Dio Cassius, Histories

§ 54.17.1 Besides these several enactments, Augustus further provided that, for the distribution of grain, one candidate, who must have served as praetor three years previously, should be nominated each year by each of the officials then serving, and that, from these nominees, four men should be chosen by lot to serve in succession as distributors of grain. 2 And he commanded that the office of prefect of the city, who was chosen for the Feriae, should always be filled by the election of one man, and that the Sibylline verses, which had become indistinct through lapse of time, should be copied off by the priests with their own hands, in order that no one else might read them.

§ 54.17.3 He permitted all to stand for office who possessed property worth four hundred thousand sesterces and were eligible by the laws to hold office. This was the senatorial rating which he at first established; but later he raised it to one million sesterces. Upon some of those who lived upright lives but possessed less than the four hundred thousand sesterces in the first instance, or the million in the second, he bestowed the amount lacking. 4 And because of this he allowed the praetors who so desired to spend on the public festivals three times the amount granted them from the treasury. Thus, even if some were vexed at the strictness of his other regulations, yet by reason of this action and also because he restored one Pylades, a dancer, who had been exiled on account of sedition, they remembered them no longer. Hence Pylades is said to have rejoined very cleverly, when the emperor rebuked him for having quarrelled with Bathyllus, a fellow-artist, and a favourite of Maecenas: “It is to your advantage, Caesar, that the people should devote their spare time to us.”

§ 54.18.1 These were the occurrences of that year. In the consulship of Gaius Furnius and Gaius Silanus, Agrippa again acknowledged the birth of a son, who was named Lucius; and Augustus immediately adopted him together with his brother Gaius, not waiting for them to become men, but appointing them then and there successors to his office, in order that fewer plots might be formed against him. 2 He transferred the festival of Honor and Virtus to the days which are at present theirs, commanded those who celebrated triumphs to erect out of their spoils some monument to commemorate their deeds, and held the fifth celebration of the Ludi Saeculares. He ordered the orators to give their services as advocates without pay, on pain of a fine of four times the amount they received;

§ 54.18.3 and he forbade those who were drawn as jurymen from time to time to enter any person's house during their year of service. And since the members of the senate showed a lack of interest in attending its sessions, he increased the fines for those who were late without a good excuse.

§ 54.19.1 Next he set out for Gaul, during the consulship of Lucius Domitius and Publius Scipio, making the wars that had arisen in that region his excuse. 2 For since he had become disliked by many as a result of his long stay in the capital, and now was offending many who committed some act contrary to his decrees by the punishments he was inflicting, and at the same time, by sparing many others, was being compelled to transgress his own enactments, he decided to leave the country, somewhat after the manner of Solon.

§ 54.19.3 Some even suspected that he had gone away on account of Terentia, the wife of Maecenas, and intended, inasmuch as there was much talk about them in Rome, to live with her abroad free from all gossip. So great, indeed, was his passion for her that he once made her enter a contest of beauty against Livia. 4 Before setting out he dedicated the temple of Quirinus, which he had rebuilt. I mention this for the reason that he adorned it with seventy-six columns, which was the exact number of the years he lived, and thus caused some to declare that he had chosen this number deliberately and not by mere chance.

§ 54.19.5 So he dedicated this temple at this time, and also exhibited gladiatorial combats, Tiberius and Drusus representing him in the matter after the senate had granted them permission. 6 Then he committed to Taurus the management of the city together with the rest of Italy (for he had sent Agrippa again to Syria and no longer looked with equal favour upon Maecenas because of the latter's wife), and taking Tiberius, though praetor at the time, along with him, he set out on his journey. Tiberius, it appears, had become praetor in spite of his already holding the rank of a praetor; and Drusus now performed all the duties of his office in pursuance of a decree.

§ 54.19.7 The night following their departure the temple of Iuventus was burned to the ground. Other portents also had occurred: a wolf had rushed into the Forum by the Sacred Way and had killed people, and not far from the Forum ants were conspicuously swarming together; moreover, a flame like a torch had shot from the south towards the north all night long. Because of all these signs prayers were offered for the return of Augustus.8 Meanwhile they held the quadrennial celebration of his sovereignty, Agrippa, represented by his fellow-priests, bearing the expense; for he had been consecrated as one of the quindecemviri, upon whom the management of the festival devolved in regular succession.

§ 54.20.1 There were many other disturbances, too, during that period. The Camunni and Vennii, Alpine tribes, took up arms against the Romans, but were conquered and subdued by Publius Silius. 2 The Pannonians in company with the Norici overran Istria; but the former, upon being discomfited by Silius and his lieutenants, both came to terms again themselves and caused the Norici to be subjected to the same slavery.3 The uprisings in Dalmatia and in Spain were quelled in a short time. Macedonia was ravaged by the Dentheleti and the Scordisci. In Thrace somewhat earlier Marcus Lollius, while aiding Rhoemetalces, the uncle and guardian of the sons of Cotys, had subjugated the Bessi. Later Lucius Gallus conquered the Sarmatians for the same reason and drove them back across the Ister. 4 The greatest, however, of the wars which at that time fell to the lot of the Romans, and the one presumably which drew Augustus away from the city, was that against the Germans. It seems that the Sugambri, Usipetes, and Tencteri had first seized in their own territory some of the Romans and had crucified them,

§ 54.20.5 after which they had crossed the Rhine and plundered Germania and Gaul. When the Roman cavalry approached, they surprised them from ambush; then, pursuing them as they fled, they fell in unexpectedly with Lollius, the governor of the province, and conquered him also. 6 On learning of all this, Augustus hastened against them, but found no warfare to carry on; for the barbarians, learning that Lollius was making preparations and that the emperor was also taking the field, retired into their own territory and made peace, giving hostages.

§ 54.21.1 For this reason Augustus had no need of arms, but in arranging other matters he consumed the whole of this year, as well as the next, in which Marcus Libo and Calpurnius Piso were consuls. 2 For not only had the Gauls suffered much at the hands of the Germans, but much also at the hands of a certain Licinus. And of this, I think, the sea-monster had given them full warning beforehand; twenty feet broad and three times as long, and resembling a woman except for its head, it had come in from the ocean and become stranded on the shore.

§ 54.21.3 Now Licinus was originally a Gaul, but after being captured by the Romans and becoming a slave of Caesar's, he had been set free by him, and by Augustus had been made procurator of Gaul. 4 This man, then, with his combination of barbarian avarice and Roman dignity, tried to overthrow every one who was ever counted superior to him and to destroy every one who was strong for the time being. He not only supplied himself with plenty of funds for the requirements of the office to which he had been assigned, but also incidentally collected plenty for himself and for his friends.

