Part 1 (1/2)

The Lives Of The Twelve Caesars

by C Suetonius Tranquillus

PREFACE

C Suetonius Tranquillus was the son of a Roion, on the side of Otho, at the battle which decided the fate of the empire in favour of Vitellius Fro History, we learn that he was born towards the close of the reign of Vespasian, who died in the year 79 of the Christian era He lived till the time of Hadrian, under whose administration he filled the office of secretary; until, with several others, he was dis on familiarities with the empress Sabina, of which we have no further account than that they were unbeco he survived this disgrace, which appears to have befallen him in the year 121, we are not informed; but we find that the leisure afforded him by his retirement, was employed in the composition of numerous works, of which the only portions now extant are collected in the present voluer Pliny's letters are addressed to Suetonius, hom he lived in the closest friendshi+p They afford solimpses of his habits and career; and in a letter, in which Pliny makes application on behalf of his friend to the emperor Trajan, for a mark of favour, he speaks of him as ”a most excellent, honourable, and learnedunder his own roof, and hoht into communion, the more he loved him” 1 The plan adopted by Suetonius in his Lives of the Twelve Caesars, led him to be more diffuse on their personal conduct and habits than on public events He writes Memoirs rather than History He neither dwells on the civil hich sealed the fall of the Republic, nor on the military expeditions which extended the frontiers of the ereat political changes which marked the period of which he treats

When we stop to gaze in a allery on the antique busts of the Caesars, we perhaps endeavour to trace in their sculptured physiognoood or evil, were in their tie portion of the huratify this natural curiosity In them we find a series of individual portraits sketched to the life, with perfect truth and rigorous impartiality La Harpe remarks of Suetonius, ”He is scrupulously exact, and strictlywhich concerns the person whose life he is writing; he relates everything, but paints nothing His work is, in some sense, a collection of anecdotes, but it is very curious to read and consult” 2 Co as it does amusement and information, Suetonius's ”Lives of the Caesars” was held in such esti as the year 1500, no fewer than eighteen editions had been published, and nearly one hundred have since been added to the nuhest rank have devoted the on the text, and the work has been translated into lish translations, that of Dr Alexander Thomson, published in 1796, has been made the basis of the present He informs us in his Preface, that a version of Suetonius ith hi to form a just estiovernment, and the manners of the ti vehicle Dr Thon, are reprinted nearly verbatim in the present edition His translation, however, was very diffuse, and retained most of the inaccuracies of that of Clarke, on which it was founded; considerable care therefore has been bestowed in correcting it, with the view of producing, as far as possible, a literal and faithful version

To render the works of Suetonius, as far as they are extant, complete, his Lives of eminent Grammarians, Rhetoricians, and Poets, of which a translation has not before appeared in English, are added These Lives abound with anecdote and curious infor the period of which the author treats

T F

CAIUS JULIUS CASAR

I Julius Caesar, the Divine 3, lost his father 4 when he was in the sixteenth year of his age 5; and the year following, being noh-priest of Jupiter 6, he repudiated Cossutia, as very wealthy, although her faed only to the equestrian order, and to whom he had been contracted when he was a hter of Cinna, as four tihter na all the efforts of the dictator Sylla to induce hi stripped of his sacerdotal office, his wife's dowry, and his own patri identified with the adverse faction 7, was co his place of conceal fro the officers who had tracked his footsteps, he at length obtained a pardon through the intercession of the vestal virgins, and of Mamercus Aemilius and Aurelius Cotta, his near relatives We are assured that when Sylla, having withstood for a while the entreaties of his own best friends, persons of distinguished rank, at last yielded to their importunity, he exclaimed-either by a divine iranted, and youyou; but know,” he added, ”that this man, for whose safety you are so extremely anxious, will, some day or other, be the ruin of the party of the nobles, in defence of which you are leagued with me; for in this one Caesar, you will find n was served in Asia, on the staff of the praetor, M Ther thence a fleet, he loitered so long at the court of Nicoive occasion to reports of a criminal intercourse between him and that prince; which received additional credit from his hasty return to Bithynia, under the pretext of recovering a debt due to a freed-man, his client The rest of his service was more favourable to his reputation; and (3) when Mitylene 10 was taken by storm, he was presented by Thermus with the civic crown 11 III He served also in Cilicia 12, under Servilius Isauricus, but only for a short tience of Sylla's death, he returned with all speed to Roitation set on foot by Marcus Lepidus Distrusting, however, the abilities of this leader, and finding the times less favourable for the execution of this project than he had at first ih he received theoffers

