. In exhibiting 

himself as a public performer, an act deemed horribly degrading 

to a Roman noble, and superlatively so to the princeps, he pro- 

ceeded tentatively, appearing first in his private grounds, and only 

gradually making the performances public. Nor did he venture on 

his next domestic crime, the divorce and murder of Octavia, till 

Burrus had been succeeded in the command of the praetorians by 

Tigellinus, and till he had found the execution of his possible rivals 

Sulla and Plautus (chs. 57-59) hailed with all the marks of approval 

by senate and people. 

§ 5. In Book XV the tyrant is seen at the height of his power, with 

Tigellinus and Poppaea as his secret and most influential advisers, 

xxxvi

LIFE OF NERO 

His depraved lusts have full play and Rome becomes a scene of 

gross licentiousness. He exhibits himself on the public stage at 

Naples and meditates a tour of artistic triumph among the cities of 

Greece. But his power was declining, as the conspiracy recounted 

in the latter part of the book shows. With the army, his credit had 

been impaired by a reverse in Britain (xiv 32, 33), followed by a 

disgraceful surrender in Armenia (xv 14, 15), and many soldiers 

were imbued with the characteristically Roman view that bracketed 

Nero's performances in theatre and arena with his worst crimes 

(xv 65, 2 ; 67, 3). The affection of the people, already shaken by 

the insistence on the harsh sentence against the household of 

Pedanius Secundus {xW 42, 45) and by the disregard of popular 

sympathy with Octavia, was further weakened by a widespread 

rumour that he was accountable for the great fire (xv 44, 2) ; and 

his fiendish cruelty to the Christians, on whom he fastened the 

blame, ended by moving compassion for the victims. The upper 

classes saw that high birth, uprightness, popularity, and in fact 

eminence of any kind, were dangerous : Burrus, it was believed, 

had been poisoned ; Seneca had sought safety in retirement ; the 

use of the statute dealing with 'maiestas' had been revived and 

might soon be turned against fresh victims ; Thrasea had received 

direct notice of the emperor's disfavour (xv 23, 5). Under these 

conditions there was ample prospect that a change of ruler would 

be generally welcomed, and when the better of the two prefects of 

the praetorians, Faenius Rufus, joined the conspiracy, it seemed to 

have every chance of success. But both Piso, who was to take 

Nero's place, and Faenius Rufus alike behaved with fatal 

pusillanimity at the critical moment when information of the plot 

had reached Nero ; they dropped their plans without striking 

a blow ; and Nero was able to follow up his detection of the plot 

with a very reign of terror, striking down not only those whose 

complicity could be proved or suspected, but others whom he feared 

or disliked on other grounds. Thus fell C. Cassius and L. Silanus, 

and the other victims enumerated in Book xvi, of whom the most 

prominent are Thrasea and Soranus. Against the former there is 

no direct charge of conspiracy, but his abstention from public life, 

an attitude adopted shortly after the emperor's renunciation of his 

friendship, formed the basis of the charge against him (xvi 22) ; 

xxxvii

INTRODUCTION 

and the way in which his friends were dragged into the same 

prosecution on the flimsiest grounds shows that he was held to 

be dangerous to the principate, as being the head of a coterie pro- 

fessing Stoicism and holding a republican ideal of government, as 

antagonistic in fact to Nero as Cato had been to Julius Caesar. 

There is perhaps the same motive to repress Stoicism to be found 

in the attack on Soranus, Rubellius Plautus' friend and fellow Stoic, 

as the nominal charges against him deal with matters long past, 

and are evidently mere pretexts for his destruction (xvi 23). 

§ 6. At this point the narrative of the Annals breaks off, and our 

knowledge of the last two years of Nero's life^ is derived from 

other sources. To his previous crimes he added the murder of his 

sister Antonia and his stepson Rufrius Crispinus ; his jealous fear 

of the commanders of the legions caused him to execute Corbulo, 

as well as the brothers Scribonius Rufus and Proculus, the legati 

of the two German provinces; and he filled his purse by executing 

and seizing the property of many wealthy Greeks and the six rich 

possessors of half the province of Africa. And that ' delation ' and 

execution went on busily in Rome during this period is indicated 

by the numerous references in the Histories to informers under 

Nero, whose careers seem hardly to have begun when the Annals 

break off. 

§ 7. For our knowledge of Nero's overthrow it is much to be 

regretted that we have not an account from Tacitus, to throw 

light on the real aims of Vindex and his relations with Galba and 

Verginius, and to show how it was that the armies of three such 

dissimilar provinces as Gaul, Germany, and Spain combined for 

Nero"s deposition. Doubtless the leaders of the movement saw, 

from the execution of other legati, that there was no safety for 

them under the existing regime ; as for the soldiers, such standing 

grounds of discontent as had caused the mutiny on the death of 

Augustus would have been aggravated at this time by news of the 

piinceps' conduct in Greece and elsewhere, and by jealousy at the 

gifts lavished on the praetorians (xv 72, i), especially if, as 

Suetonius says, their own pay was in arrears. 

In Rome itself, the praetorians were naturally disposed to remain 

* for chief events see Appendix to Book xvi. 

xxxviii

LIFE OF NERO 

loyal to Nero : but the latter showed himself helpless and cowardly 

in the crisis, while Tigellinus, incapacitated by debauchery and 

disease, had lost his power over the troops, so that his colleague 

Nymphidius was enabled to win them over to Galba's support by 

promise of a large donative. 

§ 8. It is a curious fact that after Nero's death there still remained 

people who viewed his memory with affection and long continued 

to deck his grave with flowers ; while the secrecy of his end made 

it possible for many to believe that he still lived and would one 

day return to resume his power, and pretenders to his name ap- 

peared not only soon after his death but even some twenty years later. 

§ 9. Tacitus' description of Nero conveys to us the impression of 

a character without interest in the practical side of life, but caring 

only for art and amusements, sinking through unrestrained and 

unnatural indulgence to the condition of a monster in whom all 

sense of right and wrong was lost. And though misrepresentation 

is a common characteristic of the historians of the period of the 

early empire, making caution necessary in our final estimate of 

Tiberius and Claudius, in the case of Nero accounts are in the 

main consistent and credible, and it seems unlikely that further 

knowledge would give a more favourable picture than Tacitus has 

left us. For one who was responsible for the death of every near 

relation he had in the world and of so many of the highest and 

best of his contemporaries, there is small possibility of e.xtenuation. 

AFFAIRS IN THE EAST 

§ I. The disturbances in Armenia, leading to the hostilities 

with that country and Parthia, had originated in Claudius' reign. 

Mithridates, an Iberian prince, who became king of Armenia with 

Tiberius' support in 35 A. D., was assassinated by his son-in-law 

Rhadamistus, at the instigation of the Iberian king Pharasmanes. 

in 52 A.D., and the Roman troops who were in Armenia at the 

time, ostensibly for Mithridates' support, allowed the murder to 

pass, and apparently withdrew leaving Rhadamistus in possession 

of the kingdom, 

xxxix

INTRODUCTION 

Vologeses, king of Parthia, now took the opportunity to support 

his brother Tiridates in claiming the kingdom in place of Rhada- 

mistus, and occupied the chief cities of Armenia without resistance. 

But the Parthian troops withdrawing in the same winter (53 A.D.), 

Rhadamistus returned and again made himself king, but governed 

with such cruelty that his subjects rebelled, and drove him in 

flight to Iberia, where for a while he kept up a desultory warfare 

against Tiridates. The latter however had the support of the 

Parthians, and at the opening of Nero's reign was master of the 

situation in Armenia. 

§ 2. It was the standing policy of the early emperors that 

Armenia should be under a king owning the suzerainty of Rome, 

and vigorous measures were now taken to assert Roman prestige 

in the East against the encroachment of Parthia. To Tiridates 

personally it seems there was no insuperable objection, in default 

of other more desirable candidates for the throne of Armenia : the 

kingdom must however in the eyes of the world come to him from 

Rome and not from Parthia. It was, then, to secure this point 

rather than enforce Roman domination over Armenia that war was 

now undertaken : the more ambitious policy announced at a sub- 

sequent stage by Caesennius Paetus (xv 6, 6) did not receive the 

serious support of the home government : and that the aims of 

Rome were throughout limited to securing Tiridates' homage for 

his kingdom seems likely from the account of the delay in commencing 

hostilities, the overtures repeatedly made to the enemy 

(xiii 37, 6 ; XV 5 

hold and use the advantages secured by his overwhelming military 

superiority (xv 6). 

; xv 27, 1-3), and the reluctance of Corbulo to 

§ 3. In his account of the war Tacitus has devoted himself 

principally to giving a lively character-sketch of Corbulo, depicting 

him as an able reformer of a disorganized army and an efficient 

commander in contrast to his futile rival Paetus. The vagueness 

of geographical and chronological details supplied leaves much to 

be desired. The narrative often leaves it uncertain whether a 

series of events belongs to more than a single campaign, and 

where a winter is mentioned its proper year is often a matter 

of dispute. The following are the considerations from which 

the chronological summary of the chief events of the war, given 

xi

AFFAIRS IN THE EAST 

below, is conjecturally pieced out. The events of Book xv fall 

within the years 61-63 A.D., since the close of the events described 

in Book xiv chs. 23-26 is referred to the same year as the affairs 

of xiv 27, viz. 60 A.D. As for the events in Book xiv, the long 

break between ch. 23 and the last mention of Armenian affairs 

in Book xiii 41 makes it natural to regard the campaigns described 

in passages so far apart as belonging to different years. Now the 

capture of Artaxata (xiii 41) is, by the opening words of xiii 42,- 

to be referred to the same year as the trial of SuiJlius, viz. 58 A.D. 

so that we get the two years 59-60 A.D. for the events of xiv 23-26. 

Tigranocerta was captured after the gathering of harvest (xiv 24, 3), 

and a sufficient number of important events happened after it; 

capture to justify attributing it to the first of the two years covered 

by xiv 23-26. Then, as Artaxata was taken in 58 A.D., the winter 

(xiii 35, s) spent by Corbulo in Arrffcnia prior to its capture will 

be that of 57-58 A.D., and this leaves an interval of three years 

between Corbulo's appointment and his actual commencement of 

hostilities, the greater part of which we may conjecture was 

occupied by him in reorganizing his troops (xiii 35), while active 

operations were rendered for the time unnecessary owing to 

Vologeses' withdrawal from Armenia (xiii 7, 2). 

§ 4. We get accordingly the following scheme of events : 

55-56 A.D. Reorganization of troops by Corbulo. 

A. D. Advance of Roman troops into Armenia : their winter- 

57 

quarters in Armenia (xiii 35). 

58 A.D. Campaign of Corbulo in the north of Armenia against 

Tiridates; march upon and capture of Artaxata (xiii 35-41)- 

59 A.D. Corbulo's march from Artaxata, past the Mardi, round 

the foot of Mounts Ararat and Niphates, to Melazgerd ; sufferings 

from heat and famine ; crops obtained in Melazgerd ; march 

continued through Tauraunitium to Tigranocerta; capture of 

Tigranocerta, followed by that of Legerda (xiv 23-25). 

60 A.D. Change of policy, perhaps owing to Corbulo's conquest 

the Romanized 

of Armenia and the complete expulsion of Tiridates ; 

prince Tigranes appointed king of Armenia ; measures to safe- 

guard him (xiv ; 26, 3) retirement of Corbulo to Syria. 

61 A.D. Fresh efforts on the part of Vologeses to restore 

Tiridates; Tigranocerta successfully defended by Tigranes; 

;

INTRODUCTION 

arrangement made between Corbulo and Vologeses that Tigranes 

should evacuate Armenia, while a Parthian embassy should apply 

to Rome for the settlement of the Armenian question (xv 1-5). 

62 A. D. Rejection of Parthian proposals : arrival of Caesennius 

Paetus professing a commission to make Armenia a province ; his 

campaign in Armenia and premature withdrawal into winter 

quarters ; sudden attack of Vologeses on Paetus and disgraceful 

surrender of the latter, followed by panic flight of the Roman army 

from Armenia, Tiridates and Vologeses being left in possession 

(xv 7-17). 

63 A.D. Rejection of offer that Tiridates should do homage to 

Nero's efifigy in Syria or Cappadocia ; great extension of authority 

to Corbulo ; invasion of Armenia by Corbulo, and Tiridates' sub- 

mission (xv 24-31)'. 

Nero received Tiridates' homage at Rome in 66 a.d. (xvi 24), 

and the arrangement thus made with Armenia lasted on without 

disturbance till the time of Trajan. 

' The student will find a valuable contribution on the chronology of 

this Armenian war, by Mr. B. W. Henderson, in The Classical Review, 

vol. XV nos. 3, 4, and 5 

xlii

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ANNALES 

XIII- XVI

CORNELII TACITI ANNALIUM [a.U.C. 807. 

LIBER XIII. 

1. Prima novo principatu mors lunii Silani proconsulis 

Asiae ignaro Nerone per dolum Agrippinae paratur, non quia 

ingenii violentia exitium inritaverat, segnis et dominalionibu s 

aliis fastiditus, adeo ut Gaius Caesar pecudem auream eum 

5 appellare solitus sit : verum Agrippina fratri eius L. Silano 2 

necem molita ultorem metuebat, crebra vulgi fama ante-i 

ponendum esse vixdum pueritiam egresso Neroni et imperium' 

per scelus adepto yirum-aetote. composita. insontem, nobilem/ 

et, quod tunc sp£ ctaretur, e Caesarum posteris : quippe et 

10 Silanus divi August! abnepos erat. haec causa necis. ministri 3 

fuere P. Celer eques Romanus et Helius libertus, rei familiari 

principis in Asia inpositi. ab his proconsuli venenum inter 

epulas datum est aperlius quam ut fallerent. nee minus 4 

properato Narcissus Claudii libertus, de cuius iurgiis adversus 

15 Agrippinam rettuli, aspera custodia et necessitate extrema 

ad mortem adigitur, invito principe, cuius abditis adhuc 

vitiis per avaritiam ac prodigentiam mire congruebat. 

2. Ibaûrûe in caedes, nisi Afranius Burrus et Annaeus 

Seneca obviam issent. hi rectores imperatoriae iuventae et, 2 

2o rarum in societate potentiae, Concordes, diversa arte ex aequo 

poUebant, Burrus miiitaribus curis et severitate morum, Seneca 

praeceptis eloquentiae et comitate honesta, iuvantes in vicem, 

quo facilius lubricam principis aetatem, si virtutem asper-- 

naretur, voluptatibus concessis retinerent. certamen 'utrique 3 

25 unum erat contra ferociam Agrippinae, quae cunctis malae 

dominationis cupidinibus flagrans habebat in partibus Pai- 

lantem, quo auctore Claudius nuptiis incestis et adoptione 

exitiosa semet perverterat. sed neque Neroni infra servos 4 

ingenium, et Pallas trisli adrogantia modum liberti egressus 

1

"" 

A.D. 54-] rJBER XIII. CAP. 1-4. 

5 taedium. sui moverat. propalam tamen omnes in earn honores 

cumulabantur, signumque more militiae petenti tribuno dcdit 

6 optimae matris. decreti et a senatu duo lictores, flamonium 

Claudiale, simul Claudio censorium funus et mox consecralio. 

3. Die funeris laudationem eius princeps exorsus est, 5 

dum antiquitatem generis, consulatus ac triumphos maiorum 

enumerabat, intentus ipse et ceteri; liberalium quoque 

artium commemoratlo et nihil regente eo triste rei publicae 

2 ab externis accidisse pronis animis audita : postquam ad 

providentiam sapientiamque flexit, nemo risui temperare, 10 

quamquam oratio a Seneca composita multum cultus prae- 

ferret, ut fuit illi viro ingenium amoenum et temporis eius 

3 auribus adcommodatum. adnotabant seniores, quibus otiosum 

est Vetera et praesentia contendere, primum ex iis qui rerum 

4 potili essent Neronem alienae facundiae eguisse. nam dictator 15 

Caesar summis oratoribus aemulus ; et Augusto prompta ac 

5 profluens quaeque deceret principem eloquentia fuit. Tiberius 

artem quoque callehat, qua verba expenderet, turn v alid u s,. 

fl/sensibus aut consulto ambiguus. etiam Gai Caesaris turbata 

mens vim dicendi non c6ffupit. nee, in Claudio, quoliens 20 

7 meditata dissereret, elegantiam requ]reres. Nero puerilibus 

statim annis vividum afiimum in alia detorsit : caelare, j 

pingere, cantus aut regimen equorum exercere ; et ali- ! \ 

quando carminibus pangendis inesse sibi elementa doctrinae 

ostendebat. _ 25 

4. Celerum peractis tristitiae imitaroentis curiam ingressus 

et de aucteritate patrum et consensu militum praefatus, consilia 

sibi et exempla capessendi egregie imperii memoravit, neque 

luventam armis civilibus aut domesticis discordiis inbutam 

nulla odia, nullas iniurias nee cupidinem ultionis adferre. 

2 turn formam futuri principatus praescripsit, ea maxime de- 

clinans, quorum recens flagrabat invidia. non enim se negotiorum 

omnium iudicem fore, ul clausis unam intra domum 

; 

^;^ 

!

CORNELII TACITI ANNALIUM [a.U-C 807. 

accusatoribus et reis paucorum potentia grassaretyx ; nihil in 

penatibus suis venale aut ambitioni pervium; discretam domum 

et rem publicam. teneret antiqua munia senatus, consulum 3 

tribunalibus Italia et publicae provinciae adsisterent : illi patrum 

5 aditum praeberent, se mandatis exercitibus consultu rum. 

5. Nee defuil fides, multaque ai;bilxio senatus conslituta 

sunt : ne quis ad causam orandam mercede aut donis emeretur, 

ne designatis quaestoribus edendi gladiatores necessitas esset. 

quod quidem adversante Agrippina, tamquam acta Claudii 2 

10 subverterentur, ' 

obtinuere paties, qui in Palatium ob id 

vocabantur, ut adstaret additis a tergo foribus velo discreta, 

quod visum arceiet, auditus non adimeiet. quin et legatis 3 

Armeniorum causam gends apud Neronem orantibus esce>^ 

dere suggestum imperatoiis et piaesidere simul parabat, nisi 

15 ceteris pavore defixis Seneca admonuisset, venienti matri 

occurreret. Ita specie pietatis obviam itum dedecorill 

6. Fine anni turbidis rumoribus prorupisse rursum rarthos 

et rapi Armeniam adlatum est, pulso Radamisto, qui saepe 

regni eius potitus, dein profugus, turn quoque bellum dese- 

30 ruerat. igilur in urbe sermonum avida, quern ad modum 2 

princeps vix septemdecim annos egressus su scip,ere earn 

molem aut propulsare posset, quod subsidium in eo qui 

a femina regeretur, num proelia quoque et obpugnaliones 

urbium et cetera belli per magistros administrari possent, 

35 anquirebant. contra alii melius evenisse disserunt, quam si 3 

invalidus senecta et ignavia Claudius militiae ad labores 

vocaretur, servilibus iussis obtemperat urus. Burrum tamen et 4 

Senecam multarum rerum experientia cognitos ; et imperatori \ 

quantum ad robur deesse, cum octavo decumo aetatis anno I 

30 Cn. Pompeius, nono decumo Caesar Octavianus civilia bella ' 

sustinuerint ? pleraque in summa fortuna auspiciis et consiliis 5 

quam telis et manibus geri. daturum plane documentlim, Q 

honestis an secus aniicis ulgret^r, si ducem amota invidia

1 

A.D. 5-).] LIBER XI11. CAP. 4-9. 

egregium, quam si pecuniosum et gratia subnixum peril 

ambitum. deligeret. 

7. Haec atque talia vulgantibus, Nero et iuventutem proxi- 

mas per provincias quaesUam supplendis Orientis legionibus 

admovere legionesque ipsas propius Armeniam collocari iubet, 5 

duosque veteres rcges Agrippam et Antiochum expedire 

copias, quis ParthorUm fines ultro iiitrarent, simul pontes per 

2 amnem Euphraten iungi ; et minorem Armeniam Aristobulo, 

•^ sententiisêGMmm, 

regionem Sophenen Sohaemo cum insignibus regiis mandat. 

exortusque in tempore aemulus Vologesi filius Vardanes ; et 10 

abscessere Armenia Parthi, tamquam differrent bellum. 

8. Sed apud senatum omnia in mains celebrata sunt 

qui supplicationes et diebus supplicationum 

vestem^ principi triumphalem, utque ovans urbem iniret, 

^figistTique eius pari magnitudine ac Martis Ultoris eodem 15 

in templo censuere, praeter suetam adulationem laeti, quod / .L^ 

Domitium Corbulonem retinendae Armeniae praeposuerat 

2 videbatui^que locus virtutibus patefactus. ' copiae I ( 

Orientis ita 

dividuntur, ut pars auxiliarium cum duabus legionibus apud 

provinciam Suriam et legatu'm eius Quadratum Ummidium 20 

remaneret, par civium sociorumque numerus Corbuloni esset, 

additis cohortibus alisque, quae in Cappadocia hiemabant. 

,3 socii reges, prout bello conduceret, parere iussi : sed studia„r\ 

4 eorum in Corbulonem promptiora erant,» qui ut instarel^-^ 

famae, quae in novis coeptis validissima est, itinera propere 25 

confecto apud Aegeas civitatem Ciliciae obvium Quadratum 

habuit, illuc progressum, ne, si ad accipiendas copias Suriam 

intravisset Corbulo, omnium ora in se verteret, corpore ingens, 

verbis magnificis et super experientiam sapientiamque etiam 

Uspecie inanium validus. 30 

9. Ceterum uterque ad Vologesen regem nuntiis mone- 

bant, pacem quam bellum mallet datisque obsidibus solitam 

prioribui revereniiam in populum Romanum continuaret. 

D 

' I 

' '

v^ 

CORNELII TACITI ANNAUUM [a.u.C. 808. 

et Vologeses, quo bellum ex commodo pararet, an ut 2 

aemulatioiife suspeclos per nomen obsidum aiiioveret, tradic 

nobilissimos ex familia Arsacidarum. accepitque eos centurio 3 

Insteius ab Ummidio missus, forte prior ea de causa adito 

S rege. quod postquam Corbuloni cognilum est, irepiaefectum 

cohortis Arrium Varum et reciperare ybbsides iubet. 

hinc orlura inter praefectum et centurionem iurgium ne 4 

diutius externis spectaculo esset, arbilriuxa. rei obsidibus 

legatisque, qui eos ducebant, permissum. atque illi per 5 

10 recentem gloriam et inclinatione quadam etiam hostium 

Corbulonem p raetule re. unde discordia inter duceSj querentjC )3 , 

Ummidio praerepta quae suis consiliis patravisset, testanie'' 

contra Corbulone non prius cbnversum regem ad ofiferendos 

obsides quam ipse dux bello delectus spes ejus ad metum 

15 mutaret. Nero quo componeret diversos, sic ^vulgari iussit: 7 

ob res a Quadrato et Corbulone prospere gestas laurum , 

fascibus imperatoriis addi. quae in alios consoles egfffesSa -' 

coniunxi. 

10. Eodem anno Caesar effigiem Cn. Domitio patri et 

20 cpnsularia insignia Asconio Labeoni, quo tutore usus erat, U 

petivit a senatu ; sibique statuas argento vel auroôHdas_ad=-- 

versusoflferentes prohibuit. et quamquam censuissent patres, 2 

ut principium anni inciperet ^pense Decembri, quo ortus erat ^l-— "^ 

Nero, veterem religionemlialendarum lanuariarum iricôandp/^ 

25 anno retinuit. neque recepti sunt inter reos Carrinas Celer 3 , 

senator, servo accusante, aut lulius Densus equester, cui [/ 

favor in Britannicum crimini dabalur. 

11. Claudio Nerone L. Antislio consulibus cum in acta 

principum iurarentmagistratus, in sua acta coUegam Antistium 

30 iurare prohibuit, magnis patrum laudibus, ut iuvenilis animus 

levium quoque rerum gloria subla tus maiores continuaret. 

secutaque lenitas in Plautium Lateranum, quern ob adulterium 2 

Messalinae ordine deWotum reddidit scnatui, clementiam suam 

.^r*

^ y "^ 

1 1 quam 

A.n. 55.] LIBER Xin. CAT. 9-13. 

obstringens crebris oiationibus, quas Seneca, lestificando 

hqnesta praeciperet, vel iacfandi ingenii, voce piincipis 

vulgabat. 

12. Ceterum infracta paulatim potentia matris delapso 

Nerone in amorem libertae, cui vocabulum Acta fuit, simul 5 

adsuraptis in conscientiam M. Othone et Claudio Senecione, 

kdulescentulis decoris, quorum Otho familia consulari, Senecio 

\\2ljbert0 Caesaris patre genitus. ignara matre, dein fiustra 

^^^'^'''''^nitente, penitus inrepserat per luxum et ambigua secreta, 

ne senioribus quidem principis amicis adversantibus, niulifijjîo 

cula nulla cuiusquam iniuria cupidines principis explente, 

quando uxore ab Octavia, nobili quiderg^ probitatis spectatae, 

fcito quodam, an quia praevalent i nlicita , abhorrebat, metue- 

baturque, ne in stupra' reminarum inlustrium prorumperet, si 

ilia libidine prohiberetur. 15. v 

13. Sed Agrippina libertam aemulam, nurnm ancijjaip 

aliaque eundem in modum rnuliebriter frem e re, neque paeni- / 

' ;' 

. tentiam filii aut satietatem opperiri, quantoque foediora /''"' ""^ 

1 expj;oBra]Dat, ac)?ius;âccendere, donee vi amoris subactus ^rv^-^^^-"^ 

exueret obseqûium in matrem seque Senecae permitteret, 20 

ex cuius familiaribus Annaeus Serenus simulatione amoris • 

^ 

adversus eandem libertam primas adulescentis cupidines 

velaverat praebueratque nomen, ut quae princeps fuilTm 

2 mulierculae tribuebat, ille palam largiretur. turn Agrippina 

versis artibus per blandimenta iuvenem aclgredi, suum potius 25 

cubiculum ac sinum offerre contegendis quae prima aetas^^ ;• 

3 summa fortuna expeterent : quin et fatebatur interfipestivam"T 

severitatem et suarum opum, quae baud procul imperatoriis 

aberant'/copias tradebat, ut nfmia nuper coercendo filio, ita 

4 rursum irifemperanrer'demissa. quae mutatio neque Neronem 30 

fefellit, et proximi amicorum metuebant orabantque cavere 

5 insidias mulieris semper aii'o'cis, tum et falsae. forte illis 

diebus Caesar inspecto ornatu, quo principum coniuges ac 

...


parentes effiilserant, deligit vestem et gemmas misitque 

donum matri nulla parsimonia, cum praecipua et cupita aliis 

prior deferret. sed Agrippina non his instrui cultus suos, sed 6 

ceteris avceri proclamat et dividere filium, quae cuncta ex 

5 ipsa haberet, 

14. Nee defuere qui in deterius referrent. et Nero infensus 

lis, quibus superbia muliebris innitebatur, demovet Pallantem 

cura rerum, quisa-a Claudio impositus velut arbitrium regni 

agebat ; ferebaturque degrediente eo magna prosequentium 

10 multitudine non absm'de dixisse, ire Pallantem ut eiuraret. 

sane pepigerat Pallas ne cuius facti in praeteritum interro- 2 

garetur paresque rationes cum re publica haberet. praeceps 3 

posthac Agrippina ruere ad terrorem et minas, neque principis 

auribus abstinere, quo minus testaretur adultum iam esse 

15 Britannicum, ve;am dignamque stirpem suscipiendo patris 

imperio, quod msitus et adoplivus per iniurias matris exer- 

ceret. non abnucre se quin cuncta infelicis domus mala 4 

patefierent, suae in primis nuptiae, suum veneficium : id 

solum dis et sibi provisum, quod viveret privignus. ituram 5 

20 cum illo in castra ; audiretur hinc Germanici filia, inde debilis 

\ \rursus Burrus et exul Seneca^^trunjca scilicet manu et profes- 

,' uitendere 

I koria 

lingua generis humani regime^, expostulantes. simul 6 

manus, aggerere probra, consecratum Claudium, 

infernos Silanorum manes invocare et tot iiirjta^facinora. 

35 15. Turbalus his Nero et propinquo die, quo quarlum 

dectimum aetajis annum Britannicus expTet/kt, volutare secum 

modo matris violcntiam', modo ipsius indolem, levi quidem 

experimento nuper cognitam, quo tamen lavorem late quaesi- ^ 

visset. festis Saturno diebus inter alia aequalium ludkia-2— 

30 regnum lusu sortientium evenerat ea sors Neroni. igitur 3 

\lceteris diyersa- nee ruborem adiatura- ubi Britannico iussit 

exsurgeret progressusque in medium cantum aliquem inciperet, 

inrisum ex eo sperans pueri sobrios quoque comdctus,-»edum

65-] LIBER XIII. CAP. 13-16. 

temulenlos ignorantis, illexonslantfiiLCXorsiis est carmen, quo \ 

evolutum eum sede palria rebusque îimmis significabalur. 

unde orta miseiatio manifestior, quia dissimulationem nox et 

4 lascivia exemeiat.y^Nero intellecta invidia odium intendit; 

uiguentibusque Agiippinae minis, quia nullum crimen neque 5 

iubere caedem fratris palam audebat, occulta molitur parariquevenenum 

iubet, ministro Pollione lulio praetoriae cohortis^ 

tribuno, cuius cura attinebatur damnata veneficii nomine 

5 Locusta multa scelerum fama. nam ut proximus quisque 

Britannico neque fas neque fidem pensi haberet, olim pro- 10 

6 visum erat. primum venenum ab ipsis^dûcatoribus accepit, 

tramisitque exsoluta alvo parum validum, sive temperamentum 

7 inerat, ne statim saeviret. sed Nero lenti sceleris inpatiens 

minitari tribuno, iubere supplicium veneficae, quod, dum 

rumorem respiciunt, dum parant defensiones, securitatem 15 

8 morarentur. promittentibus dein tam praecipitem necem 

quam si ferro urgueretur, cubiculum Caesaris iuxta decoquitur 

virus cognitis antea venenis rapidum. 

16. Mos habebatur principum liberos cum ceteris idem 

aetatis nobilibus sedentes vesci in aspectu propinquorum 20 

»prjQpua^_el_pai:ciQxe_ineiasa. illic epulante Britannico, quia 

cibos potusque eius delectus ex ministris gustu explorabat, ne 

omitteretur institutum aut utriusque morte proderetur scelus, 

3 talis dolus reperlus est. innoxia adhuc ac praecalida et 

libata gustu potio Iraditur Britannico ; dein, postquam fervore 25 

aspernabatur, frigida in aqua adfunditur venenum, quod ita 

cunctos eius artus pervasit, ut vox paritei; et spiritus rape- 

4 rentur. trepidatur a circumsedentibus, diffugiunt inprudentes 

at quibus altior intellectus, resistunt defixi et Neronem in- 

5 tuentes, ille ut erat reclinis et nescio similis, solitum ita ait 3° 

I 

/ 

per comitia lpm morhinri, qnn prima ab infantia adflictaretur 

6 Britannicus, et redituros paulatim visus sensusque. at Agrip- 

pinae is paver, ea consternatio mentis, quamvis vultu pre- 

:

^,Jt^^ 

, ereplum 

/ 

I 

j 'ti''' 


merelur, entic\i it, ut perinde ignaram fuisse alque Octaviam 

soi"or«m Biitaiinici coi]stiterit : fluippe sibi supremum auxilium 

el parricidii eKempfum intellegebat. Ocla\ia quoque, 7 

quamvis rudibus annis, dolorem, caritalem, omnis adfeclus 

5 abscondere didiceiat. ita post breve silentium repetita 

convivii laetitia. 

17. Nox eaêm necem Britannici et rogum coajjaiisit, 

' 

^T" - --^ '^- 

proviso ante funeljii "paratu, qui m(!êus tuit. in campo 2 

tanien Marlis sepullus est adeo turbidis imbribus, ut vulgus 

10 iram deum portendi crediderit adversus facinus, cui plerique 

etiam hominurn ignoscebant, antiquas fratrum discordias et 

insociabile regnum aeslimantes. tradunt plerique eorum 3 -r 

temporum scriptores, crebris ante exitium diebus iljiisuia isse 

pueritiae Britannici Neronem, ut iam non praemalura neque 

15 saeva mors videri queat, quamvis inter sacra mensae, ne 

tempore quidem ad complexum sororum dato, ante oculos 

inimici properata sit in ilium supremum Claudiorum san- 

guinem/stUpfo"'"prius quam veneno poUutum. festinationem 4 

exsequiarum edicto Caesar defendit, ita maioribus instilulum 

20 referens, sublrahere oculis acerba funera neque laudationibus 

aut pbmpi detinere. ceterum et sibi amisso fratris auxilio 5 

reliquas spes in re publica sitas, et tanto magis fovendum 

palribus populoquej)rincipem, qui unus superesset e familia 

summum ad fastigiuiVi^ênita. 

1 

1 25 18. Eximji*largitione potissimos amicorum auxit. nee 

// defuere qui arguerent viros gravilatem adseverantes, quod 

' domos 

villas id, jtemporis quasi praedam divisissent. alii 2 

necessilatem adhititam credebant a principe, sceleris sibi 

conscio et veniam sperante, si largitionibus. validissirnum 

30 quemque obstrinxisset. at matris ira nulla nnmincehiia Icnlri'. 3 

sed ampleciji, Octaviam, crebra cum amicis secreta habere, 

I super ingenitam avaritiam undique pecunias quasi in subsi- 

( 

dium corripiens, tribunos et ceniuriones comitet. exciii£ie,

A.D. 55-] LIBER XIII, CAP. 16-20. 

nomina et virtutes nobilium, qui etiam turn supererant, in 

4 honore habere, quasi quaereret ducem et partes, cognitum 

id Neroni, exCu]b1asque militares, quae ut coniugi imperatoris \ : 

olim, turn ut matri servabantur, et Germanos nuper eundem 

5 in honorem custodes additos degredi iubet. ac ne coetu 5 

salutanlium frequentaretur, separat domum matremque trg,n§- 

fert in earn quae Antoniae fuerat, quotiens ipse illuc verititaret, 

saeptus turba centurionum et post breve osculum digrediens. . 

19. Nihil rerum mortalium tarn in^bile ac fluxuni est quam |i 

fama potentiae non sua vi nixae. statim relictum Agrippinae 10 

limen : nemo solan, nemo adire praeter paucas feminas, 

2 amore an odio incertas. ex quibus erat lunia Silana, quam 

matrimonio C. Sili a Messalina depulsam supra rettuli, 

insignisgenere forma lascivia, et Agrippinae diu percara, mox 

^ occullis inter eas offensionibus, quia Sextium Africanum 15 

nobilem iuvenem a nuptiis Silanae deterruerat Agrippina, 

inpudicam et vgigentem annis dictilans, non ut Africanum 

sibi seponeret, sed ne opibus et orbiiate Silanae marilus 

3 poteretur. ilia spe ultionis oblata parat accusatores ex 

clientibus suis, Iturium et Calvisium, non Vetera et saepius 20 

iam audita deferens, quod Britannici mortem lugeret aut 

Octaviae iniurias evulâret, sed destinavisse earn Rubellium 

Plautum, per miferiiam originem parfac Nero gradu a divo | 

Augusto, ad res novas extollerg cpniugioque eius et iam 

4 imperio rem publicam rursus -iitvaê. haec Iturius et 25 

Calvisius Atimeto, Domitiae Neronis amitae liberto, aperiunt. 

qui laetus oblatis (quippe inter Agrippinam et Domiliam 

iiifknsa aerndatio exercebatur) Paridem histrionem, libertum 

et ipsum Domitiae, -impulit ire propere crimenque atrociter 

deferre, 

20. Provecta nox erat et Neroni per vinolentiam trahebatur, 

cum ingreditur Paris, solitus alioquin id temporis luxus prin- 

cipis intendere, sed tunc compositus ad maestitiam, exposi- 

\ 

3c

CORNELII TACITI ANNALIUM [a.U.C. So8. 

toque indicii ordine ita audientem exteiret, ut non tanlum 

matrem Plautumque interficeie, sed Burium etiam demovere 

praefectura destinaret tamquam Agrippinae gratia provectiiiî 

et vicem reddentem. Fabius Euslicus auctor est, scriptos 2 

5 esse ad Caecinam Tuscum couicifios, mandata ei praetoriaium 

cohortium cura, sed ope Senecae dignationem Burro relenlam: 

Plinius et Cluvius nihil dubitatum de fide praefecti referunt ; 3 

sane Fabius inclinat ad laudes Senecae, cuius amicitia floruit, 

nos consensum auctorum secuturi, si qui diversa prodiderint, 4 

o sub nominibus ipsorum trademus. Nero trepidus et inter- 5 

ficiendae matris 3>\iid,us non prius differri potuit, quam 

Burrus necem eius promitteret, si facinoris coargueretur : sed 

cuicumque, nedum parenti defensionem tribuendam; nee 

accusatores adesse, sed vocem unius ex inimica domo adferri 

reputaret tenebras et vigilatam convivio nocteni omniaque 

temeritati et insciliae propiora. 

21. Sic lenito principis metu et luce orta itur ad Agrip- 

pinam, ut nosceret obiecta dissolveretque vel poenas lueret. 

Burrus iis mandatis Seneca coram fungebatur ; aderant et ex 2 

20 libertis arbitri sermonis. deinde a Burro, postquam crimina 

et auctores exposuit, ''"injdla fi^''"!! '"^'^ Agrippina ferociae 3 

[Imemor 'non mirbr' inquit"' Silanam, numquam edito partu, 

\ matrum adfectus ignotos habere ; neque enim proinde a 

parentibus liberi quam ab inpudica adulteri mutantur. nee si 4 

25 Iturius et Calvisius adesis omnibus fortunis novissimam sus-Vi 

cipiendae accusationis operam anui rependunt, ideo aut mihi * 

infamia parricidii aut Caesari conscientiasubeunda est. nam 5 

Domitiae inimicitiis gratias agerem, si benevplentia mecum in 

Neronem meum certaret : nunc per cbncuînum Atimetum 

30 et histrionem Paridem quasi scaenae fabulas componit. 

Baiarum suarum piscinas cxlollebat, cummeis consiliisadoptio e 

et proconsulare ius et designatio consulatus et cetera apiscendo I 

imperio praepararentur. aut_exsistat qui cohortes in urbe 7 

:

k^" 

A.D. 55.] LIBER XIII. CAP. 20-24. 

tcmptatas, qui proviiiciarum fidem .labefactatam^ denique ser- 

8 vos vel libertos ad scelus coitiij2|os aiguat. vivere ego Britan- 

iiico potiente rcrum poteram ? ac si Plaulus aut quis alius rem 

publicam iudicaturus oblinuciit, desunt scilicet inihi accusa- 

/ytores, qui non verba impatienlia caritatis aliquando incauta, sed 5 

ea crimina obiciant, quibus nisi a filio absolvi non possim.'i 

9 commotis qui aderant uUroque spiritus eius mitigantibus, li 

[ 

onloquium filii exposcit, ubi nihil pro innoceptia, quasi! I 

diffideret, nee de beneficiis, quasi exprobraret, diSser'uit, sed ' 

ultionem in'êlatores'et praemia amicis obtinuit. /^ 10 

22. Praefe ctura annonae Faenio Rufo, cura ludorum, qui 

a Caesare parabantur, Arruntio Stellae, Aegyptus Ti. Balbillo 

2 permittunlur. Suria P. Anteio desCinata. sed variis mox 

3 artibus elusus, ad postremum in urbe retentus est. at Silana 

in exilium acta; Calvisius quoque et Iturius relegantu r ; de 15 

Atimeto supplicium sumptum, validiore apud libidines priu- 

cipis Paride quam ut poena adficeretur. Plautus ad praesens 

silentio transmissus est. 

23. E*e]erunfu/ dehinc consensi^se Pallas a9_.Burrus, ut 

Cornelius Sulla crajitumne pfeneris' et aofinTfate Claudii, cui 20 

per nuptias Antoniae gener erat, ad imperium vocarelur. 

eius accusationis auctor extitit Paetus quidam, exercendis 

apud aerarium sectionibus famosus et turn ' vanitatis manifestus. 

nee lam ^ ]jra^ "" 

Pallantis innocentia quam gravis 

superbia fiiit : quippe nominatis libertis eius, quos conscios 25 

haberet, respondit nihil umquam se dorni nisi nutu aut manu 

significasse, vcl si plufa demonstranda essent, scripto usum, 

4 ne vocem cc :onsociii£l. Burrus quamvis reus inter iudices 

sententiam dixit, exiliumque accusatori inrogatum et tabulae y^'\ 

'exuslae sunt, quibus oblittgjala aerarii ngmina retrahebat. '^^ 30 

24. Fine anni statio cohortis adsidere ludis solita de- 

movetur, quo maior species libertatis esset, utque miles 

theatrali licenliê non perniixtus incorrapji^r ageret et plebes


darct expcrimentum, an amotis custodibus m odesljam 

retineret. urbem princcps lustra vit ex responso haruspicum. 2 

quod lovis ac Mincrvae aedes de caelo tactae tx'imi.iy^^-iiî 

25. Q. Volusio P. Scipione consulibus/oliun) fnii s, foeda 

5 domi lascivia, qua Nero itinera urbis et luganaiia et deverti- 

cula veste servili in dissimulationem sui compositus pererr^bat, 

comitantibus qui raperent venditioni exposita et obviis vulnera 

inferrent/i adversus ignaros adeo, ut ipse quoque exciperet 

ictus et 'pre praeferret. deinde ubi Caesarem esse qui 2 

/y 

grassaretur pernotuit augebanturque iniuriae adversus viros 

' 

f feminasque insignes, et quidam pciTOissa semel licentia sub 

nomine Neronis inulti propriis cum gfobls eadem exercebant, 

J in modum captivitatis I 

nox agebatur; Tuliusque Montanus 

senatorii ordinis, sed qui nondum honorem capessisset, 

15 coh'gr'e^sus forte per tenebras cum principe, quia vi atlemp- 

tantem acriter reppulerat, deinde adgnitum oraverat, quasi 

exprobrasset, mori adaclus est. Nero tamen metuentior in 3 

poslerum milites sibi et plerosque gladiatores circumdedit, 

qui rixarum initia modica et quasi privata sinerent : si a laesis 

20 validius ageretur, aima inferebant. ludicram quoque licentiam 4 

et fautores histrionum velut in proelia convertit inpunitate et 

praemus atque ipse occultus et plerumque coram prospectans, 

donee discordi populo et gravioris motus terrore non aliud 

remedium repertum est, quam ut liistriones Italia pellerentur 

25 milesque theatro rursum adsideret. 

26. Per idem tempus actum in senatu de frûdibusjiber- 

torum, efflagltatumque ut adversus male meritos revocandae 

libertatis ius patropis daretur. nee deerant qui censerent, 2 

sed consules 1-elationem incipere non ausi ignaro principe, 

30 perscripsere tamen ei consensum senatus. ille an auctor 

constitutionis fieret consultavit inter paucos et sentenUae 

diversos, quibusdam coalitam libertate inreverentiam eo 

prorupisse frenienlibus, id vine an aequo cum patronis iure

° 


ageient, t sententiam eorum consultartnt ac verbeiibus manus 

uliro intendercnt, impudenter vel poenam suam ipsi suadentes. 

3 quid enim aliud laeso paliono concessum quam ut centesimum 

ultra lapidem in oram Campaniae libertum releget ? ceteias 

ariioTj^^g ttfomiiifflri f't^ pares esse : tribuendum aliquod telum 5 

4 quod sperni nequeat. nee grave manu missis per idem 

/•j 5 obsequium retinendi libertatem, per quod adsecuti sint : at 

criminum manifestos merito ad servilutem retrahi, ut metu 

coerceantur quos beneficia non mutavissent. 

27. Disserebatur contra : paucorum culpam ipsis exitiosam 10 

esse debere, nihiHinwer§otuiii iiiri deT0ga:ndum ; 

quippe late 

2 fusum id corpus, hinc plerumque tribus, decurias, ministeria 

magistratibus et sacerdotibus, cohorles etiam in urbe con- 

^riptas ; et plurimis equitum, plerisque senatoribus non 

^'«r^yiûnde originem trahi : si separarentur libertini, manifestam 15 

^ ^^»îoxt penuriam ingenuorum. non frustra maiores, cum digni- 

>^ tatem ordinum dividerent, libertatem in communi posuisse. 

4 quin et manu mitlendi duas species institutas, ut relinqueretur 

paenitentiae aut novo beneficio locus, quos vindicta patronus 

5 non liberaverit, velut vinclo servitutis attineri. dispiceret 20 

quisque merita tardeque concederet quod datum non adi- 

6 meretur. haec sententia valuit, scripsitque Caesar senatui, 

pdvatim expenderent causam libertorum, quotiens a patronis 

7 arguerentur : in commune nihil derogarent. nee multo post 

ereptus amitae libertus Paris quasi iure civili, non sine infamia 25 

principis, cuius iussu perpetratum ingenuitatis indicium erat. 

28. Manebat nihilo minus quaedam imago rei publicae. 

nam inter Vibullium praetorem et plebei tribunum Antistium 

ortum cerlamen, quod inmodestos fautores. histrionum et 

2 a praetore in vincla ductos tribunus omitti iussisset. con- 30 

probavere patres, incusata Antistii licentia. simul prohibili 

tribuni ius praelorum et consulum praeripere aut vocare ex 

3 Italia cum quibus lege a^ ppgsfit. 

addidit L. Piso designaius

CORNELII TACITI ANNALIUM [a.U.C. 8io. 

consul, nc quid intra domum pro potestate advcrterent, neve 

multam ab iis diptam quaestores aerarii in publicas tabujas 

ante quattuor menses referrent ; medio lemj)oris coi^t(a 

dicere liceret, deque eo consules statuerent. cohibita artius 4 

5 et aedilium potestas statutumque quantum curules, quantum 

plebei pignoris caperent vel poenae inrogarent. et Helvidius 5 

Priscus tribunus plebei adversus Obultronium Sabinum 

aerarii quaestorem contenliones proprias exercuit, tamquam 

ius hastae adversus inopes inclementer augeret. dein princeps 

10 curam tabularum publicarum a quaestoribus ad praefectos 

transtulit. 

29. Varie habita ac saepe mutata eius rei forma, nam 

Augustus senatui permisit deligere praefectos; deinde ambitu 

suffragiorum suspecto, sorte ducebantur ex numero praetorum 

15 qui praeessent. neque id diu mansit, quia sors deerrabat ad 2 

parum idoneos. tunc Claudius quaestores rursum imposuit, 

iisque, ne metu offensionum segnius consulerent, extra' 

ordinem honores promisit: sed deerat robur aetatis eum 

primum magislratum capessentibus. igitur Nero praetura 3 

20 perfunctos et experientia probatos delegit. 

30. Damnatus isdem consulibus Vipsanius Laenas ob 

Sardiniam provinciam avare habilam. atsolulus Ccstius 

Proculus repetundarum, Crelensibus_ accusantibus. Clodius 2 

Quirinalis, quod praefeclus remigum^ qui Ravennae habe- 

25 rentur, velut infimam nationum Italiam luxuria saevitiaûe___ 

adflictavisset, veneno damhationem anteiit. Caninius Rebilus, 3 

ex primoribus peritia legum et pecuniae magnitudine, 

cruciatus aegrae Sjeneftae emisso .per venas sanguine cflfugit, 

U baud creditus suffi'cere ad cohstantiam sumendae mortis, ob 

30 libidines muliebriter infamis. at L. Volusius egregia fama 4 

concessit, cui tres et nonaginta anni spatium vivendi prae- 

cipuaeque opes bonis arlibus inoffensa tot imperatorum 

malilia fuerunt.


31. Nerone iterum L. Pisone consulibus pauca memoiia 

digna ^-enere) nisi cui libeat laudandis fundamentis et 

trabibus, quis molem amphithcatri apud campum Martis 

Caesar extruxerat, volumina implere, cum ex dignitate populi 

Romani repeitum sit res inlustres annalibus, talia diurnis urbis 5 

2 actis mandare. ceterum coloniae Capua atque Nuceria 

y^ ' additis veteranis firmatae sunt, plebeique congiarium quad- 

ringeni nummi viritim dati, et sestertium quadringentiens 

3 aerario inlalum est ad retinendam populi fidem. vectigal 

quoque quintae let vicensimae venalium mancipiorum re- 10 

missurri, specife magis quam vi, quia cum venditor pendere 

4 iuberetur, in partem pretii emptoribus adcrescebat. edixit 

.Caesar, ne quis magistratus aut procurator in provincia 

'^quam obtirêret spectaculum gladiatorum aut ferarumaut quod 

5 aliud ludicrum ederet, nam ante non minus tali largitione 15 

quam corripiendis pecuniis subiectos adfligebant, dum quae 

libidine deliquerant, ambitu propugnant. 

32. Factum et senatus consultum ultioni iuxta et securitati, 

ut si quis a suis servis interfectus esset, ii quoque, qui testa- 

mento manu missi sub eodem tecto mansissent, inter servos 20 

'2 supplicia penderent. redditur ordini Lurius Varus consularis, 

*^ Isavaritiae criminibus olim perculsus. et Pomponia Graecina 

1^^^^ 

insignis femina, A. Plautio, quem ovasse de Britannis retluli, 

nupta ac superstitionis externae rea, mariti iudicio permissa. 

4 isque prisco institulo propinquis coram de capita famaque 25 

coniugis cbgnovit et insontem pronuntiavit, longa huic 

5 Pomponiae aetas et cOTtinua tristitia fuit. nam post luliam 

Drusi filiam dolo Messalinae interfectam per quadraginta 

annos non cultu nisi lugubri, non animo nisi maesto egit; 

idque illi imperitante Claudio inpune, mox ad gloriam vertit. 30 

,,^£^.Îdem annus plurVs reos habuit, quorum P. Celerem 

^ accusante Asia, quia absolvere nequibat Caesar, traxit, 

2 senecta donee mortem obiret ; nam Celer interfecto, ut

CORNELII TACITI AXNALIUM [a.u.C. 8ii. 

meinoravi, Silano pro consule magnitudine sceleris cetera 

flagitia obtegebat. Cossutianum Capitonem Cilices detulerant 

/^''^'^"'^ ,maculosum"fbedumque et idem ius audaciae in provincia 

.../w^^*^ ''ratum quod in urbe exercuerat ; sed pefvicaci accusatione 

6 conflictatus postremo defensionem omisit ac lege repetundarum 

damnatus est. pro Eprio Marcello, a quo Lycii res repetcbant, 4 

CO usque ambitus praevaluit, ut quidam accusatorum eius 

exilio niultarentur, tamquam insonti periculum fecissent. 

34. Nerone tertium consule simul iniit consulatum Valerius 

10 INIessalla, cuius proavum, oratorem Corvinum, divo Augusto, 

V 

abavo Neronis, collegam in eo magistratu fuisse pauci iam 

senum meminerant.. sed r^bili fa:miliae honor auctus est 2 

oblatis in singulos apnos quingenig sestprtiis, quibus Messalla 

paupertatem innoxiam sustentai-tet. Aurelio quoque Cottae 3 

15 et Haterio Anlonino arjnuam pecuniam statuit princeps, 

quamvis per luxum avitas opes dissipassent. 

Eius anni principio mollibus adhuc initiis prolatatum inter 4 

Parthos Romanosque de obtinenda Armenia bellum acriter 

resumitur, quia nee Vologeses sinebat fratrem Tiridaten 

30 dati a se regni expertem esse aut alienae id potentiae donum 

habere, et Corbulo dignum magnitudine populi Romani 

rebatur parta olim a Lucullo Pompeioque recipere. ad hoc 5 

Armenii ambigua fide utraque arma invitabant, situ terrarum, 

similitudine morum Parthis propiofes conubiisque permixti 

25 ac libertate ignota illud magis ad servitium inclinantes. 

35. Sed Corbuloni plus molis adversus ignaviam mililum 

quam contra perndiam hostium erat : quippe Suria transmotae 2 

legiones, pace longa segnes,' munu castrorum aegerrime 

tolerabant. satis constitit fuisse in eo exercitu veteranos, qui 3 

30 non stationem, non vigilias inissent, vallum fossamque quasi 

nova et mira viserent, sine galeis, sine loricis, hitidi et quaes- ' 

tuosi, militia per oppida expleta. igitur dimissis quibus 4 

senectus aut valotudo advcrsa erat, supplementum petivit.

A.D. 58.] LIBER XIII. CAP. 33-37- 

et 'haliiti per Galatiam Cappadociamque dilectus, adiectaque 

ex Germania, legio cum equitibus alariis etpeditatu cohor- 

5 tium. ret^rituSque "oranis exercitus sub pellibus, quamvis 

hieme saeva adeo, ut obducta glacie nisi effbssa humus 

6 tentoriis locum non praeberet. ambusti.muUorum artus vis 

frigoris et quidam inter êxcubias exanimati sunt, adnota-^ / 

tusque miles, qui fascem lignorurn gestabat, ita praerigui^se^, ^ ).. 

manus, ut oneri adhaerentes iruncis brachiis deciderent. ' '' 

7 ipse cultii_Ievi, capite intecto, in agmine, in laboribus fre- 

quens adesse, laudem slrenuis, solacium invalidis, exemplum 10 

8 omnibus ostendere. dehinc quia duritiam caeli militiaeque 

mulli abhuebant deserebantque,remedium severitate quaesitura 

9 est. nee enim, ut in aliis exercilibus, primum. alterumque 

^r delictum venia prosequebatur, sed qui signa reliquerat, stalim 

10 capite poenas luebat. idque /usu salubre et misericordia 15 

melius apparuit : quippe pauciores ilia castra deseruere quam - 

> 

ea in quibus ignoscebatur. .., 

36. Interim Corbulo legionibus intra castra habitis, donee 

ver adolesceret, dispc/siiTsque per idoneos Ipcos ôhortibus 

auxiliariis, ne pugnam priores auderent praedicit : curam 20 

praesidiorum Paccio Orfito primi pili honore perfuncto 

2 mandat. is quamquam incautos barbaros et bene gerendae 

rei casum offerri scripSerat'; tenere se munimentis et maiores 

3 copias opperiH iubetur. sed rupto imperio, postquam paucae „ ^f'e 

pioximis castellis turmae advenerant pugnamque imperilia 25 .^ 

4 poscebant, congressus cum hoste funditur. et damno eius 

exterrii,! qui subsidium fcrre debuerant, sua quisque in 

5 castra trepida fuga rediere. quod graviter Corbulo accepit^^ .

CORNELII TACITI ANiYALIUM [a.U.C. Sii. 

Armeniam, quosque fidos nobis rebatur, depopulari, et si 

copiae contra ducerentur, eludere hucque et illuc volitans 

plura fama quam pugna exterrerCi igitur Corbulo quaesito 2 

diu piôelio frustra habitus et exemplo hostium circumfene 

5 bellum coactus, dispertit vires, ut legati praefectique diversos 

locos pariter invaderent ; simul regem Antiochum monct 

proximas sibi praefccluras petere. nam Pharasmanes inter- 3 

fecto filio Radamisto quasi proditore, quo fidem in nos 

testarelur, vetus adversus Armenios odium promptlus exercQ- 

lo bat. tuncque primum inlecti Moschi, gens ante alias socia 4 

' 

' 

Romanis, avia Armeniae incursavit. ita consilia Tiridati in 

' contrarium vertebant, mittebatque ofaTores qui suo Partho- 

rumque nomine expostularent, cur datis nuper obsidibus 

redintegrataque amicitia, quae novis quoque beneficiis locum 

15 aperiret, vetere Armeniae possessione depelleretur. idco 5 

nondum ipsum Vologesen commotum, quia causa quam vi 

f i 

agere mallent: sin perstaretur in bello, non defore Arsacidis 

virtutem fortunamque saepius iam clade Romana expertam. 

ad ea Corbulo, satis comperto Vologesen defectione Hyrcaniae 6 

20 altineri, suadet Tiridati precibus Caesarem adgre'di -.^ posse 

illi regnum stabile et res incruentas contingere, si omisra 

spe longinqua et sera pfaesentem potioremque sequeretur. 

38. Placitum dehinc, quia commeantibus in vicem rûntiis 

nihil in summam pacis proficiebatur, conloquio ipso'rum 

25 tempus locumque deslinari. mille equitum praesidium Tiri- 2 

dates adfore sibi dicebat : quantum Corbuloni cuiusque 

generis militum adsisteret, non statuere, dum positis loricis 

et galeis in f^ciem' pacis veniretur. cuicumque mortalium, 3 

nedum veteri et provido duci, barbarae astutiae patuissent 

30 ideo artum inde numerum finiri et hinc maiorem offerri, ut 

dolus pararetur ; nam equiti sagittarum usu exercito si detecta 

corpora obicerentur, nihil profuturam inultitudinem. dis- 4 

simulato tamen intellectu rectius de iis quae in publicum 

:

A.D. 5?-] LIBER XIII. Cî". 37-39. 

consulerentur tolis exercitibus coram dissertaturos respondit. 

5 locumque delegit, cuius pars altera colles erant clemehter 

adsurgentes accipiendis peditum ordinibus, pars in planitiem 

6 porrigebatur ad explicandas equitum turmas. dieque pacto 

prior Corbulo socias cohortes et auxilia regum pro cornibus, 5 

medio sextam legionem constituit, cui acci'ta per noclem aliis 

ex caslris tria milia tertianorum perrriisciierat, una cum jw**''^ 

7 aquila, quasi eadem legio spectaretur. Tiridates vergente 

iam die procul adstitit, unde videri magis quam audiri posset, 

ita sine congressu dux Romanus abscedere militem sua 10 

quemque in castra iubet. 

39. Rex sive fraudem suspectans, quia plura simul in loca 

ibalur, sive ut commeatus nostros Pontico mari et Trapezunte 

2 oppido adventantes interciperet, propere discedit. sed'neque 

commeatibus vim facere potuit, quia per monies ducebantur 15 

praesidiis nostris ihsessps,' et Corbulo, ne inritum bellum 

traheretur utque Armenios ad sua defendenda cogeret, ex- 

cindere parat castella, sibique quod validissimum in ea 

praefectura, cognomento Volandum, sumit; minora Cornelio 

Flacco legato et Insteio Capitoni castrorum praefecto mandat. 20 

3 turn circumspeclis munimentis et quae expugnationi idonea 

provisis, hortatur milites ut hostem vagum neque paci aut 

prn^lio paratum, sed perfidiam et ignaviam fuga confitentem 

exuerent sedibus gloriaeque pariter et praedae consulerent. .î 

4 turn quadripertito exercitu hos in testudinem conglobatos 25 / 

subruendo_.YalJo inducit, alios scalas moenibus admovere, 

5 multos tormentis faces et hastas incutere iubet. libritoribus 

funditoribusque attributus locus, unde eminus glandes tor- 

querent, ne qua pars subsidium laborantibus ferret pari 

6 undique metu. tantus inde ardor certantis exercitus fuit, 30 

ut intra tertiam diei partem nudati propugnatoribus muri, 

obices portatum subversi, capta escensu munimenta oni- 

nesque puberes trucidati sint, nullo milite amisso, paucis 

E

CORNELII TACIT/ ANNALIUM [a.U.C. Sii. 

admodum vulneratis, et inbelle vulgus sub corona venunda- 7 

turn, reliqua praeda victoribus cessit. pari fortuna legatus 

ac praefectus usi sunt, tribusque una die caslellis expugnalis 

cetera terrore et alia sponte incolarum in deditionem venic- 

5 bant, unde orta fiducia caput gentis Artaxata adgrediendi. 

nee tamen proximo itinere ductae legiones, quae si amnem 8 

A.raxen, qui moenia adluit, ponte transgrederentur, sub ictum 

dabantur : procul et latioribus vadis transiere. 

^^0. At Tiridates pudore et metu, ne, si concessisset obsi- j 

10 dioni, nihil opis in ipso videretur, si prohiberet, inpedilis loci? f 

seque et equestres copias inligaret, statuit postremo ostendere ; 

aciem et dato die proelium incipere vel simulatione fugae 

\ locum fraudi parare. igitur repente agmen Romanum cir- 2 

cumfundit, non ignaro duce nostro, qui viae pariter et pugnae 

15 composuerat exercitum. latere dextro tertia legio, sinistro 3 

sexta incedebat, mediis decumanorum delectis ; recepta inter 

ordines impedimenta, et tergum mille equites tuebantur, 

quibus iusserat ut instantibus comminus resisterent, refugos 

non sequerentur. in cornibus pedes Sagittarius et cetera 4 

20 manus equilum ibat, productiore [cornu] sinistro per ima 

collium, ut, si hostis intravisset, fronte simul et sinu excipe- 

retur. adsultare ex diverso Tiridates, non usque ad ictum 5 

teli, sed turn minitans, tum specie trepidantis, si laxare ordines 

et diversos consectari posset, ubi nihil temeritate solutum, e 

25 nee amplius quam decurio equitum audentius progressus et 

sagittis confixus ceteros ad obsequium exemplo firmaverat, 

propinquis iam tenebris abscessit. 

41. Et Corbulo castra in loco metatus, an expeditis legioni- 

bus nocte Artaxata pergeret obsidioque circumdaret agitavit, 

30 concessisse illuc Tiridaten ratus. dein postquam exploratores 2 

attulere longinquum re^'iter et Medi an Albani peterentur 

incertum, lucem opperitur, praemissaque levis armatura, quae 

muros interim ambiret oppugnationemque eminus inciperet.

A.D. 58-] UBER XIII. CAP. 39-42. 

3 sed oppidani portis sponte patefactis se suaque Romanis 

permisere, quod salutem ipsis tulit : Artaxatis ignis inmissus 

deletaque et solo aequata sunt, quia nee teneri poterant sine 

valido praesidio ob magnitudinem moenium, nee id nobis 

virium erat, quod firmando praesidio et capessendo bello 5 

divideretur, vel si integra et incustodita relinquerentur, nulla 

4 in eo utilitas aut gloria quod capta essent. adicitur miraculum 

velut numine oblatum : najn cuncta Artaxatis tenus sole 

inlustria fuere ; quod moenibus cingebatur, repente ita atra 

nube coopertum fulguribusque discretum est, ut quasi infen- 10 

6 santibus dels exitio tradi crederetur. ob haec consalutatus 

imperator Nero, et senatus consultp supplication es habilae, 

statuaeque et arcus et continiii consulaius principi, 

utque inter fg,stos referretur dies, quo p atrata victoria, 

quo nuntiata, quo relatum de ea esset, aliaque in eandem 15 

formam decernuntur, adeo modum egressa, ut C. Cassius de 

ceteris honoribus acisensus, si pro benignitate fortunae dis 

grates agerentur, ne totum quidem annum supplicationibus 

sufficere disseruerit, eoque oportere dividi sacros et nego- ^ 

tiosos dies, quis divina cblerent et_humg.na non impedirent. 'ô 

42. Variis deinde casibus iactatus et multorum odia 

meritus reus, baud tamen sine invidia Senecae damnatur. is 

fuit P. Suillius, imperUante Claudio terribilis ac venalis et 

mutatione temporum non quantum inimici cuperent dernigsus 

2 quique se nocentem videri quam supplicem mallet, eius 25 

opprimendi ^tia repetitum credebatur senatus consultum 

poenaque Cinciae legis adversum eos qui pretio causas 

8 oravissenti/ nee Suillius questu aut exprobratione abstinebat, 

praeter ferociam animi extrema senecta liber et Senecam 

increpans infensum amicis Claudii, sub quo iustissimum 30 

4 exilium pertulisset. simul studiis inertibus et iuvenum in- 

peritiae suetum livere iis, qui vividam et incorruptam eloquen- 

(. tiam tuendis civibus exercerent. se quaestorem Germanici,

CORNELII TACITI ANNA LIUM [a.U.C Sii. 

ilium domus eius adulterum fuisse. an gravius aestimandum 5 

spoil te liligatoiis praemium honestae operae adsequi, quam 

corrumpere cubicula principum feminarum ? qua sapientia, q 

quibus philosophorum praeceptis intra quadriennium regiae 

6 amicitiae ter miliens sestertium paravisset ? Romae testa- 7 

menta et orbos velut indagine eius capi, Italiam et provincias 

inmenso faenore hauriri : at sibi labore quaesitam et modicam 

pecuniam esse, crimen, periculum, omnia potius toleraturum 8 

quam veterem ac domi partam dignationem subitae felicitati 

10 submilteret. 

43. Nee deerant qui haec isdem verbis aut versa in deterius 

Senecae deferrent. repertique accusatores direptos socios, 

cum Suillius provinciam Asiam regeret, ac publicae pecuniae 

peculatum detulerunt. mox, quia inquisitionem annuam 2 

15 impetraverant, brevius visum urbana crimina incipi, quorum 

obvii testes erant. ii acerbitate accusationis Q. Pomponium 3 

ad necessitatem belli civilis detrusum, luliam Drusi filiam 

Sabinamque Poppaeam ad mortem actas et Valerium Asiati- 

cum, Lusium Saturninum, Cornelium Lupum circumventos, 

20 iam equitum Romanorum agmina damnata omnemque 

Claudii saevitiam Suillio obiectabant. ille nihil ex his sponte 4 

susceptum, sed principi paruisse defendebat, donee earn 

orationem Caesar cohibuit, compertum sibi referens ex 

coinmentariis patris sui nullam cuiusquam accusationem ab 

35 eo coactam. tum iussa Messalinae praelendi et labare 5 

defensio: cur enim neminem alium delectum qui saevienti 

impudicae vocem praeberet ? puniendos rcrum atrocium 

ministros, ubi prelia scelerum adepti scelera ipsa aliis deleênt. 

igitur adempla bonorum parte (nam filio et nepti pars conce- 6 

30 debatur eximebanturque etiam quae testamento matris aut 

aviae acceperant) in insulas Baleares pellitur, non in ipso 

discrimine, non post damnationem fractus animo ; fereba- 

turque copiosa et molli vita secrelum illud toleravisse. filium 7


eius Neiullinum adgressis accusaloiibus per invidiam patris 

et ciimina repetundarum, inlercessit princeps tamquam satis 

'^xpleta ullione. 

44. Per idem tempus Octavius Sagilta plebei tribunus, 

Pontiae mulieris nuptae amore vaecors, ingentibus donis 5 

/ ,aduUerium et mox, ut omitteret maritum, emercatur, suum 

"'2 matrimonium promittens ac nuptias eius pactus. sed ubi 

mulier vacua fuit, nectere moras, adversam patris voluntatem 

causari repertaque spe ditioris coniugis promissa exuere. 

3 Octavius contra modo conqueri, modo minitari, famam per- 10 

ditam, pecuniam exhaustam obtestans, denique salutem, quae 

4 sola reliqua esset, arbitrio eius permittens. ac postquam 

spernebatur, noctem unam ad solaciuni poscit, qua delenitus 

6 modum in posterum adhiberet. statuitur nox et Pontia 

consciae ancillae custodiam cubiculi mandat. ille uno cum 15 

6 liberto ferrum veste occullum jnfert. turn, ut adsolet in 

amore et ira, iurgia^ preces, exprobratio satisfactio et pars 

tenebrarum libidini seposita; ex qua quasi incensus nihil 

metuentem ferro transverberat et accurrentem ancillam vulnere 

7 absterret cubiculoque prorumpit. postera die manifesta 20 

caedes, baud ambiguus percussor; quippe mansitasse una 

convincebalur, sed libertus suum illud facinus profiteri, se 

8 patroni iniurias ultum isse. commoveratque quosdam magni- 

tudine exempli, donee ancilla ex vulnere refecta verum 

9 aperuit. postulatusque apud consules a patre interfectae, 25 

postquam tribunatu abierat, sententia patrum et lege de 

sicariis condemnatur. 

45. Non minus insignis eo anno inpuîcitia magnorum rei 

publicae malorum initium fecit, erat in civitale Sabina Pop- 

paea, T. Ollio palre genita, sed nomen avi materni sumpserat, ,;o 

' inlustri memoria Poppaei Sabini, consulari et triumphali decore 

praefu]gentis ; nam Ollium honoribus nondum functunj^ 

2 amicitia Seiani pervertit. huic mulieri cuncta alia fuere praeter

CORNELII TACITI ANNALIUM [a.U.C Sir. 

honestum animum. quippe mater eius, aetatis suae feminas 

pulcliiitudine supergressa, gloriam pariter et formam dederat ; , 

opes clariludini generis ^sufficiebant. s^rmo comis nee absurdum 

ingenium : modestiam praeferre et lascivia iiti. rarus in 

5 publicum egressus, idque velata parte oris, ne satiaret aspeclum, 

vel quia sic decebat. famae numquam pepercit, maritos et 3 

adulteros non "distingueng ; neque adfectui suo aut alieno 

obnoxia, unde utilitas ostenderetur, illuc libidinem transferebat. 

igitur agentem eam in matrimonio Rufri Crispini equitis 4 

lo Romani, ex quo filium genuerat, Otho pellexit iuventa ac 

luxu et quia flagrantissimus in amicitia Neronis habebatur: 

nee mora quin adulterio matrimonium iungeretur. 

46. Otho sive amore incaulus laudare formam elegantiam- 

que uxoris apud principem, sive ut accenderet ac, si eadem 

15 fcmina poterentur id quoque vinculum potentiam ei adiceret. 

saepe auditus est consurgens e convivio Caesaris, se quidem 2 

ire ad illam, sibi concessam dictitans nobilitatem, pulchri- 

tudinem, vota omnium et gaudia felicium. his atque 3 

talibus inrilamentis non longa cunctatio interponitur. sed 

20 accepto aditu Poppaea primum per blandimenta et artes 

valescere, imparem cupidini se et forma Neronis captam 

simulans; mox acri iam principis amore ad superbiam 

vertens, si ultra unam alteramque noctem attineretur, 

nuptam esse se dictitans, nee posse matrimonium amittere, 

25 devinctam Othoni per genus vitae, quod nemo adaequaret 

ilium animo et cultu magnificum ; ibi se summa fortuna 4 

digna visere: at Neronem, paelice ancilla et adsuetydine 

Actes devinctum, nihil e contubernio servili nisi abiectum 

et sordidum traxisse. deicitur familiaritate sueta, post 5 

30 congressu et comitalu Otho, et ad postremum, ne in urbe 

aemulatus ageret, provinciae Lusitaniae praeficitur ; ubi 

usque ad civilia arma non ex priore infamia sed intcgre 

sancteque egit, procax otii et potestatis temperantior. 

: 

.

A.D. 58.] L/B/lR Kill. CAP. 45-49. 

47. Hactenus Nero flagitiis et sceleribus velamenta quae- 

sivit. suspectabat maxime Cornelium Sullam, socors inge- 

nium eius in conlrarium trahcns callidumque et simulatorem 

2 interpretando. quern metum Graptus ex libertis Caesaris, usu 

et senecta Tiberio abusque domum principum edoctus tali 5 ,,^ J; 

mendacio intendit, pons Mulvius in eo tempore Celebris 

nocturnis inlecebris erat ; ventilabatque illuc Nero, quo 

;3 solulius urbem extra lasciviret. igitur regredienti per viam 

Flaminiam compositas insidias fatoque evitalas, quoniam 

diverse itinera Sallustianos in hortos remeaverit, auctoremque 10 

eius doli Sullam ementitur, quia forte redeuntibus ministris 

principis quidam per iuvenilem licentiam, quae tunc passim 

4 exercebatur, inanem metum fecerant. neque servorum quisquam 

neque clientium Sullae adgnitus, maximeque despecta 

et nullius ausi capax natura eius a crimine abhorrebat: proinde 15 

tamen quasi convictus esset, cedere patria et Massiliensium 

moenibus coerceri iubetur. 

48. Isdem consulibus auditae Puteolanorum legationes, 

quas diversas ordo plebs ad senatum miserant, illi vim multi- 

tudinis, hi magistratuum et primi cuiusque avaritiam incre- 20 

2 pantes. eaque sedilio ad saxa et minas ignium progressa ne 

caedera et arma proliceret, C. Cassius adhibendo remedio 

3 delectus, quia severitatem eius non tolerabant, precante ipso 

ad Scribonios fratres ea cura transfertur, data cohorte 

praetoria, cuius terrore et paucorum supplicio rediit oppi- 25 

danis concordia. 

49. Non referrem vulgarissimum senatus consultum, quo 

civitati Syracusanorum egredi numerum edendis gladiatoribus 

finitum permittebatur, nisi Paetus Thrasea contra dixisset 

praebuissetque maleriem obtrectatoribus arguendae senten- 30 

2 tiae. cur enim, si rem publicam egere libertate senatoria 

crederet, tam levia consectaretur ? quin de bello aut pace, de 

vectigalibus et legibus, quibusque aliis res Romana contine- 

Jc^'' 

' ^

t/ 

y^j^'^ , 

CORNELII TACITI ANNA LIUM [a.U.C. 8ii. 

redir, suaderet dissuaderetve ? liccre patribus, quoliens ius 

diccndae scntentiae accepissent, quae vellcnt expiomcre 

relationemque in ea poslulare. an solum emendation'e 3 

dignum, ne Syracusis spectacula largius ederentur : cetera 

6 per omnes imperii partes perinde egregia, quam si non 

Nero sed Tiirasea regimen eorum teneret? quod si summa 4 

dissimulatione transmitterentur, quanto magis iiianibus abstinendum 

? Thrasea contra, rationem poscentibus amicis, non 5 

praesentium ignarum respondebat eius modi consulta corrio 

gere, sed patrum honori dare, ut manifestum fieret magnarum 

rerum curam non dissimulaturos, qui animum etiam levissimis 

adverterent. 

50. Eodem anno crebris populi flagitationibus, inmodestiam 

publicanorum arguentis, dubitavit Nero, an gincta vectigalia 

15 omitti iuberet idque pulchcrrimum donum generi mortalium 

daret. sed impetum eius, multum prius laudata magnitudine 2 

animi, attinuere senatores, dissolutionem imperii docendo, si 

fructus quibus res publica sustineretur deminuerentur : quippe 

sublatis'portoriis sequens ut tributorum abolitio expostularetur. 

20 plerasque vectigalium societates a consulibus et tribunis plebei 3 

conslitutas acri etiam turn populi Romani libertate ; reliqua '^ 

mox ita provisa, ut ratio quaestuum et necessitas erogaliouum 

inter se congrueret. temperandas plane publicanorum cupi- 4 

dines, ne per tot annos sine querella tolerata novis acerbltati- 

25 bus ad invidiam verterent. 

51. Ergo edixit princeps, ut leges cuiusqiie public!, occultae 

ad id tempus, proscriberentur ; omissas petitiones non ultra 

annum resumerent ; Romae praetor, per provincias qui pro 

praetore aut console essent iura adversus publicanos extra or- 

' 

r' 

30 dinem redderent ; militibus immunitas servaretur, nisi in iis 

quae veno exercerent ; aliaque admodum aequa, quae brevi 

servata, dein frustra habila sunt. manet tamen abolitio 2 

quadragensimae quinquagensimaeque et qua alia exactionibus

A.D. 58.] LIBER Kill. CAP. 49-54. 

3 inlicitis nomina publican! invenciant. tempeiata apud trans- 

marinas provincias friimenli subveclio, et ne censibus ne- 

golialorum naves adscriberentur IribiUumque pro illis pen- 

derent, constitutum. 

52. Reos ex provincia Africa, qui proconsulare imperium 5 

illic habuerant, Sulpicium Camerinum et Pompeium Silvanum 

absolvit Caesar, Camerinum adversus privates et paucos, 

saevitiae magis quam captarum pecuniarum crimina obicientes. 

2 Silvanum magna vis accusatorum circumsteterat poscebatque 

tempus evocandorum testium: reus ilico defendi postulabat. 10 

3 valuitque pecuniosa orbitate et senecta, quam ultra vilam 

eorum produxit, quorum ambitu evaserat. ./-' 

53. Quietae ad id tempus res in Germania fuerant, ingenio 

ducum, qui pervulgalis triumphi insignibus mains ex eo decus 

2 sperabant, si pacem continuavissent. Paulinus Pompeius et 15 

3 L. Vetus ea tempestate exercitui praeerant. ne tamen segnem 

militem attinerent, ille inchoatum ante tres et sexaginta annos 

a Druso aggerem coercendo Rheno absolvit, Vetus Mosellam 

atque Ararim facta inter utrumque fossa conectere parabat, 

ut copiae per mare, dein Rhodano et Arare subvectae per 20 

eam fossam, mox fiuvio Mosella in Rhenum, exim Oceanum 

decurrerent, sublatisque ilineris difficultatibus navigabilia inter 

4 se Occidentis Septentrionisque litora fierent. invidit operi 

Aelius Gracilis Belgicae legatus, deterrendo Veterem ne A/' 

legiones alienae provinciae inferret studiaque Galliarum 25 

adfectaret, formidolosum id imperatori dictitans, quo plerum- 

que prohibentur conalus honesti. . 

54. Ceterum continuo exercituum otio fama incessit 

2 ereptum ius legalis ducendi in hostem. eoque Frisii 

iuventutem saltibus aut paludibus, inbellem aetatem per lacus 33 

admovere ripae agrosque vacuos et militum usui sepositos 

insedere, auctore Verrito et Malorige, qui nationem eam 

3 regebant, in quanluni Germani regnantur. iamque fixerant 

-

CORNELII TACITI ANNALIUM [a.U.C. Sii. 

domos,semina aivis intulerant iitque patrium solum exercebant, 

cum Dubius Avitus, accepta a Paulino provincia, minitando 

vim Romanam, nisi abscederent Fiisii veteres in locos aut 

novam sedem a Caesare inpetrarent, perpulit Verritum et 

5 Malorigem preces suscipeie. profectique Romam dum aliis 4 

curis intenlum Neronem opperiuntur, inter ea quae barbaris 

ostentantur intravere Pompei theatrum, quo magnitudinem 

populi viserent. illic per otium (neque enim ludicris ignari 5 

oblectabantur) dum consessum caveae, discrimina ordinum, 

10 quis eques, ubi senatus percontantur, advertere quosdam 

cultu externo in sedibus senatorum ; et quinam forent 

rogitantes, postquam audiveiant earum gentium legatis id 

honoris datum, quae virtute et amicitia Romana praecellerent, 

nullos mortalium armis aut fide ante Germanos esse exclamant 

15 degrediunturque et inter patres considunt. quod comiter 6 

a visentibus exceptum, quasi impetus antiqui et bona 

aemulatio. Nero civitate Romana ambos donavit, Frisios 

decedere agris iussit. atque illis iispernantibus auxiliaris 7 

eques repente immissus necessitatem atlulit, captis caesisve 

20 qui pervicacius restiterant. 

55. Eosdem agros Ampsivarii occupavere, validior gens 

non modo sua copia, sed adiacentium populorum misera- 

tione, quia pulsi a Chaucis et sedis inopes tutum exilium 

orabant. aderatque lis clarus per illas gentes et nobis 2 

25 quoque fidus, nomine Boiocalus, vinctum se rebellione 

Cherusca iussu Arminii referens, mox Tiberio, Germanico 

ducibus stipendia meruisse, et quinquaginta annorum ob- 

sequio id quoque adiungere, quod gentem suam dicioni 

nostrae subiceret. quo tantam partem campi iacere, in 3 

30 quam peeora et armenta militum aliquando transmitterentur? 

servarent sane receptus gregibus inter hominum famem, 4 

modo ne vastitatem et solitudinem mallent quam amicos 

populos. Chamavorum quondam ea arva, mox Tubantum 5 

"

. inde 

A.D. 58.] LIBER XIII. CAP. 54-57- 

et post Usiporum fuisse. sicuti caelum dels, ita terras generi 

6 mortalium dalas ; quaeque vacuae, eas publicas esse, solem 

suspiciens et cetera sidera vocans quasi coram inter- 

rogabat, vellentne contueri inane solum : potius mare 

superfunderent adversus terrarum ereptores. 5 

56. Et commotus his Avitus : patienda meliorum imperia ; 

id dis quos inplorarent placitum, ut arbitrium penes Romanes 

maneret, quid darent quid adimerent, neque alios indices 

2 quam se ipsos paterentur. haec in publicum Ampsivariis 

respondit, ipsi Boiocalo ob memoriam amiciuae daturum 10 

3 agros. quod ille ut proditionis pretium aspernatus addidit 

'deesse nobis terra in vilam, in qua moriamur, non potest:' 

4 atque ita infensis utrimque animis discessum, illi Bructeros, 

Tencteros, ulteriores etiam nationes socias bello vocabant 

Avitus scripto ad Curtilium Manciam superioris exercitus 15 

legatum, ut Rhenum transgressus arma a tergo ostenderet, 

ipse legiones in agrum Tenclerum induxit, excidium minitans, 

5 ni causam suam dissociarent. igitur absistentibus his pari 

metu exterrili Bructeri ; et ceteris quoque aliena pericula 

deserentibus sola Ampsivariorum gens retro ad Usipos et 20 

6 Tubantes concessit, quorum terris exacti cum Chattos, 

dein Cheruscos petissent, errore longo hospites, egeni, hostes, 

in alieno quod iuventutis erat caeduntur, inbellis aetas in 

praedam divisa est. 

57. Eadem aestate inter Hermunduros Chattosque cer- 25 

tatum magno proelio, dum flumen gignendo sale fecundum 

et conlerminum vi trahunt, super libidinem cuncta armis 

agendi religione insita, eos maxime locos propinquare caelo 

2 precesque mortalium a deis nusquam propius audiri. inde 

indulgenlia numinum illo in amne illisque silvis salem 30 

provenire, non ut alias apud gentes eluvie maris arescente 

unda, sed super ardentem arborum struem fusa ex contrariis 

3 inter se dementis, igne atque aquis, concretum. sed bellum 

:

CORNELII TACITI ANNALIUM [a.u.C. Sii. 

