Part 6 (1/2)

Human nature recoils with horror at the cruelties of this execrable tyrant, who, having first imbrued his hands in the blood of his own relations, proceeded to exercise thee nor sex afforded any exemption from his insatiable thirst for blood Innocent children were condemned to death, and butchered in the presence of their parents; virgins, without any iuilt, were sacrificed to a siling females in that situation, they were first deflowered by the executioner, and afterwards strangled, as if an atrocious addition to cruelty could sanction the exercise of it Fathers were constrained by violence to witness the death of their own children; and even the tears of a mother, at the execution of her child, were punished as a capital offence Some extraordinary calamities, occasioned by accident, added to the horrors of the reign A great number of houses on Mount Caelius were destroyed by fire; and by the fall of a te at Fidenae, erected for the purpose of exhibiting public shows, about twenty thousand persons were either greatly hurt, or crushed to death in the rains

By another fire which afterwards broke out, a part of the Circus was destroyed, with the nus on Mount Aventine The only act of n, was upon the occasion of those fires, when, to qualify the severity of his government, he indemnified the most considerable sufferers for the loss they had sustained

Through the whole of his life, Tiberius seenance to nature Affable on a few occasions, but in general averse to society, he indulged, from his earliest years, a moroseness of disposition, which counterfeited the appearance of austere virtue; and in the decline of life, when it is common to reform from juvenile indiscretions, he launched forth into excesses, of a kind thethe vicious passions which had ever brooded in his heart, itthat he restrained hi so h utterly destitute of reverence or affection for hisher life, a filial awe upon his mind: and after her death, he was actuated by a slavish fear of Sejanus, until at last political necessity absolved hi both removed, (247) he rioted without any control, either from sentiment or authority

Pliny relates, that the art of lass n of Tiberius, and that the shop and tools of the artist were destroyed, lest, by the establishold and silver should lose their value Dion adds, that the author of the discovery was put to death

The gloo this ress of science throughout the en, in the sa It is doubtful whether such a change overnment of Tiberius been equally ious fa eenius for some time; while the banishment of Ovid, it is probable, and the capital punishaement of poetical exertions There now existed no circuer found a patron either in the eates of the palace were shut against all who cultivated the elegant pursuits of the Muses Panders, catamites, assassins, wretches stained with every crime, were the constant attendants, as the only fit companions, of the tyrant who now occupied the throne We are informed, however, that even this emperor had a taste for the liberal arts, and that he composed a lyric poem upon the death of Lucius Caesar, with some Greek poems in imitation of Euphorion, Rhianus, and Parthenius But none of these has been transmitted to posterity: and if we should form an opinion of theood poet one ought to be a good ret that they have perished

