Cassius Dio
Roman History
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Book LIII
The following is contained in the Fifty-third of Dio's Rome:—
1. How the temple of Apollo on the Palatine was dedicated (chap. 1).
2. How Caesar delivered a speech in the senate, as if he were retiring
from the sole rulership, and afterwards assigned to that body its
provinces (chaps. 2-12).
3. About the appointment of the governors sent to the provinces (chaps.
13-15).
4. How Caesar was given the title of Augustus (chap. 16).
5. About the names which the emperors receive (chaps. 17, 18).
6. How the Saepta were dedicated (chap. 23).
7. How Caesar fought against the Astures and Cantabri (chap. 25).
8. How Galatia began to be governed by Romans (chap. 26).
9. How the Basilica of Neptune and the Baths of Agrippa were dedicated
(chap. 27).
10. How the Pantheon was dedicated (chap. 27).
11. How Augustus was freed from the obligation of obeying the laws
(chap. 28).
12. How an expedition was made against Arabia Felix (chap. 29).
Duration of time, four years, in which there were the following
magistrates (consuls) here enumerated:—
B.C.
28
Caesar (VI), M. Vipsanius L. F. Agrippa (II).
27
Caesar (VII), M. Vipsanius L. F. Agrippa (III).
26
Caesar Augustus (VIII), T. Statilius T. F. Taurus
(II).
25
Augustus (IX), M. Junius M. F. Silanus.
24
Augustus (X), C. Norbanus C. F. C. N. Flaccus.
23
Augustus (XI), Cn. Calpurnius Cn. F. Cn. N. Piso.
These were the occurrences at that time. The following year Caesar held
office for the sixth time and confirmed in all other respects to the
usages handed down from the earliest times, and, in particular, he
delivered to Agrippa, his colleague, the bundles of rods as it was
incumbent upon him to do, while he himself used the other set, and on
completing his term of office he took the oath according to ancestral
custom. Whether he ever did this again, I do not know, for he always
paid exceptional honour to Agrippa; thus he gave him his niece in
marriage, and provided him with a tent similar to his own whenever they
were campaigning together, and the watchword was given out by both of
them. At this particular time, now, besides attending to his other
duties as usual, he completed the taking of the census, in connection
with which his title was princeps senatus, as had been the practice
when Rome was truly a republic. Moreover, he completed and dedicated
the temple of Apollo on the Palatine, the precinct surrounding it, and
the libraries. He also celebrated in company with Agrippa the festival
which had been voted in honour of the victory won at Actium; and during
this celebration he caused the boys and men of the nobility to take
part in the Circensian games. This festival was held for a time every
four years and was in charge of the four priesthoods in succession — I
mean the pontifices, the augurs, and the septemviri and quindecemviri,
as they were called. On the present occasion, moreover, a gymnastic
contest was held, a wooden stadium having been constructed in the
Campus Martius, and there was a gladiatorial combat between captives.
These events continued for several days and were not interrupted even
when Caesar fell ill; but Agrippa went on with them even so,
discharging Caesar' duties as well as his own.
Now Caesar allowed it to be understood that he was spending his private
means upon these festivals, and when money was needed for the public
treasury, he borrowed some and supplied the want; and for the
management of the funds he ordered two annual magistrates to be chosen
from among the ex-praetors. To the populace he distributed a quadruple
allowance of grain and to some of the senators he made presents of
money. For so many of them had become impoverished that none was
willing to hold even the office of aedile because of the magnitude of
the expenditures involved; indeed, the functions which belonged to that
office, and particularly the judicial functions, were assigned to the
praetors, as had been the custom, the more important to the praetor
urbanus and the rest to the praetor peregrinus. In addition to all
this, Caesar himself appointed the praetor urbanus, as, indeed, he
often did subsequently. He cancelled all obligations which had been
given to the public treasury previous to the battle of Actium, except
those secured by buildings, and he burned the old notes of those who
were indebted to the state. As for religious matters, he did not allow
the Egyptian rites to be celebrated inside the pomerium, but made
provision for the temples; those which had been built by private
individuals he ordered their sons and descendants, if any survived, to
repair, and the rest he restored himself. He did not, however,
appropriate to himself the credit for their erection, but allowed it to
go as before to the original builders. And inasmuch as he had put into
effect very many illegal and unjust regulations during the factional
strife and the wars, especially in the period of his joint rule with
Antony and Lepidus, he abolished them all by a single decree, setting
the end of his sixth consulship as the time for their expiration. When,
now, he obtained approbation and praise for this act, he desired to
exhibit another instance of magnanimity, that by such a policy he might
be honoured all the more be might have his sovereignty voluntarily
confirmed by the people, so as to avoid the appearance of having forced
them against their will. Therefore, having first primed his most
intimate friends among the senators, he entered the senate in his
seventh consulship and read the following address:
"I am sure that I shall seem to some of you, Conscript Fathers, to have
made an incredible choice. For what each one of my hearers would not
wish to do himself, he does not like to believe, either, when another
claims to have done it, especially as everyone is jealous of anybody
who is superior to him and so is more prone to disbelieve any utterance
that is above his own standard. Besides, I know this, that those who
say what appears to be incredible not only fail to persuade others but
also appear to be impostors. And indeed, if it were a question of my
promising something that I was not intending to put into effect
immediately, I should have been exceedingly loath to proclaim it, for
fear of gaining, instead of gratitude, some grievous imputation. But as
it is, when the performance will follow the promise this very day, I
feel quite confident, not only that I shall incur no reproach of
falsehood, but that I shall surpass all mankind of good repute. You see
for yourselves, of course, that it is in my power to rule over you for
life; for every factious element has either been put down through the
application of justice or brought to its sense by receiving mercy,
while those who were on my side have been made devoted by my
reciprocating their friendly services and bound fast by having a share
in the government. Therefore none of them desires a revolution, and if
anything of the sort should take place, at least the party which will
stand by me is even more ready than it was before. My military is in
the finest condition as regards both loyalty and strength; there is
money and there are allies; and, most important of all, you and the
people are so disposed toward me that you would distinctly wish to have
me at your head. However, I shall lead you no longer, and no one will
be able to say that it was to win absolute power that I did whatever
has hitherto been done. Nay, I give up my office completely, and
restore to you absolutely everything,— the army, the laws, and the
provinces,— not only those which you committed to me, but also those
which I myself later acquired for you. Thus my very deeds also will
prove to you that even at the outset I desired no position of power,
but in very truth wished to avenge my father, cruelly murdered, and to
extricate the city from great evils that came on unceasingly. Indeed, I
would that I had not gone so far as to assume charge of affairs as I
did; that is, I would that the city had not required me for any such
task, but that we of this generation also might have lived from the
beginning in peace and harmony, as our fathers lived of yore. But since
some destiny, as it appears, brought you to a position where you had
need even of me, young as I still was at the time, and put me to the
test, I did everything with a zeal even beyond my years and
accomplished everything with a good fortune even beyond my powers, so
long as the situation demanded my help. And nothing in the world could
deter me from aiding you when you were in danger,— neither toil, nor
fear, nor threats of foes, nor prayers of friends, nor the multitude of
the conspirators, nor the desperation of our adversaries; nay, I gave
myself to you unstintingly for any and all the exigencies which have
arisen, and what I did and suffered, you know. From all this I have
derived no gain for myself except that I have kept my country from
perishing; but as for you, you are enjoying both safety and
tranquillity. Since, then, Fortune, by using me, has graciously
restored to you peace without treachery and harmony without faction,
receive back also your liberty and the republic; take over the army and
the subject provinces, and govern yourselves as has been your wont.