Hermunduiis prosperum, Chatlis exitiosius fuit, quia victores 

diversam aciem Marti ac Rlercuiio sacraveie, quo voto equi 

viri, cuncta viva occidioni danlur. ct minae quidem hostiles 4 

in ipsos vertebant. sed civitas Ubioium socia nobis malo 

5 inproviso adflicta est. nam ignes terra editi villas arva 5 

vicos passim corripiebant ferebanturque in ipsa conditae 

nuper coloniae moenia. neque extingui poterant, non si 6 

imbies caderent, non fluvialibus aquis aut quo alio humore, 

donee inopia remediorum et ira cladis agrestcs quidam 

lo eminus saxa iacere, dein resistentibus flammis propius 

suggressi ictu fustium aliisque verberibus ut feras abster- 

rebant : postremo tegmina corpori derepta iniciunt, quanto 7 

magis profana et usu polluta, tanto magis oppressura ignes. 

58. Eodem anno Ruminalem arborem in comiLio, quae 

15 oclingenlos et triginta ante annos Remi Romulique infanliam 

lexerat, mortuis ramalibus et arescente trunco deminulam 

prodigii loco habitum est, donee in novos fetus revivesceret.

A.D. 59. LIBER XIV. CAP. I. 

LIBER XIV. 

1. Gaio Vipstano C. Fonteio consulibus diu meditatum 

scelus non ultra Nero distulit, vetustate imperii coalita 

audacia et flagrantior in dies amore Poppaeae, quae sibi 

matrimonium et discidium Octaviae incolumi Agrippina 

haud sperans, crebris criminalionibus, aliquando per facetias 5 

incusaret principem et pupillum vocaret, qui iussis alienis 

obnoxius non modo imperii sed libertatis etiam indigeret. 

2 cur enim differri nuplias suas ? formam scilicet displicere 

et triumphales avos, an fecunditatem et verum animum? 

3 timeri nc uxor saltern iniurias patrum, iram populi adversus 10 

4 supeibiam avariliamque matris aperiat. quod si nurum 

Agrippina non nisi filio infestam ferre posset, redderetur ipsa

CORA'ELII TACITI ANNALIUM [a.U.C. 812. 

Othonis coniugio : ituram quoquo terrarum, ubi audiret potius 

contumelias imperatoris quam viseret periculis eius inmixta. 

haec atque talia lacrimis et arte adulterae penetrantia 5 

nemo piohibebat, cupientibus cunctis infringi polcntiam 

5 matris et crcdente nullo usque ad caedem eius duraluiM 

filii odia. 

3. Igilur Nero vitare secretos eius congressus, abscedentem 

in hortos aut Tusculanum vel Anliatem in agrum laudare, 

quod otium capesseret. postremo, ubicumque haberetur, 2 

10 pracgiavem ratus inteificere conslituit, hactenus consultans, 

veneno an ferro vel qua alia vi. placuitque prime venenum. 3 

sed inter epulas principis si daretur, referri ad casum non 

poterat tali iam Britannici exitio ; et ministros temptare 

arduum videbatur mulieris usu scelerum adversus insidias 

15 intentae; atque ipsa praesumendo remedia munierat corpus, 

ferrum et caedes quonam modo occultarelur, nemo reperiebat; 4 

et ne quis illi tanto facinori delectus iussa sperneret metue- 

bant. obtulit ingenium Anicetus libertus, classi apud 5 

Misenum praefectus et pueritiae Neronis educator ac mutuis 

20 odiis Agrippinae invisus. ergo navem posse componi docet, 

cuius pars ipso in mari per artem soluta effunderet ignaram 

nihil tam capax fortuitorum quam mare ; et si naufragio 7 

intercepta sit, quem adeo iniquum, ut sceleri adsignet quod 

venli et fluctus deliquerint ? additurum principem defunctae 

25 templum et aras et cetera ostentandae pietati. 

4. Placuit sollertia, tempore etiam iuta, quando Quin- 

quatruum festos dies apud Baias frequentabat. illuc matrem 2 

elicit, ferendas parentium iracundias et placandum animum 

dictitans, quo rumorem reconcilialionis efficeret acciperetque 

30 Agrippina, facili feminarum credulitate ad gaudia. venientem 3 

dehinc obvius in litora (nam Anlio adventabat) excepit manu 

et complexu ducitque Baulos. id villae nomen est quae 4 

promunturium Misenmn inter et Baianum lacum flexo mari 

:

A.D. 50.] LIBER XIV. CAP. 1-5. 

5 adluitur. stabat inter alias navis ornatior, tamquam id 

quoque honori matris darelur : quippe sueverat triremi et 

6 classiaiiorum remigio vehi. ac turn invitata ad epulas eiat, 

lit occultando facinori nox adhibeietur. satis constilit 

extiusse proditorem, et Agrippinam auditis insidiis, an 5 

7 crederet ambiguam, gestamine sellae Baias pervectam. ibi 

blandimentum sublevavit melum : comiter excepta superque 

8 ipsum collocata. iam pluribus sermonibus, modo familiaiitate 

iuvenili Nero et luisus adductus, quasi seria consociaiet, 

tracto in longum convictu, prosequitur abeuntem, artius oculis 10 

et pectori haerens, sive explenda simulatione, seu periturae 

matris supremus aspectus quamvis ferum animum retinebat. 

5. Noctem sideribus inliistrem et placido mari quietam 

2 quasi convincendum ad scelus di praebuere. nee multum 

erat progressa navis, duobus _e numero familiarium Agrip- 15 

pinam comitanlibus, ex quis Crepereius Gallus baud procul 

gubernaculis adstabat, Acerronia super pedes cubitantis 

reclinis paenitentiam filii et reciperatam matris gratiam 

per gaudium memorabat, cum dato signo ruere tectum 

loci multo plumbo grave, pressusque Crepereius et statim 20 

3 exanimatus est. Agrippina et Acerronia eminentibus lecti 

parietibus ac forte validioribus, quam ut oneri cederent, 

4 protectae sunt, nee dissolutio navigii sequebatur, turbatis 

omnibus et quod plerique ignari etiam conscios impediebant. 

5 visum dehine remigibus unum in latus inclinare atque ita 25 

navem submergere : sed neque ipsis promptus in rem 

subitam consensus, et alii contra nitentes dedere facultatem 

6 lenioris in mare iaclus. verum Acerronia, inprudentia dum 

se Agrippinam esse utque subvenirelur malri principis 

clamitat, contis et remis et quae fors obtulerat navalibus 30 

7 telis conficitur : Agrippina silens eoque minus adgnita 

(unum tamen vulnus umero excepit) nando, deinde occursu 

lenunculorum Lucrinum in lacum vecla villae suae infertur.

CORNELII TACiri ANNALIUM [a.u.C. S12. 

0. Illic reputansideo se fallacibus litteris accitam et honore 

praecipuo habitam, quodque litus iuxta, non ventis acta, non 

saxis inpulsa navis summa sui parte veluli terrestre machinamentum 

concidisset, observans etiam Acerroniae necem, 

5 simul suum vulnus aspiciens, solum insidiarum remedium 

esse sensit, si non intellegeientur ; misitque libertura 

Agerinum, qui nuntiaret filio benignilate deum et forluna 

eius evasisse gravem casum ; orare ut quamvis peiiculo 

matris exterritus visendi cuiam differret ; sibi ad piaesens 

10 quiete opus, atque interim securitate simulata medicamina 2 

vulneri et fomenta corpori adhibet ; testamentum Acerroniae 

requiri bonaque obsignari iubet, id tantum non per simula- 

tionem. 

7. At Neroni nunlios patrati facinoris opperienti adferlur 

15 evasisse ictu levi sauciam et hactenus adito discrimine, ne 

auctor dubitaretur. turn pavore exanimis et iam iamque 2 

adfore obtestans vindictae properam, sive servitia armaret 

vel militem accenderet, sive ad senatum et populum 

pervaderet, naufragium et vulnus et interfectos amicos 

20 obiciendo, quod contra subsidium sibi ? nisi quid Burrus 

et Seneca; quos expergens statim acciverat incertum an et 

ante gnaros. igitur longum utriusque silentium, ne inriti 3 

dissuaderent, an eo descensum credebant, ut, nisi prae- 

veniretur Agrippina, pereundum Neroni esset. post Seneca 4 

25 hactenus promptius, ut respiceret Burrum ac sciscitarelur, 

an militi imperanda caedes esset. ille praetorianos toti 5 

Caesarum domui obstrictos memoresque Germanici nihil 

adversus progeniem eius atrox ausuros respondit : perpetraret 

Anicetus promissa. qui nihil cunctatus poscit summam 

30 sceleris. ad eam vocem Nero illo sibi die dari imperium 6 

auctoremque tanti muneris libertum profitetur: iret propere 

duceretque promptissimos ad iussa. ipse audito venisse 7 

missu Agrippinae nuntium Agerinum, scaenam ultro criminis


parat, gladiuinque, diim mandata peifert, abicit inter pedes 

eius, turn quasi deprehenso vincla inici iubet, ut exitium 

principis molitam matrem et pudore deprehensi sceleris 

sponte mortem sumpsisse confingeret. 

8. Interim vulgato Agrippinae periculo quasi casu even- 5 

2 isset, ut quisque acceperat, decurrere ad litus. hi molium 

obiectus, hi proximas scaphas scandere ; alii, quantum corpus 

sinebat, vadere in mare; quidam manus protendere; 

questibus, votis, clamore diversa rogitantium aut incerta 

respondentium omnis era compleri ; adfluere ingens multitude 10 

cum luminibus, atque ubi incolumem esse pernotuit, ut ad 

gratandum sese expedire, donee aspectu armati et minitantis 

3 agminis disiecti sunt, Anicetus villam statione circumdat 

refractaque ianua obvios servorum abripit, donee ad fores 

cubiculi veniret ; cui pauci adstabant, ceteris terrore inrum- 15 

4 pentium exterritis. cubiculo modicum lumen inerat et 

ancillarum una, magis ac magis anxia Agrippina, quod nemo 

a filio ac ne Agerinus quidem : aliam fore laetae rei faciem ; 

nunc solitudinem ac repentinos strepitus et extremi mali 

5 indicia, abeunte dehinc ancilla ' tu quoque me deseris ' 20 

prolocuta respicit Anicetum, trierarcho Herculeio et Obarito 

centurione classiario comitatum : ac, si ad visendum venisset, 

refotam nuntiaret, sin facinus patraturus, nihil se de filio 

6 credere ; non imperatum parricidium. circumsistunt ledum 

percussores et prior trierarchus fusti caput eius adflixit. 25 

iam ill mortem centurioni ierrum destringenti protendens 

uterum ' ventrem feri ' exclamavit multisque vulneribus 

confecta est. 

9. Haec consensu produntur, aspexeritne matrem exanimem 

Nero et formam corporis eius laudaverit, sunt qui 3° 

2 tradiderint, sunt qui abnuant. cremata est nocte eadem 

convivali lecto et exsequiis vilibus ; neque, dum Nero rerum 

3 potiebalur, congesta aut clausa humus, mox domesticorum 

F

COKNEUI TACIT! ANNALIUM [a.U.C Si 2. 

ciira levem tumulum accepit, viam Miseni propter et villam 

Caesaris dictatoris, quae subiectos sinus editissima prospeclat. 

accenso rogo libertus eius cognomento IMnester se ipse 4 

ferro transegit, incertum caritate in patronam an metu exitii. 

5 hunc sui finem multos ante annos crediderat Agrippina 5 

conlempseratque. nam consulenti super Nerone responderunt 

Chaldaei fore ut imperaret matremque occideret ; atque ilia 

'occidat' inquit, ' dum imperet/ 

10. Sed a Cacsare perfecto demum scelere magniludo 

lo eius inlellecta est. reliquo noctis modo per silentium dcfixus, 

saepius pavore exsurgens et mentis inops lucem opperiebatur 

tamquam exitium adlaturam. atque eum auctore Burro 2 

prima centurionum tribunorumque adulatio ad spem firmavit, 

prensantium manum gratantiumque quod discrimen inpro- 

15 visum et matris facinus evasisset. amici dehinc adire templa, 3 

et coepto exemplo proxima Campaniae municipia victimis 

et legationibus laetitiam lestari : ipse diversa simulatione 4 

maeslus et quasi incolumitati suae infensus ac morti parentis 

inlacrimans. quia tamen non, ut hominum vultus, ila 5 

20 locorum facies mutantur, obversabaturque maris illius et 

litorum gravis aspectus (et erant qui crederent sonitum tubae 

coUibus circum editis planctusque tumulo matris audiri), 

Neapolim concessit litterasque ad senalum misit, quarum 

summa erat repertum cum ferro percussoiem Agerinum, 

as ex intimis Agrippinae libertis, et luisse eam poenas con- 

scientia, quasi scelus paravisset. 

11. Adiciebat crimina longius repetita, quod consortium 

imperii iuratiirasque in feminae verba praetorias cohortes 

idemque dedecus senatus et populi speravisset, ac postquam 

30 frustra habita sit, infensa militi patribusque et plebi dissua- 

sisset donativum et congiarium periculaque viris inlustribus 

struxisset. quanto suo labore perpetratum, ne inrumperet 2 

curiam, ne gentibus externis responsa daret. teniporum

Jt.D. 59.] L/BER XIV. CAP. 9-13. 

quoque Claudianorum obliqua insectatione cuncta eius 

dominationis flagitia in matrem transtulit, publica fortuna 

3 exstinctam referens. namque et naufragium narrabat : quod 

fortuitum fuisse, quis adeo hebes inveniretur ut crederet? 

aut a mulicre naufraga missum cum telo unum, qui cohortes 5 

4 et classes imperatoris perfringeret ? ergo non iam Nero, cuius 

inmanitas omnium questus anteibat, sed Seneca adveiso 

rumore erat, quod oratione tali confessionem scripsisset. 

12. Miro tamen ceitamine procerum decernuntur supplica- 

tiones apud omnia pulvinaria, utque Quinquatrus, quibus 10 

apertae insidiae essent, ludis annuls celebrarentur ; aureum 

Minervae simulacrum in curia et iuxta principis imago 

statuerentur ; dies natalis Agrippinae inter nefastos esset. 

2 Thrasca Paetus silentio vel brevi adsensu priores adulationes 

transmittere solitus exiit tum senatu, ac sibi causam periculi 15 

3 fecit, ceteris libertatis initium non praebuit. prodigia quoque 

crebra et inrita intercessere. anguem enixa mulier, et alia 

in concubitu mariti fulmine exanimata : iam sol repente 

obscuratus et tactae de caelo quattuordecim urbis regiones. 

4 quae adeo sine cura deum eveniebant, ut multos post annos 20 

5 Nero imperium et scelera continuaverit. ceterum quo 

gravaret invidiam matris eaque demota auctam lenitatem 

suam testificaretur, feminas inlustres luniam et Calpurniam, 

praetura functos Valerium Capitonem et Licinium Gabolum 

6 sedibus patriis reddidit, ab Agrippina olim pulsos. etiam 25 

Lolliae Paulinae cineres reportari sepulcrumque exstrui 

permisit; quosque ipse nuper relegaverat, Iturium et Cal- 

7 visium poena exsolvit. nam Silana fato functa erat, longin- 

quo ab exilio Tarentum regressa labante iam Agrippina, 

cuius inimicitiis conciderat, vel mitigata. 30 

13. Tamen cunctari in oppidis Campaniae, quonam modo 

urbem ingrederetur, an obsequium senatus, an studia plebis 

reperiret anxius : contm deterrimus quisque, quorum non


alia regia fecundior extitit, invisum Agrippinae nomen et 

morte eius accensum populi favorem disserunt: iret in- 

trepidus et venerationem sui coram experiretur ; simul 

praegredi exposcunt, et promptiora quam promiserant 2 

5 inveniunt, obvias tribus, festo cuitu senatum, coniugum ac 

liberorum agmina per sexum et aetatem disposita, exstructos, 

qua incederet, spectaculorum gradus, quo modo triumphi 

visuntur. hinc superbus ac publici servitii victor Capitolium 3 

adiit, grates exsolvit, seque in omnes libidines effudit, quas 

10 rnale coercitas qualiscumque matris reverentia tardaverat. 

14. Vetus illi cupido erat curriculo quadrigarum insistere, 

nee minus foedum studium cithara ludicrum in modum 

canere. concertare equis regium et anliquis ducibus facti- 

tatum memorabat, idque vatum laudibus celebre et deorum 

15 honori datum, enimvero cantus Apollini sacros, talique 2 

ornatu adstare non modo Graecis in urbibus sed Romana 

apud templa numen praecipuum et praescium, nee iam sisti 3 

poterat, cum Senecae ac Burro visum, ne utraque pervinceret, 

alterum concedere. clausumque valle Vaticana spatium, in 4 

20 quo equos regeret, haud promisco spectaculo. mox ultro 

vocari populus Romanus laudibusque cxtollere, ut est vulgus 

cupiens voluptatum et, si eodem princeps trahat, laelum. 

ceterum evulgatus pudor non satietatem, ut rebantur, sed 5 

incitamentum attulit. ratusque dedecus molliri, si plures 

25 foedasset, nobilium familiarum posteros egestate venales in 

scaenam deduxit ; 

quos fato perfunctos ne nominatim tradam, 

maioribus eorum tribuendum puto. nam et eius flagitium est, 

qui pecuniam ob delicta potius dedit quam ne delinquerent. 

notos quoque equites Romanos operas arenae promittere 6 

30 subegit donis ingentibus, nisi quod merces ab eo, qui iubere 

potest, vim necessitatis adfert. 

15. Ne tamen adhuc publico theatro dehonestaretur, in- 

stituit ludos luvenalium vocabulo, in quos passim nomina


2 data, non nobililas cuiquam, non aelas aut acti honores 

impedimento, quo minus Graeci Lalinive histrionis artem 

3 exercerent usque ad gestus modosque baud viriles. quin 

et feminae inlustres deformia meditari; exstructaque apud 

nemus, quod navali stagno circumposuit Augustus, con- 5 

venticula et cauponae et posita veno inritamenta luxui. 

dabanturque stipes, quas boni necessitate, intemperantes 

4 gloria consumerent. inde gliscere flagitia et infamia, nee 

ulla moribus olim corruptis plus libidinum circumdedit quam 

5 ilia conluvies. vix artibus honestis pudor retinetur, nedum 10 

inter certamina vitiorum pudicilia aut modestia aut quicquam 

6 probi moris reservaretur. postremum ipse scaenam incedit, 

multa cura temptans citharam et praemeditans adsistentibus 

7 phonascis. accesserat cohors militum, centuriones tribunique 

8 et maerens Burrus ac laudans. tuncque primum conscripti 15 

sunt equites Roman! cognomento Augustianorum, aetate ac 

robore conspicui, et pars ingenio procaces, alii in spem 

8 potentiae. ii dies ac noctes plausibus personare formam 

principis vocemque deum vocabulis appellantes; quasi per 

virtutem clari honoratique agere. 

16. Ne tamen ludicrae tantum imperatoris artes notes- 

cerent carminum quoque studium adfectavit, contractis quibus 

2 aliqua pangendi facultas necdum insignis erat. hi cenati 

considere simul, et adlatos vel ibidem repertos versus 

conectere atque ipsius verba quoquo mode prolata supplere, 25 

quod species ipsa carminum docet, non impetu et instinctu 

8 nee ore uno fluens. etiam sapientiae doctoribus tempus 

impertiebat post epulas, utque contraria adseverantium 

discordia frueretur. nee deerant qui ore vultuque tristi inter 

oblectamenta regia spectari cuperent. 30 

17. Sub idem tempus levi initio atrox caedes orta inter 

colonos Nucerinos Pompeianosque gladiatorio spectaculo, 

quod Livineius Regulus, quern motum senatu rettuli, edebat. 

20

CORNELII TACITI ANNALIUM [a.U.C. 8i.v 

quippe oppidana lascivia invicem incessenles probra, dcin 2 

saxa, postremo ferrum sumpsere, validiore Pompeianorum 

plebe, apud quos spectaculum edebatur. ergo deportati sunt 3 

in urbem multi e Nucerinis trunco per vulnera corpore, ac 

5 plerique liberorum aut parentum mortes deflebant. cuius rei 

iudicium princeps senatui, senatus consulibus permisit, et 4 

rursus re ad patres relata, prohibiti publice in decern annos 

eius modi coetu Pompeiani collegiaque, quae contra leges 

instituerant, dissoluta ; Livineius et qui alii seditionem con- 

lo civerant exilic multati sunt. 

18. Molus senatu et Pedius Blaesus, accusantibus Cyre- 

nensibus violatum ab eo thesaurum Aesculapii dilectumque 

militarem pretio et ambitione corruptum. idem Cyrenenses 2 

reum agebant Acilium Strabonem, praetoria potestate usum 

15 et missum disceptatorem a Claudio agrorum, quos regis 

Apionis quondam avitos et populo Romano cum regno 

relictos proximus quisque possessor invaserant, diutinaque 

licentia et iniuria quasi iure et aequo nitebantur. igitur 3 

abiudicatis agris orta adversus iudicem invidia; et senatus 

20 ignota sibi esse mandata Claudii et consulendum principem 

respondit. Nero probata Strabonis sententia, se nihilo minus 4 

subvenire sociis et usurpata concedere rescripsit. 

19. Sequuntur virorum inlustrium mortes, Domiiii Afri 

et M. Servilii, qui summis honoribus et multa eloquentia 

35 viguerant, ille orando causas, Servilius diu foro, mox tradendis 

rebus Romanis Celebris et elegantia vitae, quam clariorem 

effecit, ut par ingenio, ita morum diversus. 

20. Nerone quarlum Cornelio Cosso consulibus quin- 

quennale ludicrum Romae institutum est ad morem Graeci 

30 ccrtaminis, varia fama, ut cuncta ferme nova, quippe erant 2 

qui Gnaeum quoque Pompeium incusatum a senioribus 

ferrent, quod mansuram theatri sedem posuisset. nam antea 3 

subitariis gradibus et scaena in tempus structa ludos edi

A.D. Co.] LIBER XIV. CAP. 1 7-2 1. 

solitos, vel si vetustiora repetas, stantem populum spectavisse, 

ne, si consideret theatre, dies totos ignavia continuaret. 

4 spectaculorum quidem antiquitas servaretur, quotiens prae- 

tores ederent, nulla cuiquam civium necessitate certandi. 

5 ceterum abolitos paulatim patrios mores funditus everti per 5 

accitam lasciviam, ut quod usquam corrumpi et corrumpere 

queat, in urbe visatur, degeneretque studiis externis iuventus, 

gymnasia et otia et turpes araores exercendo, principe et 

senatu auctoribus, qui non modo licentiam vitiis permiserint, 

sed vim adhibeant, ut proceres Romani specie orationum et 10 

6 carminum scaena polluantur. quid superesse, nisi ut corpora 

quoque nudent et caestus adsumant easque pugnas pro 

7 militia et armis meditentur ? an iustitiam auctum iri et 

decurias equitum egregium iudicandi munus melius exple- 

turas, si fractos sonos et dulcedinem vocum perite audissent? 15 

8 noctes quoque dedecori adiectas, ne quod tempus pudori 

relinquatur, sed coetu promisco, quod perditissimus quisque 

per diem concupiverit, per tenebras audeat. 

21. Pluribus ipsa licentia placebat, ac tamen hbnesta 

2 nomina praetendebant. maiores quoque non abhorruisse 20 

spectaculorum oblectamentis pro fortuna quae tum erat, 

eoque a Tuscis accilos histriones, a Thuriis equorum 

certamina ; et possessa Achaia Asiaque ludos curatius editos, 

nee quemquam Romae honesto loco ortum ad theatrales 

artes degeneravisse, ducentis iam annis a L. Mummii 25 

triumpho, qui primus id genus spectaculi in urbe praebuerit. 

3 sed et consuUum parsimoniae, quod perpetua sedes theatro 

locata sit polius, quam immenso sumptu singulos per annos 

4 consurgeret ac destrueretur. nee perinde magistralus rem 

familiarem exhausturos aut populo efflagitandi Graeca cer- 30 

tamina a magistratibus causam fore, cum eo sumptu res 

5 publica fungatur. oratorum ac vatum victorias incitamentum 

ingeniis adiaturas; nee cuiquam iudici grave aures studiis

CORNEUI TACITI ANNALIUM [a.u.c. 813, 

honeslis et voluptatibus concessis impertirc. laetiliae magis 6 

quam lasciviae dari paucas totius quinquennii noctes, quibus 

tanta luce ignium nihil inlicitum occultari queat. sane nullo 7 

insigni dehonestamento id spectaculum transiit. ac ne 

5 modica quidem studia plebis exarsere, quia redditi quamquam 

scaenae pantomimi certaminibus saciis prohibebantur. 

eloquentiae primas nemo tulit, sed victorem esse Caesarem 8 

pronuntiatum. Graeci amictus, quis per eos dies plerique 

incesserant, turn exoleverunt. 

10 22. Inter quae et sidus cometes effulsit, de quo vulgi 

opinio est, tamquam mutationem regis portendat. igitur 

quasi iam depulso Nerone, quisnam deligeretur anquirebant. 

et omnium ore Rubellius Plautus celebratur, cui nobilitas per 2 

matrem ex lulia familia. ipse placita maiorum colebat, 3 

15 habitu severe, casta et secreta domo, quantoque metu 

occultior, tanto plus famae adeptus. auxit rumorem pari 4 

vanitate orta interpretatio fulguris. nam quia discumbentis 

Neronis apud Simbruina stagna in villa, cui Sublaqueum 

nomen est, ictae dapes mensaque disiecta erat, idque finibus 

2o Tiburtum acciderat, unde paterna Plauto origo, hunc ilium 

numine deum destinari credebant, fovebantque muUi, quibus 

nova et ancipitia praecolere avida et plerumque fallax 

ambitio est. ergo permotus his Nero componit ad Plautum 5 

litteras, consuleret quieti urbis seque prava diffamantibus 

25 subtraheret : esse illi per Asiam avitos agros, in quibus tula 

et inturbida iuventa frueretur. ita illuc cum coniuge Antistia 

et paucis familiarium concessit. 

Isdem diebus nimia luxus cupido infamiam et periculum 6 

Neroni tulit, quia fontem aquae Marciae ad urbem deductae 

30 nando incesserat ; videbatuique potus sacros et caerimoniam 

loci corpore loto polluisse. secutaque anceps valeludo iram 

deum adfirmavit. 

23. At Corbulo post deleta Artaxata utendum recenti


terrore ratus ad occupanda Tigranocerta, quibus excisis 

metum hostium intenderet vel, si pepeicisset, clementiae 

famam adipisceretur, illuc pergit, non infenso exercitu, ne 

spem veniae aufeiret, neque tamen remissa cura, gnarus 

facilem mutatu gentem, ut segnem ad pericula, ita infidam 5 

2 ad occasiones. barbari, pro ingenio quisque, alii preces 

offerre, quidam deserere vicos et in avia digredi; ac fuere 

3 qui se speluncis et carissima secum abderent. igitur dux 

Romanus diversis artibus, misericordia adversus supplices, 

celeritate adversus profugos, inmitis iis qui latebras insederant, 10 

ora et exitus specuum sarmentis virgultisque completos igni 

4 exurit. atque ilium fines suos praegredientem incursavere 

Mardi, latrociniis exerciti contraque inrumpentem montibus 

defensi ; quos Corbulo inmissis Hiberis vastavit hostilem- 

que audaciam externo sanguine ultus est. 15 

24. Ipse exercitusque ut nullis ex proelio damnis, ita per 

inopiam et labores fatiscebant, carne pecudum propulsare 

2 famem adacti. ad hoc penuria aquae, fervida aestas, longinqua 

itinera sola ducis patientia mitigabantur, eadem 

3 pluraque gregario milile tolerantis. ventum dehinc in locos ao 

cultos demessaeque segetes, et ex duobus castellis, in quae 

confugerant Armenii, alterum impetu captum ; qui primam 

4 vim depulerant, obsidione coguntur. unde in regionem 

Tauraunitium transgressus inprovisum periculum vitavit. 

5 nam baud procul tentorio eius non ignobilis barbarus cum 25 

telo repertus ordinem insidiarum seque auctorem et socios 

per tormenta edidit, convictique et puniti sunt qui specie 

6 amicitiae dolum parabant. nee multo post legati Tigrano- 

certa missi patere moenia adferunt, intentos popular! s ad 

iussa : simul hospilale donum, coronam auream, tradebant. 30 

7 accepitque cum honore, nee quicquam urbi detraclum, quo 

promptius obsequium integri retinerent. 

25. At praesidium Legerda, quod ferox iuventus clauserat,

CORNELII TA CITI ANNALIUM [a. U. C. 8 1 4. 

non sine ceitamine expugnalum est : nam et j» ocHum pro 

muris ausi erant et puisi intra muninienta aggeri demum et 

inrumpentium armis cessere. quae facilius proveniebant, 2 

quia Parthi Hyrcano bello distinebanlur. miserantque Hyr- 

5 cani ad principem Romanum societatem oratum, attineri a se 

Vologesen pro pignore amicitiae ostentantes. eos regredientes 3 

Corbulo, ne Euphraten transgress! hoslium custodiis circum- 

venirentur, dato praesidio ad litora maris rubri deduxit, unde 

vitatis Parthorum finibus patrias in sedes remeavcre. 

'o 26. Quin et Tiridaten per Medos extrema Armeniae in- 

trantem, praemisso cum auxiliis Verulano legato, atque ipse 

legionibus citis, abire procul ac spem belli amittere subegit 

quosque nobis aversos animis cognoverat, caedibus et incendiis 

perpopulatus, possessionem Armeniae usurpabat, cum advenit 

15 Tigranes a Nerone ad capessendum imperium delectus, 

Cappadocum ex nobililate, regis Archelai nepos, sed quod 

diu obses apud urbem fuerat, usque ad servilem patientiam 

demissus. nee consensu acceptus, durante apud quosdam 2 

favore Arsacidarum. at plerique superbiam Parlhorum perosi 

20 datum a Romanis regem malebant. additum ei praesidium 3 

mille legionarii, tres sociorum cohortes duaeque cquitum 

alae, et quo facilius novum regnum tueretur, pars Armeniae, 

ut cuique finitima, Pharasmani Polemonique et Aristobulo 

atque Antiocho parere iussae sunt. Corbulo in Surinm 4 

25 abscessit, morte Ummidii legati vacuam ac sibi permissam. 

27. Eodem anno ex inlustribus Asiae urbibus Laodicea 

tremore terrae prolapsa, nullo a nobis remedio, propriis 

opibus revaluit, at in Italia vetus oppidum Puteoli ius 2 

coloniae et cognomentum a Nerone apiscunlur. veterani 3 

30 Tarentum et Antium adscript! non tamen infrequentiae 

locorum subvenere, dilapsis pluribus in provincias in quibus 

stipendia expleverant ; neque coniugiis suscipiendis neque 

alendis liberis sueti orbas sine posteris domos relinquebant. 

;

A.D. r,i.] LIBER XIV. CAP. 25-30. 

4 non enim, ut olim, universae legiones deducebantur cum 

^tribunis et centuiionibus et sui cuiusque ordinis miliiibus, ut 

consensu et caritate rem publicam efficerent, sed ignoti inter 

se, diversis manipulis, sine rectore, sine adfectibus mutuis, 

quasi ex alio genere mortalium repente in unum collecli, 5 

Humerus magis quam colonia. 

28. Comilia praetorum arbitrio senatus haberi solita, 

quoniam acriore ambitu exarserant, princeps composuit, tris, 

2 qui supra numerum petebant, legioni praeficiendo. auxitque 

palrum honorem slatuendo ut, qui a privatis iudicibus ad 10 

senatum provocavissent, eiusdem pecuniae periculum facerent, 

cuius si qui imperatorem appellarent; nam antea vacuum id 

3 solutumque poena fuerat. fine anni Vibius Secundus eques 

Romanus accusantibus Mauris repetundarum damnatur at- 

que Italia exigitur, ne graviore poena adficeretur, Vibii Crispi 15 

fratris opibus enisus. 

29. Caesennio Paeto et Pelronio Turpiliano consulibus 

gravis clades in Britannia accepta, in qua neque A. Didius 

legatus,ut memoravi, nisi parta retinuerat,et successor Veranius 

modicis excursibus Siluras populatus, quin ultra bellum pro- 20 

ferret, morte prohibitus est, magna, dum vixit, severitatis 

fama, supremis testamenti verbis ambitionis manifestus: 

quippe multa in Neronem adulatione addidit subieclurum 

2 ei provinciam fuisse, si biennio proximo vixisset. sed turn 

Paulinus Suetonius obtinebat Britannos, scientia militiae et 25 

rumore populi, qui neniinem sine aemulo sinit, Corbulonis 

concertator, receptaeque Armeniae decus aequare domitis 

3 perduellibus cupiens. igitur Monam insulam, incolis validam et 

receptaculum perfugarum, adgredi parat, navesque fabricatur 

4 piano alveo adversus breve et incertum. sic pedes; equites 30 

vada secuti aut altiores inter undas adnantes equis tramisere. 

30. Stabat pro litore diversa acies, densa armis virisque, 

intercursantibus feminis ; in modum Furiarum veste ferali,

CORNELII TACITI ANNALIUM [a.u.C. 814. 

crinibus deiectis faces praeferebant ; Druidaeque circum, 

preces diras sublatis ad caelum manibus fundentes, novitate 

aspectus perculere militem, ut quasi haerentibus membris 

inmobile corpus vulneribus praeberent. dein cohortationibus 2 

5 ducis et se ipsi stimulantes, ne muliebre et fanaticum agmen 

pavescerent, inferunt signa sternuntque obvios et igni suo 

involvunt. praesidium posthac inpositum victis excisique 3 

luci saevis superstitionibus sacri : nam cruore captivo adolere 

aras et hominum fibris consulere deos fas habebant. haec 

10 agenti Suetonio repentina defectio provinciae nuntiatur. 

31. Rex Icenorum Prasutagus, longa opulentia clarus, 

Caesarem heredem duasque filias scripserat, tali obsequio 

ratus regnumque et domum suam procul iniuria fore, quod 2 

contra vertit, adeo ut regnum per centuriones, domus per 

15 servos velut capta vastarentur. iam primum uxor eius 3 

Boudicca verberibus adfecta et filiae stupro violatae sunt 

praecipui quique Icenorum, quasi cunctam regionem muneri 

accepissent, avitis bonis exuuntur, et propinqui regis inter 

mancipia habebantur. qua contumelia et metu graviorum, 4 

20 quando in formam provinciae cesserant,rapiunt arma,commotis 

ad rebellationem Trinovantibus et qui alii nondum servitio 

fracti resumere libertatem occultis coniurationibus pepigerant, 

acerrimo in veteranos odio. quippe in. coloniam Camulodu- 5 

num recens deducti pellebant domibus, exturbabant agiis, 

25 captivos, servos appellando, foventibus inpotentiam veteranorum 

militibus similitudine vitae et spe eiusdem licentiae. 

ad hoc templum divo Claudio constitutum quasi arx aeternae 6 

dominationis aspiciebatur, delectique sacerdotes specie re- 

ligionis omnis fortunas effundebant. nee arduum videbatur 7 

30 excindere coloniam nullis rnunimentis saeptam ; 

quod ducibus 

nostris parum provisum erat, dum amoenitati prius quam usui 

consulitur. 

32. Inter quae nulla palam causa delapsum Camuloduni 

:

A.D. 6i.] LIBER XIV. CAP. 30-33. 

simulacrum Victoriae ac retro conversum, quasi cederet 

2 hostibus. et feminae in furorem turbatae adesse exilium 

canebant, externosque fremitus in curia eorum auditos; 

consonuisse ululatibus theatrum visamque speciem in aestuario 

Tamesae subversae coloniae : iam Oceanus cruento aspectu, 5 

dilabente aestu humanorum corporum effigies relictae, ut 

3 Britannis ad spem, ita veteranis ad metum trahebantur. sed 

quia procul Suetonius aberat, petivere a Cato Deciano 

procuratore auxilium, ille baud amplius quam ducentos sine 

4 iustis armis misit ; et inerat modica militum manus. tutela lo 

templi freti, et impedientibus qui occulti rebellionis conscii 

consilia turbabant, neque fossam aut vallum praeduxerunt, 

neque motis senibus et feminis iuventus sola restitit : quasi 

media pace incauti multitudine barbarorum circumveniuntur. 

5 et cetera quidem impetu direpta aut incensa sunt : templum, 15 

in quo se miles conglobaverat, biduo obsessum expugna- 

6 tumque. et victor Britannus Pelilio Ceriali legato legionis 

nonae in subsidium adventanti obvius fudit legionem, et quod 

peditum interfecit : Cerialis cum equitibus evasit in castra et 

7 munimentis defensus est. qua clade et odiis provinciae, 20 

quam avaritia eius in bellum egerat, trepidus procurator Catus 

in Galliam transiit. 

33. At Suetonius mira constantia medios inter hostes 

Londinium perrexit, cognomento quidem coloniae non insigne, 

sed copia negotiatorum et commealuum maxime celebre. 25 

2 ibi ambiguus an illam sedem bello deligeret, circumspecta 

infrequentia militis, satisque magnis documentis temeritatem 

Petilii coercitam, unius oppidi damno servare universa statuit. 

3 neque fletu et lacrimis auxilium eius orantium flexus est, 

quin daret profectionis signum et comitantes in partem 30 

agminis acciperet : si quos inbellis sexus aut fessa aetas vel 

4 loci dulcedo attinuerat, ab hoste oppressi sunt, eadem 

clades municipio Verulamio fuit, quia barbari omissis castellis

CORNELII TACITI ANNALIUM [a.u.C 814. 

praesidiisque militarium, quod uberrinium spolianli et defen- 

dentibus intutum, laeti praeda et laborum segnes petebant. 

ad septuaginta milia civium et sociorum iis quae memoravi 5 

locis cecidisse constitit. neque enim capere aut venundare 6 

5 aliudve quod belli commercium, sed caedes patibula ignes 

cruces, tamquam reddituri supplicium ac praerepta interim 

ultione, festinabant. 

34. lam Suetonio quarta decuma legio cum vexillariis 

vicensimanis et e proximis auxiliares, decern ferme milia 

10 armatorum erant, cum omittere cunctationem et congredi 

acie parat. deligitque locum artis faucibus et a tergo silva 2 

clausum, satis cognito nihil hostium nisi in fronte et apertam 

planitiem esse, sine metu insidiarum. igiiur legionarius 3 

frequens ordinibus, levis circum armatura, conglobatus pro 

15 cornibus eques adslitit. at Britannorum copiae passim per 4 

catervas et turmas exsultabant, quanta non alias multitudo, 

et animo adeo feroci, ut coniuges quoque testes victoriae 

secum traherent plauslrisque inponerent, quae super extremum 

ambitum campi posuerant. 

20 35. Boudicca curru filias prae se vehens, ut quamque 

nationem accesserat, solitum quidem Britannis feminarum 

ductu bellare testabatur, sed tunc non ut tantis maioribus 

ortam regnum et opes, verum ut unam e vulgo libertatem 

amissam, confectum verberibus corpus, contrectatam filiarum 

25 pudiciliam ulcisci. eo provectas Romanorum cupidines, ut 2 

non corpora, ne senectam quidem aut virgin itatem in- 

pollutam relinquant. adesse tamen deos iustae vindictae : 3 

cecidisse legionem quae proelium ausa sit; ceteros castris 

occultari aut fugam circumspicere. ne strepitum quidem et 4 

30 clamorem tot milium, nedum impetus et manus perlaluros : 

si copias armatorum, si causas belli secum expenderent, 

vinccndum ilia acie vel cadendum esse, id mulieri des- 5 

tinatum : viverent viri et servirent.

A.D. 6i.] LIBER XIV. C/J/'. 33-38. 

36. Ne Suetonius quidem in tanto discrimine silebat. 

quamquam confideret virtuli, tamen exhortationes et preces 

miscebat, ut spernerent sonores barbarorum et inanes minas : 

2 plus illic feminarum quam iuvenlutis aspici. inbelles inermes 

cessuros statim, ubi ferrum virtutemque vincentium totiens 5 

3 fusi adgnovissent. etiam in multis legionibus paucos, qui 

proelia profligarent ; gloriaeque eorum accessurum quod 

modica manus universi exercitus famam adipiscerentur. 

4 conferli tantum et pilis emissis, post umbonibus et gladiis 

stragem caedemque conlinuarent, praedae inmemores : 

parta 10 

5 victoria cuncta ipsis cessura. is ardor verba ducis seque- 

batur, ita se ad intorquenda pila expedierat vetus miles et 

multa proeliorum experientia, ut certus eventus Suetonius 

daret pugnae signum. 

37. Ac primum legio gradu inmota et angustias loci 15 

pro munimento retinens, poslquam in propius suggressos 

2 hostis certo iactu tela exhauserat, velut cuneo erupit. idem 

auxiliarium impetus ; et eques protentis hastis perfringit quod 

3 obvium et validum erat. ceteri terga praebuere, difficili 

4 effugio, quia circumiecta vehicula saepserant abitus. et ao 

miles ne mulierum quidem neci temperabat, confixaque 

5 telis etiam iumenla corporum cumulum auxerant. clara et 

antiquis victoriis par ea die laus parta : quippe sunt qui 

paulo minus quam octoginta milia Britannorum cecidisse 

tradant, militum quadringentis ferme interfectis nee multo 25 

6 amplius vulneratis. Boudicca vitam veneno finivit. et 

Poenius Postumus praefectus castrorum secundae legionis, 

cogniiis quartadecumanorum vicensimanorumque prosperis 

rebus, quia pari gloria legionem suam fraudaverat abnueratque 

contra riium militiae iussa duci?, se ip e gladio transegit. 30 

38. Contractus deinde omnis exercitus sub pellibus habitus 

est ad reliqua belli perpetranda. auxitque copias Caesar 

missis ex Germania duobus legionariorum milibus, octo

CORNELII TACITI ANNALIUM [a.u.c. 814. 

auxiliarium cohortibus ac mille equilibus, quorum adventu 

nonani legionario milite suppleti sunt, cohortes alaeque 2 

novis hibernaculis locatae, quodque nationum ambiguum aut 

adversum fuerat, igni atque ferro vastatum. sed nihil aeque 3 

5 quam fames adfligebat serendis frugibus incuriosos, et omni 

aetate ad bellum versa, dum nostros commeatus sibi destinant. 

gentesque praeferoces tardius ad pacem inclinabant, quia 4 

lulius Classicianus successor Cato missus et Suetonio discors 

bonum publicum privatis simultatibus impediebat disperse- 

10 ratque novum legatum opperiendum esse, sine hostili ira et 

superbia victoris clementer deditis consulturum. simul in 5 

urbem mandabat, nullum proeliorum finem exspectarent, nisi 

succederetur Suetonio, cuius adversa pravitati ipsius, prospera 

ad fortunam referebat. 

15 39. Igitur ad spectandum Britanniae statum missus est e 

libertis Polyclitus, magna Neronis spe posse auctoritate eius 

non modo inter legatum procuratoremque concordiam gigni, 

sed et rebelles barbarum animos pace conponi. nee defuit 2 

Polyclilus quo minus ingenti agmine Italiae Galliaeque gravis, 

20 postquam Oceanum transmiserat, militibus quoque nostris 

terribilis incederet. sed hostibus inrisui fuit, apud quos 3 

flagrante etiam tum libertate nondum cognita libertinorum 

potentia erat ; mirabanturque quod dux et exercitus tanti 

belli confector servitiis oboedirent. cuncta tamen ad im- 4 

25 peratorem in mollius relata ; detcntusque rebus gerundis 

Suetonius, quod postea paucas naves in litore remigiumque 

in iis amiserat, tamquam durante bello tradere exercitum 

Petronio Turpiliano, qui iam consulatu abierat, iubetur. is 5 

non inritato hoste neque lacessitus honestum pacis nomen 

30 segni otio imposuit. 

40. Eodem anno Romae insignia scelera, alterum senatoris, 

servili alterum audacia, admissa sunt. Domiiius Balbus erat 

praetorius, simul longa senecta, simul orbitate et pecunia


2 insidiis obnoxius. ei propinquus Valerius Fabianus, capes- 

sendis honoribus destinalus, subdidit testamentum ascitis 

Vinicio Rufino et Terentio Lentino equitibus Romanis. illi 

3 Antonium Primum et Asinium Marcellum sociaverant. An- 

tonius audacia promptus, Marcellus Asinio Pollione proavo 5 

clarus neque morum spernendus habebatur, nisi quod 

4 paupertatem praecipuum malorum credebat. igitur Fabianus 

tabulas sociis quos memoravi et aliis minus inlustribus 

5 obsignat. quod apud patres convictum, et Fabianus Antoni- 

usque cum Rufino et Terentio lege Cornelia damnantur. 10 

Marcellum memoria maiorum et preces Caesaris poenae 

magis quam infamiae exemere. 

41. Perculit is dies Pompeium quoque Aelianum, iuvenem 

quaestorium, tamquam flagitiorum Fabiani gnarum, eique 

2 Italia et Hispania, in qua ortus erat, interdictum est. pari 15 

ignominia Valerius Ponticus adficitur, quod reos, ne apud 

praefectum urbis arguerentur, ad praetorem detulisset, interim 

3 specie legum, mox praevaricando ultionem elusurus. additur 

senalus consulto, qui talem operam emptitasset vendidissetve 

perinde poena teneretur ac publico iudicio calumniae con- 20 

demnatus. 

42. Haud multo post praefectum urbis Pedanium Secundum 

servus ipsius interfecit, seu negata libertate, cui pretium 

pepigerat, sive amore exoleti incensus et dominum aemulum 

2 non tolerans. ccterum cum vetere ex more familiam omnem, 25 

quae sub eodem tecto mansitaverat, ad supplicium agi 

oporteret, concursu plebis, quae tot innoxios protegebat, 

usque ad seditionem ventum est senatusque obsessus, in quo 

ipso erant studia nimiam severitatem aspernantium, pluribus 

nihil mutandum censentibus. ex quis C. Cassius sentcntiae 30 

loco in hunc modum disseruit 

: 

43. ' Saepe numero, patres conscripti, in hoc ordine 

interfui, cum contra instituta et leges maiorum nova senatus 

G

CORNELII TACITI ANNALIUM [a.u.c. 814. 

decreta postularentur ; neque sum adversatus, non quia 

dubitarem, super omnibus negotiis melius atque rectius olim 

provisum et quae converterenlur in deterius mutari, sed ne 

nimio amore antiqui moris studium meum extollere viderer. 

5 simul quidquid hoc in nobis auctoritatis est, crebiis con- 2 

tradictionibus destruendum non exislimabam, ut maneict 

integrum, si quando res publica consiliis eguisset. quod 3 

hodie evenit, consulari viro domi suae interfecto per insidias 

serviles, quas nemo prohibuit aut prodidit quamvis nondum 

10 concusso senatus consulto, quod supplicium toti familiae 

minitabatur. decernite hercule inpunitatem, ut quem dignitas 4 

sua defendat, cum praefectura urbis non prcfuerit? quem 

Humerus servorum tueatur, cum Pedanium Secundum quad- 

ringenti non protexerint? cui familia opem fcrat, quae ne 

15 in metu quidem pericula nostra advertit? an, ut quidam 5 

fingere non erubescunt, iniurias suas ultus est interfeclor, 

quia de paterna pecunia transegerat aut avitum mancipium 

detrahebatur ? pronuntiemus ultro dominum lure caesum 

videri. 

20 44. Libet argumenta conquirere in eo quod sapientioribus 

deliberatum est? sed et si nunc primum statuendum 

haberemus, creditisne servum interficiendi domini animum 

sumpsisse, ut non vox minax excideret, nihil per temeritatem 

proloquerelur ? sane consilium occultavit, telum inter ignaros 2 

paravit : num excubias transire, cubiculi fores recludere, 

25 

lumen infene, caedem patrare poterat omnibus nesciis? 

multa sceleris indicia praeveniunt : servi si prodant, possunius 3 

singuli inter plures, tuli inter anxios, postremo, si pereundum 

sit, non inulti inter nocentes agere. suspecta maioribus 4 

30 nostris fuerunt ingenia servorum, etiam cum in agris aut 

domibus isdem nascerentur caritatemque dominorum statim 

acciperent. postquam vero nationes in lamiliis habemus, 6 

quibus diversi ritus, externa sacra aut nulla sunt, conluviem


6 istam non nisi metu coercueris. at quidam insontes peribunt. 

nam et ex fuso exercitu cum decumus quisque fusti feritur, 

7 etiam strenui sortiuntur. habet aliquid ex iniquo omne 

magnum exemplum, quod contra singulos utilitate publica 

rependitur.' 5 

45. Sententiae Cassii ut nemo unus contra ire ausus est, 

ita dissonae voces respondebant numerum aut aetatem aut 

sexum ac plurimorum indubiam innocentiam miserantium 

2 praevaUiit tamen pars quae supplicium decernebat. sed 

obtemperari non poterat, conglobata multitudine et saxa ac 10 

3 faces minante. tum Caesar populum edicto increpuit atque 

omne iter, quo damnati ad poenam ducebantur, militaribus 

4 praesidiis saepsit. censuerat Cingonius Varro ut liberti 

quoqiie, qui sub eodem tecto fuissent, Italia deportarentur. 

id a principe prohibitum est, ne mos antiquus, quem miseri- 15 

cordia non minuerat, per saevitiam intenderetur. 

46. Damnatus isdem consulibus Tarquitius Priscus repe- 

tundarum Bithynis interrogantibus, magno patrum gaudio, 

qui accusatum ab eo Statilium Taurum pro consule ipsius 

2 meminerant. census per Gallias a Q. Volusio et Sextio 20 

Africano Trebellioque Maximo acti sunt, aemulis inter se 

per nobilitatem Volusio atque Africano : Trebellium dum 

uterque dedignatur, supra tulere. 

47. Eo anno mortem obiit Memmius Regulus, auctorilate 

constantia fama, in quantum praeumbrante imperatoris 25 

fastigio datur, clarus, adeo ut Nero aeger valetudine, et 

adulantibus circum qui finem imperio adesse dicebant, si 

quid fato pateretur, responderit habere subsidium rem 

publicam. rogantibus dehinc in quo potissimum, addiderat 

2 in Memmio Regulo. vixit tamen post haec Regulus, quiete 30 

defensus et quia nova generis claritudine neque invidiosis 

3 opibus erat. gymnasium eo anno dedicatum a Nerone 

praebitumque oleum equiti ac senalui Graeca facilitate. 

:


48. P. Mario L. Afinio consulibus Antistius praetor, quern 

in tribunatu plebis licenter egisse memoravi, probrosa adversus 

principem carmina factitavit vulgavitque celebri convivio, 

dum apud Ostorium Scapulam epulatur. exim a Cossutiano 2 

5 Capitone, qui nuper sanatorium ordinem precibus Tigellini 

soceri sui receperat, maiestatis delatus est. turn primum 3 

revocata ea lex, credebaturque baud perinde exitium Antistio 

quam imperatori gloriam quaeri, ut condemnatum a senatu 

intercessione tribunicia morti eximeret. et cum Ostorius 4 

10 niliil audivisse pro testimonio dixisset, adversis testibus 

creditum ; censuitque lunius Marullus consul designatus 

adimendam reo praeturam necandumque more maiorum. 

ceteris inde adsentientibus, Paetus Thrasea, multo cum 5 

honore Caesaris et acerrime increpito Antistio, non quidquid 

15 nocens reus pati mereretur, id egregio sub principe et nulla 

necessitate obstricto senatui statuendum disseruit : 

carnificem 6 

et laqueum pridem abolita, et esse poenas legibus constitutas, 

quibus sine iudicum saevilia et temporum infamia supplicia 

decernerentur. quin in insula publicatis bonis, quo longius 7 

20 sontem vitam traxisset, eo privatim miseriorem et publicae 

clementiae maximum exemplum futurum. 

49. Libertas Thraseae servilium aliorum rupit, et postquam 

discessionem consul permiserat, pedibus in sententiam eius 

iere, paucis exceptis, in quibus adulatione promptissimus fuit 

35 A. Vitellius, optimum quemque iurgio lacessens et respon- 

dent! reticens, ut pavida ingenia solent. at consules perficere 2 

decretum senatus non ausi, de consensu scripsere Caesari. 

ille inter pudorem et iram cunctatus, postremo rescripsit : 3 

nulla iniuria provocatum Antistium gravissimas in principem 

30 contumelias dixisse ; earum ultionem a patribus postulatam, 

et pro magnitudine delicti poenam statui par fuisse. ceterum 4 

se, qui severitatem decernentium impediturus fuerit, modera- 

tionem non prohibere : statuerent ut vellent, datam et


5 absolvendi licentiam. his atque talibus recitatis et offensione 

manifesta, non ideo aut consules mutavere relationem aut 

Thrasea decessit sententia ceterive quae probaverant de- 

seruere, pars, ne principem obiecisse invidiae viderentur, 

plures nuniero tuti, Thrasea sueta firmiludine animi et ne 5 

gloria intercideret. 

50. Haud dispari crimine Fabricius Veiento conflictalus 

est quod multa et probrosa in patres et sacerdotes composuis- 

set iis libris quibus nomen codicillorum dederat. adiciebat 

Tullius Geminus accusator venditata ab eo munera principis 10 

2 et adipiscendorum honorum ius. quae causa Neroni fuit 

suscipiendi iudicii, convictumque Veientonem Italia depulit 

et libros exuri iussit, conquisitos lectitatosque, donee cum 

periculo parabantur : mox licentia habendi oblivionem 

attulit. 15 

51. Sed gravescentibus in dies publicis malis subsidia 

minuebantur, concessitque vita Burrus, incertum valetudine 

2 an veneno. valetudo ex eo coniectabatur, quod in se tume- 

scentibus paulalim faucibus et impedito meatu spiritum 

3 finiebat. plures iussu Neronis, quasi remedium adhiberetur, 20 

inlitum palatum eius noxio medicamine adseverabant, et 

Burrum intellecto scelere, cum ad visendum eum princeps 

venisset, aspectum eius aversatum sciscitanti hactenus re- 

' 4 spondisse : ego me bene habeo.' civitati grande desiderium 

eius mansit per memoriam virtutis et successorum alterius 35 

5 segnem innocentiam, alterius flagrantissma flagitia. quippe 

Caesar duos praetoriis cohortibus imposuerat, Faenium 

Rufum ex vulgi favore, quia rem frumentariam sine quaestu 

tractabat, Sofonium Tigellinum, veterem inpudicitiam atque 

6 infamiam in eo secutus. atque illi pro cognitis moribus fuere, 30 

validior Tigellinus in animo principis et intimis libidinibus 

adsumplus, prospera populi et militum fama Rufus, quod 

apud Neronem adversum experiebatur.

CORNELII TACITI ANNA LIUM [a.U.C. 815. 

52. Mors Burri infregit Senecae potenliam, quia ncc bonis 

aitibus idem virium erat altero velut duce amoto, et Nero 

ad deteriores inclinabat. hi variis criminationibus Senecam 2 

adoriuntur, tamquam ingentes et privatum modum evectas 

5 opes adhuc augeret, quodque studia civium in se verteret, 

hortorum quoque amoenitate et villarum magnificenlia quasi 

principem supergrederetur. obiciebant etiam eloquentiae 3 

laudem uni sibi adsciscere et cavmina crebrius factitare, post- 

quani Neroni amor eorum venisset. nam oblectamentis 4 

10 principis palam iniquum detrectare vim eius equos regentis, 

inludere voces, quotiens caneret. quern ad finem nihil in re 5 

publica clarum fore quod non ab illo reperiri credatur ? 

certe finitam Neronis pueritiam et robur iuventae adesse : 6 

exueret magistrum, satis amphs doctoribus instructus maio- 

15 ribus suis. 

53. At Seneca criminantium non ignarus, prodentibus iis, 

quibus ahqua honesti cura, et famiharitatem eius magis asper- 

nante Caesare, tempus sermoni orat et accepto ita incipit 

' quartus decumus annus est, Caesar, ex quo spei tuae admotus 2 

20 sum, octavus, ut imperium obtines : medio temporis tantum 

honorum atque opum in me cumulasti, ut nihil fehcitati meae 

desit nisi moderatio eius. utar magnis exempHs, nee meae 3 

fortunae sed tuae. abavus tuus Augustus M. Agrippae IMyti- 

lenense secretum, C. Maecenali urbe in ipsa velut peregrinum 

25 olium permisit ; quorum alter bellorum socius, alter Romae 

pluribus laboribus iactatus ampla quidem, sed pro ingentibus 

meritis praemia acceperant. ego quid aliud munificentiae 4 

tuae adhibere potui quam studia, ut sic dixerim, in umbra 

educata, et quibus claritudo venit, quod iuventae tuae rudi- 

30 mentis adfuisse videor, grande huius rei pretium. at tu 5 

gratiam inmensam, innumeram pecuniam circumdedisti, adeo 

ut plerumque intra me ipse volvam : egone, equestri et provin- 

ciali loco ortus, proceribus civitatis adnumeror ? inter nobiles 

:


6 et longa decora piaeferentes novitas mea enituit ? ubi est 

animus ille modicis contentus ? talis hortos exstruit et per 

haec suburbana incedit et tantis agrorum spatiis, tarn lato 

faenore exuberat ? una defensio occurrit, quod muneribus 

tuis obniti non debui. 5 

54. ' Sed uterque mensuram inplevimus, et lu, quantum 

princeps tribuere amico posset, et ego, quantum amicus a 

2 principe accipere : cetera invidiam augent. quae quidem, ut 

omnia mortalia, infra tuam magnitudinem iacet, sed mihi in- 

3 cumbit, mihi subveniendum est. quo modo in militia aut via 10 

fessus adminiculum orarem, ita in hoc itinere vitae senex et 

levissimis quoque curis inpar, cum opes meas ultra sustinere 

4 non possim, praesidium peto. iube rem per procuratores tuos 

administrari, in tuam fortunam recipi. nee me in paupertatem 

ipse detrudam, sed tradilis quorum fulgore praestringor, quod 15 

temporis hortorum aut villarum curae seponitur, in animum 

5 revocabo, superest tibi robur et tot per annos visum summi 

fastigii regimen : possumus seniores amici quietem reposcere. 

hoc quoque in tuam gloriam cedet, eos ad summa vexisse qui 

et modica tolerarent,' 

55. Ad quae Nero sic ferme respondit : 

' quod meditatae 

orationi tuae statim occurram, id primum tui muneris 

habeo, qui me non tantum praevisa sed subita expedire 

2 docuisti. abavus meus Augustus Agrippae et Maecenati 

usurpare otium post labores concessit, sed in ea ipse aetate, 25 

cuius auctoritas tueretur quidquid illud et qualecumque 

8 tribuisset ; ac tamen neutrum datis a se praemiis exuit. bello 

et periculis merueraitt ; in iis enim iuventa Augusti versata est. 

4 nee mihi tela et manus tuae defuissent in armis agenti : sed 

quod praesens condicio poscebat, ratione consilio praeceptis 30 

5 pueritiam, dein iuventam meam fovisti. et tua quidem erga 

me munera, dum vita suppetet, aeterna erunt : quae a me 

6 habes, horti et faenus et villae.. casibus obnoxia sunt, ac 

20

CORNELII TACITI ANXALIUM [a.u.C 815. 

licet multa videantur, plerique haudquaquam artibus tuis pares 

plura tenueiunt. pudet referre libertinos, qui diliores spec- 7 

tantur : unde etiam mihi rubori est quod praecipuus caritate 

nondum omnes fortuna antecellis. 

5 56. ' Veium et tibi valida aetas rebusque et fructui rerum 

sufficiens, et nos prima imperii spatia ingredimur, nisi forte 

aut te Vitellio ter consuli aut me Claudio postponis, et quantum 

Volusio longa parsimonia quaesivit, tantum in te mea 

liberalitas explere non potest, quin, si qua in parte lubricum 2 

10 adulescentiae nostrae declinat, revocas ornatumque robur 

subsidio inpensius regis ? non tua moderatio, si reddideris 3 

pecuniam, nee quies, si reliqueris principem, sed mea avaritia, 

meae crudelitatis metus in ore omnium versabitur. quod si 4 

maxime continenlia tua laudetur, non tamen sapienti viro 

15 decorum fuerit, unde amico infamiam paret, inde gloriam sibi 

recipere.' his adicit complexum et oscula, factus natura et 5 

consuetudine exercitus velare odium fallacibus blanditiis. 

Seneca, qui finis omnium cum dominante sermonum, 6 

grates agit : sed instituta prioris potentiae commutat, prohibet 

20 coelus salutantium, vitat comitantis, rarus per urbem, quasi 

25 

valetudine infensa aut sapientiae studiis domi adtineretur. 

57. Perculso Seneca promptum fuit Rufum Faenium in- 

minuere Agrippinae amicitiam in eo criminantibus. validior- 

que in dies Tigellinus et malas artes, quibus solis pollebat, 

gratiores ratus, si principem societate scelerum obstringeret, 

metus eius rimatur ; conpertoque Plautum et Sullam maxime 

timeri, Plautum in Asiam, Sullam in Galliam Narbonensem 

nuper amotos, nobilitatem eorum et propinquos huic Orienlis, 

illi Germaniae exercitus commemorat. non se, ut Burrum, 3 

30 diversas spes, sed solam incolumitatem Neronis spectare 

cui caveri utcumque ab urbanis insidiis praesenti opera 

longinquos motus quonam modo comprimi posse ? erectas 3 

Galilas ad nomen dictatorium, nee minus suspensos Asiae 

; : 

'

A.D. 62.] LIBER XIV. CAP. 55-59- 

4 populos claritudine avi Drusi. Sullam inopem, unde prae- 

cipuam audaciam, et simulatorcm segnitiae, dum lemeritati 

5 locum reperiret. Plautum magnis opibus ne fingere quidem 

cupidinem olii, sed veterum Romanorum imitamenta praeferre, 

adsumpta etiam Stoicorum adrogantia sectaque, quae luibidos 5 

6 et negotiorum adpetentes facial, nee ultra mora. Sulla 

sexto die pervectis Massiliam percussoribus ante metum et 

rumorem interficitur, cum epulandi causa discumberet. per- 

latum caput eius inlusit Nero tamquam praematura canitie 

deforme. 10 

58. Plauto parari necem non perinde occultum fuit, quia 

pluribus salus eius curabatur, et spatium itineris ac maris 

tempusque interiectum moverat famam; vulgoque fingebant 

petitum ab eo Corbulonem, magnis turn exercitibus praesiden- 

tem et, clari atque insontes si interficerentur, praecipuum ad 15 

2 pericula. quin et Asiam favore iuvenis arma cepisse, nee 

milites ad scelus missos aut numero validos aut animo promp- 

tos, postquam iussa efficere nequiverint, ad spes novas trans- 

3 isse. vana haec more famae credentium otio augebantur 

ceterum libertus Plauti celeritate ventorum praevenit centu- 20 

rionem et mandata L. Antisdi soceri attulit : effugeret segnem 

mortem, dum suffugium esset : magni nominis miseratione 

reperlurum bonos, consociaturum audaces : nullum interim 

4 subsidium aspernandum. si sexaginta milites (tot enim 

adveniebant) propulisset, dum refertur nuntius Neroni, dum 25 

manus alia permeat, multa secutura quae adusque bellum 

5 evalescerent. denique aut salutem tali consilio quaeri, aut 

nihil gravius audenli quam ignavo patiendum esse. 

59. Sed Plautum ea non movere, sive nullam opem pro- 

videbat inermis atque exul, seu taedio ambiguae spei, an 30 

amore coniugis et liberorum, quibus placabiliorem fore prin- 

2 cipem rebatur nulla sollicitudine turbatum. sunt qui alios a 

socero nuntios venisse ferant, tamquam nihil atrox immineret 

;

CORNELII TACITI ANNA LIUM [a.U.C. 815. 

doctoiesque sapientiae, Coeranum Graeci, IMusonium Tusci 

generis, constantiam opperiendae mortis pro incerta et 

trepida vita suasisse. repertus est certe per medium diei 3 

nudus exercitando corpori. talem eum centurio trucidavit 

5 coram Pelagone spadone, quern Nero centurioni et manipulo, 

quasi satellitibus ministrum regium, praeposuerat. caput 4 

interfecti relatum ; 

cuius aspectu (ipsa principis verba referam) 

cur, inquit, Nero * * * et posito metu nuptias Poppaeae ob 

eius modi terrores dilatas maturare parat Octaviamque 

10 coniugem amoliri, quamvis modeste ageret, nomine patris et 

studiis populi gravem. sed ad senatum lilteras misit de 5 

caede Sullae Plautique baud confessus, verum utriusque 

turbidum ingenium esse, et sibi incolumitatcm rei publxae 

magna cura haberi. decretae eo nomine supplicationes, 6 

15 utque Sulla et Plaulus senatu moverenlur, gravioribus iam 

ludibriis quam malis. 

60. Igitur accepto patrum consulto, postquam cuncta 

scelerum suorum pro egregiis accipi videt, exturbat Octaviam, 

sterilem dictitans ; exim Poppaeae coniungitur. ea diu 2 

20 paelex et adulteri Neronis, mox mariti potens, quendam 

ex minislris Octaviae impulit servilem ei amorem obicere. 

destinaturque reus cognomento Eucaerus, natione Alexan- 3 

drinus, canere tibiis doctus. actae ob id de ancillis quaestiones 4 

et vi tormentorum victis quibusdam ut falsa adnuerent, plures 

25 perstitere sanctitatem dominae tueri. movetur tamen primo 5 

civilis discidii specie domumque Burri, praedia Plauti, infausta 

dona accipit : mox in Campaniam pulsa est addita militari 

custodia. inde crebri questus nee occuiti per vulgum, cui 6 

minor sapientia et ex mediocritate fortunae pauciora pericula 

30 sunt, his . . . tamquam Nero paenitentia flagitii coniugem 

revocarit Octaviam. 

61. Exim laeti Capitolium scandunt deosqu'e tandem


venerantur. effigies Poppaeae proiuunt, Octaviae imagines 

geslant umeris, spargunt floribus foioque ac templis slatuunt. 

2 t itur etiam in principis laudes repeîtum venerantium. iamque 

et Palatium multitudine et clamoribus complebant, cum emissi 

militum globi verbeiibus et intento ferro turbatos disiecere. 5 

mutataque quae per seditionem verterant, et Poppaeae honos 

3 repositus est. quae semper odio, tum et melu atrox, ne aut 

vulgi acrior vis ingrueret aut Nero inclinatione populi muta- 

retur, provoluta genibus eius, non eo loci res suas ait, ut de 

matrimonio certet, quamquam id sibi vita potius, sed vitam 10 

ipsam in extremum adductam a clientelis et servitiis Octaviae, 

quae plebis sibi nomen indiderint, ea in pace ausi quae vix 

4 bello evenirent. arma ilia adversus principem sumpta 

ducem tantum defuisse, qui motis rebus facile reperirelur, 

omitteret modo Campaniam et in urbem ipsa pergeret, ad 15 

5 cuius nutum absentis tumultus cierentur. quod alioquin suum 

delictum ? quam cuisquuam offensionem ? an quia veram 

progeniem penatibus Caesarum datura sit ? malle populum 

Romanum tibicinis Aegyptii subolem imperatorio fastigio 

6 induci ? denique, si id rebus conducat, libens quam coactus 20 

7 acciiet dominam, vel consuleret securitati iusta ultione. et 

modicis remediis primos motus consedisse : at si desperent 

uxorem Neronis fore Octaviam, illi marilum daturos. 

62. Varius sermo et ad metum atque iram accommodatus 

terruit simul audientem et accendit. sed parum valebat 25 

suspicio in servo et quaestionibus ancillarum elusa erat. 

2 ergo confessionem alicuius quaeri placet, cui rerum quoque 

3 novarum crimen adfingeretur. et visus idoneus maternae 

necis patrator Anicetus, classi apud Misenum, ut memoravi, 

praefectus, levi post admissum scelus gratia, dein graviore 3° 

odio, quia malorum facinorum ministri quasi exprobrantes 

4 aspiciuntur. igitur accitum eum Caesar operae prioris ad- 

monet : solum incolumitali principis adversus insidiantem 

;


mat rem subvenisse ; locum baud minoris gratiae instare, si 

coniugem infensam depelleret. nee manu aut telo opus : 5 

fateretur Octaviae adulterium. occulta quidem ad praesens, 

sed magna ei praemia et secessus amoenos promittit, vel, 

5 si negavisset, necem intentat. ille insita vaecordia et facilitate 6 

prioium flagitiorum, plura etiam quam iussum erat fingit 

fateturque apud amicos, quos velut consilio adbibuerat 

princeps. turn in Sardiniam pellitur, ubi non inops exilium 

toleravit et fato obiit. 

10 63. At Nero praefectum in spem sociandae classis corrup- 

tum, et incusatae paulo ante sterilitatis oblitus, abactos partus 

conscientia libidinum, eaque sibi conperta edicto memorat 

insulaque Pandateria Octaviam claudit. non alia exul visen- 2 

tium oculos maiore misericordia adfecit. meminerant adhuc 

15 quidam Agrippinae a Tiberio, recentior luliae memoria 

obversabatur a Claudio pulsae : sed illis robur aetatis adfuerat ; 3 

laeta aliqua viderant et praesentem saevitiam melioris olim 

fortunae recordatione adlevabant. huic priinum nuptiarum 4 

dies loco funeris fuit, deductae in domum in qua nihil nisi 

20 luctuosum haberet, erepto per venenum patre et statim fratre 

tum ancilla domina validior et Poppaea non nisi in perniciem 

uxoris nupta, postremo crimen omni exitio gravius. 

64. Ac puella vicensimo aetatis anno inter centuriones 

et milites, praesagio malorum iam vitae exempta, nondum 

25 tamen morte adquiescebat. paucis dehinc interiectis diebus 2 

mori iubetur, cum iam viduam se et tantum sororem testa- 

retur communesque Germanicos et postremo Agrippinae 

nomen cieret, qua incolumi infelix quidem matrimonium, sed 

sine exitio pertulisset. restringitur vinclis venaeque eius 3 

30 per omnes artus exsolvuntur ; 

et quia pressus pavore sanguis 

tardius labebatur, praefervidi balnei vapore enecatur. addi- 4 

turque atrocior saevitia, quod caput amputatum latumque 

in urbem Poppaea vidit. dona ob haec templis decreta 

;


5 quern ad finem memorabimus ? quicumque casus temporum 

illoium nobis vel aliis auctoribus noscent, praesuniptum 

habeant, quotiens lugas et caedes iussit princeps, totiens 

grates dels actas, quaeque rerum secundarum olim, turn 

6 publicae cladis insignia fuisse. neque tamen silebimus, si 5 

quod senatus consultum adulatione novum aut patientia 

postremum fuit. 

65. Eodem anno libeitorum potissimos veneno inteifecisse 

creditus est, Doryphorum quasi adversatum nuptiis Poppaeae, 

Pallantem, quod inmensam pecuniam longa senecta detineret. 10 

2 Romanus secretis criminationibus incusaverat Senecam ut 

C. Pisonis socium, sed validius a Seneca eodem ciimine 

perculsus est. unde Pisoni timor et orta insidiaium in 

Neronem magna moles et inprospera.

CORNELII TACITI ANNALIUM [a.u.C. 815. 

LIBER XV. 

1. Interea rex Parthorum Vologeses.cognitis Corbulonis 

rebus regemque alienigenam Tigranen Armeniae impositum, 

simul fratre Tiridate pulso spretum Arsacidarum fastigium 

ire ultum volens, magniludine rursum Romana et contin-'i 

5 foederis reverentia divcrsas ad curas trahebatur, cunctator 

ingenio et defectione Hyrcanorum, gentis validae, multisque 

ex eo bellis inligatus. atqiie ilium ambiguum novus insuper 2 

nunlius conluineliae exslimulat : quippe egressus Armenia 

Tigranes Adiabenos, conterminam nationem, latius ac diutius 

10 quam per latrocinia vastaverat, idque primores gentium aegre 

tolerabanl : eo contemplionis descensum, ut ne duce quidem 

Romano incursarcntur, sed temeiitate obsidis tot per annos 

inter mancijiia habiti. accendebat dolorem eorum Mono- 3 

bazus, quern penes Adiabenum regimen, quod praesidium 

15 aut unde peteret rogitans. iam de Armenia concessum, 4 

proxima trahi ; et nisi defendant Parthi, levius servitium apud 

Romanes dedilis quam captis esse. Tiridates quoque regni 5 

profugus per silentium aut modice querendo gravior erat 

non enim ignavia magna imperia contineri ; virorum armo- 

20 rumque faciendum certamen ; id in summa fortuna aequius 

quod validius ; et sua retinere privatae domus, de alienis 

certare regiam laudem esse. 

2. Igitur commotus his Vologeses concilium vocat et 

proximum sibi Tiridaten constituit atque ita orditur : 

: 

' hunc 

25 ego eodem mecum patre genitum, cum mihi per aetatem 

summo nomine concessisset, in possessionem Armeniae deduxi, 

qui tertius potentiae gradus habetur : nam 

Medos Pacorus 

ante ceperat. videbarque contra Vetera fratrum odia et 2 

certamina familiae nostrae penates rite composuisse. pro-

A.D. 02.] LIBER XV. CAP. 1-4. 

hibent Romani et pacem numquam ipsis prospere lacessitam 

3 nunc quoque in exitium suum abrumpunt. non ibo infitias : 

acquitale quam sanguine, causa quam armis relinere parla 

maioiibus malueram. si cunctatione deliqui, virtute corrigam. 

4 vcstra quidem vis et gloria in integro est, addita modestiae 5 

fama, quae neque sunimis mortalium spernenda est et a dis 

5 aeslimatur.' simul diademate caput Tiiidatis evinxit ; promp- 

tam equitum manum, quae regem ex more sectatur, Monaesi 

nobili viro tradidit, adiectis Adiabenorum auxiliis, mandavitque 

Tigranen Armenia cxturbare, dum ipse positis adversus 10 

Hyrcanos discordiis vires intimas molemque belli ciet, pro- 

vinciis Romanis minitans. 

3. Quae ubi Corbuloni cerlis nunliis audita sunt, legiones 

duas cum Verulanp Severo^ et Vettio . Bolano subsidium 

Tigrani mittit, occulto praecepto, compositius cuncta quam 15 

fcstinantius agerent: quippe bellum habere quam gerere 

2 malebat. scripseratque Caesari proprio duce opus esse, qui 

Armeniam defenderet : Suriam ingruente Vologese acriore 

3 in discrimine esse, atque interim reliquas legiones pro ripa 

Euphratis locat, tumultuariam provincialium manum armat, 20 

4 hostiles ingressus pfaesidiis intercipit. et quia egena aquarum 

regio est, castella fontibus inposita ; quosdam rivos congestu 

harenae abdidit. 

4. Ea dum. a Corbulone tuendae Suriae parantur, acto 

^ ra^tim agmine "Monaeses, ut famam sui praeiret, non ideo 25 

2 nescium aut incautum Tigranen offendit. occupaverat Ti- 

granocertam, urbem copia defensorum et magnitudine rnoe- , ^nitM^' 

8 nium validam. ad hoc Nicephorius amnis halid spernenda 

SvxO'^l'atitudine partem murorum ambit, et ducta ingens fossa, qua 

4 fluvio difTidebatur. inerantque milites et provisi ante com- 30 

meatus, quorum subvectu pauci avidius progressi et repentinis 

hostibus circumvent! ira magis quam metu ceteros accenderant. 

5 sed Parlho ad exsequendas obsidiones nulla C9mfninus 

:^-.J


audacia : raris sagittis neque clauses exterret et semet frus- 

tratur. Adiabeni cum piomovere scalas et machinamenta in- 6 

ciperent, facile detrusi, mox eiumpentibus nostris caeduntur. 

5. Corbulo tamen, quamvis secundis rebus suis, modcran- 

S dum fortunae ratus misit ad Vologesen qui exposlularent 

vim provinciae inlatam : socium amicumque regem, cohortes 

Romanas circumsideii. omitteret potius obsidionem, aut 

se quoque in agro hostili castra positurum. Casperius 2 

centurio in eam legationem delectus apud oppidum Nisibin, 

10 septem et triginta milibus passuum a Tigranocerta distantem, 

adiit regem et mandata ferociter edidit. Vologesi vetus et 3 

penitus infixum erat arma Romana vitandi , nee praesentia 

prospere fluebant. inritum obsidium, tutus manu et copiis 4 

Tigranes, fugali qui expugnationem sumpserant, missae in 

15 Armenian! legiones, et aliae pro Suria paratae ultro inrumpere 

; sibi inbecillum equitem pabuli inopia : nam exorta vis 

locustarum ambederat quidquid herbidum aut frondosum. 

igilur metu abstruso mitiora obtendens, missurum ad im- 5 

peratorem Romanum legates super petenda Armenia et fir- 

20 manda pace respondet. Monaesen omittere Tigranocertam 

iubet, ipse retro concedit. 

6. Haec plures ut formidine regis et Corbulonis minis 

patrata ac magnifica extollebant : alii occulte pepigisse inter- 

pretabantur, ut omisso utrimque bello et abeunte Vologese 

25 Tigranes quoque Armenia abscederet. cur enim exercitum 2 

Romanum a Tigranocertis deductum ? cur deserta per otium 

quae bello defenderant? an melius hibernavisse in extrema 

Cappadocia, raplim erectis tuguiiis, quam in sede regni modo 

retenti ? dilata prorsus arma, ut Vologeses cum alio quam 3 

30 cum Corbulone cerlaret, Corbulo meritae tot per annos 

gloriae non ultra periculum faceret. nam, ut rettuli, proprium 4 

ducem tuendae Armeniae poposcerat, et adventare Caesennius 

Paetus audiebatur. iamque aderat, copiis ita divisis, ut 5

A.D. 6 2. 

J 

LIBER XV. CAP. 4-9. 

quarta et duodecuma legiones addita quinta, quae recens 

e JMoesis excita erat, simul Pontica et Galataium Cap- 

padocumque auxilia Paeto oboedirent, tertia et sexta et 

decuma legiones priorque Suriae miles apud Corbulonem 

6 manerent ; cetera ex rerum usu £Ociarent partirenturve. sed 5 

neque Corbulo aemuli patiens, et Paetus, cui satis ad gloriam 

erat, si proximus haberelur, despiciebat gesta, nihil caedis 

aut praedae, usurpatas nomine tenus urbium expugnationes 

dictitans : se tributa ac leges et pro umbra regis Romanum 

ius victis impositurum. 10 

7. Sub idem tempus legati Vologesis, quos ad principem 

misses memoravi, revertere inriti bellumque propalam sump- 

2 tum a Parthis. nee Paetus detrectavit, sed duabus legionibus, 

quarum quartam Funisulanus Vettonianus eo in tempore, 

duodecumam Calavius Sabinus regebant, Armeniam intrat 15 

3 tristi online, nam in transgressu Euphratis, quem ponte 

tramitlebant, nulla palam causa turbatus equus, qui consularia 

4 insignia gestabat, retro evasit. hostiaque, quae muniebantur, 

hibernaculis adsistens, semifacta opera fuga perrupit seque 

5 vallo extulit. et pila militum arsere, magis insigni prodigio, 20 

quia Parthus hostis missilibus telis decertat. 

8. Ceterum Paetus spretis ominibus, necdum satis firmatis 

hibernaculis, nullo rei frumentariae provisu, rapit exercitum 

trans montem Taurum reciperandis, ut ferebat, Tigranocertis 

vastandisque regionibus, quas Corbulo integras omisisset. 25 

2 et capta quaedam castella, gloriacque et praedae nonnihil 

partum, si aut gloriam cum modo aut praedam cum cura 

3 habuisset. longinquis itineribus percursando, quae obtineri 

nequibant, corrupto, qui captus erat, commeatu et instante 

iam hieme, reduxit exercitum conposuitque ad Caesarem 30 

litteras quasi confecto bello, verbis magnificis, rerum vacuas. 

9. Interim Corbulo numquam neglectam Euphratis ripam 

crebrioribus praesidiis insedit ; et ne ponti iniciendo impedi- 

H

CORNELII TACIT! ANNALIUM [a.U.C. 815. 

mentum hostiles turmae adferrent (iam enim subiectis campjs ^ 

magna specie volitabant), naves magnitudine praestantes et 

conexas trabibus ac turribus auctas agit per amnem catapul- 

tisque et ballistis proturbat barbaros, in quos saxa et hastae 

5 longius permeabant, quam ut contrario sagittarum iaclu 

adaequarentur. dein pons cqntmualus collesque adversi per 2 

socias cohortes, post legionum castris occupantur, tanta 

celeritate et ostentatione virium, ut Parthi omisso paratu 

invadendae Suriae spem omnem in Armenian! verterent, ubi 

10 Paetus imminentium nescius quintam legionem procul in 

Ponto habebat, reliquas promiscis mililum commeatibus 

infirmaverat, donee adventare Vologesen magno et infenso 

agmine auditum. 

- .; ^ J.p. Accitur legio duodecuma, et unde famam aucti exercitus 

^ 15 speraverat, prodita infrequentia, qua tamen retineri castra et 

eludi Parthus tractu belli poterat, si Paeto aut in suis aut in 

alienis consiliis constantia fuisset : verum ubi a viris mililari- 2 

bus adversus urguentes casus firmatus erat, rursus, ne alienae 

sententiae indigens videretur, in diversa ac deteriora transibat. 

20 et tunc relictis hibernis non fossam neque vallum sibi, sed 3 

corpora et arma in hostem data clamitans, duxit legiones 

quasi proelio certalurus. deinde amisso centurione et paucis 4 

militibus, quos visendis hostium copiis praemiserat, trepidus 

remeavit. et quia minus acriter Vologeses institerat, vana 5 

35 rursus fiducia tria milia delecti peditis proximo Tauri iugo 

imposuit, quo transitum regis arcerent ; alares quoque 

Pannonios, robur equitatus, in parte campi locat. coniunx e 

ac filius castello, cui Arsamosata nomen est, abditi, data in 

praesidium cohorte ac disperso milite, qui in uno habitus 

30 vagum hostem promptius sustentavisset. aegre compulsum 7 

ferunt, ut instantem Corbuloni fateretur. nee a Corbulone 

properatum, quo gliscentibus periculis etiam subsidii laus 

augeretur. expediri tamen itineri singula milia ex tribus 8

A.D. 62.] LIBER XV. CAP. g-i 2. 

legionibus et alarios octingentos, parem numerum e cohorti- 

bus iussit. 

