From Augustus to Tiberius
*
WHEN Rome was first a city, its rulers were kings. Then Lucius funius Brutus created the consulate and fiee Republican institutions in general. Dictatorships were assumed in emergencies. A Council of Ten did not last more than two years; and then there was a short-lived arrangement by which senior army officers - the commanders of contingents provided by the tribesl - possessed consular authority. Subsequently Cinna and Sulla set up autocracies, but they too were brief Soon Pompey and Crassus acquired predominant positions, but rapidly lost them to Caesar. Next, the military strength which Lepidus and Antony had built up was absorbed by Augustus. He Fund the whole state exhausted by internal dissensions, and established over it o,nal regime known as the Principate 2
Famous writers have recorded Rome's early glories and disasters. The Augustan Age, too, had its distinguished historians. But then the rising tide of flattery exercised a deterrent effect. The reigns of Tiberius, Gaius, Claudius, and Nero were described during their lifetimes in fictitious terms, for fear of the consequences; whereas the accounts written after their deaths were influenced by still raging animosities.
1. See Key to Technical Terms (TRIBES).
2. Tacitus refers to the following events: 753 B.C. legendary date ofthe foundation of Rome, 5 It kings supposedly expelled by LuciusJunius Brutus, 45 I-49 constitution suspended in favour of two successive annual Councils of Ten to prepare codes of laws, 444-367 (at intervals) commanders oftribal contingents granted consular powers, 87-4 four consulates of Lucius Cornelius Cinna, 82-79 Sulla's dictatorship, 60/59-3 informal 'First Triumvirate' of Pompey, Marcus Licinius Crassus, and Julius Caesar, 49-4 Julius Caesar's dictatorships, 43 Second Triumvirate' of Antony, Octavian (the future Augustus), and Marcus Aemilius Lepidus (III), 43 deaths of Brutus and Cassius, 36 Sextus Pompeius deflated and Lepidus dropped, 30 suicide of Antony.
So I have decided to say a little about Augustus.
with sFuecia] attention to his last period, and then go on to the reign
of Tiberius and what followed. Install Trite M ithout indignation to partisanship:in
my case the (~mary)incentives to these are la living.
Thevtotent deaths of 33rutus and Cassius luff ncB Rcr)ubli -SEA forces in
the field. Defeat came to Sextus Ponlp iuc in Sicily, L pidus was dropped,
Antony tilled. So Edgar tll~ Ca sarian park 1laci no leader leS except the
'Caesa-' himself, O tasfian Sac gave 1p tilt title of Triumvir, emphasizing
instca it is pC)siei OIl as COIlSUI ; an d tilt ;rc~X^rcrs of a tribune,
he pro laimcd, Ad or go~)c cn~.~ucYh tor hiIll - grove ;rs for the protection
oI ordir;an p ovrl .
He seduced the aridly \N'itll bonusSC. aI2d his cilcap food poli<z was
successful bait for civilians. Ind d. he aLtractcG C\fCr ) b ceda-'s go
odeFill by the enjoyable gift of peace. Thel] he gradual]) ptlshod ahead
and absorbed the functions of tnc scllatc, tilt oPrlcials, and t'RrCI] thy
law. Opposition did not exist. 9; ar or judicial Inu. ci r had disposed
of all men of spirit. Upper-class sure is cart, found eilae s as ish otrc
di ncc aa as the way to succeed, bosh politic.lll) abed filaatl sally. They
had profited from the revolution, and so IIC!\7~ thcR lilted tile sccuri~5-
of the existing arrangement better than she dank routs uncertaillties of
the old regime. Besides, the neu order was popular in th provinces. There,
government by Sena.c anc Pcoplc M~t25 I o pi d tl~ron so pti all) as a matter
of sparring digni.a its and c~;torvio.latc officials. The legal system had
provided no remedy acai 1st theses SillCC it ma as as no1ly mcapacitated
by violence, favotl-i.ism, aild - midst of all - brib n .