"You should not be surprised at this purpose of mine, when you see my
reasonableness in other respects, my mildness, and my love of quiet,
and when you reflect, moreover, that I have never accepted any
extraordinary privilege nor anything beyond what the many might gain,
though you have often voted many of them to me. Do not, on the other
hand, condemn me as foolish because, when it is in my power to rule
over you and to hold so great a sovereignty over this vast world, I do
not wish it. For, if one looks into the merits of the case from the
point of view of justice, I regard it as most just for you to manage
your own affairs; if from the point of view of expediency, I consider
it most expedient, both that I should be free from trouble and not be
the object of jealousy and intrigue, and that you should have a
government based upon liberty and conducted with moderation and
friendly feeling; and if, finally, from the point of view of glory, to
win which many men are often found ready to choose war and personal
risk, will it not add most to my renown to resign so great an empire,
will it not add most to my glory to leave so exalted a sovereignty and
voluntarily become a private citizen? Therefore, if there is any one of
you who believes that no man except me can really and sincerely hold to
such ideals and give them utterance, at least let him believe it of me.
For, though I could recite many great benefits conferred upon you both
by me and by my father, for which we beyond all other men could
reasonably claim your affection and your honour, I could single out no
other act in preference to this, nor could I feel a greater pride in
any other thing than this,— that he refused the monarchy although you
offered it to him, and that I, when I hold it, lay it aside.
"What achievement, indicate, could one compare with these acts of ours?
The conquest of Gaul, the enslavement of Pannonia, the subjugation of
Moesia, the overthrow of Egypt? Or Pharnaces, or Juba, or Phraates, or
the campaign against the Britons, or the crossing of the Rhine? Yet
these are greater and more important deeds than even all our
forefathers together performed in all previous time. Nevertheless, no
one of these exploits deserves a place beside my present act, to say
nothing of our civil wars, of all which have ever occurred the greatest
and most varied in its changing fortunes, which we fought to an
honourable conclusion and brought to a humane settlement, overpowering
as enemies all who resisted, but sparing as friends all who yielded;
therein setting an example, so that if it should be fated that our city
should ever again be afflicted, one might pray that it should conduct
its quarrel in the same way. Indeed, I will go further: that we, when
we possessed a strength so great, and when we so clearly stood at the
summit of prowess and good fortune, that we could exercise over you,
with or without your consent, our arbitrary rule, did not lose our
sense or conceive the desire for sole supremacy, but that he thrust
that supremacy aside when it was offered him and that I return it after
it has been given to me,— that, I say, transcends the deeds of a man! I
say this, not by way of idle boasting,— indeed, I should not have said
it at all, if I were going to derive any advantage whatever from it,—
but in order that you may see that, although we can point to many
benefits conferred upon the state at large and to many services
rendered to individuals of which we might boast, yet we take the
greatest pride in this, that what others so desire that they are even
willing to do violence to gain it, this we do not accept even under
compulsion. Who could be found more magnanimous than I,— not to mention
again my deceased father,— who more nearly divine? For I,— the gods be
my witnesses! — who have so many gallant soldiers, both Romans and
allies, who are devoted to me, I, who am supreme over the entire sea
within the Pillars of Hercules except for a few tribes, I who possess
both cities and provinces in every continent, at a time when there is
no longer any foreign enemy making war upon me and no one at home is
engaged in sedition, but when you are all at peace, are harmonious and
strong, and, greatest of all, are content to yield obedience, I, in
spite of all this, voluntarily and of my own motion resign so great a
dominion and give up so vast a possession. So then, if Horatius,
Mucius, Curtius, Regulus, and the Decii were willing to encounter
danger and to die to win the fame of having done a great and noble
deed, why should not I desire even more to do this thing, whereby,
without losing my life, I shall excel but them and all the rest of
mankind in glory? In truth no one of you should think that the ancient
Romans sought to win fair fame and reputation for valour, but that in
these days every manly virtue has become extinct in the state. And
further, let no one suspect that I wish to betray you by delivering you
into the hands of a group of wicked men, or by giving you over to
government by the mob, from which nothing good ever comes, but rather
in all cases and for all mankind nothing but the most terrible evils.
Nay, it is to you senators, to you who are the best and wisest, that I
restore the entire administration of the state. The other course I
should never have followed, even had it been necessary for me to die a
thousand deaths, or even to assume the sole rule; but this policy I
adopt both for my own good and for that of the city. For I myself have
undergone both labours and hardships and am no longer able to stand the
strain, either in mind or in body. Furthermore, I foresee the jealousy
and hatred which are engendered in certain persons against even the
best men and the plots which arise therefrom. It is for these reasons
that I choose the life of a private citizen and fair fame rather than
that of a sovereign and constant peril. And as for the business of the
commonwealth, it would be carried on far better by all in common,
inasmuch as it would be transacted by many men together instead of
being dependent upon some one man.
"For these reasons, then, I ask and implore you one and all both to
approve my course and to coöperate heartily with me, reflecting
upon all that I have done for you alike in war and in public life, and
rendering me complete recompense for it all by this one favour,— by
allowing me at last to be at peace as I live out my life. Thus you will
come to know that I understand not only how to rule but also how to
submit to rule, and that all the commands which I have laid upon others
I can endure to have laid upon me. I ask this because I expect to live
in security, if that be possible, and to suffer no harm from anybody by
either deed or word,— such is the confidence, based upon my own
conscience, which I have in your good-will; but if some disaster should
befall me, such as falls to the lot of many (for it is not possible for
a man to please everybody, especially when he has been involved in wars
of such magnitude, both foreign and civil, and has had affairs of such
importance entrusted to him), with entire willingness I make my choice
to die even before my appointed time as a private citizen, in
preference to living forever as the occupant of a throne. Indeed, this
very choice will bring me renown,— that I not only did not deprive
another of life in order to win that office, but went so far as even to
give up my life in order to avoid being king; and the man who dares to
slay me will certainly be punished, I am sure, both by Heaven and by
you, as happened, methinks, in the case of my father. For he was
declared to be the equal of the gods and obtained eternal honours,
whereas those who slew him perished, miserable men, by a miserable
death. As for immortality, we could not possibly achieve it; but by
living nobly and by dying nobly we do in a sense gain even this boon.