§ 54.21.5 His knavery went so far that in some cases where the people paid their tribute by the month he made the months fourteen in number, declaring that the month called December was really the tenth, and for that reason they must reckon two more (which he called the eleventh and the twelfth respectively) as the last, and contribute the money that was due for these months. 6 It was these quibbles that brought him into danger; for the Gauls secured the ear of Augustus and protested indignantly, so that the emperor in some matters shared their vexation and in others tried to excuse Licinus. He claimed to be unaware of some of his extortions and affected not to believe others, while some matters he actually concealed, feeling ashamed to have employed such a procurator.

§ 54.21.7 Licinus, however, devised another scheme as follows, and laughed them all to scorn. When he perceived that Augustus was displeased with him and that he was likely to be punished, he brought the emperor into his house, and showing him many treasures of silver and gold and many other valuables piled up in heaps, 8 he said: “I have gathered all this purposely, master, for you and for the rest of the Romans, lest the natives, by having control of so much money, should revolt. At any rate, I have kept it all for you and now give it to you.” Thus Licinus was saved, by pretending that he had sapped the strength of the barbarians in order to serve Augustus.

§ 54.22.1 Drusus and Tiberius in the meantime were engaged in the following exploits. The Rhaetians, who dwell between Noricum and Gaul, near the Tridentine Alps which adjoin Italy, were overrunning a large part of the neighbouring territory of Gaul and carrying off plunder even from Italy; and they were harassing such of the Romans or their allies as travelled through their country. 2 Now these acts of theirs seemed to be about what was to be expected of nations which had not accepted terms of peace; but they went further and destroyed all the males among their captives, not only those who had already come into the world, but also those who were still in the women's wombs, the sex of whom they discovered by some means of divination.

§ 54.22.3 For these reasons, then, Augustus first sent against them Drusus, who speedily routed a detachment of them which came to meet him near the Tridentine mountains, and in consequence received the rank of praetor. Later, when the Rhaetians had been repulsed from Italy, but were still harassing Gaul, Augustus sent out Tiberius also. 4 Both leaders then invaded Rhaetia at many points at the same time, either in person or through their lieutenants, and Tiberius even crossed the lake with ships. In this way, by encountering them separately, they terrified them and not only easily overwhelmed those with whom they came into close quarters at any time, inasmuch as the barbarians had their forces scattered, but also captured the remainder, who in consequence had become weaker and less spirited.

§ 54.22.5 And because the land had a large population of males and seemed likely to revolt, they deported most of the strongest men of military age, leaving behind only enough to give the country a population, but too few to begin a revolution.

§ 54.23.1 This same year Vedius Pollio died, a man who in general had done nothing deserving of remembrance, as he was sprung from freedmen, belonged to the knights, and had performed no brilliant deeds; but he had become very famous for his wealth and for his cruelty, so that he has even gained a place in history. 2 Most of the things he did it would be wearisome to relate, but I may mention that he kept in reservoirs huge lampreys that had been trained to eat men, and he was accustomed to throw to them such of his slaves as he desired to put to death. Once, when he was entertaining Augustus, his cup-bearer broke a crystal goblet, and without regard for his guest, Pollio ordered the fellow to be thrown to the lampreys.

§ 54.23.3 Hereupon the slave fell on his knees before Augustus and supplicated him, and Augustus at first tried to persuade Pollio not to commit so monstrous a deed. Then, when Pollio paid no heed to him, the emperor said, “Bring all the rest of the drinking vessels which are of like sort or any others of value that you possess, in order that I may use them,” 4 and when they were brought, he ordered them to be broken. When Pollio saw this, he was vexed, of course; but since he was no longer angry over the one goblet, considering the great number of the others that were ruined, and, on the other hand, could not punish his servant for what Augustus also had done, he held his peace, though much against his will.

§ 54.23.5 This is the sort of person Pollio was, who died at this time. Among his many bequests to many persons he left to Augustus a good share of his estate together with Pausilypon, the place between Neapolis and Puteoli, with instructions that some public work of great beauty should be erected there. 6 Augustus razed Pollio's house to the ground, on the pretext of preparing for the erection of the other structure, but really with the purpose that Pollio should have no monument in the city; and he built a colonnade, inscribing on it the name, not of Pollio, but of Livia.

§ 54.23.7 However, he did this later. At the time we are considering he colonized numerous cities in Gaul and in Spain, restored to the people of Cyzicus their freedom, and gave money to the Paphians, who had suffered from an earthquake, besides allowing them, by a decree, to call their city Augusta. 8 I record this, not that Augustus and the senators, too, did not aid many other cities both before and after this occasion, in case of similar misfortunes, — indeed, if one should mention them all, the work involved in making the record would be endless, — but my purpose is to show that the senate even assigned names to cities as a mark of honour and that the inhabitants did not, as is usually done now, make out for themselves in each instance lists of names according to their own pleasure.

§ 54.24.1 The next year Marcus Crassus and Gnaeus Cornelius were consuls; and the curule aediles, after resigning their office because they had been elected under unfavourable auspices, received it again, contrary to precedent, at another meeting of the assembly. 2 The Basilica of Paulus was burned and the flames spread from it to the temple of Vesta, so that the sacred objects there were carried up to the Palatine by the Vestal Virgins, — except the eldest, who had become blind, — and were placed in the house of the priest of Jupiter.3 The basilica was afterwards rebuilt, nominally by Aemilius, who was the descendant of the family of the man who had formerly erected it, but really by Augustus and the friends of Paulus. At this time the Pannonians revolted again and were subdued, and the Maritime Alps, inhabited by the Ligurians who were called Cometi, and were still free even then, were reduced to slavery. 4 And the revolt among the tribes of the Cimmerian Bosporus was quelled. It seems that one Scribonius, who claimed to be a grandson of Mithridates and to have received the kingdom from Augustus after the death of Asander, married Asander's wife, named Dynamis, who was really the daughter of Pharnaces and the granddaughter of Mithridates and had been entrusted with the regency by her husband, and thus he was holding Bosporus under his control. 5 Agrippa, upon learning of this, sent against him Polemon, the king of that part of Pontus bordering on Cappadocia. Polemon found Scribonius no longer alive, for the people of Bosporus, learning of his advance against them, had already put him to death; but when they resisted Polemon through fear that he might be allowed to reign over them, he engaged them in battle. 6 But although he conquered them, he was unable to reduce them to submission until Agrippa came to Sinope with the purpose of conducting a campaign against them. Then they laid down their arms and were delivered up to Polemon; and the woman Dynamis became his wife, naturally not without the sanction of Augustus.

§ 54.24.7 For these successes sacrifices were offered in the name of Agrippa, but the triumph which was voted him was not celebrated. Indeed, he did not so much as notify the senate of what had been accomplished, and in consequence subsequent conquerors, treating his course as a precedent, also gave up the practice of sending reports to the public; and he would not accept the celebration of the triumph. 8 For this reason, — at least, such is my opinion, — no one else of his peers was permitted to do so any longer, either, but they enjoyed merely the distinction of triumphal honours.