To safeguard his domination .t,.laustus made his sister's SOII i\'lar_ cellus
a priest and a curule acdile _ Ar, spitW of his cv~=eme youelI _ and singled
out Marcus Agrippa, a comlmoIler but a 1rst-rate soldier GArho had helped
to win his victori s, ks the 2Xa ard of SR'O consecutive collsulships; after
the death of Marcelius, 4£ri:~Pa vitas ChOS"Il b) Au£;ustus
as his son-in-law. Next the emperor had his stepsons Tiberitls and Nero
Drusus hailed publici) as R i:rtorious P cncrals. Ethers he did this, however,
there was no lack of heirs of his OWI1 blood:th re were Agrippa s sons Gaius
Caesar and I ucius Caesar. Augustus had adopted them into the imperial family
He had also, despite pretended reluc~ce, been passionately eager that, even
as minors1 then should be entltled Prmces of Youth and have consulships
reserved for them. After AgrlPpa had died, first Lucius Caesar and then
Gaius Caesar met with
premature natural deaths - unless their stepmother Livia had a secret hand
in them. Lucius died on his way to the armies in Spain, Gaius while returning
from Armenia incapacitated by a wound.
Nero Drusus was long dead. Tiberius was the only surviving stepson; and
everything pointed in his direction. He was adopted as the emperor's son
and as partner in his powers (with civil and military authority and the
powers of a tribune) and displayed to all the armies. No longer was this
due to his mother's secret machinations, as previously. This time she requested
it openly. Livia had the aged Augustus firmly under control - so much so
that he exiled his only surviving grandson to the island of Planasia. That
was the young, physically tough, indeed brutish, Agrippa Postumus. Though
devoid of every good quality, he had been involved in no scandal. Nevertheless,
it was not he but Germanicus, the son of Nero Drusus, whom the emperor placed
in command ofthe eight divisions on the Rhine - and, although Tiberius had
a grown son of his own, he ordered him to adopt Germanicus. For Augustus
wanted to have another iron in the fire.
At this time there was no longer any fighting - except a war against the
Germans; and that was designed lcss to extend the empire's frontiers, or
achieve any lucrative purpose, than to avenge the disgrace of the army lost
with Publius Quinctilius Varus. In the capital the situation was calm. The
titles of officials remained the same. Actiuln had been won before the yotmger
men were born. Even most of the older generation had come into a world of
civil wars. Practically no one had C ever seen truly Rcpublican govcrnment.\Tlle
cotultry had been transformed, and there was nothing left of the fine old
Roman character. Political equality was a thing of the past; all eyes watched
for imperial commands.
Nobody had any immediate worries as long as Augustus retained his physical
powers, and kept himself going, and his House, and the peace of the empire.
Btlt when old age incapacitated him, his ape proaching end brought hopes
of change. A few people started idly talking of the blessings of freedom.
Some, more numerous, feared civil war; others wanted it. The great majority,
however, exchanged critical gossip about candidates for the succession.
First, Agrippa Postumus - a savage without either the years or the training
needed for imperial responsibilities. Tiberius, on the other hand, had the
seniority and the military reputation. But he also possessed the ancient,
ingrained arrogance-of the Claudian family; and signs of a cruel disposition
kept breaking out, repress them as he might. Besides, it was argued, he
had been brought up from earliest youth in an imperial household, had accumulated
early consulships and Triumphs, and even during the years at RhodesI - which
looked like banishment but were called retirement - his thoughts had been
solely occupied with resentment, deception, and secret sensuality. And then
there was that feminine bully, his mother. ' So we have got to be slaves
to a woman', people were saying, 'and to the two halfgrown boys Germanicus
and Drusus. First they will be a burden to the State - then they will tear
it in two !'
Amid this sort of conversation the health of Augustus detcriorated. Some
suspected his wife of foul play. For rumour had it that a few months earlier,
with the knowledge of his immediate circle but accompanied only by Paullus
Fabius Maximus, he had gone to Planasia to visit Agrippa Postumus; and that
there had been such a tearful display of affection on both sides that the
young man seemed very likcly to be received back into the home of his grandfather.