Therefore, I, who already possess the first requisite and hope to
possess the second, return to you the armies and the provinces, the
revenues and the laws, adding only a few words of suggestion, to the
end that you may not be afraid of the magnitude of the business of
administration, or of the difficulty of handling it and so become
discouraged, and that you may not, on the other hand, regard it with
contempt, with the idea that it can easily be managed, and thus neglect
it.
"And yet, after all, I feel no hesitancy about suggesting to you in a
summary way what ought to be done in each of the leading departments of
administration. And what are these suggestions? In the first place,
guard vigilantly the established laws and change none of them; for what
remains fixed, even though it be inferior, is more advantageous than
what is always subject to innovations, even though it seems to be
superior. Next, pay strict heed to do whatever these laws enjoin upon
you and to refrain from whatever they forbid, and do this not only in
word but also in deed, not only in public but also in private, that you
may obtain, not penalties, but honours. Entrust the offices both of
peace and of war to those who are the most excellent and the most
prudent, harbouring no jealousy of any man, and indulging in rivalry,
not to advance the private interests of this or that man, but to keep
the city safe and make it prosperous. Honour men who show this spirit,
but punish those who act otherwise in political life. Treat your
private means as the common property of the state, but refrain from the
public funds as belonging to others. Guard strictly what you already
have, but never covet that which does not belong to you. Do not treat
the allies and subject nations insolently nor exploit them for gain,
and in dealing with the enemy, neither wrong him nor fear him. Have
your arms always in hand, but do not use them either against one
another or against those without keep the peace. Maintain the soldiers
adequately, so that they may not on account of want desire anything
which belongs to others; keep them in hand and under discipline, that
they may not become presumptuous and do harm.
"But why make a long speech by going through everything in detail which
it behooves you to do? For you may easily understand from these hints
how all other matters should be handled. I will close with this one
further remark, that if you will conduct the government in this manner,
you will both enjoy prosperity yourselves and you will gratify me, who
found you engaged in wretched strife and made you what you now are; but
if there is any part whatever of this programme that you shall prove
unable to carry out, you will cause me to regret my action and you will
at the same time cast the city again into many wars and grave dangers."
While Caesar was reading this address, varied feelings took possession
of the senators. A few of them knew his real intention and consequently
kept applauding him enthusiastically; of the rest, some were suspicious
of his words, while others believed them, and therefore both classes
marvelled equally, the one at his cunning and the other at his
decision, and both were displeased, the former at his scheming and the
latter at his change of mind. For already there were some who abhorred
the democratic constitution as a breeder of strife, were pleased at the
change in government, and took delight in Caesar. Consequently, though
they were variously affected by his announcement, their views were the
same. For, on the one hand, those who believed he had spoken the truth
could not show their pleasure,— those who wished to do so being
restrained by their fear and the others by their hopes,— and those, on
the other hand, who did not believe it did not dare accuse him and
expose his insincerity, some because they were afraid and others
because they did not care to do so. Hence all the doubters either were
compelled to believe him or else pretended that they did. As for
praising him, some had not the courage and others were unwilling; on
the contrary, but while he was reading and afterwards, they kept
shouting out, begging for a monarchical government and urging every
argument in its favour, until they forced him as it was made to appear,
to assume autocratic power. His very first act was to secure a decree
granting to the men who should compose his bodyguard double the pay
that was given to the rest of the soldiers, so that he might be
strictly guarded. When this was done, he was eager to establish the
monarchy in very truth.
In this way he had his supremacy ratified by the senate and by the
people as well. But as he wished even so to be thought democratic,
while he accepted all the care and oversight of the public business, on
the ground that it required some attention on his part, yet he declared
he would not personally govern all the provinces, and that in the case
of such provinces as he should govern he would not do so indefinitely;
and he did, in fact, restore to the senate the weaker provinces, on the
ground that they were peaceful and free from war, while he retained the
more powerful, alleging that they were insecure and precarious and
either had enemies on their borders or were able on their own account
to begin a serious revolt. His professed motive in this was that the
senate might fearlessly enjoy the finest portion of the empire, while
he himself had the hardships and the dangers; but his real purpose was
that by this arrangement the senators will be unarmed and unprepared
for battle, while he alone had arms and maintained soldiers. Africa,
Numidia, Asia, Greece with Epirus, the Dalmatian and Macedonian
districts, Crete and the Cyrenaic portion of Libya, Bithynia with
Pontus which adjoined it, Sardinia and Baetica were held to belong to
the people and the senate; while to Caesar belonged the remainder of
Spain,— that is, the district of Tarraco and Lusitania,— and all the
Gauls,— that is, Gallia Narbonensis, Gallia Lugdunensis, Aquitania, and
Belgica, both the natives themselves and the aliens among them. For
some of the Celts, whom we call Germans, had occupied all the Belgic
territory along the Rhine and caused it to be called Germany, the upper
portion extending to the sources of that river, and the lower portion
reaching to the British Ocean. These provinces, then, together with
Coele-Syria, as it is called, Phoenicia, Cilicia, Cyprus and Egypt,
fell at that time to Caesar's share; for afterwards he gave Cyprus and
Gallia Narbonensis back to the people, and for himself took Dalmatia
instead. This same course was followed subsequently in the case of
other provinces also, as the progress of my narrative will show; but I
have enumerated these provinces in this way because at the present time
each one of them is governed separately, whereas in the beginning and
for a long period thereafter they were administered two and three
together. The others I have not mentioned because some of them were
acquired later, and the rest, even if they were already subjugated,
were not being governed by the Romans, but either had been left
autonomous or had been attached to some kingdom or other. All of them
which came into the Roman empire after this period were added to the
provinces of the one who was emperor at the time.