§ 54.25.1 Now when Augustus had finished all the business which occupied him in the several provinces of Gaul, of Germania and of Spain, having spent large sums from others, having bestowed freedom and citizenship upon some and taken them away from others, he left Drusus in Germania and returned to Rome himself in the consulship of Tiberius and Quintilius Varus. 2 Now it chanced that the news of his coming reached the city during those days when Cornelius Balbus was celebrating with spectacles the dedication of the theatre which is even today called by his name; and Balbus accordingly began to put on airs, as if it were he himself that was going to bring Augustus back, — although he was unable even to enter his theatre, except by boat, on account of the flood of water caused by the Tiber, which had overflowed its banks, — and Tiberius put the vote to him first, in honour of his building the theatre.

§ 54.25.3 For the senate convened, and among its other decrees voted to place an altar in the senate-chamber itself, to commemorate the return of Augustus, and also voted that those who approached him as suppliants while he was inside the pomerium should not be punished. Nevertheless, he accepted neither of these honours, and even avoided encountering the people on this occasion also; 4 for he entered the city at night. This he did nearly always when he went out to the suburbs or anywhere else, both on his way out and on his return, so that he might trouble none of the citizens. The next day he welcomed the people in the palace, and then, ascending the Capitol, took the laurel from around his fasces and placed it upon the knees of Jupiter; and he also placed baths and barbers at the service of the people free of charge on that day.

§ 54.25.5 After this he convened the senate, and though he made no address himself by reason of hoarseness, he gave his manuscript to the quaestor to read and thus enumerated his achievements and promulgated rules as to the number of years the citizens should serve in the army and as to the amount of money they should receive when discharged from service, in lieu of the land which they were always demanding. 6 His object was that the soldiers, by being enlisted henceforth on certain definite terms, should find no excuse for revolt on this score. The number of years was twelve for the Pretorians and sixteen for the rest; and the money to be distributed was less in some cases and more in others. These measures caused the soldiers neither pleasure nor anger for the time being, because they neither obtained all they desired nor yet failed of all; but in the rest of the population the measures aroused confident hopes that they would not in future be robbed of their possessions.

§ 54.26.1 He next dedicated the Theatre named after Marcellus. In the course of the festival held for this purpose the patrician boys, including his grandson Gaius, performed the equestrian exercise called “ Troy,” and six hundred wild beasts from Africa were slain. 2 And to celebrate the birthday of Augustus, Iullus, the son of Antony, who was praetor, gave games in the Circus and a slaughter of wild beasts, and entertained both the emperor and the senate, in pursuance of a decree of that body, upon the Capitol.

§ 54.26.3 After this there was another purging of the lists of the senate. At first, as we have seen, the rating of senators had been fixed at four hundred thousand sesterces, because many of them had been stripped of their ancestral estates by the wars, and then, as time went on and men acquired wealth, it had been raised to one million sesterces. Consequently no one was any longer found who would of his own choice become a senator; 4 on the contrary, sons and grandsons of senators, some of them really poor and others reduced to humble station by the misfortunes of their ancestors, not only would not lay claim to the senatorial dignity, but also, when already entered on the lists, swore that they were ineligible.

§ 54.26.5 Therefore, previous to that time, while Augustus was still absent from the city, a decree had been passed that the Vigintiviri, as they were called, should be appointed from the knights; and thus none of these men eligible to be senators was any longer enrolled in the senate without having also held one of the other offices that led to it. 6 These Vigintiviri are what is left of the Vigintisexviri, of whom three are in charge of criminal trials, another three attend to the coinage of the money, four look after the streets in the city, and ten are assigned to the courts which are allotted to the Centumviri;

§ 54.26.7 for the two who were once entrusted with the roads outside the walls and the four who used to be sent to Campania had been abolished. This was one decree that was passed during the absence of Augustus; there was also another providing that, since no one was any longer ready to seek the tribuneship, some of the ex-quaestors who were not yet forty years old should be appointed to the office by lot. 8 But on the present occasion Augustus himself made an investigation of the whole senatorial class. With those who were over thirty-five years of age he did not concern himself, but in the case of those who were under that age and possessed the requisite rating he compelled them to become senators, unless one of them was physically disabled.

§ 54.26.9 He examined their persons himself, but in regard to their property he accepted sworn statements, the men themselves and others as witnesses taking an oath and rendering an account of their poverty as well as of their manner of life.

§ 54.27.1 Nor did he, while showing such strictness in the public business, neglect his private affairs; indeed, he rebuked both Tiberius, because at the festival, given under Tiberius' management, in fulfilment of a vow for the emperor's return, he had seated Gaius at the emperor's side, and the people for honouring Gaius with applause and eulogies. 2 On the death of Lepidus he was appointed high priest and the senate accordingly wished to vote him other honours (?); but he declared that he would not accept any of them, and when the senators urged him, he rose and left the meeting.

§ 54.27.3 That measure, therefore, now failed of passage, and he also received no official residence; but, inasmuch as it was absolutely necessary that the high priest should live in a public residence, he made a part of his own house public property. The house of the rex sacrificulus, however, he gave to the Vestal Virgins, because it was separated merely by a wall from their apartments.

§ 54.27.4 When Cornelius Sisenna was censured for the conduct of his wife, and stated in the senate that he had married her with the knowledge and on the advice of the emperor, Augustus became exceedingly angry. He did not, to be sure, say or do anything violent, but rushed out of the senate-house, and then returned a little later, choosing to take this course, though it was not the correct thing to do, as he said to his friends afterward, rather than to remain where he was and be compelled to do something harsh.

§ 54.28.1 Meanwhile he increased the power of Agrippa, who had returned from Syria, by giving him the tribunician power again for another five years, and he sent him out to Pannonia, which was eager for war, entrusting him with greater authority than the officials outside Italy ordinarily possessed. 2 And Agrippa set out on the campaign in spite of the fact that the winter had already begun (this was the year in which Marcus Valerius and Publius Sulpicius were the consuls); but when the Pannonians became terrified at his approach and gave up their plans for rebellion, he returned, and upon reaching Campania, fell ill.3 Augustus happened to be exhibiting, in the name of his sons, contests of armed warriors at the Panathenaic festival, and when he learned of Agrippa's illness, he set out for Italy; and finding him dead, he conveyed his body to the capital and caused it to lie in state in the Forum. He also delivered the eulogy over the dead, after first hanging a curtain in front of the corpse. 4 Why he did this, I do not know. Some, however, have stated that it was because he was high priest, others that it was because he was performing the duties of censor. But both are mistaken, since neither the high priest is forbidden to look at a corpse, nor the censor, either, except when he is about to complete the census; but if he looks upon a corpse then, before his purification, all his work has to be done over again.

§ 54.28.5 Now Augustus not only did what I have recorded, but also had the funeral procession of Agrippa conducted in the manner in which his own was afterward conducted, and he buried him in his own sepulchre, though Agrippa had taken one for himself in the Campus Martius.