Maximus, it was further said, had told his wife, Marcia, of this, and she
had warned Livia - but the emperor had discovered the leakage, and when
Maximus died shortly afterwards (perhaps by his own hand) l1is widow had
been heard at the funeral moaning and blaming herself for her husband's
death. Whatever the true facts about this, Tiberius was recalled from his
post in IIlyricum (immediately after his arrival therc) by an urgent letter
from his mother. When he arrived at Nola, it is unknown whether he found
Augustus alive or dead. For the house and neighbouring streets were carefully
sealed by Livia's guards. At intervals, hopeful reports were published-
until the steps demanded by the situation had been taken. Then two pieces
of news became known simultaneously:Augustus was dead, and Tiberius was
in control.
The new reign's first crime was the assassination of Agrippa Postumus. He
was killed by a staS-oilcer - who found it a hard task, though he was a
persevering murderer and the victim taken by surprise unarmed. Tiberius
said nothing about the matter in the senate. He pretended that the orders
came from Augustus, who was alleged to have instructed the colonel in charge
to kill Agrippa Postumus as soon as I. Tibenus spent the years 6 B.CnA.D.
2 on the island of Rhodes.
Augustus himself was dead. It is true that Augustus' scathing criticisms
of the young man's behaviour were undoubtedly what had prompted the senate
to decree his banishment. But the emperor had never been callous enough
to kill any of his relations, and that he should murder his own grandchild
to remove the worries of a stepson seemed incredible. It would be nearer
the truth to suppose that Tiberius because he was afraid, and Livia through
stepmotherly malevolence, loathed and distrusted the young Agrippa Postumus
and got rid of him at the first opportunity. But when the staS-ofElcer reported
in military fashion that he had carried out his orders, Tiberius answered
that he had given no orders and that what had been done would have to be
accounted for in the senate.
This came to the notice of Tiberius' confidant, Gaius Sallustius Crispus.
It was he who had sent instructions to the colonel, and he was afraid that
the responsibility might be shifted to himself- in which case either telling
the truth or lying would be equally risky. So he warned Livia that palace
secrets, and the advice of friends, and services performed by the army,
were best undivulged; and Tiberius must not weaken the throne by referring
everything to the senate. The whole point of autocracy, Crispus observed,
is that the accounts will not cor le right unless the ruler is their only
auditor.
Meanwhile at Rome consuls, senate, knights, precipitately became servile.
The more distinguished men were, the greater their urgency and insincerity.
They must show neither satisfaction at the death of one emperor, nor gloom
at the accession of another:so their features were carefully arranged in
a blend of tears and smiles, mourning and flattcry. The first to swear allegiance
to Tiberius Caesar were the consuls Sextus Pompeius (II) and Sextus Appuleius;
then in their presence the commander of the Guard, Lucius Scius Strabo,
and the controller of the corn-supply, Gaius Turranius; next the senate,
army, and public. For Tiberius made a habit of always allowing the consuls
the initiative, as though the Republic still existed and he himself were
uncertain whether to take charge or not. Even the edict with which he summoned
the senate to its House was merely issued by virtue of the tribune's power
which he had received under Augustus. His edict was brief, and very unpretentious.
In it he proposed to arrange his father's last honours, -and stay by the
side of his body. This, he said, was the only State business which he was
assuming.
Nevertheless, when Augustus died Tiberius had given the watchword to the
Guard as its commander. He already had the trappings of a court, too, such
as personal bodyguards and men-at-arms. When he went to the Forum, or into
the senate, he had soldiers to escort him. He sent letters to the armies
as though he were already emperor. He only showed signs of hesitation when
he addressed the senate. This was chiefly because of Germanicus, who was
extremely popular and disposed of a large Roman force and hordes of auxiliary
troops. Tiberius was afraid Germanicus might prefer the throne to the prospect
of it. Besides, in deference to public OpilliOIl, Tiberius wanted to seem
the person chosen and called by the State- instead of one who had wormed
his way in by an old man's adoption, and intrigues oftlle old man's wife.
Afterwards it was understood that Tiberius had pro tended to be hesitant
for another reason too, in order to detect what leading men were thinking.
Every word, every look he twisted into some criminal significance - and
stored there up in his lllCIllOry.