Such, then, was the apportionment of the provinces. And wishing, even
then, to lead the Romans a long way from the idea that he was at all
monarchical in his purposes, Caesar undertook for only ten years the
government of the provinces assigned him; for he promised to reduce
them to order within this period, and boastfully added that, if they
should be pacified sooner, he would the sooner restore them, to the
senate. Thereupon he first appointed the senators themselves to govern
both classes of provinces, except Egypt. This province alone he
assigned to a knight, the one we have already named, for the reasons
mentioned there. Next he ordained that the governors of senatorial
provinces should be annual magistrates, chosen by lot, except when a
senator enjoyed a special privilege because of the large number of his
children or because of his marriage. These governors were to be sent
out by vote of the senate in public meeting; they were to carry no
sword at their belt nor to wear military uniform; the name of proconsul
was to belong not only to the two ex-consuls but also to the others who
had merely served as praetors or who held at least the rank of
ex-praetors; both classes were to employ as many lictors as were usual
in the capital; and they were to assume the insignia of their office
immediately upon leaving the pomerium and were to wear them constantly
until they returned. The other governors, on the other hand, were to be
chosen by the emperor himself and were to be called his envoys and
propraetors, even if the men selected were ex-consuls. Thus, of these
two titles which had been in vogue so long under the republic, he gave
that of praetor to the men chosen by him, on the ground that from very
early times it had been associated with warfare, calling them
propraetors; and he gave the name of consul to the others, on the
ground that their duties were more peaceful, styling them proconsuls.
For he reserved the full titles of consul and praetor for Italy, and
designated all the governors outside of Italy as acting in their stead.
So, then, he caused the appointed governors to be known as propraetors
and to hold office for as much longer than a year as should please him;
he made them wear the military uniform, and a sword, with which they
are permitted to execute even soldiers. For no one else, whether
proconsul, propraetor, or procurator, has been given the privilege of
wearing a sword without also having been accorded the right to put a
soldier to death; indeed, this right has been granted, not only to the
senators, but also to the knights without are entitled to wear a sword.
So much for this. All the propraetors alike employ five lictors, and,
indeed, all of them except those who were ex-consuls at the time of
appointment to governorships receive their title from this very number.
Both classes alike assume the decorations of their position of
authority when they enter their appointed province and lay them aside
immediately upon completing their term of office.
It was thus and on these conditions that the custom was established of
sending out ex-praetors and ex-consuls respectively as governors of the
two classes of provinces. In the one case, the emperor would commission
a governor to any province he wished and when he wished, and many
secured provincial commands while still praetors or consuls, as
sometimes happens even at the present day. In the case of the
senatorial provinces, he assigned Asia and Africa on his own
responsibility to the ex-consuls, and all the other provinces to the
ex-praetors; but by public decree, applicable to all the senatorial
governors, he forbade the allotment of any senator to a governorship
before the expiration of five years from the time he had held office in
the city. For a time all who fulfilled these requirements, even if they
exceeded the number of the provinces, were allotted to governorships;
but later, inasmuch as some of them did not govern well, the
appointment of these officials, too, was put in the emperor's hands.
And thus it is, in a manner of speaking, the emperor who assigns these
governors also to their commands; for he always orders the allotment of
precisely the number of governors that there are provinces, and orders
to be drawn whomsoever he pleases. Some emperors have sent men of their
own choosing to these provinces also, and have allowed certain of them
to hold office for more than a year; and some have assigned certain
provinces to knights instead of to senators.
These were the principles established at that time in regard to the
particular class of senators who had the right to inflict the death
Pompey upon their subjects in the provinces. For it should be stated
that there is a class who have not this right,— those, namely, who are
sent to the provinces styled the "provinces of the senate and people,"—
I mean those who serve either as quaestors, being designated by lot to
this office, or as assessors to those who hold the actual authority.
For this would be the correct way for me to style these officials,
having regard not to their name, but to their duties as just described,
although others in hellenizing their title call these also "envoys."
Concerning this title, however enough has been said in what precedes.
As to assessors in general, each governor chooses his own, the
ex-praetors selecting one from their peers or even from their
inferiors, and the ex-consuls three from among those of equal rank,
subject to the emperor's approval. For, although a certain change was
made in regard to these men also, yet it soon lapsed and it will be
sufficient to mention it at the proper time.
This is the system followed in the case of the provinces of the people.
To the others, which are called the imperial provinces and have more
than one citizen-legion, are sent officials who are to govern them as
lieutenants; these are appointed by the emperor himself, generally from
the ex-praetors, though also from the ex-quaestors, or men who have
held an office between the praetorship and the quaestorship.
These positions, then, appertain to the senators. Passing now to the
knights, the emperor himself selects knights to be sent out as military
tribunes (both those who are prospective senators and the others;
concerning their difference in rank I have already spoken), despatching
some of them to take command of the garrisons of purely
citizen-legions, and others of the foreign legions as well. In this
matter he follows the custom then instituted by Caesar. The procurators
(for this is the name we give to the men who collect the public
revenues and make disbursement according to the instructions given
them) he sends out to all the provinces alike, to those of the people
as well as to his own, and to this office knights are sometimes
appointed and sometimes even freedmen; but the proconsuls may exact the
tribute from the people they govern. The emperor gives instructions to
the procurators, the proconsuls, and the propraetors, in order that
they may be under definite orders when they go out to their provinces.
For both this practice and the giving of salaries to them and to the
other officials was established at this time. In former times, of
course, certain persons had made a business of furnishing the officials
with all they needed for the conduct of their office, drawing upon the
treasury for the money; but under Caesar these officials now for the
first time began to receive a fixed salary. This was not assigned to
them all on the same basis, but approximately as their needs required;
and the procurators, indicate, get the very title of their rank from
the amount of the salaries assigned to them. The following regulations
were laid down for them all alike: they were not to raise levies of
soldiers or to exact money beyond the amount appointed, unless the
senate should so vote or the emperor so order; and when their
successors arrived, they were to leave the province at once, and not to
delay on the return journey, but to get back within three months.
These regulations were established at that time, to speak generally;
for in reality Caesar himself was destined to have absolute control of
all matters for all time, because he was not only master of the funds
(nominally, to be sure, he had separated the public funds from his own,
but as a matter of fact, he always spent the former also as he saw
fit), but also commanded the soldiers. At all events, when his ten-year
period came to an end, there was voted to him another five years, then
five more, after that ten, and again another ten, and then ten for the
fifth time, so that by the succession of ten-year periods he continued
to be sole ruler for life. And it is for this reason that the
subsequent emperors, though no longer appointed for a specified period,
but for their whole life once for all, nevertheless always held a
celebration every ten years, as if then renewing their sovereignty once
more; and this is done even at the present day.
Now Caesar had received many privileges and honours even previously,
when the question of declining the sovereignty and that of apportioning
the provinces were under discussion. For the right to place the laurel
trees in front of the royal residence and to hang the crown of oak
above them was then voted him to symbolise that he was always victor
over his enemies and the saviour of the citizens. The royal residence
is called Palatium, not because it was ever decreed that this should be
its name, but because Caesar dwelt on the Palatine and had his military
headquarters there, though his residence gained a certain degree of
fame from the mount as a whole also, because Romulus had once lived
there. Hence, even if the emperor resides somewhere else, his dwelling
retains the name of Palatium. And when Caesar had actually carried out
his promises, the name Augustus was at length bestowed upon him by the
senate and by the people. For when they wished to call him by some
distinctive title, and men were proposing one title and another and
urging its selection, Caesar was exceedingly desirous of being called
Romulus, but when he perceived that this caused him to be suspected of
desiring the kingship, he desisted from his efforts to obtain it, and
took the title of "Augustus," signifying that he was more than human;
for all the most precious and sacred objects are termed augusta.