11. At Vologeses, quamvis obsessa a Paeto itinera hinc 

peditatu inde equite accepisset, nihil mutato consilio, sed vi 

ac minis alares exterruit, legionaries obtrivit, uno tantum 5 

centurione Tarquitio Crescente turrim, in qua praesidium 

agitabat, defendere auso factaque saepius eruptione et caesis, 

qui barbarorum propius suggrediebantur, donee ignium iactu 

2 circumveniretur. peditum si quis integer longinqua et avia, 

vulnerati castra repetivere, virtutem regis, saevitiam et copias 10 

gentium, cuncta metu extollentes, facili credulitate eorum qui 

3 cadem pavebant. ne dux quidem obniti adversis, sed cuncta 

militiae munia deseruerat, missis iterum ad Corbulonem 

precibus, veniret propere, signa et aquilas et nomen reliquum 

infelicis exercitus tueretur : se fidem interim, donee vita 15 

subpeditet, retenturos. 

12. Ille interritus et parte copiarum apud Suriam relicta, 

ut munimenta Euphrati inposila relinerentur, qua proximum 

et commeatibus non egenum, regionem Commagenam, exim 

2 Cappadociam, inde Armenios petivit. comitabantur exer- 20 

citum praeter alia sueta bello magna vis camelorum onusta 

3 frumenli, ut simul hoslem famemque depelleret. primum 

*^ e perculsis Paccium primi pili centurionem obvium habuit, 

dein plerosque militum ; quos diversas fugae causas obten- 

dentes redire ad signa et clementiam Paeti experiri monebat; 35 

4 se nisi victoribus immitem esse, simul suas legiones adire, 

hortari, priorum admonere, novam gloriam ostendere. non 

vicos aut oppida Armeniorum, sed castra Romana duasque 

5 in iis legiones prelium laboris peti. si singulis manipularibus 

praecipua servajicivis corona imperatoria, manu tribueretur, 30 

quod illud et quantum decus, ubi par eorum numerus aspi- 

6 ceretur, qui adtulissent salutem et qui accepissent ! his atque 

talibus in commune alacres (et erant quos pericula fratrum

Jx» eow.aa."*^^*^'*^ «.vUj.tU^ ^1© 1

' 

_- .^^Âig^ M C>U?U 

A.D. 62.] LIBER XV. CAP. 12-16. 

quibus perpetratis copia Vologesi fieret mittendi ad Neronem 

legates. 

15. Interim flumini Arsaniae (is castra praefluebat) pontem 

imposuit, specie sibi illud iter expedientis, sed Parthi quasi 

Jocumentum victoiiae iusserant ; namque iis usui fuit, nostri 5 

2 per diversum iere. addidit rumor sub iugum missas legiones 

et alia ex rebus infaustis, quorum simulacrum ab Armeniis 

3 usurpatum est. namque et munimenta ingressi sunt, antequam 

agnien Romanum excederet, et circumstetere vias, 

captiva olim mancipia aut iumenta adgnoscentes abstra- 10 

4 hentesque : raptae etiam vestes, retenta arma, pavido milite 

5 ei concedente, ne qua proelii causa, existeret. Vologeses 

armis et corporibus caesorum aggeratlis, quo cladem nostram 

testaretur, visu fugientium legionum abstinuit. fama modera- 

6 tionis quaerebatur, postquam superbiam expleverat. flumen 15 

Arsaniam elephanto insidens, proximus quisque regem vi 

equorum perrupere, quia rumor incesserat pontem cessurum 

oneri dolo fabricantium : sed qui ingredi ausi sunt, validum 

et fidum intellexere. 

16. Ceterum obsessis adeo suppeditavisse rem frumentariam 20 

constitit, ut horreis ignem inicerent, contraque prodiderit 

Corbulo Parthos inopes copiarum et pabulo attrito relicturos 

2 oppugnationem, neque se plus tridui itinere afuisse. adiciL 

iure iurando Paeti cautum apud signa, adstantibus iis quos 

testificando rex misisset, neminem Romanum Armeniam 25 

ingressurum, donee referrentur litterae Neronis, an paci 

3 adnueret. quae ut augendae infamiae composita, sic reliqua 

non in obscuro habentur, una die quadraginta milium spatium 

emensum esse Pactum, desertis passim sauciis, neque minus 

deformem illam fugientium trepidationem quam si terga in 30 

4 acie vertissent. Corbulo cum suis copiis apud ripam Euphratis 

obvius non eam speciem insignium et armorum praetulit, ut 

5 diversitatem exprobraret. maesli manipuli ac vicem com-

COKNELII TACIT/ ANNALIUM [a.u.C. 815. 

militonum miserantes ne lacrimis quidem temperare ; vix 

prae fletu usurpata consalutatio. decesserat certamen virtutis 6 

et ambitio gloriae, felicium hominum adfectus : sola miseii- 

cordia valebat, et apud minores magis. 

5 17. Ducum inter se brevis sermo secutus est, hoc con- 

querente iam inritum laborem, potuisse belliim fuga Paithorum 

finiri : ille integra utrique cuncta respondit : converterent 

aquilas et iuncti invaderent Armeniam abscessu Vologesis , 

iiifirmatam. non ea imperatoris habere mandata Corbulo : 2 

10 peiiculo legionum commotum e provhicia egressum ; 

quando 

in incerto habeanturParthorum conatus, Suiiam repeliturum : 

sic quoque optimam Foitunam orandam, ut pedes confectus 3 

spatiis itinerum alacrem et facilitate camporum praevenientem 

equitem adsequeretur. exim Paetus per Cappadociam hiber- 4 

15 navit : at Vologesis ad Corbulonem missi nuntii, detraheret 

castella trans Euphraten amnemque, ut olim, medium faceret. 

ille Armeniam quoque diversis praesidiis vacuam fieri ex- 5 

postulabat. et postremo concessit rex ; dirutaque quae 

Euphralen ultra communiverat Corbulo, et Armenii sine 

20 arbitro relicti sunt. 

18. At Romae tropaea de Panhis arcusque medio Capito- 

lini montis sistebantur^ êcreta ab senatu integro adhuc bello 

neque turn omissa, dum aspectui consulitur spreta conscientia. 

quin et dissimulandis rerum externarum curis Nero frumen- 2 

25 turn plebis vetustaje corruptum in Tiberim iecit, quo securi- 

tatem annonae suslentaret. cuius pretio nihil additum est, 3 

quamvis ducentas ferme naves portu in ipso violentia 

tempestatis et centum alias Tiberi subvectas fortuitus ignis 

absumpsisset. tris dein consulares, L. Pisonem, Ducenium 4 

30 Geminum, Pompeium Paulinum vectigalibus publicis prae- 

posuit, cum insectatione priorum principum, qui gravitate 

sumptuum iustos reditus anteissent : se annuum sexcentiens 

sestertium rei publicae largiri.

,D. 62.] LIBER XV. CAP. 1 6-2 1. 

(yw^\ 19. Percrebrueiat ea tempestate pravissimus mos, cum 

propinquis comitiis aut sorte provinciarum plerique orbi 

fictis adoptionibus adsciscerent filios, praeturasque et pro- 

vincias inter patres sortiti statim emitterent manu, quos 

adoptaverant. magna cum invidia senatum adeunt, ius 5 

naturae, labores educandi adversus fraudem et artes et brevi- 

3 tatem adoptionis enumerant. satis pretii esse orbis, quod 

multa securitate, nullis oneribus gratiam iionores cuncta 

4 prompta et obvia haberent. sibi promissa legum diu exspec- 

tata in ludibrium verti, quando quis sine sollicitudine parens, 10 

sine luctu orbus longa patrum vota repente adaequaret. 

5 factum ex eo senatus consultum, ne simulata adoptio in ulla 

parte muneris publici iuvaret ac ne usurpandis quidem here- 

ditatibus prodesset. 

20. Exim Claudius Timarchus Cretensis reus agitur, ceteris 15 

criminibus, ut solent praevalidi provincialium et opibus nimiis 

ad iniurias minorum elati : una vox eius usque ad contumeliam 

senatus penetraverat, quod dictitasset in sua potestate situm, 

an proconsulibus, qui Cretam obtinuissent, grates agerentur. 

2 quam occasionem Paetus Thrasea ad bonum publicum vertens, 20 

postquam de reo censuerat provincia Creta depellendum, 

haec addidit : * usu probatum est, patres conscripti, leges 

egregias, exempla honesta apud bonos ex delictis aliorum 

3 gigni. sic oratorum licentia Cinciam rogationem, candidatorum 

ambitus lulias leges, magistratuum avaritia Calpurnia 25 

scita pepererunt; nam culpa quam poena tempore prior, 

4 emendari quam peccare posterius est. ergo adversus novam 

provincialium superbiam dignum fide constantiaque Romana 

capiamus consilium, quo tutelae sociorum nihil derogetur, 

nobis opinio decedat, qualis quisque habeatur, alibi quam in 30 

civium iudicio esse. 

21. 

' Olim quidem non modo praetor aut consul, sed privati 

etiam mittebantur, qui provincias viserent et quid de cuius-

5 

CORNELII TACITI ANNALIUM [a.U.C 816. 

que obsequio videielur referient, Irepidabantque gentes de 

aestimalione singulorum ; at nunc colimus exteinos ct adu- 2 

lamur, et quo modo ad nulum alicuius grates, ita piomptius 

accusatio decernitur. decernatuique et maneat provincialibus 3 

potentiam suam tali modo ostentandi : sed laus falsa et 

precibus expressa perinde cohibealur quam malitia, quam 

crudelitas. plura saepe peccantur dum demeremur quam 4 

dum offendimus. quaedam immo virtutes odio sunt, seveiitas 

obstinata, invictus adversum gratiam animus, inde initia 5 

10 magistratuum nostrorum melioia ferme ef finis inclinat, dum 

in modum candidatoium suffragia conquirimus; quae si 

arceantur, acquabilius atque constantius provinciae regentur. 

nam ut metu repetundarum infracta avaritia est, ita vetita 6 

gratiarum aclione ambitio cohibebitur.' 

15 22. Magno adsensu celebrata sentenlia, non tamen senalus 

consultum perfici potuit, abnuentibus consulibus ea de re 

relatum. mox auctore principe sanxere, ne quis ad con- 2 

cilium sociorum referret agendas apud senatum pro prae- 

toribus prove consulibus grates, neu quis ea legatione 

20 fungeretur. 

Isdem consulibus gymnasium ictu fulminis conflagravit, 3 

eftigiesque in eo Neronis ad informe aes liquefacta. et motu 4 

terrae celebre Campaniae oppidum Pompei magna ex parte 

proruit. defunctaque virgo Vestalis Laelia, in cuius locum 

25 Cornelia ex familia Cossorum capta est. 

23. Memmio Regulo et Verginio Rufo consulibus natam 

sibi ex Poppaea filiam Nero ultra mortale gaudium accepit 

appellavitque Augustam,dato et Poppaeae eodem cognomento. 

locus puerperio colonia Antium fuit, ubi ipse generatus erat. 2 

30 iam senatus uterum Poppaeae commendaverat dis votaque 

publice susceperat, quae multiplicata exsolutaque. et additae 3 

supplicationes templumque Fecunditati et certamen ad 

exemplar Actiacae religionis decretum, utque Fortunarum

A.D. 63.] LIBER XV. CAP. 21-25. 

effigies aureae in solio Capitolini lovis locarcntur, ludicrum 

circense, ut luliae genti apud Bovillas, ita Claudiae Domi- 

4 tiaeque apud Antium ederetur. quae fluxa fuere, quartum 

intra mensem defuncta infante, rursusque exortae adulationes 

censentium honoiem divae et pulvinar aedemque et sacer- 5 

5 dotem. atque ipse ut laelitiae, ita maeroris inmodicus egit. 

adnotatum est, omni senatu Antium sub recentem partum 

effuso, Thraseam prohibitum inmoto animo praenuntiam 

6 inminentis caedis contumeliam excepisse. secutam dehinc 

vocem Caesaris feiunt, qua reconciliatum se Tliraseae apud 10 

Senecam iactaverit, ac Senecam Caesari gratulatum ; unde 

gloria egregiis viris et pericula gliscebant. 

24. Inter quae veris principle legati Parthorum mandata 

regis Vologesis litterasque in eandem formam attulere: se 

priora et totiens iactata super optinenda Armenia nunc 15 

omiltere, quoniam di, quamvis potentium populorum arbitri, 

possessionem Parthis non sine ignominia Romana tradidissent. 

2 nuper clausum Tigranen; post Paetum legionesque, cum 

opprimere posset, incolumes dimisisse. satis adprobatam 

3 vim ; datum et lenitatis experimenium. nee recusaturum 20 

Tiridaten accipiendo diademati in urbem venire, nisi sacer- 

dotii religione attineretur. iturum ad signa et effigies 

principis, ubi legionibus coram regnum auspicaretur. 

25. Talibus Vologesis litteris, quia Paetus diversa tamquam 

rebus integris scribebat, interrogans cenlurio, qui cum legatis 25 

advenerat, quo in statu Armenia esset, omnes inde Romanos 

2 excessisse respondit. tum intellecto barbarum inrisu, qui 

peterent quod eripuerant, consuluit inter primores civitatis 

Nero, bellum anceps an pax inhonesla placeret. nee 

3 dubitatum de bello. et Corbulo militum atque hostium tot 30 

per annos gnarus gerendae rei praeficitur, ne cuius alterius 

4 inscitia rursum peccaretur, quia Paeti piguerat. igitur inriti 

remittuntur, cum donis tamen, unde spes fieret non frustra

CORNELII TACITI ANNALIUM [a.U.C. Si6. 

eadem oraturum Tiridaten, si preces ipse attulisset. Suiiaeque 5 

exsecutio C. Ceslio, copiae militares Corbuloni permissae, et 

quinta decuma legio ducente Mario Celso e Pannonia adiecta 

est. sciibitur tetrarchis ac regibus praefectisque et procu- 6 

6 ratoiibus et qui praetorum finitimas provincias regebant, 

iussis Corbulonis obsequi, in tantum ferme modum aucta 

potestate, quern populus Romanus Cn. Pompeio bellum 

piiaticum gesture dederat. regressum Paetum, cum graviora 7 

metueret, facetiis insectari satis liabuit Caesar, his ferme 

10 verbis : ignoscere se statim, ne tarn promptus in pavorem 

longiore sollicitudine aegresceret. 

26. At Corbulo quarta et duodecuma legionibus,quae fortis- 

simo quoque amisso et ceteris exterritis parum habiles proelio 

videbantur, in Suriam translatis, sextam inde ac tertiam 

16 legiones, integrum militem et crebris ac prosperis laboribus 

exercitum, in Armeniam ducit. addiditque legionem quintam, 2 

quae per Pontum agens expers cladis fuerat, simul quinta- 

decumanos recens adductos et vexilla delectorum ex Illyrico 

et Aegypto, quodque alarum cohortiumque, et auxilia regum 

2o in unum conducta apud Melitenen, qua tramittere Euphraten 

parabat. turn lustratum rite exercitum ad contionem vocat 3 

orditurque magnifica de auspiciis imperatoris rebusque a se 

gestis, adversa in insciliam Paeti declinans, multa auctoritate, 

quae viro militari pro facundia erat. 

25 27. Mox iter L. Lucullo quondam penetratum, apertis 

quae vetustas obsaepserat, pergit. et venientes Tiridatis 

Vologesisque de pace legatos baud aspernatus, adiungit iis 

centuriones cum mandatis non inmitibus ; 

nee enim adhuc 

eo ventum, ut certamine extremo opus esset. multa Romanis 2 

30 secunda, quaedam Parthis evenisse, documento adversus 

superbiam. proinde et Tiridati conducere intactum vasta- 

tionibus regnum dono accipere, et Vologesen melius societate 

Romana quam damnis mutuis genti Parthorum consullurum.

A.D. 63.] LIBER XV. CAP. 25-29. 

3 scire, quantum intus discordiarum quamque indomitas et 

praeferoces nationes regeret : contra imperatori suo immotam 

4 ubique pacem et unum id bellum esse, simul consilio 

terrorem adiccre, et megistanas Armenios, qui primi a nobis 

defecerant, pellit sedibus, castella eorum excindit, plana edita, 5 

validos invalidosque pari metu complet. 

28. Non infensuni nee cum hostili odio Corbulonis nomen 

etiam barbaris habebatur, eoque consilium eius fidum 

credebant. ergo Vologeses neque atrox in summam, et 

quibusdam praefecturis indutias petit : Tiridates locum diem- 10 

2 que conloquio poscit. tempus propinquum, locus, in quo 

nuper obsessae cum Paeto legiones erant, barbaris delectus 

est ob memoriam laetioris sibi rei, Corbuloni non vitatus, ut 

3 dissimilitudo fortunae gloriam augeret. neque infamia Paeti 

angebatur, quod eo maxime patuit, quia filio eius tribuno 15 

ducere manipulos atque operire reliquias malae pugnae 

4 imperavit. die pacta Tiberius Alexander, inlustris eques 

Romanus, minister bello datus, et Vinicianus Annius, gener 

Corbulonis, nondum senatoria aetate set pro legato quintae 

legioni inpositus, in castra Tiridatis venere, honori eius ac ne 20 

metueret insidias tali pignore ; 

viceni dehinc equites adsumpti. 

5 et viso Corbulone rex prior equo desiluit ; nee cunctatus 

Corbulo, sed pedes uterque dexteras miscuere. 

29. Exim Romanus laudat iuvenem omissis praecipitibus 

2 tuta et salutaria capessentem. ille de nobilitate generis 25 

multum praefatus, cetera temperanter adiungit : iturum 

quippe Romam laturumque novum Caesari decus, non 

3 adversis Parthorum rebus supplicem Arsaciden. tum placuit 

Tiridaten ponere apud effigiem Caesaris insigne regium nee 

nisi manu Neronis resumere ; et conloquium osculo finitum. 30 

4 dein paucis diebus interiectis, magna utrimque specie, inde 

eques compositus per turmas et insignibus patriis, hinc 

agmina legionum stetere fulgentibus aquilis signisque et


simulacris deum in modum templi : medio tribunal sedem 5 

cuiulem et sedes effigiem Neronis suslinebat. ad quam 6 

progressus Tiridates, caesis ex more victimis, sublatum capiti 

diadema imagini subiecit, magnis apud cunclos animorum 

5 motibus, quos augebat insila adhuc oculis exercituum Romanorum 

caedes aut obsidio. at nunc versos casus : iturum 7 

Tiridaten ostenlui gentibus, quanlo minus quam captivum ? 

30. Addidit gloriae Corbulo comitatem epulasque ; et 

rogitante rege causas, quotiens novum aliquid adverterat, ut 

10 initia vigiliarum per centurionem nuntiari, convivium bucina 

dimitti et structam ante augurale aram subdita face accendi, 

cuncta in mains atlollens admiratione prisci mods adfecit. 

postero die spatium oravit, quo tantum itineris aditurus 2 

fratres ante matremque viseret ; obsidem interea filiam tradit 

15 litterasque supplices ad Neronem, 

31. Et digressus Pacorum apud Medos, Vologesen Ecba- 

tanis repperit, non incuriosum fratris; quippe et propriis 

nuntiis a Corbulone petierat, ne quam imaginem servitii 

Tiridates perferret neu ferrum traderet aut complexu provin- 

ao cias optinentium arceretur foribusve eorum adsisteret, tan- 

tusque ei Romae quantus consulibus honor esset. scilicet 2 

externae superbiae sueto non inerat nolitia nostri, apud quos 

vis imperii valet, inania tramittunlur. 

32. Eodem anno Caesar nationes Alpium maritimarum in 

25 ius Latii transtulit. equitum Romanoium locos sedilibus 2 

plebis anteposuit apud circum ; namque ad earn diem indis- 

creti inibant, quia lex Roscia nihil nisi de quatluordecim 

ordinibus sanxit. spectacula gladiatorum idem annus habuit 3 

pari magnificentia ac priora ; sed feminarum inlustrium 

30 senatorumque plures per arenam foedati sunt. 

33. C. Laecanio M. Licinio consulibus acriore in dies 

cupidine adigebatur Nero promiscas scaenas frequentandi. 

nam adhuc per domum aut hortos cecinerat luvenalibus

A.D. 64.] Z/Z?ZsA' XV. CAP. 29-35. 

ludis, quos ut parum celebres, et tantae voci angustos sper- 

2 nebat non tamen Romae incipere ausus Neapolim quasi 

Graecam urbam delegit : inde initium fore, ut transgressus 

in Achaiam insignesque et antiquitus sacras coronas adeptus 

3 maiore fama studia civium eliceret. ergo contractum oppi- 5 

danorum vulgus, et quos e proximis coloniis et municipiis 

eius rei fama acciverat, quique Caesarem per honorem aut 

varios usus sectantur, etiam militum manipuli, theatrum 

Neapolitanorum complent. 

34. Illic, plerique ut arbilrabantur, triste, ut ipse, providum 10 

potius et secundis numinibus evenit : nam egresso qui 

adfuerat populo vacuum et sine ullius noxa threatrum con- 

2 lapsum est. ergo per conpositos cantus grates dis atque 

ipsam recentis casus fortunam celebrans petiturusque maris 

Hadriae traiectus apud Beneventum interim consedit, ubi 15 

3 gladiatorium munus a Vatinio celebre edebatur. Vatinius 

inter foedissima eius aulae ostenta fuit, sutrinae tabernae 

alumnus, corpore detorto, facetiis scurrilibus;. primo in con- 

tumelias adsumptus, dehinc optimi cuiusque criminatione 

eo usque valuit, ut gratia, pecunia, vi nocendi etiam malos 20 

praemineret. 

35. Eius munus frequentanti Neroni ne inter voluptates 

2 quidem a sceleribus cessabatur. isdem. quippe illis diebus 

Torquatus Silanus mori adigitur, quia super luniae familiae 

3 claritudinem divum Augustum abavum ferebat. iussi accu- 25 

satores obicere prodigum largitionibus, neque aliam spem 

quam in rebus novis esse : quin eum inter libertos habere, 

quos ab epistulis et libellis et rationibus appellet, nomina 

tum intimus quisque liber- 

4 summae curae et meditamenta. . 

torum vincti abreptique. et cum damnatio instaret,, bra- 30 

5 chiorum venas Torquatus interscidit. secutaque ' Neronis 

oratio ex more, quamvis sontem et defensioni merito diffisum 

victurum tamen fuisse, si clementiam iudicis exspeclasset.

CORNELII TACITI AX.VALIUM [a.U.C. 817. 

36. Nee multo post, omissa in praesens Achaia (eausae 

in incerto fuere) urbem revisit, provincias Orientis, maxima 

Aegyptum, secretis imaginationibus agitans. dehinc edicto 2 

testificatus non longam sui absentiam et cuncta in re 

5 publica perinde immota ac prospera fore, super ea pro- 

fectione adiit Capitolium. illic veneratus deos, cum Vestae 3 

quoque templum inisset, repente cunctos per artus tremens, 

seu numine exterrente, seu facinorum recordatione numquam 

ft***^ timore vacuus, deseruit inceptum, cunctas sibi curas amore ,1, 

ff*' 

a 

if 

10 patriae leviores dictitans. vidisse maestos civium vultus, 4 

audire secretas querimonias, quod tantum itineris adituius 

esset, cuius ne modicos quidem egressus tolerarent, sueti 

adversum fortuita aspectu principis refoveri. ergo ut in 5 

privatis necessitudinibus proxima pignora praevalerent, ita in 

\^ re publica populum Romanum vim plurimam habere parendumque 

retinenti. haec atque talia plebi volentia fuere, 6 

voluptatum cupidine et, quae praecipua cura est, rei frumen- 

tariae angustias, si abesset, metuenti. senatus et primores 7 

in incerto erant, procul an coram atrocior haberetur : dehinc, 

20 quae natura magnis timoribus, deterius credebant quod 

evenerat. 

37. Ipse quo fidem adquireret nihil usquam perinde 

laelum sibi, publicis locis struere convivia totaque urbe quasi 

domo uti. et celeberrimae luxu famaque epulae fuere, quas 2 

25 a Tigelhno paratas ut exemplum referam, ne saepius eadem 

prodigenlia narranda sit. igitur in stagno Agrippae fabri- 3 

catus est ratem, cui superpositum convivium navium aharum 

tractu moveretur. naves auro et ebore distinctae, remigesque 4 

exoleti per aetates et scientiam libidinum componebantur. 

30 volucres et feras diversis e terris et animaha maris Oceano 5 

abusque petiverat. crepidinibus stagni lupanaria adstabant 6 

inlustribus feminis completa, et contra scorta visebantur 

nudis corporibus. iam geslus motusque obsceni ; et post- 7

A.D. 64.] LIBER XV. CAP. 36-38. 

quam tenebrae incedebant, quantum iuxta nemoris et cir- 

8 cumiecta tecta consonare cantu et liiminibus clarescere. ipse 

per licita atque inlicita foedatus nihil flagilii leliquerat quo 

corruptior ageret, nisi paucos post dies uni ex illo contamina- 

toium grege (nomen Pythagorae fuit) in modum solemniuni 5 

coniugiorum denupsisset. 

38. Sequitur clades, forte an dolo principis incertum (nam 

utrumque auctores prodidere), sed omnibus quae huic urbi 10 

per violentiam ignium acciderunt gravior atque atrocior. 

2 initium in ea parte circi ortum, quae Palatino Caelioque 

monlibus contigua est, ubi per tabernas, quibus id mercimonium 

inerat quo flamma alitur, simul cqeptus ignis et 

statim validus ac vento citus longitudinem circi corripuit. 15 

3 neque enim domus munimentis saeptae vel templa muris 

4 cincta aut quid aliud morae interiacebat. impetu pervagatum 

incendium plana primum, deinde in edita adsurgens et 

rursus inferiora populando, anteiit remedia velocitate mali et 

obnoxia urbe artis itineribus hucque et illuc flexis atque 20 

"^ 6 enormibus vicis, qualis vetus Roma fuit. ad hoc lamenta 

paventium feminarum, fessa aetate aut rudis pueritiae [aetas], 

quique sibi quique aliis consulebant, dum trahunt invalidos 

aut opperiuntur, pars mora, pars festinans, cuncta impedie- 

bant, et saepe, dum in tergum respectant, lateribus aut 25 

fronte ciicumveniebantur, vel si in proxima evaserant, illis 

quoque igni correptis, etiam quae longinqua crediderant in 

7 eodem casu reperiebant. postremo, quid vitarent quid 

peterent ambigui, complere vias, sterni per agros; quidam 

amissis omnibus fortunis, diurni quoque victus, alii caritate 30 

suorum, quos eripere nequiverant, quamvis patente effugio 

8 inleriere. nee quisquam defendere audebat, crebris multo- 

rum minis restinguere prohibentium, et quia alii palam faces

CORNELII TACITI ANNALIUM [a.u.C Si?. 

iaciebant atque esse sibi auctorem vocifeiabantur, sive ut 

raptus licentius exercerent seu iussu. 

39. Eo in tempore Nero Antii agens non ante in urbem 

regressus est quam domui eius, qua Palatium et Maecenatis 

6 hortos continuaverat, ignis propinquaret. neque tamen sisti 

potuit, quin et Palatium et domus et cuncta circum haurirentur. 

sed solacium populo exturbato ac profugo campum Marlis 2 

ac monumenta Agrippae, hortos quin etiam suos patefecit 

et subitaria aedificia exstruxit, quae multitudinem inopem 

subvectaque utensilia ab Ostia et propinquis municipiis 

pretiumque frumenti minutum usque ad ternos nummos. 

lo acciperent ; 

quae quamquam popularia in iiiritum cadebant, quia per- 3 

vaserat rumor ipso tempore flagrantis urbis inisse eum 

domesticam scaenam et cecinisse Troianum excidium, prae- 

15 sentia mala vetustis cladibus adsimulantem. 

40. Sexto demum die apud imas Esquilias finis incendio 

factus, prorutis per inmensum aedificiis, ut continuae violen- 

tiae campus et velut vacuum caelum occurreret. necdum 2 

positus metus, et rediit haut levius rursum grassatus ignis 

20 patulis magis urbis locis, eoque slrages hominum minor 

delubra deum et porlicus amoenitati dicatae latius procidere. 

plusque infamiae id incendium habuit, quia praediis Tigellini 3 

Aemilianis proruperat ; videbaturque Nero condendae urbis 

novae et cognomento suo "appellandae gloriam quaerere. 

25 quippe in regiones quattuordecim Roma dividitur, quarum 4 

quattuor integrae manebant, tres solo tenus deiectae : septcm 

reliquis pauca tectorum vestigia supererant, lacera et semusta. 

41. Domuum et insularum et templorum, quae amisssa sunt, 

numerum inire baud promptum fue«it : sed vetustissima reli- 

30 gione, quod Servius TuUius Lunae, et magna ara fanumque, 

quae praesenti Herculi Areas Evander sacraverat, aedesque 

Statoris lovis vota Romulo Numaeque regia et delubrum 

Vestae cum Penatibus populi Romani exusta ; iam opes tot 2 

:

A.D. 64.] LIBER XV. CAP. 38-43. 

victoriis quaesitae et Graecarum arlium decora, exim monu- 

menta ingeniorum antiqua et incorrupta, til quamvis in tanta 

resurgentis urbis pulchritudine multa seniores meminerint, 

3 quae reparari nequibant. fuere qui adnotarent XIIII Kal. 

Sextiles principium incendii huius ortum, quo et Senones I 

4 captam urbem inflammaverint. alii eo usque cura progressi 

sunt, ut totidem annos mensesque et dies inter utraque in- 

cendia numerent. 

42. Ceterum Nero usus est patriae ruinis exstruxitque 

domum, in qua baud proinde gemmae et aurum miraculo 10 

essent, solita pridem et luxu vulgata, quam arva et stagna et 

in modum solitudinum hinc silvae inde aperta spatia et 

prospectus, magistris et machinatoribus Severo et Celere, 

quibus ingenium et audacia erat etiam, quae natura denega- 

2 visset, perartem temptare etviribusprincipis inludere. namque 15 

ab lacu Averno navigabilem fossam usque ad ostia Tiberina 

depressuros promiserant, squalenti litore aut per monies 

3 adversos. neque enim aliud umidum gignendis aquis occurrit 

quam Pomptinae paludes : cetera abrupta aut arentia, ac si 

4 perrumpi possent, intolerandus labor nee satis causae. Nero 20 

tamen, ut erat incredibilium cupitor, effodere proxima Averno 

iuga conisus est, manentque vestigia inritae spei. 

43. Ceterum urbis quae domui supererant non, ut post 

Gallica incendia, nulla distinctione nee passim erecta, sed 

dimensis vicorum ordinibus et latis viarum spatiis cohibitaque 25 

aedificiorum altitudine ac patefactis areis additisque por- 

2 ticibus, quae frontem insularum protegerent. eas porticus 

Nero sua pecunia exstructurum purgatasque areas dominis 

3 traditurum pollicitus est. addidit praemia pro cuiusque ordine 

et rei familiaris copiis, finivitque tempus intra quod effectis 3° 

4 domibus aut insulis apiscerentur. ruderi accipiendo Ostienses 

paludes destinabat, utique naves, quae frumentum Tiberi 

subvectavissent, onustae rudere decurrerent, aedificiaque ipsa

CORNELII TACIT/ ANNALIUM [a.u.C. 817. 

certa sui parte sine trabibus saxo Gabino Albanove solida- 

rentur, quod is lapis ignibus impervius est ; iam aqua priva- 

toium licentia intercepta quo largior et pluribus locis in 

publicum flueret, custodes, et subsidia reprimendis ignibus in 

6 propatulo quisque haberet ; nee communione parietum, sed 

propriis quaeque muris ambirentur. ea ex ulilitate accepta 5 

decorem quoque novae urbi attulere. erant tamen qui 

crederent, veterem illam formam salubritati magis conduxisse, 

quoniam angustiae itinerum et altitudo tectorum non perinde 

10 solis vapore periumperentur ; 

at nunc patulam latitudinem et 

nulla umbra defensam graviore aestu ardescere. 

44. Et haec quidem humanis consiliis providebantur. mox 

petita dis piacula aditique Sibullae libri, ex quibus supplicatum 

Volcano et Cereri Proscrpinaeque, ac propitiata luno per 

15 matronas, primum in Capilolio, deinde apud proximum mare, 

unde hausta aqua templum et simulacrum deae perspersum 

est; et sellisternia ac pervigilia celebravere feminae quibus 

mariti erant. sed non ope humana, non largitionibus priu- 2 

cipis aut deum placamentis decedebat infamia, quin iussum 

20 incendium crederetur. ergo abolendo rumori Nero subdidit 3 

reos et quaesitissimis poenis adfecit, quos per flagitia invisos 

vulgus Christianos appellabat. auctor nominis eius Christus 4 

Tiberio imperitante per procuratorem Pontium Pilatum 

supplicio adfectus erat; repressaque in praesens exitiabilis 

25 superstitio rursum erumpebat, non modo per ludaeam, 

originem eius mali, sed per urbem etiam, quo cuncta undique 

atrocia aut pudenda confluunt celebranturque. igitur primum 5 

correpti qui fatebantur, deinde indicio eorum multitudo ingens 

baud proinde in crimine incendii quam odio humani generis 

30 convicti sunt, et pereuntibus addita ludibria, ut ferarum 6 

tergis contecti laniatu canum interirent, aut crucibus adfixi 

aut flammandi, atque, ubi defecisset dies, in usum nocturni 

luminis urerentur. horlos suos ei spectaculo Nero obtulerat 7

A.D. 64.] LIBER XV. CAP. 43-47- 

ct circense ludicrum edebat, habitu aurigae permixtus plebi 

8 vel curriculo insistens. unde quamquam adversus sontes et 

novissima exempla meritos miseratio oriebatur, tamquam non 

utilitate publica sed in saevitiam unius absumerentur. 

45. Interea conferendis pecuniis pervastata Italia, pro- 5 

vinciae eversae sociique populi et quae civitatium liberae 

2 vocantur. inque earn praedam etiam di cessere, spoliatis in 

urbe templis egestoque auro, quod triumphis, quod votis 

omnis populi Romani aetas prospere aut in metu sacraverat, 

3 enimvero per Asiam atque Achaiam non dona tantum sed 10 

simulacra numinum abripiebantur, missis in eas provincias 

4 Acrato ac Secundo Carrinate. ille libertus cuicumque flagitio 

promplus, hie Graeca doctrina ore tenus exercitus animum 

5 bonis artibus non inbuerat. ferebatur Seneca, quo invidiam 

sacrilegii a semet averteret, longinqui ruris secessum oravisse, 15 

et postquam non concedebatur, ficta valetudine, quasi aeger 

6 nervis, cubiculum non egressus. tradidere quidam venenum 

ei per libertum ipsius, cui nomen Cleonicus, paratam iussu 

Neronis vitatumque a Seneca prodilione liberti seu propria 

formidine, dum persimplici victu et agrestibus pomis, ac si 20 

sitis admoneret, profluente aqua vitam tolerat. 

46. Per idem tempus gladialores apud oppidum Praeneste 

temptata eruptione praesidio militis, qui custos adesset, 

coerciti sunt, iam Spartacum et vetera mala rumoribus 

ferente populo, ut est novarum rerum cupiens pavidusque. 25 

2 nee multo post clades rei navalis accipitur, non bello (quippe 

baud alias tarn immota pax), sed certum ad diem in Cam- 

paniam redire classem Nero iusserat, non exceptis maris 

3 casibus, ergo gubernatores, quamvis saeviente pelago, a 

Formiis movere : et gravi Africo, dum promunturium INIiseni 30 

superare contendunt, Cumanis litoribus inpacti triremium 

plerasque et minora navigia passim amiserunt. 

47. Fine anni vulganlur prodigia, inminentium malorum

CORNELI1 TACITI ANNALIUM [a.U.C. 8i8. 

nuntia. vis fulgurum non alias crebrior, et sidus cometes, 

sanguine inlustri semper Neroni expiatum. bicipites hominum 2 

aliorumve animalium partus abiecti in publicum aut in 

sacrificiis, quibus gravidas hostias inmolari mos est, reperti. 

5 et in agro Placentino viam propter natus vilulus, cui caput in 3 

crure esset; secutaque haruspicum inlerpretatio, parari rerum 

humanarum aliud caput, sed non fore validum neque occul- 

tum, quia in utero repressum aut iter iuxta editum sit. 

48. Ineunt deinde consulatum Silius Nerva et Atticus 

lo Vestinus, coepta simul et aucta coniuratione, in quam certatim 

nomina dederant senatores eques miles, feminae etiam, cum 

odio Neronis, turn favore in C. Pisonem, is Calpurnio 2 

genere ortus ac multas insignesque familias paterna nobilitate 

complexus, claro apud vulgum rumore erat per virtutem aut 

15 species virtutibus similes, namque facundiam tuendis civibus 3 

exercebat, largitionem adversum amicos, et ignotis quoque 

comi sermone et congressu; aderant etiam fortuita, corpus 

procerum, decora facies : sed procul gravitas morum aut 4 

voluptatum parsimonia; levitali ac magnificentiae et ali- 

20 quando luxu indulgebat. idque pluribus probabatur, qui in 5 

tanta vitiorum dulcedine summum imperium non restrictum 

nee perseverum volunt. 

49. Initium coniurationi non a cupidine ipsius fuit; nee 

tamen facile memoraverim, quis primus auctor, cuius instinctu 

25 concitum sit quod tarn multi sumpserunt. promptissimos 2 

Subrium Flavum tribunum praetoriae cohortis et Sulpicium 

Asprum centurionem extitisse constantia exitus docuit: et 

Lucanus Annaeus Plautiusque Lateranus vivida odia intulere. 

Lucanum propriae causae accendebant, quod famam car- 3 

30 minum eius premebat Nero prohibueratque ostentare, vanus 

adsimulatione: Lateranum consulem designatum nulla iniuria, 

sed amor rei publicae sociavit. at Flavius Scaevinus et 4 

Afranius Quintianus, uterque senatorii ordinis, contra famam

A.D. 65.] LIFyER XV. CAP. 47-51. 

5 sui principium tanti fiicinoris capessivere. nam Scaevino 

dissoluta luxu mens et pioinde vita somno languida: Quin- 

tianus mollilia corporis infamis et a Nerone probroso carmine 

diffamalus contumelias ultum ibat. 

50. Ergo dum scelera principis, et finem adesse imperio 5 

deligendumque qui fessis rebus succurreret, inter se aut inter 

amicos iaciunt, adgregavere Claudium Senecionem, Cervarium 

Proculum, Vulcatium Araricum, lulium Augurinum, IMuna- 

tium Gratum, Antonium Natalem, Marcium Feslum, equites 

2 Romanos. ex quibus Senecio, e praecipua familiaritate 10 

Neronis, speciem amicitiae etiam turn retinens eo pluribus 

periculis conflictabatur ; Natalis particeps ad omne secretum 

3 Pisoni erat ; ceteris spes ex novis rebus petebatur. adscitae 

sunt super Subrium et Sulpicium, de quibus rettuli, militares 

manus, Gavins Silvanus et Statins Proximus tribuni cohortium 15 

praetoriarum, Maximus Scaurus et Venetus Paulas cen- 

4 turiones. sed summum robur in Faenio Rufo praefecto 

videbatur, quem vita famaque laudatum per saevidam inpu- 

dicitiamque Tigellinus in animo principis anteibat, fatiga- 

batque criminationibus ac saepe in metum adduxerat quasi 20 

adulterum Agrippinae et desiderio eius ullioni internum. 

5 igitur ubi coniuratis praefectum quoque praetorii in partes 

descendisse crebro ipsius sermone facta fides, promptius iam 

6 de tempore ac loco caedis agitabant. et cepisse impetum 

Subrius Flavus ferebatur in scaena canentem Neronem 25 

adgrediendi, aut cum ardente domo per noctem hue illuc 

7 cursaret incustoditus. hie occasio solitudinis, ibi ipsa fre- 

quentia tanti decoris testis pulcherrima animuni exstimu- 

laverant, nisi impunitatis cupido retinuisset, magnis semper 

conatibus adversa. 30 

51. Interim cunctantibus prolatantibusque spem ac metum 

Epicharis quaedam, incertum quonam modo sciscitata (neque 

illi ante uUa rerum honestarum cura fuerat), accendere et

CORNELII TACITI ANNA I.IUM [a.U.C. 8i8. 

argiiere coniuratos, ac.postremum lentitudinis eoruni pertaesa 

et in Campania agens piimores classiaiiorum Misenensium 

labefacere et conscientia inligare conisa est tali initio, erat 2 

navarchus in ea classe Volusius Pioculus, occidendae matris 

5 Neroni inter ministros, non ex magnitudine sceleris pro- 

vectus, ut rebatur. is mulieri olim cognitus, seu recens orta 3 

amicitia, dum nieiita erga Neronem sua et quam in inritum 

cecidissent aperit adicitque questus et destinationem vindictae, 

si facultas oreretur, spem dedit posse inpelli et plures 

lo conciliare : nee leve auxilium in classe, crebras occasiones, 

quia Nero multo apud Piiteolos et Misenum maris usu 

laetabatur. ergo Epicharis plura et omnia scelera principis 4 

orditur; neque senatui fieque poptdo quidquam manere. sed 5 

provisum quonam modo poenas eversae rei publicae daret 

X5 accingeretur modo navare operam et militum acerrimos 

ducere in partes, ac digna pretia exspectaret ; nomina tamen 

coniuratorum reticuit. unde Proculi indicium inritum fuit, e 

quamvis ea quae audierat ad Neronem detulisset. acciLa 7 

quippe Epicharis et cum indice composita nullis teslibus 

20 innisum facile confutavit. sed ipsa in custodia retenta est, 8 

suspectante Nerone baud falsa esse etiam quae vera non 

probabantur. 

52. Coniuratis tamen metu proditionis permotis placitum 

maturare caedem apud Baias in villa Pisonis, cuius amoeni- 

25 tale caplus Caesar crebro ventitabat balneasque et epulas 

mibat omissis excubiis et fortunae suae mole, sed abnuit 2 

Piso, invidiam praetendens, si sacra mensae dique hospitales 

caede qualiscumque principis cruentarentur : melius apud 

urbem in ilia invisa et spoliis civium exstructa domo vel in 

30 publico patraturos quod pro re publica suscepissent. haec in 3 

commune, ceterum timore occulto, ne L. Silanus eximia 

nobilitate disciplinaqiie C. Cassii, apud quem educatus erat, 

ad omnem clariludinem sublatus imperium invaderet, promple 

:

A.D. 65.] LIBER XV. CAP. 5[-54. 

daluiis, qui a coniuratione integri essent quique miserarentur 

4 Neronem tamquam per scelus interfectum. pleiique Vestini 

quoque consulis acre ingenium vitavisse Pisonem credi- 

derunt, ne ad libertatem oreretur, vel delecto imperatore alio 

5 sui niuneris rem publicam faceret. etenim expers coniu- 5 

rationis erat, quamvis super eo crimine Nero vetus adversum 

insontem odium expleverit. 

53. Tandem statuere circensium ludorum die, qui Cereri 

celebratur, exsequi destinata, quia Caesar rarus egressu 

domoque aut hortis clausus ad ludicra circi ventitabat promp- 10 

2 tioresque aditus erant laetitia spectaculi. ordinem insidiis 

composuerant, ut Lateranus, quasi subsidium rei familiari 

oraret, deprecabundus et genibus principis accidens pro- 

sterneret incautum premeretque, animi validus et corpora 

3 ingens. tum iacentem et impeditum tribuni et centuriones 15 

et ceterorum, ut quisque audentiae habuisset, adcurrerent 

trucidarentque, primas sibi partes expostulante Scaevino, qui 

pugionem templo SaluLis sive, ut alii tradidere, Fortunae 

Ferentino in oppido detraxerat gestabatque velut magno operi 

4 sacrum, interim Piso apud aedem Cereris opperiretur, unde 20 

eum praefectus Faenius et ceteri accitum ferrent in castra, 

comitante Antonia Claudii Caesaris filia ad eliciendum vulgi 

5 favorem, quod C. Plinius memorat. nobis quoquo modo 

traditum non occultare in animo fuit, quamvis absurdum 

videretur aut inanem ad spem Antoniam nomen et pericu- 25 

lum commodavisse, aut Pisonem notum amore uxoris alii 

matrimonio se obstrinxisse, nisi si cupido dominandi cunctis 

adfectibus flagrantior est. 

54. Sed mirum quam inter diversi generis ordinis, aetatis 

sexus, diles pauperes taciturnitate omnia cohibita sint, donee 30 

proditio coepit e domo Scaevini ; 

qui pridie insidiarum multo 

sermone cum Antonio Natale, dein regressus domum testamentum 

obsignavit, promptum vagina pugionem, de quo

• vorum 

CORNELII TACIT/ ANNALIUM [a.U.C. 8i8. 

supra rettuli, vetustate obtusum increpans, asperari saxo et in 

mucronem ardescere iussit eamque cuiam liberto INIilicho 

mandavit. simul adfluentius solito convivium inilum, ser- 2 

carissimi libertate et alii pecunia donati. atque ipse 3 

5 maestus et magnae ^cogitationis manifestus erat, quamvis 

laetitiam vagis sermonibus simularet. postremo vulneribus 4 

ligamenta quibusque sistitur sanguis parare eundem Milichum 

monet, sive gnarum coniurationis et illuc usque fidum, sen 

nescium et tunc primum arreptis suspicionibus, ut plerique 

10 tradideie de consequentibus. nam cum secum servilis 5 

animus praemia perfidiae reputavit simulque inmensa pecunia 

et potentia obversabantur, cessit fas et salus patroni et 

acceptae libertatis memoria. etenim uxoris quoque consilium 6 

adsumpserat muliebre ac deterius : quippe ultfo metum 

15 intentabat, multosque adstitisse libertos ac servos, qui eadem 

viderint; nihil profuturum unius silentium ; at praemia penes 

unum fore, qui indicio praevenisset. 

55. Igitur coepta luce Milichus in hortos Servilianos 

pergit; et cum foribus arceretur, magna et atrocia adferre 

20 dictitans deductusque ab ianitoribus ad libertum Neronis 

Epaphroditum, mox ab eo ad Neronem, urguens periculum, 

graves coniuratos et cetera quae audierat coniectaverat docet. 

telum quoque in necem eius paratum ostendit accirique reum 2 

iussit. is raptus per milites et defensionem orsus, ferrum, 3 

25 cuius argueretur, olim religione patria cultum et in cubiculo 

habitum ac fraude liberti subreptum respondit, tabulas testa- 

menti saepius a se et incustodita dierum observatione signatas. 

pecunias et libertates servis et ante dono datas, sed ideo tunc 4 

largius, quia tenui iam re familiari et instantibus creditoribus 

30 testamento diffideret. enimvero liberales semper epulas 5 

struxisse, vitam amoenam et duris iudicibus parum probatam. 

fomenta vulneribus nulla iussu suo, sed quia cetera palam 

vana obiecisset, adiungere crimen, cuius se pariter indicem et

A.D. 65.] LIBER XV. CAP. 54-57. 

6 testem faceiet. adicit dictis constantiam ; incusat ultro 

intestabilem et consceleratum, lanta vocis ac vultus secuiitate, 

ut labaret indicium, nisi Milichum uxor admonuisset Anto- 

nium Natalem multa cum Scaevino ac secreta conlocutum et 

esse utrosque C. Pisonis intimos. 5 

56. Ergo accitur Natalis, et diversi interrogantur, quisnam 

is sermo, qua de re fuisset. tum exorta suspicio, quia non 

2 congruentia responderant, inditaque vincla. et tormentorum 

aspectum ac minas non tulere : prior tamen Natalis, totius 

conspirationis magis gnarus, simul arguendi peritior, de 10 

Pisone primum fatetur, deinde adicit Annaeum Senecam, 

sive internuntius inter eum Pisonemque fuit, sive ut Neronis 

gratiam pararet, qui infensus Senecae omnes ad eum oppri- 

3 mendum artes conquirebat. tum cognito Natalis indicio 

Scaevinus quoque pari inbecillitate, an cuncta iam patefacta 15 

4 credens nee ullum silentii emolumentum, edidit ceteros. ex 

quibus Lucanus Quinlianusque et Senecio diu abnuere : post 

promissa inpunitate corrupti, quo tarditatem excusarent, 

Lucanus Aciliam matrem suam, Quintianus Glilium Galium, 

Senecio Annium Pollionem, amicorum praecipuos, nomi- 20 

navere. 

57. Atque interim Nero recordatus Volusii Proculi indicio 

Epicharim attineri ratusque muliebre corpus impar dolori 

2 tormentis dilacerari iubet. at illam non verbera, non ignes, 

non ira eo acrius torquentium, ne a femina spernerentur, 25 

pervicere quin obiecta denegaret. sic primus quaestionis 

3 dies contemptus. postero cum ad eosdem cruciatus retra- 

heretur gestamine sellae (nam dissolutis membris insistere 

nequibat), vinclo fasciae, quam pectori detraxerat, in modum 

laquei ad arcum sellae restricto indidit cervicem et corporis 30 

pondere conisa tenuem iam spiritum expressit, clariore 

exemplo libertina mulier in lanta necessitate alienos ac prope 

ignotos protegendo, cum ingenui et viri et equiies Romani

CORNELII TACITI ANNALIUM [a.U.C Si8. 

senatoresque intacti tornientis carissima suoriim quisque 

pignorum prodeient. non enim omittebant Lucanus quoque 4 

et Senecio et Quinlianus passim conscios edere, magis 

magisque pavido Nerone, quamquam multiplicatis excubiis 

5 semet saepsisset. 

58. Quin et urbem, per manipulos occupatis moenibus, 

insesso etiam mari et amne, velut in custodiam dedit. volita- 2 

bantque per fora, per domos, rura quoque et proxima 

municipiorum pedites equitesque, permixti Germanis, quibus 

lo fidebat princeps quasi externis. continua hinc et vincta 3 

agmina trahi ac foribus hortorum adiacere. atque ubi dicendam 

ad causam introissent, laelatum erga coniuratos et 

forluitus sermo et subiti occursus, si convivium, si specta- 

culum siinul inissent, pro crimine accipi, cum super Neronis 

15 ac Tigellini saevas percontationes Faenius quoque Rufus 

violenter urgueret, nondum ab indicibus nominatus, et quo 

fidem inscitiae pararet, atrox adversus socios. idem Subiio 4 

Flavo adsistenti adnuentique, an inter ipsam cognitionem 

destringeret gladium caedemque patraret, renuit infregitque 

20 impetum iam manum ad capulum referentis. 

59. Fuere qui prodita coniuratione, dum auditur Milichus, 

dum dubitat Scaevinus, hortarentur Pisonem pergere in castra 

aut rostra escendere studiaque militum et populi temptare. si 2 

conatibus eius conscii adgregarentur, seculiiros etiam integros ; 

25 magnamque motae rei famam, quae plurimum in novisconsiliis 

valeret. nihil adversum haec Neroni provisum. etiam fortes 3 

viros subitis terreri, nedum ille scaenicus, Tigellino scilicet cum 

paelicibus suis comitante, arma contra cieret. multa ex- 4 

periendo confieri, quae segnibus ardua videantur. frustia 

30 silentium et fidem in tot consciorum animis et corporibus 

sperare ; cruciatui aut praemio cuncta pervia esse, venluros 5 

qui ipsum quoque vincirent, postremo indigna nece adficerent. 

quanto laudabilius perilurum, dum amplectitur rem publicam, 6

A.D. 65.] LIBER AT. CAP. 57-61. 

dum auxilia libertati invocat. miles potius deesset et plebes 

desereret, dum ipse maioribus, dum posteris, si vita prae- 

7 riperetur, mortem adprobaret. inmotus his et paululum in 

publico versalus, post domi secretus, animum adversum 

suprema firmabat, donee manus militum adveniret, quos 5 

Nero tirones aut stipendiis recentes delegerat : nam vetus 

8 miles timebatur tamquam favore inbutus. obiit abruplis 

brachiorum venis. testamentum foedis adversus Neronem 

aduladonibus amori uxoris dedit, quam degenerem et sola 

corporis forma commendatam amici matrimonio abslulerat. 10 

9 nomen mulieris Atria Galla, priori niarito Domitius Silus 

hie patientia, ilia inpudicilia Pisonis infamiam propagavere. 

60. Proximam necem Plautii Laterani consulis designati 

Nero adiungit, adeo propeie, ut non complecti hberos, non 

2 illud breve mortis arbitriumpermitteret. raptus in locum servili- 15 

bus poenis sepositum manu Statii tribuni trucidatur, plenus 

constantis silentii nee tribune obiciens eandem conscientiam. 

3 Sequitur caedes Annaei Senecae, laetissima principi, non 

quia coniurationis manifestum compererat, sed ut ferro 

4 grassaretur, quando venenum non processerat. solus quippe 20 

Natalis et hactenus prompsit, missum se ad aegrotum Sene- 

cam, uti viseret conquerereturque cur Pisonem aditu arceret 

melius fore, si amicitiam familiari congressu exercuissent. 

5 et respondisse Senecam sermones mutuos et crebra con- 

loquia neutri conducere; ceterum salutem suam incolumitate 25 

6 Pisonis inniti. haec ferre Gavius Silvanus tribunus praetoriae 

cohortis, et andicta Natalis suaque responsa nosceret percontari 

7 Senecam iubetur. is forte an prudens ad eum diem ex Cam- 

pania remeaverat quartumque apud lapidem suburbano rure 

8 substiterat. illo propinqua vespera tribunus venit et villam 3° 

globis militum saepsit ; tum ipsi cum Pompeia Paulina uxore 

et amicis duobus epulanti mandata imperatoris edidit. 

61. Seneca missum ad se Natalem conquestumque nomine 

:

CORNELII TACIT/ ANNALIUM [a.U.C. Si 8. 

Pisonis quod a visendo eo prohiberetur, seque rationem 

valetudinis et amoiem quietis excusavisse respondit. cur 2 

salutem privati hominis incolumitati suae anteferret, causam 

non habuisse ; nee sibi promptum in adulationes ingenium. 

5 idque nulli magis gnarum quam Neroni, qui saepius liber- 3 

tatem Senecae quam servitium expertus esset. ubi haec 4 

a tribuno relata sunt Poppaea et Tigellino coram, quod erat 

saevienti principi intimum consiliorum, interrogat an Seneca 

voluntariam mortem pararet. tum tribunus nulla pavoris 5 

10 signa, nihil triste in verbis eius aut vultu deprensum confir- 

mavit. ergo regredi et indicere mortem iubetur. Iradit Fabius 6 

Rusticus non eo quo venerat itinere redisse tribunum, sed 

flexisse ad Faenium praefectum, et expositis Caesaris iussis 

an obtemperaret interrogavisse, monitumque ab eo ut ex- 

15 sequeretur, fatali omnium ignavia. nam et Silvanus inter 7 

coniuratos erat augebatque scelera, in quorum ultionem 

consenserat. voci tamen et aspectui pepercit intromisitque 

ad Senecam unum ex centurionibus, qui necessitatem ultimam 

denuntiaret. 

20 62. Ille interritus poscit testamenti tabulas ; ac denegante 

centurione conversus ad amicos, quando meritis eorum referre 

gratiam prohiberetur, quod unum iam et tamen pulcherrimum 

habeat, imaginem vitae suae relinquere testatur, cuius si 

memores essent, bonarum artium famam fructum constantis 

25 amicitiae laturos. simul lacrimas eorum modo sermone, 2 

modo intentior in modum coercentis, ad firmitudinem revocat, 

rogitans ubi praecepta sapientiae, ubi tot per annos meditata 

ratio adversum imminentia ? cui enim ignaram fuisse saevitiam 3 

Neronis ? neque aliud superesse post matrem fratremque inter- 

30 fectos quam ut educatoris praeceptorisque necem adiceret. 

63. Ubi haec atque talia velut in commune disseruit, com- 

plectitur uxorem, et paululum adversus praesentem fortitu- 

dinem mollitus rogat oratque temperaret dolori neu aeternum

A.D. 65.] LIBER XV. CAP. .61-64. 

susciperet, sed in contemplatione vitae per virtutem actae 

2 desiderium mariti solaciis honestis toleraret. ilia contra sibi 

quoque destinatam mortem adseverat manumque percussoris 

3 exposcit. turn Seneca gloriae eius non adversus, simul 

amore, ne sibi unice dilectam ad iniurias relinqueret, ' vitae ' 5 

inquit ' delenimenta monstraveram tibi, tu mortis decus mavis : 

4 non invidebo exemplo. sit huius tam fortis exitus constantia 

penes utrosque par, claritudinis plus in tuo fine.' post quae 

5 eodem ictu brachia ferro exsolvunt. Seneca, quoniam senile 

corpus et parco victu tenuatum lentaeffugia sanguini praebe- 10 

6 bat, crurum quoque et poplitum venas abrumpit ; saevisque 

cruciatibus defessus, ne dolore suo animum uxoris infringeret 

atque ipse visendo eius tormenta ad inpatientiam delaberetur, 

7 suadet in aliud cubiculum abscedere. et novissimo quoque mo- 

mento suppeditante eloquentia advocalis scriptoribus pleraque 15 

tradidit, quae in vulgus edita eius verbis invertere supersedeo. 

64. At Nero nullo in Paulinam proprio odio, ac ne glisceret 

invidia crudelitatis, iubet inhiberi mortem, hortantibus mili- 

tibus servi libertique obligant brachia, premunt sanguinem, 

2 incertum an ignarae. nam, ut est vulgus ad deteriora 20 

promptum, non defuere qui crederent, donee inplacabilem 

Neronem timuerit, famam sociatae cum marito mortis 

petivisse, deinde oblata mitiore spe blandimentis vitae 

evictam : cui addidit paucos postea annos, laudabili in 

maritum memoria et ore ac membris in eum pallorem 25 

albentibus, ut ostentui esset multum vitalis spiritus egestum. 

3 Seneca interim, durante tractu et lentitudine mortis, Statium 

Annaeum, diu sibi amiciiiae fide et arte medicinae proba- 

tum, orat provisum pridem venenum, quo damnati publico 

Atheniensium iudicio extinguerentur, promeret : adlatumque 30 

hausit frustra, frigidus iam artus et cluso corpora adversum 

4 vim veneni. postremo stagnum calidae aquae introiit, 

respergens proximos servorum addita voce, libare se liquorem

CORNELII TACITI ANNALIUM [a.u.c. 8i8. 

ilium lovi liberatori. exim balneo inlatus et vapore eius 5 

exanimatus, sine ullo funeris sollemni crematur. ita codicillis e 

praescripserat. cum etiam turn praedives et praepotens supremis 

suis consuleret. 

5 65. Fama fuit Subrium Flavum cum centurionibus occulto 

consilio, neque tamen ignoiante Seneca, destinavisse, ut post 

occisum opera Pisonis Neronem Piso quoque interficeietur 

tradereturque imperium Senecae, quasi insontibus claritudine 

virtutum ad summum fastigium delecto. quin et verba Flavi 2 

10 vulgabantur, non referre dedecori, si citharoedus demoveretur 

et tragoedus succederet, quia ut Nero cithara, ita Piso tragico 

ornatu canebat. 

66. Ceterum militaris quoque conspiratio non ultra fefellit, 

accensis indicibus ad prodendum Faenium Rufum, quern 

15 eundem conscium et inquisitorem non tolerabant. ergo 2 

instanti minitantique renidens Scaevinus neminem ait plura 

scire quam ipsum, hortaturque ultro redderet tam bono 

principi vicem. non vox adversum ea Faenio, non silentium, 3 

sed verba sua praepediens et pavoris manifestus, ceterisque 

20 et maxime Cervario Proculo equite Romano ad convincendum 

eum cbnisis, iussu imperatoris a Cassio milite, qui ob 

insigne corporis robur adstabat, corripitur vinciturque. 

67. Mox eorundem indicio Subrius Flavus tribunus per- 

vertitur, primo dissimilitudinem morum ad defensionem 

25 traliens, neque se armatum cum inermibus et eflfeminatis 

lantum facinus consociaturum ; dein, postquam urguebatur, 

confessionis gloriam amplexus. interrogatusque a Nerone, 2 

quibus causis ad oblivionem sacramenti processisset, ' oderam 

te ' inquit, ' nee quisquam tibi fidelior miliium fuit, dum amari 

30 meruisti. odisse coepi, postquam parricida matris et uxoris, 3 

auriga et histrio et incendiarius extitisti.' ipsa rettuli verba, 4 

quia non, ut Senecae, vulgata erant, nee minus nosci decebat 

militaris viri sensus incomptos et validos. nihil in ilia coniu- 5

A.D. 65.] LIBER XV. CAP. 64-69. 

ratione gravius auribus Neronis atcidisse constitit, qui ut 

faciendis sceleribus promptus, ita audiendi quae faceret insolens 

6 crat. poena Flavi Veianio Nigro tribuno mandatur. is 

proximo in agro scrobem effodi iussit, quam visam Flavus ut 

humilem et anguslam increpans, circum stantibus militibus, 5 

7 'ne hoc quidem' inquit 'ex disciplina/ admonitusque forliter 

8 protendere cervicem, ' utinam ' ait ' tu tarn fortiter ferias ! 

' et 

ille muUum tremens, cum vix duobus ictibus caput amputa- 

visset, saevitiam apud Neronem iactavit, sesquiplaga inter- 

fectum a se dicendo. 10 

68. Proximum constantiae exemplum Sulpicius Asper 

centurio praebuit, percontanti Neroni, cur in caedem suam 

conspiravisset, breviter respondens non aliter tot flagitiis eius 

2 subveniri potuisse. tum iussam poenam subiit. nee ceteri 

centuriones in perpetiendis suppliciis degeneravere : at non 15 

Faenio Rufo par animus, sed lamentationes suas etiam in 

testamentum contulit. 

3 Opperiebatur Nero, ut Vestinus quoque consul in crimina 

traherelur, violentum et infensum ratus : sed ex coniuratis 

consilia cum Vestino non miscuerant quidam vetustis in eum 20 

simultatibus, plures, quia praecipitem et insociabilem crede- 

4 bant, ceterum Neroni odium adversus Vestinum ex intima 

sodalitale coeperat, dum hie ignaviam principis penitus 

cognitam despicit, ille ferociam amici metuit, saepe asperis 

facetiis inlusus, quae ubi multum ex vero traxere, acrem sui 25 

5 memoriam relinquunt. accesserat repens causa, quod Vestinus 

Statiliam Messalinam matrimonio sibi iunxerat, baud nescius 

inter adulteros eius et Caesarem esse. 

69. Igitur non crimine, non accusatore existente, quia 

speciem iudicis induere non poterat, ad vim dominationis 30 

conversus Gerellanum tribunum cum cohorte militum inmittit 

iubetque praevenire conatus consulis, occupare velut arcem 

eius, opprimere delectam iuventutem, quia Vestinus inminentes

CORNELII TACITI ANNALIUM [a.U.C. Si 8. 

foro aedes decoraque servitia et pari aetate habebat. cuncta 2 

eo die munia consulis impleverat conviviumque celebrabat, 

nihil metuens an dissimulando metu, cum ingiessi milites 

vocari eum a tribuno dixere. ille nihil demoralus exsurgit 3 

5 et omnia simul properantur : clauditur cubiculo, praesto est 

medicus, abscinduntur venae, vigens adhuc balneo infertur, 

calida aqua meisatur, nulla edita voce qua semet miseraretur, 

ciicumdati interim custodia qui simul discubuerant, nee nisi 4 

provecta nocte omissi sunt, postquam pavorem eorum, ex 

10 mensa exitium opperientium, et imaginatus et inridens Nero 

satis supplicii luisse ail pro epulis consularibus. 

70. Exim Annaei Lucani caedem imperat. is profluente 

sanguine ubi frigescere pedes manusque et paulatim ab 

extremis cedere spiritum fervido adhuc et compote mentis 

15 pectore intellegit, recordatus carmen a se compositum, quo 

vulneratum militem per eius modi mortis imaginem obisse 

tradiderat, versus ipsos rettulit, eaque illi suprema vox fuit. 

Senecio posthac et Quintianus et Scaevinus non ex priore 2 

vitae moUitia, mox reliqui coniuratorum periere, nullo facto 

20 dictove memorando. 

71. Sed compleri interim urbs funeribus, Capitolium 

victimis; alius filio, fratre alius aut propinquo aut amico 

interfectis, agere grates deis, ornare lauru domum, genua 

ipsius advolvi et dextram osculis fatigare. atque ille gaudium 2 

25 id credens Antonii Natalis et Cervarii Proculi festinata 

indicia inpunitate remuneratur. Milichus praemiis ditatus 3 

conservatoris sibi nomen, Graeco eius rei vocabulo, ad- 

sumpsit. e tribunis Gavins Silvanus, quamvis absolutus,

A.D. 65.] LIBER XV. C^ P. 69-73. 

et Glitio Gallo atque Annio PoUioni infamatis magis quam 

7 convictis data exilia. Priscum Artoria Flaccilla coniunx 

comitata est, Galium Egnatia Maximilla, magnis primum 

et integris opibus, post ademptis, quae utraque gloriam eius 

8 auxere. pellitur et Rufrius Crispinus occasione coniurationis, 5 

sed Neroni invisus, quod Poppaeam quondam matrimonio 

9 tenuerat. Verginium Flavum et Mtisoninvi Rufum claritudo 

nominis expulit : nam Verginius studia iuvenum eloquentia, 

10 INIusonius praeceptis sapientiae fovebat. Cluvidieno Quieto, 

luJio Agrippae, Blitio Catulino, Petionio Prisco, lulio Altino, 10 

velut in agmen et numerum, Aegaei maris insulae permit- 

11 tuntur. at Caedicia uxor Scaevini et Caesennius Maximus 

Italia prohibentur, reos fuisse se tantum poena experti. 

12 Acilia mater Annaei Lucani sine absolutione, sine supplicio 

dissimulata. 

• 

72. Quibus perpetratis Nero et contione militum habita 

bina nummum milia viritim manipularibus divisit addiditque 

sine pretio frumentum, quo ante ex modo annonae utebantur. 

2 turn, quasi gesta bello expositurus, vocat senatum et 

triumphale decus Petronio Turpiliano consulari, Cocceio 20 

Nervae praetori designato, Tigellino praefecto praetorii 

tribuit, Tigellinum et Nervam ita extollens, ut super trium- 

phales in foro imagines apud Palatium quoque effigies eorum 

3 sisteret. consularia insignia Nymphidio, qui quia nunc 

primum oblatus est, pauca repetam : nam et ipse pars 25 

4 Romanarum cladium erit. igitur matre libertina ortus, quae 

corpus decorum inter servos libertosque principum vulgaverat, 

ex Gaio Caesare se genitum ferebat, quoniam forte quadam 

habitu procerus et torvo vultu erat, sive Gaius Caesar, 

scortorum quoque cupiens, etiam matri eius inlusit * * * 

30 

73. Sed Nero vocato senatu, oratione inter patres habita, 

edictum apud populum et conlata in libros indicia confes- 

2 sionesque damnatorum adiunxit. etenim crebro vulgi rumore 

15

CORNELII TACIT/ ANNA LIUM [a.U.C. 8i8. 

lacerabatur, tamquam viros claros et insontes ob invidiam 

aut metum extinxisset. ceterum coeptam adultamque et 3 

revictam coniurationem neque tunc dubitavere quibus verum 

noscendi cura erat, et fatentur, qui post interitum Neronis 

5 in urbem regressi sunt, at in senatu cunctis, ut cuique 4 

plurimum maeroris, in adulationem demissis, lunium Gal- 

lionem, Senecae fratris morte pavidum et pro sua incolumitate 

supplicem, increpuit Salienus Clemens, hostem et parricidam 

vocans, donee consensu patrum deteiritus est, ne publicis 

10 malis abuli ad occasionem privati odii videretur, neu 

composita aut oblitterata mansuetudine principis novam ad 

saevitiam retraheret. 

74. Turn [decreta] dona et grates deis decernuntur 

propriusque honos Soli, cui est vetus aedes apud circum, 

15 in quo facinus parabatur, qui occulta coniurationis numine 

retexisset; utque circensium Cerealium ludicrum pluribus 

equorum cursibus celebraretur mensisque Aprilis Neronis 

cognomentum acciperet ; templum Saluti exstrueretur eo 

loci, ex quo Scaevinus ferrum prompserat. ipse eum 2 

20 pugionem apud Capitolium sacravit inscripsitque lovi 

Vindici : in praesens baud animadversum post arma lulii 

Vindicis ad auspicium et praesagium futurae ultionis trahe- 

batur. reperio in commentariis senatus Cerialem Anicium 3 

consulem designatum pro sententia dixisse, ut templum 

25 divo Neroni quam maturrime publica pecunia poneretur. 

quod quidem ille decernebat tamquam mortale fastigium 4 

egresso et venerationem hominum merito, sed ipse prohibuit, 

ne inlerpretatione quorundam ad omen malum sui exitus 

verteretur : nam deum honor principi non ante habetur 

30 quam agere inter homines desierit.

A.D. 65.] 

LIBER XV. CAP. 73—.YF/. CAP. 3. 

LIBER XVI. 

1. Inlusit dehinc Neroni fortuna per vanitatem ipsius et 

promissa Caeselli Bassi, qui origine Poenus, mente turbida, 

nocturnae quietis imaginem ad spem baud dubiae rei traxit, 

vectusque Romam, principis aditum emercatus, expromit 

repertum in agro suo specum altitudine inmensa, quo magna 5 

vis auri contineretur, non in formam pecuniae, sed rudi et 

2 antique pondere. lateres quippe praegraves iacere, adstan- 

tibus parte alia columnis ; quae per tantum aevi occulta 

3 augendis praesenlibus bonis, ceterum, ut coniectura demon- 

strabat, Dido Phoenissam Tyro profugam condita Carthagine 10 

illas opes abdidisse, ne novus populus nimia pecunia lasciviret, 

aut rages Numidarum, et alias infensi, cupidine auri ad bellum 

accenderentur. 

2. Igitur Nero, non auctoris, non ipsius negotii fide satis 

spectata nee missis, per quos nosceret an vera adferrentur, 15 

auget ultro rumorem mittitque qui velut paratam praedam 

2 adveherent. dantur triremes et delectum remigium iuvandae 

festinationi. nee aliud per illos dies populus credulitate, pru- 

3 dentes diversa fama tulere, ac forte quinquennale ludicrum 

secundo lustro celebrabatur, ab oratoribusque praecipua 20 

4 materia in laudem principis adsumpta est. non enim solitas 

tantum fruges nee confusum metallis aurum gigni, sed nova 

ubertate provenire terram et obvias opes deferre deos, quaeque 

alia summa facundia nee minora adulatione servilia fingebant, 

securi de facilitate credentis. 25 

3. Gliscebat interim luxuria spa inani, consumebanturque 

veteres opes quasi oblalis, quas multos per annos prodigeret. 

quin et inde iam largiebatur ; et divitiarum exspectatio inter 

2 causas paupertatis publicae erat. nam Bassus, efiosso agro


suo latisque circum arvis, dum hunc vel ilium locum promissi 

specus adseverat, sequunturque non modo milites sed populus 

agrestium efficiendo operi adsumptus, tandem posita vae- 

cordia, non falsa antea somnia sua seque tunc primum elusum 

5 admirans, pudorem et metum morte voluntaria effugit. quidam 

vinctum ac mox dimissum tradidere ademptis bonis in 

locum regiae gazae. 

4. Interea senatus, propinquo iam lustrali certamine, ut 

dedecus averteret, offert imperatori victoriam cantus adicitque 

10 facundiae coronam, qua ludicra deformitas velaretur. sed 2 

Nero nihil ambitu nee potestate senatus opus esse dictitans, 

se aequum adversum aemulos et religione iudicum meritam 

laudem adsecuturum, primo carmen in scaena recitat ; mox 

flagitante vulgo ut omnia studia sua publicaret (haec enim 

15 verba dixere) ingreditur theatrum, cunctis citharae legibus 

obtemperans, ne fessus resideret, ne sudorem nisi ea quam 

indutui gerebat veste detergeret, ut nulla oris aut narium 

excrementa viserentur. postremo flexus genu et coetum 3 

ilium manu veneratus sententias iudicum opperiebatur 

30 ficto pavore. et plebs quidem urbis, histrionum quoque 4 

gestus iuvare solita, personabat certis modis plausuque 

composito. crederes laetari, ac fortasse laetabantur per 

incuriam publici flagitii. 

5. Sed qui remotis e municipiis severaque adhuc et 

35 antiqui moris retinente Italia, quique per longinquas pro- 

vincias lascivia inexperti officio legationum aut privata 

utilitate advenerant, neque aspectum ilium tolerare neque 

labori inhonesto sufficere, cum manibus nesciis fatiscerent, 

turbarent gnaros ac saepe a militibus verberarentur, qui 

30 per cuneos stabant, ne quod temporis momentum inpari 

clamore aut silentio segni praeteriret. constitit plerosque 2 

equitum, dum per angustias aditus et ingruentem multi- 

tudijjem enituntur, obtritos, et alios, dum diem noctemque

A.D. 65.] LIBER XVI. CAP. 3-7. 

8 sedilibus continuant, morbo exitiabili correptos. quippe 

gravior inerat metus, si spectaculo defuissent, niultis palam et 

pluribus occultis, ut nomina ac vultus, alacritatem tristitiam- 

4 que coeuntium scrutarentur. unde tenuioribus statim inro- 

gata supplicia, adversum inlustres dissimulatum ad praesens 5 

5 et mox redditum odium, feiebantque Vespasianum, tamquam 

somno coniveret, a Phoebo liberto increpitum aegreque 

meliorum piecibus obtectum, mox inminentem perniciem 

maiore fato effugisse. 

6. Post finem ludicri Poppaea mortem obiit, fortuita mariti 10 

iracundia, a quo gravida iclu calcis adflicta est. neque enim 

venenum crediderim, quamvis quidam scriptores tradant, odio 

magis quam ex fide : quippe liberorum cupiens et amori 

2 uxoris obnoxius erat. corpus non igni abolitum, ut Romanus 

mos, sed regum externorum consuetudine differtum odoribus 15 

3 conditur tumuloque luliorum infertur. ductae tamen publicae 

exsequiae, laudavitque ipse apud rostra formam eius et quod 

divinae infantis parens fuisset aliaque fortunae munera pro 

virtutibus. 

7. Mortem Poppaeae ut palam tristem, ita recordantibus 20 

lactam ob inpudicitiam eius saevitiamque, nova insuper 

invidia Nero complevit prohibendo C. Cassium officio ex- 

2 sequiarum, quod primum indicium mali. neque in longum 

dilatum est, sed Silanus addilur, nullo crimine, nisi quod 

Cassius opibus vetustis et gravitate morum, Silanus claritudine 25 

3 generis et modesta iuventa praecellebant. igitur missa ad 

senatum oratione removendos a re publica utrosque disseruit, 

obiectavitque Cassio quod inter imagines maiorum etiam 

C. Cassi effigiem coluisset, ita inscriptam ' duci partium': 

quippe semina belli civilis et defectionem a domo Caesarum 30 

4 quaesitam, ac ne memoria tantum infensi nominis ad discor- 

dias uteretur, adsumpsisse L. Silanum, iuvenem genere 

nobilem, animo praeruptum, quern novis rebus ostentaret.

CORNELIl TACITI ANNALIUM [a.U.C. 8i8. 

8. Ipsum dehinc Silanum increpuit isdem quibus patruum 

eius Torquatum, tamquam disponeret iam imperii curas prae- 

ficeretque rationibus et libellis et epistulis libertos, inania simul 

et falsa : nam Silanus intentior metu et exitio patrui ad prae- 

6 cavendum exterritus erat. inducti posthac vocabulo indicum, 2 

qui in Lepidam, Cassii uxorem, Silani amitam, incestum cum 

fratris filio et diros sacrorum ritus confingerent. trahebanlur 3 

ut conscii Volcatius Tullinus ac Maicellus Cornelius senatores 

et Calpurnius Fabatus eques Romanus qui appellate principe 

; 

10 instantem damnationem frustrati, mox Neronem circa summa 

scelera distentum quasi minores evasere. 

9. Tunc consulto senatus Cassio et Silano exilia decer- 

nuntur : de Lepida Caesar statueret, deportatusque in insulam 2 

Sardinian! Cassius, et senectus eius exspectabatur. Silanus, 

15 tamquam Naxum deveheretur, Ostiam amotus, post municipio 

Apuliae, cui nomen Barium est, clauditur. illic indignissimum 3 

casum sapienter tolerans a centurione ad caedem misso corri- 

pitur; suadentique venas abrumpere, animum quidem morti 

destinatum ait, sed non remittere percussori gloriam ministerii. 

30 at centurio quamvis inermem, praevalidum tamen et irae quam 4 

timori propiorem cernens premi a militibus iubet. nee omisit 5 

Silanus obniti et intendere ictus, quantum manibus nudis 

valebat, donee a centurione vulneribus adversis tamquam in 

pugna caderet. 

25 10. Haud minus prompte L. Vetus socrusque eius Sextia 

et Pollilta filia necem subiere, invisi principi tamquam vivendo 

exprobrarent interfectum esse Rubellium Plautum, generum 

L. Veteris. sed initium detegendae saevitiae praebuit inter- 2 

versis patroni rebus ad accusandum transgrediens Fortunatus 

30 libertus, adscito Claudio Demiano, quem ob flagitia vinctum 

a Vetere Asiae pro consule exsolvit Nero in praemium 

accusationis. quod ubi cognitum reo, seque et libertum pari 8 

sorte componi, Formianos in agros digreditur. illic eum


4 milites occulta custodia circumdant. aderat filia, super 

ingruens periculum longo dolore atrox, ex quo percussores 

Plauti mariti sui viderat; cruentamque cervicem eius am- 

plexa servabat sanguinem et vestes respersas, vidua inpexa 

luctu continuo nee ullis alimentis nisi quae mortem arcerent. 5 

6 turn hortante patre Neapolim pergit. et quia aditu Neronis 

prohibebatur, egressus obsidens, audiret insontem neve con- 

sulatus sui quondam collegam dederet liberto, modo muliebri 

eiulatu, aliquando sexum egressa voce infensa clamitabat, 

donee princeps inmobilem se precibus et invidiae iuxta 10 

ostendit. 

11. Ergo nuntiat patri abieere spem et uti necessitate : 

simul adfertur parari cognitionem senatus et trucem senten- 

2 tiam. nee defuere qui monerent magna ex parte heredem 

Caesarem nuncupare atque ita nepotibus de reliquo eonsulere. 15 

3 quod aspernatus, ne vilam proxime libertatem actam novis- 

simo servitio foedaret, largitur in servos quantum aderat 

pecuniae ; et si qua asportari possent, sibi quemque deducere, 

4 tris modo lectulos ad suprema retineri iubet. tune eodem in 

cubiculo, eodem ferro abscindunt venas, properique et singulis 20 

vestibus ad verecundiam velati balineis inferuntur, pater filiam, 

avia neptem, ilia utrosque intuens, et certatim precantes labenti 

animae celerem exitum, ut relinquerent suos superstites et 

5 morituros. servavitque ordinem fortuna, ae seniores prius, turn 

6 cui prima aetas extinguuntur. accusati post sepulturam de- 25 

cretumque ut more maiorum punirentur. at Nero intercessit, 

mortem sine arbitro permittens : ea caedibus peractis ludibria 

adiciebantur. 

12. P. Gallus eques Romanus, quod Faenio Rufo intimus 

et Veteri non alienus fuerat. aqua aique igni prohibitus est. 30 

2 liberto et accusatori praemium operae locus in theatro inter 

3 viatores tribunicios datur. et menses qui Aprilem eundemque 

Neroneum sequebantur, Mains Claudii, lunius Germanici


vocabulis mutantur, testificante Cornelio Orfito, qui id 

censuerat, ideo lunium mensem transmissum, quia duo iam 

Torquati ob scelera interfecti infausLum nomen lunium 

fecissent. 

5 13. Tot facinoiibus foedum annum etiam di tempes- 

tatibus et morbis insignivere. vaslata Campania turbine 

ventorum qui villas arbusta fruges passim disiecit pertulitque 

violentiam ad vicina urbi ; in qua omne moitalium genus 

vis pestilentiae depopulabatur, nulla caeli intemperie, quae 

10 occurreret oculis. sed domus corporibus exanimis, itinera 2 

funeribus complebantur ; non sexus, non aetas periculo 

vacua; servitia perinde et ingenua plebes raptim extingui, 

inter coniugum et liberorum lamenta, qui dum adsident, dum 

deflent, saepe eodem rogo cremabantur. equitum senatorum- 3 

15 que interitus, quamvis promisci, minus flebiles erant, tamquam 

communi mortalitate saevitiam principis praevenirent. 

Eodem anno dilectus per Galliam Narbonensem Africam- 4 

que et Asiam habiti sunt supplendis Illyricis legionibus, 

ex quibus aetate aut valetudine fessi sacramento solvebantur. 