We n; and of prose writers the nu account of them-- VELLEIUS PATERCULUS was born of an equestrian family in Campania, and served as a military tribune under Tiberius, in his expeditions in Gaul and Germany He composed an Epitome of the History of Greece and Rome, with that of other nations of rements of the history of Greece and Rome, fron of Tiberius It is written in two books, addressed to Marcus Vinicius, who had (248) the office of consul Rapid in the narrative, and concise as well as elegant in style, this production exhibits a pleasing epitome of ancient transactions, enlivened occasionally with anecdotes, and an expressive description of characters In treating of the faustus, Paterculus is justly liable to the imputation of partiality, which he incurs still more in the latter period of his history, by the praise which is lavished on Tiberius and hisa more full account of the civil hich followed the death of Julius Caesar; but this, if he ever accomplished it, has not been transainst Po praise, he is not equally parsimonious, and, on sorace, however, and the apparent sincerity hich it is bestowed, reconcile us to the compliment This author concludes his history with a prayer for the prosperity of the Roman empire-- VALERIUS MAXIMUS was descended of a Patrician fa him, than that for some time he followed a military life under sextus Po, and has left an account, in nine books, of the ms and actions of en nations The subjects are of various kinds, political, ed into distinct classes His transitions froracefulness; and where he offers any reeable with no affectation of style, but is soht be expected in the age of Tiberius, to whom the work is addressed What inducement the author had to this dedication, we know not; but as it is evident froe in the ninth book, that the compliment was paid after the death of Sejanus, and consequently in the n, we cannot entertain any high opinion of the independent spirit of Valerius Maximus, who could submit to flatter a tyrant, in the zenith of infamy and detestation But we cannot ascribe the cause to any delicate artifice, of conveying to Tiberius, indirectly, an admonition to reform his conduct Such an expedient would have only provoked the severest resentment from his jealousy-- PHAEDRUS was a native of Thrace, and was brought to Roood fortune to co his talents by reading, he obtained (249) the favour of the en of Tiberius, he translated into Iambic verse the Fables of Aesop They are divided into five books, and are not less conspicuous for precision and siance of style; conveying y Phaedrus underwent, for some time, a persecution from Sejanus, who, conscious of his own delinquency, suspected that he was obliquely satirised in the commendations bestowed on virtue by the poet The work of Phaedrus is one of the latest which have been brought to light since the revival of learning It reo, when it was discovered in a library at Rheims-- HYGINUS is said to have been a native of Alexandria, or, according to others, a Spaniard He was, like Phaedrus, a freedh industrious, he seems not to have improved himself so much as his companion, in the art of coical history, under the title of Fables, a work called Poeticon Astronoil, the lives of e works are enuine, afford an unfavourable speciance and correctness as a writer

CELSUS was a physician in the tiht books, De Medicina, in which he has collected and digested into order all that is valuable on the subject, in the Greek and Roman authors The professors of Medicine were at that timatists, Empirics, and Methodists; the first of whom deviated less than the others froeneral irreconcilable to each other, in respect both of their opinions and practice Celsus, with great judgment, has occasionally adopted particular doctrines from each of them; and whatever he admits into his system, he not only establishes by the most rational observations, but confirms by its practical utility In justness of reuance of expression, he deservedly occupies the st the medical writers of antiquity It appears that Celsus likerote on agriculture, rhetoric, and n we must add APICIUS COELIUS, who has left a book De Re Coquinaria [of Cookery] There were three Roluttony The first lived in the time of the Republic, the last in that of Trajan, and the interustus and Tiberius This , sexcenties sestertiu the state of his affairs, he found that there remained no more of his estate than centies sestertiu to him too small to live upon, he ended his days by poison

CAIUS CAESAR CALIGULA

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I Germanicus, the father of Caius Caesar, and son of Drusus and the younger Antonia, was, after his adoption by Tiberius, his uncle, preferred to the quaestorshi+p 377 five years before he had attained the legal age, and immediately upon the expiration of that office, to the consulshi+p 378 Having been sent to the arions, who, upon the news of Augustus's death, obstinately refused to acknowledge Tiberius as emperor 379, and offered to place him at the head of the state In which affair it is difficult to say, whether his regard to filial duty, or the firmness of his resolution, was most conspicuous Soon afterwards he defeated the ene then made consul for the second tied to set out suddenly for the east, where, after he had conquered the king of Armenia, and reduced Cappadocia into the for distee 381, not without the suspicion of being poisoned For besides the livid spots which appeared all over his body, and a foa at the mouth; when his corpse was burnt, the heart was found entire a such, as it is supposed, that when tainted by poison, it is indestructible by fire 382 II It was a prevailing opinion, that he was taken off by the contrivance of Tiberius, and through the means of Cneius Piso This person, as about the same ti such, that (252) he must either offend the father or the son, loaded Ger his sickness, with the most unbounded and scurrilous abuse, both by word and deed; for which, upon his return to Ro torn to pieces by the people, and was condereed, that Germanicus possessed all the noblest endowree than had ever before fallen to the lot of any reat proficiency in eloquence and other branches of learning, both Greek and Ro, as to captivate the affections of all about his did not correspond with the symmetry and beauty of his person in other respects; but this defect was at length corrected by his habit of riding after le combat He pleaded causes, even after he had the honour of a triu other fruits of his studies, he left behind him some Greek comedies Both at home and abroad he always conducted hi any free and confederate town, he never would be attended by his lictors Whenever he heard, in his travels, of the tos over therave, under a ionaries slain under Varus, and was the first to put his hand to the work of collecting and bringing theentle to his enemies, whoever they were, or on what account soever they bore hih Piso rescinded his decrees, and for a long time severely harassed his dependents, he never showed the sical charms and imprecations; and even then the only steps he took was to renounce all friendshi+p with hi to ancient custoe his death, if any thing untoward should befall him