§ 54.29.1 Such was the end of Agrippa, who had in every way clearly shown himself the noblest of the men of his day and had used the friendship of Augustus with a view to the greatest advantage both of the emperor himself and of the commonwealth. 2 For the more he surpassed others in excellence, the more inferior he kept himself of his own free will to the emperor; and while he devoted all the wisdom and valour he himself possessed to the highest interests of Augustus, he lavished all the honour and influence he received from him upon benefactions to others.

§ 54.29.3 It was because of this in particular that he never became obnoxious to Augustus himself nor invidious to his fellow-citizens; on the contrary, he helped Augustus to establish the monarchy, as if he were really a devoted adherent of the principle of autocratic rule, and he won over the people by his benefactions, as if he were in the highest degree a friend of popular government. 4 At any rate, even at his death he left them gardens and the baths named after him, so that they might bathe free of cost, and for this purpose gave Augustus certain estates. And the emperor not only turned these over to the state, but also distributed to the people four hundred sesterces apiece, giving it to be understood that Agrippa had so ordered.

§ 54.29.5 And, indeed, he had inherited most of Agrippa's property, including the Chersonese on the Hellespont, which had come in some way or other into Agrippa's hands. Augustus felt his loss for a long time and hence caused him to be honoured in the eyes of the people; and he named the posthumous son born to him Agrippa. 6 Nevertheless, he did not allow the citizens at large, although none of the prominent men wished to attend the festivals, to omit any of the time-honoured observances, and he in person superintended the gladiatorial combats, though they were often held without his presence.

§ 54.29.7 The death of Agrippa, far from being merely a private loss to his own household, was at any rate such a public loss to all the Romans that portents occurred on this occasion in such numbers as are wont to happen to them before the greatest calamities. Owls kept flitting about the city, and lightning struck the house on the Alban Mount where the consuls lodge during the sacred rites. 8 The star called the comet hung for several days over the city and was finally dissolved into flashes resembling torches. Many buildings in the city were destroyed by fire, among them the hut of Romulus, which was set ablaze by crows which dropped upon it burning meat from some altar.

§ 54.30.1 These were the events connected with Agrippa's death. After this Augustus was chosen supervisor and corrector of morals for another five years; for he received this office also for limited periods, as he did the monarchy. He ordered the senators to burn incense in their assembly hall whenever they held a session, and not to pay their usual visit to him, his purpose being, in the first instance, that they should show reverence to the gods, and, in the second, that they should not be hindered in convening. 2 And inasmuch as extremely few candidates sought the tribuneship, because its power had been abolished, he made a law that the magistrates in office should each nominate one of the knights who possessed not less than one million sesterces, and that the plebs should then fill the vacancies in the tribuneship from this list, with the understanding that, if the men desired to be senators later, they might do so, or otherwise they should return again to the equestrian order.

§ 54.30.3 When the province of Asia was in dire need of assistance on account of earthquakes, he paid into the public treasury from his private funds the amount of its annual tribute and assigned to it for two years a governor chosen by lot and not appointed.

§ 54.30.4 On one occasion, when Apuleius and Maecenas were subjected to abuse in court when a case of adultery was being tried, not because they had behaved wantonly themselves, but because they were actively aiding the man on trial, Augustus entered the court-room and sat in the praetor's chair; he took no harsh measures, but simply forbade the accuser to insult either his relatives or his friends, and then rose and left the room.5 For this action and others the senators honoured him with statues, paid for by private subscription, and also by giving bachelors and spinsters the right to behold spectacles and to attend banquets along with other people on his birthday; for neither of these things had been permitted previously.

§ 54.31.1 When now Agrippa, whom he loved because of his excellence and not because of any kinship, was dead, Augustus felt the need of an assistant in the public business, one who would far surpass all the others in both rank and influence, so that he might transact all business promptly and without being the object of envy and intrigue. Therefore he reluctantly chose Tiberius; for his own grandsons were still boys at this time.2 He first made him, as he had made Agrippa, divorce his wife, though she was the daughter of Agrippa by a former marriage and was bringing up one child and was about to give birth to another; and having betrothed Julia to him, he sent him out against the Pannonians. This people had for a time been quiet through fear of Agrippa, but now after his death they had revolted.

§ 54.31.3 Tiberius subdued them after ravaging much of their country and doing much injury to the inhabitants, making as much use as possible of his allies the Scordisci, who were neighbours of the Pannonians and were similarly equipped. He took away the enemy's arms and sold most of the men of military age into slavery, to be deported from the country. 4 For these achievements the senate voted him a triumph, but Augustus did not permit him to celebrate it, though he granted him the triumphal honours instead.

§ 54.32.1 Drusus had this same experience. The Sugambri and their allies had resorted to war, owing to the absence of Augustus and the fact that Gauls were restive under their slavery, and Drusus therefore seized the subject territory ahead of them, sending for the foremost men in it on the pretext of the festival which they celebrate even now around the altar of Augustus at Lugdunum. He also waited for the Germans to cross the Rhine, and then repulsed them. 2 Next he crossed over to the country of the Usipetes, passing along the very island of the Batavians, and from there marched along the river to the Sugambrian territory, where he devastated much country. He sailed down the Rhine to the ocean, won over the Frisians, and crossing the lake, invaded the country of the Chauci, where he ran into danger, as his ships were left high and dry by the ebb of the ocean.

§ 54.32.3 He was saved on this occasion by the Frisians, who had joined his expedition with their infantry, and withdrew, since it was now winter. Upon arriving in Rome he was appointed praetor urbanus, in the consulship of Quintus Aelius and Paulus Fabius, although he already had the rank of praetor.

§ 54.33.1 At the beginning of spring he sent out again for the war, crossed the Rhine, and subjugated the Usipetes. He bridged the Lupia, invaded the country of the Sugambri, and advanced through it into the country of the Cherusci, as far as the Visurgis. 2 He was able to do this because the Sugambri, in anger at the Chatti, the only tribe among their neighbours that had refused to join their alliance, had made a campaign against them with all their population; and seizing this opportunity, he traversed their country unnoticed. He would have crossed the Visurgis also, had he not run short of provisions, and had not the winter set in and, besides, a swarm of bees been seen in his camp.

§ 54.33.3 Consequently he proceeded no farther, but retired to friendly territory, encountering great dangers on the way. For the enemy harassed him everywhere by ambuscades, and once they shut him up in a narrow pass and all but destroyed his army; indeed, they would have annihilated them, had they not conceived a contempt for them, as if they were already captured and needed only the finishing stroke, and so come to close quarters with them in disorder. 4 This led to their being worsted, after which they were no longer so bold, but kept up a petty annoyance of his troops from a distance, while refusing to come nearer. Drusus accordingly conceived a scorn of them in his turn and fortified a stronghold against them at the point where the Lupia and the Eliso unite, and also another among the Chatti on the bank of the Rhine.

