The Works of Tacitus
tr. by Alfred John Church and William Jackson Brodribb
[1864-1877]
Tacitus: History Book 4 [1]
1. WHEN Vitellius was dead, the war had indeed come to an end, but peace had
yet to begin. Sword in hand, throughout the capital, the conquerors hunted down
the conquered with merciless hatred. The streets were choked with carnage, the
squares and temples reeked with blood, for men were massacred everywhere as
chance threw them in the way. Soon, as their license increased, they began to
search for and drag forth hidden foes. Whenever they saw a man tall and young
they cut him down, making no distinction between soldiers and civilians. But
the ferocity, which in the first impulse of hatred could be gratified only by
blood, soon passed into the greed of gain. They let nothing be kept secret,
nothing be closed; Vitellianists, they pretended, might be thus concealed. Here
was the first step to breaking open private houses; here, if resistance were
made, a pretext for slaughter. The most needy of the populace and the most worthless
of the slaves did not fail to come forward and betray their wealthy masters;
others were denounced by friends. Everywhere were lamentations, and wailings,
and all the miseries of a captured city, till the license of the Vitellianist
and Othonianist soldiery, once so odious, was remembered with regret. The leaders
of the party, so energetic in kindling civil strife, were incapable of checking
the abuse of victory. In stirring up tumult and strife the worst men can do
the most, but peace and quiet cannot be established without virtue.
2. Domitian had entered into possession of the title and residence of Caesar,
but not yet applying himself to business, was playing the part of a son of the
throne with debauchery and intrigue. The office of prefect of the Praetorian
Guard was held by Arrius Varus, but the supreme power was in the hands of Primus
Antonius, who carried off money and slaves from the establishment of the Emperor,
as if they were the spoils of Cremona. The other generals, whose moderation
or insignificance had shut them out from distinction in the war, had accordingly
no share in its prizes. The country, terror-stricken and ready to acquiesce
in servitude, urgently demanded that Lucius Vitellius with his cohorts should
be intercepted on his way from Tarracina, and that the last sparks of war should
be trodden out. The cavalry were sent on to Aricia, the main body of the legions
halted on this side of Bovillae. Without hesitation Vitellius surrendered himself
and his cohorts to the discretion of the conqueror, and the soldiers threw down
their ill-starred arms in rage quite as much as in alarm. The long train of
prisoners, closely guarded by armed men, passed through the capital. Not one
of them wore the look of a suppliant; sullen and savage, they were unmoved by
the shouts and jests of the insulting rabble. A few, who ventured to break away,
were overpowered by the force that hemmed them in; the rest were thrown into
prison. Not one of them uttered an unworthy word; even in disaster the honour
of the soldier was preserved. After this Lucius Vitellius was executed. Equally
vicious with his brother, he had yet shewn greater vigilance during that brother’s
reign, and may be said, not so much to have shared his elevation, as to have
been dragged down by his fall.
3. About the same time Lucilius Bassus was sent with some light cavalry to
establish order in Campania, where the towns were still disturbed, but by mutual
animosities rather than by any spirit of opposition to the new Emperor. The
sight of the soldiery restored quiet, and the smaller colonies escaped unpunished.
At Capua, however, the third legion was stationed to pass the winter, and the
noble families suffered severely. Tarracina, on the other hand, received no
relief; so much more inclined are we to requite an injury than an obligation.
Gratitude is a burden, while there seems to be a profit in revenge. They were
consoled by seeing the slave of Verginius Capito, whom I have mentioned as the
betrayer of Tarracina, gibbeted in the very rings of knighthood, the gift of
Vitellius, which they had seen him wear. At Rome the Senate, delighted and full
of confident hope, decreed to Vespasian all the honours customarily bestowed
on the Emperors. And indeed the civil war, which, beginning in Gaul and Spain,
and afterwards drawing into the struggle first Germany and then Illyricum, had
traversed Aegypt, Judaea, and Syria, every province, and every army, this war,
now that the whole earth was, as it were, purged from guilt, seemed to have
reached its close. Their alacrity was increased by a letter from Vespasian,
written during the continuance of the war. Such indeed was its character at
first sight; the writer, however, expressed himself as an Emperor, speaking
modestly about himself, in admirable language about the State. There was no
want of deference on the part of the Senate. On the Emperor and his son Titus
the consulship was bestowed by decree; on Domitian the office of praetor with
consular authority.
4. Mucianus had also forwarded to the Senate certain letters which furnished
matter for talk. It was said, “Why, if he is a private citizen, does he speak
like a public man? In a few days’ time he might have said the very same words
in his place as a Senator. And even the invective against Vitellius comes too
late, and is ungenerous; while certainly it is arrogance to the State and an
insult to the Emperor to boast that he had the Imperial power in his hands,
and made a present of it to Vespasian.” Their dislike, however, was concealed;
their adulation was open enough. In most flattering language they voted a triumph
to Mucianus, a triumph for a civil war, though the expedition against the Sarmatae
was the pretext. On Antonius Primus were bestowed the insignia of consular rank,
on Arrius Varus and Cornelius Fuscus praetorian honours. Then they remembered
the Gods. It was determined that the Capitol should be restored. All these motions
Valerius Asiaticus, consul elect, proposed. Most of the Senators signified their
assent by their looks, or by raising the hand; but a few, who either held a
distinguished rank, or had a practised talent for flattery, declared their acquiescence
in studied speeches. When it came to the turn of Helvidius Priscus, praetor
elect, to vote, he delivered an opinion, full of respect indeed to a worthy
Emperor, and yet wholly free from insincerity; and he was strongly supported
by the sympathies of the Senate. To Priscus indeed this day was in an especial
manner the beginning of a great quarrel and a great renown.