IV He reaped the fruit of his noble qualities in abundance, being so ustus (to say nothing of his other relations) being a long time in doubt, whether he should not appoint him his successor, at last ordered Tiberius to adopt him He was so extremely popular, that many authors tell us, the crowds of those ent toto any place, or to attend hiious, that he was soer of his life; and that upon his return from Germany, after he had quelled the uardsthe order that only two should go; and that all the people of Roe, sex, and rank, flocked as far as the twentieth milestone to attend his entrance

V At the time of his death, however, and afterwards, they displayed still greater and stronger proofs of their extraordinary attachment to him The day on which he died, stones were thrown at the temples, the altars of the Gods demolished, the household Gods, in some cases, thrown into the streets, and new-born infants exposed It is even said that barbarous nations, both those engaged in intestine wars, and those in hostilities against us, all agreed to a cessation of ar for sos shaved their beards and their wives' heads, in token of their extres 383 forbore his exercise of hunting and feasting with his nobles, which, ast the Parthians, is equivalent to a cessation of all business in a ti with us

VI At Rome, upon the first news of his sickness, the city was thrown into great consternation and grief, waiting ience; when suddenly, in the evening, a report, without any certain author, was spread, that he was recovered; upon which the people flocked with torches (254) and victims to the Capitol, and were in such haste to pay the vows they had made for his recovery, that they almost broke open the doors Tiberius was roused fro one another, and singing about the streets, Salva Roma, salva patria, salvus est Germanicus

Rome is safe, our country safe, for our Gerence of his death arrived, the ed by consolation, nor restrained by edicts, and it continued during the holidays in the month of December The atrocities of the subsequent tilory of Germanicus, and the endear, and with reason, that the fear and awe of him had laid a restraint upon the cruelty of Tiberius, which broke out soon afterwards

VII Gerrippa and Julia, by whom he had nine children, two of whom died in their infancy, and another a few years after; a sprightly boy, whose effigy, in the character of a Cupid, Livia set up in the teustus also placed another statue of him in his bed-chamber, and used to kiss it as often as he entered the apartrippina, Drusilla, and Livilla, ere born in three successive years; and as many sons, Nero, Drusus, and Caius Caesar Nero and Drusus, at the accusation of Tiberius, were declared public enemies

VIII Caius Caesar was born on the day before the calends [31st August] of September, at the time his father and Caius Fonteius Capito were consuls 384 But where he was born, is rendered uncertain froiven him birth Cneius Lentulus Gaetulicus 385 says that he was born at Tibur; Pliny the younger, in the country of the Treviri, at a village called Aes, as a proof of it, that altars are there shoith this inscription: ”For Agrippina's child-birth” Son, intiions, In castris natus, patriis nutritius in arnati principis omen erat