§ 54.33.5 For these successes he received the triumphal honours, the right to ride into the city on horseback, and to exercise the powers of a proconsul when he should finish his term as praetor. Indeed, the title of imperator was given him by the soldiers by acclamation as it had been given to Tiberius earlier; but it was not granted to him by Augustus, although the number of times the emperor himself gained this appellation was increased as the result of the exploits of these two men.

§ 54.34.1 While Drusus was thus occupied, the festival belonging to his praetorship was celebrated in the most costly manner; and the birthday of Augustus was honoured by the slaughter of wild beasts both in the Circus and in many other parts of the city. 2 This was done almost every year by one of the praetors then in office, even if not authorised by a decree; but the Augustalia, which are still observed, were then for the first time celebrated in pursuance of a decree.

§ 54.34.3 Tiberius subdued the Dalmatians, who began a rebellion, and later the Pannonians, who likewise revolted, taking advantage of the absence of himself and the larger part of his army. He made war upon both of them at once, shifting now to one front and now to the other. 4 As a result of this Dalmatia was given over into the keeping of Augustus, because of the feeling that it would always require armed forces both on its own account and because of the neighbouring Pannonians.

§ 54.34.5 These men, then, were thus engaged. At this same period Vologaesus, a Bessian from Thrace and a priest of the Dionysus worshipped by that people, gained a following by practising many divinations, and with these adherents revolted. He conquered and killed Rhascyporis, the son of Cotys, and afterwards, thanks to his reputation for supernatural power, he stripped Rhoemetalces, the victim's uncle, of his forces without a battle and compelled him to take flight. In pursuit of him he invaded the Chersonese, where he wrought great havoc. 6 Because of these deeds of his and because of the injuries the Sialetae were causing to Macedonia, Lucius Piso was ordered to proceed against them from Pamphylia, where he was governor. The Bessi, now, when they heard that he was drawing near, retired homeward ahead of him. So he came into their country, and though defeated at first, vanquished them in turn and ravaged both their land and that of the neighbouring tribes which had taken part in the uprising.

§ 54.34.7 At this time he reduced all of them to submission, winning over some with their consent, terrifying others into reluctant surrender, and coming to terms with others as the result of battles; and later, when some of them rebelled, he again enslaved them. For these successes thanksgivings and triumphal honours were granted him.

§ 54.35.1 While these events were occurring, Augustus took a census, making a list of all his own property like any private citizen; and he also made a roster of the senate. As he saw that sometimes there were not many present at the meetings of that body, he ordered that its decrees should be passed even when less than four hundred were present; for hitherto no decree could have validity if passed by a smaller number. 2 When the senate and the people once more contributed money for statues of Augustus, he would set up no statue of himself, but instead set up statues of Salus Publica, Concordia, and Pax. The citizens, it seems, were nearly always and on every pretext collecting money for this same object, and at last they ceased paying it privately, as one might call it, but would come to him on the very first day of the year and give, some more, some less, into his own hands;

§ 54.35.3 and he, after adding as much or more again, would return it, not only to the senators but to all the rest. I have also heard the story that on one day of the year, following some oracle or dream, he would assume the guise of a beggar and would accept money from those who came up to him.

§ 54.35.4 This is the tradition, whether credible to any one or not. That year he gave Julia in marriage to Tiberius, and when his sister died, he caused her body to lie in state in the shrine of Julius; and on this occasion also he had a curtain over the corpse.

§ 54.35.5 He himself delivered the funeral oration there, and Drusus delivered one from the Rostra; for the mourning was publicly observed and the senators had changed their dress. Her body was carried in the procession by her sons-in-law; but not all the honours voted for her were accepted by Augustus.

§ 54.36.1 At this same period the priest of Jupiter was appointed for the first time since Merula, and the quaestors were ordered to preserve the decrees passed at various times, inasmuch as the tribunes and aediles, who had previously been entrusted with this duty, were performing it through their assistants, and in consequence some mistakes and confusion occurred.

§ 54.36.2 It was voted that the temple of Janus Geminus, which had been opened, should be closed, on the ground that the wars had ceased. It was not closed, however, for the Dacians, crossing the Ister on the ice, carried off booty from Pannonia, and the Dalmatians rebelled against the exactions of tribute. 3 Against these people Tiberius was sent from Gaul, whither he had gone in company with Augustus; and he reduced them again to submission. The Germans, particularly the Chatti, were either harassed or subjugated by Drusus. The Chatti, it seems, had gone to join the Sugambri, having abandoned their own country, which the Romans had given them to dwell in. 4 Afterwards Tiberius and Drusus returned to Rome with Augustus, who had been tarrying in Lugdunensis much of the time, keeping watch on the Germans from near at hand; and they carried out whatever decrees had been passed in honour of their victories or did whatever else devolved upon them.

§ 55.1.1 Book 55 9 BC — 8 AD The events related happened in the consulship of Iullus Antonius and Fabius Maximus. In the following year Drusus became consul with Titus Crispinus, and omens occurred that were anything but favourable to him. Many buildings were destroyed by storm and by thunderbolts, among them many temples; even that of Jupiter Capitolinus and the gods worshipped with him was injured. 2 Drusus, however, paid no heed to any of these things, but invaded the country of the Chatti and advanced as far as that of the Suebi, conquering with difficulty the territory traversed and defeating the forces that attacked him only after considerable bloodshed. From there he proceeded to the country of the Cherusci, and crossing the Visurgis, advanced as far as the Albis, pillaging everything on his way.

§ 55.1.3 The Albis rises in the Vandalic Mountains, and empties, a mighty river, into the northern ocean. Drusus undertook to cross this river, but failing in the attempt, set up trophies and withdrew. For a woman of superhuman size met him and said: “Whither, pray, art thou hastening, insatiable Drusus? It is not fated that thou shalt look upon all these lands. But depart; for the end alike of thy labours and of thy life is already at hand.” 4 It is indeed marvellous that such a voice should have come to any man from the Deity, yet I cannot discredit the tale; for Drusus immediately departed, and as he was returning in haste, died on the way of some disease before reaching the Rhine.5 And I find confirmation of the story in these incidents: wolves were prowling about the camp and howling just before his death; two youths were seen riding through the midst of the camp; a sound as of women lamenting was heard; and there were shooting stars in the sky. So much for these events.

§ 55.2.1 Augustus, upon learning of Drusus' illness before it was far advanced (for he was not far off), had sent Tiberius to him in haste. Tiberius found him still breathing, and on his death carried the body to Rome, causing the centurions and military tribunes to carry it over the first stage of the journey, — as far as the winter quarters of the army, — and after that the foremost men of each city. 2 When the body had been laid in state in the Forum, two funeral orations were delivered: Tiberius pronounced another eulogy there in the Forum, and Augustus pronounced one in the Circus Flaminius. The emperor, of course, had been away on a campaign, and it was not lawful for him to omit the customary rites in honour of his exploits at the time of his entrance inside the pomerium.