20 cladem Lugdunensem quadragiens sestertio solatus est prin- 5 

ceps, ut amissa urbi reponerent ; 

ante obtulerant urbis casibus. 

quam pecuniam Lugdunenses 

14. C. Suetonio Luccio Telesino consulibus Antistius 

Sosianus, factitatis in Neronem carminibus probrosis exilio, 

25 ut dixi, multatus, postquam id honoris indicibus tamque 

promptum ad caedes principem accepit, inquies animo et 

occasionum baud segnis Pammenem, eiusdem loci exulem 

et Chaldaeorum arte famosum eoque multorum amicitiis 

innexum, similitudine fortunae sibi conciliat. ventitare ad 2 

30 eum nuntios et consultationes non frustra ratus, simul 

annuam pecuniam a P. Anteio ministrari cognoscit. neque 3 

nescium habebat Anteium caritate Agrippinae invisum 

Neroni opesque eius praecipuas ad eliciendam cupidinem


4 eamque causam muhis exitio esse, igitur interceptis Antei 

litteris, furatus etiam libellos, quibus dies genitalis eius 

et eventura secretis Pammenis occultabantur, simul repertis 

quae de ortu vitaque Ostorii Scapulae composita erant, scribit 

ad principem magna se et quae incolumitati eius conducerent 5 

adlaturum, si brevem exilii veniam inpetravisset : quippe 

Anteium et Ostorium inminere rebus et sua Caesarisque 

5 fata scrutari. exim missae liburnicae advehiturque propere 

Sosianus. ac vulgato eius indicio inter damnatos magis 

quam inter reos Anteius Ostoriusque habebantur, adeo ut 10 

testamentum Antei nemo obsignaret, nisi Tigellinus auctor 

extitisset, monito prius Anteio ne supremas tabulas moraretur. 

6 atque ille hausto veneno, tarditatem eius perosus intercibis 

venis mortem adproperavit. 

15. Ostorius longinquis in agris apud finem Ligurum id 15 

temporis erat. eo missus centurio, qui caedem eius matu- 

2 raret. causa festinandi ex eo oriebatur, quod Ostorius mulla 

militari fama et civicam coronam apud Britanniam meritus, 

ingenti corporis robore armorumque scientia metum Neroni 

fecerat, ne invaderet pavidum semper et reperta nuper con- 20 

3 iuratione magis exterritum. igitur centurio, ubi effugia villae 

4 clausit, iussa imperatoris Ostorio aperit. is fortitudinem saepe 

adversum hostes spectatam in se vertit : et quia venae quamquam 

interruptae parum sanguinis effundebant, hactenus 

manu servi usus, ut inmotum pugionem extoUeret, adpressit 35 

dexlram eius iuguloque occurrit. 

16. Etiam si bella externa et obitas pro re publlca mortes 

tanta casuum similitudine memorarem, meque ipsum satias 

cepisset aliorumque taedium exspectarem, quamvis honestos 

2 civium exitus, tristes tamen et continuos aspernantium : at 30 

nunc patientia servilis tantumque sanguinis domi perdiium 

fatigant animum et maestitia restringunt. neque aliam 

defensionem ab iis quibus ista noscentur exegerim, quam ne


odeiim tarn segniler percuntcs. ira ilia nuiiiinum in res 3 

Romanas fuit, quam non, ut in cladibus exeicituum aut 

captivitate urbium, semel edilo tiansire licet, detur hoc 4 

inlustrium virorum posteiilali, ut quo modo exsequiis a 

5 promisca sepultuia separantur, ita in tradilione suprcmorum 

accipiant habeantque propriam memoriam. 

17. Paucos quippe intra dies eodem agmine Annaeus Mela, 

Cerialis Anicius, Rufrius Crispinus, C. Petronius cecidere, 

Mela et Crispinus equites Romani dignitate senatoria. nam 2 

10 hie quondam praefectus praetorii et consularibus insignibus 

donatus ac nuper crimine coniuralionis in Sardiniam exactus, 

accepto iussae mortis nuntio semet interfecit. Mela, quibus 3 

Gallio et Seneca parentibus natus, petitione honorum abslinuerat 

per ambitionem praeposteram, ut eques Romanus 

15 consularibus potentia aequaretur ; simul adquirendae pecuniae 

brevius iter credebat per procurationes administrandis prin- 

cipis negotiis. idem Annaeum Lucanum genuerat, grande 4 

adiumentum claritudinis. quo inlerfecto dum rem familiarem 

eius acriter requirit, accusatorem concivit Fabium Romanum, 

20 ex intimis Lucani amicis. mixta inter palrem filiumque con- 5 

iurationis scientia fingitur, adsimilatis Lucani litteris : quas 

inspectas Nero ferri ad eum iussit, opibus eius inhians. at 6 

Mela, quae tum promptissima mortis via, exsolvit venas, 

scriptis codicillis quiLus grandem pecuniam in Tigellinum 

35 generumque eius Cossutianum Capitonem erogabat, quo 

cetera manerent. additur codicillis, tamquam de iniquitate 7 

exitii querens ita scripsisset, se quidem mori nuUis supplicii 

causis, Rufrium autem Crispinum et Anicium Cerialem 

vita frui infensos principi. quae composita credebantur 8 

30 de Crispino, quia interfectus erat, de Ceriale, ut inter- 

ficeretur, neque enim multo post vim sibi attulit, minore 

quam ceteri miseratione, quia proditam Gaio Caesari con- 

iuralionem ab eo meminerant.


18. De C. Petronio pauca supra repetcnda sunt, nam illi 

dies per somnum, nox officiis et oblectamentis vitae transige- 

batur ; utque alios industria, ita hunc ignavia ad famam pro- 

tuleiat, habebaturque non ganeo et profligator, ut plerique sua 

2 hauiientium, sed erudito luxu. ac dicta factaque eius quanlo 5 

solutiora et quandam sui neglegentiam praeferentia, tanto 

3 giatius in speciem simplicitatis accipiebantur. pro consule 

tamen Bithyniae et mo.K consul vigentem se ac parem 

4 negotiis ostendit. dein revolutus ad vitia, seu vitiorum 

imitatione, inter paucos familiarium Neroni adsumptus est, 10 

elegantiae arbiter, dum nihil amoenum et molle adfluentia 

5 putat, nisi quod ei Petronius adprobavisset. unde invidia 

Tigellini quasi adversus aemulum et scientia voluptalum 

potiorem. ergo crudelitatem principis, cui ceterae libidines 

cedebant, adgreditur, amicitiam Scaevini Petronio obieclans, 15 

corrupto ad indicium servo ademptaque defensione et maiore 

parte familiae in vincla rapta. 

19. Forte illis diebus Campaniam petiverat Caesar, et 

Cumas usque progressus Petronius illic attinebatur ; nee tulit 

2 ultra timoris aut spei moras, neque tamen praeceps vitam 20 

expulit, sed incisas venas, ut libitum, obligatas aperire rursum 

et adloqui amicos, non per seria aut quibus gloriam constan- 

3 tiae peteret. audiebatque referentes, nihil de inmortalitate 

animae et sapientium placilis, sed levia carmina et faciles 

4 versus, servorum alios largitione, quosdam verberibus adfecit. 25 

iniit et epulas, somno indulsit, ut quamquam coacta mors 

5 fortuitae similis esset. ne codicillis quidem, quod plerique 

pereuntium, Neronem aut Tigellinum aut quern alium 

potentium adulatus est : sed flagitia principis sub nominibus 

exoletorum feminarumque et novitatem cuiusque stupri per- 30 

scripsit atque obsignata misit Neroni. fregitque anulum, ne 

mox usui esset ad facienda pericula. 

20. Ambigenti Neroni, quonam modo noctium suarum


ingenia notescerent, offertur Silia, matrimonio senatoris baud 

ignota et ipsi ad omnem libidinem adscita ac Petionio 

perquam familiaris. agitiir in exilium, tamquam non siluis- 

set quae viderat peituleratque, propiio odio, at Minucium 3 

6 Thermum praeiura functum Tigellini simultatibus dedit, quia 

libertus Thermi quaedam de Tigellino criminose detulerat, 

quae cruciatibus toimentoium ipse, patronus eius nece in- 

merita lucre. 

21. Trucidatis tot insignibus viiis, ad postremum Nero 

10 virtutem ipsam excindere concupivit interfecto Thrasea Paeto 

et Barea Sorano, olini utrisque infensus, et accedentibus causis 

in Thraseam, quod senatu egressus est, cum de Agrippina 

referretur, ut memoravi, quodque luvenalium ludicro parum 

spectabilem operam praebuerat; eaque ofFensio altius pene- 

15 trabat, quia idem Thrasea Patavi, unde ortus erat, ludis 

+ cetastis a Troiano Antenore institutis habitu tragico cecinerat. 

die quoque, quo praetor Antistius ob probra in Neronem 2 

composita ad mortem damnabatur, mitiora censuit obtinuitque 

et cum deum honores Poppaeae decernuntur, sponte absens, 

20 funeri non interfuerat. quae oblitterari non sinebat Capito 3 

Cossutianus, praeter animum ad flagitia praecipitem iniquus 

Thraseae, quod auctoritate eius concidisset, iuvantis Cilicum 

legatos, dum Capitonem repetundarum interrogant. 

22. Quin et ilia obiectabat, principio anni vitare Thraseam 

25 sollemne ius iurandum ; nuncupationibus votorum non adesse, 

quamvis quindecimvirali sacerdotio praeditum : numquam 

pro salute principis aut caelesd voce immolavisse ; adsiduum 

dim et indefessum, qui vulgaribus quoque patrum consultis 

semet fautorem aut adversarium ostenderet, triennio non 

30 introisse curiam ; nuperrimeque, cum ad coercendos Silanum 

et Veterem certatim concurreretur, privatis potius clientium 

negotiis vacavisse. secessionem iam id et partes et, si idem 2 

multi aiideant, bellum esse. ' ut quondam C. Caesarem 

';


inquit ' et M. Catonem, ita nunc te, Nero, et Thraseam avida 

3 discordiarum civitas loquitur, et habet sectatores vel polius 

satellites, qui nondum contumaciam sententiarum, sed habitum 

vultumque eius sectantur, rigidi et tiistes, quo tibi lasciviam 

4 exprobrent. huic uni incolumitas tua sine cura, artes sine 5 

honore. prosperas principis res spernit : etiamne luctibus et 

5 doloribus non satialur? eiusdem animi est Poppaeam divam 

non credere, cuius in acta divi Augusti et divi luli non iurare. 

6 spernit religiones, abrogat leges, diurna populi Romani per 

provincias, per exercitus curatius leguntur, ut noscatur quid 10 

7 Thvasea non fecerit. aut transeamus ad ilia instituta, si potiora 

sunt, aut nova cupientibus auferatur dux et auctor. ista secta 

Tuberones et Favonios, veteri quoque rei publicae ingrata 

8 nomina, genuit. ut imperium evertant, libertatem praeferunt 

9 si perverterint, libertatem ipsam adgredientur. frustra Cas- 15 

sium amovisti, si gliscere et vigere Brutorum aemulos passurus 

es. denique nihil ipse de Thrasea scripseris : disceptatorem 

10 senatum nobis relinque/ extollit ira promptum Cossutiani 

animum Nero adicitque Marcellum Eprium acri eloquentia. 

23. At Baream Soranum iam sibi Ostorius Sabinus eques 20 

Romanus poposcerat reum ex proconsulatu Asiae, in qua 

oflfensiones principis auxit iuslitia atque industria, et quia 

portui Ephesiorum aperiendo curam insumpserat vimque 

civitatis Pergamenae, prohibentis Acratum Caesaris libertum 

2 statuas et picturas evehere, inultam omiserat. sed crimini 25 

dabatur amicitia Plauti et ambitio conciliandae provinciae ad 

3 spes novas, tempus damnationi delectum, quo Tiridates 

accipiendo Armeniae regno adventabat, ut ad externa rumo- 

ribus intestinum scelus obscurarelur, an ut magnitudinem 

imperatoriam caede insignium virorum quasi regio facinore 30 

ostentaret. 

24. Igitur omni civitate ad excipiendum principem spec- 

tandumque regem eftusa, Thrasea occursu prohibilus non 

:

CORNELII TACITI AKNALIUM [a.U.C. 819. 

demisit animum, sed codicillos ad Neronem composuit, 

requirens obiecta et expurgatuium adseverans, si notitiam 

criminum et copiam diluendi habuisset. eos codicillos Nero 2 

properanter accepit, spe exterritum Thraseam scripsisse 

6 per quae claritudinem principis extolleret suamque famam 

dehonestaret. quod ubi non evenit vultumque et spiritus et 3 

libertatem insonlis uUro extimuit, vocari patres iubet. 

25. Turn Thrasea inter proximos consultavit, temptaretne 

defensionem an sperneret. diversa consilia adferebantur. 

10 quibus intrari curiam placebat, secures esse de constantia 

eius disserunt ; nihil dicturum nisi quo gloriam augeret. 

segnes et pavidos supremis suis secretum circumdare : 2 

aspiceret populus \irum morti obvium, audiret senatus voces 

quasi ex aliquo numine supra humanas : posse ipso miraculo 

15 etiam Neronem permoveri. sin crudelitati insisteret, dis- 3 

tingui certe apud posteros memoriam honesti exitus ab 

ignavia per silentium pereuntium. 

26. Contra qui opperiendum domui censebant, de ipso 

Thrasea eadem, sed ludibria et contumelias imminere 

20 subtraheret aures conviciis et probris. non solum Cossu- 2 

tianum aut Eprium ad scelus promptos: superesse qui 

forsitan manus ictusque per immanitatem ingesturi sint; 

etiam bonos metu sequi. detraheret potius senatui, quem 3 

perornavisset, infamiam tanti flagitii, et relinqueret incertum 

25 quid viso Thrasea reo decreturi patres fuerint. ut Neronem 4 

flagitiorum pudor caperet, inrila spe agitari ; multoque 

magis timendum ne in coniugem, in filiam, in cetera pignora 

eius saeviret. proinde intemeratus, inpollutus, quorum ves- 5 

tigiis et studiis vitam duxerit, eorum gloria peteret finem. 

30 aderat consilio Rusticus Arulenus, flagrans iuvenis, et 6 

cupidine laudis offerebat se interccssurum senatus consu4to 

nam plebei tribunus erat. cohibuit spiritus eius Thrasea, ne 7 

vana et reo non profutura, intercessor! exitiosa inciperet. 

:

A.n. 66.] LIBER XVI. CAP. 24-28. 

sihi actam aetatcin, ct tot per annos continuum vitae ordinem 

non deserendum : illi initium magistratuum et Integra 

8 quae supersint. mullum ante secum expenderet, quod 

tali in tempore capessendae rei publicae iter ingrederetur. 

ceterum ipse, an venire in senatum deceret, meditationi suae 5 

reliquit. 

27. At postera luce duae praetoriae cohortes armatae 

templum Genetricis Veneris insedere. aditum senatus globus 

togatorum obsederat non occultis gladiis, dispersique per fora 

2 ac basilicas cunei militares. inter quorum aspectus et minas 10 

ingressi curiam senatores, et oratio principis per quaestorem 

eius audita est: nemine nominatim compellato patres ar- 

guebat, quod publica munia desererent eorumque exemplo 

3 equites Romani ad segnitiam verterentur : etenim quid 

mirum e longinquis provinciis baud veniri, cum plerique 15 

adepti consulatum et sacerdotia hortorum potius amoenitati 

inservirent. quod velut telum corripuere accusatores. 

28. Et initium faciente Cossutiano, maiore vi Marcellus 

summam rem publicam agi clamitabat ; conlumacia inferiorum 

2 lenitatem imperitantis deminui. nimium mites ad eam 20 

diem patres, qui Thraseam desciscentem, qui generum eius 

Helvidium Priscum in isdem furoribus, simul Paconium 

Agrippinum, paterni in principes odii heredem, et Curtium 

Montanum detestanda carmina factitantem eludere inpune 

3 sinerent. requirere se in senatu consularem, in votis 25 

sacerdotem, in iure iurando civem, nisi contra instituta et 

caerimonias maiorum proditorem palam et hostem Thrasea 

4 induisset. denique agere senatorem et principis obtrectatores 

protegere solitus veniret, censeret quid corrigi aut mutari 

vellet: facilius perlaturos singula increpantis vocem quam 30 

5 nunc silentium perferrent omnia damnantis. pacem illi per 

orbem terrae, an victorias sine damno exercituum displicere ? 

pe hominera bonis publicis maestum, et qui fora theatra


templa pro soliludine haberet, qui minitaretur exilium suura, 

ambitionis pravae compotem facerent. non illi consulta 6 

haec, non magistratus aut Romanam urbem videri. abrum- 

peret vitam ab ea civitate, cuius caiitatem olim, nunc et 

5 aspectum exuisset. 

29. Cum per haec atque talia IMarcellus, ut erat torvus 

ac minax, voce voltu oculis ardesceret, non ilia nota et 

celebritate periculorum sueta iam senatus maestitia, sed 

novus et altior pavor manus et tela militum cernentibus. 

10 simul ipsius Thraseae venerabilis species obversabatur ; et 2 

erant qui Helvidium quoque miserarentur, innoxiae adfinitatis 

poenas dalurum. quid Agrippino obiectum nisi tristem 3 

patris fortunam ? quando et ille perinde innocens Tiberii 

saevitia concidisset. enimvero Montanum probae' iuventae 4 

15 neque famosi carminis, quia protulerit ingenium, extorrem agi. 

30. Atque interim Ostorius Sabinus, Sorani accusator, 

ingreditur orditurque de amicitia Rubellii Plauti, quodque 

proconsulatum Asiae Soranus pro claritate sibi potius adcommodatum 

quam ex utilitate communi egisset, alendo 

20 seditiones civitatium. vetera haec : sed recens et quo 2 

discrimini patris filiam conectebat, quod pecuniam magis 

dilargita esset. acciderat sane pietate Serviliae (id enim 3 

nomen puellae fuit), quae caritaie erga parentem, simul 

inprudenlia aetatis, non tamen aliud consultaverat quam 

35 de incolumitate domus, et an placabilis Nero, an cognitio 

senalus nihil atrox adferret. igitur accita est in senatum, 4 

steteruntque diversi ante tribunal consulum grandis aevo 

parens, contra filia intra vicensimum aetatis annum, nuper 

marilo Annio PoUione in exilium pulso viduala desolataque, 

30 ac ne patrem quidem intuens, cuius onerasse pericula 

videbatur. 

31. Tum interrogante accusatore, an cultus dotales, an 

detractum cervici monile venum dedisset, quo pecuniam

A.D. 66.J LIBER XVI. CAP. 28-33. 

faciendis magicis sacris contraheret, primum strata humi 

longoque fletu et silentio, post altaria et aram complexa 

'nullos' inquit 'impios deos, nullas devotiones, nee aliud 

infelicibus precibus invocavi, quam ut hunc optimum patiem 

5 tu, Caesar, vos, patres, servarelis incolumem. sic gemmas 2 

et vestes et dignitatis insignia dedi, quo modo si sanguinem 

et vitam poposcissent. viderint isti, antehac mihi ignoti, quo 3 

nomine sint, quas artes exerceant : nulla mihi principis 

mentio nisi inter numina fuit. nescit tamen miserrimus 

10 pater et, si crimen est, sola deliqui/ 

32. Loquentis adhuc verba excipit Soranus proclamatque 

non illam in provinciam secum profectam, non Plauto per 

aetatem nosci potuisse, non criminibus mariti conexam 

nimiae tantum pietatis ream separarent, atque ipse quam- 

15 cumque sortem subiret. simul in amplexus occurrentis filiae 2 

ruebat, nisi interiecti lictores utrisque obstitissent. mox 

datus testibus locus ; et quantum niisericordiae saevitia accu- 

salionis permoverat, tantum irae P. Egnatius testis concivit. 

cliens hie Sorani, et tunc emptus ad opprimendum amicum, 3 

JO auctoritatem Stoicae sectae praeferebat, habitu et ore ad 

exprimendam imaginem honesti exercitus, eeterum animo 

perfidiosus, subdolus, avaritiam ac libidinem occultans ; 

: 

quae 

postquam pecunia reclusa sunt, dedit exemplum praecavendi, 

quo modo fraudibus involutos aut flagitiis commaculatos, 

25 sic specie bonarum arlium falsos et amicitiae fallaces. 

33. Idem tamen dies et honestum exemplum tulit Cassii 

Asclepiodoti, qui magniludine opum praecipuus inter Bithy- 

nos, quo obsequio florentem Soranum celebraverat, labentem 

non deseruit, exutusque omnibus fortunis et in exilium actus, 

30 aequitate deum erga bona malaque documenta. Thraseae 2 

Soranoque et Serviliae dalur mortis arbitrium. Helvidius et 3 

Paconius Italia depelluntur. Montanus patri concessus est, 4 

praedicto ne in re publica haberetur. accusatoribus Eprio 

L

CORNELII TACITI ANNALIUM LIBER XVI. 

et Cossutiano quinquagiens sestertium singulis, Ostorio 

duodeciens et quaestoria insignia tribuuntur. 

34. Turn ad Thiaseam in hortis agentem quaestor consulis 

missus vesperascente iam die. inlustrium virorum femina- 2 

6 runique coetum frequentem egerat, maxime intentus Demetrio 

Cynicae institutionis doctori, cum quo, ut coniectare erat 

intentione vultus et auditis, si qua clarius proloquebantur, de 

natura animae et dissociatione spiritus corporisque inquirebat, 

donee advenit Domitius Caecilianus ex intimis amicis et ei 

10 quid senatus censuisset exposuit. igitur flentes queritantesque 3 

' qui aderant ' facessere propere Thrasea neu pericula sua 

miscere cum sorte damnati hortatur, Arriamque temptantem 

mariti suprema et exemplum Arriae matris sequi monet 

retinere vilam filiaeque communi subsidium unicum non 

15 adimere. 

35. Turn progressus in porlicum illic a quaestore repe- 

ritur, laetitiae propior, quia Helvidium generum suum Italia 

tantum arceri cognoverat. accepto dehinc senatus consulto 2 

Helvidium et Demetrium in cubiculum inducit ; porrectisque 

2o utriusque brachii venis, postquam cruorem effudit, humum 

super spargens, proprius vocato quaestore ' libamus ' inquit 

' lovi liberatori. specta, iuvenis ; et omen quidem di pro- 3 

hibeant, ceterum in ea tempora natus es, quibus firmare 

animum expediat constantibus exemplis.' post Ipntitudine 

35 exitus graves cruciatus adferente, obversis in Demetrium * * *

APPENDIX TO BOOK XVI 

SUMMARY OF THE PRINCIPAL EVENTS BETWEEN 

THE END OF BOOK XVI AND THE DEATH OF NERO. 

A. D. 66. Tiridates arrived in Rome and did homage to Nero 

for his kingdom, obtaining leave to rebuild Artaxata on his return. 

In Judaea, the oppressive government of the procurator Gessius 

Florus provoked rebellion. The Upper City and the castle Antonia 

in Jerusalem were taken by the insurgents, and the Roman garrison 

massacred. Cestius Callus, legatus of Syria, made an unsuccessful 

attempt to recover the city, and on his retreat was defeated 

with the loss of 6,000 men. The rebellion then spread over the 

whole of Judaea, Galilee, Samaria, Peraea, and Idumaea. Vespasian 

was then appointed as 'legatus Augusti propraetore ' in 

Palestine, with a force of three legions and their complement of 

auxiliaries, and Syria with its usual garrison of four legions was 

given to C. Licinius Mucianus. 

Before the close of the year Nero set out for Greece, leaving the 

freedman Helius, assisted by Polycleitus, with absolute power in 

Rome and Italy. 

A. D. 67. Galilee and the North of Palestine were recovered by 

Vespasian, who was assisted by his son Titus. 

In Greece, Nero altered the calendar so as to make all the chief 

games fall within that year, and competed in various contests in 

all of them. He pillaged statues and works of art from cities and 

temples, and put many wealthy Greeks to death to get their 

property. Corbulo was summoned from the East, and then ordered 

to despatch himself: the brothers Scribonius Rufus and Scribonius 

Proculus, governors of the German provinces, were sent for and 

executed without any fair trial : and similar executions were perpetrated 

by Helius in Italy. 

In return for his entertainment there, Nero declared Greece free, 

and gave to the Senate the province of Sardinia in compensation. 

A. D. 68. Vespasian effected the recovery of Gadara, Peraea, 

Idumaea, and Samaria successively, and was preparing for the 

siege of Jerusalem, when the death of Nero was reported, and in 

the resulting confusion active operations had to be suspended for 

a year and a half. 

Nero returned early this year to Rome, which he entered after 

the fashion of a victorious Greek athlete, publicly displaying 1808 

crowns of victory ! Then, 

while visiting Naples, he heard that 

Julius Vindex, legatus of Gallia Lugdunensis, had taken up arms 

against him, supported by the richest and most central tribes of 

I

APPENDIX TO BOOK XVI 

Gaul, the Arverni, Aedui, and Sequani, and was offering the principate 

to Galba, legatus of Hispania Tarraconensis. Galba had but 

one legion, and Vindex's ioo,coo men were not Roman citizens 

much therefore depended on the action of the legions of Germany. 

Verginius Rufus, legatus of the Upper Province, marched on 

Vesontio and there held a conference with Vindex. Through some 

misunderstanding, Verginius' men attacked the army of Vindex, 

killing 20,000 and dispersing the rest, on which Vindex slew himself. 

Verginius returned to his province, and refused to allow 

either himself or anyone else to be proclaimed emperor, except by 

nomination of senate and people. 

At Rome, Nero's half-hearted and feeble attempts to cope with 

the reported insurrection were frustrated by the action of Nymphidius 

Sabinus, Tigellinus' colleague in the command of the praetorians. 

He persuaded them by a promise of 30,000 sesterces per 

man in Galba's name, and by a story that Nero had fled to Egypt, 

to give their support to Galba. 

Nero found himself deserted by his body-guard, and fled to a villa 

of one of his freedmen, distant about four miles from Rome. The 

senate, emboldened by the decision of the praetorians in favour of 

Galba, proclaimed the latter emperor, and sentenced Nero to death, 

'more maiorum'.' 

To avoid capture by the soldiers sent to take him, Nero committed 

suicide, June 9. 

' For the meaning of this sentence, cf. note on xiv 48, 4. 

;

NOTES 

ANNALS. BOOK XIII 

Ch. 1-5. Commencement of the rule of Nero (Oct. 13— Dec. 31, 

A.D. 54). 

I. Junius Silanus poisoned at the instigation of Agrippina : Narcissus 

forced to commit suicide. 2. Burrus and Seneca combine 

to prevent further murders and to counteract Agrippina and 

Pallas. 3. Funeral oration composed by Seneca for Nero : contrast 

in this respect between him and previous emperors. 4. Nero 

announces to the senate his future policy. 5. Decrees passed in 

spite of the opposition of Agrippina : her arrogance described. 

Ch. 6-9. Outbreak of hostilities with Parthia on account of 

Armenia. 

6. News of occupation of Armenia by the Parthians : opinion at 

Rome respecting Nero's capacity to conduct war. 7, 8. Troops 

raised in the East : retreat of the Parthians, and rejoicings at 

Rome : 

Domitius Corbulo appointed to the command. 9. Host- 

ages given by Vologeses : jealousies between Corbulo and Ummidius, 

legatus of Syria. 

Ch. 10. Minor events at the end of the year. 

A. U. C. 808, A. D. 55. Claudius Were Caesar Augustus, 

li. Antistius Vetus, coas. 

Ch. 11-24. Events at Rome. 

II. Instances of modesty and lenity in Nero. 12. His mother's 

influence weakened through his passion for Acte. 13. Agrippina 

changes her tactics : her disdain of Nero's presents. 14. Removal 

of Pallas from office : Agrippina takes up the cause of Britannicus. 

15-17. Britannicus poisoned by the agency of Julius Pollio and 

Locusta : his hurried funeral : feeling of the people and edict of 

Nero. 18. Nero rewards his friends, withdraws his mother's 

bodyguard, and removes her to another house; 19-22. Charge 

of treason preferred against Agrippina through the means of 

Junia Silana frustrated by her bold reply : the accusers punished. 

23. Burrus and Pallas accused and acquitted. 24. Removal of 

the guard from the theatres. 

A. U. C. 8.09, A. D. 56. Q. Volusius Saturninus, P. Cornelius 

Scipio, C033. 


25. Nero's nocturnal riots : Montanus 

compelled to suicide : 

pantomimists expelled, and guards brought back to the theatres. 

26,27. Discussion on the misconduct of freedmen to their patrons. 

28. Censure of a tribune, and restrictions imposed on tribunes 

3

TACITUS ANNALS: NOTES 

and aediles generally. 29. Changes in the management of the 

public treasury : praefects of praetorian rank appointed. 30. 

Charges against certain persons : death of Caninius Rebilus and 

L. Volusius. 

A. U. C. 810, A. D. 57. Nero Caesar II, L. Calpurnius 

Piao, coss. 


31. Amphitheatre erected : 'congiarium' distributed: financial 

measures : provincial governors forbidden to give shows. 32. 

Enactment for protection against slaves : Pomponia Graecina 

tried by her husband, Plautius Silvanus, for superstition. 33. 

Impeachment of Celer, Capito, Eprius Marcellus. 

A. U. C. 811, A. D. 58. nSTero Caesar III, M. Valerius 

Messalla Corvinus, coss. 

Ch. 34. Liberality of Nero to his colleague, a descendant of the 

great Corvinus, and to other impoverished nobles. 

Ch. 35-41. Affairs in the East. 

35, 36. Severe measures of Corbulo to introduce and maintain 

discipline : defeat of Paccius Orfitus. 37, 38. Tiridutes harasses 

Armenia and attempts negotiation with Corbulo : 

a conference 

proposed but frustrated by suspicion of treachery. 39. Volandum 

and two other forts stormed by Corbulo. 40, 41. Tiridates attempts 

in vain to delay the advance of Corbulo on Artaxata 

which surrenders to him and is burnt ; extravagant honours 

decreed at Rome. 

Ch. 42-52. Events in Rome. 

42, 43. Suillius is accused, attacks Seneca, and is condemned. 

44. Crime of Octavius Sagitta. 45, 46. Attachment of Nero to 

Poppaea Sabina, whose character is described : her husband 

Otho removed to Lusitania. 47. Cornelius Sulla incurs Nero's 

displeasure, and is banished to Massilia. 48. Riots at Puteoli 

punished. 49. Paetus Thrasea blamed for speaking in the senate 

on a very trifling matter. 50, 51. Complaint made of the extortions 

of the publicani : bold proposal of Nero : measures taken. 52. 

Sulpicius Camerinus and Pompeius Silvanus tried and acquitted. 

Ch. 53-57. Events in Germany. 

53. Dam of Drusus completed: canal from the Saone to the 

Moselle projected. 54. The Frisii take possession of waste lands : 

conduct of their embassy in Rome. 55, 56. After their expulsion 

the same lands are invaded by the Ampsivarii ; who treat with 

the legatus through their chief Boiocalus, but are deserted by the 

other Germans and finally annihilated. 57. Conflict between the 

Hermunduri and Chatti for the possession of a salt spring. Destructive 

fires break out on the land of the Ubii. 

Ch. 58. Ominous withering and subsequent recovery of the ' Ficus 

Ruminalis.' 

4 

;

BOOK XIII, 1, §§ 1-4 

Ch. 1, § T. lunii Silani : =!\r. Junius Silanus, grandson of 

Julia the i; rand-daughter of Augustus. 

non quia . . . inritaverat : the indicative in such sentences is 

more generally used only when what is stated is indeed a fact, but 

is denied to have produced the given result. Here it is implied 

that the fact is otherwise : so also xv 6o, 3. 

dommationibus aliis, ' an object of contempt to previous rulers.' 

The abstr. subst. used for concrete ; so ch. 2, 2 ' imperatoria 

iuventa ' 

; ch. 42, 8 'subitae felicitati.' See Intr. II i. 

pecudem aureara, ' a golden sheep,' wealthy but stupid. For 

' pecus ' cf. 'vervecum in patria' ( = 'in the native land of block- 

heads'), Juv. X 50. 

§ 2. Ii. Silano : he was betrothed by Claudius to his daughter 

Octavia, but Agrippina wished the latter to marry Nero, and brought 

false accusations against him, which led to his expulsion from the 

Senate and loss of his praetorship, 48 A. D. In 49 A. D., on 

Agrippina's marriage with Claudius, he committed suicide {Ann, 

xii chs. 3, 4, 8). 

crebra vulgi fama, 'there being widespread talk among the 

people.' See Intr. II 22. 

vixdum . . . egresso : Nero was two months short of seventeen 

years of age. 

aetate composita, ' a man of ripe age.' He was forty. 

quod tunc spectaretur, ' the sort of thing then regarded as a 

qualification.' 

Tacitus is writing in Trajan's reign, about fifty years after the accession 

of Nero, who was the last emperor descended from Augustus. 

§ 3. P. Celer : mentioned again in ch.33 as saved by Nero from 

the punishment he deserved for his extortion in Asia. 

Helius : left in charge of Rome and Italy during Nero's tour in 

Greece, from the end of 66 to beginning of 68 A. D. He was 

subsequently put to death by C.alba. 

rei familiari . . . inpositi, ' stewards of the imperial estates in 

Asia.' Asia was a senatorial province, governed by a proconsul, but 

the emperor owned property there managed by his own agents 

{' procuratores 'j. Profits from these estates went to his private purse 

(• fiscus '). In Ann. iv 15, Tiberius has \\\s procurator punished 

by the senate for encroaching on the proconsul's powers. Under 

Claudius, the powers of the procuratores in the provinces were 

materially extended {Ann. xii 60). 

apertius, &c., 'too openly to escape the victim's notice.' 

§4. rettuli: Ann. xii chs. 57, 65. She charged him with 

making illicit gains over the contract for connecting the river Liris 

and Lacus Fucinus, 52 A.D., and Narcissus opposed her machinations 

for the murder of Nero's aunt Lepida, 54 a. d. 

necessitate extrema, 'the most rigorous compulsion,' i.e. by 

the threat of imminent execution. 

cuius, &c., 'to whose vicious character, as yet repressed, his 

rapacity and prodigality made him remarkably congenial.' 

5

TACITUS ANNALS : NOTES 

avaritiam, ' greed in acquiring,' a quality not inconsistent with 

spendthrift habits. 

Ch. 2, § I. ibatur : sc. ' ab Agrippina.' 

Such a past indie, tense in apodosis, with a subjunct. in protasis, 

vividly marks the act as nearly fulfilled, but just prevented by the 

circumstance stated in the negatived protasis. Cf. ' labebar longius 

nisi me retinuissem,' Cic. Le^^. i. 19. See Intr. II 38. 

Afranius Burriis was promoted to the sole command of the 

praetorian cohorts, which previously had been under two commanders, 

at Agrippina's recommendation, in 51 A. D., and he held 

this appointment till his death (xiv 51, i). Of his previous 

service nothing is known (the loss or mutilation of a hand is referred 

to xiii 14, s); but he must have been of equestrian rank, 

and is called ' egregiae militaris famae ' in xii 42, 2, 

L. Annaeus Seneca was born 4 A. D. at Corduba in Spain, 

whence his father M. Seneca the rhetorician migrated to Rome 

and rose to the rank of knight. The young Seneca had attained 

the quaestorship, and become the leading senatorial pleader by 

the time of Gains ; in the first year of Claudius' reign he was 

relegated to Corsica owing to Messalina's dislike ; in 49 A. D. he 

was recalled through Agrippina's influence, made praetor, and 

instructor of Nero ; and, with Burrus, was the young emperor's 

chief adviser and confidant. On Burrus' death, Seneca retired 

(xiv 52-56), and was subsequently forced to commit suicide for 

alleged participation in Piso's conspiracy (xv 60-65). 

His chief works were ethical treatises, such as the De Ira and 

De Beneficiis physical speculations, Qteaesiwnes Natiirales ; ; 

'epistles' on ethical subjects, addressed to Lucilius ; nine tragedies 

on subjects taken from the Greek ; and a satire on the deification 

of Claudius, the ' apocolocyntosis,' relating how the deceased 

emperor was refused admittance to Olympus, and condemned to 

be not a god but a pumpkin (KoKoKvvTr)), or, according to another 

version, to play for ever with a bottomless dice-box. 

§ 2. iuventae: cf. ' dominationibus,' ch. i. 

rarum: parenthetical. See Intr. II 59. 

in societate potentiae, ' in a case where power is shared.* 

ex aequo, ' equally ' (f^ (.Vov). 

militaribus, &.Z., ' in virtue of his soldierly profession and the 

uprightness of his character.' 

praeceptis, &c., ' through his lessons in eloquence and dignified 

affability.' (C.) 

lubricam, ' unsteady,' ' dangerous.' 

concessis, ' such as public opinion allowed,' that did not cause 

grave scandal. Cf. xiv 21, 5. 

retinerent, ' that they might keep under control.' 

§ 3. ferociam, ' imperiousness.' 

in partibus, ' on her side.' So also/arA.f in ch. 18, 3. 

incestiB : because Agrippina was Claudius' niece. 

exitiosa : Claudius' adoption of Nero ended in his own de- 

6

BOOK XIII. Cn. 1, §4— CH. 3, §§ 1-4 

struction because Agiippina poisoned hfm to secure her own son's 

accession in place of Britannicus. 

§ 4. infra, ' submissive to.' 

tristi adrogintia, ' by his sour arrogance.' Cf. ch. 23, 3. 

taedium sui moverat, 'had rendered himself disliked.' 

§ 5. signum, ' the watchword,' given by the emperor 

ofificer commanding the cohort on guard at the palace. 

to the 

optimae matris : gen. of definition, so. 'signum.' 

§ 6. fiamonium Claudiale. In the same way when Augustus 

was deified after death, Livia was made 'flaminica Augusti.' 

simul, 'at the same sitting.' 

censorium : not 'the funeral of a censor,' but 'a funeral at 

public expense.' Under the Republic, the censors made the financial 

arrangements for state spectacles, and though with the establishment 

of the Principate the censorship as a separate magistracy 

disappeared, the adjective 'censorium' is still applied to a funeral 

given at the public expense. 

mox, ' shortly afterwards.' The funeral intervened between the 

preliminary arrangements drawn up for his 'cultus' as a god and 

the final ceremony of his apotheosis. 

Ch. 3, § I. antiquitatem : according to tradition, the 'gens Claudia' 

was derived from the Sabine Attus Clausus, who migrated with 

his followers from Regillus to Rome, 504 B.C. (Livy, ii 16). Vergil 

follows a version making them some of the original ' Ouirites ' from 

Cures {Ae/!. vii 706). 

consulatus, &c.: Suet, says that the 'gens Claudia ' had produced 

28 consuls, 5 dictators, 7 censors, and won 7 triumphs and 2 ovations 

intentus, 'serious.' 

liberalium artium, ' literary accomplishments.' Among Claudius' 

works were an autobiography and a general history from the 

close of the civil wars, of which two books were composed in his 

youth at the suggestion of Livy. 

nihil . . . triste, 

His writings are not extant. 

' no disaster.' 

pronis animis audita, ' met a favourable hearing.' 

§ 2. cultus, ' polish.' 

amoenum, &c., ' attractive, and suited to the taste of that 

time ' ; said disparagingly. 

§ 3. quibus otiosum, &c., ' whom it amuses to compare past 

and present.' 

§ 4. summis oratoribus aemulus : Cicero makes Atticus say 

of Julius Caesar, 'omnium fereoratorum Latine loqui elegantissime' 

(Brut. 72, 252), and, in a letter to Cornelius Nepos, quoted by 

Suet. {Jul. 56), Cicero himself says that Caesar, in spite of his 

varied activities, surpassed those who devoted their whole time to 

oratory (' oratorum quern huic antepones eorum qui nihil aliud 

egerunt ? '). Ouintilian admires his vigour and elegance, but says 

he had not the leisure to cultivate his talent to its highest capacity. 

prompta, &c., 'ready and fluent,' but avoiding unnecessary 

adornment as unworthy of his position. 

7


§ 5. artem, &c., 'was proficient in the art of weighing out his 

words' (so as to say nothing that could compromise him), 'being 

besides (turn) full of vigour in the matter of his speech, or, if 

obscure, designedly so.' Tacitus' criticism in Attn, i li, is hardly 

consistent with this : there he says, ' Tiberioque etiam in rebus 

quas non occuleret, seu natura sive adsuetudine, suspensa (' hesitating 

') semper et obscura verba.' 

§ 6. turbata mens, ' disordered intellect.' 

quotiens: with subjunctive of repetition. See Intr. II 41. 

meditata, 'a prepared speech.' 

requireres, ' would you miss literary skill.' Suet, criticizes 

a work of his as composed ' magis inepte quam ineleganter.' 

§ 7. vividum animum, ' vivacious intelligence.' 

caelare, &.C., substantival infinitives, in appos. to 'alia.' 

aliquando, ' at times.' Later on poetical composition became 

his ruling passion: An?t. xiv 16, I. 

Ch, 4, § I. patrum, his salutation as 'imperator' by the 

soldiers had preceded the recognition of his succession by the 

' senate ; here, however, in addressing the patres,' he pays them 

the compliment of mentioning them first. 

consilia, ' spoke of the advice and example he had for excellent 

' government.' Consilia,' that of Seneca and Burrus : exempla, 

that of Augustus. 

neque iuventam, ' his youth had not been steeped in civil 

wars ' (like that of Augustus) ' nor in family enmities ' (as was the 

case with Tiberius, Gaius, and Claudius). 

iniurias, ' injuries received.' 

adferre, ' was bringing to the throne.' 

§2. formam, 'sketched out the lines which his rule should 

follow.' He proposed to follow Augustus' policy. Cf. Suet, 'ex 

Augusti praescripto imperaturum se professus.' 

invidia: nominative. 

non enim, &c. : referring to the private trials so prevalent under 

Claudius, which appear to have taken cognisance of all kinds 

of charges. As to Nero's promise, see Intr. Ill 24 ; and for trials 

before Nero's private court, cf. ch. 23, 4; xiv 62, 6; xv 58, 3 and 

note on XV 73, I. 

venale : such as the traffic in the ' civitas ' and other privileges, 

carried on by Messalina and the freedmen. 

discretam, ' the affairs of his household and of the state should 

be kept strictly separate.' 

§ 3. antiqua munia : see Intr. Ill 8. 

conaulum : i. e. deputations from the senatorial (here called 

' publicae'j provinces and from Italy would apply to the consuls in 

their judgement-seats in the comitium to be granted a hearing 

before the senate. Cf. ch. 48. 

mandatia exercitibus, ' the armies entrusted to him.' This 

phrase also implies the emperor's supervision of the non-senatorial 

pro\ inces. 

8

BOOK XIII. CH. 3, § 5 - CH. 6, §§ 1-4 

Ch. 5, § I. arbitvio senatus. Under the Empire, legislation 

was cfiectcd by the emperor's edicts, or by decrees of the senate. 

The coinitia had lost legislative powers, retaining only a few 

ceremonial functions; Intr. Ill 7. 

ne qiiis ad causam, &c. : advocates were forbidden to take fees 

by the lex Cuuia, carried by the tribune M. Cincius Alimentus, in 

B.C. 204. The law fell into disuse, but Augustus revived it, B.C. 17, 

making the penalty for violating it a fine of four times the amount 

taken. In A. D. 47, Claudius limited the fee legally permissible to 

10,000 sesterces, about ^83 : disobedience involved the penalties of 

extortion (' repetundae ' 

), Atui. xi 7, 8. Pliny, writing under Trajan, 

mentions that it was customary for the parties in a lawsuit to swear 

that they had entered into no undertaking to pay their advocates, 

but after the trial they might make a present to the extent of 10,000 

sesterces ('pecuniam dumtaxat decem milium,' Ep. v 9, 4); however, 

what he says makes it evident that the restriction was usually 

evaded, and that the enforcement of the legal limit on the occasion 

he mentions was so unexpected as to cause surprise and consternation. 

(Evasion was possible through the fiction that the fee was 

a free gift. Cf. ch. 42, 5.) 

§ 2. Palatium : the library of Apollo on the Palatine. 

ob id : pointing forward to ' ut,' ' .' 

with the object that she might . . 

additis : i. e. a new door made at the back of the room behind 

Nero's seat. Other readings are ' abditis ' and ' obditis.' 

§ 3. Armenioi-um : 

probably a deputation in connexion with 

the events mentioned in the next chapter. 

escendere suggestum : such an act would be an assertion of 

the regency to which she aspired and which in fact she at first 

partially exercised. 

parabat, nisi . . . admonuisset : for the moods, cf, ch. ii 

' Ibatur, nisi . . . obviam issent.' 

ita, &c., ' thus by a pretext of filial attention a scandal was 

prevented.' 

Ch. 6, § I. Armeniam: this kingdom was in possession of 

Tiridates, brother of the Parthian king Vologeses. Rhadamistus 

had murdered the preceding king, Mithridates, who had reigned 

under the suzerainty of Rome : he usurped the throne but could 

not hold it against the Parthians, especially as he was detested by 

the Armenians themselves. See Intr. V i. 

saepe : an exaggeration. The thing had happened twice. 

§ 2. vix septemdeeim annos egressus : at his accession Nero 

was two months short of seventeen years of age. This Eastern 

crisis occurred shortly after his seventeenth birthday. 

suscipere, &c., 'bear or stave off such a crisis.' 

magistros, 'his tutors,' i.e. Eurrus and Seneca. 

§ 3. invalidus, ' incapacitated by age and indolence.' 

obtemperaturus, ' bound to be swayed by.' 

§ 4. multarum . . . cognitos, ' were known as men of manifold 

experience.' P'or this construction, see Intr. II 20. 

9


quantum. Szc, 'robur,' ripe or mature age. ' How far was the 

emperor too young (for the task), seeing .' 

that . . 

octavo deeumo: Pompeius was born B.C. lo6, and served under 

his father in civil war in 87. His first independent command was 

in 84 B. c, when he led a force against the Marians. 

Octavianus : 

Caesar's murder. 

he was nineteen in 44 B. C, the year of Julius 

civilia bella sustinuerint : Pompeius and Octavianus had 

coped with the difficulties of civil war when mere youths ; Nero 

might well be considered old enough to deal with the lighter task 

of a foreign war. 

§ 5. auspicia: a general ' took auspices,' i.e. consulted the omens 

at a sacrifice, before leaving Rome to take up his command. 

'Auspices' therefore metaphorically denote the inception and 

authorization of any undertaking. See Intr. Ill § 2. 

pleraque , . . geri : this defies literal translation. ' In his 

exalted position, the management of war was rather a matter of 

initiation and advice than of actual service in the field.' 

§ 6. honeatis an secus, ' honourable or otherwise,' the adv. being 

CO ordinated with the adj. Cf. Intr. II 49. 

amota invidia, 'setting jealousy aside' (either in himself or in 

his advisers). 

pecuniosum, ' some moneyed man who owed his promotion to 

favour and intrigue.' (' Ambitus,' = canvassing votes, hence ' undue 

influence,' ' intrigue ' 

: cf. ch. 52, 3). 

Ch. 7, § I. iuventutem : provincials of military age possessing 

the citizenship. 

quaesitam = conquisitam [cf. Intr. II 28]. 

ing officer.' 

Coiiquisitor, 'recruit- 

supplendis : 

Agrippam : 

Dative of Purpose. 

Herod 

Agrippa II, son of Herod Agrippa I, king of 

Judaea, whose execution of St. James, imprisonment of St. Peter, 

and death are described in Acts xii. Agrippa II interviewed 

St. Paul at Caesarea in company with Festus, Acts xxv-xxvi. He 

had received the kingdom of Chalcis in Coele Syria from Claudius 

in 48 A. D., and four years later was transferred with the title of 

king to the tetrarchies of Philip and Lysanias, to which Nero added 

part of Galilee, 54 A. D. He joined Vespasian {Hist, ii 81) and 

aided the Romans in the Jewish war, after which he lived at Rome 

till his death in the time of Trajan. 

Antiochum : restored to the kingdom of Commagene, which 

in 18 A. D. had been made a province (Ann. ii 56), by Gaius, who 

added a part of Cilicia to his dominions. Pie was afterwards 

deposed by him, but was restored by Claudius, and rendered assistance 

to Corbulo in his Parthian and Armenian operations, and 

later on to Vespasian in the civil war and against the Jews. He 

was deposed in 72 A.D., his kingdom becoming a province, and 

ended his life at Rome. 

ultro intrarent, ' take the initiative by invading.' 

10

' 

BOOK XIII. CH. 6, § 4 — CH. 8, §§ 1-4 

§ 2. Aristobulus was son of the Herod Agrippa named in this 

chapter. He received Coele Syria on his father's promotion and 

was the last vassal king of Lesser Armenia, which became a province 

under Vespasian. 

Sophene was taken by Pompeius from Tigranes and thenceforward 

under Roman influence. Later on it was governed with 

Cappadocia. 

Sohaemus supported Vespasian {Hist, ii 81), and took part 

in the Jewish war {ib. v i). 

in tempore, ' opportunely.' 

Vologesi : dat. after ' aemulus.' For the forms of Oriental names 

' 

in Tacitus cf. Intr. H 62. 

Ch. 8, § I. in maius, 'with exaggeration.' 

vestem triumphalem : a purple tunic embroidered with golden 

palm-shoots (palmata), and a purple toga decorated with golden 

stars (toga picta), after the pattern of the dress of the Capitoline 

Jupiter. Under the Empire triumphs were not celebrated, but 

successful generals received triumphalia ornamenta, i. e. the right 

of wearing triumphal dress on public occasions. 

praetei' suetam, &c., ' adding to their usual flattery a real delight 

. 

that . . 

Corbulo was sent by Claudius as legatus to Lower Germany in 

47 A. D. He repressed the Frisii and was successfully dealing with 

a rebellion of the Chauci when he was recalled, out of jealousy, 

according to Tacitus {Afi/i. xi 18-201. He was now (54 A. D.) 

sent out as consular legatus of Cappadocia, with power overGalatia 

as well : in 60 A. D. he became legatus of Syria, and in 63 A. D. 

received general military command over Syria and the adjacent 

provinces and vassal kingdoms, an ' imperium maius ' compared to 

that given to Pompeius against the pirates (Ann. xv 25, 6). He was 

recalled from the East in 67 A. D., when Nero was visiting Greece, 

and compelled to commit suicide. 

retinendae : the term implies that Armenia was permanently in 

the position of a kingdom under the suzerainty of Rome. Dative 

of Purpose, so also in xv 25, 3.) 

§ 2. Ummidius succeeded C. Cassius about 51 A. D. as legatus 

of Syria, where he remained till his death in 60 A. D. {Ann. xiv 26), 

when Corbulo succeeded him. 

cohortibus alisque : allied infantry and cavalry. Cf. 35, 4. 

§ 3. socii reges. Sec, ' the allied kings were ordered to obey 

(either commander) according to the requirements of the war.' 

promptiora, &c., 'they gave a readier support to Corbulo.' 

§ 4. instaret: this word is lacking in Med., but another MS. 

reads ' inserviret,' probably a gloss for the more Tacitean ' instaret.' 

Aegeae was a free town on the gulf of Issus in Cilicia, outside 

Ummidius' province. 

corpore, &c., 'a man of gigantic stature, of grandiloquent speech, 

and, besides his experience and ability, impressive through the 

prestige of mere externals.' 

II


Ch. 9, § I. ceterum : this conjunction is employed to contrast 

their present joint action with their subsequent differences. 

solitam prioribus : sc. ' rcgibus,' such as I-'hraates, who reigned 

from T)~i B. c. to 2 B.C. and did homage to Augustus {Ann. ii i). 

§ 2. ex commode, ' as might suit him best.' 

Arsacidarum : the descendants of Arsaces, who had broken off 

from the Syrian monarchy of the Seleucidae, and made Parthia 

a separate kingdom about 250 B. c. 

§ 3. Insteius : probably the ' praefectus castrorum ' to Corbulo 

mentioned in ch. 39, 2. 

forte prior, ' happening to be first on the spot, visiting the king 

on that business,' probably as one of the ' nuntii ' of § i. 

Arrius Varus was subsequently a distinguished officer of Vespa- 

sian's. 

§ 5. recentem : Med. has no preposition preceding this word. 

Some editors insert ' ob ' instead of ' per,' and others read ' recentem 

gloria' (abl.), ' fresh from his renown.' 

§ 6. praerepta, &c., ' he had been robbed (of the credit) of a 

result due to his own advice.' 

diix delectus, &c., ' till his own appointment as general had 

changed his hopes to fear.' 

§ 7. fascibUB : the ' fasces ' of the twelve lictors assigned to the 

emperor were to be decorated with laurel wreaths in honour of the 

success of his 'legati.' Both were named that they might have 

equal credit. 

in alios consules: i.e. into the year 55 a. D. 'These events 

I have recounted together, though they extended (from 54 A. i>.) 

into the next year.' 

Ch. 10, § I. Cn. Domitio : his marriage with Agrippina took 

place in 28 A. D. He was descended from the L. Domitius Ahenobarbus 

who so fiercely opposed Julius Caesar, and through his 

mother Antonia was grandson of Octavia, Augustus' sister. At this 

date (54 A. D.) he had been dead some fifteen years. Suetonius 

brands him as ' omni parte vitae detestabilis.' 

Asconius Labeo probably became Nero's guardian on the death 

of his stepfather Crispus Passienus (c. 44 A. D.). Nothing more is 

known of him. 

sibi, ' for himself, he forbade the statues of solid silver or gold 

that were offered him ' (lit. ' in opposition to those offering '). The 

dative 'sibi' is in contrast to those with 'petivit' above, auro 

solidas, like ' crateresque auro solidi,' Vergil, yitvz. ii 765). For 

a similar Ablative of Material, cf. Ann. xii 16, ' moenia non saxo 

sed cratibus.' 

§ 2. veterem religionem, 'the old religious associations of the 

1st of January for the beginning of the year.' The year originally 

began on March i,till 153 B.C., when the consuls began to enter on 

their year of office on January I, and accordingly the civil year took 

that date for commencement, while March I was still regarded as 

the first day of the religious year. 

12

BOOK XIII. CH. 9, § I - CH. 12, § I 

5 3. neque recepti : the consuls as presidents of the senate might 

' refuse to entertain a charge brought before them. The princeps 

also could always suppress an accusation by using his tribunician 

' intercessio.' 

Carrinas subsequently was sent into Achaia and Asia by Nero 

to plunder the temples, together with Acratus a freedman {Ann. 

XV 45). 

servo accusante : however willing to give evidence, slaves had 

to confirm what they stated, under torture, otherwise it was not 

taken as legal evidence. 

equester : for ' eques,' see Intr. 1 1 2. The charge brought 

against Densus seems to be an attempt to revive the law of 

'maiestas,' under which so many persons were condemned in 

Tiberius' reign. Prosecutions for 'maiestas laesa'seem to have 

ceased under Claudius, but were revived later on in Nero's reign 

[Ann. xiv 48, 3). 

Ch. 11, § I. Claudio Nerone: Nero held this consulship for 

two months, and was again consul in 57 A. D. (ch. 31) ; in 58 A.D. 

(ch. 34) ; and in 60 A. D. (xiv 20). 

L. Antistio : his full name was L. Antistius Vetus. He was 

legatus of Upper Germany later on (ch. 53) ; he fell into Nero's 

disfavour as Iseing father-in-law of Rubellius Plautus, and accordingly 

committed suicide, 65 A.D. (Ann. xiv 58 and xvi lo-ii). 

in acta, iSic. : this ceremony, distinct from that of taking the 

' sacramentum' on the accession of a new 'princeps,' was the outcome 

of the oath taken by the Republican magistrates to observe 

the laws. The oath was taken annually on January i, first by the 

magistrates and then by all the senators, the formula being ' (se) 

nihil contra Caesaris acta (facturos).' 'Acta Caesaris' implied all 

measures passed under the reigning and preceding emperors. 

prohibuit : this was to show that he treated his colleague as 

his equal in official life. 

levium, &c., 'that elated by the fame arising even from slight 

things, he might go on at once (' continuaret ') to nobler deeds.' 

§ 2. Plautium : his expulsion was probably the act of the senate, 

but the power of pardon belonged in all cases to the ' princeps,' 

though Nero doubtless at this time followed Claudius in going 

through the form of consulting the senate in such cases. 

obstringens, ' solemnly promising.' 

testificando, ' for the purpose of testifying,' dat. of purpose. See 

Intr. II II. 

iactandi ingenii, ' in order to display his talent.' This genitive 

of purpose is like the Greek genitive of the substantival infinitive, 

as in Thuc. i. 4» M'i'wf to Xtjcttikov KnOijpn, tov tos TrpocroSov? fiaWov 

Kvin niTM. Cf. also ' Aegyptum proficiscitur cognoscendae antiquitatis,' 

Ann. ii 59, and see Intr. II 26. 

Ch. 12, § I. infracta . . . potentia : nominative. 

' vocabulum, name.' She appears on an inscription as ' Claudia 

Acte, August! liberta.' Nero's connexion with her was not repress 

'


hensible according to the ideas of that time, and was condoned as 

one of the ' voluptates concessae ' of ch. 2, 2. She was one of the 

faithful women who buried Nero after his death. The idea that she 

was a Christian rests on assuming her identity with a concubine of 

Nero's, mentioned fbut not named) by St. Chrysostom as converted 

by St. Paul. 

M. Othone : the subsequent emperor, now twenty-three years of 

age. See chs. 45, 46. 

Senecione: a knight, prominent in Piso's conspiracy (^««. xv 

50-70). 

familia consulari : his father, L. Otho, was consul suffectus after 

Galba, in 33 A. D. 

liberto : freed by Claudius, but he would still be ' Caesaris 

libertus,' since Nero would succeed to the ' patronatus ' exercised by 

Claudius. 

§ 2. inrepserat : subj. ' Acte.' 

per luxum, &c., 'in his orgies (with Otho and Senecio) and in 

clandestine interviews.' For secreta cf. ch. 18, 3. 

muliercula explente : abl. abs., giving the reason for the 

acquiescence of Seneca and Ikirrus. 

Octavia : daughter of Claudius and Messalina, married to Nero 

in his sixteenth year, 53 A.D. He put her away to marry Poppaea 

Sabina, and banished and murdered her in 62 A. D. {Ann. xiv 60 

and foil.). 

Ch. 13, § I. nurum ancillam : the terms are exaggerated, Acte 

not being a slave but a freed woman, and also of course not really 

Agrippina's daughter-in-law, though, according to Suetonius, Nerc 

was at one time desirous of marrying her, and arranged for witnesses 

to swear that she was one of the Attalidae, the royal house of 

Pergamus (Suet. Aêro, 28). 

acrius : sc. 'eo,' 'the more she stimulated his passion' (Intr. II 

47 b). 

seque, ' put himself in the hands of Seneca.' 

Annaeus : Pliny states that he was 'praefectus vigilum,' and 

Seneca dedicated some treatises to him, and speaks of his own grief 

for his death, c. 62 A. D. 

§ 2. sinus : (i) 'fold of garment,' (2) 'lap,' ' bosom' ; hence (3) 

metaphorically, as here, ' protection,' ' shelter.' 

cubiculum ac sinum : hendiadys, ' the shelter of her own 

chamber.' 

contegendis : dat. of purpose, sc. ' eis,' antecedent to ' quae.' 

§ 3. intempestivam, ' ill-timed.' 

suarum, &c., ' put at his disposal her own vast wealth, which 

was almost imperial (in its magnitude), as abjectly obsequious now 

as she had lately been excessively strict with her son.' 

§ 4. orabant eavere : so Verg., ' stabant orantes primi transmittere 

cursum,' Alv:. vi 313. See Intr. II 31. 

semper, &c., ' always dangerous, and now insincere as well.' 

§ 5. nulla parsimonia, ' with no lack of generosity.' 

14

BOOK XIII. CH. 12, § I — CH. 15, § i 

prior, ' unasked.' 

§ 6. non his, &c., 'her wardrobe was not being enriched with 

these so much as stinted of all the rest.' 

Ch. 14, § I. in deterius : supply a participle, such as 

' ' versa.' 

ably.' 

Reported these things, exaggerating them unfavour- 

eura rerum : he was head of the imperial treasury ('fiscus'), 

being 'libertus a rationibus.' Cf. the expression ' (servus) ab epis- 

tulis.' 

vekit, &c., 'held as it were the position of master of the empire.' 

'Agere' and 'agitare' are both used of really holding a position as 

well as pretending to it. Here the word 'velut' (almost = ' in his 

own estimation ') marks Pallas' pretentiousness. The other reading, 

' arbitrum,' is supported by such phrases as 'agere filium 

principis,' Hist, iv 2 ; 'amicum imperatoris ageret,' Hist, i 30. 

degrediente : i. e. down from the Palatium. 

eiui-aret: Nero sarcastically applies to the freedman on his 

dismissal a term proper only to an outgoing republican otificial, who 

when the time came for laying down his ' magistratus ' took oath in 

a public ceremony, ' se nihil contra leges fecisse.' 

§ 2. interrogaretur, 'should be called to account.' The genitive 

('facti') is that commonly associated with verbs of accusing, condemning, 

and the like. So in Aim. xiv 46, 1. See Intr. II 24. 

pares, ' square,' ' balanced,' ' passed' ; translate, ' that he should 

have his account with the State taken as passed.' 

§ 3. aviribus: ablat., with 'abstinere.' Translate freely, 'did 

not refrain from declaring in the emperor's hearing.' 

insitus, ' an intruder.' 

per iniurias, &c.: the interpretation depends on whether 

'matris' is subjective or objective: (i) 'the government which he 

held, thanks to his mother's iniquities' ; or (2) ' which he exercised 

in a course of outrages on his mother.' The context favours (l). 

§ 4. id solum, ' one precaution had been taken.' 

indebilis.' 

§ 5. inde debilis: emended from Med. ' rursus, 'as the counterpart.' Cf. ch. 13, 3. 

exul: he was banished through Messalina's dislike in 41 A. D., 

and was recalled by Agrippina when she married Claudius in 

49 A. D. {Ann. xii 8, 3). 

ti'iinca manu. This applies to Burrus, referring to some wound, 

otherwise not known of, in virtue of which she calls him 'crippled' 

(debilis) above. 

professoria lingua, ' with his pedant's tongue.' 

§ 6. Silanorum : see ch. I, i and Atui. xii 8, i. 

inrita, ' fruitless,' since Nero did not repay her sacrifices for 

him. 

Ch. 15, § I. propinquo, 'as (the day) was approaching.' 

quartum decumum : this birthday would be an important one, 

as he would then become of an age to assume the ' toga virilis.' 

levi quidem : this is a correction from Med. ' ut quidam,' on 

15 M


the supposition that the first syllable of 'levi' was lost in the last 

of ' indolem,' and ' ui ' corrupted into ' ut.' 

quaesivisset : the subjunctive is used, as this is part of Nero's 

thought. 

§ 2. festis Saturno diebus: the Saturnalia of the previous 

December. 

lusu sortientium : with the dice. Cf. Hor. Od. i 4, iS, 'nee 

regna vini sortiere talis.' The ' king ' chosen in this game would 

give fantastic orders to the other players. ' Sortientium ' is a partitive 

genitive, ' among those casting dice . . . the lot fell on Nero.' 

§ 3. diversa: sc. ' iussit.' For dat. after this verb cf. § 7 of this 

chapter and Ann. iv 72, 2, 'tributum iis Drusus iusscrat modicum.' 

The construction with the subjunctive is also found in the Histories 

of Tacitus, as well as in Terence, Livy, and Ovid. 

convictus, for the more usual ' convivia.' 

constanter, ' with self-possession.' The song chosen by Britannicus 

is conjectured to have been a passage from Ennius' Androjnac/ie, 

on Priam's downfall. 

§ 4. invidia, ' the feeling against him.' 

intendit, ' increases.' 

nullum crimen : sc. ' erat.' 

Locusta : already described, Ann. xii 66, 4, as selected by 

Agrippina to poison Claudius, and as being 'nupcr vencficii 

damnata et diu inter instrumenta regni habita.' 

§ 5. nam: in such a household it was easy to get poison administered, 

when once prepared. 

pensi haberet, 'should attach weight to.' See Intr. II 23 (e). 

Older writers who use this expression always make it depend on 

a neuter, as 'nihil' or 'quicquam.' 

§ 6. educatoribus : i.e. his TraiSaycoyoi. Cf. xiv 3, 5. 

temperamentum, ' dilution.' 

§ 7. dum respiciunt. See Intr. II 37, and notice that the 

approach to ' oratio recta ' heightens the rhetorical effect. 

' rumorem, popular outcry.' 

§ 8. promittentibus : abl. abs. 

cognitis . . . rapidum, ' a poison, rapid in effect, from previously 

tested drugs.' According to Suetonius, Nero had it tried on a kid, 

which lived five hours ; then, after further concentration by boiling 

down, on a small pig, which died immediately. 

Ch. 16, § I. habebatur, 'was kept up.' Tacitus speaks in the 

past because from the time here spoken of till that 

wrote there had been no younger sons of 'principes.' 

in which he 

idem aetatis : 

' for a similar accus. cf. Ann. v 9, 3, id aetatis 

corpora in (lemonias abiecta.' 

sedentes : under Augustus and Claudius this posture was maintained 

for young people. Valerius Maximus mentions this as a 

former custom in the case of women ('feminae cum viris cubantibus 

sedentes cenitabant '). 

§ 2. gustu explorabat. The office of ' praegustator ' 

16 

is men-

BOOK XIII. CH. 15, § I — CH. 17, §§ 1-4 

tioned in Inscrr. as early as in the time of Augustus, and under 

Claudius the ' praegustatores ' formed a ' 

collegium 

' under a ' pro- 

curator.' Similar precautions were taken by the Medo-Persian 

despots ; and so also Athenaeus, writing of Hiero's court, mentions 

'irpo-yeuorai' who' npoijadiov twv j-iaaLXfciiv npos ctacpdAiuiv' (Ath. 4. 71, 

1716). 

§ 3. fervore : abl. of cause. See Intr. II 19. 

§ 4. inprudentes, ' those not in the secret.' 

resistunt, 'kept their seats.' 

§ 5. reclinis : a word not found in prose before Tacitus. 

nescio similis, ' as if unconscious.' Cf. ' xi35, I). 

ignaro propior ' (Afin. 

comitialem morbura, 'epilepsy,' called 'morbus comitialis' 

because a case of it occurring in the public assembly necessitated 

an adjournment. 

§ 6. emicuit, ' betrayed itself,' in a sudden expression of face. 

ut . . . constiterit : this tense is used in consecutive clauses in 

past time when emphasis is laid on the instantaneous or complete 

character of the action. 

' exemplum, a precedent.' 

Ch. 17, § I. nox eadem : for such personifications see Intr. 

II 53. Dio and Suetonius describe the funeral as performed not 

at night but on the following day. But the language of the edict 

(§ 4) supports Tacitus' account. 

§ 2. in campo Martis : where Augustus' mausoleum stood. 

sepultus : refers to the deposition of his ashes. 

etiam : the idea is that human judgment is unlikely to be more 

lenient than the divine, yet even among men excuse was found for 

the crime; hence the 'vulgus' were probably wrong in ascribing 

the storm to divine displeasure. The lax moral judgment involved 

in this reasoning is due to the prevalence of such crimes in ancient 

despotisms. 

antiquas : e. g. Atreus and Thyestes, Eteocles and Polynices, 

Romulus and Remus. Cf. 'solita fratribus odia' {Ann. iv 60, 5). 

insociabile, ' despotism bears no partner.' 

aestimantes, ' taking into account.' 

§ 3. sacra mensae: referring primarily to the customary libations 

to the Lares and Penates. The religious sanction thus appertaining 

to the meal further involves the mutual inviolability of those 

partaking of it. 

sororum : Octavia, Britannicus' own sister and wife of Nero, 

and Antonia his 

wife Paetina. 

half-sister, daughter of Claudius by his second 

§ 4. defendit, 'justified.' 

Seneca. 

The edict was probably composed by 

subtrahere oculis : the ancient Roman custom by which all 

funerals were conducted at night survived in the case of those 

whose friends could not afford expensive ceremonies, and of those 

who died at an immature age. 

17


acerba : a metaphor fiom unripe fruit, apjilied also by Vergil, 

Acn. vi 429, to premature deaths. 

§ 5. familia : the 'gens Claudia,' to which Nero belonged byadoption. 

(Nero could however trace his descent to Augustus, 

through his mother, who was grand-daughter of Augustus' daughter 

Julia.) 

Ch. 18, § I. potissimos : Nero's most intimate associates. According 

to Suetonius, Locusta as well received rich presents, and 

pardon for previous offences. 

gravitatem adseverantes, ' who made profession of austerity.' 

The allusion fits the case of Seneca, In connexion with 'necessitatem 

adhibitam,' Seneca's own dictum 'nemo in id accipiendo 

obligatur quod illi repudiare non licuit' {de Ben. 2. 18. 7) is signifi- 

cant. 

§ 3. amplecti, * made much of.' 

avaritiam, ' rapacity.' Cf. A/m. xii 7, 7, ' cupido auri immensa 

obtentum habebat quasi subsidium regno pararetur ' (her avarice 

claimed the excuse of political forethought). 

etiam tum : Tacitus writes after the almost total extinction by 

Domitian of the old Republican nobility. 

§ 4. excubias : sentinels of praetorians at her doors, distinct 

from her body-guard ('custodes') when she went out. 

nuper eundeni in honorem : a correction of Med. 'super eundem,' 

which is unsatisfactory, though by some explained as ' besides 

that mark of honour.' 

§ 5. ne coetu: i.e. so that she should not receive attention from 

the crowd of courtiers who came to pay their respects to Jiiin. 

Antonia: the maternal great-grandmother of Nero, see Intr. VI b. 

She was better known than Nero's paternal grandmother, who 

also bore this name, and who has been taken by some to be the 

person named here. 

quotiens : followed by subjunctive denoting action frequently 

repeated (Intr. II 41). 

Ch. 19, § I. nihil, (S:c., 'Nothing in human affairs is so precarious 

and transient as the prestige of an authority that depends 

on another for enfoi'cement.' 

§ 2. supra : the story is told in the closing chapters of Ann. xi. 

Messalina conceived a violent passion for Silius, whom she positively 

married, thus repudiating her own marriage with the Emperor 

Claudius. The imperial freedmen persuaded Claudius to have 

Silius executed as a conspirator, and then Narcissus sent soldiers 

to kill Messalina too, though the emperor was half inclined to 

pardon her (48 A. D.). 

Sextium Africanum : mentioned again in Ann. xiv 46, as one 

of the officials taking the census in Gaul. He was descended from 

T. Sextius, legatus of Julius Caesar in Gaul, and subsequently 

proconsul in Numidia. 

vergentem : this verb is applied to the lapse of time and to 

mental tendency by writers of this age only.

BOOK XIII. CH. 17, § 4 — CH. 20, § i 

opibus et orbitate, 'the wealth of the childless Silana,'hendiadys 

for 'opibus orbae.' Cf. ' testamenta et orbos,' ch. 42. 

For the courting of the childless by fortune-hunters at Rome, cf. 

Hor. Saf. ii 5. 28 ; Juv. iv 19 and xii 99. 

§ 3. iniurias : her 

ill-treatment by Nero. 

Rubellius Plautua was son of Rubellius Blandus and Julia 

daughter of Drusus the son of Tiberius. He was recommended by 

Nero to go and live in Asia, in 60 A. D. {An/i. xiv 22, 5), and was 

killed by Nero's orders in 62 A. D., (Anti. xiv 59, 3). 

pari ac Nero gradu : only so in virtue of Augustus' adoption of 

Tiberius, whereas Nero himself through his mother Agrippina was 

directly descended from Augustus, as the following tree shows : 

Augustus 

Tiberius (by adoption) Julia 

I I 

Drusus Agrippina I 

I I 

Julia Agrippina II 

I 

I 

Rubellius Plautus Nero 

ad res novas extollere, ' encourage in a revolutionary design.' 

coniugioque, &c., ' and by making him first her husband and 

then emperor to reassert her former ascendency.' 

§ 4. Domitia, sister of Cn. Domitius, Nero's father, and wife of 

Crispus Passienus, who deserted her to marry Agrippina after the 

death of Domitius. She is to be distinguished from her sister 

Domitia Lepida, who took the young Nero under her care, when his 

father died and his mother was in exile through fear of Messalina. 

Domitia Lepida had been killed by Agrippina in 54 A. D. {Ann. 

xii 64, 4). 

histrionem : used (so also ' mimus ') for performers who represented 

characters and actions in elaborate dumb-show. Cf. such 

phrases as ' saltare Agamemnona,' ' Ledam.' 

their expulsion, cf. ch. 25, 4 and xiv 21, 7.) 

Cf. Juv. vii 90. (For 

impulit: with infin. See Intr. II 31. 

crimen atrociter deferre, ' to vehemently denounce her.' 

Ch. 20, § I. luxus intendere, 'to stimulate his excesses' (by 

his suggestive performances). 

compositus, &c., ' putting on a serious air.' Cf Ann. iii 44, 

'compositus ad securitatem,' 'affecting unconcern.' 

ordine, ' the detail.' Cf. 'ordo negotii,' AnJi. ii 27. 

tamquam, (Src, ' as owing his advancement to Agrippina's interest 

and bound to her by gratitude ' 

(lit. ' making her a return '). 

He was promoted to be 'praefectus praetorio ' in 51 a. D., 

displacing 

Messalina. 

Lusius Geta and Rufrius Crispinus, both creatures of 

»9. 

—

TACITUS ANNALS : 

NOTES 

§ 2. Fabius Husticus : for this author, and also Pliny and 

Cluvius Rufus (§ 3), see Intr. I 3. 

Caecina Tuscus, known subsequently as praefect of Egypt, 

whence he was banished in the last year of Nero's reign, 68 A. D. 

codicillos, the term for 'letters patent,' conferring an imperial 

appointment. 

§ 3. nihil dubitatum, ' do not mention that any doubt was cast.' 

§ 4. seeuturi, ' as we intend to follow.' This does not indicate a 

new departure, but the course he has taken and still means to take. 

§ 5. differri, ' to be turned from his purpose.' 

accusatores : Iturius and Calvisius ; 'vocem unius,' = ' Atimeti ' 

; 

' adferri ' implies that even he was only reported ihxow^ Paris. 

reputaret, 'let him reflect that it was late, that the night had 

been spent in revelry, and that the whole story savoured of recklessness 

and ignorance ' ; or, ' that all the conditions were favourable 

for rash and ignorant assertions.' 

(For ' reputaret ' Med. gives ' refutare,' which has been explained 

as a metaphor from cookery, the word meaning to check liquid 

from boiling over by pouring in cold water, and so giving rise to a 

phrase in Latin similar to our own, ' ' to pour cold water on.' Tene- 

bras,' 'noctem,' 'omnia,' will then be the subject to this infinitive. 

The emendation to ' reputaret' assumes that ' p ' and 'f ' have been 

confused, and the final 't' lost in the next word 'tenebras.') 

Ch. 21, § I. ut nosceret, 'that she might hear the charges 

against her.' 

§ 2. arbitri, 'as witnesses,' to report if Seneca and Burrus 

showed lack of firmness. 

§ 3. fei'ociae, 'her high spirit.' 

ignotos habere, ' is ignorant of So ' ( = ' praesumant '), Ann. xiv 64, 5. 

praesumptum habeant 

§ 4. suscipiendae accusationis : gen. of description, with 

' operam.' ' And even if L and C, having squandered their fortunes, 

are repaying the hag by this latest service, undertaking my accusation, 

this is no reason why I should suffer the infamy, or Caesar the 

guilt, of kindred murder.' parricidium denotes murder of any 

i 

near relative, not only of a father. 

§ 5. nunc, &c., 'but, as it is, she is, so to speak, rigging up a 

stage effect.' 

§ 6. Baiarum, &c. : i. e. Domitia was only thinking of her own 

aggrandisement, 

interests. 

while she, Agrippina, was advancing her son's 

extollebat, ' was adorning.' 

adoptio : in 50 A. D. Ann. xii 25. 

designatio : in 5 1 A. D. he was designated for the office of consul 

in his twentieth year, and held it in 57 A. D. (xiii 31), and between 

his ' designatio ' and year of office he was to hold ' proconsulave 

imperium extra urbem,' Ann. xii 41. 

§ 7. aut exsistat : a sudden transition in the argument, natural 

considering the excitement under which she is speaking, 

20 

' The 

'

BOOK XIII. CH. 20, § 2 — CH. 22, §§ 1-3 

praetorians corrupted, the allegiance of the provinces (i.e. the 

armies there) sapped, the slaves and freedmen bribed to murder,' 

may be understood as (i) referring to the steps taken by Agrippina 

to murder Claudius and advance Nero over the head of Britannicus 

the rightful heir ; these she declares to be the only crimes of which 

she can truthfully be accused, but Nero who has profited by them 

cannot condemn her for them : or (2), such acts being the natural 

steps towards overthrowing a reigning emperor, she challenges her 

accusers to prove her guilty of these definite acts of treason at the 

present moment, instead of bringing a vague and general charge 

of conspiracy. 

vivei-e ego, 'could my life have been spared had Britannicus 

become emperor ? ' (inasmuch as he would have avenged his father). 

§ 8. rem publicam : with ' obtinuerit ; 'iudicaturus,' 'bound to 

' 

become my judge ' ; scilicet shows she is speaking sarcastically. 

impatientia, &c., ' injudicious sometimes through the uncontrollable 

force of a mother's love.' She is contrasting such expressions 

as are quoted in chs. 13 and 14 with the dark crimes she had 

really committed, which only he who had profited by them could 

pardon. 

§ 9. commotie, ' being carried away,' ' convinced.' Cf. 44, 8. 

ultroque, &c., ' and actually proceeding to calm her outburst.' 

quasi diflBderet, ' as though she had any misgivings.' 

quasi exprobraret, ' as though protesting ' (against his ingratitude). 

Ch. 22, §1. praefectura annonae : this was the chief official 

position tenable by a Roman knight, next to that of ' praefectus 

praetorio ' and the ' praefectura Aegypti.' 

Faenio Rufo : this officer obtained a good reputation in this 

office, which led to his promotion to be ' praefectus praetorio ' on 

Burrus' death, (xiv 51, 5). He joined in the conspiracy of Piso, 

and suffered death (xv 50, 68). 

Arruntius Stella is otherwise not known. There was a L. 

Arruntius Stella, cos. suff. under Trajan, and often mentioned as a 

poet by Martial, who possibly was this' man's son. 

Ti. Balbillo : Med. gives, as praenomen, C, which may be 

a corruption of ' Claudio,' his gentile name. His full name, Ti. 

Claudius Balbillus, is known from inscrr., and he is mentioned as 

praefect of Egypt by Pliny and Seneca. 

§ 2. P. Anteius was subsequently accused of plotting, with 

Ostorius, against the emperor's life. Both the accused committed 

suicide (xvi 14, 2). 

retentus est : as an intimate friend of Agrippina he may have 

been thought unsafe to be trusted with military command. 

§ 3. relegantur : a milder form of banishment than Silana's. 

They were pardoned after Agrippina's death (xiv 12, 6). 

capital punishment. 

supplicium : 

apud libidines principis : the preposition implies personification, 

as though it were 'apud principem libidinosum.' 

21

I» 


tranamissvia : he was virtually banished to Asia, 60 A. D. (xiv 

22 \ and murdered by Nero's orders, 62 A. u. (xiv 59'. 

Ch. 23, § I. Coi-nelius Sulla: his full name was Faustus 

Cornelius Sulla Felix. He is mentioned as consul in 52 A. D. {Afin. 

xii 52), and was put to death by Nero in 62 A. D. (xiv 57). 

claritudine . . . adfinitate : causal ablatives. 

§ 2. exercendis . . . sectionibus, ' notorious for his traffic with 

the treasury in confiscated estates.' If a man's property was confiscated 

to the State, Paetus would pay the treasury a sum down, 

and then make what he could by seizing the property. He also 

seems to have bought up the right to collect debts long due, but 

hitherto not exacted by the treasury (§ 4). 

vanitatis, ' falsehood.' 

§ 3. gravis, ' offensive.' 

nominatis, ' called into court.' 

ne vocem consociaret, ' so as not to put himself on speaking 

terms with them.' 

§ 4. inter indices : Burrus was not a senator, but was on this 

occasion sitting as one of the ' assessores ' of the 'princeps,' trying 

the case personally 'intra cubiculum.' 

exiistae : that no one else might profit by them. 

Ch. 24, § I. static cohortis : the praetorian cohort usually 

present to keep order. 

ineorruptior ageret, 'might not become demoralized.' 

and Brodribb.) 

modestiam, 

(Church 

' good behaviour.' 

§ 2. Ivistravit : this was done frequently on occasion of prodigies, 

calamities, or bloodshed. The ceremony is distinct from the regular 

'lustratio' after a census, but consisted similarly of a procession 

and sacrifice. The ' princeps ' would officiate, as ' pontifex maximus.' 

Ch. 25, § I. Volusio : his 'cognomen' was Saturninus ; his 

father is mentioned ch. 30, and his mother was a Cornelia of the 

Scipio family, so that he was probably related to his colleague. 

deverticula, ' low taverns,' the diminutive being used contemptuously. 

The ordinary form is ' deversorium.' The terrorism in 

the streets exercised by vicious young men is referred to by 

Juvenal (iii 278-301). 

vulnera : so Suet., ' redeuntes a caena verberare ac repugnantes 

vulnerare cloacisque demergere assuei'at.' 

ore praeferret, ' showed the bruises on his face.' 

§ 2. sub nomine, ' assuming the name.' 

in moduEQ captivitatis, 'in a way approaching 

a captured city.' 

the state of 

senatorii ordinis: Montanus had not yet become actually a 

senator (through the quaestorship), or at most had not gone beyond 

that office. Suet, calls him ' laticlavius quidam.' The laticlave 

was worn by sons of senators, and by knights capable and desirous 

of becoming senators. 

vi attemptantem, ' attacking him with violence.'

BOOK XIII. CH. 22, § 3 — CH. 2G, § i 

deinde, &c., * (because) tlien on recognizing him (he) had asked 

pardon, was compelled to kill himself as though he had expostulated.' 

Dio gives Nero's remark on receiving his petition 

OuKonv ^Sr], Nepcoi/a TVTTTail', civtov KaTfXPWoTO ; 

mori: for this infin. after ' adactus est' see Intr. II 31. 

§ 3. rixaruni,&c.,' quarrels beginning moderately, and apparently 

those of ordinary individuals ' privata, as though ; ' privatorum.' 

sinerent, ' not interfere in.' 