Therefore they addressed him also in Greek as Sebastos, meaning an
august personage, from the passive of the verb sebazo, "to revere."
In this way the power of both people and senate passed entirely into
the hands of Augustus, and from his time there was, strictly speaking,
a monarch; for monarchy would be the truest name for it, no matter if
two or three men did later hold the power at the same time. The name of
monarchy, to be sure, the Romans so detested that they called their
emperors neither dictators nor kings nor anything of the sort; yet
since the final authority for the government devolves upon them, they
must needs be kings. The offices established by the laws, it is true,
are maintained even now, except that of censor; but the entire
direction and administration is absolutely in accordance with the
wishes of the one in power at the time. And yet, in order to preserve
the appearance of having this power by virtue of the laws and not
because of their own domination, the emperors have taken to themselves
all the functions, including the titles, of the offices which under the
republic and by the free gift of the people were powerful, with the
single exception of the dictatorship. Thus, they very often became
consuls, and they are always styled proconsuls whenever they are
outside the pomerium. The name of "imperator" is held by them all for
life, not only by those who have won victories in battle, but also by
those who have not, in token of their independent authority, and this
has displaced the titles of "king" and "dictator." These last titles
they have never assumed since the time they first fell out of use in
the conduct of the government, but the functions of these offices are
secured to them under the appellation of "imperator." By virtue of the
titles named they secure the right to make levies, to collect funds,
declare war, make peace, rule foreigners and citizens alike everywhere
and always,— even to the extent of being able to put to death both
knights and senators inside the pomerium,— and all the other privileges
once granted to the consuls and other officials possessing independent
authority; and by virtue of holding the censorship they investigate our
lives and morals as well as take the census, enrolling some in the
equestrian and senatorial classes and erasing the names of others from
these classes, according to their will. By virtue of being consecrated
in all the priesthoods and of their right to bestow most of these
positions upon others, as well as from the fact that, even if two or
three persons hold the imperial office at the same time, one of them is
high priest, they hold in their own hands supreme authority over all
matters both profane and sacred. The tribunician power, as it is
called, which used to be conferred only upon men of the greatest
influence, gives them the right to nullify the effects of measures
taken by any other official, in case they do not approve it, and makes
them immune from scurrilous abuse; and, if they appear to be wronged in
even the slightest degree, not merely by deed, but even by word, they
may destroy the guilty party, as one accursed, without a trial. The
emperors, it should be explained, do not think it right to be tribunes,
inasmuch as they belong altogether to the patrician class, but they
assume the power of the tribunes to its full extent, as it was when it
was greatest; and in numbering the years they have held the imperial
office they use the tribunician power to mark the stages, the theory
being that they receive it year by year along with those who are
regularly made tribunes. These are the institutions which they have
taken over from the republic, essentially in the form in which they
severally existed then, and also making use of these same names, their
purpose being to create the impression that they possess no power that
has not been granted them. And further, they have acquired also another
prerogative which was given to none of the ancient Romans outright and
unreservedly, and the possession of this alone would enable them to
exercise the powers above named and the others besides. For they have
been released from the laws, as the very words in Latin declare; that
is, they are free from all compulsion of the laws and are bound by none
of the written ordinances. Thus by virtue of these democratic names
they have clothed themselves with all the powers of the government, to
such an extent that they actually possess all the prerogatives of kings
except their paltry title. For the appellation "Caesar" or "Augustus"
confers upon them no peculiar power, but merely shows in the one case
that they are heirs of the family to which they belong, and in the
other the splendour of their official position. The term "Father"
perhaps gives them a certain authority over us all — the authority
which fathers once had over their children; yet it did not signify this
at first, but betokened honour, and served as an admonition both to
them, that they should love their subjects as they would their
children, and to their subjects, that they should revere them as they
would their fathers.
Such is the number and nature of the appellations which those who
possess the imperial power employ in accordance with the laws and with
what has now become tradition. At present all of them are, as a rule,
bestowed upon the emperors at one and the same time, with the exception
of the title of censor; but to the earlier emperors they were voted
separately the different times. As regards the censorship, some of them
took it in accordance with the ancient practice, and Domitian, in fact,
took it for life, but this is no longer done at the present day; for,
inasmuch as they possess its powers, they are not elected to the office
and do not use the title except in connexion with the census.
In this way the government was changed at that time for the better and
in the interest of greater security; for it was no doubt quite
impossible for the people to be saved under a republic. Nevertheless,
the events occurring after this time can not be recorded in the same
manner as those of previous times. Formerly, as we know, all matters
were reported to the senate and to the people, even if they happened at
a distance; hence all learned of them and many recorded them, and
consequently the truth regarding them, no matter to what extent fear or
favour, friendship or enmity, coloured the reports of certain writers,
was always to a certain extent to be found in the works of the other
writers who wrote of the same events and in the public records. But
after this time most things that happened began to be kept secret and
concealed, and even though some things are perchance made public, they
are distrusted just because they can not be verified; for it is
suspected that everything is said and done with reference to the wishes
of the men in power at the time and of their associates. As a result,
much that never occurs is noised abroad, and much that happens beyond a
doubt is unknown, and in the case of nearly every event a version gains
currency that is different from the way it really happened.
Furthermore, the very magnitude of the empire and the multitude of
things that occur render accuracy in regard to them most difficult. In
Rome, for example, much is going on, and much in the subject territory,
while, as regards our enemies, there is something happening all the
time, in fact, every day, and concerning these things no one except the
participants can easily have correct information, and most people do
not even hear of them at all. Hence in my own narrative of later
events, so far as they need to be mentioned, everything that I shall
say will be in accordance with reports that have been given out,
whether it be really the truth or otherwise. In addition to these
reports, however, my own opinion will be given, as far as possible,
whenever I have been able, from the abundant evidence which I have
gathered from my reading, from hearsay, and from what I have seen, to
form a judgment that differs from the common report.
Caesar, as I have said, received the name of Augustus, and a sign of no
little moment to him occurred that very night; for the Tiber overflowed
and covered all of Rome that was on low ground, so that it was
navigable for boats. From this sign the soothsayers prophesied that he
would rise to great heights and hold the whole city under his sway. And
while various persons were trying to outbid one another in different
kinds of flattery toward him, one Sextus Pacuvius, or, as others say,
Apudius, surpassed them all. In the open senate, namely, he dedicated
himself to him after the fashion of the Spaniards and advised the
others to do the same. And when Augustus hindered him, he rushed out to
the crowd that was standing near, and, as he was tribune, compelled
them first and then the rest, as he went up and down the streets and
lanes, to dedicate themselves to Augustus. From this episode we are
wont even now to say, in appealing to the sovereign, "We have dedicated
ourselves to you."