§ 55.2.3 The body was borne to the Campus Martius by the knights, both those who belonged strictly to the equestrian order and those who were of senatorial family; then it was given to the flames and the ashes were deposited in the sepulchre of Augustus. Drusus, together with his sons, received the title of Germanicus, and he was given the further honours of statues, an arch, and a cenotaph on the bank of the Rhine itself.

§ 55.2.4 Tiberius, while Drusus was yet alive, had overcome the Dalmatians and Pannonians, who had once more begun a rebellion, and he had celebrated the equestrian triumph, and had feasted the people, some on the Capitol and the rest in many other places. At the same time Livia, also, with Julia, had given a dinner to the women.

§ 55.2.5 And the same festivities were being prepared for Drusus; even the Feriae were to be held a second time on his account, so that he might celebrate his triumph on that occasion. But his untimely death upset these plans. To Livia statues were voted by way of consoling her and she was enrolled among the mothers of three children. 6 For in certain cases, formerly by act of the senate, but now by the emperor's, the law bestows the privileges which belong to the parents of three children upon men or women to whom Heaven has not granted that number of children. In this way they are not subject to the penalties imposed for childlessness and may receive all but a few of the rewards offered for large families;

§ 55.2.7 and not only men but gods also may enjoy these rewards, the object being that, if any one leaves them a bequest at his death, they may receive it.

§ 55.3.1 So much for this matter. As to Augustus, he ordered that the sittings of the senate should be held on fixed days. Previously, it appears, there had been no precise regulation concerning them and it often happened that members failed to attend; he accordingly appointed two regular meetings for each month, so that they were under compulsion to attend, — at least those of them whom the law summoned, — 2 and in order that they might have no other excuse for being absent, he commanded that no court or other meeting which required their attendance should be held at that time. He also fixed by law the number of senators necessary for passing decrees, according to the several kinds of decrees, — to state only the chief points of the matter; and he increased the fines of those who without good excuse stayed away from the sessions.

§ 55.3.3 And since many such offences had regularly gone unpunished owing to the large number of those who were liable to punishment, he commanded that if many were guilty, they should draw lots and one out of every five, according as the lot should fall, should incur the fine. He had the names of all the senators entered on a tablet and posted; and this practice, originating with him, is still observed each year. 4 Such were the measures he took to compel the attendance of the senators; but if on any occasion, as the result of some accident, fewer assembled than the occasion demanded, — and it should be explained that at every session, except when the emperor himself was present, the number of those in attendance was accurately counted, both at that time and later, for practically every matter of business, — the senators would proceed with their deliberations and their decision would be recorded, though it would not go into effect as if regularly passed, but instead, their action was what was termed auctoritas, the purpose of which was to make known their will.

§ 55.3.5 For such is the general force of this word; to translate it into Greek by a term that will always be applicable is impossible. This same custom prevailed in case they ever assembled in haste at any but the usual place, or on any but the appointed day, or without a legal summons, or if by reason of the opposition of some of the tribunes a decree could not be passed and yet they were unwilling that their opinion should remain unknown; afterwards the resolution would be ratified according to established precedent and would receive the name of a decree. 6 This method, strictly followed for a long period by the men of old time, has in a way already become null and void, as has also the special privilege of the praetors. For they, becoming indignant that they could bring no proposal before the senate, though they outranked the tribunes, received from Augustus the right to do so, but in the course of time were deprived of it.

§ 55.4.1 These and the other laws which Augustus enacted at this time he had inscribed on tablets and posted in the senate before bringing them up for consideration, and he allowed the senators to enter the chamber in groups of two and read them, so that if any provision did not please them, or if they could advise anything better, they might speak. 2 He was very desirous indeed of being democratic, as one or two incidents will illustrate. Once, when one of those who had campaigned with him asked him for his assistance as advocate, though he at first pretended to be busy and bade one of his friends speak in the man's behalf, yet when the petitioner became angry and said, “But I, whenever you had need of my assistance, did not send some one else to you in place of myself, but personally encountered dangers everywhere in your behalf,” the emperor then entered the court-room and pleaded his friend's cause.

§ 55.4.3 He also stood by a friend who was defendant in a suit, after first having communicated his purpose to the senate; and he saved his friend, but was so far from being angry with the friend's accuser, though this man had indulged in the utmost frankness in his speech, that later on, when the same man appeared before him, as censor, for a scrutiny of his morals, the emperor acquitted him, saying openly that the other's frankness was necessary for the Romans on account of the baseness of the majority of them. 4 However, he punished others who were reported to be conspiring against him. He also caused quaestors to serve along the coast near the city and in certain other parts of Italy; and this practice was followed for many years. At the time in question he was unwilling, as I have stated, to enter the city because of Drusus' death;

§ 55.5.1 but the next year, when Asinius Gallus and Gaius Marcius were consuls, he made his formal return and carried the laurel, contrary to custom, into the temple of Jupiter Feretrius. 2 He himself did not celebrate any festival in honour of the achievements mentioned, feeling that he had lost far more in the death of Drusus than he had gained in his victories; but the consuls performed the ceremonies usual on such occasions, among other things exhibiting combats between some of the captives.

§ 55.5.3 And later, when both they and the rest of the officials were accused of having secured their election by bribery, Augustus failed to investigate the matter, and furthermore pretended not even to know of it at all; for he was unwilling either to punish any of them or yet to pardon them if they were convicted. In the case of candidates for office, however, he demanded of them in advance of the elections a deposit of money on the understanding that they should forfeit this money in case they resorted to any illegal methods. 4 This action of his was approved by all; but it was otherwise with another of his laws. As it was not permitted that a slave should be tortured for evidence against his master, he ordered that, as often as the necessity for such a course should arise, the slave should be sold either to the state or to him, in order that, being now no longer the property of the defendant, he might be examined. Some found fault with this, on the ground that the change of masters would in effect nullify the law; but others declared it to be necessary, because many were taking advantage of the old arrangement and conspiring against both the emperor himself and the magistrates.

§ 55.6.1 After this, now that his second period of ten years had expired, Augustus once more accepted the supreme power, — though with a show of reluctance, — in spite of his oft-expressed desire to lay it down; and he made a campaign against the Germans. He himself remained behind in Roman territory, while Tiberius crossed the Rhine. 2 Accordingly all the barbarians except the Sugambri, through fear of them, made overtures of peace; but they gained nothing either at this time, — for Augustus refused to conclude a truce with them without the Sugambri, — or, indeed, later. To be sure, the Sugambri also sent envoys,

§ 55.6.3 but so far were they from accomplishing anything that all of these envoys, who were both many and distinguished, perished into the bargain. For Augustus arrested them and placed them in various cities; and they, being greatly distressed at this, took their own lives. The Sugambri were thereupon quiet for a time, but later they amply requited the Romans for their calamity. 4 Besides doing this, Augustus granted money to the soldiers, not as to victors, though he himself had taken the title of imperator and had also conferred it upon Tiberius, but because then for the first time they had Gaius taking part with them in their exercises.