IV Soon after this civil discord was coainst Cornelius Dolabella, a nity, who had obtained the honour of a triumph On the acquittal of the accused, he resolved to retire to Rhodes 13, with the view not only of avoiding the public odiu his studies with leisure and tranquillity, under Apollonius, the son of Molon, at that tie thither, in the winter season, he was taken by pirates near the island of Pharnation, for nearly forty days; his only attendants being a physician and two chamberlains For he had instantly dispatched his other servants and the friends who accompanied hi been paid down, he was landed on the coast, when, having collected so to sea in pursuit of the pirates, and having captured them, inflicted upon them the punishment hich he had often threatened thehbouring districts, and on Caesar's arrival at Rhodes, that he er threatened the allies of Ro collected soovernor out of the province, retained in their allegiance the cities which avering, and ready to revolt

V Having been elected military tribune, the first honour he received froes of the people after his return to Rome, he zealously assisted those who tookthe tribunitian authority, which had been greatly di the usurpation of Sylla He likewise, by an act, which Plotius at his suggestion propounded to the people, obtained the recall of Lucius Cinna, his wife's brother, and others with hi been the adherents of Lepidus in the civil disturbances, had after that consul's death fled to Sertorius 17; which law he supported by a speech

VI During his quaestorshi+p he pronounced funeral orations fro to custom, in praise of his aunt (5) Julia, and his wife Cornelia In the panegyric on his aunt, he gives the following account of her own and his father's genealogy, on both sides: ”My aunt Julia derived her descent, by the s, and by her father, froes 18, her ree from Ancus Marcius, and the Julii, her father's, from Venus; of which stock we are a branch We therefore unite in our descent the sacreds themselves are subject” To supply the place of Cornelia, he rand-daughter of Lucius Sylla; but he afterwards divorced her, upon suspicion of her having been debauched by Publius Clodius For so current was the report, that Clodius had found access to her disguised as a woious sole the profanation of the sacred rites

VII Farther-Spain 20 fell to his lot as quaestor; when there, as he was going the circuit of the province, by commission from the praetor, for the ad a statue of Alexander the Great in the teish life, for having perfore 21 at which Alexander had already conquered the world He, therefore, i the first opportunity, whichupon a , he dreamt that he lay with his own mother; but his confusion was relieved, and his hopes were raised to the highest pitch, by the interpreters of his dream, who expounded it as an omen that he should possess universal empire; for (6) that the mother who in his sleep he had found submissive to his embraces, was no other than the earth, the co therefore the province before the expiration of the usual term, he betook hi the design of obtaining the freedom of Rome; and he would have stirred them up to some bold attempt, had not the consuls, to prevent any coions which had been raised for service in Cilicia But this did not deter hireater effort within the precincts of the city itself