Pacuvius ordered all to offer sacrifice in view of this occurrence, and
before the multitude he once declared that he was going to make
Augustus his heir on equal terms with his own son,— not that he had
much of anything, but because he hoped to receive still more; and so it
actually turned out. Augustus attended to all the business of the
empire with more zeal than before, as if he had received it as a free
gift from all the Romans, and in particular he enacted many laws. I
need not enumerate them all accurately one by one, but only those which
have a bearing upon my history; and I shall follow this same course
also in the case of later events, in order not to become wearisome by
introducing all that kind of detail that even the men who devote
themselves to such studies do not know to a nicety. He did not,
however, enact all these laws on his sole responsibility, but some of
them he brought before the public assembly in advance, in order that,
if any features caused displeasure, he might learn it in time and
correct them; for he encouraged everybody whatsoever to give him
advice, in case any one thought of any possible improvement in them,
and he accorded them complete liberty of speech, and actually changed
some provisions of the proposed laws. Most important of all, he took as
advisers for periods of six months the consuls (or the other consul,
when he himself also held the office), one of each of the other kinds
of officials, and fifteen men chosen by lot from the remainder of the
senatorial body, with the result that all legislation proposed by the
emperors is usually communicated after a fashion through this body to
all the other senators; for although he brought certain matters before
the whole senate, yet he generally followed this plan, considering it
better to take under preliminary advisement most matters and the most
important ones in consultation with a few; and sometimes he even sat
with these men in the trial of cases. The senate as a body, it is true,
continued to sit in judgment as before, and in certain cases transacted
business with embassies and heralds, from both peoples and kings; and
the people and the plebs, moreover, continued to meet for the
elections; but nothing was done that did not please Caesar. It was he,
at any rate, who selected and placed in nomination some of the men who
were to hold office, and though in the case of others he adhered to the
ancient custom and left them under the control of the people and the
plebs, yet he took care that none should be appointed who were unfit or
as the result of partisan cliques or bribery.
It was in this way, broadly speaking, that he administered the empire.
I shall now relate in detail also such of his acts as call for mention,
together with the names of the consuls under which they were performed.
In the year already named, perceiving that the roads outside the walls
had become difficult to travel as the result of neglect, he ordered
various senators to repair the others at their own expense, and he
himself looked after the Flaminian Way, since he was going to lead an
army out by that route. This road was finished promptly at that time,
and statues of Augustus were accordingly erected on arches on the
bridge over the Tiber and at Ariminum; but the other roads were
repaired later, at the expense either of the public (for none of the
senators liked to spend money upon them) or of Augustus, as one chooses
to put it. For I am unable to distinguish between the two funds, no
matter how extensively Augustus coined into money silver statues of
himself which had been set up by certain of his friends and by certain
of the subject peoples, purposing thereby to make it appear that all
the expenditures which he claimed to be making were from his own means.
Therefore I have no opinion to record as to whether a particular
emperor on a particular occasion got the money from the public funds or
gave it himself. For both courses were frequently followed; and why
should one enter such expenditures as loans or as gifts respectively,
when both the people and the emperor are constantly resorting to both
the one and the other indiscriminately?
These were the acts of Augustus at that time. He also set out to make
an expedition into Britain, but on coming to the provinces of Gaul
lingered there. For the Britons seemed likely to make terms with him,
and the affairs of the Gauls were still unsettled, as the civil wars
had begun immediately after their subjugation. He took a census of the
inhabitants and regulated their life and government. From Gaul he
proceeded into Spain, and established order there also.
After this he became consul for the eighth time, together with
Statilius Taurus, and Agrippa dedicated the structure called the
Saepta; for instead of undertaking to repair a road, Agrippa had
adorned with marble tablets and paintings this edifice in the Campus
Martius, which had been constructed by Lepidus with porticos all around
it for the meetings of the comitia tributa, and he named it the Saepta
Iulia in honour of Augustus. And Agrippa not only incurred no jealousy
on this account, but was greatly honoured both by Augustus himself and
by all the rest of the people. The reason was that he consulted and
coöperated with Augustus in the most humane, the most celebrated,
and the most beneficial projects, and yet did not claim in the
slightest degree a share in the glory of them, but used the honours
which the emperor bestowed, not for personal gain or enjoyment, but for
the benefit of the donor himself and of the public. On the other hand,
Cornelius Gallus was encouraged to insolence by the honour shown him.
Thus, he indulged in a great deal of disrespectful gossip about
Augustus and was guilty of many reprehensible actions besides; for he
not only set up images of himself practically everywhere in Egypt, but
also inscribed upon the pyramids a list of his achievements. For this
act he was accused by Valerius Largus, his comrade and intimate, and
was disfranchised by Augustus, so that he was prevented from living in
the emperor's provinces. After this had happened, many others attacked
him and brought numerous indictments against him. The senate
unanimously voted that he should be convicted in the courts, exiled,
and deprived of his estate, that his estate should be given to
Augustus, and that the senate itself should offer sacrifices.
Overwhelmed by grief at this, Gallus committed suicide before the
decrees took effect; and the insincerity of the majority of people was
again proved by his case, in that they now treated the man whom
formerly they had been wont to flatter in such a way that they forced
him to die by his own hand, and then went over to Largus because he was
beginning to grow powerful — though they were certain to vote the same
measures against him all, if a similar situation should arise in his
case. Proculeius, however, conceived such contempt for Largus that
once, on meeting him, he clapped his hand over his nose and month,
thereby hinting to the bystanders that it was not safe even to breathe
in the man's presence. Another man, although unknown to him, approached
him with witnesses and asked Largus if he knew him; then, when the
other replied that he did not, he recorded his denial on a tablet, as
though the rascal could not blackmail even a man whom he had not
previously known. But we see how most men rather emulate the deeds of
others, even though they be evil deeds, than guard against their fate,
by what Marcus Egnatius Rufus did at this very time. He had been an
aedile, and in addition to having performed his duties well in many
other ways, had with his own slaves and other persons whom he hired
helped to save the houses that took fire during his year of office, and
in return for all this he had received from the people the amount of
the expenditures incurred in the discharge of his office and had been
elected praetor contrary to law. But he became so elated over these
very honours and so contemptuous of Augustus, that he issued a bulletin
that he had handed the city over unimpaired and intact to his
successor. All the most prominent men became indignant at this,
Augustus himself most of all; and he was not long afterward to teach
the fellow a lesson, not to exalt his mind above the mass of mankind.