5. As I have again happened to mention a man of whom I shall often have to
speak, the subject seems to demand that I should give a brief account of his
life and pursuits, and of his fortunes. Helvidius Priscus was a native of the
town of Carecina in Italy, and was the son of one Cluvius, who had been a centurion
of the first rank. In early youth he devoted his distinguished talents to the
loftiest pursuits, not wishing, as do many, to cloak under an imposing name
a life of indolence, but to be able to enter upon public life with a spirit
fortified against the chances of fortune. He followed those teachers of philosophy
who hold nothing to be good but what is honourable, nothing evil but what is
base, and who refuse to count either among things good or evil, power, rank,
or indeed any thing not belonging to the mind. While still holding the quaestorship,
he was selected by Paetus Thrasea to be his son-in-law, and from the example
of his father-in-law imbibed with peculiar eagerness a love of liberty. As a
citizen and as a Senator, as a husband, as a son-in-law, as a friend, and in
all the relations of life, he was ever the same, despising wealth, steadily
tenacious of right, and undaunted by danger.
6. There were some who thought him too eager for fame, and indeed the desire
of glory is the last infirmity cast off even by the wise. The fall of his father-in-law
drove him into exile, but he returned when Galba mounted the throne, and proceeded
to impeach Marcellus Eprius, who had been the informer against Thrasea. This
retribution, as great as it was just, had divided the Senate into two parties;
for, if Marcellus fell, a whole army of fellow culprits was struck down. At
first there was a fierce struggle, as is proved by the great speeches delivered
by both men. But afterwards, as the feelings of Galba were doubtful, and many
Senators interceded, Priscus dropped the charge, amidst comments varying with
the tempers of men, some praising his moderation, and others deploring a lack
of courage. On the day, however, that the Senate was voting about the Imperial
dignities of Vespasian, it had been resolved that envoys should be sent to the
new Emperor. Hence arose a sharp altercation between Helvidius and Eprius. Priscus
proposed that they should be chosen by name by the magistrates on oath, Marcellus
demanded the ballot; and this had been the opinion expressed by the Consul elect.
7. It was the dread of personal humiliation that made Marcellus so earnest,
for he feared that, if others were chosen, he should himself appear slighted.
From an angry conversation they passed by degrees to long and bitter speeches.
Helvidius asked, “Why should Marcellus be so afraid of the judgment of the magistrates?
He has wealth and eloquence, which might make him superior to many, were he
not oppressed by the consciousness of guilt. The chances of the ballot do not
discriminate men’s characters; the voting and the judgment of the Senate were
devised to reach the lives and reputations of individuals. It concerns the interests
of the Commonwealth, it concerns the honour due to Vespasian, that he should
be met by those whom the Senate counts to be peculiarly blameless, and who may
fill the Emperor’s ear with honourable counsels. Vespasian was the friend of
Thrasea, Soranus, and Sextius; and the accusers of these men, though it may
not be expedient to punish them, ought not to be paraded before him. By this
selection on the part of the Senate the Emperor will, so to speak, be advised
whom he should mark with approval, and from whom he should shrink. There can
be no more effectual instrument of good government than good friends. Let Marcellus
be satisfied with having urged Nero to destroy so many innocent victims; let
him enjoy the wages of his crimes and his impunity, but let him leave Vespasian
to worthier advisers.”
8. Marcellus declared, “It is not my opinion that is assailed; the Consul
elect has made a motion in accordance with old precedents, which directed the
use of the ballot in the appointment of envoys, in order that there might be
no room for intrigue or private animosities. Nothing has happened why customs
of long standing should fall into disuse, or why the honour due to the Emperor
should be turned into an insult to any man. All Senators are competent to pay
their homage. What we have rather to avoid is this, that a mind unsettled by
the novelty of power, and which will keenly watch the very looks and language
of all, should be irritated by the obstinacy of certain persons. I do not forget
the times in which I have been born, or the form of government which our fathers
and grandfathers established. I may regard with admiration an earlier period,
but I acquiesce in the present, and, while I pray for good Emperors, I can endure
whomsoever we may have. It was not through my speech any more than it was through
the judgment of the Senate that Thrasea fell. The savage temper of Nero amused
itself under these forms, and I found the friendship of such a Prince as harassing
as others found their exile. Finally, Helvidius may rival the Catos and the
Bruti of old in constancy and courage; I am but one of the Senate which bows
to the same yoke. Besides, I would advise Priscus not to climb higher than the
throne, or to impose his counsels on Vespasian, an old man, who has won the
honours of a triumph, and has two sons grown to manhood. For as the worst Emperors
love an unlimited despotism, so the noblest like some check on liberty.” These
speeches, which were delivered with much vehemence on both sides, were heard
with much diversity of feeling. That party prevailed which preferred that the
envoys should be taken by lot, as even the neutral section in the Senate exerted
themselves to retain the old practice, while the more conspicuous members inclined
to the same view, dreading jealousy, should the choice fall on themselves.
9. Another struggle ensued. The praetors of the Treasury (the Treasury was
at this time managed by praetors) complained of the poverty of the State, and
demanded a retrenchment of expenditure. The Consul elect, considering how great
was the evil and how difficult the remedy, was for reserving the matter for
the Emperor. Helvidius gave it as his opinion that measures should be taken
at the discretion of the Senate. When the Consuls came to take the votes, Vulcatius
Tertullinus, tribune of the people, put his veto on any resolution being adopted
in so important a matter in the absence of the Emperor. Helvidius had moved
that the Capitol should be restored at the public expense, and that Vespasian
should give his aid. All the more moderate of the Senators let this opinion
pass in silence, and in time forgot it; but there were some who remembered it.
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