IX For, only a few days before he entered upon the aedileshi+p, he incurred a suspicion of having engaged in a conspiracy with Marcus Crassus, a man of consular rank; to ere joined Publius Sylla and Lucius Autronius, who, after they had been chosen consuls, were convicted of bribery The plan of the conspirators was to fall upon the senate at the opening of the new year, and ht necessary; upon which, Crassus was to assume the office of dictator, and appoint Caesar his master of the horse 22 When the co to their pleasure, the consulshi+p was to have been restored to Sylla and Autronius Mention is made of this plot by Tanusius Geminus 23 in his history, by Marcus Bibulus in his edicts 24, and by Curio, the father, in his orations 25 Cicero likewise seems to hint at this in a letter to Axius, where he says, that Caesar (7) had in his consulshi+p secured to himself that arbitrary power 26 to which he had aspired when he was edile Tanusius adds, that Crassus, from remorse or fear, did not appear upon the day appointed for the ive the signal, which, according to the plan concerted between thereea from his shoulder We have the authority of the sa been likewise concerned in another conspiracy with young Cneius Piso; to who meditated in the city, the province of Spain was decreed out of the regular course 27 It is said to have been agreed between them, that Piso should head a revolt in the provinces, whilst the other should atte as their instruments the Lambrani, and the tribes beyond the Po But the execution of this design was frustrated in both quarters by the death of Piso

X In his aedileshi+p, he not only embellished the Co halls 29, but adorned the Capitol also, with te some part of the superabundant collections (8) he had made for the amuse of wild beasts, and with gaue On this account, he obtained the whole credit of the expense to which they had jointly contributed; insoue, Marcus Bibulus, could not forbear re, that he was served in the manner of Pollux For as the temple 31 erected in the Forum to the two brothers, went by the name of Castor alone, so his and Caesar's joint munificence was imputed to the latter only To the other public spectacles exhibited to the people, Caesar added a fight of gladiators, but with fewer pairs of combatants than he had intended For he had collected froreat a company of them, that his ene the nuladiators which any one was allowed to retain at Ro thus conciliated popular favour, he endeavoured, through his interest with soned to hied for the creation of this extraordinary government, was, that the Alexandrians had violently expelled their king 32, whom the senate had complimented with the title of an ally and friend of the Ro, there was so much opposition from the faction of the nobles, that he could not carry his point In order, therefore, to diminish their influence by every means in his power, he restored the trophies erected in honour of Caius Marius, on account of his victories over Jugurtha, the Cimbri, and the Teutoni, which had been dement upon murderers, he treated those as assassins, who, in the late proscription, had receivedin the heads of Roh they were expressly excepted in the Cornelian laws

XII He likewise suborned soainst Caius Rabirius, by whose especial assistance the senate had, a few years before, put down Lucius Saturninus, the seditious tribune; and being drawn by lot a judge on the trial, he conde to the people, no circumstance availed hie

XIII Having renounced all hope of obtaining Egypt for his province, he stood candidate for the office of chief pontiff, to secure which, he had recourse to the , on this occasion, the enormous amount of the debts he had contracted, he is reported to have said to histo the assembly of the people, ”I will never return home unless I am elected pontiff” In effect, he left so far behind him two most powerful coe and rank, that he had more votes in their own tribes, than they both had in all the tribes together

XIV After he was chosen praetor, the conspiracy of Catiline was discovered; and while every othercapital punishment on the accomplices in that crime 33, he alone proposed that the delinquents should be distributed for safe custody a confiscated He even struck such terror into those ere advocates for greater severity, by representing to them what universal odium would be attached to their memories by the Roman people, that Decius Silanus, consul elect, did not hesitate to qualify his proposal, it not being very honourable to change it, by a lenient interpretation; as if it had been understood in a harsher sense than he intended, and Caesar would certainly have carried his point, having brought over to his side a great nu as Cicero, the consul's brother, had not a speech by Marcus Cato infused new vigour into the resolutions of the senate He persisted, however, in obstructing the hts, who stood under aruard, threatened him with instant death, if he continued his determined opposition They even thrust at him with their draords, so that those who sat next him moved away; (10) and a few friends, with no s their aras At last, deterred by this violence, he not only gave way, but absented hi the remainder of that year