§ 4. ludicram licentiam, 'disorder at the play.' 

fautores : equivalent to ' fautorum.' 

inpunitate, ' by the impunity (he afforded them) and the 

rewards (he gave).' 

oceultus, &:c., 'looking on from a place of concealment, and 

often in full view.' 

motus, ' disturbance.' 

histriones : the whole class apparently, not merely the offenders; 

of. Ann. xiv 21, 7. 

Ch. 26, § I. fraudibus, 'misconduct.' 

censerent, ' expressed their opinion ' in favour of the suggestion. 

For procedure in the senate, see ch. 49, 2. 

relationem incipere, ' pass a formal resolution. 

to put the question,' and accordingly 

ille, &c. The exact words of Med., which as they stand give 

no sense, are : 'ille an auctor constitutionis fieret ut inter paucos 

et sententiae adversos quibusdam coalitam libertate inreverentiam 

eo prorupisse frementibus vine an aequo cum patronis iure agerent 

sententiam eorum consultarent ac verberibus manus ultro intenderent 

impulere vel poenam suam dissuadentes.' In the first 

sentence a verb of deliberation is required by ' an,' and ' consultavit' 

is proposed instead of the MS. ' ut,' which rnay possibly be the 

mutilated survivor of some such verb. ' Ut ' before ' vine ' is required 

by ' ' eo ' ; sententiam consultarent ' will make sense though 

it is not a satisfactory Latin phrase ; and the other alterations, 

' diversos ' for ' adversos,' ' impudenter ' for ' impulere,' and ' suadentes' 

for 'dissuadentes,' improve the general sense of the 

passage, which gives the substance of a debate in the private 

council of the emperor, the opinions of one side being introduced 

in this chapter (after 'frementibus'), and those of the other side 

' in ch. 27. He debated whether he should make himself responsible 

for an ordinance on this subject with a few advisers who 

differed in their views, some complaining that the disrespect of 

the freedmen, fostered by indulgence, had gone to such lengths that 

they asked their patrons' opinion whether they should deal with 

them (their patrons) by force or on terms of legal equality, and 

actually raised their hands to strike blows, in their impudence 

even recommending their own punishment.' 

sententiae : gen. of respect, with ' diversos.' So ' morum diversus,' 

An/i. xiv 19. 

verberibus : dat. of purpose. 

23 

:


§ 3. concessum : probably by an edict of Augustus, who is 

known to have regulated the rights of patrons and others towards 

freedmen. This power of 'relegatio' without the intervention of 

a magistrate was a survival of the ancient ' patria potestas' held 

by the head of a family. 

ut centesimum : [Med. gives 'vicesimum/ without * ut.'] 

One hundred miles is known to have been in later times the limit 

of the jurisdiction of the ' praefectus urbi,' and as a limit of banish- 

' ment was of older and perhaps even Republican date. To banish 

! 

beyond the hundredth milestone— to the coast of Campania ' (one 

of the most delightful parts of Italy, where the fashionable holiday 

resorts were situated). 

ceteras, &c. : i.e. except for this power of 'relegatio,' which 

was no punishment at all, the patron only had the ordinary legal 

procedure available, in which they stood on equal terms. 

§ 4. nee grave, &c., ' it was no oppressive burden for the discharged 

to preserve their freedom by the same obedience as that 

by which they had earned it.' 

retinendi : genitive depending on the idea of a substantive implied, 

such as ' ' onus,' (from 'grave'). So Ann. xv 5, 3, Vologesi 

vetus et penitus infixum erat arma Romana vitandi,' where a subst., 

' ' 

habit,' is implied from 'vetus et penitus infixum (Intr. II 26). 

; 

Ch. 27, § I. id corpus: i.e. the mass of freedmen. 

§ 2. hinc, ' it was from these to a great e.xtent that the tribes 

were drawn.' The four urban tribes are probably meant. 

decuriaa : associations of public servants, such as lictors, 

clerks (' scribae '), auctioneers (' praecones '), servers of summonses 

(' viatores'). 

ministeria : abstr. for concrete, ' attendants ' other than those 

enrolled in the ' decuriae,' such as court ushers (' accensi') and criers 

('calatores'). 

cohortes : the ' vigiles,' a police force consisting of seven cohorts, 

each 1,000 strong, half a cohort being allotted to each of the 

fourteen ' regiones ' into which Rome was divided. 

plurimis, &c., ' most of the knights, very many of the senators, 

derive their origin from no higher source.' Under Tiberius the full 

privileges of Roman knighthood had been restricted to ' ingenui 

of three generations ; but the rule must have always had exceptions, 

and was now much relaxed. 

' libertini : adjectival form, denoting freedmen as a class. If 

freedmen were made a distinct class, the scarcity of free-born citizens 

would be too noticeable.' 

§ 3. ovua dignitatem, &c., ' while they admitted distinctions in 

the honours accorded to different ranks, they made freedom the 

common possession of all.' 

§ 4. manu m.ittendi, &c. : the distinction is between full and 

partial manumission. The former (' iusta manumissio ') was effected 

by a ceremony in presence of a ct)nsul or praetor (or proconsul or 

propraetor), when the slave was touched by the lictor's wand 

24 

'

BOOK XIII. CH. 26, § 3 — CH. 28, §§ 1-2 

(vindicta), and a formal declaration of his freedom was pronounced. 

Full freedom could also be granted by will, and, till 

the censorship lost its Republican functions, by enrolment of the 

slave on the citizen list by the censor. Partial manumission was 

a private affair, effected either (i) 'inter amicos,' by a declaration 

before five witnesses, or (2) ' per epistolam,' by a letter countersigned 

by five persons, or (3) ' convivio,' by reception of the slave as a 

guest at his master's table. These forms were often followed by 

the ' iusta manumissio ' ; cf Plin. Epp. 7. 16, ' si voles vindicta liberare 

quos proxime inter amicos manumisisti.' 

paenitentiae, ' change of mind' : not that partial manumission 

was revocable, but it remained in the power of the patronus to 

refuse the further concession (novum beneficium) of the ' iusta 

manumissio.' 

velut vinclo, &c. : those who had received 'iusta manumissio' 

became Roman citizens ; those otherwise manumitted were by an 

act of Tiberius given ' Latin rights,' such as ' ius commercii,' but 

were still of servile condition, in so far that they were unable 

to contract a legal marriage, to make a will, or inherit property 

under a will. 

§ 6. privatim, ' that they should deal with the case individually, 

as often as a frcedman was blamed by his patron, without inflicting 

any disability on the whole class.' 

§ 7. amitae : Uomitia, see ch. 19, 4. 

quasi, ' by an abuse of civil justice, which brought disgrace on 

the emperor, by whose order a decision that he was free-born had 

been effected.' Paris had bought his freedom, and then claimed 

to recover the sum paid, on the ground that he was free born ; the 

court, to please Nero, decided in his favour. 

Ch. 28, § I. nihilo minus: in spite of Nero's terrorism over 

the senate and the courts. 

rei publicae, ' a commonwealth.' 

VibuUium : presiding praetor at the 'ludi.' 

Antistium : Antistius Sosianus, praetor in 62 A. D., and exiled 

for libel {Ann. xiv 48-49); recalled (xvi 14, i); 

'pravitate morum multis exitiosus' {Hist, iv 44, 3). 

inmodestos, 

described as 

' disorderly.' 

§ 2. conprobavere, 'approved the order of the praetor.' The 

tribune was acting within the old lines of his official right, so that 

the power here assumed by the senate to annul his 

and censure him is noticeable. 

interference 

ius praetorum, &c. : this does not mean that the tribunes lost 

their right of ' interpellatio' against a magistrate's decree, but they 

were forbidden to intervene in a case coming on before other 

magistrates by transferring its cognizance to themselves. 

vocare, &c., 'to summon from Italy (to Rome) persons liable 

to a suit at law.' This is a check on another usurpation on the 

part of the tribunes, whose power did not properly extend beyond 

the city. Varro (ap. Geh. 13. 12) distinguishes the right of sum- 

25


moning an absent person ('vocatio') from that of arresting one 

present ('prensio'i, and maintains that tribunes had the latter 

power only, as distinct from magistrates with ' imperium,' who had 

both, and from such as quaestors, who had neither. 

§ 3. Ii. Piso : mentioned again in ch. 31 as colleague of Nero, 

and in Ann. xv 18 as appointed one of the three commissioners in 

charge of the public revenues. 

ne quid, &c., 'that they should inflict no penalty officially 

within their houses.' Though the tribune's house was to be open 

night and day to those who wanted to invoke his help, the actual 

intervention was to be exercised in public, usually by the ' collegium 

' of tribunes sitting together (cp. ' ad subsellia tribunorum res 

agebatur,' Liv. xlii 33) ; their usual place of meeting being at the 

'rostra' or in the ' Basilica Porcia.' 

aerarii : a fine was registered at the ' aerarium ' before payment 

was exacted. In the same way a decree of the senate did not 

take effect till it had been registered at the ' aerarium ' after a nine 

days' interval. 

deque eo, &c., ' appeal should lie with the consuls.' These appear 

to have had, in virtue of 'potestas maior,' the right to reverse 

decisions of other magistrates. 

§ 4. aedilium potestas : the ' cura ludorum ' and ' cura annonae' 

had been taken from the aediles, who now held only a partial ' cura 

urbis,' the regulation of markets and prices, and the control of places 

of public resort. 

quantum, lic, ' to what extent they might distrain on property 

or inflict fines,' i. e. in dealing with offenders against their regula- 

tions. 

§ 5. Helvidius Priscus : probably not identical with the famous 

person of that name in xvi 28, 2. 

Obultronium Sabinum : mentioned in the Histories (i 37, 5) 

as put to death in Spain by Galba. 

exercuit, ' vented personal dislike on O. S. (by interfering with 

his action) on the ground that he was pushing his right to sell up 

the property of defaulters to the treasury ("ius hastae ") to cruel 

lengths against the poor.' Instances occur in early history of inter- 

ference on the part of the tribunes with the collection of dues for 

if their demands were not complied with, they would 

the treasury ; 

refuse to permit a ' delectus ' to be held. For tamquam see 

Intr. II 50. 

praefectos : drawn from senators of praetorian rank, see ch. 29, 

3. As ' praefecti ' they would be responsible to the emperor alone, 

and independent of tribunician interference. 

Ch. 29, § I. varie habita, &c., 'the regulation of that 

department had been in different hands, and had been often 

changed.' eius rei, the public treasury, as distinct from both the 

'fiscus' and the 'aerarium militare.' forma, cf. ch. 4, ' formam 

futuri principatus.' 

nam Augustus: under the Republic the 'aerarium' had been 

26

BOOK XIII. CH. 28, § 2 — CH. 30, §§ 1-2 

in the charge of quaestors; Julius Caesar transferro'd it to two 

aediles ; Augustus, in 28 B. c, gave it to two officers of praetorian 

rank, who were styled ' praefecti ' but were elected by the senate. 

suspecto, 'owing to apprehensions of corrupt practices in the 

voting.' 

sorte : the change is dated by Dio 23 B.C. 

praetorum : two were thus chosen annua'ly, termed 'praetores 

aerarii ' or 'ad aerarium.' Tiberius did not alter the regulation 

of the treasury, but appointed another board of three senators 

(' curatores tabularum publicarum ') 

(Dio). 

to manage the record office 

praeessent : subj. indicating purpose. 

§ 2. quaestores : Claudius made this change in 44 A. D., when 

he abohshed the four ' quaestoriae provinciae ' in Italy ; these were 

the districts entrusted to the " quaestores classici ' when the Roman 

conquest 

xi 22). 

of Italy was complete, 267 B. c. (cf. Aftn. iv 27 and 

rursum implies that the change was a reversion to ancient 

custom ; however, the period of office of these ' two quaestores 

aerarii ' was three years, and they were selected by the emperor, 

not popularly elected. 

honores : the higher magistracies ; if approved in their office, 

the ' quaestores aerarii ' passed on at once to the praetorship without 

the intervening step of tribunate or aedileship. 

ne metu, &c., 'lest through fear of incurring unpopularity they 

might be remiss in their administration.' 

§ 3. experientia probatos, 'men of proved experience,' lit. 

' approved of on the score of experience.' Cf. ' experientia cognitos,' 

ch. 6, and Intr. II 20. 

delegit: Nero made the selection himself; Augustus had left it 

to the senate. 

Ch. 30, § I. isdem eonsulibus: i.e. Volusius and Scipio, ch, 25. 

These gave their name to the whole year, though their office would 

not extend throughout it, owing to the institution of consules 

suffecti. See Intr. Ill 9, note. 

Sardiniam. This island, with Corsica, was at this time governed 

by an imperial procurator, but in 67 A. D., during his tour in Greece, 

Nero proclaimed the freedom of the senatorial province of Achaia, 

and gave both islands to the senate in compensation. 

avare habitam, ' administered extortionately.' 

Cretensibus : for Med. ' credentibus.' Another proposed 

emendation is 'cedentibus' (relinquishing the prosecution). 

§2. Clodiua Quirinalis : Ravenna on the Adriatic and Misenum 

on the Mediterranean were the headquarters of the imperial fleet 

' classis praetoria ') ; each division was under a ' praefectus ' directly 

responsible to the emperor. The praefectus was usually of equestrian 

rank. Clodius Quirinalis was a knight and had been 'primipilus 

' of the twentieth legion. 

veneno, See. : Romans often anticipated condemnation by suicide, 

27


because capital punishment disqualified the victims from burial and 

rendered their wills invalid : these disabilities did not apply to 

suicides {An?!, vi 29). 

§ 3. Caninius Rebilus : an emendation which substitutes the 

name of a well-known family for the unknown G. Aminius Rebius 

of Med. 

ex primoribus, &c., ' eminent for his legal knowledge and vast 

wealth.' 

cruciatus : ace. plur. of the substantive. 

haud ci'editus : see Intr. II 33. 

§ 4. Ii. Volusius : father of the consul for 56 A. D. fch. 25). He 

waslegatus of Dalmatia under Tiberius and Gains, and at his death 

was ' praefectus urbis.' 

cui, &c., ' the span of whose life amounted to ninety-three years, 

and who had enjoyed exceptional wealth honourably acquired, without 

having come into conflict with the malevolence of the many 

emperors (under whom he had lived).' 

Ch. 31, § I. Nerone : this was the consulship to which he had 

been designated in 51 A. D. [Ann. xii 41). 

Pisone : mentioned in ch. 28. 

nisi cui libeat, &c. : this is evidently a disparaging allusion to 

some historian, possibly to the elder Pliny, who in his Natural 

History (xvi 40, 76, 200) mentions a larch beam of remarkable size 

brought to Rome many years before and worked into this amphitheatre, 

and may have described it also in his general history, which 

is not extant. 

cum, &c., 'whereas it is regarded as suitable to the dignity of the 

Roman people to reserve notable events for history, and such trifles 

for the daily journals.' 

repertum, 'regarded as an established principle' either (l) by 

Tacitus personally, or (2) by historians in general. 

diurnis urbis actis : for these daily gazettes cf. Intr. I 3. 

§ 2. Capua atque Nueeria: both in Campania; the former 

received the constitution of a colony from Julius Caesar, and the latter 

from Augustus. 

congiarium, ' dole,' derived from ' congius,' a vessel containing 

about a pint. The word originally denoted a present of wine, oil, 

&c. (Livy XXV 2), but later on such gifts took the form of money. 

Cp. ' sportula,' the gift of a wealthy Roman to his clients. 

quadringeni : a larger amount than had been given since the 

earlier largesses of Augustus. 

sestertivim quadringentiens : supply 'centena millia, '40,000,000 

sesterces, about ^333,000. 

ad retinendam, &c., ' to sustain the public credit.' In the 

same way Augustus had subsidized the public treasury to tiie 

extent of 150 million sesterces. The subvention made by Nero on 

this occasion must be distinguished from that given annually; 

Ann. XV iS. 

see 

§ 3. vectigal, &c., ' the duty of four per cent, on the sale of

BOOK XIII. CH. 30, § 2 — CH. 32, §§ 1-3 

slaves.' The proceeds from this went to the 'aerarium militare ' 

(Dio). Under Augustus the tax was two per cent., ' quinquagcsima 

(pars).' 

specie, &c., ' an apparent rather than real benefit, because, the 

seller being ordered to pay it, the purchasers found it added on as 

part of the price ; ' i.e. the change was simply that the tax was 

collected from the slave-dealers (' mangones ') instead of the buyers, 

and the former took care that it caused no diminution in their 

profits. 

§ 4. magistratus : governor of a senatorial province, a proconsul 

or propraetor procurator governor of an imperial province, 

; 

appointed by and directly responsible to the ' princeps.' 

in provincia . . . ludicrum : the provincial ' ludi ' mentioned 

in inscriptions were given by the emperor through his ' procurator.' 

§ 5. nam ante : i.e. these shows were a kind of 'ambitus,' 

whereby they secured partisans, who either prevented the oppressed 

from prosecuting the governor, or frustrated the prose- 

' ' cution by a counter-demonstration ; so that this largitio was itself 

a means of oppressing the subjects by making redress more difficult. 

dum, &:c., ' screening their guilty self-indulgence by thus currying 

favour.' 

Ch. 32, § I. senatus consultum : an extension of an earlier 

measure passed in 10 A. D., 'domino occi?o de ea familia quaestio 

habenda est quae intra tectum fuerit vel certe extra tectum cum 

domino eo tempore quo occidebatur.' An instance of the wholesale 

execution of the household of a murdered Roman is given in A/in. 

xiv 42-45ultioni, 

&c., ' providing alike for punishment and a sense of 

security ' 

; dat. of purpose, see Intr. II 11. 

§ 2. Lurius Varus : being a consular, he had probably been 

proconsul of Asia or Africa, and had been expelled from the senate 

for extortion. This had no doubt been mentioned in its proper 

place (in the lost part of the Annals), so as to make further explanation 

here needless. 

§ 3. A. Plautius was a distinguished general who carried out successful 

campaigns in Ilritain under Claudius, 43-47 A. D., bringing 

under Roman government the part of the island south of a line 

fiom the mouth of the Severn to that of the Nen. 

qtieni ovasse rettuli : 

the part of [[iq Annals covering Plautius' 

conquest of Britain is lost to us. The ovation of Plautius took place 

on his return in 47 A.D., and Claudius is stated to have ridden in 

the procession by his side (Suet. CI. 24). 

superstitionis externae : the phrase is general and might refer 

to any non-Italian religion, but the belief that she was a Christian 

derives support from the account of her habits of life (§§ 4, 5). The 

retirement and sobriety of a Christian might well appear a kind of 

'perpetual mourning' to the dissolute society of the Neronian 

period. (There are also Christian mscriptions of 150 years later, 

naming Pomponius Graecinus and Pomponius Bassus, probably her 

29


descendant:.) if she was a Christian, this is likely to have been 

made the ground of a charge of conjugal inhdelity, and for this 

reason judgment was left to her husband ' pristo institute' 

in the presence of relations,' including 

§ 4. propinqviis coram, ' representatives from the wife's family as a check on the otherwise 

absolute authority of the husband. 

de capite, &c., ' investigated the charge as it affected her legal 

status and her honour.' 

§ 5. luHam : the great-granddaughter of Pomponia, daughter 

of Atticus, through whom this Pomponia Graecina was probably 

related to her. Julia was mother of Rubellius Plautus (ch iq). 

Messalina is stated by Dio to have caused her to be put to death 

in 43 A. D., out of jealousy {(t]\oTvnt]a(i(xa}. 

quadraginta annos : 

reign of Domitian. 

this shows her to have lived on to the 

cultu, ' dress ' 

; egit,' lived.' 

inpune : used as an adjective. Cf. Ann. i 72, 'dicta inpune 

erant ' (Intr. II 49). 

Ch. 33, § I. P. Celerem : seech, i. His trial probably took 

place in the emperor"s private court, as he had been a ' procurator 

principis.' 

traxit, ' let his case drag on.' 

§ 2. obtegefcat, ' cast into the shade.' His chief crime had been 

in Nero's service. 

§ 3. Cossiitianus Capito was a notorious 'delator' under Claudius 

and Nero. In 47 A. D. he strongly opposed the enforcement of the 

' lex Cincia ' against the payment of advocates {Ann. xi 6). On 

the present occasion he was condemned by the senate, by whom 

he was tried, and was expelled from that body; four or five years 

later he was restored through the influence of Tigellinus, his fatherin-law. 

For his attack on Antistius, 62 A. D., and on Thrasea, 

66 A. D., see Ann. xiv 48, and xvi 28, 33. 

Cilices : the formation of Cilicia as a province distinct from Syria 

is ascribed to Vespasian, but it may have been temporarily placed 

under a separate governor earlier. 

maculosum foedumque, ' stained with foul crimes.' 

pervicaci accusatione, ' by the determination of his accusers.' 

§ 4. Eprio Marcello : the notorious 'delator' of Nero's time, 

and a confederate of Cossutianus {Ann. xvi 26, 28, 33). His 

full name was T. Clodius P^Jrius Marcellus ; he was proconsul 

of Asia 70-73 A. D., and conspiring against Vespasian was compelled 

to commit suicide in 79 a.d. 

Lycii : Lycia was formerly a free state, but was taken into the 

empire by Claudius and added to the province of Pamphylia. 

periculuni : used here (as often) for the danger involved by 

a criminal prosecution ; cf. ch. 42. So also ' salus ' often = 

'acquittal.' 

Ch. 34, § I. tertium: used adverbially, 'for the third time.' 

ch. II. 

30 

See

BOOK XIII. CH. 32, § 3 — CH. 35, §§ 1-3 

' proavum : great-grandfather. Abavus,' = great-great-grandfather. 

Corvinum: full name, M. Valerius Messalla Corvinus. He 

was a celebrated friend of Horace, Ovid, and Tibullus ; was consul 

with Augustus in the year of the battle of Actium (31 B.C.), and 

died about 9 A. D. 

abavo : as father of Julia, who was the grandmother of Agrippina, 

Nero's mother. 

meminerant : i.e. they could remember Corvinus as the man 

who had been Augustus' colleague, hardly the consulship itself, as 

it was eighty-nine years ago. 

§ 2. quingenis sestertiis : the sum granted was 500,000 

sesterces, slightly over ^4,000. 

innoxiam, 'blameless,' i.e. without trying to enrich himself by 

corrupt practices when in office, or by informing against fellow- 

citizens. 

§ 3. Cottae : he was also descended from Corvinus. 

Haterio : son of Haterius Agi ippa, who was grandson (on his 

mother's side) of Agrippa, Augustus' minister, and a relation of 

Germanicus {Ann. ii 51). 

§ 4. mollibus, &c., ' (the war) which had so far dragged on feebly 

at its commencement, was now taken up vigorously.' See Intr. V. 

alienae, &c., ' to hold it as a gift from a foreign power,' i. e. by 

acknowledging the suzerainty of Rome, as evidently the Romans 

had ordered him to do. 

parta olim, &c. : at the close of the war with IMithridates 

(74-63 B. C), the Armenians accepted a king nominated by 

Rome. 

§ 5. ambigua fide, * vacillating in their allegiance ' (now to 

Rome, now to Parthia). 

illud : i. e. subjection to the Parthians. 

Ch. 35, § I. This process of disciplining the legions and recruiting 

in Galatia and Cappadocia must have occupied the chief 

part of the time since Corbulo was sent out : Intr. V 3, ad Jin. 

§ 2. Suria : two of the four Syrian legions had been handed 

over to him (ch. 8j, viz. the third and sixth (ch. 38), with detachments 

from the tenth (ch. 40). 

munia castrorum : duties required by active service in a hostile 

country. 

§ 3. stationem ' 

. . . vigilias : stationes,' pickets detached on 

guard both ' ' in the daytime and at night ; vigiliae were on duty by 

night only, and may be distinguished from the former as being 

either (i) the night-patrol gomg round the camp, or (2) the 

sentinels. 

sine galeis, &c. : not wearing full armour, as being in peaceful 

provinces. So the troops in Rome, even when on duty, did not 

wear full equipment except on special occasions {Ann. ii ; 4 Ilisi 

i 38 ; see also Ann. xvi 27, i). 

nitidi, iS:c., ' sleek money-makers.' 

31 

N


§ 4. per Galatiani Cappadociamque : the citizen population of 

these provinces would recruit the legions, the rest the auxiliaries. 

ex Germania legio : not mentioned in the expeditionary loice 

(ch. 40), so it was probably sent on to Syria to make up for the 

detachment from the tenth legion sent to Corbulo. 

cum equitibus, &c. : 

' ' alariis,' belonging to the ala,' the wing 

of cavalry furnished by 'socii'; ' peditatu cohortium,' 'infantry 

consisting of cohorts,' also ' socii.' The whole phrase means the 

complement of auxiliaries both of horse and foot attached to this 

legion. 

' was kept under tents,' instead of being 

§ 5. retentus, iS:c., 

quartered in houses for the winter. They were now encamped in 

the enemy's country, which they entered in the preceding year, 

57 A.]). See Intr. V 3 and 4. 

obducta : abl. with 'glacie ' ; efFossa, nom. with ' humus.' 

§ 6. 

a burn, 

ambusti refers to frost-bite, the effect being similar to 

adnotatus : Intr. II 33. 

praerigviisse, 'to have got frozen at the extremities (prae-), 

namely his hands ' (' manus,' ace. of respect). Cf. ' prae-ustus.' 

§ 7. ostendere : applied by zeugma to ' laudem ' and ' solacium 

as well as ' exemplum.' 

§ 9. venia, nom. 

§ 10. usu salubre, &c., 'was proved by experience to be 

salutary,' ' turned out practically effective.' 

Ch. 36, § I. ver: that of 58 A.D., see ch. 35 and Intr. V 3, 4. 

pugnam: Tacitus frequently uses a noun (so 'pra.e\ium,' Ann. 

iv 49, ' oppugnationem,' ii 

'audeo.' 

12) instead of the usual infinitive after 

primi pill, &c., ' who had served as first centurion of his 

legion.' Under the empire this officer enjoyed much honour and 

dignity ; he had charge of the legionary eagle, with large emoluments 

('locupletem aquilain,' Juv. xiv 197); 

' tribuni,' and was with them admitted to 

ranked next to the 

the council of the 

general. The primipilatus might even be the first step in the 

equestrian career, leading to the tribunate of the cohorts 

city soldiery, and then on to procuratorships. 

of the 

' 

§ 2. casum, opportunity.' 

§ 3. turmae, ' squadrons of horse.' Their arrival gave him 

a pretext for taking the offensive. 

§ 5. increpiUrm, 'reprimanded.' 

tendere, ' to encamp outside the lines,' a regular punishment in 

the Roman army ; cf. Livy x 4. 

nee nisi, &c., ' and were only released on a petition from the 

whole army.' 

Ch. 37, § I. clientelas, 'vassal states.' 

Vologesi : genitive. See Intr. II 62. 

§ 2. frustra habitus, 'eluded,' ' baftled.' 

circumferre bellum, ' to enlarge the area of his operations.' 

32 

'

BOOK XIII. CH. 35, § 4 — CH. 39, § i 

Antiochum: see ch. 7. 

praefecturas, 'departments,' for purposes of military organization 

; there were 120 of these in Armenia. The word is also 

apphed in Ann. xi 8 to the divisions of Parthia, 

King of Iberia, to whom Rhadamistus fled 

§ 3. Pharasmanes : 

on his escape from Armenia, ch. 6. 

quasi proditore : he now thought it pohtic to disavow Rhadamistus 

whom he had previously supported. 

' quo, &c. ; dependent on exerc'ebat.' 

§ 4. Moschi : at the SE. corner of the Euxine, about the sources 

of the Phasis. 

soeia : referring probably to assistance rendered by them to 

Trajan in Tacitus' own time. 

incursavit : attracted into the sing, by the intervention of 

*gens ' in apposition to ' Moschi.' 

beneficiis : favours from Rome ; vetere, ' long standing.' 

§ 5. ideo, &c., ' for this reason only had Vologeses as yet made no 

movement, that they preferred to negociate rather than take violent 

action.' 

Arsaeidis, (dat. plur. of the patronymic), ' the house of Arsaces,' 

founder of the royal house of Parthia, c. 250 B. c. 

saepius . . . clade : referring to the defeat of Crassus 53 B, c, 

and of Antonius in 36 B. C. 

§ 6. Hyi'cania was at the SE. angle of the Caspian. 

suadet adgredi : see Intr. II 31. 

posse, &c., ' he might set his kingdom on a secure basis and 

avoid bloodshed if, abandoning remote and distant possibilities, he 

would follow the better policy immediately open to him.' 

Ch. 38, § I. in summam pacis, ' towards the general result 

of peace.' 

ipsorum, ' the generals themselves.' 

§ 2. dum, 'provided that.' 

in faciem, ' so as to give the appearance of.' 

§ 3. ideo, &c., ' (it was clear) that a small number was suggested 

on the side of the Parthians and a larger on that of the Romans, 

for the very purpose of arranging a treacherous attack.' 

equiti, with 'obicerentur '; profuturam, sc. ' Romanis.' 

§ 5. colles, &c., ' hills rising gently up (suitably) for the reception 

of the infantry lines.' aecipiendis, dat. of purpose, varied in 

the next clause by ' ad ' with accus. 

§ 6. regum : Antiochus and Agrippa, ch. 7. 

pro cornibus, ' at the extremity of each wing.' 

sextam: from Syria, ch. 35. 

tertianorum : men of the third legion. 

quasi, &c., ' as if there were but one legion in sight.' 

Ch. 39, § I. fraudem, ' an attack.' 

Pontico, &c., ' coming by way of the Euxine and from Trapezus,' 

the modern Trebizond, from which point the land transport would 

begin. Trapezus was a flourishing port when the Ten Thousand 

33


struck the sea there on their retreat, Xen. Anab. v 5, and was now 

a free city. 

discedit : first northwards towards Trapezus, and then, on the 

failure of his plan, towards Artaxata. 

§ 2. Volandum : exact site unknown ; it stood W. of Artaxata 

and S. of the Araxes. 

Cornelio Flacco : not elsewhere mentioned ; he was evidently 

' legatus legionis.' Insteiua Capito, now promoted from centurion 

(ch. 9) to the post of ' praefectus castrorum.' 

§ 4. in testudinem conglobatoa : massed together with their 

shields locked above their heads. 

subruendo : dat. of purpose. 

incutere = ' conicere.' 

§ 5. libritoribus : these worked the artillery engines (' tormenla'j 

; the 'funditores' were armed with a sling ('funda'). 

glandes : leaden balls. 

§6. obices portarum, (i) 'barricades at the gateways,' like 

'obices viarum,' Liv. ix 3 ; or (2) 'the obstacle presented by the 

gates,' like ' se vasti Proteus tegit obice saxi,' Verg. Georg. iv 422. 

escensu : ott. tXp. 

§ 7. sub corona venundatum, ' were sold as slaves,' the profits 

going to the state. It was the custom for captives to be crowned 

with wreaths when being sold as slaves. 

cetera, &c., ' all the rest, some through fear, others voluntarily ' 

the omission of ' alia ' before ' terrore ' implies that the majority were 

influenced by fear. 

§ 8. si . . . transgrederentur . . . dabantur : the indicat. (instead 

of ' darentur ' or ' dati essent ') vividly states the unrealized tendency 

as though realized in fact : cf. ch. ii I. 

procul et latioribus vadis : a condensed expression, ' further 

off where the river was broader and so fordable ' (because more 

shallow). 

Ch. 40, § I. concessisset, ' should he have offered no resistance 

to the siege.' 

date die, ' when a fit day offeied itself.' 

§ 2. non ignaro, &c., ' without taking our general unawares, 

since he had arranged his army ready alike for marching or 

fighting ' ; for the datives cf. ch. 32 ' ultioni iuxta et securitati.' 

§ 3. decumanorum : 

the main body was left with Ummidius, 

ch! 8. 

quibus iusserat : cf. ch. 15, 3. 

non eequerentur, ' non ' used for ' ne ' to emphasize the negation 

of the particular word ' sequerentur ' rather than of the whole 

phrase : cf. ' non Teucros agat,' Verg. Aen. xii 78. ' proinde . . . 

non ad unum omnia deferrent,' Ami. i 11. 

§ 4. prodvxctiore, &:c., ' the left wing extending out further.' 

fronte simul et sinu, ' in front and on the flank simultaneously '; 

'sinu,' the 'fold' or 'bay' in which the extended left wing would 

envelop the enemy making a frontal attack on the centre of the line. 

34 

;

§ 5. ex diverse : liere = ' 

BOOK XIII. CH. 39, § I — CH. 42, § i 

ex adverse.' 

ad ictum, ' within range.' 

diveraos, ' when separated.' 

§ 6. ubi nihil, &c., ' when no rash act brought on disorder, and 

nothing more happened except that a commander of a 

' decuria ' 

of horse, &c.' (Intr. II 58). 

Ch. 41, § I, in loco, ' ' where he was' ; agitavit, deliberated.' 

§ 2. Medi: those of Media Atropatene, SE. of Armenia. 

Albani : extending from Iberia to the Caspian. 

§ 3. ignis inmissus : Corbulo probably passed the winter there 

and destroyed Artaxata next spring. 

nee id, &c., ' we had not sufficient forces to be divided for 

forming a strong garrison and prosecuting the war.' 

vel si: introducing a third alternative instead of the more usual 

' sin vero.' 

§ 4. miraculum : the ensuing description is hardly applicable 

to the solar eclipse of 59 A. D. {A;tn. xiv 12), seen in Armenia by 

Corbulo (Pliny A'. //. ii 70, 72, 182), but rather to a striking eftect 

of cloud and sunshine noticed during a thunderstorm. 

cuncta Artaxatia tenus : for Med. ' cun ta extra tectis actenus.' 

Other corrections are 'cuncta extra, tectis tenus'; 'cuncta extra 

tecta hactenus ; ' or ' cuncta hactenus,' 'extra tecta' being omitted 

as a gloss. 

discretum, ' parted off from the rest' (cf. ' velo discreta,' ch. 5) 

rather than 'seamed.' 

§ 5. consalutatus,&c., 'Nero was hailed imperator,' by Corbulo's 

soldiers. This honour was often paid by a victorious army to the 

effigy of the ' princeps,' when he himself was not present, in 

acknowledgement of his supremacy over the army. (So in 16 A. D. 

Germanicus' soldiers hailed Tiberius imperator after their victory 

over Arminius, A/ifi. ii 18.) 

eontinui, ' in successive years.' Nero did not accept this. 

quo relatum, 'on which the matter had been discussed' in the 

senate. 

adeo, ' proceeding to such inordinate flattery.' 

C. Cassius : a celebrated jurist. He had preceded Ummidius 

in the government of Syria : he was exiled in 65 A.D. {A fin. xvi 9). 

His ironical suggestion he:e does not seem to have been resented 

by Nero. 

pro, ' proportionately to.' 

eoque, &c., 'and accordingly holy days and days of business 

must be marked off, so that they might attend to religious duties 

without interfering with the affairs of this world.' (' quis ' as though 

'quibus ita divisis.') 

Ch. 42, § I. invidia, 'feeling against.' 

terribilis ac venalis, ' a terrible instrument of corruption.' 

Suillius : formerly quaestor serving under Germanicus, and 

exiled by Tiberius in 24 A.D. for taking a bribe 'for a judicial 

decision' {Aiifi. iv 31), Under Claudius, as Messalina's agent, he 

35 

;


attacked Valerius Asiaticus, whose estates she coveted, 47 A.D 

{Ann. xi i) ; and there was an outcry in the senate for the enforcement 

of the ' lex Cincia ' about the same time, because he had, as 

advocate, exacted a large fee from a client and then betrayed his 

cause (xi ). 5 He was proconsul of Asia towards the end of Claudius' 

reign, see ch. 43, where also the names of his chief victims are given. 

quantum... cuperent, 'to such an extent as his enemies wished'; 

a 'limitative' use of the subjunct. after a relative, developed Ironi 

the 'generic' use seen in the next clause, 'qui . . . mallet/ 'the sort 

of man who preferred.' See also Intr. II 41. 

demissus : humbled. 

§ 2. senatus consultum : see note on ch. 5, i. 

§ 3. praeter, &c., ' adding the freedom of extreme age to his 

naturally hot temper.' 

exilium : see note on ch. 2, I. 

§ 4. studiia inertibus, &c., 'accustomed to academic pursuits 

and the society of raw striplings, he was jealous of those who 

employed a practical and incorrupt eloquence in the defence of 

fellow-citizens.' As a man of affairs, practising in the Courts, 

.Suillius sneers at Seneca as a mere professor (of poetry, philosophy, 

and rhetoric), living outside the world of action. 

adulterum : this was Messalina's pretext for his banishment. 

§ 5. sponte : advocates evaded the penalties for high fees by 

the fiction that what they took was a present ; of. ch. 5, i. 

§6. quadriennium : i.e. since Nero's accession. For Nero's 

gifts to Seneca, see ch. iS and xiv 53-54. 

§ 7. testamenta et orbos, 'the wills of childless persons.' 

Hendiadys, see Intr. II 54. 

indagine, ' in his net,' a metaphor from hunting. 

provincias . . . hauriri : possibly an allusion to the story mentioned 

by Dio that one of the causes of the British rebellion of 61 a.d. 

{Ann. xiv 29) was the pressure put on Seneca's debtors in Britain. 

§ 8. crimen, &c., 'accusation, trial (see ch. 33), anything.' 

toleraturum . . . submitteret, ' quam ' with subjunct. (as though 

= 'quam ut') frequently in Livy follows a future in expressions with 

* ' potius,' prius,' &c. So also Sail. Jug. 106 ' mansurum potius 

quam . . . vitae parceret.' 

subitae felicitati, ' the success of an upstart.' For the use of 

the abstr. word, cf. §4 ' iuvenum imperitiae,' and ch. I, I 'dominationibus.' 

Ch. 43, § 2. inquisitioneni annuam, 'a year for the collection 

of evidence.' Cf. ch. 52. A considerable interval between the 

notification of intention to prosecute and the actual trial was usually 

given for this purpose. Cicero when attacking Verres used only 

filty days in collecting his witnesses, thus baffling an attempt of the 

other side to get the trial put off to an occasion more favourable to 

themselves. 

urbana, ' relating to his actions in the city.* 

otvii, 'on the spot.' 

36

BOOK XIII. CH. 42, § I — CH. 44, §§ 2-9 

§ 3. Pomponiura: he became consul suffectus on the death of 

Gaius,4i A.u., and exhorted the senate to re-estabhsh the Repubhc, 

or at least to set up a worthy emperor, which may have furnished 

ground of accusation against him and driven him to join the conspiracy 

of Camillus Scribonianus, the failure of whose designs upon 

the principate caused so many executions (42 A. D.). 

luliam : see ch. 32, 5. 

Sabinam Poppaeam : mother of the woman who became Nero's 

wife later on. Messalina had her executed, regarding her as a 

rival for the affections of her paramour Mnester {Ann. xi i, 2). 

Valerium Asiaticum : see ch. 42. 

Lusium Saturninum : mentioned by Seneca among the victims 

under Claudius, but nothing further is known of him. 

Cornelius Lupus was governor of Crete and Cyrene under Tiberius, 

and consul suffectus in 42 A.D. He and Saturninus were probably 

executed for participation in the plot of Camillus Scribonianus. 

iam, ' and further,' pointing to a climax. 

equitum agmina : more than 300, according to Suet. C7. 29. 

§ 4. defendebat, ' urged in defence.' 

commentariis, ' the private journals ' of Claudius. 

§ 5. vocem praeberet, 'lend himself to be the mouthpiece.' 

delegent, ' impute.' 

§6. parte, 'half.' Cf. Ann. iii 17. Usually such 'deportatio' 

involved complete loss of property. 

filio : Nerullinus. nepti, probably the daughter of the other 

son Caesoninus. matris aut aviae, i.e. the mother of Nerullinus 

and grandmother of Caesoninus' daughter. 

Baleares: 

conensis. 

attached to the imperial province Hispania Tarra- 

copiosa : an exile even after confiscation of his goods often 

received a considerable portion back again as 'viaticum.' 

§ 7. repetundarum : he may have been ' legatus ' to his father 

when governor of Asia. 

that province. 

In 70 a.d. he was himself proconsul of 

Ch. 44, § 2. vacua, ' free,' by divorcing her husband. 

exuere, ' disclaim,' ' repudiate.' 

§ 3. salutem . . . arbitrio, S:c., 'putting his life completely in 

her hands.' 

§ 4. modum, 'moderation.' 

§ 6. exprobratio satisfactio, ' reproaches, apologies.' 

ex qua qviasi incensus, 'after which, as though in a fit of 

passion' (although the deed was really premeditated), 'he stabbed 

her.' Med. gives ' ' et quastim census.' Other corrections are ex 

qua incensus,' 'ex qua statim incensus,' ' et quasi istinc cessurus.' 

§ 8. commoverat, ' he had won some credence by the greatness 

of his devotion.' For 'commoverat' cf. ch. 21, 9. exempli, 

cf. xv 63, 3 (contrast 

a deed worthy of being taken as an example ; 

' xiv 44, 7, where exemplum' = 'exemplary form of punishment '). 

§ 9. apud eonsulea : as presiding over the senate, which at 

37


this time, as high criminal court, took cognizance of murder (see 

Intr. Ill 8). 

postquam, &c., 'on the expiration of his term of office.' 

lege : the ' lex Corneha ' of Sulla, which prescribed the penalty 

of ' deportatio' and forfeiture of all property. 

Ch. 45, § I. insignia; conspicuous, as occurring 

' An equally scandalous piece of wickedness,' &c. 

in high life. 

Poppaei Sabini : consul in 9 A. D., and subsequently one of 

the most trusted of Tiberius' provincial governors: he held first 

Moesia, and then Achaia with Macedonia, winning triumphal 

honours, ' contusis Thraecum gentibus' (A/tn. \v 46), in 26 A D. 

He died in 33 A.D., having governed important provinces for 

twenty-four years. 

honoribus nondum functum : 

Ner. 35), so that 'honores 

Ollius had been quaestor (Suet. 

' = 

'the higher magistracies.' Cf. ch. 25, 2. 

pervertit, ' was his ruin.' His name is not mentioned in the 

extant narrative of that period. 

§ 2. mater: Poppaea. See ch. 43, 3. 

comis, 'pleasing.' nee absurdum ingenium, 'a brilliant 

enough wit.' 

modestiam, &c., ' she could profess modesty yet practise misconduct.' 

§ 3. faraae, &c., 'she ne\er had been careful of her reputation, 

making no difference between husbands and paramours ; never 

swayed by affection, in either herself or another, wherever there appeared 

a prospect of advantage, thither she transferred her favours.' 

ostenderetur : frequentative. Intr. II 41. 

§ 4. agentem, ' living,' cf ch. 32, 5. 

Rufri Crispini : formerly praefect of praetorians, and succeeded 

by liurrus in 51 A. D. (An;!, xii 42). He was banished 

after Piso's conspiracy, 65 A. D. (xv 71), and on being condemned 

next year he committed suicide (xvi 17). 

filium : drowned by Nero's orders (Suet. Ner. 35). 

Otho : see ch. 12. Tacitus here seems to be correcting the 

earlier version that he gave in the Histotics (which is also given 

in Suet., Dio, and Plut.), that Otho first married .Poppaea to 

facilitate Nero's adultery with her, and was then banished on 

becoming enamoured of her himself. 

flagrant issimua : the word denotes strength in something evil 

' was notorious for his close friendship with Nero. 

Ch. 46, 

blest.' 

" 

§ 3. aecepto aditu, 'on obtaining access to him first proceeded 

to gain influence by the arts of flattery, pretending to be mastered 

by her passion and captivated by Nero's beauty.' 

ad superbiam vertens, ' turning supercilious.' 

amittere, ' give up.' 

§ 4. ciiltu, ' refinement.' ibi = ' apud ilium,' 

a style of life worthy of the highest position.' 

38 

' there she saw 

,

BOOK XIII. CH. 44, § 9 — CH. 48, §§ 1-3 

paelice, &c., 'bound to a menial concubine in his intimacy with 

Acte.' 

contubernio, ' connexion.' The word denotes the union of a 

male and female slave, who could not contract legal marriage. 

§ 5. familiaritate, ' intimacy.' congresau et comitatu, attend- 

ing his levees and accompanying him on journeys. 

aemulatua : (i) ace. plur. of subst., 

partes sustineret,' or (2) participle, 

after 'ageret ' = ' aemuli 

' live 

had been his rival.' 

in the city as one who 

Lusitaniae : north-west of Spain, including also Portugal. 

ad civilia arma: up to 68 A. D., when he joined Galba, governor 

of Hispania Tarraconensis, against Nero. 

procax, &c., ' profligate in his leisure, but fairly self-controlled 

in his official life.' The genitives are somewhat bold applications 

of the genitive of reference, such as ' integer vitae,' Hor. Od. 

' 

i 22. I ; modicus voluptatum,' Tac. Ann. ii 73. temperantior, 

more self-controlled than one would expect from his previous life. 

Ch. 47, § I. Sullam : see ch. 23, § i. 

socors, &c., 'setting an opposite construction on his apathetic 

disposition, and characterizing him as a cunning dissembler.' The 

ablat. of the gerund is co-ordinated with the pres. partic. for 

variety. See Intr. II 22 (b). 

§ 2. libertis Caesaris: see ch. 12, § i. 

U3U, &c., 'a master in the intrigues of the imperial palace owing 

to his age and experience from Tiberius onwards.' For abusqtie 

cf. Intr. II 46. 

intendit, ' intensified.' 

pons Mulvius: two miles outside the city, on the 'via Flaminia,' 

which ran northwards through the Sabine country on to 

Ariminum. 

Celebris, &c., 'the haunt of nightly debauchery.' (Notice the 

rare masculine form.) 

§ 3. regredienti ; with ' compositas,' ' laid for hiin if he came 

back along the via Flaminia.' 

Sallustianoa : laid out between the Quirinal and Pincian hills 

by the historian Sallust, and probably left by his adoptive son to 

Tiberius. To reach them Nero would turn off from the Flaminian 

way to the left. 

inanem: i.e. without injuring them. 

§ 4. abhorrebat, ' was inconsistent with the charge.' 

Ch. 48, § I. Puteolanorum : the people of Puteoli (the ancient 

port of Cumae). 

quas, t&c, ' which had been sent by the council and populace 

in opposition to each other.' ordo, sc. ' cipal senate. 

decurionum,' the muni- 

ad senatum : see ch. 4, 3. 

primi cuiuaque, ' their leading citizens.' 

§ 2. C. Cassiua : see ch. 41, 5. 

§ 3. Scribonios fratres : Rufus and Proculus, for some years 

39


contemporaneously legati of Upper and Lower Germany ; summoned 

to Greece by Nero and forced to commit suicide in 67 A. D. 

data cohorte praetoria : by Nero. 

Ch. 49, § I. vulgarissimtim, 'most commonplace.' 

egredi : for the infin., cf. Intr. II 31. 

numerum, ' to exceed the number fixed for shows of gladiators.' 

It is not clear whether Tacitus means (i) the number shown in a 

single performance, or (2) the number of performances annually 

permissible. Augustus limited the number of shows in Rome to 

two annually, and the number of gladiators at each to 120 .pairs. 

Tiberius made a further reduction, but Gains relaxed the rule. 

The number permissible in Italian towns is not known : an inscription 

at Pompeii mentions thirty to thirty-five pairs contending. 

Paetus : full name, P. Clodius Thrasea Paetus. He was consul 

in 56 A. v., and was conspicuous for his independent attitude in the 

senate (see ^/wi.xiv 12, and 48 ; xvi2i; 

xvi 33-35)arguendae, 

and for his death in 66 A. D., 

* for attacking his vote.' 

§ 2. quibusque, etc., 

depended.' 

'and the other things on which the state 

licere, &;c. : procedure in the senate was that the presiding 

consuls brought forward ('referre') the subject of discussion, asking 

In his answer a 

individual senators for their opinion ('sententia '). 

senator might go beyond the subject (' egredi relationem ') and bring 

uj) some other matter which he thought important, as Cato used to 

finish all his speeches, no matter what the subject might be, with 

' delenda est Carthago.' There would, however, be no vote of the 

house on a subject thus raised, unless the consuls chose to add it 

to their ' relatio.' Cf. ch. 26, 2. 

§ 3. largius, 'too profusely.' partes, 'departments.' 

§ 4. summa : neut. plur. dissimulatione, ' by ignoring them.' 

inanibus, 'trifles.' 

§ 5. non . . . ignarum, ' it was not because he was unaware of 

the present situation that he (attempted to) correct.' 

sad, &c., ' but he paid this tribute to the honour of the senate.' 

curam, &c., ' that they would not repress their interest in important 

affairs.' 

Ch. 50, § I. publicanoruin : the associations ('societates') of 

' equites' who bought from the treasury the right of collecting the 

taxes in the various districts of the empire, 

vectigalia : indirect taxes, viz. (i) ' portoria,' customs duties 

levied at the frontiers of the empire and of the districts into which it 

was divided for financial purposes; (2) ' scriptura,' the dues paid for 

use of the public pastures ; (3) harbour-dues, and royalties on 

mining and on the manufacture of salt. Roman citizenship did not 

carry with it immunity from ' vectigalia,' though it did from ' tributa,' 

the direct taxes, laid on subject-peoples, which consisted of the 

'decumae,' i.e. payment of one-tenth of the produce of land occupied, 

or ' tributum capitis,' an income tax paid by such as had no land. 

40

BOOK XIII. CH. 48, § 3 — CH. 52, §§ 1-3 

§ 2. impetum, 'impulse.' sequens: sc. 'esse,' 'the next thing 

would be that.' 

§ 3. a consulibus, &;c. : i. e. by ' lejês ' or ' plebiscita ' proposed 

on the occasion of the organization of new provinces, when to collect 

the new revenues fresh ' societates ' would have to be enrolled and 

chartered. 

aeri, 'being still in full vigour.' 

reliqua mox, &c., ' next had followed arrangements whereby the 

amount of duties levied should be balanced with the necessary 

expenditure.' 

§ 4. acerbitatibus, ' acts of oppression.' 

Ch. 51, § I. ut leges: 'that the regulations about each tax, 

which had hitherto remained unpublished, should be publicly posted 

' up.' Leges ' = the contracts made by the ' publicani,' with the rules 

as to the collection of the tax (' publicum '). 

petitiones, &c., ' (revenue) claims which had been allowed to 

drop should not be taken up after a year's interval.' 

Romae . . . essent : referring to the ordinary judicial tribunals at 

home and abroad. ' Qui pro praetore aut consule essent ' = governors 

of provinces both imperial and senatorial. (No particular mention is 

made of the ' procuratores' who governed minor imperial provinces : 

these however seem to have been subordinated to the nearest imperial 

' legatus,' so that special mention of them is hardly needed.) 

extra ordinem, ' should give prior hearing to suits against 

the tax collectors.' 

militibiis, 'soldiers should have their immunity (from ' vectigalia') 

preserved, except -in the case of goods kept for purposes of trade.' 

For the trading of Roman soldiers in time of peace, cf. ch. 35, 3. 

frustra habita, ' evaded.' 

§ 2. quadragensimae quinquagensimaeque, ' duties of 2J 

and 2 per cent.' ; fictions under which the ' publicani ' made illegal 

exactions. 

§ 3. subvectio, &c., 'the conveyance of corn was rendered 

easier,' by lightening duties and removing restrictions. 

ne censibus, &c., ' that the ships of merchants should not be 

assessed in their property, and that they should not pay propertytax 

upon them.' (Taxes on ships would increase the cost of 

transport.) This concession benefited foreign corn-dealers; Roman 

citizens were in any case free from 'tributum.' 

Ch. 52, § I. Camerinum : consul suftectus 46 A. D. put to 

; 

death by Helius (see ch. i, 3) during Nero's absence in Greece. 

Silvanum : consul ' ' suffectus 45 A. D. ; mentioned as legatus of 

Delmatia, Hist, ii 86. 

abaolvit : the trial would be in the senate, and Nero by voting 

first would secure acquittal. 

§ 2. tempus : cf. ch. 43, 2. 

ilico, 'at once.' defend! : for the infin. see Intr. II 31. 

§ 3. orbitate: cf. ch. 42, 7. His supporters of course hoped 

to profit by his will. 

4T


ambitu : cf. ch. 6, 6. 

Ch. 53, § I. ad id tempus : the last notice of affairs in Germany 

relates to 50 A. D. {Aufi. xii 27-28). The period covered by 

the ensuing chapters begins earlier than 58 A. D. ; the canal of 

Paulinas (§ 3) having been begun 55 A. D., and the events of chs. 

54, 55 falling in 57 and 58 A. D. 

pervvilgatis, 'having become vulgarized' by being given on 

inadequate grounds. (Cf. Ann. xi 20 ; xii 3.) 

§ 2. Paulinus : legatus of Lower Germany ; father (or brother) 

of Seneca's wife {Ann. xv 60). 

Vetus : consul 55 A. D. (ch. 11). He would go to his province 

' consul suffectus.' 

during the same year, on being succeeded by a 

He aprarently only held his province for a year (see ch. 56, 4). 

§ 3. a Druso : he died in 9 B. c. 

aggerem : to prevent inundation on the Gallic side {Hist, v 19). 

copiae, ' merchandise ' 

; not troops, as these were drawn from 

the provinces rather than dispatched in any numbers from Italy, 

navigabilia, ' open to communication with each other by ship.' 

§ 4. Belgieae : between the Seine and the Rhine, 

studiaque, &c., ' and court popularity with the Gallic provinces.' 

formidolosum, &c , 'saying that the emperor would regard 

such an act with apprehension, (an argument) by which noble 

enterprises are often hindered.' 

Ch. 54, § 2. lacus : now absorbed in the Zuyder Zee. 

ripae : of the old Rhine. 

sepositos : set apart as pasturage for beasts kept for provisioning 

the troops ; ch. 55, 3. 

Verrito et Malorige : perhaps ' German. 

Werreit ' and 'Malrich' in 

in quantum, &c., ' so far as the Germans are subject to kings.' 

§ 3. Dubiua Avitus : 

consul suffectus with Thrasea in the latter 

months of 56 A. D. He is mentioned by Pliny (A'. H. xxxiv 7) as 

' legatus ' of Aquitania, which province he held before his consulship, 

suscipere : Intr. 11 31. 

§ 4. aliis curia intentum, ' absorbed in other business.' 

Pompei tlieatrum : the first permanent theatre in Rome, 

dating from Pompeius' second consulship, 55 B.C. 

§ 5. per otium, ' being unoccupied.' 

neque enim, &c., 'for not understanding it they were not 

amused with the performance.' 

conaessum eaveae, &c. : the general body of the audience, 

contrasted with those who had special seats ('discrimina ordinum') 

i.e. the knights, who had the first fourteen rows, and the senators, 

who sat in the ' orchestra.' 

quia : sc. 'scdibus.' 

percontantiir : applied by zeugma to ' consessum ' and 'discrimina,' 

as well as to ' quis eques, ubi senatus.' (Cf. ch. 35, 7.) 

amicitia Eomana, ' friendship towards Rome.' This privilege 

was given anciently to the Massilians, and was also given by Julius 

42 

;

BOOK XIII. CH. 52, § 3 — CH. 55, §§ 1-5 

Caesar to Hyrcanus and his sons. Augustus forbade the introduction 

of foreigners into the senate's seats, but his prohibition had evidently 

come to be disregarded. Suetonius relates the same incident as 

having happened in the reign of Claudius {CI. 25), describing the 

ambassadors whom the Germans saw as Parthians and Armenians. 

§ 6. comiter, 'good naturediy.' 

quasi, &c., 'as (a mark) of primitive impetuosity and (an act of) 

praiseworthy rivalry.' 

Ch. 55, § I. agros : the district referred to lay between the Rhine, 

the Lippe, and the Ems. 

Ampaivarii : the name is connected with 'Amisia,' the ancient 

name of the river Ems. 

Chaucis : a powerful German tribe whose invasion of Lower Germany 

was stopped by Corbulo, about 47 A. D. (Attn, xi 18). Their 

proper territory lay on either side of the lower Weser {Germ. 35). 

§ 2. aderat iis, ' came to plead for them,' as their advocate. 

rebellione Cherusca : the rising against Varus, headed by 

Arminius, in 9 A. D., after which Tiberius was general in Germany 

for two years, and Germanicus from 13 to 16 A. D, The Cherusci 

were NE. of the Chatti, and held the countiy between the Elbe 

and the Weser, i. e. portions of Hanover and Brunswick. 

quinqiiaginta : reckoning from Varus' disaster, 9 A. D. 

subiceret, ' kept obedient ' through all that time. 

§ 3. quo . . . iacere, ' to what purpose was so vast a space left 

vacant ? ' Cf. ' quo mihi fortunam, si non conceditur uti ? ' ( Hor. Ep. 

15,12). 

in quam, &c., 'that the flocks and herds of the soldiers might 

occasionally be sent across to it .'^ 

' i.e. why leave so much ground 

unoccupied when it was so seldom used ? Med. ' quotani partem,' 

&c., ' how small a fraction of the land was that to which the flocks 

were now and then sent ; i. e. how small a part was ever used ' for 

be regarded as a 

its alleged purpose. Taken thus, ' iacere ' may 

gloss for ' esse ' understood. 

§ 4. servarent sane, &c. : sarcastically; 'by all means let them 

keep preserves for their flocks while human beings were starving, 

only let them not prefer an uninhabited wilderness to friendly 

tribes (in their neighbourhood).' receptus and famem are corrections 

for ' receptos ' and 'famam.' If we retain the two latter 

words, we may render. Met them preserve them, received among 

their flocks (i.e. give them a refuge with their cattle), within 

range of a human voice,' or 'amid human report ' (i.e. still known 

among men) ; but the latter expression is unnatural. 

§ 5. Chamavorura : mentioned in Germ. ^-^ ; in Tacitus' time 

they had moved further into the interior from their original position 

near the Rhine. 

Tubantum : a tribe who had originally lived near the Yssel and 

migrated in a south-easterly direction to a position south of the Ruhr. 

Usiporum: the Usipi (also written 'Usipetes') are usually 

mentioned in conjunction with the Tencteri {Germ. 32); they 

43


fronted the Rhine through a considerable part of Lower Germany. 

In the time of Domitian they furnished a cohort for service in 

Britain {A£-?\ 28). 

vacuae, 'unoccupied.' publieas, 'common property.' 

§ 6. mare superfunderent : an imprecation natural to a barbarian 

familiar with the inundations of the Low Countries. 

Ch. 56, § I. commotus, 'was impressed.' 

patienda : sc. ' ait.' 

§ 2. in publicum, 'addressed to them as a nation.' Cf. 'in 

commune,' xv 63, I. 

§ 3. deesse : sc. ' potest.' 

in vitam : = 'in qua vivamus.' MS. gives ' terram vivam.' 

§ 4. Bructeroa : these joined Arminius, 9 A. D., and captured one 

of Varus' eagles, which was recovered A. D. 15 [Ann. i 60). 

lived on the Lippe, near Miinster. 

They 

Tencteros : a tribe who lived along the Rhine, next to the 

Usipi, and wei'e famous as cavalry (Germ. 32). 

socias bello : predicatively, ' to join them in war.' 

Curtilivrm Manciam : successor to Vetus (cf. ch. 53, 2). 

§ 6. Chattos : their name is thought to survive in the modern 

Plessen, which, with part of Nassau, represents their locality (part 

of the ' Hercynius saltus'). 

Cheruscos : see ch. 55, 2. 

errore longo, &c., 'in their long wanderings being first received 

hospitably, then left destitute, and then treated as foes, their fighting 

men were massacred in an enemy's country.' 

Intr. II 22. 

For the case, see 

Ch. 57, § I. 

Thuringia. 

Hermunduros: inhabiting parts of Franconia and 

flumen : probably the Werra, the eastern branch of the Weser, 

near which are the salt springs of Salzungen. 

vi trahunt, ' each forcibly appropriate.' 

religione insita, ' through a deeply-rooted superstition that.' 

propius, 'from a nearer point.' Woods, groves, and streams 

were generally looked on as the abode of deities by the Germans 

and Tacitus implies that the Germans held this spot to be 

especially sacred from the presence of salt, as a divine gift. 

§ 2. eluvie, &c., ' from a pool left by the sea when the water 

evaporates.' fusa : abl. abs., sc. ' unda.' 

ex contrariis, &c. : the elder Pliny gives a similar description : 

'Galliae Germaniaeque ardcntibus lignis aquam salsam infundunt.' 

The fire would cause speedy evaporation and salt would be deposited, 

but the process described is so rude and wou'.d yield so 

little as to suggest that the water was really boiled down in pans. 

§ 3. victores, 'either side in the event of victory.' 

diversam aciem, * the army of the enemy.' So in xiv 30, I. 

Mai-ti ac Mercuric : Tin or Ziu, and Wodan or Wuotan, names 

from which respectively are derived ' Tuesday ' and ' \\ ednesday.' 

§ 4, minae hoatiles, &;c., ' threats on the part of our foes proved 

44 

;

BOOK XIII. CH. 55, § 5 — CH. 58 

disastrous to themselves.' The Chatti were enemies of Rome, and 

the Hermunduri friendly. 

Ubiorum : their capital was converted into * Colonia Agrippinen- 

sis' (Koln, Cologne) in 50 A. D. (Afi?i. xii 27). 

§ 5. terra editi : possibly from the burning of a peat-moor. 

§ 6. ira cladis = ' ira ob cladem.' Cf. Verg. Aen. ii 413 'ercptae 

virginis ira.' 

iacere : historic infin., unusual after 'donee' (Intr. II 34). 

reaistentibus, ' coming to a standstill.' 

§ 7- oppressura, &c., 'as likely to quench the flames, the 

commoner and more soiled by use they were.' 

Ch. 58. Euminalem : the ' ficus Ruminalis' was believed 

to have been that under which the wolf suckled the twins, the 

name being derived from ' rumis ' or ' ruma,' an old word for 

' mamma,' which gave its name to a goddess ' Rumina.' It was 

believed to have stood originally in the ' Lupercal,' on the Palatine, 

but to have been miraculously removed by Attus Navius, the augur 

of Tarquinius Priscus, to the 'comitium,' i.e. the part of the Forum 

nearest to the Capitol, where the bronze group of the wolf and 

twins stood near it. 

45

ANNALS. BOOK XIV 

A. U. C. 812, A. D. 59. C. Vipatanus Apronianus, C. Fonteius 

Capito, C033. 

Ch. 1-13. Murder of Agrippina. 

I. Nero urged against his mother by Poppaea. 2. Story of her 

schemes for the recovery of her influence. 3. Difficulty of perpetrating 

the murder: a ship contrived for the purpose by 

Anicetus. 4. Nero receives her at Bauh with great show of 

affection. 5, 6. Her friends 

killed ; she escapes with life. 

Crepereius Gallus and Acerronia 

7. Nero in alarm consults Seneca 

and Burrus. 8. Anicetus, with a body of ' Her burial : 

classiarii,' kills her. 9. 

prediction of her fate. 10. Nero's terror composed 

by his courtiers. 11. Story made up to the senate by Seneca. 12. 

Servility of the senate except Thrasea : persons exiled by Agrippina 

restored. 13. Nero received in Rome with public demonstrations 

: he plunges into various excesses. 

Ch. 14-19. Affairs at Rome. 

14. Nero exhibits himself as a charioteer. 15. The Juvenalia: 

demoralisation of Roman society. 16. He composes verses, and 

listens to disputations. 17. Riot at Pompeii. 18. Pedius Blaesus 

condemned ; Acilius Strabo acquitted. Death of Domitius Afer 

and M, Servilius. 

A. U. C. 813, A. D. 60. Were Caesar IV, Cornelius Cossus 

Lentulus, coss. 


20, 21, Institution of quinciuennial Greek games at Rome, and 

opinions on them : the prize of eloquence awarded to Nero. 22. 

Appearance of a comet : Rubellius Plautus induced to go into 

voluntary exile : illness of Nero ascribed to divine displeasure. 


23. Corbulo advances from Artaxata and chastises the Mardi. 

24. He escapes assassination and occupies Tigranocerta. 25. 

'1'3

BOOK XIV. SUMMARY OF CONTENTS 

He takes Legerda and receives a friendly embassy from the 

Hyrcanians. 26. Tigranes sent from Rome and set up as king 

of Armenia : Corbulo retires to the government of Syria. 27. 

Earthquake at Laodicea ; Puteoli made a colony : colonists 

sent to Antium and Tarentum. 28. Election of praetors 

arranged : 

condemned. 

regulation of appeals to senate : Vibius Secundus 

A. U. C. 814, A. D. 61. L. Caesennius Paetus. P. Petroniua 

Turpilianus, coss. 

Ch. 29-39. Affairs in Britain. 

29-30. Suetonius Paulinos attacks and overcomes the Druids 

in Mona. 31. Causes of the insurrection of the Iceni, under 

Boudicca, and of the Trinovantes. 32. Camulodunum sacked : 

the Ninth legion cut to pieces. 33. Suetonius reaches but 

abandons Londinium : great massacre there and at Verulamium. 

34-37. Great battle : speeches of Boudicca and Suetonius : the 

Britons defeated with great slaughter : suicide of Boudicca by 

poison, and of Poenius Postumus, in command of the Second 

legion. 38. Complaint by the procurator Classicianus of the 

extreme severity of Suetonius. 39. Polyclitus the freedman 

sent to inspect and report : Suetonius succeeded by Petronius 

Turpilianus. 

Ch. 40-47. Affairs in Rome. 

40, 41. Condemnation of Fabianus, Antonius Primus, and others, 

on charges connected with a forged will. 42. Murder of Pedanius 

Secundus, the praefectus urbis, by one of his own slaves. 43-45. 

Question respecting the execution of the whole household ; speech 

of C. Cassius ; the sentence carried out with difficulty. 46. Condemnation 

of Tarquitius Priscus for extortion : census held in 

Gaul. 47. Death and character of Memmius Regulus : a gymnasium 

dedicated. 

A. U. C. 815, A. D. 62. P. Marius, L. Afinius, cosa. 


48, 49. Revival of the law of ' maiestas,' after long interval, against 

L. Antistius the praetor ; Thrasea speaks against the punishment 

of death ; his opinion followed by the senate and allowed 

by Nero. 50. P'abricius Veiento banished for libels and venality. 

51. Death of Burrus, alleged to be by poison: Faenius Rufus 

and Sofonius Tigellinus made praefecti praetorio in his place. 

52-56. The position of Seneca imperilled by accusers ; inter- 

change of speeches between him and Nero ; 

his retirement from 

publicity. 57-59. Murder of Sulla at Massilia and Rubellius 

47 o


Plautus in Asia at the instigation of Tigellinus : mockery of 

senatorial sentence after their deaths. 60. Divorce of Octavia 

notwithstanding the break-down of the charge against her : 

marriage of Nero to Poppaea. 61. Popular rising in favour of 

Octavia ; alarm of Poppaea. 62-64. New charge fabricated by 

Anicetus: Octavia banished to Pandateria and there murdered : 

servile decrees of the senate. 65. Deaths of Pallas and Doryphorus, 

supposed to have been poisoned by Nero : charge of 

Komanus, leading to the conspiracy of Piso. 

Ch. 1, § I. C. Vipstanvis Apronianus is mentioned in Hist. 

i 76 as proconsul of Africa, in 69 A. D. 

C. Fonteius Capito, legatus of Lower Germany in 68 A. D., 

bore an evil name for avarice and other vices, and was killed by 

his own officers {Hist, i 7, &c.). 

flagrantior, 'becoming more ardent daily in his love for Poppaea.' 

Poppaeae : of xiii 45. 

crebris criminationibus : coupled with 'per facetias' as adverbial 

adjunct to 'incusaret': 'would frequently ply Nero with reproaches 

and at times jestingly rally him as a mere ward.' 

incusaret : subjunct. after ' quae ' either as denoting repeated 

action, which is indicated in the antecedent sentence by ' flagran- 

tior in dies,' or perhaps causal ; cf. Intr. II 41. 

§ 2. avo3 : the plural is an exaggeration (cf. ' saepe ' xiii 6, I ; 

' Lucullos ' XV 14, 3). She refers to the triumph of Poppaeus 

Sabinus. Cf. xiii 45, For her child, cf ibid. § 4. 

verum animum, ' sincere affection.' 

§ 3. iniurias patrum, ' her insults on the senate.' Cf ch. 11, i. 

§ 4. Otho was probably now in Lusitania; xiii 46, 5. 

audiret : final, after 'ubi.' imperatoris : objective gen. 

' viseret : rather than have them before her eyes, herself involved 

m his peril.' inmixta : nom. fem. 

§ 5. penetrantia : sc. 'animum Neronis.' 

Ch. 3, § I. igitur: i.e. owing to Acte's representations. 

aut: the contrasted alternatives are (i) her (suburban) gardens, 

or (2) one of her estates away from Rome, such as that at Tusculum 

or Antium. 

horto3 : probably 

' the gardens of Lucullus,' the chief orna- 

ment of the Pincian hill. They became imperial property when 

Messalina procured the death of their owner Asiaticus, 47 A. D. 

{A7i7t. xi 3). 

Antium : an ancient colony and favourite imperial residence. 

It was the birthplace both of Gaius and Nero. 

' 

§ 2. praegravem, unduly dangerous.' 

hactenus, 'deliberating on this question only,' i.e. as to the 

method of killing her, her murder being already decided upon. 

§3. 

poison. 

temptare, 'tamper with,' i.e. bribe to administer the 

arduum, ' too difficult,' ' impracticable.' Cf. Cicero's use of 

' ' longuni est ' : 

' it is too long,' it would be tedious.'

BOOK XIV. CH. 1, § I — CH. 4, §§ 1-7 

praesumendo, &:c., 'had fortified her system by a previous 

course of antidotes.' 

§ 4. metuebant : subject understood, ' Nero and his advisers.' 

§ 5. obtulit ingenium, ' brought his ingenuity into play.' 

iibertus : a ' praefectus classi ' was usually but not invariably of 

equestrian rank, of. Ann. xiii 30, 2 ; Hist, i 87, 2. For the imperial 

naval stations cf. Ann. xiii 30, 2. 

pueritiae : cf. xiii 2, 2 ' rectores imperatoriae iuventae.' 

educator: TrmSaywyos-. Cf. xiii 15, 6. 

mutuis, &c., 'fully reciprocating Agrippina's dislike.' 

§ 6. per artem soluta, ' artificially ' (or ' ingeniously) giving way.' 

nihil, &c., 'nothing gave such an opening for accidents as the 

sea.' 

§ 7. iniquum, ' ill-disposed.' 

quod,

— 


below) with his back turned to the person ' supra,' and the host 

took the position 7 in the diagram, 'below' the most honoured 

guest who was at 6 : 

sumnius 

lectus medius

BOOK XIV. CH. 4, § 7 — CH. 7, §§ 1-5 

causing the accident. The verb is subjunct. as giving Agrippina's 

reason. 

fortuna eius, ' thanks to his good fortune.' 

§ 2. securitate, ' freedom from anxiety.' 

obsignari, 'to be sealed up,' indicating some kind of formal 

inventory being taken, a measure prepaatory to executing the 

legacies under the will. 

id tantum, &c., 'in this alone acting without pretence.' She 

probably knew that Acerronia had left her something, and at once 

took measures towards securing her legacy, not losing her love of 

money ('ingenita avaritia,' xiii iS, 3) even in this crisis. 

Ch. 7, § I. hactenus. Sec, 'having gone far enough in peril 

to have no doubt as to the instigator.' This use of 'ne' in introducing 

a result is peculiar, but is perhaps explicable as containing, 

half ironically, 2i final shade of meaning, i.e. that the plot seemed 

to have failed thus for the very purpose of showing up Nero's guilt 

(cf. ch. 5, I). 

§ 2. vindictae : probably genit. So also 'irae properum,' xi 

26, 4. 

sive . . . sive: the alternatives Nero anticipates are (i) an 

immediate rising effected by an appeal to the soldiers and sailors, 

(2) an attempt to set the constitutional forces of senate and people 

against him. sive . . . sive introduce protases to ' quod subsidium 

(fore).' 

obiciendo : dat. of purpose. 

nisi quid : understand a verb, ' might suggest something.' For 

similar disjointed and elliptic language in strong excitement cf. 

ch. 8, § 4(Intr. II 27). 

The text given here is corrected from Med. ' expergens giios 

statim acciverat incertum an et ante ignaros.' Other suggestions 

are (i) 'expedirent: quos statim acciverat,' &c., and (2) 'quos statim 

acciverat incertum an aperiens (' disclosing his plot ') et ante 

ignaros.' Notice that the final adjective is in agreement with ' quos,' 

and is unaffected in case by ' incertum an,' which qualifies its 

meaning, = ' 

( perhaps '). If (2) be adopted 'incertum an' only 

qualifies ' aperiens.' 

§ 3. igitur : because of Nero's terror, which made them hesitate 

to dissuade him from the murder as they felt argument would be 

in vain with him. 

an, &c., ' or perhaps they really thought that things had come to 

such a pass that ; 

' cf. ' eo ventum ut,' xi 26, 2. 

§ 4. hactenus promptius, ' was so far the readier as to look at 

Burrus and ask.' 

militi: the praetorians in attendance. 

§ 5. totidomui: the military ' sacramentum ' bound the soldiers 

to the protection of all the memljers of the imperial family. The 

expression here, however, might denote merely personal attachment. 

summam sceleris, ' the chief part in executing the crime.' 

Cf. 'Antonio permissa summa expeditionis,' Hist, i 87, 2. 

51


§ 7. ultro, &c., ' took it on himself to make up a stage effect to 

support a charge.' 

Ch. 8, § I. interim: the narrative is taken up from the end 

of ch. 5. 

vulgato . . . quasi, ' made known as the result of an accident.' 

See Intr. II 50. 

decurreie: historic infinitive. So also 'scandere,' &c. in § 2. 

§2. moliumobiectus = 'obiectas moles'; Intr. II 57. Cf.'strata 

viarum' in Vergil, Aen. 1422. The words denote embankments 

to reclaim land from the sea, like those referred to in Horace, 

Od.n 18, 20. 

ut ad gratandum: this use of 'ut' like that of 'tamquam' 

and ' quasi ' (see Intr. II 50) need not imply that the intention was 

insincere, but merely that such an intention was to be inferred from 

the act. 

§ 3, servoruna : partitive genit. 

exterritis, 'frightened away,' cf. xiii 56, 5. 

§ 4. anxia : abl. abs. In the following clauses, which express 

Agrippina's thoughts, supply 'veniret' after 'quod/ and 'esse' 

with ' solitudinem.' 

' laetaerei: corrected from Med. laetaeret.' 

§ 5. respicit, ' looks behind her and sees.' Cf. Verg. Aen. v 167 

' Cloanthum respicit instantem tergo.' 

j 

triei-archo: for this title see note on xv 51, 2. 

classiario : Anicetus brought sailors because the land troops 

could not be relied on to act against Agrippina. 

ac, (S:c. : the following words are in oratio obliqua. 

§ 6. in mortem, 'for the death-blow.' 

ventrem feri : 'naif Tavrrjv (i.e. ti]p yaaitpa) on Nepcoiâ freKtv,' 

Dio Ixi 13, 5. 

exelamavit : we must understand that her cry was uttered as 

the centurion drew his sword and before she received the blow on 

the head from the trierarch. 

Ch. 9, § I. aspexeritne, &c.: instead of the infin. which we should 

expect after ' tradiderint,' a form of expression is used as if ' incertum 

est ' followed. Cf. xii 52, 3 ' morte fortuita an per venenum 

extinctus esset, ut quisque credidit, vulgavere.' Cf. Intr. II 58. 

formam: Dio describes Nero as saying ovk jjdeLv on ovtco kuXIju 

firjTepa et\ov.' 

§ 2. convivali : a couch taken from the dining-room, instead of 

a proper ' lectus funebris.' 

congesta aut clausa, 'raised in a mound or enclosed in stonework.' 

Some sort of ' tuniuhis,' however, marked her burial-place 

from the first," ch. 10, 5. 

§ 3. mox : a few years later. The ' levis tumulus ' might be 

a small stone structure. 

villam Caesaris: Seneca {E/>. 51. 11) refers to villas on the 

heights overlooking Baiae, owned by Marius and Pompeius as well 

as Julius Caesar. 

52

BOOK XIV. CH. 7, § 7 — CH. 11, §§ 1-4 

§ 5. contempserat, ' had made light of,' 

Chaldaei, 'astrologers,' called also by Tacitus ' mathematici 

and 'periti coelestium.' This prediction was perhaps the one 

made by the son of Tiberius' astrologer Thrasyllus (vi 

22,6). 

Ch. 10, § I. perfecto demum, Sec, ' not till the crime was completed 

was its enormity grasped by Nero.' [Intr. II 21 (c).] 

reliquo noctia : see Intr. II 15. 

§ 2. centurionum tribunorumque : those of the praetorians in 

attendance, who constituted the chief source of his danger ; cf. 

ch. 7, 5. 

§ 3. municipia : used of the Italian towns in general. 

§ 4. diversa simulatione, 'with an opposite kind of pretence,' 

i.e. he assumed grief while they professed gladness, Cf. 'diversa 

fama,' ' with an opposite kind of talk,' cf, xvi 2, 2. 

§ 5. vultus, 'looks,' altering in expression : facies, 'aspect,' the 

permanent features. 

obversabaturque, &c., 'and the sight of that sea and shore ever 

before his eyes was dreadful to him.' 

percussorem : predicative, ' with murderous intent.' 

conseientia, &c., 'from the guilty consciousness of having plotted 

murder,' quasi introduces the substance of Agrippina's supposed 

' reflections ; cf. ch. 8, I vulgato . . . quasi , . . evenisset,' and 

Intr. II 50. 

Ch. 11, § I. repetita, 'harking back to far previous occurrences.' 

consortium imperii, * a partnership in empire,' meaning a formal 

recognition of joint sovereignty with Nero, beyond the privileges 

which she actually enjoyed. 

iuraturas in verba : the ordinary ' sacranientum ' taken by 

army, senate, and people to the ' princeps,' extended in some 

measure to all the members of the imperial family ; cf. ch. 7, 5 : 

here Agrippina is charged with having aimed at more than this, 

viz., to receive an independent oath of allegiance co-ordinate with 

that taken to her son. 

idem dedecus : that of taking the oath to her. 

donativum : on his accession (xii 69, 3). 

congiarium : in his second consulship (xiii 31, 2). 

pericula, &c. : referring to her murder of Silanus and the other 

intended murders described in xiii chs. i and 2. 

§ 2. ne inrumperet, &c. : cf. xiii 5. 

obliqua insectatione, ' making an indirect attack on.' 

§ 3. namque: the sequence of thought is 'no wonder Nero 

represented her death as an accident attesting Rome's good fortune, 

for he even told the tale of her shipwreck as though that also was 

a special intervention of Heaven to rid Rome of her.' 

cohortes , . . classes : rhetorical exaggerations for the one 

praetorian cohort in attendance and the fleet at Misenum. 

§ 4. omnium, &c,, ' was beyond all terms of remonstrance.' 

53 

'


adverse rumore: abl. of quality, cf. ' claio riimore eiat,' xv 48, 2. 

confessionem : i.e. the story was so flimsy that the letter 

amounted to a confession of murder. 

Ch. 12, § 

I. svipplicationes . . .pulvinaria: this usual formula 

also occurs in Cic. Cat. iii 10, 23 and denotes that sacrifice was 

offered in every temple in which a ' lectisternium ' (to gods) or 

' ' sellisternium (to goddesses) was held. 

Minervae ' 

: because the Quinquatrus ' were held in honour of 

this goddess. 

dies natalis : Nov. 6 (a. d. viii Id. Nov.). 

§ 2. Thrasea Paetus : see xiii 49, i, and also chs. 48 and 49, 

where Tacitus seems to somewhat disparage his conduct. 

transmittere, ' to let pass.' 

ac sibi, &c., ' exposed himself to danger without leading the rest 

to assert their independence.' 

§ 3. ini'ita, 'ineffective,' in the sense that the interpretation put 

upon the prodigies was not borne out by the event. 

sol obscuratus : an eclipse, April 30, 59 A.D., which is mentioned 

by the elder Pliny as seen in Italy soon after noon, and by Corbuio 

in Asia three hours later, iam here, like ' iam vero,' marking 

a climax ; so in xiii 43, 3. 

regiones : the ' wards,' fourteen in number, into which the city 

was divided for administrative purposes. 

§ 4. quae adeo, &c., ' so far were these occurrences from being 

.' 

due to divine intervention that . . 

§ 5. gravaret, 'aggravate,' 'intensify.' 

lunia Calvina was sister of L. Silanus, who was originally 

betrothed to Octavia and committed suicide on Agrippina's marriage 

with Claudius, 49 A.D. (xii 8). 

Calpurnia was banished through Agrippina's jealousy of her 

beauty, 49 A.D. (xii 22, 3). 

Valerius Capito and Licinius 

known. 

Qabolus are otherwise un- 

§ 6. liollia Paulina was exiled and then put to death for having 

been Agrippina's rival for marriage with Claudius, xii i and 22, 4. 

§ 7. nam: the mention of Iturius and Calvisius naturally leads 

to that of Silana, with whose case they were connected (xiii 19 

and 22). 

longinquo, 'distant.' 

Ch. 13, § I. quonani mode: dependent on 'anxius.' an... 

are not opposed, but repeated, by anaphora. 

an ' 

deterrimus quisque, &c., ' all the most depraved (courtiers), of 

whom no palace ever had a greater abundance.' 

praegredi exposcunt: see Intr. II 31. 