§ 55.6.5 So he advanced Tiberius to the position of commander in place of Drusus, and besides distinguishing him with the title ofimperator, appointed him consul once more, and in accordance with the ancient practice caused him to post up a proclamation before entering upon the office. He also accorded him the distinction of a triumph; 6 for he did not wish to celebrate one himself, though he accepted the privilege of having his birthday permanently commemorated by Circensian Games. He enlarged the pomerium and changed the name of the month called Sextilis to August.

§ 55.6.7 The people generally wanted September to be so named, because he had been born in that month; but he preferred the other month in which he had first been elected consul and had won many great battles.

§ 55.7.1 All these things filled him with pride; but he was grieved at the death of Maecenas. He had received many benefits at his hands, for which reason he had entrusted him, though but a knight, with the oversight of the city for a long period; but he had found him of especial service on occasions when his own temper was more or less uncontrollable. For Maecenas would always banish his anger and bring him to a gentler frame of mind. 2 Here is an instance. Maecenas once came upon him as he was holding court, and seeing that he was on the point of condemning many people to death, he attempted to push his way through the bystanders and get near him. When he was unable to do this, he wrote on a tablet, “Pray rise at last, executioner!” Then he threw the tablet into the lap of Augustus, as if it contained some indifferent matter, and the emperor imposed no death sentences, but arose and departed.

§ 55.7.3 Indeed, he not only was not displeased at such liberties, but was actually glad of them, because whenever he was led into unseemly outbursts of passion by his natural disposition or by the stress of his affairs, these were corresponded by the frank speech of his friends. 4 This also was a supreme proof of Maecenas' excellence, that he not only made himself liked by Augustus, in spite of resisting his impulsiveness, but also pleased everybody else, and though he had the greatest influence with the emperor, so that he bestowed offices and honours upon many men, yet he did not lose his poise, but was content to remain in the equestrian order to the end of his life.

§ 55.7.5 Not only for these reasons, then, did Augustus regret his loss exceedingly, but also because Maecenas, although vexed at the emperor's relations with his wife, had left him as his heir and had empowered him to dispose of all his property, with very few reservations, in case he wished to make gifts to any of his friends or others. Such was the character of Maecenas and such was his treatment of Augustus. 6 He was the first to construct a swimming-pool of warm water in the city, and also the first to devise a system of symbols to give speed in writing, and he used Aquila, a freedman, to train a considerable number in the system.

§ 55.8.1 Tiberius on the first day of the year in which he was consul with Gnaeus Piso convened the senate in the Curia Octaviae, because it was outside the pomerium. 2 After assigning to himself the duty of repairing the temple of Concord, in order that he might inscribe upon it his own name and that of Drusus, he celebrated his triumph, and in company with his mother dedicated the precinct called the precinct of Livia. He gave a banquet to the senate on the Capitol, and she gave one on her own account to the women somewhere or other.

§ 55.8.3 A little later, when there was some disturbance in the province of Germania, he took the field. The festival held in honour of the return of Augustus was directed by Gaius, in place of Tiberius, with the assistance of Piso. The Campus Agrippae and the Diribitorium were made public property by Augustus himself. 4 The Diribitorium was the largest building under a single roof ever constructed; indeed, now that the whole covering has been destroyed, the edifice is wide open to the sky, since it could not be put together again. Agrippa had left it still in process of construction, and it was completed at this time. The portico in the Campus, however, which was being built by Polla, Agrippa's sister, who also adorned the race-courses, was not yet finished.

§ 55.8.5 Meanwhile the funeral combats in honour of Agrippa were given, all except Augustus putting on black clothing and even Agrippa's sons doing the same. There were not only combats between single champions but also between groups of equal numbers on either side; and they were held in the Saepta both as an honour to Agrippa and because many of the structures around the Forum had been burned. 6 The blame for the fire was laid upon the debtor class, who were suspected of having contrived it on purpose, in order that they might have some of their debts remitted when they appeared to have lost heavily. They, for their part, however, gained nothing from the fire; but the streets were put in charge of supervisors, chosen from the people, whom we call street commissioners.

§ 55.8.7 These men were allowed to use the official dress and two lictors, but only in the regions under their administration and on certain days, and they were given control over the force of slaves which had previously been associated with aediles to save buildings that caught fire. The aediles, however, together with the tribunes and praetors, were still assigned by lot to have charge of the whole city, which was divided into fourteen wards. This is also the present arrangement.

§ 55.9.1 These were all events of that year, for nothing worthy of mention happened in Germania. The next year, in which Gaius Antistius and Laelius Balbus were consuls, Augustus was vexed when he saw that Gaius and Lucius were by no means inclined of their own choice to emulate his own conduct, as became young men who were being reared as members of the imperial house. They not only indulged in too great luxury in their lives, but were also inclined to insolence; for example, Lucius on one occasion entered the theatre unattended. 2 They were being flattered by everybody in the city, sometimes sincerely and sometimes to curry favour, and consequently were being spoiled more and more. Among other things of this sort, the people had elected Gaius consul before he was as yet of military age. All this, as I have said, vexed Augustus, and he even prayed that no compelling circumstances might arise, as had once occurred in his own case, such as to requisite that a man less than twenty years old should become consul.

§ 55.9.3 When even so the people insisted, he then said that one ought not to receive the office until one was able not only to avoid error oneself but also to resist the ardent impulses of the populace. 4 After that he gave Gaius a priesthood and also the right to attend the meetings of the senate and to behold spectacles and be present at banquets with that body. And wishing in some way to bring Gaius and Lucius to their senses still more sharply, he bestowed upon Tiberius the tribunician power for five years, and assigned to him Armenia, which was becoming estranged since the death of Tigranes.

§ 55.9.5 The result was that he needlessly offended not only his grandsons but Tiberius as well; for the former felt they had been slighted, and Tiberius feared their anger. At any rate he was sent to Rhodes on the pretext that he needed incidentally a bit of instruction; and he did not even take his entire retinue, to say nothing of friends, the object being that Gaius and Lucius should be relieved both of the sight of him and of his doings. 6 He made the journey as a private citizen, though he exercised his authority by compelling the Parians to sell him the statue of Vesta, in order that it might be placed in the temple of Concord; and when he reached Rhodes, he refrained from haughty conduct in both word and deed.

§ 55.9.7 This is the truest explanation of his journey abroad, though there is also a story that he took this course on account of his wife Julia, because he could no longer endure her; at any rate, she was left behind in Rome. Others said that he was angry at not having been designated as Caesar, and yet others that he was expelled by Augustus himself, on the ground that he was plotting against Augustus' sons. 8 But that his departure was not for the sake of instruction nor because he was displeased at the decrees passed, became plain from many of his subsequent actions, and particularly by his opening his will immediately at that time and reading it to his mother and Augustus. But all possible conjectures were made.