At the senate's first meeting he allowed no business to be discussed except
the funeral of Augustus. But first the emperor's will was brought in by
the priestesses of Vesta. Tiberius and Livia were his heirs, and Livia was
adopted into theJulian family with the name of 'Augusta'. Grandchildren
and great-grandchildren had been named as heirs in the second degree. In
the third degree came the most prominent men in the State; Augustus had
detested a good many of them, but their inclusion bragged to posterity that
he had been their friend. His legacies were in keeping with the standards
of ordinary citizens, except that he left 43,S··,···
sesterces to the nation and people of Rome, a thousand to every Guardsman,
five hundred each to the troops of the capital, three hundred to every citizen
soldier, whether he belonged to a regular brigade or to an auxiliary battalion.
A discussion of the funeral followed. The proposals regarded as most noteworthy
were those of Gaius Asinius Gallus and Lucius Arruntius. What Gallus wanted
was that the procession should pass through a triumphal arch. Arruntius
proposed that the body should be preceded by placards showing the titles
of every law Augustus had passed and the names of every people he had conquered.
Marcus Valerius Messalla Messallinus (I) also suggested that the oath of
allegiance to Tiberius should be repeated every year. When Tiberius asked
him to confirm that he, Tiberius, had not prompted t his pro
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posal, Messalla answered that it was his own idea - and that in matters
of public importance he intended to use his own judgement and no one else's,
even at the risk of causing offence. This show of independence was the only
sort of flattery left.
Members clamoured that the body of Augustus should be carried to the pyre
on the shoulders of senators. Tiberius, with condescending leniency, excused
them. He also published an edict requesting the populace not to repeat the
disturbances - due to over-enthusiasm - at the funeral ofJulius Caesar,
by pressing for Augustus to be cremated in the Forum instead of the Field
of Mars, his appointed place of rest. On the day of the funeral the troops
were out, apparently for protective purposes. This caused much jeering from
people who had witnessed, or heard from their parents, about that day (when
the nation's enslavement was still rudimentary) of the ill-starred attempt
to recover Republican freedom by murdering the dictator Caesar - a fearful
crime? or a conspicuously glorious achievement? Now, they said, this aged
autocrat Augustus seems to nced a military guard to ensure his undisturbed
burial, in spite of his lengthy domination and the foresight with which
his heirs, too, have been allocated resources for the suppression of the
old order.
t1 q Then there was mtlch discussion of Augustus himself. Most people were
struck by mcaningless points such as the coincidence between the dates of
his first public OICC and lais dcatll, and the fact that he died in the
same house and room at Nola as his father, Gaius Octavius. There was also
talk about his numerous consulships - which equalled the combined totals
of Marcus Valerius Corvus and Gaius Marius - of his tribtme's power COlltillUOUS
for thirty-seven years, of the twenty-one times he was hailed as victor,
and of his other honours, traditional or novel, single or repeated. Intclligent
people praised or criticized him in varying terms. One OpilliOIl was as
follows. Filial duty and a national emergency, in which there was no place
for law-abiding conduct, had driven him to civil war - and this can be neither
initiated nor maintained by decent methods. He had made many concessions
to Antony and to Lepidus for the sake of vengeance on his father's murderers.
When Lepidus grew old and lazy, and Antony's selfndulgence got the better
of him, the only possible cure for the dis
^ .tractedcotmtryhad been government by one man. However, Augustus had put
the State in order not by making himself king or dictator
.
but by creating the Principate. The empire's frontiers were on 4 ocean,
or distant rivers. Armies, provinces, fleets, the whole system was interrelated.
Roman citizens were protected by the law. Provincial were decently treated.
Rome itself had been lavishly beautified. Ford had been sparingly used -
merely to preserve peace for the majority. 1
The opposite view went like this. Filial duty and national crisid had been
merely pretexts. In actual fact, the motive of Octavian, they future Augustus,
was lust for power. Inspired by that, he had mobilized 4 ex-army settlers
by gifts of money, raised an army while he was S only a half-grown boy without
any official status won over a con-sul's brigades by bribery, pretended
to support Sextus Pompeius (I), and by senatorial decree usurped the status
and rank of a proctor. Soon both consuls, Gaius Vibius Pansa and Aulus Hirtitls,
had met their deaths - by enemy action; or perhaps in the one case by the
deliberate poisoning of his wound, and in the other at the hand of his own
troops, instigated by Octavian. In any case it was he who took over both
their armies. Then he had forced the rcltlctant senate to make him consul.