Born in the cahtiest foes to foil; Destin'd he seeustan faisters that he was born at Antiuery, iving hi born in a city sacred to Hercules; and says that he advanced this false assertion with the more assurance, because, the year before the birth of Caius, Ger whose amiable childhood and premature death I have already spoken 387 Dates clearly prove that Pliny is ree, that Germanicus, at the expiration of his consulshi+p, was sent into Gaul, after the birth of Caius Nor will the inscription upon the altar serve to establish Pliny's opinion; because Agrippina was delivered of two daughters in that country, and any child-birth, without regard to sex, is called puerperiuirls puerae, and boys puelli There is also extant a letter written by Augustus, a few rippina, about the sa under that naave orders yesterday for Talarius and Asellius to set out on their journey towards you, if the Gods permit, with your child Caius, upon the fifteenth of the calends of June [18th May] I also send with him a physician of mine, and I wrote to Germanicus that he rippina, and take what care you can to (256) coine it is sufficiently evident that Caius could not be born at a place to which he was carried from The City when almost two years old The same considerations must likewise invalidate the evidence of the verses, and the rather, because the author is unknown The only authority, therefore, upon which we can depend in this ister; especially as he always preferred Antium to every other place of retirement, and entertained for it all that fondness which is commonly attached to one's native soil It is said, too, that, upon his groeary of the city, he designed to have transferred thither the seat of empire

IX It was to the jokes of the soldiers in the caht up a them in the dress of a cost them recommended him to their favour and affection, was sufficiently apparent in the ht of hiht For they persisted in it, until they observed that he was sent away to a neighbouring city 389, to secure hian to relent, and, stopping the chariot in which he was conveyed, earnestly deprecated the odiu would expose them

X He likewise attended his father in his expedition to Syria After his return, he lived first with his randusta, in praise of whoh then only a boy, he pronounced a funeral oration in the Rostra He was then transferred to the farandmother, Antonia, and afterwards, in the twentieth year of his age, being called by Tiberius to Capri, he in one and the same day assumed theany of the honours which had been paid to his brothers on a similar (257) occasion While he remained in that island, many insidious artifices were practised, to extort froainst Tiberius, but by his circu into the snare 390 He affected to take no more notice of the ill-treat had befallen thes, he seemed utterly insensible of therandfather 391 and all about him, that it was justly said of him, ”There never was a better servant, nor a worse master”

XI But he could not even then conceal his natural disposition to cruelty and lewdness He delighted in witnessing the infliction of punishht-ti coat; and was passionately addicted to the theatrical arts of singing and dancing All these levities Tiberius readily connived at, in hopes that they hness of his teacious old man so well understood, that he often said, ”That Caius was destined to be the ruin of hi a hydra 392 for the people of Ro afterwards, he hter of Marcus Silanus, a ur in the roourated he was advanced to the pontificate, with no sreat capacity The situation of the court likeas at this time favourable to his fortunes, as it was now left destitute of support, Sejanus being suspected, and soon afterwards taken off; and he was by degrees flattered with the hope of succeeding Tiberius in the empire In orderin child-bed, he engaged in a criminal commerce with Ennia Naevia, the wife (258) of Macro, at that ti to marry her if he became emperor, to which he bound hiation under his hand Having by her means insinuated himself into Macro's favour, some are of opinion that he atte to be taken from him, before the breath was out of his body; and that, because he seemed to hold it fast, he caused a pillow to be thrown upon hi him by the throat, at the sa out at this horrid barbarity, he was i ih he did not acknowledge his having a hand in the death of Tiberius, yet he frankly declared that he had forn; and as a proof of his affection for his relations, he would frequently boast, ”That, to revenge the death of his mother and brothers, he had entered the chamber of Tiberius, when he was asleep, with a poniard, but being seized with a fit of compassion, threw it away, and retired; and that Tiberius, though aware of his intention, durst not e”

XIII Having thus secured the imperial power, he fulfilled by his elevation the wish of the Roman people, Ibeen the object of expectation and desire to the greater part of the provincials and soldiers, who had known him when a child; and to the whole people of Rome, from their affection for the memory of Germanicus, his father, and compassion for the fa fro, and following the corpse of Tiberius, he had to walk aious crowds of people everywhere attending hi him, besides other auspicious names, by those of ”their star,” ”their chick,” ”their pretty puppet,” and ”bantling”