For the time being, however, he ordered the aediles to take care that
no building took fire, and if anything of the sort did happen, to put
the fire out.
In this same year Polemon, the king of Pontus, was enrolled among the
friends and allies of the Roman people; and the privilege was granted
the senators of occupying the front seats in all the theatres of his
realm. Augustus was planning an expedition into Britain, since the
people there would not come to terms, but he was detained by the revolt
of the Salassi and by the hostility of the Cantabri and Astures. The
former dwell at the foot of the Alps, as I have stated, whereas both
the other tribes occupy the strongest part of the Pyrenees on the side
of Spain, together with the plain which lies below. For these reasons
Augustus, who was now consul for the ninth time, with Marcus Silanus as
colleague, sent Terentius Varro against the Salassi. Varro invaded
their country at many points at the same time, in order that they might
not join forces and so be more difficult to subdue; and he conquered
them very easily, inasmuch as they attacked his divisions only in small
groups. After forcing them to come to terms he demanded a stated sum of
money, as if he were going to impose no other punishment; then, sending
soldiers everywhere ostensibly to collect the money, he arrested those
who were of military age and sold them, on the understanding that none
of them should be liberated within twenty years. The best of their land
was given to some of the Pretorians, and later on received the city
called Augusta Praetoria. Augustus himself waged war upon the Astures
and upon the Cantabri at one and the same time. But these peoples would
neither yield to him, because they were confident on account of their
strongholds, nor would they come to close quarters, owing to their
inferior numbers and the circumstance that most of them were
javelin-throwers, and, besides, they kept causing him a great deal of
annoyance, always forestalling him by seizing the higher ground
whenever a manoeuvre was attempted, and lying in ambush for him in the
valleys and woods. Accordingly Augustus found himself in very great
embarrassment, and having fallen ill from over-exertion and anxiety, he
retired to Tarraco and there remained in poor health. Meanwhile Gaius
Antistius fought against them and accomplished a good deal, not because
he was a better general than Augustus, but because the barbarians felt
contempt for him and so joined battle with the Romans and were
defeated. In this way he captured a few places, and afterwards Titus
Carisius took Lancia, the principal fortress of the Astures, after it
had been abandoned, and also won over many other places.
Upon the conclusion of this war Augustus discharged the more aged of
his soldiers and allowed them to found a city in Lusitania, called
Augusta Emerita. For those who were still of military age he arranged
some exhibitions in the very camps, under the direction of Tiberius and
Marcellus, since they were aediles. To Juba he gave portions of
Gaetulia in return for the prince's hereditary domain, the most of
whose inhabitants had been enrolled in the Roman state, and also the
possessions of Bocchus and Bogud. On the death of Amyntas he did not
entrust his kingdom to the sons of the deceased, but made it a part of
the subject territory. Thus Galatia together with Lycaonia obtained a
Roman governor, and the portions of Pamphylia formerly assigned to
Amyntas were restored to their own district. About this same time
Marcus Vinicius took vengeance upon some of the Germans because they
had arrested and slain Romans who entered their country to trade with
them; and thus he, too, caused the title of imperator to be bestowed
upon Augustus. For this and his other exploits of this period a
triumph, as well as the title, was voted to Augustus; but as he did not
care to celebrate it, a triumphal arch was erected in the Alps in his
honour and he was granted the right always to wear both the crown and
the triumphal garb on the first day of the year.
After these achievements in the wars Augustus closed the precinct of
Janus, which had been opened because of these wars. Meanwhile Agrippa
beautified the city at his own expense. First, in honour of the naval
victories he completed the building called the Basilica of Neptune and
lent it added brilliance by the painting representing the Argonauts.
Next he constructed the Laconian sudatorium. He gave the name
"Laconian" to the gymnasium because the Lacedaemonians had a greater
reputation at that time than anybody else for stripping and exercising
after anointing themselves with oil. Also he completed the building
called the Pantheon. It has this name, perhaps because it received
among the images which decorated it the statues of many gods, including
Mars and Venus; but my own opinion of the name is that, because of its
vaulted roof, it resembles the heavens. Agrippa, for his part, wished
to place a statue of Augustus there also and to bestow upon him the
honour of having the structure named after him; but when the emperor
wouldn't accept either honour, he placed in the temple itself a statue
of the former Caesar and in the ante-room statues of Augustus and
himself. This was done, not out of any rivalry or ambition on Agrippa's
part to make himself equal to Augustus, but from his hearty loyalty to
him and his constant zeal for the public good; hence Augustus, so far
from censuring him for it, honoured them the more. For example, when he
himself was prevented by illness from being in Rome at that time and
celebrating there the marriage of his daughter Julia and his nephew
Marcellus, he commissioned Agrippa to hold the festival in his absence;
and when the house on the Palatine Mount which had formerly belonged to
Antony but had later been given to Agrippa and Messalla was burned
down, he presented money to Messalla, but made Agrippa share his own
house. Agrippa not unnaturally took great pride in these honours. And
one Gaius Toranius also acquired a good reputation because while
tribune he brought his father, although a freedman of somebody or
other, into the theatre and made him sit beside him upon the tribunes'
bench. Publius Servilius, too, made a name for himself because while
praetor he caused to be slain at a festival three hundred bears and
other African wild beasts equal in number.
Augustus now became consul for the tenth time, with Gaius Norbanus as
colleague, and on the first day of the year the senate confirmed his
acts by taking oaths. And when the word was brought that he was already
drawing near the city (for his illness had delayed his return), and he
promised to give the people four hundred sesterces each, though he
forbad the posting of the edict concerning the donatives until the
senate should give its approval, they freed him from all compulsion of
the laws, in order, as I have stated, that he might be in reality
independent supreme both over himself and the laws and so might do
everything he wished and refrain from doing anything he did not wish.
This right was voted to him while he was yet absent; and upon his
arrival in Rome various other privileges were accorded him in honour of
his recovery and return. Marcellus was given the right to be a senator
among the ex-praetors and to stand for the consulship ten years earlier
than was customary, while Tiberius was permitted to stand for each
office five years before the regular age; and he was at once elected
quaestor and Marcellus aedile. And when there were not enough men to
serve as quaestors in the provinces, all drew lots for the places who
during the ten years previous had held the quaestorship without being
assigned to any province.
These, then, were the noteworthy occurrences that took place in the
city at that time. As soon as Augustus had departed from Spain, leaving
behind Lucius Aemilius as its governor, the Cantabri and the Astures
revolted; and sending word to Aemilius, before revealing to him the
least sign whatever of their purpose, they said that they wished to
make a present to his army of grain and other things. Then, after
securing a considerable number of soldiers, ostensibly to take back the
presents, they conducted them to places for their purpose and murdered
them. Their satisfaction, however, was short-lived; for their country
was devastated, some of their forts burned, and, worst of all, the
hands of all who were caught were cut off, and so they were quietly
subdued.