§ 2. promptiora, &c., 'a servility exceeding what they had 

promised.' 

per sexum,

BOOK XIV. CH. 11, § 4 — CH. 14, §§ 1-5 

§ 3. superbua, &c., ' proudly celebrating his victory over the 

enslaved public' servitii victor: the genitive shows in what his 

victory consisted, just as ' vincere publicum servitium ' would 

express 'to win a victory consisting in the servility of the 

public' 

libidines, ' vicious extravagances,' especially those acts described 

in the following chapter, evidently regarded by Tacitus as indicating 

the lowest depths of degeneracy. 

quas, Sec, ' which, though repressed with difficulty, he had 

nevertheless deferred from a certain respect for his mother.' 

Ch. 14, § I. currieulo = 'currui ' 

; so xv 44, 7. 

in the manner of a public performer'; 

ludicrura in modum, * 

cf. ' ludicrae artes,' ' accomplishments as a performer,' ch. 16, i. 

concertai-e equis : this is a correction from Med. 'cum celaret 

^s. is 

^s.' The manuscript has ' cenaret ' written above ' celaret ' ; 

abbreviated for ' quis.' 

regium : cf. //. 23, 287 and foil., for the funeral games of Patroclus, 

in which Greek princes personally contend in chariot-races. 

In historical times princes, like Hiero, and individual citizens, like 

Alcibiades (included here under the term 'duces'), sent to the 

games chariots entered in their name. 

vatum : such as Pindar, and other lyric poets, who wrote 

panegyrics on victorious athletes. 

deorum honori datum: the chariot-race was part of the 

worship of the god in whose honour the games were held. 

§ 2. enimvero : the particle here lays stress on what follows as 

a still more important consideration. 

tali ornatu : that of a citharoedus, in which Nero was often 

represented on coins. 

§ 3. utraque, ' lest he should carry both points.' 

§ 4. clausum . . . spatium : a circus begun by Gaius, and 

standing in part of the space now occupied by St. Peter's. An 

obelisk with which Gaius adorned it now stands in the Piazza. 

baud promisee, ' the sight not being open to all.' 

scaenas,' xv 33, 

Cf. ' promiscas 

i. 

§ 5. evulgatus pudor, 'the publicity of his shame.' 

molliri, ' to be mitigated.' 

nobilium : Julius Caesar had forced the knight Laberius to 

' appear on the public stage ; this was forbidden to 'nobiles under 

Augustus by a ' senatus consultum,' and Tiberius punished with 

exile those who broke the decree. 

ne nominatim : Dio mentions Furii, Fabii, Porcii, and Valerii 

as appearing in this way, and adds that the provincials present 

pointed in scorn to the descendants of their conquerors. Cf. also 

Juv. viii 191. 

nam et : this gives another reason for withholding names,— the 

disgrace was Nero's rather than theirs. 

! 

quam ne delinquerent : cf. xiii 34, 2, where Nero followed the 

policy Tacitus recommends 

55


§ 6. operas, 'their services in the arena,' i.e. as gladiators or 

'bestiarii.' 

nisi quod: qualifying the idea that these gifts were merely 

inducements, — 'were it not that payment from one who can command 

carries the force of compulsion.' 

Ch. 1-5, § I. ne tamen adhuc : Nero 

ceased to confine his 

performances to semi-private entetainments in 64 a.d. 

when he exhibited himself as a public singer at Naples. 

(xv 33), 

instituit ludos : the first clipping of a young Roman's beard 

was the occasion of a festival in his family : Nero marked this 

event in his own case by the institution of the ' Juvenalia,' and 

repeated the festival annually in his own private grounds, himself 

taking part in the performances given. 

passim nomina data, ' names were given in from all classes,' 

by persons wishing to compete. The phrase is a metaphor from 

soldiers answering to the conscription : cf. also xv 48, i. 

§ 2. Graeci . . . histrionis : referring to the performance of 

Greek tragedies modified so as to consist of gesticulation and song 

(cf. ' gestus modosque,' below). Pôr ' histrio ' cf. xiii 19, 4. 

§ 3. deformia, &c., ' studied degrading parts.' 

nemus : this was laid out by Augustus round the ' stagnum 

across the Tiber, where contests of ships were exhibited. Cf. Mon. 

Anc. iv 43 'navalis proeli spectaclum populo dedi trans Tiberim 

in quo loco nunc nemus est Caesarum.' 

conventicula, ' assembly rooms.' 

stipes : (i) ' doles ' from the emperor, to be spent then and there, 

or (2) ' payment ' coming from the public in the shape of entrance 

money. The following clause ' spent by the good under compul- 

sion, and by the vicious from vanity' seems to favour (2). Gloria, 

a reprehensible exultation in having made small gains by their own 

degradation : consumerent, frequentative. 

§ 4. inde, &c., 'to this was due the spread of abomination and 

infamy, and nothing brought more corruption to our already 

depraved manners than did the filthy herd thus swept together.' 

nee ulla : the fem. adj. is used rather than 

the anticipation of the final word 'colluvies.' 

'quidquam' under 

§ 6. multa cura, &c., 'tuning his lyre with intense care, and 

singing his prelude with his instructors at hand.' 

phonascis is reconstructed from Med. 'facies,' on the supposition 

that this is a corruption of 'foascis.' The correction is supported 

by a passage of Suetonius describing Nero as never addressing 

soldiers or people 'nisi astante phonasco' {Ner. 25). 

§ 7. maerens ac laudans, ' distressed and yet applauding.' An 

adversative meaning is taken by a copulative conjunction when the 

words joined are 

' turbidos et nihil 

sufficiently opposed in meaning, cf. i 38, 4 

ausos.' So also xiv 65, 2 ' magna moles et 

inprospera.' 

§ 8. Augustianorum : called by Dio Ai-yo/oTetot, and described 

as a avaTijixa (S TTfVTaKiaîXiovs orpaTicoraf. 

56 

'

BOOK XIV. CH. 14, § 6 — CH. 18, § i 

pars ingenio, &c., 'some piofli:-jate by nature, others acting so 

in the hope of obtaining influence.' 

§ 9. personare, ' kept up a din.' 

deum vocabulis, ' calling him by names of gods.' Dio gives 

some of their cries ; 6 /caXoj Kalaap, 6 'ATr.'AXtuf, 6 Avyovcrroi, ds 

ioi IlidiOi. Sacrifices offered for his 'divine voice ' are mentioned, 

xvi 22, I. 

' agere = se gerere.' 

Ch. 16, § I. adfectavit, 'aspired to the pursuit of poetry.' 

The Latin verb may imply pretence, but more usually denotes 

genuine aspiration. 

necdum inaignis erat. hi cenati : this is a correction from the 

corrupt Med. text ' necdum insignis aetatis nati ' with full stop 

before ' necdum.' 

§ 2. et adlatos, &c., ' strung together lines which they had brought 

in or composed on the spot, and polished up his own casually 

dropped utterances, as is indicated by the actual appearance of the 

poems, which do not run with any dash and inspiration or as the 

work of one mind.' 

flaens : agreeing with ' species ' by hypallage, like ' purpurarum 

sidere clarior . . . usus,' Hor. Od. iii i, 42. Suetonius passes 

a different judgment on Nero's verse : he says that the poems 

published in Nero's name were evidently the emperor's own work, 

as he had himself seen the tablets on which they were composed, 

showing words erased and rearranged in Nero's own handwriting 

{A'er. 52). 

§ 3. utque : the final clause should be regarded as another circumstance 

coupled with ' post epulas,' ' and that he might find amusement 

in the disputes of men maintaining opposite assertions.' (The 

text is here corrected from Med. 'adseverant turn discordiae 

rueretur.') 

tristi, ' serious.' 

Stoics or Cynics. 

The men referred to here would be professional 

Ch. 17, § I. Nucerinos : on Nuceria see xiii 31, 2. 

rettuli : in some part of the lost portions of Tacitus' work. Livineius 

Regulua is unknown except for mention here. 

§ 2. oppidana, ' usual in country towns,' where disturbances at 

games appear to have been frequent. Cf. Cic. pro Phutc. xii 30 

(of an act of violence at Atina) ' vetere quodam in scaenicos iure 

maximeque oppidano.' 

sumpaere : applied by zeugma to ' probra,' cf. xiii 35, 7. 

apud quos : i. e. in the amphitheatre at Pompeii. 

§ 4. I'elata : sc. ' a consulibus,' who inquired into the facts and 

referred the question of penalties to the senate. For the jurisdiction 

of senate and consuls over Italian towns cf. xiii 4, 3. 

collegia, ' associations,' ' clubs.' 

Ch. 18, § I. Pedius Blaeaua was restored by Otho, Hist, i 

77, 6. Cyrene was united with Crete as a senatorial province of 

the second rank. 

57


NOTES 

thesaurum, 'treasures (in the temple) of Aesculapius.' 

pretio, Sec, 'and that he had been guilty of bribery and 

favouritism in his conduct of the military levy.' 

§ 2. praetoria potestate, &c., *a man of praetorian rank sent 

by Claudius to decide the question of the lands, once the hereditary 

possessions of King Apion, and left with his kingdom to Rome 

these the neighbouring landowners had appropriated, and then 

rested on the indulgence so long shown to their encroachment as 

though on right and justice.' 

Ftolemaeus Apion, last king of Cyrene, died in 96 B. C, 

making the Roman people his heirs. The legacy was not accepted 

at the time, and the province was not constituted till 74 B. C. 

licentia et iniuria: hendiadys ; cf. xiii 13, 2. 

§ 3. abiudicatis, 'taken away by his judgment' from the 

occupants. 

§ 4. usurpata, ' what they had occupied.' 

Ch, 19, § I. Domitius Afer was a 'delator' under Tiberius, 

and a flatterer of Gains. 

M. Servilius Nonianus was consul in 35 A.D. ; his history is lost. 

elegantia, &;c., ' the refinement of his life, which he rendered 

the more illustrious as he excelled in character the other whom he 

equalled in ability.' 

moruin : cf. ' sententiae diversos,' xiii 26, 2. 

Ch. 20, § I. quinquennale ludicrum : called ' lustrale certamen 

' in xvi 4, i. Nero's design was to celebrate the fulfilment 

of each complete period of five years of his rule, as his 

predecessors had celebrated their 'decennia imperii.' 

varia fama : abl. of accompanying circumstance, * (provoking) 

different criticisms, as novelties usually do.' The innovation on 

former precedents consisted chiefly of the addition of ' musical 

contests, i.e. in poetry, rhetoric, and music. 

§ 2. Pompeium : for his theatre cf xiii 54, 4. 

a senioribus, ' by the older men (of his day).' 

§ 3. nam antea, &c. : it is recorded that a permanent theatre 

was in course of construction in 155 B.C., but was destroyed by 

order of the senate and chief pontiff P. Cornelius Scipio Nasica 

and the prohibition of sitting at the games was at the same time 

renewed and enforced. 

theatre : local abl. ignavia : modal abl. continuaret, * should 

spend whole days.' 

§ 4. Bpectaculorum quidem, &c. : the speakers deprecate 

having fresh games other than those held annually by the praetois, 

and complain of the compulsion of citizens to compete, and of the 

introduction of Greek gymnastics as being likely to supersede the 

necessary military exercises. 

§ 5. ceterum, &.C., 'however, the morality of our fathers, 

gradually undermined, was now being absolutely subverted by vice, 

which had been imported so that every possible object and instrument 

of wickedness might be seen in the city.' 

58 

; ';

BOOK XIV. CH. 18, § I — CH. 21, §§ i-8 

exercendo : taken by zeugma with ' gymnasia ' in the sense of 

'frequentando.' Cf. xiii 35, 7. For ab1. see Intr. II 22 (b). 

§ 6. quid superesse, &c. : the games included gymnastic contests 

of all sorts, but hitherto noble Romans took part in the 

' musical' competitions only. 

§ 7. iustitlam auctum iri : for Med. 'ius titia augurii.' 

decurias equitum : i. e. the ' decuriae iudicum,' the latter consisting 

practically entirely of ' equites.' 

fractos : effeminate, falsetto, perite, ' like experts.' 

Ch. 21, § I. pluribus, 'the majority.' 

praetendebant, ' disguised it under specious phrases.' 

§ 2. quoque non = 'ne . . . quidem.' obleetamentis : ablat. 

pro fortuna, &c., ' in proportion to the wealth of the times.' 

a Tuscis : in 364 B. c. Cf Livy vii 2-. 

Thurii was founded near the site of Sybaris by colonists from all 

parts of Greece, but especially from Athens, in 443 B. c. Tacitus 

follows an otherwise unknown tradition, opposite to that of Livy 

(i 35), who states that horse-racing was introduced into Rome 

from Etruria in the days of Tarquinius Priscus. 

possessa, 'taken under dominion.' Achaia became a Roman 

province after the fall of Corinth, 146 B.C., as did Asia after the 

capture of Aristonicus, 129 B.C. 

curatius, ' more elaborately ' ( = ' ' 

accuratius : see alsoxvi 22, 6). 

nee quemquam, &c., 'and no one at Rome of noble birth had 

stooped to become a professional player.' Previous appearances 

of senators and knights (as in ch. 14) are counted as amateur 

performances. 

Mummii : the conqueror of Corinth, 

id genus: Greek performances, more especially those of the 

stage, for Greek athletes had been exhibited at Rome in the games 

given by M. Fulvius Nobilior, 186 B.C. 

quam ut.' Cf, xiii 42, 8, 

§ 3. quani = ' 

§ 4, perinde, ' as much ' (as formerly). The argument is, now 

that the people had the Neronia, the expense of which was borne 

by the treasury, they would not expect elaborate spectacles, including 

Greek contests, to be given by the magistrates at personal 

expense. 

§ 5, vatum, 'poets.' grave, 'degrading,' 'demoralising.' 

§ 6, laetitiae, ' merriment.' laseiviae, ' profligacy.' 

§ 7. ac, &c., ' there was hardly even a moderate amount of excite- 

ment roused in the populace.' 

quamquam : following ' redditi,' by anastrophe. 

redditi: the expulsion of the ' histriones ' is mentioned in 

xiii 25, 4. 

certaminibus sacris : the Neronia. The phrase is an imitation 

of (e,)0( (i)&jrfs-, the term applied to the Greek festivals. 

§ 8. primas : sc. ' partes,' ' the first prize for oratory.' The prize 

was awarded to Nero though he had not delivered a speech in 

the competition. 

59


exoleverunt, ' dropped out of fashion.' The meaning apparently 

is that during the festival not only the competitors, but the majority 

of the spectators, appeared in Greek dress, which thus became 

vulgarized and regarded as unfashionable. 

Cli. 22, § I. sidus cometes : spoken of by Seneca as having 

been visible for six months, and as having belied the superstition 

that regarded a comet as a sign of evil (' cometis detraxit infamiam,' 

(2u. Nat. vii 17, 2). (For the syntax see Intr. II i.) 

opinio, tamquam . . . portendat : for the use of ' tamquam' by 

Tacitus cf xiii 28, 5 and Intr. II 50. 

regis : used as a general term under which the Roman ' princeps ' 

is comprehended. (The title being unusual as applied by the Roman 

populace to their ruler, Bentley has suggested ' regnis,' from Lucan 

i 529 ' mutantem rcgna cometen.') 

§ 2. Rubellius Plautus : see xiii 19, 3. 

§ 3. placita=f5oy/iaTa. ' He held to the ideas of our ancestors, 

his manners being austere, his house pure and secluded, while the 

more he sought obscurity through fear, the more did he add to his 

reputation.' He was also a Stoic, cf. ch. 59, 2. 

§ 4. vanita'.e, 'superstition.' discumbentis, 'reclining at 

table.' 

Simbruina stagna : three lakes formed by the upper waters of 

the Anio, below which was Sublaqueum, the site of Nero's villa. 

'Anio in monte Trebanorum ortus tres lacus amoenitate nobiles 

qui nomen dedere Sublaqueo defert in Tiberim' (Pliny, A'. H. iii 12, 

17, 109). 

hunc ilium, 'believed that he must be the man destined.' 

fovebant, ' and he began to receive the attentions of many of 

those who show an eager and usually mistaken obsequiousness in 

paying premature court to new and doubtful fortunes.' 

§ 5. diffamantibus, ' spreading evil reports.' 

inturbida, 'without causing disturbance'; cf. 'turbidus,' th. 

59, 5- 

Antistia: in full, 'Antistia Pollitta,' daughter of Antistius Vctus 

(xiii II, i), with whom she suffered death (xvi lo-ii) three years 

after the death of her husband (ch. 59, 3). 

§ 6. luxus, ' self-indulgence.' 

fontem : the main stream supplying the aqueduct that carried 

the 'aqua Marcia.' This was constructed by the praetor L. Marcius 

Rex, in 149 B.C., and was restored by Agrippa and augmented by 

Augustus. It started in the Sabine hills near the thirty-sixth 

milestone on the ' via Valeria.' 

nando : dat. of purpose. 

caerimoniam loci : the sources of rivers, and springs rising 

suddenly from the ground were regarded as sacred (Seneca, Ep. 

41, 3). As the 'aqua Marcia' supplied Rome with drinking 

water, it was well to insist on the sanctity of its source. 

anceps valetudo, ' severe indisposition.' 

Ch. 23, § I. at Corbvilo, &c. : 

60 

this narrative is resumed

BOOK XIV. CH. 21, § 8 — CH. 25, §§ 1-2 

from xiii 41, and appears to deal with the two years 59 and 60 A.D. 

See Intr. V 3 and 4. 

recenti terrore : the terror caused by the destruction of 

Artaxata would be recent even if we suppose he had wintered there 

after its surrender. 

intenderet, ' intensify.' 

infenso, 'in hostile fashion.' 

remissa cura, ' relaxing precautions.' 

gnarus, &c., ' well aware that this people, so ready to change, 

could be treacherous when opportunity offered, just as it shrank 

back in the face of danger.' 

§ 3. diversis artibus : a curious application of the ablat. of 

description, ' misericordia ' and ' celeritate ' standing in apposition 

to 'artibus.' Cf. Intr. 11 22 (a). 'Employing opposite methods, 

leniency towards the suppliant but summary measures against the 

fugitives.' 

§ 4. praegredientem = ' praetergredientem.' 

Mardi : a race living on Mount Niphates, ancestors 

modern Kurds. The name is preserved in 

of the 

' Mardistan.' 

Hiberis : the Hiberi were voluntary allies of Corbulo from hatred 

of the Armenians. Cf. xiii 2>7f 3- 

vastavit: Tacitus uses ' vastare aliquem ' = ' 

terram.' Cf. ch. 38, 2, and xv 1,2. 

vastare alicuius 

externo sanguine : without sacrifice of Roman lives. 

' Ch. 24, § I. fatiscebant, were becoming exhausted.' 

carne pecudum : to a Roman soldier corn meal was the great 

necessity of life, and the substitution of animal food for it was 

prejudicial. So Caesar {B. G. vii 17, 3) speaks of meat as famine 

diet, ' ut complures dies milites frumento caruerint, et pecore . . . extremamfamem 

sustentarent.' For 'adigere' with infin. cf. Intr. II 31. 

§ 2. ad hoc : Trpoy toiVok, ' besides.' 

§ 4. Tauraunitiura : genit. plur. rather than ace. sing. The 

name indicates that the district was in the country belonging to the 

Taurus range : 

Van. 

it was probably the district of Mush, west of Lake 

§ 5. ordinem, 'the details'; cf. xiii 20, i. 

§ 6. Tigranocerta : see Intr. II 62. 

^ 7. accepitque, &c., ' he received it with appreciation, and no 

damage was done to the city, that the inhabitants being uninjured 

might maintain a more willing obedience.' 

Ch. 25, § I. Legerda: corrected from Med. 'legerat,' owing to 

the mention by Ptolemy (v 13, 20) of xiy^p^n as a place between 

the sources of the Tigris and Euphrates, and thus west or northwest 

of Tigranocerta. 

pro muris, ' outside the walls.' 

aggeri : a mound constructed against the walls to make it possible 

for the besiegers to climb over, such as that described in Thuc. (ii 

75) at the siege of Plataea. 

§ 2. Hyrcano belle : cf xiii 37, 6. 

61


NOTES 

§ 3. mai'is rubri : the Persian Gulf ('Epu^pi; OdXaa-crn, Hdt. i 1 80), 

so in ii 61. The envoys returned from Syria along the west 

bank of the Euphrates to the sea, and so back to Hyrcania by 

a route beyond the eastern hmit of the Parthian power. 

Ch. 26, § I. per Medos : cf. xiii 41, 2. Verulaniis is mentioned 

again xv 3, i. 

citis, 'proceeding by forced marches.' amittei-e, 'to give 

up.' 

subegit : with infinitive. Cf. Intr. II 31. 

possessionem ustirpabat, ' was seizing possession of.' 

Tigranes: presumably grandson of Alexander the son of Herod 

the Great. Archelaus was established king of Cappadocia by 

Antony, 36 B. c. He was descended from the general of Mithridates 

who bore the same name, and who apparently gave his daughter in 

marriage to Alexander the grandfather of the Tigranes here mentioned. 

nepos, ' descendant,' he was great-grandson of Archelaus. 

usque, &c., ' humbled to the submissiveness of a slave.' 

§ 2. durante, &c. : Tiridates was preferred, as being a nearer 

representative of the house of the Arsacids, with which Tigranes 

was nevertheless himself connected. 

§ 3. quo facilius, &c. : the kings next mentioned would have an 

interest in protecting the Armenian frontiers, by having districts of 

Armenia attached to their kingdoms. 

pars Armeniae, &c. : the text is reconstructed from Med. ' pars 

Armenia eunt cuique finitima pars nipulique.' Pharasmanes was 

king of Iberia, cf. xiii S7, 3 ; Polemo was king of Pontus with part 

of Cilicia. For Aristobulus and Antiochus see xiii 7. 

§ 4. morte, &c. : Anteius had been appointed successor to Ummidius 

five years before, but had been detained in Rome ; cf. xiii 

' 

22, 2. sibi perniissam = left to itself.' 

Ch. 27, § I. Laodicea : an important commercial city on the 

borders of Phrygia and Caria, on the Lycus, a tributary of the 

Maeander. 

§ 2. Puteoli: a colony of 300 Roman citizens had been settled 

there in 194 B.C., and the place appears from an inscription to have 

been again colonized by Augustus. Tacitus' words here probably 

mean that the ' vetus oppidum,' the old community, existing, with 

municipal status only, side by side with the colony, was now raised 

' 

to colonial rank. The distinction between 'colonia' and muni- 

cipium ' had however by now ceased to have any real importance. 

cognomentum : the town added to its name ' colonia Claudia 

' colonia 

Augusta Neronensis,' which was afterwards altered to 

Flavia Augusta.' 

§ 3. adscript! : the word is used of the enrolment of additional 

settlers to an already existing colony. Tarentum had become a 

colony in 122 B. C. ; Antium was originally a Latin colony and was 

resettled in 338 B. C. Nero regarded this town with special favour 

as being his birthplace ; cf. xv 23. 

62

BOOK XIV. CH. 25, § 3 — CH. 29, § I 

infrequentiae, * lack of population.' 

stipendia expleverant : Augustus had ordained sixteen, and 

then twenty years, as the limit of military service ; the soldiers were 

however usually kept on past that time as reserves (' sub vexillo 

retenti '), exempt from ordinary camp duties, but liable to be called 

up for active service in emergencies. 

§ 4. ut olim : this old custom prevailed from the time of Sulla 

to that of Augustus, who had himself been greatly helped by the 

Campanian military colonies of the former. 

sui cuiusque ordinis, ' of their own distinct century,' i. e. grouped 

in their proper centuries. (This is a genit. of quality, answering to 

the abl. of quality, ' diversis manipulis,' below). For a similar 

construction of ' suus quisque,' taken as a single word ( = ' distinct,' 

' several '), cf. Caes. B. C i 83 ' cohortes , . . suae cuiusque legionis.' 

ut, &c., ' to form a community in virtue of their esprit de corps.' 

quasi, &c., ' as though drawn suddenly together from any other 

class of people, (proving) a mere mob rather than a colony.' 

collecti : participle, ' deducebantur' being supplied. 

numerus, ' a mere aggregate.' Cf. Hor. Ep. i 2, 27 ' nos 

numerus sumus.' 

Ch. 28, § I. arbitrio senatus: elections to magistracies 

were transferred from the comitia to the senate in the first year of 

Tiberius' reign, 14 A. D. (Intr. Ill 7). 

supra numerum : there were twelve praetorships, for which the 

princeps usually ' ' commended four candidates, thus leaving eight 

places to be filled up by the free election of the senate. On this 

occasion there were fifteen competitors for the twelve vacancies. 

praeficiendo : appointing each to the post of ' legatus legionis.' 

They would be able to take a praetorship afterwards, if they desired. 

§ 2. a privatis iudicibus, ' from civil tribunals.' 

eiusdem pecuniae : the caution-money to be lodged on appeal 

was fixed at one-third of the sum at which the action was laid, and 

this was forfeited if the original judgment was confirmed. The 

absence of any such regulation in appeals to the senate would 

render them liable to frivolous appeals. 

vacuum, 'open.' 

§ 3. Vibius Secundus had been procurator of one of the two 

provinces into which, in the reign of Claudius, Mauretania had been 

divided. 

Vibius Crispus is known as a 'curator aquarum ' 68-71 A. D., 

and mentioned by the elder Pliny as proconsul of Africa. Tacitus, 

in the Histories, mentions his fame as an orator and his evil repute 

as an accuser. He was intimate with Domitian, under whom he 

reached the age of eighty (Juv. iv 81-93). 

Ch. 29, § I. Caesennio : corrected from Med. ' Cesonio,' on 

the supposition that he was the same as the person mentioned in 

XV 6, 4,


A. Didius : governor 52-57 A. D. An account of his doings is 

given in xii 40, 7. 

Veraniua died in the course of his first year of command in 

Britain, 58 A. D. 

Siluras : the Silures extended over South Wales, Monmouthshire, 

and Herefordshire. Their chief town was Burium (Usk). 

Tacitus believed them to be of Iberian extraction ' A^r. 2, 11). 

testamenti : 

his will.' 

descriptive genit., ' in his last words as expressed in 

ambitionis manifestus, ' betraying vanity ; cf. xiii 

' 23, 2 ' vani- 

' tatis manifestus,' = clearly guilty of falsehood.' 

subiecturum, &c., * that he would have completed the subjection 

of the province,' by overcoming the resistance in the west and north. 

§ 2. Paulinus Suetonius : as legatus in Mauretania he had put 

down a rebellion (41-42 A. D.); he had probably been a consul 

before his appointment in Britain, as he is called ' vetustissimus 

consularium ' in NtsL ii 37, 2, refen-ing to the year 69 A. D. 

civil war he was conspicuous as a supporter of Otho. 

In the 

perduellibus : an archaic word. 

§ 3. Mona.m : Anglesea, Miom in Dio. 

B. G. V 13 is probably the Isle of Man.) 

(The Mona of Caes. 

piano alveo, ' flat-bottomed.' 

breve et incertum : sc. ' maris,' ' the shallow and shifting 

(because tidal) depth' (see Intr. II 51). 

§ 4. adnantes, ' swimming beside.' 

Ch. 30, § I. pro litore, ' along the shore.' 

diversa, ' of the enemy,' cf. xiii 57, 3. 

in modum, &c. : cf. Strabo's description of the inhabitants of the 

* Cassiterides,' fxe\nyx^(^>^voL . . . ofioioi -ah rpayiKois Uoii'iiis. 

Druidae : described in Caes. B. G. vi 13-14. According to the 

elder Pliny, Tiberius took measures to suppress them in Gaul (because 

of their human sacrifices), as did Claudius after him, according 

to Suetonius. 

preces fundentes : a Vergilian expression, cf. Aen. v 233 ' Ni . . 

.' 

Cloanthus fudissetque preces. . . 

| 

§ 2. igni suo involvunt, ' envelope in the flames of their own 

torches,' by driving the torch-bearing women in upon the mass. 

§ 3. praesidium : a fort and garrison. 

saevis superstitionibus, ' savage rites.' 

cruore captive = 'captivorum.' Cf. ' extcrno sanguine,' ch. 23, 4. 

adolere aras : an archaic and poetical expression, cf. Vergil, 

Aen. vii 71 ' castis adolet dum altaria taedis . . . Lavinia.' The 

meaning of the verb is uncertain, the various senses of 'piling,' 

' honouring,' ' making to burn/ being all possible, though perjjaps 

from different bases. 

' fibris = extis.' 

fas habebant, ' it was their religious custom.' 

Ch. 31, § I, The Iceni extended over Norfolk, Suffolk, and Cambridgeshire. 

Their town Ovfvra, ' Venta Icenorum,' is Norwich or 

64 

.

I 

BOOK XIV. CH. 29, § I - CH. 32, §§ 1-2 

Caistor, and their name may be traced in Ickworth and Icknield. 

Another form of the name, seen on coins, is ' Eceni ' (probably 

'swordsmen'). 

longa = 'diiiturna,' so ch. 53, 5 ' longa decora.' 

§ 2. vertit : intrans., so xiii 32, 5. 

centuriones . . . servos : the respective agents of the legatus 

and the procurator, the former enforcing the conscription (cf. Agr. 

I ) and punishing general disobedience, the other exacting the 

31, 

fiscal imposts and inheritance. 

§ 3. iam primum, 'to begin with.' 

JBoudicca : probably the correct form of the name, which appears 

in Dio as \!>ovvhnvi


Tamesae, &c. : for the river (' Tamesis ' in Caesar), Dio employs 

the same form as Tacitus, ot/cuu li nves eV roj Ta^âa noraô) vcpvbpoi 

iMpmno ; his account of the appearance (whatever it was) 

indicates something different from the explanation one might put 

on Tacitus' words, viz. an appearance of Camulodunum at the 

mouth of the Thames due to reflexion under peculiar atmospheric 

conditions. 

iam : cf. xiii 43, 3. 

dilabente, 'ebbing.' 

corporum effigies, ' the appearance of human bodies,' sand- 

heaps taking what was fancied to be the form of corpses. 

^ 3. iustis, 'proper,' 'regular.' 

§ 4. tutela templi : this implies that the temple precinct was 

an enclosure of some strength. 

neque metis, &c. : the negation applies both to ' niotis ' and 

'nor were the aged and the women removed, the men of 

'restitit' ; 

' fighting age alone remaining to defend it.' Motis' = 'remotis,' 

cf. ch. 60, 5. 

§ 6, Petilius Cerialis was a distinguished general, prominent 

under Vespasian ; later on legatus of Britain {Agr. 8, 2), and also 

held appointment in Germany. 

nonae : this legion, it is thought, was stationed at this time at 

Lindum (Lincoln). 

quod peditum: sc. *ei erat.' 

cohortiumque.' 

Cf. xv 26, 2 'quodque alarum 

in casti-a : probably back to the station from which they had 

marched (not to Camulodunum, where the temple had been 

stormed). 

§ 7. avaritia eius : Uio states that he demanded a restoration 

of the money which Claudius had given to the chief men. Tacitus 

ignores the story of the exactions of Seneca, see xiii 42, 7. 

Ch. 33, § I. Londiniuni: here mentioned for the first time in 

classical literature. 

cognomento, &c., 'not (yet) distinguished by the title of colony, 

but crowded with numbers of merchants and abundance of 

merchandize.' 

§ 2. circumspecta, &c., ' having considered the small numbers 

of his troops, and the fact that Petilius' rashness had been checked 

by warnings sufficiently severe ' ; the infinitive depends on ' circum- 

specto' supplied from 'circumspecta.' Cf. Intr. il 21 b. 

§ 3. quin, iSic, 'could not be dissuaded from giving the order 

to start, taking those who would follow as part of his column.' 

He would not stay to defend the place, but would escort fugitives 

to a place of safety. 

§ 4. Verulamio : the remains of Verulamium closely adjoin 

St. Albans. It was probably the same as the ' oppidum Cassivelauni 

' in Caes. B. G. v 21. 

inliitum : here like a passive partic. ' unguarded ' rather than as 

adj. ' insecure.' 

66

BOOK XIV. CH. 32, § 2 — CH. 35, §§ 1-4 

laboriim segiies : gen. of reference, like 'irae properus' (xi 26, 5), 

so also xvi 14, I. See also Intr. II 24 c. 

§ 5. civium et socioium ; 

i. e. Romans, Romanized Britons, and 

Gaulish and other traders. 

§ 6. capere, &c. : the infinitives may be regarded as depending 

on some such idea as ' curabant ' supplied (by zeugma) from ' festinabant 

' ' 

; commercium ' stands alone, for variation, instead of with 

an infin. such as ' exercere ' or ' facere.' Quod, is the indef. pronoun 

(adj. form) ; see Intr. 113 b, 

belli commercium : referring to the ransoming of captives 

(cf. Verg. Aeri. x 552). 

patibula, 'gibbets.' ' Patibulum' also means a heavy wooden 

beam in which the hands and head were fixed as in a pillory ; 

cf. ' patibulatus ferar per urbem, deinde adfigar cruci,' Plaut. frag. 

tamquam, &c., 'feeling that they were destined to suffer retribution, 

and snatching meanwhile at the vengeance within reach.' 

Ch. 34, § I. cvim vexillariis vicensimanis, ' with a detachment 

of the 20th legion' (not necessarily the 'veterani sub 

vexillo'). 

§ 2. locum : there is no means of identifying this place for 

certain, though it is generally taken to have been somewhere 

between London and Colchester: Haynes Green, between Maldon 

and Colchester, has been suggested as resembling the description 

here. 

apertam, ' that the plain (in front) was open,' i. e. contained no 

cover. 

§ 3. frequens ordinibus, ' in closely massed ranks.' 

circum, ' on each side.' pro cornibus, ' at the extremity of 

each wing ' (xiii 38, 6). 

§ 4. quanta non alias, ' greater than ever before.' 

fei'oci, ' confident.' 

plaustris inponerent : the women of the Cimbri are described 

as having followed the men into battle in a similar way. 

Ch. 3.5, § I. solitum Eritannis ; cf. Agr. 16 ' neque enim 

sexum in imperils discernunt.' 

sed tunc, iSic, ' but now she was not as a queen of noble lineage 

seeking vengeance for loss of kingdom and wealth, but like one of 

the humblest burning to vindicate the loss of liberty, the infliction 

of the scourge upon her body, the outrage on her daughter's 

honour.' 

§ 2. ut non corpor-a, &c., ' that they spared the person of none, 

leaving not even age and innocence unassailed.' 

§ 3. adesse, &c., ' at hand to exact a righteous vengeance.' So 

V 72, 5 ' qui tributo aderant ' (i. e. ' tributo exigendo '). 

ceteros: the 2nd legion, ch. 37, 6, and perhaps also the rest of 

the 20th (ch. 34, I), and the survivors of the 9th (ch. 32, 6). 

eircumspicere, ' were watching for a chance of.' 

§ 4. impetus et manus, ' the shock of their encounter.' 

bscum expenderent, 'reflect upon.' Similar outrages would 

67


recur, and they might not always have the same means of resistance. 

vel : for 'aut' so in oh. 6i, 6, and 62, 5. 

Ch. 36, § 2. ubi . . . adgnovissent, 'as soon as they, so often 

routed, recognized the steel and the valour of their conquerors.' 

§ 3. in multis, &c., 'where many legions were present, it was 

only a few soldiers who gave the decisive impulse to battles.' 

§ 4. et pilis, (S:c., ' et ' couples ' conferti ' with all the following 

words down to ' gladiis.' 

continuarent, ' keep up incessantly.' Cf. .xiii 53, I. 

eessura : so, ' praeda victoribus cessit,' xiii 39, 7. 

§ 5. intorquenda, 'hurling.' 

multa experientia : abl. of quality. 

certus eventus : so ' matrimonii certa,' Afin. xii 3, 2. 

Ch. 37, § I. gradu, 'position.' 

angustias : cf. ' locum artis faucibus,' ch. 34, 2. 

in propius suggressos hostis : for Med. ' propius suggrcssus 

hostis,' which would require ' exhauserat ' to be unnaturally strained 

to the meaning 'received upon themselves all the missiles.' 

certo iactu, ' with deadly effect.' 

§ 3. terga praebuere : a variation for the usual 'terga dederunt 

(possibly to avoid the he.xameter ending). For ' abitus,' ' outlet,' cf. 

Verg. Aen. ix 379 ' omnemque abitum custode coronant.' 

§ 4. auxerant : expressing what had come to pass at a time soon 

after that spoken of. Cf. the use of ' auxerant,' Ann. i 63, 3 and 

' aboleverat,' Hist, ii 5, 3. In such uses the pluperfect denotes 

an action prior not to that of the preceding verb of it^ own clause 

(as ' saepserant ' above denotes something prior to ' praebuere 'j, 

but to the subsequent action described. 

§ 5. octoginta milia : such numbers are usually guesswork, 

but the slaughter of the Teutons and Cimbri by Marius and that 

inflicted on the Gauls by Caesar are instances of the tremendous 

carnage a disciplined force could inflict on an undisciplined mass of 

barbarians. 

veneno : Dio (Ixii 12, 6) says she died of disease. 

§ 6. praefectus castrorum : in command of the legion in the 

absence of the legatus. 

secundae legionis : in its head quarters at Isca Silurum (Caerleon). 

Ch. 38, § I. nonani : belonging to the legion cut to pieces 

under Cerialis (ch. 32, 6). 

§ 2. vastatum : used similarly in ch. 23, 4. 

§ 3. ineuriosos : so with dat. in Hist, ii 17, I ' melioribus incuriosos'; 

more frequently with genit. as Ann. v 31, i ' incuriosum 

fratris.' 

et: i.e. besides their general tendency to neglect agriculture, on 

this occasion not even the old had remained at home to cultivate 

the land. 

§ 4. 8ucce3sor Cato : cf. ch. 32, 7. 

68 

The procurator was apt to be 

'

BOOK XIV. GH. 35, § 4 — CH. 40, §§ 1-2 

at variance with the legatus (cf. A^r. 9, 5) and was often intended 

to be a check upon him. 

dispersei'atque, ' put it abroad that . . . ,' ' circulated the talk 

that . . .' 

Ch. 39, § I. igitur: i.e. in consequence of the procurator's 

report. 

Polyclitus : his rapacity is noted in the Histories, and appears 

to have been exercised chiefly when he was left in Rome with 

Melius (cf. xiii i, 3) during Nero's absence in Greece (Dio). 

barbarum : so Med. for ' barbarorum ' (on analogy of ' fabrum ' 

and 'liberum,' shortened to avoid the repetition of 'r' in the longer 

form). 

§ 2. nee defuit, &c., ' and Polyclitus, whose enormous train had 

been oppressive to Italy and Gaul, did not fail, on crossing the 

ocean, to inspire terror, by his coming, among our soldiers too.' 

§ 3. apud quos, 'among whom the spirit of freedom was still 

strong and who had not yet realized the power of the freedmen.' 

§ 4. cunctatamen, 'yet' (in spite of the unfavourable impression 

he produced on the army and the province) 'in his report to the 

emperor he put a more favourable construction ' (than had Classicianus) 

'upon things in general.' For 'in mollius relata,' cf. xiii 

14, I. 

detentus rebus gerundis, 'having been retained in his appointment 

' ; 'rebus,' dat. of purpose. 'Detentus' does not here imply 

reluctant detention ; cf. Agr. 9, 6 ' minus triennium in ea legatione 

detentus.' 

quod postea, &c. : to be taken apart from the preceding words 

and in connexion with ' iubetur.' He was not superseded then and 

there, but soon afterwards a trifling disaster was made the occasion 

for this to be done, as though a state of war still existed and he 

was not competent to restore peace. 

Petronio Turpiliano : see ch. 29, l. He is also mentioned 

in XV 72 as receiving triumphal honours, 65 A. D., but had returned 

to Rome earlier, as he was ' curator aquarum ' in 63 A.D. 

§ 5. segni otic, 'unenterprising inactivity.' 

Ch. 40, § I. senatoris: referring to the principal culprit 

Fabianus, described below as 'capessendis honoribus destinatus,' 

i.e. a man in the same position as Julius Montanus (xiii 25, 2). 

'Senatoris,' to be taken with ' audacia,' to which ' servili ' (by 

variation for ' servi ') is also joined. 

alterum : described in ch. 42. 

erat : cf. xiii 45, i. 

§ 2. subdidit, ' forged.' 

Antonium Primxim: afterwards a partisan of Vespasian {Hist. 

ii 86, 2-3). 

Aainium Marcellum : consul 54A.D., grandson of Asinius Gallus 

the son of C. Asinius PoUio. The last-named was a supporter of 

Julius Caesar, and acted as Antony's lieutenant in Cisalpine Gaul in 

41 B.C. In 40 B.C. he was consul, and with Maecenas negotiated 

69


the treaty of Brunduslum between Antony and Octavian, by which 

after two generations of civil war the peace of Italy seemed to be 

secured. He was a patron of Horace and Vergil, and founded 

a library on the Palatine. See Hor. Od. ii i and Verg. Eel. iv and 

iii 86. 

§ 3. audacia promptus : so ch. 58, 2 'aut numero validos aut 

animo promptos.' 

morum spernendus : of. ' morum di versus,' ch. 19. 

§ 4. tabulas sociis : for Med. ' tabulas iis.' 

aliis : presumably three, the attestation of seven Roman citizens 

being requisite to a citizen's will. 

§ 5. convictum, ' was proved.' 

lege Cornelia: a law of Sulla, passed in 81 B.C. against forgery 

or falsification of wills or suppression of a true will. The penalty 

was deportation to an island with complete loss of property for 

the principal offender, and exile, relegation, or expulsion from the 

senate for his accessories. Antonius suffered only expulsion from 

the senate, to which he was subsequently restored by Galba, who 

also made him commander of a legion {Hist, ii 86, 2). 

exemere, ' rescued from punishment but not disgrace.' 

Ch. 41, § I. is dies: there is a similar personification of 

'nox' in xiii 17, i. 

iuvenem quaestorium : he was thus a senator, but of the 

lowest rank. 

tamquam : not necessarily a fictitious charge. See Intr. II 50. 

Hispania : his name suggests that he was of a Spanish family 

enfranchised when Pompeius Magnus held Spain. 

§ 2. pari ignominia: 

alone. 

probably meaning exclusion from Italy 

reos : meaning perhaps the 'minus illustres' of the preceding 

chapter, but it is strange that these confederates should not have 

been tried in the senate with the other offenders (ch. 40, 5), and 

Tacitus' language would equally well apply to persons under trial 

on another charge. 

apud praefectum urbis: the jurisdiction of this magistrate was 

originally restricted to ordinary police cases and criminals of the 

lowest rank, but it was extended as time went on, and at this period 

its sphere was so far from being strictly defined that an attempt to 

forestall other accusers from bringing a case before the praefect, by 

taking preliminary steps to bring it before the praetor, could 

be defended by an appeal to the letter of the law ('specie 

legum'j. 

interim, ' for a while.' The jurisdiction of the praetor being less 

summary than that of the praefect, Ponticus would be able to gain 

time for collusion with the other side ('praevaricatio'). It is noteworthy 

that here the senate punished the presumed intention to 

commit a crime, before its actual accomplishment. 

§ 3. senatus consulto : meaning, perhaps, the ' senatus consultum 

Turpilianum,' named after the consul of the year (ch. 29, i). 

70

BOOK XIV. CH. 40, § 2 — CH. 43, §§ 1-4 

This was a measure providing comprehensively against forgery 

and fraud in the matter of wills. 

talem operam : i. e. the attempt to frustrate a charge by such 

means as Ponticus had employed. 

publico iudicio, Sic, 'as if convicted of calumny in a criminal 

cause.' In legal phraseology, ' calumniari ' = to bring a false charge, 

*praevaricari' = to suppress a true one, and 'tergiversari' = to abandon 

a charge without just cause. The old penalty for ' calumnia ' was 

branding with the letter K, apparently imposed by the ' lex Remmia,' 

which is of uncertain date, and referred to in Cicero, /w 

Roscio. In later times the penalties were, in civil cases, a fine of 

one-tenth to one-fourth or even one-third of the amount involved, 

and in criminal cases exile, relegation, or loss of rank. 

Ch. 42, § I. Pedanium Secundum: consul suffectus in 43 A.D. 

The ' praefectus urbis ' was always a senator of consular rank. 

pretium pepigerat : slaves were allowed to accumulate a sum 

from their 'peculium' to purchase their freedom, but until later 

had no remedy at law if their master broke the compact. 

§ 2. vetere ex more : a letter to Cicero [ad Fain, iv 12, 3) shows 

such a decree existed in republican times. Cf. xiii 32, i. 

protegebat : the tense implies beginning or intention. So 

' ducebantur,' ch. 45, 3 ; 

' decernebat,' xv 74, 4 ; 

' damnabatur,' 

xvi 21, 2. 

C. Casaius : cf. xiii 41, 5. 

sententiae loco, ' when his turn for speaking came.' 

Ch. 43, § I. super, ' in the case of ' == 'de ' 

: cf. xv 5, 5. Intr. 

II 46. 

studium meum, 'my pursuit,' i.e. the profession of jurisprudence, 

with the study of old precedents involved in it. 

extollere, ' .' 

make too much of . . 

§ 2. quidquid, &c., ' whatever this authority that I have may 

be.' Cf. ch. 55, 2 'quidquid illud et qualecumque.' For 'hoc . .. 

auctoritatis,' cf. ' si quid est in me ingeni ' (Cic. Arch, i i). 

crebris contradictionibus, ' by perpetual opposition.' 

ut, &c., 'that it might remain unimpaired, if ever the state had 

vital need of my advice.' 

§ 3. senatus consulto : the one embodying the ' vetus mos,' cf. 

ch. 42, 2. 

§ 4. ut quern, &c.: 'quern' and 'cui ' are interrogatives depending 

on the consecutive 'ut'; 'vote in heaven's name for their 

impunity, with the result that who is to be defended by his rank 

(i. e. that no one can be) when the office of city-praefect has been unavailing 

to its possessor? that who is to be protected by the number 

of his slaves .' 

' &c. So Livy xliv 39 ' dimicassemus ; ut quo victores 

nos reciperemus ? ' Cic. pro Font, x 22 ' iurare malitis ? quid ut 

secuti esse videamini?' 

in metu : when they have the fear of such punishment hanging 

over them. 

advertit, 'pays attention to.' 

71


§ 5. 'paterna pecvmia,' ' avitum mancipium ' : ironical references 

to the supposed reasons for the crime. By strict law a slave 

bad no rights to inherit or hold property or to enter into contracts 

(' transigere'), so that ' iniuria' was an absurd term to apply in the 

case of a slave. 

ultro, ' let us go further and say.' 

Ch. 44, § I. libet, &c., 'do you wish to hunt up arguments in 

a matter already decided by wiser heads ? 

aniinum sumpsisse, ' formed a resolution.' 

lit non, &c., 'without letting fall some threatening expression.' 

§2. sane: concessive, 'even grant that he concealed his 

design.' 

excubias : the slaves guarding the bedroom. 

premonitory signs precede a crime.' 

§ 3. multa, SiC, ' many 

servi si prodant, &c., 'if our slaves betray their fellows' plots, 

we can live, single amid a crowd, safe among the anxious, and 

finally, if we have to perish, not unavenged among the guilty.' The 

argument is ' If the old law remains in force it will prompt slaves 

to give information of any plot against their master, and we shall 

be safe,' but the actual words do not express this clearly, and, if 

the text is sound, the language has 

An emendation suggested, 

sacrificed sense to brevity. 

' servis si pereundum sit ni prodant,' 

removes the difficulty, but is somewhat violent. 

anxios : careful that no unrevealed plot against their master 

should involve them in wholesale destruction. 

§ 4. etiam cum, (S:c. : in old households most or all of the slaves 

were born in the house ('vernae'). 

statim, iS:c., 'and conceived an affection for their masters from 

their earliest years.' 

§ 5. postquam, (Sic, 'now that we have different nationalities in 

our households, possessing religions other than ours, some barbarian 

forms of worship or none at all ..." 

' 

§ 6. at = at enim.' 

nam et, ' yes, for even .' 

. . 

cum decumus quisque, &c,, ' decimatio ' as a military punishment 

is mentioned in Livy as early as 469 B. c. (Livy ii 59, 4). 

Tacitus mentions the 'decimation' of a cohort for cowardice in 

Africa, in 20 A.D. ; A ft ft. iii 21 ' decumum quemque ignominiosae 

cohortis sorte ductos fusti necat.' 

sortiuntur, ' draw the lot ' for punishment. 

§ 7. omne magnum exemplum, ' every exemplary punishment 

on a large scale involves a certain amount of injustice, which is compensated 

by the public advantage as set against (the wrong done 

to) individuals.' For ' exemplum ' see xv 20, 2 ; contrast xiii 44, 8. 

Ch. 45, § I. nemo imus, 'no one in particular,' i.e. coming 

forward individually. 

aetatem : in later times young boys and girls were exempted 

from this general execution. 

§ 2. obtemperari, &c., ' the sentence could not be carried out.' 

72 

'

BOOK XIV. CH. 43, § 5 — CH. 48, §§ 1-2 

§ 3. ducebantur, ' were to be taken,' ingressive imperfect, like 

'protegebat,' ch. 42, 2. 

§ 4. deportarentur : the severest form of exile. 

intenderetur, ' should be strained.' 

Ch. 46, § I. Tarquitius Priscua : he had, in 53 A. D., accused 

Statilius Taurus, the proconsul of Africa under whom he had 

served, at the instigation of Agrippina, who coveted his estates 

(Ann. xii 59) ; and the senate had expelled him from their ranks. 

Probably however he was afterwards restored as otherwise he could 

hardly have become governor of Bithynia. 

interrogantibus : the verb is similarly used, xiii 14, 2. 

to receive the returns of 

§ 2. census . . . acti : 

' censum agere ' = 

property which the subjects had to furnish, on which rested the 

apportionment of the great tribute of 40,000,000 HS laid on Gaul. 

Q. Volusio: see xiii 25, i. 

Sextio Africano : see xiii 19, 2. 

Trebellio Maximo: consul with Seneca in 58 A.D., and 

legatus of Britain as successor to Turpilianus (ch. 39, 4). 

supra tulere : raised above the position natural to him. 

Ch. 47, § I. Memmius Regulus : consul in 31 a.d., and 

governor of the combined provinces of Moesia, Achaia, and Macedonia 

prior to the year 44 a.d., when the two latter were restored 

to the senate. He was husband of Lollia Paulina one of the 

victims of Agrippina's jealousy, Attn, xii 22. 

si quid fato pateretur : euphemism, like /x»; rt ttuôi Horn. 

//. V 567, or ' si quid accideret,' Cic. P/iiL i 4. 

§ 2. quiete, ' unobtrusive life ' 

; cf. ch. 56, 3. 

nova : he was not a man of dangerous 'nobilitas.' 

invidiosis : great enough to excite the emperor's cupidity. 

§ 3. gymnasium : built for the Neronian games in the Campus 

Martius. 

Graeca facilitate : one of the Athenian XnTovpyun was the 

'gymnasiarchia,' involving the expense of supplying persons preparing 

themselves for contests at public festivals with the requisites 

of their training. 

Ch. 48, § I. P. Mario: probably father of Marius Celsus; 

see XV 25, 5. 

memoravi : see xiii 28, i. 

celebri, ' crowded.' 

Ostorium Scapulam : son of the legatus of Britain who conquered 

Caratacus, Attn, xii 31-39. 

§ 2. Capitone : see xiii 33, 3. 

Tigellini : see ch. 51, 5. 

maiestatis: sc. 'laesae'or 'minutae.' This statute was originally 

designed against treason in the ordinary sense of the word : 

' si 

quis proditione exercitum aut plebem seditionibus, denique male 

gesta re publica maiestatem populi Roinani minuisset : facta arguebantur, 

dicta impune erant,' Ann. i 72, 3. Under Tiberius, according 

to Tacitus, the law was extended to words spoken against 

73


the emperor, and became an instrument of persecution, any word 

or deed that cou'd Ije constiued as an insult to the emperor providing 

material for accusation to the informers (' delatores '), who 

were rewarded on the condemnation of their victim by one-fourth 

of his property. The penalty on condemnation was exile with loss 

of property, but in the later years of Tiberius death was inflicted. 

Trials on this charge were, according to Dio, discontinued by 

Claudius, after being nominally abolished by Gaius. 

§ 3. ut, &c., ' that after condemnation by the senate he might 

be reprieved from death by the emperor's tribunician veto ' ; cf. 

Intr. Ill 3. 

§ 4. pro testimonio dixisset, ' gave it as his evidence that.' 

consul designatus : i.e. to be 'consul suffectus' for the latter 

part of the same year. 

more maiormn : by scourging. (Such a sentence was eventually 

passed on Nero, who asked what it meant, and was 

' 

told 

nudi hominis cervicem inseri furcae, corpus virgis ad necem 

caedi,' Suet.) 

§ 5. Thrasea: cf. xiii 49, i. 

§ 6. carnificem et laqueum : referring to the ordinary execution 

by strangling in the Tullianum. As this had been abolished, 

much more would the ferocious sentence advocated by MaruUus 

be out of place. 

infamia, &c., ' without casting disgrace on the times in which 

they lived.' 

§ 7. in insula : Paetus recommends that the sentence of ' deportatio 

' with loss of property should not be exceeded ; cf. note on 

' maiestatis ' above. ' In exile on an island, his property confiscated, 

the longer he dragged on his guilty life, the more would he personally 

suffer, and be the greatest possible proof of the clemency 

of the State.' 

Ch. 49, § I. disceasionem . . . permiserat, 'allowed the senate 

to divide.' It was within the discretion of the presiding magistrate 

to rule whether a ' sententia ' should or should not be 

thus submitted to the house (cf. Cic. Phil, xiv 7, 21 'has in sententias 

meas si consules discessionem facere voluissent . . . arma 

cecidissent'). The consuls could also refuse to give practical 

effect to what the majority had approved, by not making a formal 

announcement and registration of the sentence, with the names of 

the senators who signed it (' scribendo adfuere ') ; cf. § 2 ' perficere 

decretum senatus non ausi.' For procedure in the senate cf. also 

xiii 26, 2, and 49, 2. 

A. Vitellius : subsequently emperor. 

respondenti reticens, ' not daring a rejoinder to any who replied 

to him.' 

§ 3. cunctatus, ' after a struggle between.' 

pro, ' in proportion to.' par, ' it would have been right.* 

§ 4. impeditui-us : cf. ch. 48, 3. 

datam et, ' they might even acquit him if they so wished.' 

74

BOOK XIV. CH. 48, § 2 — CH. 52, §§ 1-2 

§ 5. ne, &c., 'so as not to appear to fix the odium (of a harsher 

sentence) on the emperor.' 

et ne, 'so as to live up to his reputation' (ht. 'that his glory 

might not fail '). 

Ch. 50, § I. Fabricius Veiento : well known under Domitian 

as a consular and an infamous accuser (Juv. iv 113). 

codicillorum : persons in their wills sometimes attacked the 

' princeps ' or others whom they had not dared to assail in their 

lifetime, and Augustus had forbidden the senate to punish this 

licence (by fining the legatees). Presumably Veiento's libel was 

a parody of a will of this sort. 

venditata : i.e. he received money for promising to use his influence 

with Nero to win persons the emperor's ' commendation ' to office. 

§ 2. suscipiendi, ' for trying the case personally.' 

depulit : the punishment would be ' relegatio.' 

conquiBitos, &;c., ' which were eagerly procured and read as 

long as it was dangerous to get them : 

forgotten.' 

when allowed, they were 

Ch. 51, § I. valetudo, 'ill-health,' ' sickness ' 

; so ch. 22, 6. 

§2. in se, 'internally.' impedito meatu, &c., 'the passnge 

becoming blocked, respiration ceased.' 

§ 3. plures, ' the majority.' Suetonius and Dio assert as an 

unquestioned fact that Nero had Burrus poisoned, Dio giving as 

the reason Burrus' opposition to the divorce of Octavia. 

liactenus, ' no more than this.' 

ego : stress is laid on 'ego,' as he is made to contrast his own 

tranquillity with Nero's consciousness of guilt. 

§ 4. segnem innocentiam, ' inactive harmlessness.' 

flagrantissima flagitia, ' scandalous vices.' 

§ 5. duos : before Burrus' appointment, the command of the 

praetorian cohorts was divided between two officers, Ann. xii 42. 

Faenium Riifum : cf. xiii 22, i. 

Tigellinum : exiled under Gaius on suspicion of adultery, and 

permitted to return under Claudius. He won the favour of Nero 

by horsebreeding in Apulia, and became 'praefectus vigilum.' 

The account of his death, under Otho, is given Hisf. i 72. His first 

name, given by Med. as ' ofonium,' is corrected from the form 

6 2o(f)u>vio


privatum, &c., 'surpassing the position of a subject.' For 

Seneca's wealth cf. xiii 42, §§ 6, 7. 

§ 3. laudem, &c., 'reputation for eloquence was all monopolized 

by him.' 

§ 4. detrectare, ' depreciated,' ' disparaged.' 

voces, 'notes,' 'tones.' 

§ 5. quem ad finem, &c., 'how long must every glorious act of 

state be supposed to owe its origin to him ?' 

§ 6. exueret, 'let him shake off his pedagogue.' 

satis, &c., ' furnished as he was with sufficiently fine instructors 

in his ancestors.' amplis, many-sided, capable of serving as a 

pattern in all relations. 

Ch. 53, § 2. spei tuae, ' since I became connected with your 

prospects.' 

ut, ' since ' ; a rare use of the word in this sense with the present 

tense. So Ovid, ' ut sumus in Ponto.' 

medio temporis : so xiii 28, 3. 

honores : Seneca was consul, with Trebellius Maximus (mentioned 

ch. 46, 2), in the latter part probably of 58 A. D. 

moderatio eius, ' self-control in respect of it.' 

§ 3. meae fortiinae, ' belonging to my rank.' So ch. 60, 6. 

abavus : for Nero's pedigree see xiii 19, 3. 

Mytilenense secretum, ' retirement at Mytilene' (so ' Rhodi secretum,' 

Afin. iv 57, 3). Agrippa was appointed governor of Syria, 

probably with general proconsular power in the East, in 23 B.C., 

but left the province to his legati and lived in retirement at 

Mytilene, effacing himself to avoid rivalry with the young Marcellus. 

His 

year. 

retirement terminated on the death of Marcellus within the 

Maecenas : died 8 B.C., after a retirement of eight years, passed 

principally in his Esquiline viJla. The reason of his loss of 

Augustus' confidence is obscure. 

velut peregrinum, ' as though in a foreign country.' 

pluribus, 

number of.' 

'more' (than ordinary), i.e. 'numerous,' 'a great 

pro: i.e. not surpassing them. 

§ 4. quid aliud, &c., ' what other claim could I establish on 

your bounty except those accomplishments, the result of what 

I may call my cloistered training?' 

ut sic dixerim : a variant for the classical ' ut ita dicam.' 

A similar rare use of the perf. subjunct. in a subordinate clause, yet 

referring to present time, occurs in Ann. vi 22, 6 ' ne . . . longius 

abierim.' 

in umbra: i.e. not in public life. Cf. 'studiis inertibus,' 

xiii 42,4. So Quintilian speaks of an academic life as 'solitaria 

et velut umbratilis vita.' Cf. also Juv. vii 173 'ad pugnam qui 

rhetorica descendit ab umbra.' 

educata: agreeing with 'studia.' The verb is elsewhere always 

applied to persons by Tacitus. 

76

BOOK XIV. CH. 52, § 2 — CH. 55, §§ 1-7 

§ 5. gratiam, ' influence,' through 

and position as counsellor. 

his high rank in the State, 

pecuniam. : cf. xiii 18, i and 42, §§ 6, 7. 

plerumque volvam, ' often ponder.' 

provinciali loco : his father M. Seneca the rhetorician migrated 

to Rome from Corduba (Cordova), and became a knight. 

longa, &c., ' displaying a long roil of glories ' (i.e. of distinguished 

ancestors). 

§ 6. exstruit : the term is used of laying out the ground and 

erecting buildings on it: cf. ' extollere,' Ann. .\i i, i and xiii 21, 6. 

suburbana, ' suburban villas.' 

lato faenore, ' capital out at interest far and wide.' 

Ch. 54, § 2. quae: referring to 'invidiam.' 'This, like all mere 

mortal things, does 

heavily on me.' 

not rise to your exalted rank ; but it weighs 

§ 3. adminiculum, ' a staff of support.' 

§ 4. procuratores : such as managed the ' res familiaris 

Caesaris,' cf. xiii i, 3. fortunam : here = ' ]:roperty.' 

praestringor, ' I am blinded.' The usual expression is 'praestringere 

oculos (or visum) alicuius ' rather than ' praestringere 

aliquem.' 

quod, &c., 'I will restore to my mind (i.e. its cultivation) all the 

time now set apart for the care of gardens or villas.' 

••§ 5. Buperest tibi, 'you have in abundance.' 

visum, &.C., 'the administration of supreme power has been 

watched by you through so many years.' The expression fastigii 

regimen for 'imperii regimen' is difficult to accept; and the MSS. 

are evidently corrupt here. Madvig reads 'nosti summi fastigii' 

on the supi osition that the first syllable of 'nosti' was lost in the 

preceding 'annos,' and that the second syllable, with 'summi' 

following, was corrupted into 'visum.' 

reposcere, 'to demand rest as our due,' corrected from Med. 

' respondere.' 

vexjsse : for the more usual ' provexisse.' 

Ch. 55, § I. meditatae, ' prepared.' occurram = ' respondebo.' 

id primum, (Sic, 'this is the first gift I have to thank you 

for.' 

expedire, &c., ' to express my thoughts not only after consideration 

but also offhand.' 

§ 2. usurpare concessit : Intr. II 31. 

sed, &c., ' but only when he had reached a time of life that could 

sanction and justify whatever that gift may have been that he 

bestowed.' 

§ 4. tela et manus tuae, ' your personal service in the field,' 

cf. xiii 6, 5. 

ratione, 'forethought.' 

§ 5. faenus, ' capital ' (laid out at interest). 

6. plerique = ' permulti.' 

I 

§ 7. libertiiios : especially Pallas, who was still living (ch. 65, l). 

77


fortuna : combining the idea of rank (as in ch. 53, 3) and 

wealth (as in ch. 54, 4). 

antecellis : with accus. In Cicero the verb is always used 

with dative, or absol. 

Ch. 56, § 

' 

I. aetas : Seneca was now about sixty-five years old. 

rebus, &c., 'for the business of state and its rewards.' 

nisi forte, &c. : the argument is, ' you are not too old for the 

further advancement which I desire you to enjoy, unless you 

think yourself less worthy than Vitellius, who was thrice consul, 

or me less willing and able to reward my friends than Claudius 

(under whom Vitellius held his second and third consulship).' 

L. Vitellius was consul for the first time in 34 A. D., and* in the 

following year went out to Syria as ' legatus,' where he governed 

'prisca virtute,' vi 32, 6. He was recalled by Gains 40 A.D. 

Under Claudius he was conspicuous as a servile courtier and 

received two more consulships, the last in 47 A.D., the same year 

as his odious complicity with Messalina in compassing the death 

of Asiaticus {Ann. xi 3). He was father of A. Vitellius the 

emperor. 

Volusio: see xiii 30, 4. 

§ 2. quin, 'why not?' followed by indicative introduces a question 

equivalent to an exhortation. Cf. Cic. c. Rab. vi 18 'quin 

continetis vocem ? 

si qua in parte, &c., ' if my unstable youth ever is inclined to 

slip.' Cf. ' lubrica aetas,' xiii 2, 2. 

subaidio : with ' ornatum ' ; 'still more zealously direct my 

manhood, furnished with your support in reserve.' 

§ 3. quies, ' retirement.' 

§ 5. factus . . . exercitus velare : see Intr. II 35. 

§ 6. coetus salutantium : the visitors at the morning levee, 

'turba salutantium' slightingly spoken of by Seneca himself 

(£/. xixil). 

comitantis: clients and others attending him when he went 

out. Cf. xiii 46, 5 ' congressu et comitatu.' 

rarus, 'seldom appeared in,' 

sapientiae studils, 'philosophical pursuits.' His Epistolae 

ad Luciliu}n arc referred to this period. 

Ch. 57, § I. promptum fuit, 'it was easy (for his enemies) 

to bring down Faenius Rufus, making his friendship with Agrippina 

a charge against him.' inminuere, 'degrade,' i.e. lower in Nero's 

estimation: he was not deposed from office, xv 50, 4. criminantibus 

: dat. after ' promptum.' 

malas artea, 'accomplishments in vice.' 

rimatur, ' pries out the causes of his fear.' 

Plautua: see xiii 19, 3. Sulla: xiii 47. 

huic = Plautus ; illi = Sulla. The ordinary reference of these 

pronouns is reversed in this passage. 

§ 2. diversas, &c., ' had an eye to hopes from opposite quarters ' 

(had a divided allegiance). He means that Burrus was under

BOOK XIV. CH. 55, § 7 — CH. 58, §§ 1-4 

obligation to Agrippina, was never hearty in acting against her 

(xiii 20, s), and might even have sympathized with her scheme 

for Plautus. 

praesenti opera: emended from Med, 'presentiora,' an error 

probably arising from abbreviation. ' fie could be secured more 

or less from plots in the city by his (Tigellinus') diligence on the 

spot,' 

§ 3. ad, 'at the sound of,' 

dictatorium : this Sulla was descended from the great dictator. 

suspenses, 'excited by expectation,' corrected from Med, 

'suspec'os,' thus answering to 'erectas.' 

§ 5. magnis opibus : abl. of quality. 

praeferre, 'posed as an ancient Roman.' 

adsumpta, &c., 'and had further embraced the doctrines of the 

arrogant Stoic cect, which made men seditious and eager for 

politics.' 

adrogantia sectaque : Intr. II 54. 

negotiorum adpetentes : the popular idea of the Stoic 

ideal of conduct as contrasted with the Epicurean (Hor. Ep. 

' I, 16). 

§ 6. tamquam = if. 

Ch. 58, § I. spatium, iS:c., 'the long journey by land and 

sea, and the long time which had to intervene' (between the irsue 

of the order and the news of its execution), itineris : the journey 

by land as contrasted with that by sea. [Or one may regard 

' ' itineris as the journey as a whole, and ' ac maris ' as a specification 

of the part of it particularly subject to delay, ' the length of the 

route, especially of the part by sea.'J 

petitum, &c., 'that he had fled to Corbulo.' 

praecipuum, 'the most exposed.' 

§ 2. nee: the negation applies to 'aut . . . aut,' the sense being 

that of 'et . , . neque , . . neque.' 

numero : 60 ; cf. § 4. 

' spes novas: = spem novarum rerum,' cf. xvi 23, 2, 

§ 3, credentium otio, ' by the indolence of the credulous,' 

i.e. by indolent credulity (cf. 'otiosum,' xiii 3, 3). 

ceterum = ' re vera autem ' ; so ako xv 52, 3. 

Antistii: cf. xiii 11, i. 

effugeret, &c., 'let him avoid a tarne end' (that of submiiting 

' to the assassins) 'while there was yet a means of escape.' Dum 

suftligium esset,' with ' miseratione ' further on, is corrected from 

'otium suffugium et' with 'miseratione' (= 'miserationem'), in Med. 

An alternative, 'odium suffugium et . . . miserationem,' with colon 

' before and after the phrase, gives fair sense ; the hatred felt for 

Nero and the pity aroused by Plautus' great name offered a means 

of escape.' 

§ 4. adusqiie : for ' usque ad,' a poetical form transferred to 

prose by Tacitus, like ' abusque ' in xiii 47, 2. Intr. II 46. 

evalescerent, iS:c., ' would be strong enough to result in war.' 

79 Q


Ch. 59, § I. taedio, &c., 'sick of suspense about his future' 

(or perhaps ' shrinking from the uncertainty of the success of 

a rebelhon '). 

§ 2. tamquam, 'saying that,' cf. xiii 28, 5 and Intr. II 50. 

C. Musonius Rufus was a knight of Vulsinii and a renowned 

Stoic, the teacher of Epictetus. On the occasion of the conspiracy 

of Piso he was suspected of compHcityand banished, but had returned 

by 69 A.D. and took part in the pohtics of that time {Hist, iii 81 ; 

iv 10 and 40). He is mentioned by the younger Pliny as having 

been his friend. Of Coeranus nothing is known beyond his name. 

opperiendae mortis: defining genitive (Intr. II 26a). 

§ 3. nudus, &c., 'stripped for gynniastic exercises.' For the 

dative cf. Intr. II II. 

manipulo, 'a detachment'; the word is not here used in its 

strict technical sense of a body of two centuries. 

quasi, &c., 'like a sultan's slave in command of his retinue.' 

§ 4. cur, &c. : the missing words may have been ' hominem 

nasutum timuisti?' Dio gives oIk fiêiv, icprj, on fj.€ydXr)v plvi 

ilx^v, (oanep cj)fia(ip(vos iw avrov el tovto nporjrTiuTnTo. Cf. his 

remark on Sulla (ch. 57) and Agrippina (ch. 9). Pop^jaea had 

been Nero's mistress now for four years (xiii 45, i). 

amoliri, 'remove'; so used also in Af!n. ii 42, i, of Tiberius' 

alleged intention to contrive the death of Germanicus. 

nomine, 'owing to her father's name,' causal abl. (Intr. II 19). 

The imperial prestige was hers in her own right as being daughter 

of Claudius, and so Nero viewed her with jealousy and suspicion. 

gravem, ' 

obnoxious,' to Nero (cf. ch. 39, 2). 

magna cura haberi, 'was watched over by himself with great 

solicitude.' 

§ 6. eo nomine, 'on that pretext'; i.e. for his vigilance in 

detecting the plots of these men. 

gravioribus, &c., 'the mockeiy (of this condemnation of dead 

men) seeming even more revolting than the crimes' (the murder 

itself), iam is here read for Med. 'ta' ( = 'tamen'), which would 

mean ' (a sentence) however more grievous as an insult than as 

a positive injury.' 

Ch. 60, § I. cuncta scelerum : cf. Intr. II 23 b. 

exturbat . , . coniungitur : these statements are anticipatory, 

the facts related in §§ 2-4 having taken place before the divorce 

was effected, and the divorce being stated again in its proper 

place at § 5. 

§ 2. diu: see ch. 59, 4. 'Long his mistress, and ruling Nero 

first as her paramour and next as her husband.' 

impulit . . . obicere : cf. xiii 19, 4 ; Intr. II 31. 

§3. canere tibiis: for Med. 'ptybias' = 'per tibias,' an un- 

exampled construction. 

^ 4. adnuerent =>' adfirmarent.' 

§ 5. movetur : simple for compound, cf. ch. 32, 4. 

civilis, &c., ' under colour of an ordinary legal divorce,' not as if 

80

BOOK XIV. CH. 59, § I — CH. 61, §§ 1-5 

convicted on a criminal charge, which, if sustained, would have 

amounted to 'maiestas.' The ground alleged was sterility (§1), 

and the estates assigned were probably given in satisfaction of her 

claim of dos.' 

domura Burri: inherited or purchased after his death by Nero. 

praedia Plauti : confiscated after his execution. 

§ 6. cui, &c., 'who show less prudence and run fewer risks, 

thanks to their humble station.' 

his . . . tamquam, &c. : the words in Med. are ' his quamquam 

. . . revocavit,' but are evidently faulty : ch. 61, 3 (ne . . . mutaretur) 

shows that Nero did not actually restore Octavia to her position, 

although Poppaea was fearing that the popular excitement might 

induce him to do so : it seems that the passage has lost words 

describing some modification of her ill-treatment which gave rise 

to a rumour that he had restored her. For ' tamquam ' see 

Intr. II 50. 

Ch. 61, § I. tandem : as though hitherto the prevalence of injustice 

had shaken men's faith. 

spargunt floribus : 

occasions. 

an honour paid to persons on triumphal 

§ 2. repetitum venerantium : the reading is very questionable, 

but sense can be made of it by taking ' principis ' as objective 

genitive and 'venerantium' as subjective, with ' laudes,' while the 

elsewhere unknown substantive ' repetit;us ' may be defended on 

the analogy of other such nouns adopted by Tacitus (see Intr. 

II 51, a.). It will then mean 'recourse was had even to eulogies of 

the emperor on the part of those praising her recall.' 

quae verterant, ' the changes which they had made ' in respect 

of the statues. 

§ 3. provoluta genibus : the more usual phrase is ' provolvi ad 

genua.' 

loci : partitive genitive, with ' eo ' = ' 

; her fortunes were not now 

in such a position.' 

potius : adjective. 

ausi : masculine Kara a-ivea-iv (notwithstanding the preceding 

' quae ') ; so Aftfi. iv 48, 5 ' auxilia . . . caesi.' 

§ 4. qui, (S:c. ' but he would be easily found once the rising was 

on foot, only let her leave Campania and come in person to Rome, 

since by her mere nod, even in absence, she could create a rebellion.' 

reperiretur: the conditional subjunctive is here retained in 

apodosis, in place of the regular ' quem . . . repertum iri.' 

§ 5. quod alioquin, &c. : the reasoning is, 'Otherwise, if this 

attack were really directed against me, instead of being a covert 

attack on Nero, some charge would be alleged against me. But 

' 

what is that charge ? 

' veram : true-born.' Her daughter was born in the following 

January (xv 23, i). 

tibicinis : njeaning Eucaerus, ch. 60, 3. 

induci, ' to be thrust into imperial grandeur.' 

81


§ 6. quam : 'potius' omitted. Cf. Intr. II 47. 

dominam, ' the wife whose slave he would be.' 

vel : lor ' aut.' Cf. ch. 35, 4. 

§ 7. illi, &c., 'will find her a husband' (to drive out Nero). 

The remedy for this danger was Octavia's execution. 

Ch. 62, § 

I. varius, &c., 'her various representations, adapted to 

his fear and anger, tilled him with terror and indignation.' 

elusa erat, ' had been frustrated ' ; the subject is ' suspicio.' in 

servo: 'in the case of the slave,' i.e. of adultery with Eucaerus. 

§ 3. memoravi : ch. 3, 5. 

gratia, odio : ablatives of quality. 

quia, &c., ' because the agents of our crimes seem to upbraid us 

when we look on them.' ('Facinus ' here simply = deed.) 

§ 5. manu, ' violence.' 

§6. insita vaecordia, 

malice. 

'natural perversity,' i.e. unreasoning 

facilitate, &c., 'with the same willingness as that shown in his 

previous crimes.' 

amicos : the judicial ' consiHum amicorum principis ' 

; cf. xiii 

23, 4. [In the case of a wife, the investigation might have taken 

the form of a family trial, as in xiii yz, 4.] It is implied in ' velut 

that the process was a sham. 

fate obiit, 'died a natural death'; 

the ordinary course of nature. 

'fatum' = what happens in 

Ch. (33, § I. in spem, 'with a view to the hope.' 

paulo ante: ch. 60, i. 

Pandateria : identified with the modern ' Vandotena,' a little 

to the north of the bay of Naples. 

§ 2. Agrippinae : the wife of Germanicus, banished by Tiberius 

in 29 A. D., died 33 A. D. {Ann. vi 25). 

luliae : daughter of Germanicus, banished by the influence of 

Messalina on a charge of adultery with 

soon afterwards put to death. 

Seneca, in 41 A. D., and 

§ 3. robur aetatis: this seems hardly true of Julia, who was only 

twenty-three years old at the time of her banishment, and probably 

no older than Octavia. 

§ 4. patre = Claudius, died in 54 A.D. the year after Octavia's 

marriage. 

fratre = Britannicus, died in 55 A. D., xiii 15, 16. 

ancilla - Acte. With these clauses supply some general notion 

like ' patienda fuerunt ' from ' huic fuit ' above. 

Ch. 64, § I. puella: so of a young wife, xvi 30, 3, and often 

in poets, as Hor. Od. iii 22, 2. 

vicensimo: incorrect. She was older than Britannicus, whose 

birth is dated twenty-one years or twenty before this year (cf. 

xiii 15, I). 

praesagio, (Sec, 'thoui;h already cut off from life by the foreknowledge 

of her doom, did not yet find rest in de4th.' 

§ 2. iara viduam, 'no longer -\ wife.' 

82 

'

BOOK XIV. CH. 61. § 6 — CH. G5, §§ 1-2 

sororem : because Nero had been adopted by her father Claudius. 

communes Germanieos : her grîndfather Urusus was honoured 

at his death with the title Germanicus, to be borne by himself and 

his posterity. 

Diusus (surnamed Geimanicas) 

Germanicus Caesar „, ',. 

Claudius 

m. Agrippina 1 

I 

I 

Agrippina II Octavia 

I 

Nero 

§3. pre33UB = 'repressus '; the simple verb for the compound, as 

•moveo' ch. 59, 6 and ch. iS, i (Intr. II 2t;). 

vapore, ' hot air.' (' Heat,' xi 3, 2, and xv 43, 5.) 

§ 4. dona, &c., ' As for the gifts to the temples decreed on this 

occasion, how long must I go on recounting (such hypocrisy) ' 

? 

For ' ' quern ad finem ' cf. Cic. Cat. i i quem ad finem sese 

effrenata iactabit audacia?' The text thus emended gives a 

thoroughly characteristic sentence, combining the special consideration 

(' why describe the gifts decreed on this occasion ? 

') 

with the genend reflection, 'how many more such acts mu ,t I 

recount ?' A MS. inferior to Med. gives ' dona . . . decreta : quod 

eum ad finem memorabimus ut,' &c. ; but this would require 

' finem ' to be taken in the unusual sense ' purpose,' ' design,' and 

makes the whole passage far less forcible. 

§ 5. auctoribus: ablative absolute. 

praesumptum habeant, ' let them take for granted.' For 

similar use of ' habere ' cf. xiii 21, 3. 

§ 6. neque tamen, &c., ' however, I shall not pass over in silence 

any decree of the Senate showing novel forms of flattery or sinking 

to the lowest depths of obsequiousness.' P'or ' ' postremus in this 

sense cf 'servitus postremum malorum omnium' Cic. Phil, ii 44. 

Ch. G5, § I. creditus est: Intr. II 33. Doryphorum : it appears 

from Dio that he held the post 'a libellis' ( = secretary to 

attend to petitions to the Emperor), in which he probably succeeded 

Callistus, Ann. xi 29, i. 

quaai : this need not imply that the cause was a mere pretext ; 

see Intr. II 50. 

Pallautem : cf xiii 14, 1-2. Dio gives his wealth as 400 

million HS. 

detineret, ' was keeping from him.' Nero, as Palias' former 

master, would receive a portion of his wea th, by the 'lex Pap'a 

Poppaea,' if there were fewer than three children to inherit it. 

§ 2. Komanus : a proper name, mentioned without any further 

description, perhaps because particulars about hnn were given in 

the part of the Annals now loit. 

8j


sociiim : we are expressly told that the real conspiracy of Piso 

took its first impulse from this incident. We must understand that 

no plot had yet been formed, but that Seneca's intimacy with I'iso 

was made the ground of an accusation which had some force owi^ng 

to the latter's distinguished position. 

sed, &c., ' but the same charge was turned on him by Seneca 

with greater force and he was himself crushed.' 

insidiaruru : described in xv. 48 and foil.

ANNALS. BOOK XV 


I. Vologeses summoned to help by Tiricktes and by Monobazus, 

governor of Adiabene. 2. He calls a council, crowns Tiridates, 

and prepares for war. 3. Defensive measures of Corbulo. 4. 

Tigranes besieged in Tigranocerta by Parthians under Monaeses. 

5. The siege raised in consequence of a message from Corbulo : 

Vologeses sends an embassy to Rome. 6. Caesennius Paetus 

sent to command in Armenia. 7,8. War renewed : Paetus rashly 

invades Armenia and gains some successes. 9-1 1. Corbulo 

takes a strong position on the Euphrates : the Parthian attack 

turned to Armenia, where the Roman force, weakened by dispersion, 

is blockaded and reduced to extremities. 12-16. Corbulo 

comes to the rescue, but finds that Paetus had been forced to 

accept humiliating conditions. 17. Corbulo retires to Syria: 

Armenia left neutral, and an embassy again sent to Rome 


18. The reverses ignored at Rome; as also a great loss of corn 

by storm and fire. Nero's boast of his public munificence. 19. 

Decree of the senate against fictitious adoptions. 20-22. Charge 

against Claudius Timarchus of Crete : votes of thanks by provincial 

subjects to their governors forbidden on the motion of 

Thrasea : portents and other minor events recorded. 

A. U. C. 816, A. D. 63. C. Memmius Regulus, L. Verginius 

Rufus, eoas. 

Ch. 23. Birth (followed soon by death) of Nero's daughter by 

Poppaea : public rejoicings : evidence of Nero's dislike of 

Thrasea. 


24, 25. The embassy from Vologeses shows the true state of 

affairs : their terms rejected, and Corbulo appointed to command 

with extensive powers : Paetus contemptuously pardoned. 26, 

27. Corbulo takes the field in force, following the route of LucuUus, 

shows willingness to treat with Vologeses and Tiridates, expels 

the disaffected Armenian nobles from their strongholds. 28-31. 

Conference on the site of the defeat of Paetus : Tiridates agrees 

to lay down his diadem for the present, and to receive it fiom 

Nero at Rome : his visit to the camp, and subsequent journey to 

his brothers before departing for Italy. 

Ch. 32. lus Latii given to the people of the Maritime Alps : seats 

reserved for knights at the circus : more senators and women of 

rank enter the arena. 

85


A. U. C. 817, A. D. 64. C. Laecanius Bassus, M. Licinius 

Crassus Frugi, coss. 

Ch. 33-35. Nero appears on the staê of the j ubhc theatre at 

Naples, which falls just after the performance. He attends a 

show of gladiators given by Vatinius at Beneventum : Torqiiatus 

Silanus forced to suicide. 

Ch. 36, 37. He returns to Rome, and is deterred by some superstitious 

fear from his- projected tour to the East. Ikinquet given 

by Tigellinus. Nero descends to the lowest depths of profligacy. 

Ch. 38-45. Great fire in Rome, and its results. 

38-41. Origin and progress of the fire: measures taken by Nero, 

and suspicion cast upon him, especially at its second outbreak : 

ancient temples destroyed. 42, 43. Magnificence of Nero's restored 

palace : grand schemes of his architects, Severus and Celer. 