But the forces given him to deal with Antony he used against the State.
His judicial murders and land distributions were distasteful even to those
who carried them out. True, Cassius and Brutus died because he had inherited
a feud against them; nevertheless, personal enmities ought to be sacrificed
to the public interest. Next he had cheated Sextus Pompeius by a spurious
peace treaty, Lepidus by spurious friendship. Then Antony, enticed by the
treaties of Tarentum and Brundusium and his marriage with Octavian's sister,
had paid the penalty of that delusive relationship with his life. After
that, there had certainly been peace, but it was a bloodstained peace. For
there followed the disasters of Marcus Lollius (I) and Publius Quinctilius
Varus; and there were the assassinations, for example, ofAulus Terentius
Varro Murena, Marcus Egnatius Rufus and Iullus
Antonius. I
And gossip did not spare his personal affairs - how he had abducted the
wife of Tiberius Claudius Nero, and asked the priests the farcical
I. Tacitus refers to the following events:a3 execution of Aulus Terentius
Varro Murena for alleged conspiracy, I9 execution of Marcus Egnatius Rufus
for alleged conspiracy, I6 defeat of Marcus Lollius in Germany, 2 Antony's
son Iullus Antonius forced to suicide, A.D. 4 Augustus adopts Tiberius,
g Publius Quinctilius Varus defeated and killed by ArmiI1ius in Germany.
~~ ~~ l
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.i ; <
question whether it was in order for her to marry while pregnant. Then there
was the debauchery of his friend Publius Vedius Pollio. But Livia was a
real catastrophe, to the nation, as a mother and to the house of the Caesars
as a stepmother.
Besides, critics continued, Augustus seemed to have superseded the worship
of the gods when he wanted to have himself venerated in temples, with god-like
images, by priests and ministers. His appointment of Tiberius as his successor
was due neither to personal afEcction nor to regard for the national interests.
Thoroughly aware of Tiberius' cruelty and arrogance, he intended to heighten
his own glory by the contrast with one so inferior. For a fewyearsearlier,whenAugustushad
been asking the senate to reaward tribune's powers to Tiberius, the emperor
had actually let drop in a complimentary oration certain remarks about Tiberius'
deportment, style of dressing, and habits. Ostensibly these were excuses;
in fact they were criticisms.
Crofter an appropriate funeral, Augustus was declared a god and decreed
a temple. But the target of every prayer was Tiberius. Ad- _ dressing the
senate, he offered a variety of comments on the greatness of the empire
and his own unprctentiouszss Only the divine Augus~~suggested, had posscssed
a personality equal to such responsibilities - he himself, when invited
by Augustus to share his labours, had found by experience what hard hazardous
work it was to rule the | empire. Besides, he said, a State which could
rely on so many dis- l tinguished personages ought not to concentrate the
supreme power in the hands of one man - the task of government would be
more easily
carried out by thc combined efforts of a greater number. _
But grand sentiments of this kind sotmded unconvincing. Besides, what Tiberius
said, even when he did not aim at concealment, was by habit or nature -
always hesitant, always cryptic. And now that he ~was determined to show
no sign of his real feelings, his words became i more and more equivocal
and obscure. But the chief fear of the senators was that they should be
seen to understand him only too well. So they poured forth a flood of tearful
lamentations and prayers, gesticulating to heaven and to the statue of Augustus,
and making reverent gestures before Tiberius himself
At this juncture he gave instructions for a document to be produced and
read. It was a list of the national resources. It gave the numbers of regular
and auxiliary troops serving in the army; the strength of the
navy; statistics concerning the provinces and dependent kingdoms; direct
and indirect taxation; recurrent expenditure and gifts. Augustus had written
all this out in his own hand. Furthermore, he had added a clause advising
that the empire should not be extended beyond its present frontiers. Either
he feared dangers ahead, or he was jealous.