While this was going on, another and a new campaign had at once its
beginning and its end. It was conducted by Aelius Gallus, the governor
of Egypt, against the country called Arabia Felix, of which Sabos was
king. At first Aelius encountered no one, yet he did not proceed
without difficulty; for the desert, the sun, and the water (which had
some peculiar nature) all caused his men great distress, so that the
larger part of the army perished. The malady proved to be unlike any of
the common complaints, but attacked the head and caused it to become
parched, killing forthwith most of those who were attacked, but in the
case of those who survived this stage it descended to the legs,
skipping all the intervening parts of the body, and cause dire injury
to them. There was no remedy for it except a mixture of olive-oil and
wine, both taken as a drink and used as an ointment; and this remedy
naturally lay within reach of only a few of them, since the country
produces neither of these articles and the men had not prepared an
abundant supply of them beforehand. In the midst of this trouble the
barbarians also fell upon them. For hitherto they had been defeated
whenever they joined battle, and had even been losing some places; but
now, with the disease as their ally, they not only won back their own
possessions, but also drove the survivors of the expedition out of the
country. These were the first of the Romans, and, I believe, the only
ones, to traverse so much of this part of Arabia for the purpose of
making war; for they advanced as far as the place called Athlula, a
famous locality.
When Augustus was consul for the eleventh time, with Calpurnius Piso,
he fell so ill once more as to have no hope of recovery; at any rate,
he arranged everything as if he were about to die, and gathered about
him the magistrates and the foremost senators and knights. He did not,
to be sure, appoint a successor, although all were expecting that
Marcellus would be preferred for this position, but after talking with
them awhile about the public affairs, he gave Piso the list of the
forces and of the public revenues written in a book, and handed his
ring to Agrippa. And although he lost the power of attending even to
the most urgent matters, yet a certain Antonius Musa restored him to
health by means of cold baths and cold potions. For this, Musa received
a great deal of money from both Augustus and the senate, as well as the
right to wear gold rings (for he was a freedman), and he was granted
exemption from taxes, both for himself and for the members of his
profession, not only those living at the time but also those of future
generations. But it was fated that he who had taken to himself the
functions of Fortune or Destiny should speedily be caught in her toils;
for though Augustus had been saved in this manner, yet when Marcellus
fell ill not long afterward and was treated in the same way by Musa, he
died. Augustus gave him a public burial after the customary eulogies,
placing him in the tomb he was building, and as a memorial to him
finished the theatre whose foundations had already been laid by the
former Caesar and which was now called the theatre of Marcellus. And he
ordered also that a golden image of the deceased, a golden crown, and a
curule chair should be carried into the theatre at the Ludi Romani and
should be placed in the midst of the officials having charge of the
games.
This he did later; at the time, after being restored to health, he
brought his will into the senate and desired to read it, by way of
showing people that he had left no successor to his realm; but he did
not read it, for none would permit it. Absolutely everybody, however,
was astonished at him because, although he loved Marcellus both as
son-in-law and nephew, and in addition to other honours shown him had
to such an extent helped him make a brilliant success of the festival
which he gave as aedile that he had sheltered the Forum during the
whole summer by means of curtains stretched overhead and had exhibited
on the stage a dancer who was a knight, and also a woman of high birth,
nevertheless he had not entrusted to him the monarchy, but actually had
preferred Agrippa before him. Thus it would appear that he was not yet
confident of the youth's judgment, and that he either wished the people
to regain their liberty or for Agrippa to receive the leadership from
them. For he well understood that Agrippa was exceedingly beloved by
them and he preferred not to seem to be committing the supreme power to
him on his own responsibility. When he recovered, for, and learned that
Marcellus because of this was not friendly toward Agrippa, he
immediately sent the latter to Syria, so that no occasion for scoffing
or for skirmishing might arise between them by their being together.
And Agrippa straightway set out from the city, but did not reach Syria;
instead, acting with even more than his usual moderation, he sent his
lieutenants thither, and tarried himself in Lesbos.
Besides doing all these things in the manner related, Augustus
appointed ten praetors, feeling that he no longer required a larger
number; and this happened for several years. Most of them were to
perform the same duties as formerly, but two were to be in charge of
the financial administration each year. Having arranged these matters
in detail, he went to the Alban Mount and resigned the consulship. For
ever since conditions had become settled, both he himself and most of
his colleagues had held the office for the whole year, and he now
wished to end this practice, in order that as many as possible might
become consuls; and he resigned outside the city, to prevent being
hindered from his purpose. For this act he received praised, as also
because he chosen in his stead Lucius Sestius, who had always been an
enthusiastic follower of Brutus, had fought with him in all his wars,
and even at this time kept alive his memory, had images of him, and
delivered eulogies upon him. Augustus, it would appear, so far from
disliking the man's devotion and loyalty, actually honoured these
qualities in him. And because of this the senate voted that Augustus
should be tribune for life and gave him the private of bringing before
the senate at each meeting any one matter at whatever time he liked,
even if he were not consul at the time; they also permitted him to hold
once and for all and for life the office of proconsul, so that he had
neither to lay it down upon entering the pomerium nor to have it
renewed again, and they gave him in the subject territory authority
superior to that of the governor in each instance. As a result both he
and the emperors after him gained a certain legal right to use the
tribunician power as well as their other powers; for the title of
tribune itself was taken neither by Augustus nor by any other emperor.
And it seems to me that he then acquired these privileges as related,
not by way of flattery, but because he was truly honoured; for in most
ways he comported himself toward the Romans as if they were free
citizens. Thus, when Tiridates in person and envoys from Phraates came
to settle their mutual recriminations, he brought them before the
senate; and afterwards, when the decision of the question had been
referred to him by that body, he did not surrender Tiridates to
Phraates, but sent back to the latter his son whom he had once received
from him and was keeping, on condition that the captives and the
military standards taken in the disasters of Crassus and of Antony
should be returned.
During this same year one of the minor aediles died and Gaius
Calpurnius succeeded him, in spite of having served previously as one
of the major aediles. This is not recorded as having occurred in the
case of any other man. During the Feriae there were two prefects of the
city for each day; and one of them held the office in spite of the fact
that he had not yet the standing even of a youth.
Livia, now, was accused of having caused the death of Marcellus,
because he had been preferred before her sons; but the justice of this
suspicion became a matter of controversy by reason of the character
both of that year and of the year following, which proved so
unhealthful that great numbers perished during them. And, just as it
usually happens that some sign occurs before such events, so on this
occasion a wolf was caught in the city, fire and storm damaged many
buildings, and the Tiber, rising, carried away the wooden bridge and
made the city navigable for boats during three days.
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