Improvements made in rebuilding the houses of the city. 44. 

casts suspicion on the Christians; 

Expiatory ceremon'cs : Nero 

of whom a vast number are put to death with the utmost cruelty. 

45. Contributions of money and works of art extorted everywhere 

: withdrawal of Seneca into greater privacy, and alleged 

attempt to poison him. 

Ch. 46, 47. Minor events: outbreak of gladiators: great shipwreck 

: prodigies noted. 

A. U. C. 818, A. D. 65. A. Licinius Silius Nerva, M. Vestinus 

Atticus, coss. 

Ch. 48-74. Conspiracy of Piso, and its detection and suppression. 

4S-50. Character of Piso: names and motives of some of the 

leading conspirators, who are joined by several ofl'icers of the 

praetorian guard. 51-53- Epicharis tries to gain over an officer 

of the Misenian fleet and is betrayed. After various changes of 

plan, the plot is arranged to be carried out at the Circensian 

games. 54-57. Betrayal of the plot by Milichus a freedman : 

Scaevinus and Natalis are arrested and give up the names of 

others. Heroic death of Epicharis. 58,59. Military occupation 

of Rome and its suburbs : many arrests made : Piso rejects bolder 

counsels and commits suicide. 60-65. Execution of Plautius 

Lateranus. Seneca accused by Natalis: his last moments and 

death : preservation of his wife Paulina. Notice of a report that 

some of the conspirators had designed to make him emperor. 

66-70. Detection and e.xecution of the chief military conspirators. 

The consul Vestinus put to death without a charge. Death of 

Lucan and others. 71. Milichus rewarded: several others sentenced 

to minor penalties or pardoned. 72-74. Gift to the 

soldiers. The senate summoned to confer various distinctions. 

Notice of Nymphidius Sabinus. Minutes of evidence recorded. 

Peril of Junius Gallio. Offerings decreed to gods. Ill-omened 

flattery of Anicius Cerialis. 

Ch. 1, § 1. The narrative of Eastern affairs is taken up from 

86

BOOK XV. CH. 1, § I — CH. 2, §§ 1-2 

xiv 26, where it was carried down to the end of 60 A. D. Corbulo 

had set up Tigranes and arranged the affairs of Armenia, and had 

himself retired into Syria; 

following spring. 

the events here related begin in fhc 

regem . . . impoaitum : see xiv 26. (The ace. and infin. depends 

on 'cognito' supplied from ' cognitis' above, cf. xiv ^;^, 2.) 

alienigenam : so the pure Arsacidae term him, aUhough he 

was distantly related to that family. 

fdstigiutn, 'dignity,' 'sovereignty ' 

(cf. xiv 54, 5), 

continui foedeiia: a standing treaty had existed between Rome 

and Parthia since 20 B. c , and had been renewed by Artabanus 

with Tiberius and Caius (cf. xiii 9, i); the recent hostilities 

between the two empires had not been direct, 

opposing allies. 

but in support of 

defecfcione Hyreanorum : cf. xiii 37 and xiv 25. 

§ 2. ambiguum, ' hesitating.' 

nevus . . . nuntiua : by hypallage = ' novae contumeliae nuntius'; 

cf. Livy i I, 4 'ad maiora rerum initia.' (Intr. II 57.) 

Adiabenos : inhabiting Adiabene, the northern part of Assyria 

between the Tigris and its tributary the Lycus (Greater Zab\ 

latius, Sec, 'too extensively and permanently for a mere foray.' 

For ' vastare ' with personal object, cf. xiv 23, 4. 

gentuim = tribes composing the Parthian empire. 

obsidia : cf. xiv 26, i. 

§ 4. iam, &c., 'already Armenia was given up, and the border 

land was being appropriated.' Cf. xiii 57, i 

' vi trahunt.' 

et niai, &c. : the sense is 'unless Parthia saves us, we must in 

our own interests surrender to Rome,' but it is put less bluntly, as 

a general statement, ' those who surrender get easier terms of 

subjection than the captured.' 

§ 5. regni profugus : so in Pliny (N. H.) 'vinculorum profugus.' 

Elsewhere Tacitus uses ablat. with this adj. 

gravior exât, ' made more impression.' 

contineri, ' are held together.' This, and the following words, 

give the substance of Tiridates' words (as following ' querendo'). 

in summa fortuna, &c., ' in the highest station, might is right, 

cf. xiii 6, 5. 

de alienis, &c., ' to set up a claim on what is another's.' 

Ch.2, § I. concilivim: consisting of the 'megistanes'; cf. ch. 27,4. 

summo, &c., ' had withdrawn his claim to the highest title (that 

of 'king of kings'). 

Vologeses is spoken of in Atin. xii 44, 2 as reigning ' concessu 

fratrum,' and as having been born of an inferior mother. Media 

and Annenia are here described as inheritances bestowed by the 

great king' upon his brothers Pacorus and Tiridates. 

§ 2. contra, &c., ' in refutation of the traditional hatred and 

rivalry between brothers.' Cf. ' antiquas fratrum discordias,' xiii 

17,2. 

lacesaitam, ' disturbed.' 

87


§ 3. ibo infitias : only found here in Tacitus, and before him 

chiefly used by Livy and the comic writers. 

causa, 'by right' or 'negotiation,' similarly opposed to 'armis' 

in xiii 37, 5. 

malueram: rhetorical for 'maluissem'; cf. Intr, II 38. 

§ 4. aestimatur, ' is taken into account.' 

§ 5. promptam, 'ready for service.' 

exturbare : for this infin. after 'mandavit' cf. Intr. II 31. 

vires intimas, ' his reserves.' 

molem belli, ' the main force of war.' 

Ch. 3, § I. Verulano Severe : cf. xiv 26, i. 

Vettio Bolano : he was consul suffectus with C. Calpurnius 

Piso, and in 69 A. D. became legatus of Britain. He seems also to 

have been proconsul of Asia at the end of Vespasian's life. He is 

described in a poem of Staiius (Sylv. v 2, 30-67). 

compositius, &c., 'with deliberation rather than despatch.' 

habere, ' to have war on hand rather than prosecute it ' (to 

a speedy conclusion). Corbulo desired to be retained in his command 

in the East as \on% as possible, according to Tacitus, who 

elsewhere attributes selfish motives to him, cf. ch. 6, §§ 3, 6, and 

ch. 10, 7. 

§ 2. ingruente: the personal use of the verb is a reminiscence 

of Vergil's 'ingruit Aeneas,' Aen. xii 628. 

§ 3. reliquas : three. There were now six legions operating in 

the East (cf. ch. 6, 5). 

pro ripa, ' on the bank.' Cf. xiv 30, i. 

tumultuariam, 'hastily levied,' i.e. called out in this sudden 

emergency. 

ho3tiles ingressus, 'points where the enem^ might enter' (or 

possibly, ' invasions on the part of the enemy ' ; cf. ' hostiles minae,' 

xiii 57,4). 

qviia egena : i.e. the springs were so few that all could be guarded 

or destroyed, so as to deprive the Parthians of water. 

congestu harenae = ' congesta harena '; cf. 'molium obiectus,' 

xiv 8, 2; Intr. II 57. 

Ch. 4, § I. Monaeses : cf. ch. 2, 5. 

utfamam, &c., 'to anticipate the news of his approach.' 

§ 2. Tigranocertam : for variations in the form of this name see 

Intr. II 62. 

magnitudine moenium : the town had no doubt been dis- 

mantled by LucuUus, but had been subsequently refortified. 

§ 3. Nicephorius : if Pliny's mention of this river, in the A^. //., as 

' a tributary of the Tigris is to be accepted, it might be the Bitlis-Su.' 

But the identification of Tigranocerta with 'Tell-Ermen' harmonizes 

best with the accounts of the place given in Tacitus and 

Strabo, in which case this river must be taken to be a branch of the 

Khabour,' itself a branch of the Euphrates. 

§ 4. milites : sc. ' Komani 

' : Cc.rbulo left a force for the defence 

of Armenia in the previous year (xiv 26, 3). 

88

BOOK XV. CH. 2, § 3 —CH. 6, § I 

provisi, 'taken thought for.' 

quorum subvectu, = 'qui (commeatus) dum subvehuntur.' For 

a similar use of such a substantive cf. y4^r. 33, i ' procursu' = ( 'dum 

procun ' it '), and for a similar ablative cf. ch. 8, 3 percursando,' and 

Intr. II 22 b. 

repentinis, 'suddenly appearing,' i.e. 'by the unexpected appearance 

of the enemy.' For the omission of the preposition where 

it is not so much the person as the person's presence that is meant, 

cf. Ann. vi 44 ' Tiridates simul fama atque ipso Artabano perculsus.' 

accenderant: applied by zeugma to 'metu '; cf. xiii 35, 7. 

§ 5. seinet frustratur, 'deceives himself,' by imagining that ' an 

occasional discharge of arrows ' could produce any effect. 

Ch. 5, § I. expostularent, 'to make complaint.' 

provinciae : i. e. Syi ia. Mention has not yet been made of the 

raids to which Corbulo refers. 

§ 2. Casperius : mentioned in Ann. xii 45 as having protested 

against the shameful way in which Pollio, a Roman ' praefectus 

castrorum,' was induced by Rhadamistus to put Mithridates in 

his power, 51 a.d. (Intr. V). 

Nisibis was the chief city of Mygdonia, a district in the northeast 

of Mesopotamia, and still exists as ' Nisibin ' or ' Nessabin.' 

(The distance here specified favours the view identifying Tigranocerta 

with Tell-Ermen.) 

§3. vitandi : the idea of 'studium' or 'consilium' is to be 

understood from the neuter adjectives. Cf. xiii 26, 4 'nee grave 

manu missis . . . retinendi libertatem' (sc. ' onus'). 

prospere fluebant : cf. Cic. Off. i 26, 90 ' rebus prosperis et ad 

voluntatem nostram fluentibus.' 

. §4. manu et copiis: referring to the 'milites' and 'com 

meatus,' cf. ch. 4, 4. 

pro Suria, ' on the frontier of Syria.' 

inbecillum : the construction naturally passes to oratio obliqua 

since the preceding sentences embody the reflections of Vologeses. 

vis locustarum : so ' vi^ piscium ' {Ann. xii 63, 2 \ ' odora canum 

vis,' Verg. Aen. iv 132. 

§ 5. super='de.' So in Plautus, Sallust, occasionally in Cicero's 

letters ; not in Caesar, but often in Livy. So Verg. Aen. i 750 

multa super Friamo rogitans, super Hectore multa.' 

petenda : the language of xiii 34, 4 implies that the Romans 

had offered Tiridates the throne of Armenia on condition of 

recognizing the suzerainty of Rome : the Parthians now propose 

that Tiridates shall make that acknowledgement. 

Ch. 6, § I. magnifica, 'as glorious to Rome.' 

pepigisse : the facts certainly point to a compact between the 

belligerents to evacuate Armenia pending the reference of the 

question to Rome (chs. 5, 5 and 6, 2). 

Tigranes : Tacitus does not say what subsequently became of 

him, but Josephus states that his son Alexander married a daughter 

89


of Antiochus, king of Commagene (cf. xiii 7, i), and was set up as 

king of a small island off Cilicia by Vespasian. 

§ 2. hibernavisae : this was the winter of 61-62 A. D., spent by 

the Roman troops on the eastern frontier of Cappadocia ('cxtrema 

Cappadocia') instead of at Tigranocerta. We may presume the 

compact was made just before winter, and that this passage em- 

bo lies the comments passed at Rome the following spring, 

§ 3. meritae, 'earned,' 'acquired.' (The word does not necessarily 

convey the notion of ' merit,' cf. ' vulnera mereri,' Gcrvi. 14, 5; 

'ex eo quod meruerat odio,' Caes. B. G. vi 5, 2.) 

non : cf. xiii 40, 3. 

§ 4. ut rettuli : ch. 3, 2. 

aiiventare audiebatur: Intr. II 33. 

Caesenniiia : cf. xiv 29, i. 

§ 5. legionea : the fourtli and twelfth, given to Caesenius Pactus, 

were not thoje which had seen service wilh Corbulo, but had 

remained in Syria. 

auxilia : the three districts fro:n which these auxiliaries came 

were not occupied by any Roman legions. 

prior : auxiliaries already under arms before the war. 

ex rerum usu, ' in accordance with the requirements of 

events.' 

§ 6. cui satis, &c., 'whose real deserts would have been satisfied, 

if he were placed next to Coibulo.' For the indicative cf. 'poterat,' 

ch. 10, I and Intr. II 38. 

uaurpatas, &c., ' only in name had he made a practice q' 

storming cities ' 

; for ' nomine tenus ' 

cf. ' ore tenus,' ch. 45, 4. 

pro umbra, iSic, ' instead of a phantom king ' (such as Tigranes 

and others before him). Paetus promises the reduction of Armenia 

to a Roman province. 

Ch. 7, § I. sub idem tempus : in the spring of 62 A.D. 

memoravi : ch. 5,5. 

§ 2. Funisulanua Vettonianus was one of the foremost men in 

the state under Domitian, and an inscription detailing his appointments 

and honours has been found in Pannonia, where he held 

command in 85 A.D. 

Calavius Sabinus, otherwise unknown. He and Funisulanus 

appear to have come out with Paetus, as other legati were 

appointed to the legions in Armenia by Corbulo, ch. 3, i. 

Armeniam intrat : starting from Cappadocia, he would probably 

cross the river near Melitene, and then proceed southwards 

towards Tigranocerta. 

§ 3. nulla palam causa: so in xiv 32, i. 

consularia insignia: a richly caparisoned horre was assigned 

this 

to a dictator or consul, to whom the regal insignia descended ; 

would not, however, belong to Paetus in his capacity of ' legatus ' 

; 

but he would have a horse carrying the ' fasces ' on the march. 

§ 4. hibernaculis : those under construction for the coming 

winter, viz. that of 62-63 A.D. 

90

BOOK XV. CH. 6, § I — CH. 10, §§ 1-2 

adsistens : i. e. put there to be sacrificed when the work was 

completed. 

Ch. 8, § I. nuUo . . . provisu : a Tacitean variation for ' re 

frumentaria non provisa' (to ' provisi . . . commeatus,' ch. 4, 

4I. 

For the form of the expression here, cf. ' congestu harenae,' ch. 3, 4. 

' rapit = raptini ducit ; taken apparently from Verg. Aeî. vii ' 

725. 

reciperandis : dative of purpose; cf. Intr. II 11. For the 

evrvcuation of Tigranocerta by the Romans cf ch. 6, 2. 

§ 2. partum, si . . . habuisset : cf Intr. II ;8. 

§ 3. percursando : equivalent to ' dum percursat,' cf. xiv 31, 5, 

' XV 4, 4 ; Intr. II 22 b : inasmuch as the corn which he had taken 

was spoilt, while he overran in long marches districts which he 

could not hold, and as winter was at hand,' &c. 

hieme = 62-63 A.D. 

' rerum vacuas : so Sail. _/;(^. 90, i (ager) frugum vacuus.' 

Ch. 9, § I, ponti : the position was probably at Zeugma, where 

it appears that no permanent bridge was kept up, but that the 

means of constructing one were kept ready. 

subiectis : sc. ' fluvio,' 'lying near the river ' ; 

magna specie, 

ablative of place. 

' with imposing c'isplay.' 

naves . . . auctas : 

at the bridge. 

floating batteries to protect those working 

agit per amnem, 'moves across the river.' 

saxa : these were thrown from ' ballistae ' and spears from 

' catapultae.' 

contrario sagittarum iactu : 

§ 2. quintain: from Moesia, 

twelfth, /dir/. 

Intr. II 57. 

ch. 6, 5 ; reliquaB = fourth and 

commeatibus, ' furloughs.' 

donee : this invasion, and the operations down to ch. 17, 4, may 

be ascribed to the beginning of the winter. 1 he seat of war was 

in southern Armenia, where winter sets in much later and with less 

severity than in the northern region, where Corbulo's soldiers had 

previously suftered so severely (xiii 35). 

Ch. 10, § I. accitur, 'is summoned,' i. e. from separate winter 

quarters, to join Paetus, who was encamped with the Fourth Legion 

at a place called by Dio Rhandeia, on the Arsanias, near the 

passes of the Taurus chain and at no great distance from the 

frontier of Cappadocia. 

et unde, &c., ' and the very step by which he had hoped to 

have it reported that his army was increased only betrayed his 

weakness.' 

qua : the antecedent is 'infrequentia,' = ' few troops,' abstract for 

concrete. 'Yet even with this meagre force,' &c. 

eliidi, ' to be baffled.' 

tractii belli = 'trahendo bellum,' cf. ch. 3, 4. 

poterat, si . . . fuisset : cf. ch. 6, 6. 

§ 2. ubi . . . firmatus erat : the frequentative pluperfect ; cf. 

chs. 30, I ; 38, 6. ' After receiving sound advice from experienced 

91


soldiers in face of the difficulties of the situation, he continually 

went over to the opposite and inferior course.' 

§ 3. quasi . . . certaturus : expressing purpose, like the Greek 

u)s with fut. panic. (The intention need not be regarded as 

fictitious, cf. Intr. II 50.) 

§ 4. visendis : dative of purpose; cf. Intr. II 1 1. 

§ 5. quo : the antecedent is 'iugo.' 

§6. Arsamosata: an unimportant 'castellum 'within easy reach 

of Paetus' camp, distinct from the important Armenian city of the 

same name mentioned by Polybius and the elder Pliny. 

§ 7. instantem : sc. ' hostem.' 

nee a Corbulone, &c. : cf. chs. 3, I and 6, 3. 

§ 8. itineri : cf. ' verberibus ' xiii 26, 2 and ' bello ' xiii 9, 6. 

legionibus : ch. 6, 5. 

parem numerum : the auxiliary infantry accompanying a 

legion were usually equal to it in number, so that 'parem' 

refers to the total of legionary infantry together with their accompanying 

'alarii,' and denotes about 3800. 

Ch. 11, § I. nihil mutate, &c. : by rapid condensation of expression, 

Tacitus, instead of continuing with rome such words as ' inceptum 

iter perrexit,' turns off to a particular account of the events 

of the march, ' sed ' contrasting ' * vi ac minis ' with nihil mutato 

consilio.' 

alares : cf. ch. 10, 5. 

legionaries : probably the ' tria milia ' of ch. 10, 5. 

agitabat: see note on xiii 14, i 'agebat.' 

ignium iactu : cf. ' congestu harenae,' ch. 3, 4. 

§ 2. longinqua et avia : sc. * petivere.' 

saevitiam, ' fierceness.' 

gentium : cf. ch. 1,2. 

extellentea, ' exaggerating.* 

facili credvilitate : repeated from xiv 4, 2. 

pavebant : Intr. II 6 b. 

Ch. 12, § I. qua, &c., 'where the most direct route (lay), and 

(there was) no scarcity of provisions.' The neuter adjectives are 

practically equivalent to substantives; cf. Intr. II 2 b. 

Commagenam : here adjective. For the country and its government, 

cf. xiii 7, I. 

Armenios : Corbulo did not enter Armenia, being met by 

Paetus on the Euphrates at the frontier of Cappadocia (ch. 16, 4). 

§ 2. praeter, &c., 'besides the other (accessories) usual in war.' 

vis : cf. ch. 5, 4, 

frumenti : so in Plautus, 'aulam onustam auri.' 

like those with 

The genitive is 

' plenus,' &c. 

§ 3. Paccium : cf. xiii 36, i. 

plerosque, ' many.' 

redire . . . experiri : cf. ch. 2, 5 and Intr. II 31. 

experiri, ' make trial of,' i. e. throw themselves 

mercy. 

92 

on Paetus'

BOOK XV. CH. 10, § 2 — CH. 13, ?§ 1-4 

se, SiC, ' his own forgiveness was to be won only by victory.' 

§ 4. priorum, 'his former victories ' 

; xiii 39 foil., xiv 23 foil. 

§ 5. si, &c. : the language is difficult, and ' aspiceretur ' is here 

read as a correction lor Med. ' apisceretur.' The general sense, 

partly obscured by brevity and a rhetorical mode of expression 

(appropriate to a person fond of 'verba magnifica,' xiii 8, 41, is, 

' If a single soldier wins special honours for saving a comrade, 

huvv much greater must the glory be when a whole army saves 

another army as large as itselt.' Translate, ' If individual privates 

received from the emperor's hand the distinction of a crown for 

saving a fellow-citizen's life, how great must that glory be when 

equal hosts were seen bringing and receiving safety.' 

praeeipua : i.e. a gift of special distinction. The honours going 

with a 'civic crown' are given by the elder Pliny: 'accepta licet 

uti perpetuo, ludos ineunli semper adsurgi etiam ab senatu in more 

est. sedendi ius in proximo senatui. vacalio munerum omnium 

ipsi patrique et avo paterno.' 

imperatoria : the ' princeps ' alone could confer this honour at 

this period. 

§ 6. in commune, ' as a whole,' in distinction from the special 

incentives also influencing certain members of the general body; 

cf. xiii 27, 6 ; xv 63, i. 

diu, ' by day,' an archaism. 

Ch. 13, § I. castellum: Arsamosata, ch. 10, 6. 

' adpugnare : made demonstrations against.' 

si, ' in case that,' implying design or expectation. 

§ 2. contuberniis : ablat. cf. Hor. Sa/. i i, 11 ' rure extractus 

in urbem.' 

extract!, sc. ' sunt.' 

nee aliud qiiam : cf. ' nee amplius quam,' xiii 40, 6. 

propvignabant : so also with accusative, xiii 31, 5. 

exemplis, &c. : the text is emended from Med. 'exemplis caudi 

nenum antineque eandem.' For the disaster inflicted by the 

Samnites on the Romans at the ' Caudine Forks,' 321 B.C., cf. 

Livy ix 1-6. By the 'Numantine disaster' the capitulation of 

Mancinus, in 137 B. C. is meant. 

Italico populo : Tacitus ignores the fact that at that time the 

Romans, as well as the Samnites, were a mere ' Italicus populus,' 

and not a world power. 

ac Partliis : for Med. ' aut poenis.' 

§3. antiquitatem, 'the mighty and glorious heroes of old,' 

abstract for concrete, cf. xiii i, 'dominationibus,' xiii 42, ' subitae 

felicitati.' 

quotiens, &c., 'whenever fortune pronounced against them.' 

The phrase is analogous to the judicial ' secundum aliquem dare.' 

§4. pro Armeniis : ch. 15, 3 shows they were now on the 

Parthian side, and ch. 6, 6 represents Paetus intending to conquer 

Armenia as being a hostile country. In ch. 27, 4 certain of the 

' megistanes' are called the leaders of revolt from Rome. 

93


ex aequo : with ' utilcm,' ' peace would be equally advantageous 

to both.' 

Ch. 14, § I. pi'o causa = 'pro re ipsa' (or rather, 'by way of 

making his defence,' ' pleading his rights,' cf. ch. 2, 3 where ' causa 

is opposed to 'anna' and used almo.^t as a synonym for ' aecjuitas,' 

and also xiii 37, 5, where it is used of negotiation or legal 

pleading as opposed to ' vis'). 

ilium, (Sic, ' the place in which he was, and that time, had been 

fixed for a consultation as to what settlement of Armenia they 

should arrange.' 

cernerent : the verb is used in the sense of ' decernere,' an 

archaic sense, found in judicial language in Cicero and Livy, and 

also, of decision by combat, in old poets ; cf. also Verg. Ae/!.xn 70S 

' cernere fcrro.' 

dignum, ' a thing worthy of.' Elsewhere Tacitus prefers ablative 

with this adjective, but genitive is found with it in Plautus and Ovid. 

ut : following ' simul' by ' anastrophe,' see Jntr. II 55 b; 

similarly in A fin. xii 49, 3 'ut' is the fifth word in i!s own 

clause. 

§ 2. Paeto : dative of agent: cf. xiii 20, i ' nox Neroni trahebatur' 

and Intr. II 10. 

§ 3. Lucullos, Pompeios : plurals by rhetorical exaggeration 

cf. 'gentibus,' xiv 11,2; so also ' ' saepe,' xiii 6, I ; semper,' xv 47, i. 

optinendae : dative of purpose. 

vim, ' real power,' as opposed to ' imaginem,' 'show.' 

^ 4. disceptato: see Intr. II 21 a. 

§ 5. quibus perpetratis : for the irony cf. ch. 25, 2 ' intellecto 

barbarum inrisu, qui peterent quod eripuerant.' 

Ch. 15, § I. Arsaniae. The Arsanias was probably the Murad, 

the principal eastern branch of the Euphrates. It would appear that 

the Roman camp was on its northern side, so that the Parthians had 

to cross it to take possersion of the camp, but the Romans could 

retreat towards Cappadocia without doing so. 

imposuit : sulsject ' Paetus.' 

specie, ' under pretence of preparing this route for his retreat.' 

quasi : denoting a real motive (Intr. II 50). 

per diversuro, ' taking an opposite direction.' Cf. xiii 40, 5 

' ex diverse ' and xiii 57, 3 ' diversa acies.' 

§ 2. aliaex,&c.,' other indignities suitable to (

BOOK XV. CH. 13, § 4 — CH. 17, §§ 1-3 

adgnoscentes, 'recognizing as their own.' 

§ 4. retenta, ' were detained ' by the enemy, 

§ 5. caesorum: referring to those killed in the operations 

described in ch. il, i. 

§ 6. insidens : sc. 'rex,' or ' ipse.' 

proximus: an accusative after this adjective is found in Plautus, 

Caesar, and Sallust, and is the common classical usage after both 

' propius ' and ' proxime.' 

Ch. 16, § I. ut horreis, &c.: they preferred to destroy their 

store rather than deliver it to the Parthians according to the terms 

of ch. 14, 5. 

prodiderit : the subjunctive appears to be an error, as there 

is no reason for extending the force of ' ut ' beyond ' inicerent.' 

Tacitus here refers to Corbulo's written memoirs, which were also 

used as material by the elder Pliny (Intr. I 3). 

pabulo attrito, 'their foraging ground being nearly exhausted.' 

relicturos : understand ' fuisse ' (suggested by ' afuisse ' follow- 

ing). Cf. Intr. II 27. 

§ 2. iure iurando, &c., 'that Paetus gave security by oath 

before the standards,' i.e. in the 'principia,' where the standards, 

the effigy of the emperor, and sacrificial altars were kept. 

testiflcando: cf. xiii 11, 2. 

litterae . . . an, ' a despatch, saying whether.' 

§ 3. quae ut, &c., ' admitting that these statements were made 

up (by Corbulo) to increase (Paetus') disgrace, what follows may 

be taken as established, that. . . .' The agreement described in § 2 

is quite credible, so far as the subsequent actions of the Romans 

go, though Paetus ignores any such obligation in ch. 17, i. 

quadraginta : the ordinary day's march of a Roman army was 

twenty miles at ordinary pace, twenty-four at quick march ; anything 

more than this was unusually fast (' quidquid addideris iam 

cursus est,' Vegetius). 

§ 4. apud ripam Euphratis : probably at or near Melitene. 

ut diveraitatem, &c., ' to taunt them by the contrast.' 

§ 5. consalutatio : so, of the vanquished troops returning from 

Caudium, 'non reddere salutem, non salutantibus dare responsum' 

(Livy ix 6, 12). 

§ 6. apud minores, ' in the lower ranks,' the rank and file. 

Ch. 17, § I. Integra, &.C., 'nothing was lost for either.' 

§ 2. Corbulo : sc. ' ait.' 

' quando = quoniam' ; so in A fin. i 44, 5, &c. 

§ 3. sic quoque, &c., 'even as it was he must pray for the best 

of good fortune for his infantry ... to keep pace with.' Corbulo 

was afraid the Parthian cavalry would outstrip him and invade 

Syria before he could get back for its defence. 

alacrem, &;c., 'fresh, and outstripping them by the ease of 

moving over plains ' (or, ' thanks to the easy travelling afforded by 

(he plains'). 

95 

R


§ 4. per, ' in various quarters in.' Mbei-navit : the winter would 

be that of 62-63 A. D. Cf. ch. 8, 3. 

detraheret = ' dirueret.' 

§ 5. diversis, 'hostiHbus.' Cf. xiii 57, 3; xiv 'o, i. 

expostulabat='postul

BOOK XV. CH. 1 7, § 4 — CH. 20, § i 

of the provisions of the 'lex Papia Poppaea' (so called from the 

names of the consuls of the year 9 A. D., when it was carried). 

The law dealt comprehensively with the whole question of marriages 

and wills, and, with the object of encouraging matrimony, contained 

various regulations to the disadvantage of the unmarried and childless 

; thus, in elections, a candidate who had children was to be 

preferred to one who had none, and, in the matter of wills, the 

unmarried ('caelibes') could not succeed to property, and married 

but childless persons ('orbi') could only receive half of what was 

left them, unless related to the testator within the sixth degree. 

(The measure failed in its main object, cf. Ann. iii 25, 2, and even 

the ruling authorities set it aside from time to time; thus, 'orbi' 

in many cases received exemption from disabilities, by obtaining 

' ius liberorum ' by special favour from the senate and, later, from 

the Emperor. The disabilities of 'orbitas' and 'caelibatus' were 

abolished by Constantine.) 

inter patres, ' among those who were (really) fathers.' 

soi'titi : applied, by zeugma, to ' praeturas ' in the general sense 

of being elected. Election to other magistracies as well as to the 

praetorship took place in the senate, but the praetorship is specially 

mentioned here as being the most important, as it was the natural 

step to the government of a senatorial province— except Asia and 

Africa, which went to consulars — while the consulship was filled up 

at the will of the princeps (by his ' nomination ') rather than by the 

free choice of the senate. 

§ 2. magna cum invidia, ' with loud reproaches.' Cf. ' precibus 

et invidiae,' xvi 10, 5. 

adeunt : the subject is missing ; the complainants however are 

evidently real parents who suffered by the fictitious adoptions of 

their rivals. 

ius naturae, Sec, 'the right they gained by nature ... as 

opposed to the fraudulent trick of a short-lived adoption.' 

§ 3. honores : here = ' marks of respect ' rather than 'the higher 

magistracies.' 

§ 4. sine, &c., 'becoming a father without the cares of paternity, 

and childless without the grief of bereavement, attained what had 

long been the aspiration of parents.' 

§ 5. in ulla, &c., ' in anything partaking of the nature of a 

public office,' or ' in any branch of the public service.' 

hereditatibus : cf. note on § i. 

Ch. 20, § I. Cretensis: Crete (with Cyrene) was a senatorial province, 

and the senate would try cases too important to be settled 

by the proconsul on the spot. 

' ut sclent : in sense = qualibus obnoxii esse solent.' 

ad iniurias, &c., ' so uplifted as to oppress their inferiors.' 

penetraverat. ' had gone to the length of insulting the senate 

(in the person of the proconsul). 

grates agerentur : this was done by a deputation sent to Rome 

on the motion of a 'concilium sociorum' (cf. ch. 22, 2). 

97 

'


§ 2. Thrasea: cf. xiii 49, i. 

exempla = ' deeds worthy of being taken as an example,' hence, 

as here, ' punishments,' ' honourable measures of exemplary retribution.' 

Cf. xiv 44, 7. 

§ 3. licentia, 'wickedness,' 'corruption.' 

cf. xiii 42, 2. 

For the Cincian law 

lulias: passed by Augustus, 18 and 8 B.C. 

Calpurnia : the 'lex Calpurnia de repetundis,' passed by the 

tribune L. Calpurnius Piso Frugi, in 149 B.C., is remarkable as the 

first constitution of a'quaestio publica.' The variation of terms 

here employed (' rogationem,' 'leges,' 'scita') is only rhetorical: 

the enactments named were probably all in form ' picbiscita.' 

nam, &c., ' for the sin precedes its penalty, correction is subsequent 

to wrong-doing.' A similar sentiment is attributed to Cato 

in Livy xxxiv 4, 8. 

§ 4. fide, 'honour' (in dealing with provincials). 

constantia, 'dignity,' 'self-respect,' the feeling that should keep 

Romans from courting the praise of their inferiors. 

nobis, &c., ' while we may be relieved of any idea that the 

estimation of a man's character depends on anything else than the 

verdict of his fellow-citizens.' 

Ch. 21, § I. privati, &c. : referring to the senatorial privilege 

of travelling on a 'libera legatio.' 

quid, &c. 'to report what was their impression of the loyalty of 

various provincials, and the subject-peoples were anxious as to the 

opinion of individual Romans.' 

§ 3. ostentandi : as the text stands, the idea of ' custom,' ' habit 

must be supplied with this gerund, in the same way that a substantive 

is supplied with the gerundial genitives in xiii 26, 4 

and XV 5, 3, though in these latter cases a neuter adjective in the 

clause suggests the requisite word. A good correction proposed is 

that of Madvig, who suggests that 'potentiam' is a corruption of 

'potestas sententiam.' 

laus falsa : on the part of the subjects, malitia, crudelitas, 

' ' wrong-doing,' cruelty,' on the part of the governor. 

§ 4. demeremur, ' 

seek to oblige.' 

§ 5. inclinat, ' declines,' ' deteriorates.' 

aequabilius atque constantius, ' with more uniformity and 

consistency.' 

§ 6. repetundarum : sc. ' quaestionis.' 

ambitio, ' intrigue to win favour.' 

Ch. 22, § I. perfici: cf. xiv 49, i and xiii 49, 2. 

abnuentibvis . . . relatum : sc. ' esse.' ' Abnuere ' has the force 

of ' negare.' (It is possible also that 'relatum' is a substantive; 

cf. Intr. II 51 a.) The consuls were naturally anxious to consult 

the princeps on this question, as it affected his 'legati' as well as 

senatorial governors. 

§ 2. sanxere, (S:c. : Augustus had in 11 A. D. forbidden such votes 

of thanks to be passed by provincials till sixty days had elapsed 

'

BOOK XV. CH. 20, § 2 — CH. 23, §§ 1-4 

from the governor's retirement. The practice does not appear to 

have been ended by Nero's edict. 

conciliuin sociorum: the 'diet' of the province, which met 

annually, known also as ' commune ' and t6 Koivof. 

pro praetoribus = the ' legati Augusti propraetore,' in the 

Caesarian provinces. 

pro consulibus : the proper title of all governors of senatorial 

provinces, whether of praetorian or consular rank. 

§ 3. gymnasium : see xiv 47, 3. 

§ 4. motu terrae, &c. : this earthquake took place sixteen years 

before the eruption which destroyed the town. 

Cossorum : possibly she was a daughter of the consul of 60 A. D., 

xiv 20, I. 

capta est : the word is appropriate, as in the ritual of her dedication 

the pontifex maximus took the new vestal by the hand, with 

the words ' te (Cornelia), capio.' A vestal virgin was presented by 

her father for the service of Vesta between the age of six and ten, 

and might retire and marry after thirty years. The vestals usually 

however continued in their office till death. 

Ch. 23, § 1. Memmio Eegulo : son of the person mentioned 

xiv 47, §§ I, 2. 

Verginius Rufus was prominent in the events at the end of 

Nero's reign, when he was governor of Upper Germany. He received 

a second consulship from Vitellius, and a third from Nerva, in 

97 A. D., when he died, and was succeeded by Tacitus, who spoke 

his ' laudatio.' 

Augustani : she was called ' Claudia Augusta.' 

date et Poppaeae, &c. : the title of ' Augusta,' conferred on 

Livia after Augustus' death according to his will, was taken by 

Agrippina in the lifetime of Claudius, and, from Domitian onwards, 

was usually borne by emperors' wives. 

(^ 2. Antium : see xiv 3, i. 

§ 3. supplicationes : i.e. a general thanksgiving to all the gods, 

not to be taken with ' Fecunditati.' 

ad exemplar, &c. : i. e. following the pattern of the quinquennial 

festival instituted by Augustus at 

the battle of Actium. 

Nicopoiis in commemoration of 

Fortunarum : the deity Fortune was specially worshipped at 

Antium in the form of two sister goddesses, thought to represent 

the fortune of war and peace respectively. 

apud Bovillas : Bovillae was situated on the Appian Way about 

ten miles from Rome. The cult of the 'gens Julia' was maintained 

here because the town claimed to be a daughter-city of Alba 

Longa, 

' gens,' 

which referred its origin to lulus the founder of that 

§ 4. divae; dative, 'to the (now) divine (infant).' 'And again 

rose the voice of flattery, voting her the honour of deification,' &c. 

pulvinar: a sacred couch on which her statue would 

when a 

be laid 

' lectisternium ' was celebrated. 

99


§ 5. inmodlcua : with genitive of reference ; so ' \ oliiptatum 

modicus,' ii Ti^ 3 (fntr. II 24 c). 

effuse, ' poured out to Antium ' to offer congratulations. 

prohibitum, ' forbidden to present himself.' This occurred 

again, xvi 24, i, and amounted practically to ' renuntiatio amicitiae,' 

preliminary to a sentence of banishment or execution. 

§ 6. iactaverit, &c. : Nero vaunted this as a proof of clemency ; 

the answer of Seneca implied that the friendship of Thrasea was 

worth more to Nero than Nero's to him. 

egregiis viria : Thrasea and Seneca. 

Ch. 24, § I. legati Parthorum : cf. ch. 14, 5. 

mandata, ' message.' 

super = ' 

de,' Intr. II 46. 

quamvis potentium, ' however powerful.' 

§ 2. satis, &c., ' his strength had been sufficiently demonstrated 

proof had also been given of his clemency.' 

§ 3. reeusatur-um : sc. 'fuisse' (Intr. II 27). 

sacerdotii religione : I'liny says he was a Magian and that it 

was one of his tenets not to pollute the sea by travelling upon it 

(cf. the reluctance of Brahmins to cross the 'black water'). 

iturum, &c. : i. e. he would go to some neighbouring camp, in 

Cappadocia or Syria, and there do homage to the eagles and effigy 

of the ' princeps' in the principia. Cf. ch. 29, 5. 

regnum auspicaretur, ' duly solemnize his accession to the 

throne.' Cf. 'auspiciis' xiii 6, 5. 

Ch. 25, § I. Paetus diversa . . . seribebat, 'letters were coming 

from Paetus to an opposite effect.' 

integris, ' undecided.' 

§ 2. barbarum : cf. xiv 39, i. 

primores civitatis = those forming his usual privy council. 

§ 4. inriti , 

' without effecting their purpose,' because Nero refused 

the modified offer which they brought, ch. 24, 3. 

§ 5. exsecutio : for Med. 'excutio.' The civil government is 

meant. 

C. Cestio: Med. 'citio.' C. Cestius Callus is known from other 

sources as legatus of Syria in 65 A. D. 

Marius Celsus is frequently mentioned in the Hisfor.'es as true 

to Galba, and afterwards to Otho, and as allowed nevertheless by 

Vitellius to hold a consulship to which he had been designated. 

§ 6. tetrarchis : this word had by now lost its original etymological 

significance, and was used generally for such oriental princes 

as were below the dignity of /iaaiXft?. 

regibus : cf. xiii 7. 

praefectis : officers 

lesser provinces. 

commanding 'cohortes' or 'alae' in the 

procuratoribus : governors of minor provinces. 

praetorum : used generally for provincial governors. 

obsequi : Intr. II 31. 

Cn. Pompeio : by the 'lex Gabinia,' 67 B.C. 

100 

The parallel is 

;

BOOK XV. CH, 23, § 5 — CH. 27, §§ 1-4 

not exact, as Pompeius' power under this law was ' imperium 

aeqiiiiin in omnibus provinciis cum pioconsulibus usque ad quinquagesimum 

miliarium a mari.' The powers conferred upon him 

by the 'lex Manilla,' giving him the command against Mithridates, 

would be a more apt comparison. 

§ 7. ignoaeere, &c., ' that he pardoned him at once, lest one so 

quick to take fright might fall ill, were his anxiety protracted.' 

Ch. 26, § I. quarta at duodecuma : blockaded under Paetus, 

ch. 10, I, 

sextam ac tertiam : cf. ch. 6, 5. Mention is not made of the 

loth legion, which presumably was left in Syria. 

exercitum : this participle which in earlier classic usage = 

'harassed,' is used by Tacitus in the sense of ' exercitatus,' 'practised.' 

The sixth and third legions had served with Corbulo in 

his previous campaigns, xiii 38, 6 and 40, 3. 

§ 2. quintam : cf. chs. 6, 5 and 9, 2. 

quintadeeumanos : ch. 25, 5. recens, adverb, so ch. 6, 5. 

vexilla delectorum, ' detachments of picked troops.' Similarly 

ii 78, 3 'vexillum tironum.' (Not='veterani sub vexillo,' 'reservists.') 

lllyricum is taken in a wide sense as including Pannonia as well as 

Delmatia. 

quodque, &c., ' and what he had of auxiliary horse and foot,' 

cf. xiii 35, 4. (For omission of 'fuit,' Intr. II 27.) 

regum : ch. xxv, 6. 

Melitene was a town in Cappadocia near the Euphrates, important 

as a station commanding the passage of that river, and 

made in consequence the headquarters of the 12th legion, in 

70 A. D. ; now ' Malatia.' 

§ 3. lustratum : by sacrifice of pig, sheep, and ox (' suovetaurilia 

'), as the ' piaculum Marti.' 

imperatoris = Nero's. (The campaign would be ' ductu Corbulonis, 

auspiciis Caesaris.') 

declinans, ' turning off upon,' 'attributing.' 

multa auctoritate, &c. : i.e. he convinced his hearers by his 

personality as a successful general, as another might by eloquent 

reasoning. 

Ch. 27, § I. Lucvxllo : in 6g B.C. Lucullus crossed the 

Euphrates and marched through Sophene and over Mount Taurus, 

and thence, after crossing the Tigris, to Tigranoce.ta. 

penetratum : the phrase is composed on the analogy of ' pergcre 

iter.' 

vetustas, 'the lapse of time,' 132 years. 

nee enim: introducing the substance of Corbulo's message. 

extreme, ' an internecine conflict.' 

§ 2, doeumento, ' so as to be a lesson' (Intr. II 12). 

I 3. scire : understand ' se' (Intr. II 3). 

I 4. megistanas, ' magnates,' from the Persian ' mehestan,' containing 

the same root as /xc-yfu, 'magnus': called also ' primores 

gentium,' ch. i, 2. 

loi


defecerant: so, in ch. 13, 4, Armenia is spoken of as a vassal 

state of the Roman empire. 

Ch. 28, § I. non infensum, &c., 'was not regarded with animosity 

nor with the hatred of an enemy.' 

atrox in siimmam, ' unconcihatory as to the general issue.' 

praefecturis, ' districts,' of Armenia (cf. xiii 37, 2), which Corbulo 

had invaded ; see § 4 of preceding chapter. 

§ 2. tempus propinquum : sc. ' delectum est,' supplied from 

beiovv. 

locus : Rhandeia, cf. note on ch. 10, i. 

§ 3. neque, &c., * nor was he distressed about the disgrace of 

Paetus ; in fact he took the opportunity to intensify it by sending 

' 

Paetus' son to clear away the tokens of the disaster. 

ducere : infm. after ' imperavit ' ; cf. Intr. II 31. 

§ 4. Tiberius Alexander : an Alexandrine Jew who renounced 

Judaism and became procurator of Judaea 46 A. D. ; he was praefect 

of Egypt 67-70 A. D., and gave valuable help to Vespasian, and in 

consequence was appointed lieutenant-general of the forces under 

Titus. 

inlustris eques : this, as opposed to ' eques modicus,' is the term 

for a person of senatorial census preferring to remain within the 

equestrian rank, for the sake of various honourable and profitable 

appointments from which senators were debarred. 

minister bello, ' a war commissary,' to manage matters of 

finance and provision. 

Vinicianus : son of a man who formed an unsuccessful conspiracy 

against Claudius, and in consequence committed suicide 

in 42 A. D. 

nondum senatoria aetate : i. e. not yet twenty-five. Hence 

his title 'pro legato,' since the post of ' legatus legionis' could 

properly be held only by senators, usually of praetorian rank. Dio 

mentions that Vinicianus was afterwards sent by Corbulo to escort 

Tiridates to Rome. 

§ 5. uterque: the use of this pronoun with plural predicate, on 

the analogy of collectives, is not found in Cicero, and rarely in 

classical prose. 

miscuere : used .as a variation for the more usual ' iunxere.' 

Ch. 29, § I. praecipitibus, 'desperate counsels.' 

§ 2. tempei'anter, ' modestly.' 

non adversis, &.C., ' though the 

reverse.' 

Parthians had met with no 

§ 3. apud effigiem Caesaris : cf. ch. 24, 3. 

insigne regium : the ' diadema,' cf. § 6. 

osculo : the usual method of salutation between oriental potentates, 

adopted by Alexander, and followed also by the Romans in 

the East, cf. ch. 31, i. 

§ 4. insignibus patriis, ' with their national decorations.' This, 

with 'fulgentibus aquilis ' and also ' signis ' and ' simulacris' may 

be regarded as an extension of the use of the ablative of accompani- 

102

BOOK XV. CH. 27, § 4 — CH. 31, § i 

ment, common in such adverbial expressions as 'magna celeritate.' 

See Intr. II 22 a. 

simulacris, &c., ' with images of the gods, so as to represent 

(i. e. give the place the sanctity of) a temple.' 

§ 6. capiti : dative on the analogy of that with ' adimere,' ' abstrahere,' 

'deripere' (xiii 57, 7), common with verbs meaning 'take 

away.' 

exercituum . . . caedes aut obsidio, 'caedes,' ch. 11, i, 'obsidio,' 

ch. 13. 

§ 7. ostentui, &c., 'a spectacle for the world to gaze on' (Intr. 

II 12). 

quanto, &c., 'how little short of being a captive ! 

Ch. 30, § I. gloriae : the glorification which Tiridates' homage 

had brought him. 

quotiens . . . adverterat : the pluperfect in a subordinate clause 

expressing repeated action: cf. ch. 10, 2 ' ubi . . . firmatus erat 

and ch. 38, 6 'si . . . evaserant.' 

ut, ' as for instance.' 

initia vigiliarum : the beginning of each of the four watches 

into which the night was divided was proclaimed with the ' bucina,' 

a regulation which the ' centurio primipilus' would see carried out 

and would then report to the general. 

augurale : there was on the right of the general's tent, facing the 

'via principalis,' a spot marked off as a 'templum' for taking 

' ' auspicia,' known as auguratorium,' and 'augurale' may be a 

synonym for this. Quintilian however mentions 'augurale' as 

equivalent to the general's tent, the 'praetorium' itse'.f, and it may 

quite well be so taken here. 

aram . . . aceendi : (i) ' fire was kindled on the altar,' cf. the 

expression ' adolere aras,' xiii 30, 3 ; or (2) ' the altar ' (in this case 

a small pyre of combustible materials) ' was set on fire.' 

in maius attollens, ' heightening the importance of,' ' proudly 

extolling.' 

adfecit : supply ' eum ' from ' rege ' above. (For similar transitions 

from ablative absolute cf. xiv 10, i; xvi 14, 6.) 'He 

impressed him with awe at the antiquity of our customs.' Partftia 

was a comparatively modern empire as contrasted with Rome ; 

cf. note on xiii 9, 2. 

§ 2. spatiuni : sc. ' temporis.' 

Ch. 31, § I. propriis, 'special,' as distinct from the joint 

embassy of ch. 27, i. 

imaginem, 'be made to submit to any tokens of servility.' 

ferrum : the 'acinaces,' always worn by Parthians. Dio states 

that when Tiridates was told to deliver it up before presentation 

to Nero, he refused and nailed it to the scabbard. 

complexu =^ ' osculo,' the salutation due to him as a king; cf. 

ch. 29, 3. 

foribusve, &c., ' or be kept waiting at their doors ' (for an audience), 

like an inferior. 

103 

' 

'


§ 2. externae superbiae, 'barbaric pomp ' (dative after 'sueto'). 

vis, ' reality.' tramittuntur, ' are passed over,' ' disregarded.' 

With this sentence closes the account of Eastern afTairs in the 

extant books of the A/inals. 

Ch. 32, § I. nationes Alpium maritimarum : hitherto (with 

the exception of the tribes close to the coast) constituting a small 

province under an equestrian procurator, formed by Augustus, 

14 B.C. 

ius Latii : conferring on its possessors * commercium,' i.e. the 

right of commercial dealing with Roman citizens under Roman 

civil law, and also the privilege of obtaining full Roman citizenship 

by holding a magistracy in their own town ; cf. the phrase in 

Pliny, ' per Latium in civitatem venire.' 

§ 2. equitum, &c. : the lex Roscia, 67 B.C., which reserved for 

the 'equites' the 'quattuordecim ordines' next above the orchestra 

(where the senators sat), only applied to the theatre. It appears 

that special seats in the Circus were reserved for the senate 

under Claudius, and since 4 A. D. equites had also had better seats 

than the populace as a matter of custom ; the arrangement was 

now made law for the first time. 

§ 3. plures, ' more than before.' Hitherto Tacitus has only 

recorded the appearance of knights in the arena, and of women 

and members of the great senatorial families on the pantomimic 

stage, xiv, chs. 14 and 15 ; but this passage gives support to 

the statements of Dio and Suetonius, who mention senators, 

knights, and women appearing in the amphitheatre as early as 

59 A. D. 

per arenam : i. e. by their appearance m it. 

Ch. 33, § I. M. Licinio : his father was consul in 27 A. D. 

his full name was M. Licinius Crassus Frugi, and he was descended 

through his mother from Pompeius. 

pi'omiscas, ' open to the public ; cf. xiv ' 

14, 4. 

Kivenalibus : cf. xiv 15, i, whence also it appears that this 

festival was held in a private theatre, 

«parum celebres, ' not sufficiently well attended.' 

angustos, &c., ' (a) narrow (sphere) for so grand a voice.' Nero's 

courtiers spoke of his ' caelestis vox' (xvi 22, l), but tradition 

makes it feeble and hoarse, ' exiguae vocis et fuscae ' (Suetonius), 

(ip^Xv Km fieXav (pMvrjtîa (Dio). 

§ 2. Eomae: for his appearance there sec xvi 4. 

quasi, ' ;is being ' 

; cf. Intr. II 50. Ncapolis was a colony from 

Cumae, which had itself been colonized from Chalcis, and hence 

Greek institutions were maintained there. 

coronas : those of the great Greek games. 

civium : i. e. the Romans, in contrast with the Neapolitans, who 

were ' oppidani ; cf. ' § 3. 

§ 3. per honorem, &;c.. 'by way of respect or service of various 

kinds.' (For this use of ' honos ' cf. ch. 1 9, 3.) 

milituni : praetorians. 

104 

;

BOOK XV. CH. 31, § 2 — CH. 35, §§ 1-5 

Ch. 34, § I. triste . . . pi'ovidum : the neuter adjectives are 

used substantivally ; cf. Intr. II 2 b. The meaning of ' providum 

' is made clear by ' secundis numinibus,' ' a providential 

circumstance, rather, due to the favour of heaven.' 

§ 2. conpositos, ' carefully elaborated.' 

grates : supply ' agens ' from ' celebrans,' which is applied here 

by zeugma to ' grates ' as well as to ' fortunam ' ; cf. xiii 

traiectus : substantive, ' | 

a place of crossmg.' 

Beneventum : on the Appian way, by which he was journeying 

to Brundisium. It was Vatinius' birthplace. 

§3. cstenta, 'monstrosities.' 

sutrinae tabernae : part of his trade appears to have been the 

manufacture of cheap drinking cups (or else his name was given 

to cups in common use, as boots and bags have been called after 

Wellington and Gladstone) ; cf. Juv. v 46 'tu Benevcntani sutoris 

nomen habentem siccabis calicem.' 

in contumelias, ' ' as a butt for jests ' ; scurrae,' often selected, 

like the jesters in mediaeval times, for some physical deformity, 

were a regular institution of the Roman imperial court. 

Ch. 35, § I. frequentanti : so also with accusative, xiv 

4, I. 

§ 2. Silanua : his full name was Decimus Junius Torquatus 

Silanus ; he was brother of the Silanus killed in the first year of 

Nero's reign (xiii i), and had been consul in 53 A. D., the year 

of Nero's marriage with Octavia. 

afcavum : Silanus was grandson of Julia the grand-daughter of 

Augustus. Intr. VI (i) A. 

ferebat, ' displayed,' 'claimed.' 

§ 3. prodigum, ' that he had wasted his fortune.' 

quin, &c. : corrected from Med. 'qui ne Innobiles,' which some 

have altered into ' quin earn nobiles ; however as the appoint- 

' 

ments mentioned weie still even in the imperial household only 

held by ' liberti,' it is unlikely that 'nobiles' would have accepted 

such posts from a private citizen. The charge against Silanus is 

that he dared to give persons in his household the titles borne by 

the chief freedmen of Caesar. 

a libellis : the freedman who dealt with memorials, reports, and 

petitions made to the Emperor. 

nomina, &c., 'titles of the highest (i.e. imperial) duties, and 

a preparation for them' (i.e. 

the principate). 

the prelude to an attempt to seize 

§ 4. cum damnatio instaret : for the reasons for thus anticipating 

a sentence by suicide cf. xiii 30, 2. 

interscidit : very rare, but natural as a variant for 'abscindere,' 

the more regular verb in this phrase ; cf. ch. 69, 3, and xvi 11, 4. 

§ 5. ex more : cf. Nero's letter about Antistius, xiv 49, 4. 

indicia : as Nero applies this term to himself, Silanus had 

probably been tried beiore him ' intra cubiculum ' (for a similar 

105


case cf, xiii 23) ; if before the Senate, Nero could have modified 

the sentence by his tribunician power. 

Ch. 36, § I. oniissa . . . Achaia: his intention to go there 

is mentioned in ch. : 33 he actually went there towards the end of 

66 A. D. See Appendix to bk. xvi. 

provincias, &:c., ' contemplating in his inmost thoughts (a visit 

to) the provinces of the East.' 'Imaginatio' is used only here in 

Tacitus, and is not found earlier than Pliny (A^. //.) ; Tacitus 

however u es ' imago,' like Ovid's ' illius tristissima noctis imago,' 

and has a verb ' imaginari ' in ch. 69, 4 of this book. 

§ 2. super = 'de,' ' on the subject of (cf. ch. 5, 5), i.e. to pray 

for a safe journey. 

§ 3. Vestae templum : near the Forum. He probably went 

there to bid farewell to the Penates of Rome. 

cunctas . . . curas, 'all his interests.' 

dictitans, ' giving out,' in another edict. 

§ 4. fortuita, ' chance misfortunes.' 

§ 5. ut, Sec, 'just as in a man's family ties his nearest and 

dearest counted for most.' 

§ 6. volentia = ' 

quae volebant,' ' welcome.' (So ' volentia plebi,' 

Sail. 7/. 4, 31.) 

voluptatum, &:c. : i.e. they were anxious that the Emperor 

should be there to attend to their requirements, ' panem et 

Circenses.' 

§ 7. in incerto, &c., ' were doubtful whether he was to be regarded 

as more terrible when far off or when near at hand.' 

Ch. 37, § I. nihil, &c., ' that he enjoyed no place so much 

as Rome.' 

§ 2. et celeberrimae,

BOOK XV. CH. 35, § 5,— CH. 39, §§ 1-2 

citus: participle, 'impelled,' 'fanned.' 

§ 3. domus, ' palaces,' ' mansions,' with substantial boundary 

walls (' munimenta'), opposed to ' insulae,' ch. 41, i. Temples 

also would have outer walls ('muri'j round the precinct in which 

the actual building stood. 

quid: Intr. 113b. 

§ 4. impetu : modal, 'impetuously,' 'with fury.' (Intr. II 17.) 

plana: governed by ' pervagatum.' 

populando : cf. xiii 47, i ' ' interpretando,' and xiv 31, 5 servos 

appellanda' (Intr. II 22 b.) 

obnoxia, 'from the fact that the city lay at its mercy owing to 

the narrowness of the streets, which bent this way and that.' 

itineribus, ablative of cause.) 

(urbe, ablative absolute ; 

enormibus, ' built on no regular plan.' 

toga ' = a badly cut toga. 

' In Quintilian, enoimis 

vicis = the groups of houses forming streets. 

§ 5. ad hoc, besides.' 

' fessa aetate, &c. : the reading in Med. is fessa aetate aut 

rudis pueritiae aetas,' which as it stands is doubtless a corruption 

of what Tacitus wrote. In the text adopted, ' aetas ' is cut out, as a 

gloss, and the remaining four words are taken as qualifying 'feminarum,' 

' both those of feeble age and those of helpless childhood.' 

Others remove ' aetate,' regarding ' fessa ' as nominative and keeping 

'aetas' ; then the words form another subject to the verb at 

the end of the sentence, ' advanced age or helpless childhood ' ; for 

'aetas' in collective sense cf. xiii 54, 2. 

§6. lateribus aut fronte : local ablative ; Intr. II 14. 

si . . . evaserant : pluperfect in subordinate clause expressing 

frequent occurrence ; cf. ch. 10, 4. 

§ 7. ambigui, 'uncertain.' 

diurni, &c., ' and even (the means of earning) their daily bread'; 

supplying this idea from 'fortunis.' (Intr. II 25.) 

§ 8. esse sibi auctox'em, ' that they had orders.' Tacitus leaves 

it open whether this was an invention or not. Suetonius states 

positively that several consulars found slaves of Nero spreading 

the flames, and dared not check them. 

Ch. 39, § I. Antii : cf. xiv 4, 2. 

domui, &c. : a building (' domus transitoria,' Suet.) carried from 

the Palatium to the gardens of Maecenas | bequeathed by him to Augustus) 

on the Esquiline, and rebuilt as the ' domus aurea,' ch. 42, i. 

continuaverat, ' had connected together.' 

haurirentur : so ' Pompei theatrum igne haustum,' iii 74, 4. 

§ 2. monumenta Agrippae : such as the ' septa ' in which the 

tribes voted, the ' diribitorium ' in which the votes were counted, the 

'Thermae,' the ' porticus Vipsania,' and his family tomb, all of 

which were constructed by Agrippa in the Campus Mariius. 

hortos : on the Vatican, xiv 14, 4. 

quin etiam : second in its clause by anastrophe, Intr. II 555. 

utensilia, ' necessaries,' ' food.' 

107


pretium frumenti : the price here quoted ( = about 6^/.)) which 

evidently was much below the average, was the regular price of 

the ' modius' (about a peck) in the time of Cicero. Pliny (A^. H.) 

gives forty asses as the average price of a ' modius ' of flour or 

meal (equivalent to two 'modii ' of corn), though not of the finest 

quality. 

§ 3. domeaticam acaenam : cf ch. 33, i. 

cecinisse, &c. : what he sang probably formed part of his 'Troica.' 

Ch. 40, § I. sexto: a votive inscription has the words ' urbs 

per novem dies arsit,' from which it may be taken that the second 

outbreak of § 2 lasted three days. 

prorutis,'' having been demolished.' 

ut, &c., ' so that to its continued raging there might be opposed 

a level space and, so to speak, open sky,' there being no more 

high buildings for the fire to feed on. 

§ 2. necdum : the text here is corrected from Med. ' necdum 

p ' ( = post) ' metus aut rediebat lebis rursum.' 

§ 3. plus infamiae habuit, ' caused greater scandal,' because 

people thought Tigellinus had caused this second outbreak to 

please Nero. 'Aemiliana' appears to be the name of a poor 

quarter of Rome. 

§ 4. tres solo tenvis deiectae : these were probably the districts 

including the Palatine, the Circus, and the Subura. It seems that 

many temples and large buildings escaped, or were capable of 

speedy restoration, even in districts where the private houses were 

totally destroyed. The Circus itself was used in the following 

year, and the ' aedes Cereris ' near it is spoken of at the same 

date, ch. 53, i and 4. On the Palatine the temple of Apo'lo, 

l), and the library 

where the Sibylline books were kept (ch. 44, 

seem to have been preserved. 

Ch. 41, § I. domuum : palaces or mansions of the rich, insularum 

= blocks of buildings let out in flats or single rooms to the 

poorer classes. 

fuerit: potential subjunctive of modest assertion. (Intr. II 39.) 

' vetustissima religione : ablative of quality ; sup;)ly templa.' 

quod . . . Lunae : this temple was on the Aventine, on the part 

nearest to the Circus, and contained some of the bronze statues 

brought from Corinth by Mummius. 

ara : situated near the northern end or ' carceres ' of the Circus, 

' and known as Ara Maxima.' Probably it was originally 

erected to the true Italian Hercules, the spirit presiding over the 

homestead and property, the god of good faith, ' dius fidius,' but 

came to be attributed to a Greek worship instituted by Evander 

to commemorate the slaying of Cacus, the stealer of the oxen of 

Geryon. (Verg. Aen. viii 179 and following ; Ovid, Fast, i 543 and 

following.) 

Statoris : for the story of Romulus' vow to Jupiter, if he would 

'stay ' the flight of the Romans from the Sabines, see Livy i 12, 6. 

The temple was on the Palatine, close to the ' summa sacra via.' 

108

BOOK XV. CH. 30, § 2 — CH. 43, § i 

Wumae regia et delubrum Vestae : for the site of the latter 

cf. ch. 36, 3. The two buildings were close together, and are often 

mentioned in association; cf. Ovid, 7>-. iii i, 29 'hie locus est 

Vestae, qui Pallada servat et ignem : hie fuit antiqui regia parva 

Numae.' The 'regia,' long the official residence of the Pontifex 

Maximus, was given over to the vestals by Augustus. 

cum Penatibus : images believed to have been brought, with 

the ' Palladium,' from Troy by Aeneas preserved in the ; ' Penetralia 

Vestae.' (Cf. the lines from Ovid above.) 

§ 2. opes : precious objects, dedicated by vow or otherwise. 

decora, Sec, ' masterpieces 

bronzes. 

of Greek art,' like the Corinthian 

monumenta tngeniorum, * records of genius ' (works of great 

authors) : 

' incorrupta,' free from interpolation or falsification. The 

words seem to refer to losses sustained by the Palatine library, 

which however was not totally destroyed till 363 A. D. 

§ 3. XIIII Kal. Sext. : July 19, the day following the ' Aliiensis.' 

dies 

§ 4. totidem annoa, &c. : the space of time would be 454 years 

(reckoned inclusively) = 418 years + 41 8 months + 418 days. 

Ch. 42, § I. usus est, ' profited by,' i. e. he appropriated what 

he wanted of the vacant space caused by the fire ; hence his palace 

is called 'spoliis civium exstructa domus,' ch. 52, 2. So Martial, 

'abstulerat miseris tecta superbus ager.' 

domum : the ' domus aurea ' of Suetonius, who mentions the 

colossal statue of Nero, 120 feet high, at its vestibule, and adds 

the remark of Nero, ' se quasi hominem tandem habitare coepisse.' 

The palace must have occupied the greater portion of the Palatine 

and Esquiline and of the intermediate valley, the pleasure grounds 

stretching away towards the ' agger Servii.' Presumably a thoroughfare 

was left through the grounds so as not to cut off the Via Sacra. 

Part of the site of the palace was subsequently occupied by the 

Flavian amphitheatre (the ' Coliseum ') constructed under Vespasian 

and Titus, and by the baths of Titus. 

ingenium et audacia : Intr. II 54. 

inludere, ' to fool away the resources of an emperor.' 

§ 2. Averno : it seems that there existed a passage lo this lake 

through the Lucrine from the bay of Baiae. {The Lucrine lake 

had been connected with the sea and deepened for a naval basin 

by Agrippa, under Augustus.) 

depressuros, ' that they would dig out.' ' 

squalenti litore, 'along the barren shore.* 

§ 3. neque enim : giving the reason for the folly of the attempt. 

gignendis : to give water to feed the canal (dative of Purpose). 

nee satis causae : the object suggested was to facilitate the corn 

transport by providing a safe passage from the principal Campanian 

harbours (for the dangers of this coast cf. ch. 46, 3), as well as to 

drain the Pomptine marshes into the canal. 

Ch. 43, § I. quae domui supererant, ' such parts of the city as 

109


the palace left space for,' an ironical reference to the huge size of 

the ' domus aurea ' described in the last ch., in the same vein as 

a contemporary epigram quoted by Suetonius, ' Roma domus fiet 

Veios migrate, Ouirites, si non et Veios occupet ilia domus,' and 

| 

Martial's 'Unaque iam tota stabat in urbe domus.' 

dimensis, &c., ' with rows of streets regularly measured out.' 

cohibita: the limit fixed is not known. The height of buildings 

in Rome generally seems nevertheless to have still been regarded 

as excessive ; cf. Juv. iii 269. Under Trajan a limit of sixty feet 

was fixed. (Such regulations would presumably apply only to 

new buildings.) 

areis : court-yards inside the 'insulae,' which would help to 

prevent the spread of fire from one portion to another. 

§2. pui-gatas areas, 'the building-sites, cleared of rubbish.' 

(' Sua pecunia ' applies to ' purgatas ' as well as to ' exstructurum.'j 

With 'exstructurum ' and ' traditurum,' 'se' is to be understood. 

§ 3. intra quod: to be taken with the ablative absolute effectis; 

'a time within which they must finish the mansions or 

blocks of buildings to claim the grant.' 'Cf. *unde hausta/ &c., 

ch. 44, I. 

§4. ruderi : here = ' rubbish,' * debris.' 

aedificiaque, &c., ' and that the buildings themselves should in 

certain specified parts' (probably the foundations and supports to 

the different floors), ' avoiding timber, be strongly constructed out 

of Gabine or Alban stone.' 

aqua: that flowing into Rome by the aqueducts. 

custodes, 'keepers,' 'conservators.' The force of 'destinabat' 

extending over the whole passage, 'custodes' may be (i) direct 

object, co-ordinated with the subjunctive clause ' et . . . haberet,' 

as 'paludes' above is co-ordinated with the subjunctive clause 

immediately following it (ct. Intr. II 64 g) ; or (2) nominative, 

'essent' having been lost from the MS. in copying or boldly 

omitted by Tacitus himself. 

communione parietum : abstract for concrete = ' communibus 

parietibus' (cf. 'libidines principis' = 'principem libidinosum,' 

xiii 22, 3 and Intr. II 57). 

quaeque : sc. ' aedificia.' Common walls had always been forbidden 

; the Twelve Tables enjoined a space of 2i feet round each 

'domus' or 'insula' ('ambitus parietum sestertius pes esto '). 

§ 5. ex utilitate accepta, 'approved of as practically advantageous.' 

vapore, ' heat.' Cf. xiv 64, 3. 

Ch. 44, § I. dia, 'for the gods,' i.e. to win their favour; cf. 

'deum placamentis ' below. 

Sibullae libri : kept in the temple of Apollo on the Palatine. 

Volcano, &c. : he was naturally propitiated as being the firegod. 

The temple of Ceres and Proserpina was near the spot wheie 

the fire had broken out, but the supplication to them may well have 

rested on some more general reason, as at other times the Sibylline 

no 

;

BOOK XV. CH. 43, § I — CH. 44, §§ 1-5 

books ordered special sacrifices to them to expiate prodigies, e. g. 

Livy xxxvi ^J, 4. 

apud. proximum mare : i. e. at Ostia, where invocation was 

made and whence iustral water was brought to wash her 'cella' 

and statue in the Capitol. 

sellisternia : these answer in the case of goddesses to the 

' lectisternia ' in honour of gods, the distinction being founded on 

the Roman custom, by which women sat on ' sellae ' at dinner, while 

men reclined on couches. (The word is very rare, ' lectisternium ' 

being commonly used for this mode of honouring goddesses as 

well as gods.) 

pervigilia : nightly festivals {nnvvvxiâ) were an ancient custom 

in Greece, but a late introduction at Rome, though common under 

the Empire. 

§ 2. quin . . . crederetur, ' so that it was not believed,' epexegetic 

to ' infamia decedebat.' Freely, 'could the scandal be removed by 

securing disbelief that the fire had been commanded.' 

§ 3. subdidit : used of fraudulent substitution, or false suggestion; 

cf. xiv 40, 2 'subdidit testamentum.' This expression, 

and the words 'forte, an dolo principis ' ch. 38, i, show that 

Tacitus did not consider the Christians really guilty of the fire. 

quaesitissimis, &.C., ' punished with a refinement of cruelty.' 

per flagitia, ' by reason of their abominations.' So the younger 

Pliny, writing from his province to Trajan about the Christians, 

speaks of ' flagitia cohaerentia nomini.' Crimes such as infanticide, 

cannibalism, and incest were attributed by the pagan world to the 

early Christians. 

Christianos: the term is said to have originated at Antioch, 

Acts xi 26. The formation is in accordance with silver Latin 

usage, cf. 'Augustiani' from 'Augustus,' xiv 15, 8, but may 

equally well be attributed to the Greek of the Asiatics of that time. 

§ 4. Chx-istus : given by Tacitus, and also by Pliny (in the letter 

mentioned above) as a proper name, probably the only name of 

our Lord known to them, and here of course appropriate as explaining 

' Christianos.' This passage is the earliest record of the 

Crucifixion in any non-Christian writer. 

Pentium Pilatum : not mentioned elsewhere by any Roman 

historian. Josephus says he was procurator of Judaea, 27-37 A. D., 

and was recalled by Vitellius, legatus of Syria. 

superstitio : any foreign religion, not Greek, would be so termed, 

exitiabilis =' pernicious,' because of the * flagitia' supposed to be 

involved in it : so Christianity is called by the younger Pliny ' superstitio 

prava immodica,' and by Suetonius ' malefica.' 

quo, &c., ' into which pour all the horrible and foul rites from 

every land and there find a following.' The reference is to 

foreign orgies such as those of Isis. 

§ 5. igltur : returning to the main subject. 

qui fatebantur, ' who admitted (their Christianity) ' ; not of 

course that they had caused the fire. 

in 

s


multitudo ingena : a rhetorical expression which we have no 

means of reducing to a numerical estimate. 

odio humani generis : this impression was probably produced 

on the pagan world by the Christians' abstinence from social 

gatherings and popular amusements, in which of course they could 

not participate without taking part in some act of pagan worship. 

The ablative may be regarded as following 'in'; cf. ' in hoc scelere 

convictus,' Cic./;v SuU. 30, 83. 

§ 6. tergis, ' hides.' 

aut . . . atque : the Med. text is here given as it stands, but is 

not satisfactory. Either * interirent ' must be supplied after ' adfixi 

and 'flammandi,' or these words are attributes to the subject of 

'urcrentur.' For the burning of criminals in the 'tunica molesta,' 

a covering of inflammable materials, cf. Juv. i 159 and viii 235. 

§ 7. hortos SUDS : on the Vatican. These included a circus ; cf. 

xiv 14, 4. 

curriculo : cf. xiv 14, i. 

§ 8. sontes : guilty of the 'flagitia' practised by Christians, or 

perhaps 

opinion. 

guilty of incendiarism in the spectators', not Tacitus' 

novissima, &;c., 'deserving exemplary punishment of the utmost 

severity.' So ' ' exemplum = ' punishment,' in Caes. B. G. i 31, 12, 

' omnia exempla cruciatusque edere ' (cf. ch. 20, 2). 

' tamquam, from the feeling that.' Cf. Intr. II 50. 

utilitate publica : Intr. II 19. 

in saevitiam iinius, ' to gratify a single man's ferocity.' 

Ch.45, § I. conf

BOOK XV. CH. 44, § 5 — CH. 47, §§ 1-3 

Secundo Carrinate : probably son of the rhetorician of that 

name who was exiled by Gaius (Juv. vii 207). 

§ 4. ore tenus (cf. ch. 6, 6 ' ' nomine tenus '), an adept in the 

verbal profession of Greek philosophy.' 

§ 5. oravisse : this passage implies that his former request for 

retirement from the court had not been granted (xiv 

that he was still one of Nero's 

52-56) and 

' concilium.' 

aeger nervis, ' having a muscular complaint ' (rheumatism or 

goutj. fegresaus : the use of the accus. governed transitively by 

this verb originates with Caesar and Livy.j 

§ 6. dum . . . tolerat: see Intr II 37. 

persimplici : ott. dp. Intr. II 51, c. 

agrestibus pomis, ' fruit growing wild,' as distinct from highly 

cultivated garden produce : so Germ. 23, I ' poma.' 

cibi simplices, agrestia 

profluente, ' from a running stream.' 

Ch. 46, § I. gladiatores : evidently kept at Praeneste in a 

training-school. Praeneste = Palaestrina, about twenty-three 

miles east of Rome. 

adesset : so Med., but the subjunctive is inexplicable without 

supplying some such participle as ' ibi locato ' or 'existente' to 

' praesidio,' 'a military force being stationed there to be a guard on 

the spot.' Such an ellipse would be exceedingly harsh. An 

inferior MS. reads 'aderat,' and * adest ' has been suggested for 

'adesset.' 

Spartacum : 

the war of Spartacus, B C. 73-71, began with the 

outbreak of only seventy-four gladiators from the school of Capua. 

§ 2. immota pax: the war in the East was virtually over. 

classem : the 'classis praetoria' which had Misenum as its station. 

non exceptis, ' without making any allowance for.' 

§ 3. Formiis : on the coast of Latium. 

movere : intransitive, see Intr. II 29, 

' Africo : creber procellis Africus,' Verg. Aen. i 86. 

Cumanis : Cumae lay some six miles north of Cape Misenum. 

passina : cf. xiv 15, i. 

Ch. 47, § I. vis: so in ch. 5, 4, &c. 

semper expiatum : a rhetorical exaggeration (like ' saepe ' in 

xiii 6, i), only one other comet having been mentioned by Tacitus 

before this, viz. that of xiv 22, i. sanguine inlustri applies in 

this case to the executions following the detection of the conspiracy 

of Piso, and in the case of the previous comet to the exile and 

death of Rubellius Plautus and Cornelius Sulla. 

§ 2. abiecti in publicum, ' were publicly exposed.' 

gravidas hostias : such sacrifices were called ' hordicidia ' 

('horda ' = 

'praegnans vacca'), and are mentioned in Ovid as paid 

to Tellus and to Faunus. 

§ 3. Placentino : of Placentia, on the Padus, a colony founded 

220 B. C. after the conquest of the Insubres. 

esaet: the subjunctive is variously explained (l) as practically 

113


sub-oblique, natiis being regarded as = 'natus esse ferebatur,' or 

(2) as a kind of consecutive use, ' born in such a way as to have its 

head attached,' &c. 

repressum, ' distorted.' 

aut = 'et rursus.' So in Ajin. vi 51, 3 

'beating, and then avoiding.' 

'tolerans aut dechnans,' 

Ch. 48, § I. coepta, (Sec: the tense of 'dederant' shows that 

these participles are to be taken in a past sense, ' after a conspiracy 

had been set on foot, and had at once gathered strength.' The plot 

was in existence a considerable time: it began towards the end of 

62 A. D. (see xiv 65, 2), and in ch. 50 one of the conspirators is 

mentioned as on the point of killing Nero amid the confusion 

caused by the fire of 64 A. D. It was detected and suppressed 

towards the end of April, 65 A. D. ; cf, ch. 53, i ; 70, i. 

nomina dederant: cf. xiv 15, i. 

Pisonem : the parents of this C. Calpurnius Piso are unknown. 

He was exiled under Gaius, but returned and held a consulship 

under Claudius. 

§ 3. tuendis civibus, ' in defending fellow-citizens,' in the law 

courts. 

et ignotis quoqiic, &c., 'and even towards strangers (was) 

courteous in speech and demeanour.' Instead of contmuing the 

construction of ' exercebat ' with ' comitatem,' Tacitus substitutes 

the ablative of quality, comi sermone. 

fortuita, &c., ' he had also the accidental advantages of a tall 

frame and a handsome face.' 

§ 4. gravitas : the term expressing the Roman ideal of a dignified 

and virtuous character, ' true worth.' 

parsimonia, 'moderation.' 

§ 5. idciue, &c., ' a fact satisfactory to the majority, who amid 

the fascinations of vice do not wish the head of the State to be 

too strict or austere.' 

' perseverum : cf^. perfimplex,' ch. 45, 6. 

Ch. 49, § I. ipsius : sc. ' Pisonis.' 

memoraverim : potential, cf. 'fuerit,' ch. 41, i, and Intr. II 39. 

Xiucanua Annaeua : the author of the PJiarsa/ra, only twentysix 

years old at the time of his death, according to the Life prefixed 

to his works. On his father, a brother of Seneca, see xvi 17. 

Plautius Lateranus : nephew of Plautius Si'.vanus, the first 

legatus of Britain. 

intiilere, ' brought into the plot.' 

§ 3. premebat, &c., ' tried to suppress his fame as a poet and 

had forbidden him to display his talent' (by publication or recitation). 

vanus adsimulatione, ' vainglorious in his comparison ' (of 

himself to Lucan). The substantive is rare, but its meaning here 

may be illustrated by the use of ' adsimulantcm,' ch. 39, 3. Some 

read ' aemulatione,' ' foolish in his rivalry,' i. e. out of petty 

jealousy. 

114

BOOK XV. CH. 47, § 3 — CH. 51, § i 

§ 4, Scaevinus: see ch. 53, 3. For Quintianus see ch. 56, 4 ; 

70, 2. 

contra, &c., ' affected the lead in this daring crime despite their 

poor reputation.' 

§ 5. vita, «See, ' his hfe was one of lethargic sloth and indolence.' 

Ch. 50, § I. fessis, &c. : Verg. Acn. xi 335 ' consulite in medium 

et rebus succurrite fessis.' 

iaciunt, ' drop hints.' 

§ 2. ex quibus : these words extend their force to * Natalis ' and 

' ceteris ' as well as to Senecio. Senecio and Natalis had special 

reasons for joining, the one as exposed to danger from the conspirators 

themselves on the ground of friendship to Nero, the other as 

being intimately connected with the head of the conspiracy ; the 

rest were on an equal footing, hoping to profit by a revolution. 

Senecio: mentioned in conjunction with Otho (xiii 12) as 

helping Nero in his amour with Acte. The other knights here 

mentioned are previously unknown. 

e praecipua familiaritate = ' e praecipuis familiaribus,' abstract 

for concrete ; cf. xiii 42. 

§ 3. militares manus : in apposition to the names following. 

' Manus ' is used figuratively for practical ability or force (cf. 

xiii 6, s), 'the soldierly energies of Gavius Silvanus,' &c. 

Silvanua : mentioned on an inscription found at Turin as having 

served with distinction in the campaign in Britain under Claudius. 

§ 4. Faenio Rufo : cf. xiii 22, i and xiv 51, 5. 

vita famaque laudatum : cf. the similar combination in ch. 37, 

' 2 ; highly spoken of for his life and good reputation ' [or possibly, 

taking the words as a kind of hendiadys, ' highly spoken of in the 

fame (won by) his (upright) life']. See Intr. II 20. 

' in animo, in the emperor's favour.' 

adulterum : Faenius Rufus had become ' praefectus annonae ' 

through Agrippina's influence, xiii 22 : a charge of adultery was the 

obvious one for a man like Tigellinus to make under these circumstances. 

§ 5. in partes descendisse, 'had joined their side' (cf. 'ducem 

et partes,' xiii 18, 3). 

^ 6. ardente dome : cf. ch. 48, I, note. 

§ 7. hie . . . ibi, ' in this case ... in that.' 

exstimulaverant, nisi . . . retinuisaet : 

and Intr. II 38. 

cf. note on xiii 2, I, 

Ch. 51, § I. cunetantibus : cf. ch. 30, i and Intr. II 21, c. 

sciscitata: the word denotes interested inquiry, hence as the context 

implies that such interest on her part was unexpected, we should 

expect ' quam ob causam ' rather than ' quonam modo ' : accordingly 

the suggested alteration to ' suscitata ' is approved by Madvig. 

pertaesa : 

genitive. 

this participle is not elsewhere used personally with a 

primores, 'officers'; so 'primores castrorum,' Hist, iii 31. 

labefacere, ' sap the allegiance of.'


§ 2. navarchua: the term properly seems to apply to the captain 

of a Miburnica' = ( ' biremis "), as contrasted with 'trierarchus,' 

though the distinction is not always preserved in literature. 

§ 3. recens : adverb, so ch. 6, 5. 

inpelli, &c., ' that he could be won over, and bring more besides 

to the cause.' 

§ 4. plura : sc. ' dixit.' 

neque senatui . . . manere : emended from Med. * neque se- 

natui quid 

manere '). 

manere' (which others emend to 'neque sancti quid 

§ 5. everaae rei public ae : perhaps referring to curtailment of 

the senate's prerogatives. 

accingeretur : cf. Verg. Georg. iii 46 ' accingar dicere pugnas.' 

partes : cf. ch. 50, 5. 

ij 6. quamvis : here denoting a fact ; Intr. II 40. 

§ 7. composita, ' confronted,' a metaphor from the arena. 

§ 8. liaud falsa, &c., ' suspecting that the story might not be 

false, even though it was not proved to be true.' 

Ch. 52, § I. oniissis, Sic, 'dispensing with a guard and the 

cumbrous accessories of his rank ' 

; mole, like oy/cos : fortunae, 

as in xiv 53, 3. 

§ 2. sacra mensae : cf. xiii 17, 3. 

qvialiscumque, ' however wicked.' 

in ilia . . . dome : cf. ch. 42, i. These words as put into Piso's 

mouth are probably an invention of Tacitus, as the building of the 

new palace could only just have been commenced, and Nero was at 

this time residing in the Servilian gardens, ch. 55, i. 

§ 3. in commune, ' before all,' to the general body of the conspirators 

(in contrast to ' timore occulto ') ; cf. ch. 63, i. The phrase 

has more generally the sense of 'communiter,' as in xiii 27, 6 and 

XV 12, 6. 

Silanus : L. Junius Silanus Torquatus, son of the M. .Silanus 

who was killed by Agrippina (xiii i), and the last surviving male 

descendant of Augustus with the exception of Nero. On his 

death see xvi 7, 2 and foil. 