§ 55.9.9 The following year Augustus in the course of his twelfth consulship placed Gaius among the youths of military age, and at the same time introduced him into the senate, declared him princeps iuventutis, and permitted him to become commander of a division of cavalry.

§ 55.10.1 And after the lapse of a year Lucius also obtained all the honours that had been granted to his brother Gaius. On one occasion, when the people had gathered together and were asking that certain reforms be instituted and had sent the tribunes to Augustus for this purpose, the emperor came and consulted with them about their demands; and at this all were pleased. Augustus limited the number of people to be supplied with grain, a number not previously fixed, to two hundred thousand; and, as some say, he distributed largess of sixty denarii to each man.

§ 55.10.2... to Mars, and that he himself and his grandsons should go there as often as they wished, while those who were passing from the class of boys and were being enrolled among the youths of military age should invariably do so; that those who were sent out to commands abroad should make that their starting-point; 3 that the senate should take its votes there in regard to the granting of triumphs, and that the victors after celebrating them should dedicate to this Mars their sceptre and their crown; that such victors and all others who receive triumphal honours should have their statues in bronze erected in the Forum; 4 that in case military standards captured by the enemy were ever recovered they should be placed in the temple; that a festival should be celebrated besides the steps of the temple by the cavalry commanders of each year; that a nail should be driven into it by the censors at the close of their terms;

§ 55.10.5 and that even senators should have the right of contracting to supply the horses that were to compete in the Circensian Games, and also to take general charge of the temple, just as had been provided by law in the case of the temples of Apollo and of Jupiter Capitolinus.

§ 55.10.6 These matters settled, Augustus dedicated this temple of Mars, although he had granted to Gaius and Lucius once for all the right to consecrate all such buildings by virtue of a kind of consular authority that they exercised in the time-honoured manner. And they did, in fact, have the management of the Circensian Games on this occasion, while their brother Agrippa took part along with the boys of the first families in the equestrian exercise called “ Troy.”

§ 55.10.7 Two hundred and sixty lions were slaughtered in the Circus. There was a gladiatorial combat in the Saepta, and a naval battle between the “Persians” and the “ Athenians ” was given on the spot where even today some relics of it are still pointed out. 8 These, it will be understood, were the names given to the contestants; and the “ Athenians ” prevailed as of old. Afterwards water was let into the Circus Flaminius and thirty-six crocodiles were there slaughtered. Augustus, however, did not serve as consul during all these days, but after holding office for a short time, gave the title of the consulship to another.

§ 55.10.9 These were the celebrations in honour of Mars. To Augustus himself a sacred contest was voted in Neapolis, the Campanian city, nominally because he had restored it when it was prostrated by earthquake and fire, but in reality because its inhabitants, alone of the Campanians, tried in a manner to imitate the customs of the Greeks. 10 He also was given the strict right to the title of “Father”; for hitherto he had merely been addressed by that title without the formality of a decree. Moreover, he now for the first time appointed two prefects over the Praetorians, Quintus Ostorius Scapula and Publius Salvius Aper, — for I, too, apply this name “prefect” solely to them, of all who exercise a similar office, inasmuch as it has won its way into general use.

§ 55.10.11 Pylades, the dancer, gave a festival, though he did not perform any of the work himself, since he was very old, but merely wore the insignia of office and provided the cost of the entertainment; and the praetor Quintus Crispinus also gave one. I mention this only because it was on this occasion that knights and women of distinction were brought upon the stage. 12 Of this, however, Augustus took no account; but when he at length discovered that his daughter Julia was so dissolute in her conduct as actually to take part in revels and drinking bouts at night in the Forum and on the very Rostra, he became exceedingly angry. 13 He had surmised even before this time that she was not leading a straight life, but refused to believe it. For those who hold positions of command, it appears, are acquainted with everything else better than with their own affairs; and although their own deeds do not escape the knowledge of their associates, they have no precise information regarding what their associates do. 14 In the present instance, when Augustus learned what was going on, he gave way to a rage so violent that he could not keep the matter to himself, but went so far as to communicate it to senate. As a result Julia was banished to the island of Pandateria, lying off Campania, and her mother Scribonia voluntarily accompanied her. 15 Of the men who had enjoyed her favours, Iullus Antonius, on the ground that his conduct had been prompted by designs upon the monarchy, was put to death along with other prominent persons, while the remainder were banished to islands. And since there was a tribune among them, he was not tried until he had completed his term of office. 16 As a result of this affair many other women, too, were accused of similar behaviour, but the emperor would not entertain all the suits; instead, he set a definite date as a limit and forbade all prying into what had occurred previous to that time. For although in the case of his daughter he would show no mercy, remarking that he would rather have been Phoebe's father than hers, he nevertheless was disposed to spare the rest. This Phoebe had been a freedwoman of Julia's and her accomplice, and had voluntarily taken her own life before she could be punished. It was for this that Augustus praised her.

§ 55.10.17 Gaius assumed command of the legions on the Ister with peaceful intent. Indeed, he fought no war, not because no war broke out, but because he was learning to rule in quiet and safety, while the dangerous undertakings were regularly assigned to others.

§ 55.10.18 When the Armenians revolted and the Parthians joined with them, Augustus was distressed and at a loss what to do. For he himself was not fit for campaigning by reason of age, while Tiberius, as has been stated, had already withdrawn, and he did not dare send any other influential man; as for Gaius and Lucius, they were young and inexperienced in affairs. Nevertheless, under the stress of necessity, he chose Gaius, gave him the proconsular authority and a wife, — in order that he might also have the increased dignity that attached to a married man, — and appointed advisers to him. 19 Gaius accordingly set out and was everywhere received with marks of distinction, as befitted one who was the emperor's grandson and was even looked upon as his son. Even Tiberius went to Chios and paid court to him, thus endeavouring to clear himself of suspicion; indeed, he humiliated himself and grovelled at the feet, not only of Gaius, but also of all the associates of Gaius. And Gaius, after going to Syria and meeting with no great success, was wounded.

§ 55.10.20 When the barbarians heard of Gaius' expedition, Phrataces sent men to Augustus to explain what had occurred and to demand the return of his brothers on condition of his accepting peace. The emperor sent him a letter in reply, addressed simply to “Phrataces,” without the appellation of “king,” in which he directed him to lay aside the royal name and to withdraw from Armenia. Thereupon the Parthian, so far from being cowed, wrote back in a generally haughty tone, styling himself “King of Kings” and addressing Augustus simply as “Caesar.” Tigranes did not at once send any envoys, but when Artabazus somewhat later fell ill and died, he sent gifts to Augustus, in view of the fact that his rival had been removed, 21 and though he did not mention the name “king” in his letter, he really did petition Augustus for the kingship. Influenced by these considerations and at the same time fearing the war with the Parthians, the emperor accepted the gifts and bade him go with good hopes to Gaius in Syria.