XV Upon the first day of his praetorshi+p, he summoned Quintus Catulus to render an account to the people respecting the repairs of the Capitol 34; proposing a decree for transferring the office of curator to another person 35 But being unable to withstand the strong opposition , in great numbers, their attendance upon the new consuls 36, and fully resolved to resist his proposal, he dropped the design

XVI He afterwards approved himself a most resolute supporter of Caecilius Metullus, tribune of the people, who, in spite of all opposition froues, had proposed some laws of a violent tendency 37, until they were both dismissed fro, to retain his post and continue in the ad that preparations were made to obstruct hiown, and betook hi quiet, in a time so unfavourable to his interests He likewise pacified the mob, which two days afterwards flocked about him, and in a riotous manner made a voluntary tender of their assistance in the vindication of his (11) honour This happening contrary to expectation, the senate, who ave hi h commendation of his conduct, cancelled their former vote, and restored hiot into fresh trouble, being nast the accoer the quaestor, by Lucius Vettius the informer, and in the senate by Quintus Curius; to who first discovered the designs of the conspirators Curius affirmed that he had received his infored to produce in evidence against hi that this treatment was not to be borne, appealed to Cicero himself, whether he had not voluntarily made a discovery to him of some particulars of the conspiracy; and so baulked Curius of his expected reward He, therefore, obliged Vettius to give pledges for his behaviour, seized his goods, and after heavily fining hi him almost torn in pieces before the rostra, threw him into prison; to which he likewise sent Novius the quaestor, for having presuistrate of superior authority

XVIII At the expiration of his praetorshi+p he obtained by lot the Farther-Spain 38, and pacified his creditors, ere for detaining hi sureties for his debts 39 Contrary, however, to both law and custoe and outfit were prepared It is uncertain whether this precipitancy arose from the apprehension of an impeachment, hich he was threatened on the expiration of his for the allies, who implored him to come to their aid He had no (12) sooner established tranquillity in the province, than, without waiting for the arrival of his successor, he returned to Rome, with equal haste, to sue for a triumph 40, and the consulshi+p The day of election, however, being already fixed by proclaally be admitted a candidate, unless he entered the city as a private person 41 On this eency he solicited a suspension of the laws in his favour; but such an indulgence being strongly opposed, he found hihts of a triumph, lest he should be disappointed of the consulshi+p

XIX Of the two other competitors for the consulshi+p, Lucius Luceius and Marcus Bibulus, he joined with the for a reater affluence, should promise money to the electors, in their joint na how far he ue disposed to concur in and second his measures, advised Bibulus to promise the voters as much as the other; and most of the that bribery; under such circuly elected consul jointly with Bibulus Actuated still by the san provinces of small importance to the new consuls, such as the care of the woods and roads Caesar, incensed at this indignity, endeavoured by the ain to his side Cneius Pompey, at that time dissatisfied with the senate for the backwardness they shewed to confirm his acts, after his victories over Mithridates He likewise brought about a reconciliation between Pompey and Marcus Crassus, who had been at variance from (13) the time of their joint consulshi+p, in which office they were continually clashi+ng; and he entered into an agreeovern to any of the three

XX Having entered upon his office 43, he introduced a new regulation, that the daily acts both of the senate and people should be co, and published 44 He also revived an old custom, that an officer 45 should precede him, and his lictors follow him, on the alternate months when the fasces were not carried before hi a bill to the people for the division of soue, whom he violently drove out of the forum Next day the insulted consul made a complaint in the senate of this treat the courage to bring the matter forward or es of less importance, he was so much dispirited, that until the expiration of his office he never stirred fro but issue edicts to obstruct his colleague's proceedings Froened any instrument as witnesses, did not add ”in the consulshi+p of Caesar and Bibulus,” but, ”of Julius and Caesar;” putting the same person doice, under his na verses likeere currently repeated on this occasion: Non Bibulo quidquam nuper, sed Caesare factu was done in Bibulus's year: No; Caesar only then was consul here