C. Cassii : see xiii 41, 5. 

disciplina : with ' sublatus,' ' and by his training under C. Cassius 

. . . rendered capable of the highest distinction.' 

daturis : sc. ' * imperium ; while those would readily grant it to 

' 

him who stood outside the conspiracy, and who would pity Nero,' 

&c. This sentence represents Piso's thought, ' dabunt qui . . . sunt, 

quique miserabuntur,' the latter becoming imperfect subjunctive on 

the principle that when a compound sentence in future time is 

reported in indirect construction, only the main verb requires a 

future form. 

§ 4. ne, &c., ' lest he might head a rising in favour of a republic 

(an unfamiliar use of ' orior '). 

aui niunei'is, 'a matter of his bestowal'; cf. Hor. Od. iv 3, 21 

'totum muneris hoc tui est' (Inir. II 25). 

116 

'

BOOK XV. CH. 51, § 2 — CH. 54, §§ 1-3 

§ 5. super eo crimine, 'in that charge.' Cf. Ann. iii 17, 6 

'biduum super hac imagine cognitionis absumptum.' 

vetus odium : cf. ch. 68, 3-5. 

Ch. 53, § I. circensium : these games to Ceres took place April 

12-19. 

egressu : supine. For rarus cf. xiv 56, 6 ' rarus per urbem.' 

laetitia, 'amid the merriment occasioned by the show.' 

§ 2. ordinem, 'the details,' cf. ' ordine indicii,' .\iii 20, I. 

eomposuerant, ' had arranged.' 

animi: Intr. II 24 c. 

§ 3. tribuni, &c. : i. e. those who had joined the plot. 

ut quisque audentiae habuisset : a Graecism, like


§ 4. vulneribus: dative, cf. Intr. II 9 b. 

ut plerique, &c., ' as most authorities have 

account of (' de ') the sequel.' 

declared in their 

§ 5. simulque, &c., 'and at the same time he saw before him 

boundless wealth and power' ; 'obversari' applying here to mental 

vision (but to actual sight in xiv 10, 5). 

§ 6. uxoris, &c., 'from his wife he took a woman's base counsel.' 

metum intentabat, ' brought fear' (of discovery) ' to work upon 

him.' With the following clauses a verb of speaking is readily 

understood. 

viderint : the tense, primary though following an historic tense, 

adds vividness to the language. 

Ch. 55, § I. hortos Servilianos: these are mentioned in 

a passage of Suetonius as lying between the Palatine and the Porta 

Ostiensis. 

Epaphroditum : he seems to have succeeded Doryphorus 

xiv 65, i) in the post ' a libellis.' He helped Nero to his death, for 

which he was himself put to death by Domitian. He was a friend 

of Josephus, who dedicated to him his AtUiquities, and is known 

to have owned Epictetus as his slave. 

graves, ' formidable.' 

audierat coniectaverat : asyndeton, cf. Intr. II 48. 

§ 3. cviius argtieretur, ' on which the charge was grounded * • 

Intr. II 24 a. 

dim, &c., ' had long been treated with reverence in his family.' 

Scaevinus denies what is said of the dagger in ch. 53, 3. 

incustodita observatione, &c., 'without any particular attention 

to the dates ' (on which he did so). His defence is that he often 

revised his will, and that on this last occasion there was no particular 

significance in the act. 

§ 4. libertates, ' grants of freedom.' 

teatamento diffideret : slaves manumitted by will would be sold 

to satisfy the creditors, unless the deceased's estate was sufficient 

to meet outstanding debts. Scaevinus might evade this by giving 

them freedom in his lifetime. 

§ 5. duris iudicibus, ' severe critics.' 

palam : to be taken adjectivally with 'cetera,' 'since the other 

charges resting on patent facts had nothing in them ' (Intr. II 49). 

§ 6. constantiam, ' an unshaken demeanour.' 

intestabilem, 'detestable' (in old legal phraseology=disqualified 

from making or witnessing a will in consequence of misconduct). 

securitate, ' self-possession.' 

labaret indicium, 'the informer's story was falling to the 

ground.' Cf. .xiii 43, 5 ' labare defensio.' 

conlocutum : ch. 54, I. 

Ch. 56, § I. diversi, 'separately.' 

§ 2. tormentoruin : under the Republic torture was only applied 

to slaves, but was inflicted (according to Suetonius) on Roman citizens 

even of high rank by Tiberius in trials for ' maiestas,' and 

118

BOOK XV. CH. 54, § 4 — CH. 58, §§ 1-3 

Claudius carried on the practice in spite of an oath at his accession 

to abstain from it (Dio) ; it would still be regarded as a tyrannical 

innovation, though in later times jurists recognized its legality. 

(For ' maiestas ' see xiv 48, 2.) 

arguendi peritior, ' more of an adept in accusation.' 

infensus: cf. xiv 52, 2. 

§ 4. excusarent : to show that their reluctance to disclose was 

natural. 

Aciliam : according to the anonymous Life of Lucan she was 

a na'jve of Corduba and daughter of Aciliui Lucanus, one of the 

famous orators of that place. 

Galium . . . Pollionem: both exiled, ch. 71,6. The latter married 

the daughter of Soranus (xvi 30, 4), who was forced to commit 

suicide on a charge of plotting in the interest of Rubellius Plautus. 

Ch. 57, § I. attineri, ' was in custody,' so xiii 15,4. 

§ 2. eo acrius, &c., ' increasing her pains, so as not to be defied 

by a woman.' 

pervicere, (Sic, ' broke down her denial of what she was taxed 

with.' 

contemptus: explained by ' spernerentur ' above = ' was disregarded,' 

' proved fruitless.' primus dies : pregnant for ' tormenta 

primi diei' (Intr. II 61). 

§ 3. gestamine sellae : so xiv 4, 6. 

dissolutis, 'dislocated,' from the rack. 

vinelo fasciae . . . restricto, ' tying the band.' 

worn by women over the breast. 

arcum sellae : the arched frame of the chair. 

' Fascia,' a band 

clariore, «S:c., ' showing an example all the more noble, freedwoman 

as she was, in shielding strangers and persons almost 

unknown to her, in spite of such frightful pressure.' ' Clariore 

exemplo ' is an adverbial adjunct to the action of the preceding 

verb, and so far maybe regarded as a kind of ablative absolute ; at 

the same time, owing to its position, it may also be regarded as 

ablative of quality with ' libertina mulier.' protegendo = ' dum 

protegit,' cf. ' percursando,' xv 8, 3. (See also Intr. II 22.) ' Cum' 

introduces the contrast to ' clariore,' which here has the force of 

' eo clariore.' viri has its distinct force, answering to ' mulier,' 

as ' ingenui ' to ' libertina.' 

§ 4. passim, ' one after another.' 

Ch. 58, § I. maii: at Ostfa. amne : the landing-places along 

the river. 

§ 2. Germanis : horsemen of this nation had been included in 

the imperial bodyguard as early as the reign of Augustus. Some 

had formed part of Agrippina's retinue, xiii 18, 4. 

quasi externis, ' as being foreigners ' ' 

; quasi ' = a)y : cf. ch. 33, 2. 

§ 3. eontinua, &c., ' afterwards there were incessant groups of 

chained prisoners being led along and kept waiting at the gates of 

the (Servilian) gardens.' 

ubi . . . introisseat : frequentative, cf. Intr. II 41. 

119


laetatum, &c. : sc. ' esse aliquem,' ' the fact of having smiled on 

meeting a conspirator.' This is a correction for Med. ' latatum ' 

(for which another suggestion is ' hieta turn verba erga coniuratos'). 

signs (to ask) whether.' For Subrius 

§ 4. adnuenti, ' making 

Flavus cf. ch.- 49, 2. 

cognitionem, 'the investigation,' used of a trial before the prinseps 

or in the senate. 

reniiit, ' shook his head.' 

infiv git impetum, ' checked his impulse.' 

Ch, 59, § I. hortarentur : with infinitive, cf. Intr. II 31. 

studia . . . temptare, ' work upon the feelings of.' 

§ 2. integroa, ' those not yet implicated.' 

magnamque, &c. : sc. 'fore,' 'the movement, once started, 

would be magnified by rumour, which had the utmost effect on the 

course of a revolution.' 

§ 4. ardua, 'too difficult,' 'too impracticable.' 

in tot. Sec, 'considering the number of conspirators whose minds 

and bodies could be worked upon ' (the former by rewards, the 

latter by torture). 

sperare : sc. ' eum.' 

§ 6. dum amplectitur, &c., ' throwing in his lot with the state,' 

' invoking the general aid to the cause of Liberty.' .So Cic. pro 

Mil. 27, 72 ' nimis amplecti plebem.' 

had recently begun service.' 

§ 7. stipendiis recentes, ' The opposite, 

who ' veterem stipendiis,' occurs Attn, ii 66, 3. For 

similar ablative (of respect) cf. 

' freciuens ordinibus,' ,\iv 34, 3 ; 

'rarus egressu,' xv 53, i. 

favore: sc. 'in Pisonem' (ch. 48, 2-3). tamquam (Intr. II 50) 

is now mually read for the ' quamquam ' of the MSS., which 

however could be explained as = 'although imbued with affection 

(for Nero),' emphasizing the groundlessness of his fear. 

§ 8. foedis adulationibus : ablative of quality, ' full of disgusting 

flattery.' 

amori dedit, 'made ... as a concession to his affection.' Cf. 

Ann. i 7, 10 ' dabat et famae,' ' he made (this) concession also to 

public opinion.' The expression ' .' 

das aliquid famae ' ( Hor. Sat. 

ii 2, 94) seems to show the usage from which the expression is 

derived. 

degenerem, ' of low birth.' 

§9. patientia, 'complaisance,' i. d connivance at her adultery 

with Piso before divorce. 

Ch. 60, § I, Laterani: his end is cited as an 

dangers of wealth by Juvenal in Sat. x 15. 

instance of the 

illud breve, &c., ' the necessary short interval for a choice of 

death,' or perhaps 'the usual' interval given by Nero to his victims 

for the opportunity of anticipating the executioner. 

§ 2. locum : the ' Sessorium,' outside the Ksquiline gate. 

Statii : ch. 50, 3. 

§ 3. non qtiia, &c. : cf. xiii I, I. 

120

BOOK XV. CH. 58, § 3 — CH. 63, § i 

coniui-ationis manifeatum : Intr. II 24 c. 

quando, &c., ' since the poisoning had not succeeded.' Tacitus 

here gives as a fact what he had before stated as a rumour, ch. 45, 6. 

hactenus, 'only this much,' cf xiv 3, 2. 

^ 5. salutem,&c., 'his own safety rested on Piso's preservation.' 

^ 6. nosceret, ' admit,' for the more usual ' adgnosceret 

(Intr. II 28). 

§ 7. prudens : aware of the impending conspiracy. 

suburbano rure, 'his suburban country seat,' cf. xiv 53, 6. 

§ 8. Pompeia Paulina : daughter or sister of Pompeius Paulinus, 

mentioned as legatus of Lower Germany, xiii 53, 2, and as a consular 

in XV 18, 4. 

Ch. 61, § I. rationem, &c., ' pleaded in excuse the regard which 

he had to pay to his health.' 

§ 2. privati : i.e. any one but the emperor. 

^ 

3. nee sibi, Sec. : Seneca also makes this boast in i/e Clei)i. ii. 

2, 3 'maluerim veris offendere quam placere adulando.' Cf. his 

words in ch. 23, 6. 

gnarum = ' notum,' this passive use of the word is almost peculiar 

to Tacitus (Intr. II 51 fin.). 

^ 4. intimum, &c., ' innermost circle of advisers.' 

§ 6. Fabiua Rusticus : see xiii 20, 3 and Intr. I 3. 

quo venerat: cf. Intr. II yj. 

fatali, &c., ' with the cowardice all were fated to display.' 

added to the crimes, to avenge 

§ 7. scelera: i.e. Nero's. ' He 

which he had conspired.' 

pepercit, ' spared his tongue ' the degradation of the message. 

qui, (Sic, ' to announce that he must die ' 

' 

; cf. accepto . . . 

supremae necessitatis nuntio,' Hist, i 72, 5. 

1. tabulas : the tablets on which his will had been 

Ch. 62, § 

written, to which he wished now to make some additions or alterations. 

The centurion would not sanction the delay this might cause. 

bonarum, &;c. (i) 'they would win the reputation of noble 

accomplishments as the fruit of their loyal friendship.' fructum 

is conjectured for Med. 'ta' ( = 'tam'). (2) Reading 'tam,' and 

putting comma at 'artium' instead of at 'essent,' 'if they remained 

mindful of his noble accomplishments, they would win the glory 

of so devoted a friendship.' 

§ 2. modo, &c., ' now by ordinary talk, now in the more earnest 

tones of reproval.' 

meditata ratio, ' the principles thought out.' 

§ 3. ignarara = ' ignotam ' 

; cf. 'gnarum,' ch.6l, 3. 

matrem. fratremque interfectos : it is curious that no reference 

to the murder of Octavia is made as well. 

' educatoris praeceptorisque, ' master and teacher.' Educator' 

technically = 7raiSayQ)7oy (xiii 15, 6), denoting a position inferior to 

that held by Seneca. 

Ch. 63, § I. velut in commune : (i) ' as though addressing his 

friends in general,' i.e. not merely the limited audience then 

121 

'


present ; (2) 'as though to the genenil body of those present,' contrasting 

his particular injunctions to his wife (cf. ch. 52, 3). 

adversua praeaentem fortitudinem : (i) so Med. 'in a spirit 

somewhat in contrast to the courage he was showing ' ; or (2) 

adopting ' formidineni,' the reading of some inferior MSS. for 

' fortitudinem,' ' in view of the terrors immediately before him.' 

§ 3. vitae delenimenta, 'means of soothing life.' 

exemplo, ' so noble a deed.' Cf. xiii 44, 8. 

§ 5. senile cor-pus : Seneca was at this time about seventy. 

^ 7. pleraque, &.C., ' he dictated at considerable length a composition 

which I refrain from adapting, as it has been published in 

his own words.' Dio alludes to this treatise, but it is not extant. 

Ch. 64, § I. invidia crudelitatis : so ' invidia sacrilegii,' ch. 

45. 5- 

premunt = ' reprmiunt,' cf. xiv 5, 2 (Intr. II 28). 

iacertum an, &ic., ' when she was perhaps unconscious.' * Incertura 

an ' usually suggests a probability, and here Tacitus treats 

the belief that she wished for life as a vulgar calumny. (For the 

syntax cf. Intr. II 59.) 

§ 2. ad deteriora 

version.' 

promptum, 'ready to accept the worse 

blandimentis, ' attractions.' 

laudabili memoria : Intr. II 22. 

in eum, &c., ' blanched to such paleness as would give proof.' 

§ 3. tractu, &€., 'as the lingering protraction of his end continued.' 

fide . . . arte : cf. xiii 29, 3 ' experientia probatos.' Intr. 

II 20. 

venenum : hemlock, Kwftiou, 'cicuta.' 

frigiduB, &c. : to take effect the poison required an active circu- 

lation. 

§ 4. stagnum, ' bath ; the object was to promote the flow of blood 

' 

by restoring circulation or to stimulate the action of the hemlock. 

libare, &c. : after the fashion of the Greeks at the end of a feast, 

when libation was made to Zein ^wrijp. Here the attribute ' liberator,' 

fX(vd(jjios, is appropriately substituted. 

§ 5. baineo : a hot vapour bath ; cf. xiv 64, 3. 

6. etiam tum praedives : this implies that much of Seneca's 

I 

vast wealth had passed away from him before his death. Dio says 

that he resigned his property to Nero as a contribution towards 

rebuilding Rome after the fire. 

Ch. 65, § I. Subrium Flavum : first mentioned in ch. 49. 

insontibus : sc. ' coniurationis.' The case is dative of agent, 

with ' delccto.' 

claritudine : Intr. II 19. 

§ 2. non referre dedecori, ' it made no difference as to the disgrace.' 

'Refert' is found with dative of the thing concerned in 

Plautus, 7'ruc. ii 4, 40, and the construction may be defended as 

natural to Tacitus' use of the dative, see Intr. II 9 a. On the other 

122

BOOK XV. CH. 63, § I — CH. 69, § i 

hand, Uie correction 'dedecoris' is easy, as the final j might readily 

be lost owing to the next word being ' si.' 

tragico ornatu canebat : meaning the performance of ' mimes' 

on tragic themes, in which pieces were siing in character by the 

chief actor, who was supported by other actors in dumb show, and 

probably also by a chorus (cf. xiii 19, 4). 

Ch. 66, § I. inquisitorem, 'judge' ; he was one of those who 

conducted the examination of the accused, cf ch. 58, 3. 

§ 2. ultro, with ' redderet,' ' urged him to repay the favour of so 

good a monarch of his own accord,' by confessing his share in the 

plot. 

§ 3. praepediens, ' halting in his utterance.' Elsewhere ' praepedire' 

is used of what hinders utterance, as ' singultu medios 

praepediente sonos,' Ovid, 7>. i 3, 42. 

Ch. 67, § I. consociaturum : sc. 'fuisse' (Intr. II 27). 

amplexus, 'seizing upon,' 'catching at.' 

§ 3. parricida : the term denotes the murderer of any near relative, 

cf. ' parricidam liberum,' Livy iii 53, 5. Dio's version makes 

Flavus cite only Nero's chariot-driving and singing in public as the 

crimes that roused his detestation. 

crimes in Juv. viii 211 and foil. 

Cf. the enumeration of Nero's 

§ 4. nee minus, &.C., ' and yet the soldier's unpolished and 

forcible sentiments were equally well worth knowing.' 

§ 5. nihil . . . gravius, ' the bitterest reproach that reached his 

ears.' 

^ 6. ex disciplina, ' according to regulation.' 

^ 8. sesquiplaga, ' a blow and a half.' An expression coined on 

the analogy of ' sesquipes,' ' sesquimodius,' and noticed by Tacitus 

for its brutal humour. 

Ch. 68, § I. subveniri : Dio's version oti aWats aoi jiorjdricrai 

ovK i]hmiixT^v indicates that Asper meant that the only service he 

could do Nero was to save him from his crimes by killing him ; 

'that nothing else could be done for his countless abominations.' 

§ 2. degeneravere, ' disgraced themselves.' 

§ 3- opperiebatur : followed by ' ut ' also in Livy (xlii 48, 10). 

insociabilem, ' unmanageable,' ' incompatible.' 

§ 4. ferociam = 7roppr)o-iai'. 

inlusus, &c., 'the butt of his rough jests, such as leave a bitter 

memory, being based mainly on the truth.' 

recens.' 

§ 5. repens = ' 

Statiliam Messalinam : subsequently married to Nero after the 

death of Poppaea. She was descended from Statilius Taurus, 

praefectus urbis under Augustus. 

Ch. 69, § I. exiatente, 'making an appearance.' 

speciem induere : so too in Livy, ' percussoris speciem induit ' 

the more usual phrase being ' personam induere.' 

ad vim, &c., ' resorting to a tyrant's violence.' 

velut arcem, 'his citadel, as 

to the position of Vestinus' house 

it were.' Nero's way of referring 

123 

;


§2. dissimulando metu : dative of purpose. (For its coordination 

with participle cf. Intr. II 64 g.) 

§ 3. medicus : probably sent by Nero, who, according to Suet., in 

dealing with his victims, ' ne quid morae interveniret, medicos admovebat, 

qui cunctantes curarent (ita enim vocabatur venas mortis 

gratia incidere).' 

§ 4. omissi sunt, * were left free to depart.' 

ex, ' after.' 

imaginatus, ' picturing to himself.' The word is not found elsewhere 

in Tacitus, but occurs several times in Pliny ma. and Quint, 

' (cf. ch. 36, I imaginatio '). 

Ch. 70, § I. ab extremis, 'from the extremities.' 

fervido : literally, 'though his breast remained warm and in 

possession of intelligcn e.' The phrase illustrates the Roman conception 

of the ' cor' as the seat of intelligence. Cf. 'vecors,' 'socors,' 

' cordatus.' 

carmen : here = 'a passage ' of his poetry, perhaps Phars. iii 635 

and foil. 

per, &c., 'by a form of death similar to it.' The expression 

comes from Vergil, ' plurima mortis imago,' Aen. ii 369 (cf. Thuc. 

iii 81 Trnira Ihia KmifTTi] Qnvi'nnv), 

§ 2. Senecio, &c. : persons named in chs. 49 and 50. 

ex, ' in accordance with.' 

Ch. 71, § I. domum : sc. '.suam quisque.' For the custom cf. 

Juv. vi 79. Reference is also made to the public rejoicings on this 

occasion in Juv. x 65 and foil. 

§ 2. Natalia : cf. ch. 56. For Proculus, cf. ch. 66. 

§ 3. Milichus : cf. ch. 54. The surname he adopted would be 

§ 4. veniam . . . eorrupit, ' frustrated (spoilt, cancelled I the 

pardon which he had accepted from the Emperor by the vaingloriousness 

of his end,' i.e. by a vainglorious suicide. His case 

was different from that of Silvanus, who refused acquittal on being 

tried in the ordinary way : suicide, after pardon solicited and 

accepted, did not shew true spirit but vainglory. 

§ 5. quasi, ' on the ground that' (Intr. II 50). 

existimarentur : for Aled. ' extimarentur.' 

§ 6. per amieitiam Senecae : to be taken with 'data exilia.* 

§ 7. Gallus and his N\'ife were banished to Andros, where an inscription 

records them as patrons and benefactors. 

§ 9. Verginium Flavum : teacher of Persius, and mentioned 

with respect by Quintilian. 

Musonium : cf. xiv 59, 2. 

§ 10. Cluvidieno, &C. : these persons are wholly unknown. 

velut in, &c., ' as it were to complete the mass and list.' 

§ II. Caesennius Maximus : a friend of Seneca. 

reos fuisse, &c., ' learning that they had been prosecuted only 

by the announcement of their sentence.' 

§ 12. dissimulata, 'was ignored.' 

124

BOOK XV. CH. 69. § 2 — CH. 73, §§ 1-4 

Ch. 72, § I. ex modo annonae, 'according to the market 

price'; cf. ch. 18, 3; 39, 2. The change here described applies 

to the praetorians, who hitherto had the price of their rations 

stopped out of their pay, which accordingly was higher than 

that of the ordinary legionaries (cf. Ann. i 17), who had received 

free corn rations since the time of Augustus. 

§ 2. Turpiliano : cf. xiv 29. 

iS'ervae : subsequently Emperor, in succession to Domitian, 

96 A.D. At this time he was about thirty-three years old. He 

and Turpilianus probably received these honours as being members 

of the Emperor's privy council ; cf. ch. 25. 2. 

§ 3. qm quia : Med. reads ' nymphidio quannc,' emended in 

older editions to ' de quo quia nunc' Probably a larger gap exists, 

as Tacitus usually gives two names when mentioning a person for 

the first time. (Ritt. suggests 'Nymphidio Sabino. Ue Nymphidio, 

quando nunc,' &c.} 

pars . . . erit, ' will be prominent in the massacres at Rome.' 

The expression is suggested from Verg. Aen. ii 6 ' quorum pars 

magna fui,' and the words indicate that the story of his attempt 

to make himself emperor after Nero's death (68 A.D.) and his death 

at the hands of the soldiers would be included in the narrative, now 

lost, at the end of this book. 

§ 4. principum, ' of the imperial family.' 

ex Gaio Caesare : Plutarch discredits this story, and says 

Nymphidius' father was Martianus, a gladiator. 

habitu : here = personal appearance. According to Suet. Cal. 50, 

Gaius was 'statura eminenti, corpore enormi, . . . oculis et temporibus 

concavis, fronte lata et torva.' 

inlusit : here probably is lost a further description of Nymphidius' 

early life, including his promotion to the post of colleague with 

Tigellinus in command of the praetorians, in succession to Faenius 

Rufus. 

Ch. 73, § I. sed: resuming the narrative after the digression. 

conlata, &c. : the conspirators had not been tried (as was usual 

under Tiberius) in the senate, but privately before the princeps at 

his Servilian villa (ch. 58, 3). Hence he published this record of 

the proceedings to show that the conspiracy was real. 

§ 2. tamquam : Intr. H 50. 

§ 3. adultam, 'matured.' 

revictam, 'brought home to its perpetrators,' = ' convictam.' 

§ 4. Gallionem : the proconsul of Achaia mentioned in Acts 

xviii 12. He was originally named Annaeus Novatus, but changed 

his name on being adopted by the Gallio o{Ann.\\ 3, i. According 

to Jerome, he was forced to commit suicide in the year following this. 

Clemens: otherwise unknown. 

liostem et parricidara : the same words are used by the 

senators against Catiline (Sail. Cat. 31), and by the followers of 

Otho against Vitellius, Hisf. i 85. The words allege participation 

in the conspiracy. 

125


ne, &c.: this clause îves the substance of the arguments urged 

by the ' patres.' Cf. xiii 53, 4. 

composita, ' set at rest' ; cf. 'compositis bellis,' A7in. iii 56, 8. 

Ch. 74, § I. apud circum = ' in circo.' The sun would naturally 

be worshipped here, as being the great charioteer. Tertullian writes 

'circus soli principaliter consecratur, cuius aedes medio spatio et 

effigies de fastigio aedis emicat' (de Sped. 8). 

occulta coniurationis : cf. Intr. II 23. 

Cerealium : see ch. 53, I. 

Neronis cognomentum : April is called ' Neroneus ' in xvi 

12, 3templum, 

&c.: the expression is obscure, as the place from 

which Scaevinus had taken the dagger was already a temple,, see 

ch. 53. Perhaps some words are lost, showing that a new temple 

to 'Salus' was to be built in Rome as well as some monument at 

Ferentinum. 

§ 2. ipse : Nero. So Vitellius dedicated the sword by which 

Otho committed suicide CSuet. Vif. 10). 

arma, ' the rising,' of Vindex. See Appendix to book xvi. 

trahebatur, 'was interpreted.' 

§ 3. in commentariis senatus : see Intr. I 3. 

pro sententia, ' in giving his opinion.' 

Cerialem Anicium: for his death see xvi 17, 8. 

templum, &c. : it would have been an innovation to found a 

shrine at Rome to a living emperor; such shrines, under the early 

empire, were allowed in the provinces alone. Divine titles might 

be applied by courtiers, but formal deification by the senate was not 

solemnized till an emperor's death: hence Tertullian's 'maledictum 

est, ante apotheosin deum Caesarem nuncupare' [Apol. 34). 

§ 4. venerationem, iSzc. : restored by conjecture from Med. ' et 

veneratio ite merito quorunda ad omia dolum sui exitus uerteretur.' 

The use of sui indicates that some sentence has been 

lost in which Nero stood as subject and his reason for refusing the 

honour was explained. 

:?6

ANNALS. BOOK XVI 

Ch. 1-13. Remaining events of the year. 

1-3. Delusion propagated by Caesellius Bassus respecting a 

treasure in Africa. 4, 5. Recurrence of the 

Nero appears on the stage of the public 

Neronian festival : 

theatre : constant 

presence and applause exacted from the audience peril of Ve- 

; 

spasian. 6. Death of Poppaea, and honours paid to her. 7-9. C. 

Cassius and L. Silanus impeached by Nero before the senate : 

the former exiled ; the latter removed to Barium and killed there. 

10, II. L. Vetus, his daughter Pollitta, and mother-in-law Sextia, 

forced to suicide. 12. P. Gailus exiled. The months of May 

and June to be called Claudius and Germanicus. 13. Storms in 

Campania and pestilence at Rome : levy of troops in provinces, 

and bounty of Nero to the people of Lugdunum. 

A. U. C. 819, A. D. 66. C. Suetonius Paulinus, C. Tjueciua 

Telosinus, coss. 

Cli. 14-20. Various persons put to death. 

14-16. P. Anteius and Ostorius Scapula accused of astrology by 

Antistius Sosianus : their deaths. Excuse of Tacitus for recording 

the general want of spirit. 17. Deaths of Rufrius Crispinus, 

Annaeus Mela (brother of Seneca and father of Lucan). and 

Cerialis Anicius. iS-20. Death and character of C. Petronius, 

who taunts Nero in writing with his secret excesses : this leads 

to the exile of Silia. Minucius Thermus sacrificed to the enmity 

of Tigellinus. 

Ch. 21-35. Crowning iniquity of the deaths of Thrasea Paetus 

and Barea Soranus. 

21, 22. Speech of Capito Cossutianus against Thrasea, respecting 

his conduct in the senate and subsequent absence trom it. 

23. Ostorius Sabinus, a knight, impeaches Soranus for his conduct 

as proconsul of Asia. 24-26. Thrasea forbidden to meet Nero 

on his entry into Rome with Tiridates. He demands to know 

the ground of offence, and consults with his friends whether he 

should meet the charge or anticipate it by death. 27-29. The 

senate surrounded by soldiers : letter of Nero read : speech of 

l-^prius Marcellus against Thrasea, Helvidius Priscus, Paconius 

Agrippinus, Curtius Montanus. Consternation in the senate. 

30-32. Charges of Ostorius against Soranus and his daughter 

Servilia, wife of the exiled Annius Poilio, and their defence : 

baseness of P. Egnatius the Stoic in bearing witness against him. 

33. Constancy of Cassius Asclepiodotus, a friend of Soranus 

Sentence passed, that Thrasea, Soranus, and Servilia be permitted 

127 T


Helvidius and Paconius to be banished from 

to commit suicide ; 

Italy ; Montanus to be excluded from public life : the accusers 

rewarded. 34, 35. Last hours of Thrasea. 

Ch. L § I- vanitatem, 'credulity'; so in xiv 22, 4. 

Eassi: Suetonius omits the name, but styles the person 'eques 

Romanus.' 

turbida, 'disordered ' ; so ' turbidus animi,' said of Gaius, Hist. 

iv 48, 2. 

emercatus : by bribing the ' ianitores.' Cf. Juv. iii 184. 

non, &c., 'not coined into money, but in rude and antique 

masses' (the ablative is that of quality). Notice the bold 

omission of a participle with in formam ; and for the expression 

cf 'in faciem,' xiii 38, 2. 

§ 2. lateres, ' ingots,' 

upright bars. 

' Columnae,' a grandiloquent word for 

occulta : sc. ' fuisse.' 

augendis : dative of purpose. 

§ 3. ut coniectura dsmonstrabat : parenthetical, abdidisae 

depends on ' expromit.' 

Dido : accusative. 

reges Numidarum : such as larbas, Verg. Aen. iv 36. 

alias, ' otherwise.' Usually in Tacitus it means ' at other times.' 

Ch. 2, § I. fide: used strictly with 'auctoris,' and more loosely 

with 'negotii ' 

; 'the credibility of the informant and the intrinsic 

likelihood of the matter.' 

nosceret : Intr. II 28. 

velut paratam, 'lying as it were ready to hand.' So also 

' praeda parata' in Ovid, Her. viii l2. 

§ 2. delectum remigium, ' picked oarsmen.' 

nee aliud, &c., 'and throughout those days nothing else was 

discussed, with credulity on the part of the people, but with language 

of far different import on the part of the thoughtful.' For 

this use of ' diversus ' cf. ' diversa simulatione,' xiv 10, 4 ; for ' ferre ' 

cf XV 46, I. 

§ 3. quinquennale ludicrum : instituted in 60 A. D. ; xiv 

20, I, 

ab oratoribvisque : Med. has ' auaratoribus oratoiibusque ' 

Ritt. reads ' [ab oratoribus] oratoribusque," considering the former 

words interpolated from a marginal note explaining the dative of 

agent. 

praecipua : sc. ' haec,' ' this was taken up as a special theme of 

eulogy upon the emperor.' 

§ 4. confusum, &c.: (i) taking ' metallis ' as ablative of place, 

'in mines'; 'confusum,' 'mixed with other substances,' or (2) 

taking ' metallis ' as ablative of instrument, ' gold commingled 

with (other) ores.' As the text stands, (i) seems best; but in 

favour of (2) is the consideration that 'ahis' might easily have 

dropped out after 'metallis' in copying. 

J28 

;

BOOK XVI. CII. 1, § I — CH. 4, §§ 1-4 

provenire, ' was fruitful ; 

' the word more properly applies to 

the produce itself, as xiii 57, 2. 

obvias, ' freely presenting themselves,' ' unsought.' 

quaeque alia, &c., 'and other flatteries they invented, highly 

eloquent and servile in the extreme, confident of his ready acceptance 

of them.' (fingebant, strictly standing in the relative 

clause, may be understood as verb also to the principal clause 

commencing with 'securi.') 

Ch. 3, § I. luxuria, ' his extravagance.' Suetonius connects 

with this expectation the costly buildings mentioned by Tacitus 

earlier, xv 42-43. 

inde, ' out of this treasure,' by anticipation. 

largiebatur : Tacitus puts the amount squandered in indiscriminate 

largesses at 2,200 million sesterces (about î8,coo,ooo), 

H. i 20, 2. 

paupertatis publicae, ' exhaustion of the public funds.' In 

Suet. Ner. 32, we are told that his extravagance at this period 

made Nero ' ita iam exhaustus et egens ut stipendia quoque 

militum et commoda veteranorum protrahi ac differri necesse 

esset.' 

§ 2. circum : an attribute. Cf. ' dites circum terras,' Ann. iv 

55, 8; Intr. II 49. 

admirans, ' protesting with astonishment.' 

in locum, ' to make up for.' 

gazae : a Persian word, used especially of royal treasure. 

Ch. 4, § I. lustrali certaniine : cf. xiv 20, i. 

dedeeus : the scandal of his appearance on the stage. 

facundiae, * of eloquence.' This prize is offered to Nero in 

virtue of his poetic gifts, of which he proceeds to give 

reciting a poem of his own. 

proof by 

ludici-a deformitas, 'the degradation of the public stage.' 

'deformia,''xiv 15, 3. 

Cf. 

§ 2. nihil arnbitu, &c., 'he had no need of any senatorial influence 

or authority (over the judges), but would meet his rivals 

on equal terms and only gain the honour as awarded by the conscientious 

verdict of the judges.' 

carmen : part of the ' Troica,' according to Dio. 

in scaena : in the great theatre of Pompeius, cf. xiii 54, 4. 

publicaret, ' that he would make exhibition of all his accomplishments.' 

ingreditur : after reciting as a poet he left the stage, and on 

pressure from the people re-entered as a harper. 

that he sang the part of Niobe. 

Suetonius says 

citharae legibus, ' the etiquette of the harper's profession.' 

§ 3. genu : accusative of respect (Intr. II 4). 

§ 4. iuvare, 'to stimulate' by applause. For the 'histriones' 

cf. xiii 19, 4. 

certis modis, ' in regular cadence ' ; composito, ' regulated, 

modulated.' So too Dio speaks of the people in the time of 

129 -12


Commodus (180-193 A.D.) as practising a harmonized style of 

applause, (vpiSfxuis cKl-ioav. 

Ch. 5, § I. municipiis: the following words show that this 

means the Italian country towns, more usually termed by Tacitus 

' municipia et coloniae.' For the contrast of life in these towns 

with that of Rome cf. Pliny, £/>. i 14, 4 'patria est ei Brixia ex 

ilia nostra Italia, quae multum adhuc verecundiae frugalitatis atciue 

etiam rusticitatis antiquae retinet.' 

antiqui moris retinente : so'avtae nobilitatis retinens,' ^;z«. 

ii 38, 9. 

lascivia inexpert!, ' inexperienced in profligacy.' So ' bonis 

inexpertus ' in Livy, and ' bellis inexpertus,' Tac. //. i 8, 2. 

officio . . . utilitate : cf. ' publica utilitate,' xv 44, 8 ; Intr. II 19. 

turbarent gnaros : sc. ' plaudendi,' ' plauders.' 

threw out the trained ap- 

irrpari, ' ill-regulated,' ' out of time.' 

§ 2. dum . . . enituntur, 'fighting their way through,' either to 

reach their places in the auditorium or to get out. 

sedilibus : ablative of place. 

§ 3. metus, si : cf. An^!. i 11, 5 ' patres, quibus unus metus si 

intellegere viderentur,' meaning that the consequence of detection 

rather than detection itself was dreaded. 

palam, ' many being there openly '; Intr. II 49. 

I 4. redditum, ' paid off.' 

I 5. Vespasianum : not mentioned in any other extant portion 

of the Afuials (except iii 55, 5), but his name must have occurred 

in the account of the campaigns of Plautius in Britain, and of the 

Jewish rebellion, when he was appointed commander in Palestine, 

66 A.D. 

tamquam : Intr. II 50. 

Phoebo: otherwise unnoticed by Tacitus. Dio describes how 

Vespasian 

mark. 

subsequently dismissed him with a contemptuous re- 

mox ; he retired into obscurity till his appointment in Judaea. 

maiore fato, ' owing to his grander destiny,' i. e. because he was 

to be emperor. 

Ch. 6, § I. ictu calcis: Suetonius adds that his burst of passion 

was caused by her reproaching him for coming late from the circus. 

venenum : sc. ' fuisse.' 

obnoxius, Sic, 'dominated by love of his wife' (cf. xiii 45, 3). 

§ 2. Romanua mos ; cremation, according to the elder Pliny, 

was not an old Roman custom, but was first instituted for disposing 

of the dead in distant wars, and won its way slowly at Rome, 

Sulla being the first of the Cornelia gens to be cremated. 

conditur (from ' condio '), ' was embalmed.' differtum odoribus 

expresses the process. 

tumulo luliorum: the mausoleum of Augustus in the Campus 

Martius. 

§ 3. tamen : though she was not burnt. 

130

BOOK XVI. CH. 4, § 4 — CH. 9, §§ 1-2 

divinae 

XV 23. 

infantis, 'a child which had been deified'; of. 

Ch. 7, § I. recordantibus, 'to those who thought upon (her 

past).' Her 'saevitia' was shown in her conduct towards Octavia, 

xiv 59-64 ; cf. also xv 61, 4. 

complevit, ' ' crowned.' Mortem ' pregnant sense, as =' invidiam mortis.' 

should be regarded in a 

Cassium: cf. xiii 41, 5. The prohibition to attend the funeral 

would be a 'renuntiatio amicitiae,' cf. xv 23, 5. 

§ 2. dilatum est : sc. ' malum.' 

Silanus : cf xv 52, 3. 

§3. mis3a oratione : i.e. by sending a letter introducing a 

* relatio,' cf Juv. x 71. 

removendos a re publica, ' must be removed from public life,' 

i.e. banished. 

C. Cassi: the conspirator against Julius Caesar. The effigies 

of Brutus and Cassius, though not shown publicly at funerals, were 

allowed by Augustus to be kept in the houses of their descendants ; 

and even at this time their birthdays were kept as festivals by men 

of republican 

V36). 

sentiments, such as Thrasea and Helvidius (Juv. 

duci partium, ' to the leader of the cause ' 

(cf. 

' partes,' xv 

50, 5)- 

§ 4. praeruptum, * reckless.' The word is not elsewhere used 

of persons. 

queni, &c., ' to display (as leader) for a revolution.' 

Ch. 8, § I. isdem quibus patruum : cf. xv 35, 3. 

inania, &c., ' charges as false as they were frivolous' (accusative 

in apposition to the clause introduced by ' tamquam,' which gives 

the substance of Nero's accusation ; see also Intr. II 6 a). 

intentior, Slc, ' was the more careful through (the general) fear, 

and alarm at his uncle's destruction had put him on his guard 

(against this particular offence).' 

§ 2. inducti, &c., ' then were brought before the senate, as 

nominal informers, persons to bring a false charge,' &c. Among 

these would be the Stoic Heliodorus, named by the Schol. on Juv. 

i 33 ' magni delator amici.' 

Lepidam : sister of Junia Calvina, cf. xiv 12, 5. 

diros, 'magical.' P'or passages illustrating ideas about witch- 

craft in the Augustan age cf. Verg. Ed. 8; Hon Od. i 27, 21, 

Epod. 5, Sat. i 8. (For ' diros sacrorum ritus' see Intr. II 57.) 

§ 3. Calpurnius Fabatus : a recipient of letters from the 

younger Pliny, who married his grand-daughter Calpurnia Hispulla. 

distentum, 'engrossed.' 

matter of,' cf Intr. II 46. 

minores, 

For circa='in relation to,' 'in the 

' beneath notice.' 

Ch. 9, § I. de Lepida : her fate is not known. 

§ 2. senectus, &c., ' his age was left to do its work ; 

' 

131 

however


he survived Nero and returned under Vespasian, dying a natural 

death. (Med. has ' senatus eius': for the correction cf. Afin. xi 

26, 2 'ut senectam principis opperirentur.') 

Barium: on the Adriatic; ' Bari moenia piscosi,' Hor. Sat, 

i 5, 96. 

§ 3. suadenti abrumpere : cf. Intr. II 31. 

remittere : corrected in Med. by a later hand for the first 

reading 'peremittere.' 'He would not excuse his assassin from his 

glorious task' (ironical). ' Se' omitted, cf. Intr. II 3 a. 

§ 4. premi = 'opprimi,' ' to be overpowered ' (Intr. II 28), 

§ 5. a centurione : as though 'caderet ' = ' interficeretur.' 

the mood see Intr. II 40. 

adversis, 

For 

' in the front of his body.' 

Ch. 10, § I. Vetus : governor of Upper Germany, xiii 53; 

father-in-law of Rubellius Plautus, whom he advised to resist the 

death-sentence, xiv 58, 3. 

Pollitta: corrected as being a known Roman name, from the 

Med. ' polutia.' Her gentile name was Antistia, xiv 22, 5. 

tamquam, &c., 'as though by merely living they reproached 

him with the murder of Rubellius Plautus.' 

§ 2. praebuit : sc. ' principi.' 

interversis, ' after having embezzled.' 

Asiae pro consule : 

preceding these events. 

Vetus was proconsul of Asia for the year 

§ 3. componi, &c., 'were matched against each other on an 

equal footing' ; a metaphor from the arena. Properly, a freedman 

could not bring a criminal accusation against his patron. 

rormianos, &c., ' to his estate at Formiae.' 

§ 4. super, ' besides,' ' irrespectively of.' 

atrox, ' exasperated.' 

cervicem : he had been beheaded, xiv 59, 4. 

sanguinem et vestes respersas : hendiadys, = 'vestes san- 

guine respersas.' 

inpexa, ' unkempt ; cf. Tac. Dial. ' 

20, 3 ' tristem et inpexam 

antiquitatem.' (Med. has ' In plexa,' probably a corruption due to 

'amplexa' above.) 

luctu . . . alimentis : Intr. II 22 a. 

§ 5. egressus obsidens : lit. 'laying siege to his goings-out,' 

waiting for him to come out and then, as we might say, besieging 

him with her appeals. ' Egressus ' can denote the action quite as 

well as the place of exit, and in this sense best corresponds with 

' aditu.' 

collegam : he was colleague with Nero in his first consulship, 

55 A.D., xiii II. 

' inmobilem . . . iuxta : obdurate alike to entreaty and protests' 

'Invidia' is similarly used in xv 19, 2. 

Ch. 11, § I. nuntiat . . . abicei-e : Intr. II 31. 

uti necessitate, ' make the best of the inevitable,' i. e. die with 

dignity. 

133

BOOK XVI, CH. 9, § 2 — CH. 13, §§ 1-2 

cognitionem : 

30, 3) or princeps. 

the technical term for trial before senate (ch. 

trucem sententiam : sentence of death, cf. § 6. 

§ 2. heredem Caesarem : Tiberius did not always accept such 

legacies, Ann. ii 48, I ; Nero, according to Suet., insisted on them, 

and even enacted 'ut in^ratorum in principem testamenta ad 

fiscum pertinerent,' and Pliny calls Domitian ' unus omnium, nunc 

quia scriptus, nunc quia non scriptus, hares.' 

nepotibus : the children of Rubellius Plautus are mentioned in 

I. One of them, Rubellius Blandus, is addressed in Juv. 

xiv 59, 

viii 39- 

§ 3. proxime libertatem, ' in nearly Republican style.' (For 

the accusative cf. xv 15, 6.) 

novissimo, ' at the last moment.' 

§ 4. proper! : adverbial (Intr. II 2 b). 

certatim, &c., 'each praying eagerly for a speedy end (i.e. to be 

the first to die), so as to leave their own kindred surviving, though 

doomed to perish.' et= 'et tamen,' cf. xiv 65, 2. 

§ 5. seniores, &c., ' the (two) elder died first, then she who was 

' in her earliest years.' Cui prima aetas ' would however apply better 

to a child, than to a young wife and mother ; and this gives force to 

the suggestion that ' prima' may be a corruption of ' proxima' and 

that for 'seniore,' the reading of Med., the right correction is 

'senior,' 'the old man died first, then the women in order of 

age.' 

§ 6. more maiorum : see xiv 48, 4. 

sine arbitro, ' without interference,' i. e. without sending a centurion 

to see the death-sentence carried out. 

Ch. 12, § I. Faenio Rufo : xv 50, 4. 

aqua atque igni prohibitus : the usual phrase is 'alicui aqua 

atque igni interdicere.' The sentence involved exile and loss of 

property, but was not so severe as ' deportatio,' as it allowed some 

choice of residence. 

§ 2. liberto et accusatori=Fortunatus, see ch. 10. 

viatorea: xiii 27, 2. 

§ 3. Claudii . . . Germanici : chosen as names borne by Nero 

himself ; so Domitian gave the names ' Germanicus ' and ' Domitianus' 

to September and October, in his own honour; and the 

various names of Commodus were given by his courtiers to five 

successive months. 

mutantur : used as though ' nomina mensium ' were subject. 

transmissum. : (i) 'transmuted,' sc. 'in nomen Germanici,' an 

unprecedented use of the word (but quite possible), or (2) ' was 

allowed to pass into oblivion,' ' was dropped.' 

duo Torquati : xv 35, 2 and xvi 8-9. 

Ch. 13, § I. nulla, &c., ' without there being any visible blight in 

the air.' (For the subjunctive cf. Intr. II 41.) A plague is assigned 

' morbo caeli,' in Verg. G. iii 478. 

§ 2. dum deflent : the rapidity of the style omits some such 

133


phrase as 'eodem morbo correpti moriebantur et,' required by the 

sense before ' eodem 

rogo cremabantur.' 

§ 3. promiaci : 

* indiscriminate,' as common as those of ordmary 

folk. 

§ 4. dilectus : enrolment by conscription of Roman citizens in 

the provinces named. Ordinarily the legions were recruited by 

voluntary enlistment. 

lUyricis : the term covers the legions in Pannonia and Delmatia 

(perhaps also those in Moesia). 

§ 5. cladem . . . casibus : according to Seneca fjTjz^. 91, 14) Lugdunum 

was burnt down in the hundredth year from its foundation 

as a colony by Plancus in 43 B.C. This would bring the date of the 

fire to 58 A.D., which gives rise to the following difficulties: (l)the 

'consolation' sent to Lugdunum by Nero is offered some seven 

years after the disaster ; (2) it is unlikely that the inhabitants could 

have sent so large a sum as four million sesterces to Rome after the 

Great Fire of 64 A. D. (indicated by ' urbis casibus') so soon after 

their own heavy losses; and (3) 'ante' most naturally means 

'before they suffered their own disaster.' It is probable, there- 

fore, that the date given by Seneca for the burning of Lugdunum is 

erroneous, and that it should be ascribed to some time after the 

fire at Rome. The alternative is to take 'cladem Lug:dunensem' 

as a second disaster otherwise unknown ; but it is unlikely that if 

such a thing had happened twice within ten years Tacitus would 

not have said more about it. 

amissa urbi, ' what their city (i. e. Lugdunum) had lost.' 

urbis casibus: for Med. 'turbis casibus,' emended in some old 

editions to ' turbidis casibus,' and taken as referring to troubles in 

the time of Claudius or Gaius. 

Ch. 14, § I. C. Suetonio : the famous general Suetonius 

Paulinus, xiv 29, 2. He had probably been consul suffectus some 

time before. 

Luccius TelesinuB is mentioned by Philostratus among the 

philosophers exiled by Domitian. 

xiv 48, i. 

ut dixi : 

occasionum, 'not slow to seize opportunities' : for similar geni- 

tive of reference cf. ' laborum segnes,' xiv 33, 4. 

eiusdem loci: the place of Antistius' exile is not specified. 

Chaldaeorum : astrologers, arte: for the abl. cf. Intr. II 20. 

§ 2. ventitai'e . . . ratus, 'thinking that it was not without a 

purpose that messengers were always coming to consult him.' 

' Nuntioset consultationes,'hendiadys, as though = ' nuntios qui eum 

consultarent.' A charge of conspiracy could be grounded on consulting 

the future in reference to the emperor, cf. ch. 30. 

P. Anteio: cf. xiii 22, 2, 

§ 3. uescium, passively, 'unknown.' (Intr. II 51 d, ad fin.). 

Agrippinae : objective gen. 

pi'aecipuas ad, ' were specially adapted for.' 

§ 4. dies genitalis: referring to the casting of his horoscope. 

134 

—

BOOK XVI. CH. 13, § 2 — CH. 16, §§ 1-3 

secretis : abl. of place, ' in Pammenes' private receptacles.' 

Ostorii Scapulae : see xiv 48. 

inminere rebus, ' were menacing the empire.* 

§ 5. liburnicae = biremes. 

obsignaret : seven Roman citizens were required as witnesses to 

the signature of a will ; all feared to stand as witnesses to Anteius' 

will, not daring to acknowledge themselves as his friends. (Subj. 

after ' ut,' but imperf. like ' ibatur,' xiii 2, i, of an incomplete 

tendency: Intr. II 38.) 

nisi, &c., 'had not Tigellinus authorized them to do so, from 

having first recommended Anteius not to delay in making his last 

dispositions.' 

§ 6. hausto veneno : Intr. II 21 c. 

Ch. 15, § I. apud finem, 'on the boundary of; cf. 'ad finem 

Campanum,' Livy ix 6, 10. 

§ 2. multa militari fama : abl. of quality. 

civicam coronam, iSic. : by saving a fellow-citizen's life in his 

father's victory over the Iceni, circ. 47 A.D. {Ann. xii 31, 7j. 

coniuratione : that of Piso. 

§ 4. hactenus, 'only to this extent,' cf xiv 3, 2. 

iugulo : ablative, 'he met (the point) with his throat.' 

Ch. 16. The general argument of this chapter is as follows : 

' This catalogue of tyrannical executions grows tedious, and the 

lack of spirit shown by the victims might incline the historian to 

pass contemptuously over any record of their death. I do not 

however avoid such record : these horrors were due to the wrath of 

Heaven, and the victims deserve pity not condemnation. The 

historian must record evil as well as good ; here I have to describe 

not a single calamity suffered by the whole body of the state and 

capable of narration in a single passage, but one that was distributed 

over a multitude of persons who, owing to their distinguished 

position, require individual mention.' 

§ I. tanta casuum similitudine, ' all attended by such uniformity 

of painful detail.' 

meque : the apodosis begins here, and ' meque ' is answered by 

'aliorumque.' 

aspernantium, 'disliking' fcf. xiv 42, 2). quamvis, &c., 'who, 

however noble those deaths might be, would dislike the unending 

tale of misery.' 

§ 2. nunc, ' as the case is.' 

maestitia restringvmt, ' oppress,' ' paralyse ' the mind with grief. 

Perhaps, however, ' maestitiam ' should be read ; then ' restringunt'='bind 

fast,' 'suppress.' Madv. suggests 'restinguunt = ' 

'quench,' which, if we may adopt 'maestiiiam,' gives much the 

same meaning. 

neque, &c., ' and I shall not demand from my readers any further 

excuse, except that I need not show hate for those who died so 

tamely ' (by omitting to record their deaths). 

§ 3. ira ilia, &c. : cf. 'fatali omnium ignavia,' xv 61, 6.


captivitate, ' occupation by an enemy,' cf. xiii 25, 2. 

semel edito, ' after a single mention of the fact,' cf. Intr. II 21 a. 

§ 4. posteritati, 'the future,' i.e. their posthumous renown: cf. 

' sola posteritatis cura,' H. ii 53, 3. 

promisca, ' ordinary,' i.e. without ' imaginum pompa,' ' laudatio,' 

and public attendance invited by proclamation. 

' ' supremorum, of their end,' cf. ad suprema,' ch. II, 3. 

Ch. 17, § I. Cerialis Aniciua : xv 74, 3. 

C. Petronius: see next ch. 

equites . . . dignitate senatoria : knights with senatorial census 

(i.e. possessing at least 1,000.000 sesterces), 'equites illustres.' 

§ 2. praefectiis praetorii : he had been removed from this 

position through Agrippina's influence, Ann. xii 42, i. For his 

banishment see xv 71, 8. 

§ 3. Gallic : xv 73, 4. 

parentibus : xiv 53, 5. 

praeposteram, lit. ' wrong side foremost,' i. e. 'peculiar,' ' eccentric' 

The ' equites illustres ' might hold such important posts as those of 

praefectus praetorii, vigilum, annonae, and Egypti, and so might 

become superior in influence and wealth to senators. 

administrandis : dative of purpose. 

Lucan must have been wealthy, from the 

§ 4. rem familiarem : 

allusion to his ' horti marmorei,' Juv. vii 79, and evidently his 

property had not been confiscated after his suicide. 

requirit, ' calls in ' from his debtors. Romanus may have been one. 

§ 5. mixta, &c., 'the charge was invented that the father shared 

his son's complicity in the plot.' 

adsimilatis, ' forged.' 

ad eum, 'to Mela,' by way of denunciation of his guilt. 

$ 6. Capitonem : xiii 33, 3. 

I 7. additur, &c. : the actual addition to his will begins at ' se 

quidem,' ' tamquam . . . scripsisset' being a parenthetical explanation 

of the assignable reason for such an insertion, ' as though he 

had so written in complaint of the injustice of his death.' (With 

the alternative reading, ' scripsisse,' we must translate 'he is made 

to have written in addition,' «S:c., and take ' codicillis ' as abla'.ive, 

' in his will.') 

§ 8. composita, ' to have been invented,' by Nero's creatures. 

(If 'scripsisse' is read in § 7 the invention would be Mela's.) 

proditam . . . coniurationem : the circumstances are not known. 

Ch. 18, § I. Petronius is believed to be the author of the Satirae, 

of which considerable fragments remain, written in the form of the 

narrative of the experiences of a Greek 'libertus' in various towns 

' 

in S. Italy. The longest of these fragments, known as the Supper 

of Trimalchio,' describes an entertainment given by a vulgar 

millionaire. 

pauca, &c., 'a slight retrospect must be made.' 

profligator, ' spendthrift'; cf. 'profligare opes,' Nep., and Intr. 

1151a. 

136

BOOK XVI. CH. IG, § 3 — CH. 19, §§ 1-5 

haurientium='exhaurientium' (Intr. II 28). 

erudito luxu : ablative of quality, ' of luxury.' 

a man who had made an art 

§2. Bolutiora, 'more free from all restraint'; cf. ' solutius,' 

xiii 47, 2. 

Bui neglegentiam, ' carelessness,' ' disregard of consequences.' 

in speciem, &c., ' as displaying a sincere nature ' 

; the language 

of this section indicates that he took a free tone with Nero, as well 

as disregarded all moral restraint. 

§ 3. consul : suffectus, in some year unknown. 

§ 4. revolutus . . . imitatione : for similar co-ordination of 

participle and ablative cf. xiii 47, i, and Intr. II 64 f. 

inter paucos familiarium, ' among his few most intimate friends,' 

i.e. ' as one of his most intimate friends.' Cf. ' inter paucas memorata 

populi Romani clades ' (Liv. xxii 7, i), ' spoken of as among few,' 

i.e. 'equalled by few,' 'one of the worst.' 

elegantiae arbiter, ' the authority on taste,' not a formal title, 

though it describes his position at Court, and may well have been 

applied to him as a kind of nick-name, and substituted humorou.sly 

by himself for his real cognomen in the title of his book, given in 

AISS. as ' Petronii Arbitri Satirae.' An alternative supposition in 

regard to the latter point is that 'arbitri' was inserted in the MS. 

by some grammarian who wished to mark the identity of the satirist 

with the courtier described by Tacitus. 

adfluentia : causal ablative, ' owing to abundance,' ' in his satiety.' 

adprobavisset : frequentative, cf. Intr. II 41. 

§ 5. adgreditur, ' addresses himself to,' ' proceeds to work upon.' 

Scaevini : cf. xv 49, 4. 

adempta: i.e. no opportunity being given for it. 

Ch. 19, § I. Cumas usque: Nero had probably gone to Baiae 

or Neapolis, and Petronius was on the way to join him. 

attinebatur, 'was detained,' cf. xiii 15, 4. 

' timoris aut spei moras ; cf. cunctantibus prolatantibusque 

spem ac metum,' xv 51, i. 

§ 2. praeceps: adverbial, cf. 'properi,' ch. 11,4. 

ut libitum, 'as the humour took him.' 

§ 3. audiebatque, &c.: a contrast to the conduct of more serious 

persons, who sought the consolations of philosophy before death ; 

cf. xiv 59, 2 ; xvi 34. 

levia . . . faciles, ' frivolous . . . playful ; carmina, ' ' lyrics ' 

; 

versus, hexameters or iambics. 

§ 5. quern: Intr. II 3 b. 

sub nominibus, ' giving the names,' to show Nero that the details 

of his vices were not secrets. 

ne mox, &c. : so that it should be impossible to implicate other 

persons by documents forged over his signature, as had been done 

in the case of Lucan, ch. 17, 5. Pliny also states that Petronius 

broke a valuable cup, ' truUam murrinam trecentis millibus emptam 

fregit,' to keep it out of Nero's clutches. 

137


Ch.20, §i. noctium suarum ingenia/ the ingenuities of his nocturnal 

vices.' So in xiv 3, 5 ' ingenium' = 'inventiveness,' of a person. 

offertur, ' occurred to him." 

tamquam, ' on the ground that.' proprio odio : causal ablative, 

' out of personal hatred,' as contrasted with his reason for destroying 

Thernius, in the next section. 

§ 2. quaedam . . . detulerat, 'had brought some incriminating 

information against Tigellinus,' with disastrous consequences to 

himself and his master ; for a similar instance of the danger of 

attacking a favourite of the emperor, cf. xiii t,'^, 4. 

Ch. 21, § I. Thrasea : cf. xiii 49. 

Barea Soranus is mentioned A?in. xii 53, 2, as consul designatus 

and voting a reward to the freedman Pallas, probably under pressure 

from Agrippina, as the elder Pliny says the measure was carried 

'iubente Agrippina.' His son-in-law Annius Pollio had already 

been exiled as sharing in Piso's conspiracy, xv 71, 6. 

ut memoravi ; xiv 12, 2. 

luvenalium : see xiv 15, i. 

parum spectabilem, &c., ' had been backward in giving his 

services at the Juvenalia,' in the way of applauding Nero, or, as the 

following sentence suggests, as a performer. 

cetastis : so Med. Possibly the word is a corruption for ' cetariis,' 

and the festival was held by persons connected with the tunny fisheries 

of the Adriatic, from which Patavium (Padua) is not far distant. 

The correction is supported by the existence of an inscription found 

near Patavium to a ' lusor epidixib(us) et cetaes ' (which latter word 

is taken as a Greek dative to ' cetae,' ' -aes' for ' -ais '), and of the 

word ' cetariis ' in a letter of Pomponius Secundus to Thrasea 

quoted in Charisius. 

Antenore : traditional founder of Patavium (Liv. i I, 2 ; Verg. 

Aeti. i 247). 

habitu tragico eecinerat: cf. xv 65, 2. 

§ 2. Antistius : xiv 48. 

damnabatur: cf. 'decernebat,' xv 74, 4. 

deum honores Poppaeae : not previously mentioned. 

§ 3. concidiBset, 'had been condemned,' cf. xiii 33, 3. 

Ch. 22, § I. sollemne iua iurandum : the oath maintaining the 

'acta' of the princeps and his predecessors, cf. below § 5, and 

xiii II, I, which together with the 'sacramentum in nomen 

principis' was renewed annually on January i. 

votorum, 'vota pro incolumitate reipublicae' were taken on 

January I, and those ' pro incolumitate principis' on the 3rd. All 

the priestly colleges took part in them. 

quindecimvirali : the ' quindecimviri' kept the Sibylline books, 

and had special charge of the ' ludi saeculares.' The ' collegium,' 

at first consisting of two, was raised to ten when opened to plebeians, 

and to fifteen by Sulla. 

qui, &c., ' who took a prominent part in supporting or opposing 

quite ordinary matters before the House' (cf. xiii 49, i). 

13S

BOOK XVI. CH. 20, § I — CH. 22, §§ i-io 

non introisse : such non-attendance might under the Republic 

be punished with a fine, and Dio mentions that Augustus and 

Claudius enforced this; the language of Nero, ch. 27, 2 (unless 

applying to Thrasea only) would show that attendance in the senate 

had again become lax. 

Silanum et Veterem : chs. 7, 3 and 11,6. 

privatis, &;c., ' had preferred to give his time to the private 

affiiirs of his clients,' by appearing in their support in the law- 

courts. 

§ 2. id: this use of the neuter pronoun, where its gender would 

more classically be attracted to that of the noun referred to, is 

common in Tacitus. The usage appears first in Vergil, as ' nee 

sopor illud erat,' Aen. iii 173. 

partes, ' a formation of parties,' as though Thrasea was heading 

a Republican party against Nero and the Imperialists (cf. xiii 

18,3)- 

Catonem : quoted as the leading representative of the republican 

opposition to Julius Caesar, 

te, Nero, et Thraseam . . . loquitur. Cf. ' Pharsaliam . . . loquebantur,' 

//. i 50 3. 

§ 3. sectatores, &c., ' a following, or rather a retinue ' : the first 

word applying to the followers of a republican politician, the latter 

to the bodyguard of a potentate. 

sententiarum : opinions given in the senate. 

quo, &c., ' so as to reproach you with wantonness.' 

§ 4. etiam . . . non : for ' ne . . . quidem,' so xiii 3, 6. 

in acta, &c. : the 'acta' of Gaius and Tiberius were omitted 

from the annual oath, which therefore at this time mentioned only 

those of Julius, Augustus, Claudius, and Nero himself. The name 

of Claudius is dropped here as less acceptable to Nero than the 

other two. 

§ 6. diuma: the daily Gazette (sc. 'acta'), giving the minutes 

of procedure in the senate and the law courts, and other official 

information (Intr. I 3). 

quid . . . non fecerit, ' what Thrasea has abstained from,' in 

public life. 

§ 7. ilia inatituta : i. e. the republicanism desired by Thrasea. 

ista secta : i. e. Stoicism. 

Tuberones et Pavonios, ' men like Tubero and Favonius ' ; 

rhetorical plurals: cf. xv 14, 3. Q. Aelius Tubero, a nephew of 

the younger Africanus and an opponent of the Gracchi, is mentioned 

by Cicero as a Stoic of high character, but of too rigid austerity 

and 'perversa sapientia.' M. Favonius, one of the ' optimates 

prominent in resistance to Julius Caesar, was taken prisoner at 

Philippi and put to death. 

§ 9. nihil scripaeris, ' send no mandate ' (cf. ch. 7, 3). 

diaceptatorem : in its capacity of criminal high court, cf. Intr. 

Ill 8. 

§ 10. extollit = ' incendit.' 

139 

'


' ira promptum : cf. audacia promptus,' xiv 40, 3. For 

Capito's enmity to Thrasea cf. ch. 21,3. 

Mai-cellum Eprium : cf. xiii 33, 4. 

acri eloquentia, ' a man of biting eloquence.' 

Ch. 23, § I. ex pi'oconsulatu, 'for matters arising out of his 

proconsulship.' Soranus was consul in 52 A.D., and proconsul 

61-62 A. D. Rubellius Plautus retired to Asia in 60 A. D. and 

was put to death there in 62 A. D. (xiv 59). The mention of 

Acratus therefore seems to be either an error, as his mission to 

Asia is placed after the great fire 

else he was originally sent fully two 

perhaps sent out a second time after it. 

of 64 A. D. (xv 45, 3), or 

years before that date and 

poi'tui Ephesiorum aperiendo : 

dejjosits from the Cayster. 

it was silting up owing to the 

$ 2. anibitio, &c., ' courting popularity so as to win over the province 

to the hope of a revolution.' (conciliandae, dative of purpose.) 

§ 3. Tix'idates . . . adventabat : 

this book. 

cf. xv 29-31 and Appendix to 

lit, (Sic, 'that the atrocity at home might be less noticed through 

the general talk turning on foreign affairs.' With ad externa we 

may supply the idea of such a participle as ' versis ' 

: so in Ann. xi 

23, 3 'exempla ... ad virtutem et gloriam,' ' examples in respect 

of (as though 'spectantia ad') 'valour and renown.' 

regio : i. e. like the normal conduct of an oriental king. 

Ch. '24, § I, ad excipiendum : Nero met Tiridates at Naples 

and escorted him to Rome. Some interval may be understood to 

elapse between Capito's denunciations in 

accusation in § 3 of this chapter. 

codicillos, 

ch. 22 and the formal 

' a memorial,' ' petition.* 

requirens, ' requesting to know.' 

expurgaturum : sc. ' se.' Cf. ch. 9, 3. 

§ 3. Bpiritus, ' high spirit' (cf. xiii 21, 9). 

Ch. 25, § I. proximos, ' his most intimate friends.' 

esse: sc. 'se.' Cf. ch. 24, i. 

§ 2. supremis : cf. 'ad suprema,' ch. 11, 3: circumdare, 

' throw a veil of privacy over their end.' 

morti obvium, ' looking death in the face.' 

ipso miraculo, ' by the very miracle ' of such courage. 

Ch. 26, § I. domui : so Med. This form of 'domi ' is also read 

in many good MSS. of Cicero. 

eadem : understand from the context a verb -^ ' they said.' Cf. 

Intr. II 27. 

§ 2. manus, &c., ' would raise their hands in violence against 

him.' 'Manus ictusque' may be regarded as hendiadys. ingesturi 

sint is a correction for Med. 'augusti' (without 'sint')- An 

emendation nearer to the MS. is to read 'ictusque parent. Immanitatem 

Augusti etiam bonos metu sequi ' ; but it is very 

unusual to find 'Augusti' used of the emperor in ordinary language. 

140

BOOK XVI. CH. 22, § lo — CH. 27, § i 

§ 3. detraheret= 'averterct.' 

quein perornavisset : (i) 'of which he had been through life 

the ornament,' cf. ' perviguere,' Atirt. iv 34, 6 ; or (2j 'of which he 

had been the highest ornament,' giving 'per' a superlative force, 

cf. 'perornatus' in Cic, and Intr. II 51c. 

§ 4. ut, (S:c., ' the hope by which they were prompted, the hope 

' that Nero, &c., was futile.' Ut ' depends on ' spe ' (and naturally 

so, since 'hoping' and 'praying' are close together in meaning); 

cf. 'in spem induxit ut,' Cic. Off. ii 15, 53. 

pignora: properly of children, but also generally of near rela- 

tives, cf. XV 36, 5 ; 57, 3. 

§ 5. quorum . . . finem, 'let him seek his end with (i.e. winning) 

the glory of those in whose footsteps and teaching he had 

ordered his life'; 'gloria,' ablative of accompaniment; Intr. 

II 22 a. Or, taking 'gloria' as pregnant, for ' glorioso exemplo,' 

'according to the noble example of,' &c. Madvig's suggestion is 

ingenious, that a stroke above the line (=m) has been misplaced, 

and that the true reading is ' gloriam peteret fine,' 'he should by 

his end seek the glory of those,' &c., referring to the Stoic recommendation 

to suicide under certain circumstances, of which Cato's 

death at Utica was an approved example. 

§6. Rusticus Arulenus: praetor 69 A.D. {H. iii 80, 3), He 

sutfered death under Domitian for his biography of Thrasea. 

flagrans, ' ardent.' 

intercessurum : under the Empire the intercessio of a tribune 

was only exercised on sufferance {Ann. i "]"], 3), and might subse-. 

quently be fatal to the tribune, as in the case of Junius Otho, Ann. 

vi 47, and as Thrasea anticipates on this occasion. (See also 

Intr. Ill 3.) 

spiritua : cf. ch. 24, 3. 

et . . . non : cf. ch. 34, 3 ' -que . . . non.' 

§ 7. actam : cf. ' Vixi, et quern dederat cursum fortuna, peregi,' 

Verg. Aen. iv 653. 

continuum, &c., ' the unbroken tenour of his life.' 

Integra, &c., ' his future was unaffected,' not yet compromised. 

Cf. 'integra utrique cuncta,' xv 17, i. 

§ 8. multum, &c., ' let him weigh well beforehand what course 

of political action he would adopt in such times.' 

Ch. 27, § I. armatae, ' in full panoply.' Usually in the city they 

wore the toga (cf. 'globus togatorum ' below), even when on duty 

and though armed with sword and spear. 

templum Genetricis Veneris : in the centre of the forum of 

Julius Caesar (north-east of the old forum). The goddess was worshipped 

under that title as ancestress, through Aeneas and lulus, 

of the Julian gens. 

globus . . . gladiis, ' the way to the senate-house was beset by 

a band of soldiers in undress, with swords significantly visible.' 

fora : the forum Romanum, lulii, and Augusti. 

basilicas: such as the 'basilica Aemilia ' and the 'basilica 

141


lulia.' They were public buildings used as courts of justice or 

Exchanges for business men, and, in their division by columns into 

nave and aisles, were the architectural ancestors c/ Christian 

churches. 

ciinei, 'detachments.' 

§ 2. curiam : built by Augustus on the site of the old house 

close to the Forum. It had escaped the late fire, but was burnt 

down under Titus. The troops, then, were thus disposed : a body 

of ' togati ' at the entrance of the ' Curia,' other detachments in 

places closely adjoining, and a large imposing force occupying like 

a fortress the neighbouring temple and precinct. 

oratio : cf. ch. 7, 3. 

per quaestorem eius : the two quaestors 'commended' for 

election by the ' princeps' were attached to him in his proconsular 

capacity. Cf Intr. Ill 2. 

nemine : this abl. occurs in H. ii 47, 6, as well as in a passage of 

Plautus, in a fragment of Cicero, and in several places in Suetonius. 

§ 3. haud veniri : those whose absence is thus palliated are 

knights, neglecting their judicial duties in Rome to ply their business 

as ' negotiatores' or ' publicani ' all over the empire. 

plerique = 'permulti.' The charge is however clearly pointed at 

Thrasea. 

hortorum, (ic, 'preferred to give all their energies to the beauty 

of their gardens' (i.e. to beautifying them), so 'inservire artibus,' 

Cicero. 

Ch. 28, § I. faciente: aoristic (Intr. II 42). 

summam rem publicam agi, 'that the highest interests of the 

state were affected.' 

deminui, ' was being impaired,' i. e. that Nero was being forced 

to adopt severe measures. 

-^ 

§ 2. desciscentem : cf. ' secessionem iam id et partes,' ch. 22, 2. 

Helvidius Priscus is fully described in H. iv 5. He was quaestor 

of Achaia under Nero (Schol. on Juv. v 36), and shortly afterwards 

married Thrasea's daughter Fannia. After returning from the 

exile to which he was condemned by Nero, he was prominent in 

attacking Eprius Marcellus, and became praetor in 70 A.D. He was 

a second time banished by Vespasian, and subsequently executed 

(Suet. Vesp. 151. 

Paconium Agrippinum ; a famous Stoic, son of M. Paconius 

{Ann. iii 67, i) who, it is supposed, was one of those who perished 

on alleged complicity with Seianus and whose fate was related in 

the lost portion oi Ann. v. 

Curtium Montanum : 

prominent in the senate at Vespasian's 

accession, H. iv 40, 2. In ch. 29 the libellous character of his 

poetry is denied, and it is asserted that he was disliked by Nero 

simply as a rival poet. 

eludere, ' mock.' 

§ 3. requirere, 'miss the presence of,' i.e. call him to account 

for neglect of duty (cf, the charges against Thrasea in ch. 22, i). 

142

BOOK XVI. CH. 27, § I — CH. 30, § i 

nisi, &c., 'unless Thrasea had openly assumed the character of 

a traitor.' Some such expression as ' proditoris partes induisset 

might be expected as more usual ; cf. ' femina . . . munia ducis . . . 

induit,' Anti. i 69, 2 ; but the construction is assimilated to that 

of ' agere senatorem ' immediately following. 

contra, ' in defiance of,' cf. xiv 43, i. 

§ 4. agere senatorem : cf. xiii 14, i 

; 46, 5obtrectatores 

: such as Antistius (xiv 48). 

§ 5. pacem, &c. : at the end of hostilities in Armenia, peace 

throughout the empire had ensued, cf. xv 46, 2 ; and Nero 

closed the temple of Janus, a fact commemorated by inscriptions 

on coins of the time. 

victorias: referring to Tiridates' submission, xv 27-31. 

pro solitudjne haberet, 'regarded as a desert '; the multitudes 

that flocked to such places were nothing to him ; he avoided 

scenes of public interest as if they contained nothing he cared 

to see. 

qui minitaretur, ' one who threatened his own exile ' ; i.e. so 

haughty that he acted as if he thought that his exile would be 

Rome's loss, not his own. 

§ 6. illi: dative of Agent, 'were not seen by him,' 'he avoided 

the sight of.' 

abrumperet vitam : an echo of Vergil's ' nequeo crudelem 

abrumpere vitam,' Aen.yim 579. 

Ch. 29, § I. per, &c., ' throughout a speech to this effect.' 

ardesceret : by zeugma with ' voce ' and ' voltu ' ; cf. xv 4, 4, 

'accenderant.' 

celebritate fso Med.) = ' frequency.' This is the only instance 

of the word being used in this sense. 

manus et tela = 'tela in manibus,' 

ch. 27, I. 

cf. 'non occultis gladiis,' 

§ 2. obversabatur, ' was before them,' in their mind's eye ; 

Thrasea was not present (cf. xiv 63, 2). 

§ 3. tristem patria fortunam : see ch. 28, 2. 

§ 4. enimvero : laying stress on a still stronger case, ' as for 

Montanus,' &c. 

famosi, ' slanderous.' 

quia, &c., ' because he gave evidence o his talent,' and so provoked 

Isêro's jealousy. 

Ch. 30, § I. interim : before the vote was taken on Thrasea's 

case. 

ingreditur : sc. ' curiam.' Ostorius was not a senator, so would 

only come in to deliver his accusation. 

quodque, >S:c., literally, ' and that he had carried out his proconsulate 

of Asia in a way rather adapted to himself in accordance 

with renown,' i.e. so as to redound to his own glorification. 

alendo seditiones civitatium : referring to his sympathy with 

Pergamum against Acratus ; see ch. 23, l. For the ablative cf. 

XV S> 3> ' percursando,' 

143 

'

. 


§ 2. recena, &c. : the sense is ' sed hoc, quod (filia) . . . dilargita 

esset, erat crimen recens et quo (accusator) . . . conectebat.' 

magis : the term ' magi,' sometimes confused with 'Chaldaei' 

( = astrologers), properly denotes dealers in philtres, spells, and incantations. 

Servilia would be accused not only of trying to divine 

the future, but also of seeking to bind the emperor by spells. 

§ 3. acciderat : sc. ' id.' 

non tamen aliud consultaverat : a short way of expressing 

'consultaverat, non tamen aliud quaesiverat ' (cf. xv 13, 2). 

cognitio : cf. 1 , i 

1 

nihil atrox, ' no extreme penalty.' 

§ 4. diversi, ' separated from each other.' 

tribunal consulum : 

the expression strictly applies to the consular 

seat of judgement in the comitium, but is used here, though 

the trial was in the senate, because the consuls would be presiding. 

in exilium pulso : cf. xv 7 , 1 6. 

onerasse, ' to have aggravated.' videbatur : sc. ' sibi.' 

Ch. 31, § I. cultus dotales, 'the ornaments given at her marriage.' 

longo fletu et silentio : cf xv 54, i ' multo sermone.' 

altaria et aram : a statue and altar of Victory stood in the 

Curia Julia. 'Altaria,' when distinguished from 'ara,' sometimes 

means a superstructure placed upon 

receive burnt or other offerings, and 

' the permanent ara ' to 

so may also indicate the 

offerings themselves, as in Quint. {Dec/. 12, 26) ' aris imponere 

altaria,' and Luc. iii 404 ' structae diris altaribus arae ' ; sometimes, 

on the other hand, ' altaria ' is explained as a grander kind of altar 

than 'ara,' and in a fragment of Pacuvius, 'exanimis altaribus,' 

the sense has been given, agreeing with the derivation from ' altus,' 

of a raised threshold or step. The alternative renderings therefore 

will be (l) ' the altar with its ofiferings,' or, (2) ' the altar-steps and 

the altar.' 

nullos . . . invocavi, ' I have appealed to no powers of evil, 

have laid no curse on any one, and have sought nothing else in my 

wretched prayers,' &c. 'Invocavi' has a different sense with 

'nullos impios deos' and with 'aliud,' and from it must be supplied 

an appropriate verb such as ' imprecata sum ' with ' nullas devo- 

tiones.' (For other instances of zeugma, see Intr. II 60.) 

tu, Caesar: this direct address to the 'princeps' does not 

necessarily mean that he was present. Cf. ch. 22, 2. 

§ 2. quo modo : sc. ' dedissem.' 

I 3. viderint isti, 'let them (i. e. the ' magi ') see to it,' i. e. it is 

their concern if the rites were unholy ; I only paid them to tell me 

the future. 

Ch. 32, § I. excipit, ' interrupts,' 

separarent, ' let them distinguish between the case of one who 

was on her trial only for too great devotion to him and his own 

case.' 

§ 2. ruebat, nisi : cf. xiii 2, i ; Intr. II 38. 

144

BOOK XVI. CH. 30, § 2 — CH. 34, §§ 1-2 

P. Egnatius: his cognomen was Celer. His impeachment by 

Musonius Rufus and banishment, in 70 A. D., are described in H. iv 

10, I ; 40, 4. Juvenal 

Sat. iii 116, and foil. 

gives a vigorous denunciation of him in 

§ 3. imaginem, ' outward show.' honesti : neut. 

exercitus : cf. ' Graeca doctrina ore tenus exercitus,' xv 45, 4. 

quae, &c., 'and since these qualities were revealed in him by a 

bribe, he gave us warning to be on our guard not only against 

those wrapped in wickedness and stained with crime, but also 

against those who under a mask of virtue are decei:ful an I false 

in their friendship.' ' amicitiae ' ' genitive of reference with faliaces,' 

cf. Intr. II 24 c. 

Ch. 33, § I. idem . . . dies: cf. the similar personification in 

xiv 41,1. 

Ca&sii Asclepiodoti : he returned from exile under Galba (Dio). 

celebraverat, ' had honoured.' 

exutusque : sc. ' est.' 

aeqvJtate, iS:c. : causal (Intr. II 191, ' through the indifference of 

Heaven to examples of good and evil conduct.' The sentiment is 

Epicurean. 

§ 3. Helvidius : returned under Galba (Schol. on Juv. 

§ 4. patri concessus est, ' was forgiven for his father's sake ; 

so ' precibus alicuius concedere' in Ann. ii 55, 2; iv 31, i. His 

father was a noted gourmand, and boon companion of Nero, and 

subsequently of Domitian. 

praecTicto, 'injunction being given'; the participle is not elsewhere 

thus used in ablative absolute. (See also Intr. II 21 b.) 

ne, &c. : i. e. that he should not continue in the service of the 

state, hold any magistracy. 

quinouagiens, duodeciens : understand ' centena millia ' with 

each. These enormous rewards, in excess of the minimum senatorial 

census, must have been more than one-fourth of the property 

of the accused, which was the amount the accusers could 

legally expect. 

quaestoria insignia : i e. the ornaments of a senator of the 

lowest grade. Hitherto Ostorius' rank was that of 'eques,' ch. 

23, I- 

Ch. 84, § I. quaestor consulis: in old times each consul had 

attached to him one quaestor, and, from 38 B. C, two. These 

remained in the same department of office throughout the year, 

notwithstanding change of consuls. As the consuls presided at 

the trial (ch. 30, 4), one of their quaestors would be the proper 

person to communicate the sentence to the condemned probably 

; 

also he had to see it carried out, g1. ch. 35, 2. 

§ 2. egerat ='coegerat' (Intr. II 2t;'. 

Demetrius is mentioned by Seneca with much admiration in 

several passages. Philostratus, who speaks of him teaching at 

Corinth, calls him avvo avviCKr](îii nav to iv KwikJ] icpiiroi. In 

145


H. iv 40, 5 he appears defending Egnatius Celer fch. 32, 2), and in 

71 A. D. he was exiled by Vespasian with other philosophers. 

erat : for 'licebat ' ; cf. ' ex quo est coniectare ' (Gell. vi 6, 11). 

This Graecism, though frequent in poets, is very rare in prose; it 

occurs in Liv. xlii 41, 2 and Tac. G. 5, 4 (Intr. II 66j. 

intentione, ' from the earnestness.' 

§ 3. facessere = 'abire.' For this infinitive and 'miscere'cf. 

Intr. II 31. 

Arriae matris : Arria, wife of Caecina Paetus, voluntarily 

shared her husband's death when he was condemned for his share 

in the conspiracy of Camillus Scribonianus against Claudius in 

42 A. D. She stabbed herself first, and handed the dagger to her 

husband with the words, ' Paete, non dolet ' (Pliny, Ep. iii 16, 6; 

Martial i 14). 

filiae = Fannia, married to Helvidius Priscus : she was accompanied 

into banishment by her mother, and eventually returned 

with her in the time of Nerva. 

-que . . . non : so ' et . . . non,' ch. 26, 6. 

Ch. 35, § 2. porrec'is: i.e. to the physician, to cut (cf. Schol. on 

Juv. V 36 'secandas venas praebuit'). 

hnmum super: anastrophe. Cf. Intr. II 55. 

libanius, &c.: cf. the action of Seneca, xv 64, 4. 

§ 3. iuvenis : addressed to the quaestor, who need not have 

been more than twenty-five. 

obversis : probably followed by ' oculis.' One of his last sayings 

is given in a fragment of Dio, 6 Nepcav anoKTilvM \ikv /ne ^vvmm, 

HTXoKiaai hi ov dvvnTci'. 

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