The senate now wallowed in the most abject appeals. Tibcrius remarked incidentally
that, although he did not feel hiI<lsclf capable of the whole burden
of govemmcnt, he was nevertlleless prepared to take on any branch of it
that might be entrusted to him. 'ThCI1 I Inust ask, Caesar,' called out
Gaius Asinius Galltls, 'which branch yotl desire to have handed over to
you.' This unexpected question threw Tibcrius offhis stride. For some moments
he said nothing. Tllcn, recovering his balance, he replied that, since he
would prefer to be cxcused from the responsibility altogether, he felt much
too diSldcIlt to choose or , reject this or that part of it. Gallus, however,
who had guesscd from ; Tiberius' looks that he had taken OiCllCC, protested
that the purpose of his question had not been to parcel out functions which
were inseparable; it had boon to obtain from the lips of Tibcrius hillLsclfthe
admission that the State was a single organic whole needing t}lC control
of a single mind. Gallus went on to praise Augustus and remind Tiberius
of his own victories, and his long and splendid achievcmellts as a civilian.
All the same he failed to appease the indication he had caused. Tiberius
had hated him for years, feeling that Gallus' marriage to his own former
wife, Marcus Agrippa's daughter Vipsania, was a sign that Gallus had the
arrogance of his father Gaius Asinius Pollio (I) - and was over ambitious.
Next Lucius Arruntius spoke in rather the same vein as Gallus. He too gave
offense.. Tiberius, in his case, had no longstanding hostility. But he was
suspicious of Arruntius, whose wealth, activity, and talents were celebrated.
Augustus, in one of his last conversations, had gone over the names of men
who would be fit and willing to become emperor, or unfit and unwilling,
or fit but unwilling. He had described Marcus Aemilius Lepidus (IV) as suitable
but disdainful, Gaius Asinius Gallus as eager but unsuitable and Lucius
Arruntius as both fit and capable of making the venture, if the chance arose.
(There is agreement about the first two names; but in some versions Arruntius
is replaced by Cnaeus Calpurnius Piso.) All those mentioned, apart from
Lepidus, were soon struck down on one charge or another, at the instigation
of
-
Tiberius. Others who chafed his suspicious temperament were Quintus
Haterius and Mamercus Aemilius Scaurus. What Haterius did was to
ask:'How long, Caesar, will you allow the State to have no head?'
The fault of Scaurus was to say that, since Tiberius had not vetoed the
consuls' motion by his tribune's power, there was hope that the
senate's prayers would not be unrewarded. Tiberius lost no time in
abusing Haterius. But the intervention of Scaurus, against whom his
anger was more implacable, he passed over in silence.
Finally, exhausted by the general outcry and individual entreaties,
he gradually gave way- not to the extent of admitting that he had
b accepted the throne, but at least to the point of ceasing to be urged
and
refuse. There is a well-known story about Haterius. He went into the
palace to apologize, and, as Tiberius walked by, grovelled at his feet.
Thereupon Tiberius crashed to the ground, either by accident or be
cause he was brought down by the grip of Haterius - who was then
all but killed by the guards. However, the emperor's feelings were not
softened by the dangerous predicament of the senator, until Haterius
appealed to the Augusta - as Livia was now called- and, at her urgent
entreaty, was saved.
Sloe, too, was flattcred a great deal by the senate. fit was variously
- proposed that she should be called 'parent' and 'mother' of her
0 country; and a large body of opinion held that the words 'son of
Julia' ought to form part of the emperor's name. He, however,
repeatedly asserted that only reasonable honours must be paid to
women - and that, in regard to complinacnts paid to himself, he would
observe a comparable moderation. In Kys however, he wasjealous
and nervous, and regarded this elevation of a woman as derogatory to 7
his own person. He would not even allow her to be allotted an official
fib attendant, and forbade an Altar of Adoption and other honours of the
kind. For Germanicus, however, he requcsted a special command. A
Emission was sent to confer it and at the same time to console Ger
|.YS
[manicus' sorrow at the death of Augustus. The same request was not
tnade for6Drusus because he was consul elect and in Rome.
;he elections were now transferred from the Assembly to the
Eenate. With regard to the number of praetors Tiberius adhered to the
Decedent established by Augustus and nominated twelve candidates.
Fhe senate asked him to increase the number, but he declared on oath
it he would never do so.