1. The emperor’s household was in convulsions as a result of the killing of Messalina. Conflict had arisen amongst the freedmen over which of them would choose a wife for Claudius, who could not bear the single life and always bowed to his wives’ commands. And no less a rivalry had flared up amongst the women, all of them flaunting their noble birth, beauty, and wealth as being superior to the others’ and highlighting their claims to such a great marriage. But the contest was mainly between Lollia Paulina,*daughter of the ex-consul Marcus Lollius, and Julia Agrippina, who was a child of Germanicus. As supporters, Agrippina had Pallas and Paulina Callistus, while Aelia Paetina,* from the Tubero family, had the backing of Narcissus. As for Claudius, he at one moment inclined towards one, at the next towards another (depending on which of the advocates he had been listening to). Finally he called a meeting of the feuding parties and ordered each to give his opinion and his reasons for it.
2. Narcissus’ arguments centred on Claudius’ marriage of old, the daughter the couple had had together (Antonia was his child by Paetina), and the fact that there would be no change in his domestic situation if a wife with whom he was familiar returned. She would certainly not look with a stepmother’s hatred upon Britannicus and Octavia, children next to her own in her affection. Callistus claimed she was disqualified by the long period of the divorce, and being taken back would itself make her insufferably arrogant. Far preferable, he said, for Lollia to be brought in: having no children, she would be free of jealousy and would serve as a mother for the stepchildren. As for Pallas, his recommendation for Agrippina centred on her bringing with her the grandson of Germanicus. His noble pedigree was worthy of the imperial rank, he argued, and he could join together the descendants of the Julian and Claudian families— and they should ensure that a woman of proven fertility, and in the bloom of her youth, did not take the glory of the Caesars into another house.
3. These arguments prevailed, aided as they were by Agrippina’s charms. Using their family connection as a pretext, she made frequent visits, and so captivated her uncle that she was preferred to her rivals and, though not yet a wife, now wielded a wife’s power. For, once certain of her own marriage, she began to make greater plans, and to engineer a marriage between Domitius, the son she had had by Gnaeus Ahenobarbus,* and Claudius’ daughter Octavia. This could not be brought off without some criminal act. Claudius had promised Octavia to Lucius Silanus,* and had brought the young man, already distinguished, popularity with the masses by granting him triumphal insignia and staging a magnificent gladiatorial show in his honour. But there seemed no difficulty in manipulating the mind of an emperor whose favour and animosity were always implanted and programmed by others.
4. Now Vitellius, who screened his servile intrigues behind his title of censor, and had the ability to foresee the rise of despotic regimes, began to associate himself with Agrippina’s schemes in order to win her favour. He brought charges against Silanus, whose sister, Junia Calvina,* was indeed attractive and precocious (and she had also been Vitellius’ daughter-in-law shortly before). It was on this that the allegations were based, with Vitellius putting a sordid interpretation on an affection between the siblings which, while indiscreet, was not incestuous. And Claudius lent an ear, more prepared to listen to innuendo against a son-in-law because of his love for his daughter. Silanus, who was ignorant of the plot and happened to be praetor that year, was suddenly removed from the senatorial order by an edict of Vitellius, despite the fact that the list of senators had long been drafted and the census-purification performed. At the same time Claudius broke off the engagement, and Silanus was forced to resign his magistracy,* the one remaining day of his praetorship being conferred on Eprius Marcellus.*
5. In the consulship of Gaius Pompeius and Quintus Veranius the matrimonial compact made between Claudius and Agrippina was being strengthened in part by popular opinion and in part by their illicit lovemaking. They did not yet dare to hold a wedding ceremony, however, as there was no precedent for a brother’s daughter being escorted* to the house of her uncle. In fact, it was incest, and disregard of that, it was feared, might lead to dire consequences for the state. Their hesitation did not end until Vitellius undertook to use his own special skills to solve the problem. He asked Claudius if he would accept the orders of the people and the authority of the Senate, and when the emperor replied that he was one of the citizens and unable to resist their united voice Vitellius told him to wait within the Palatium.*
Vitellius entered the Curia and, declaring that it was a matter touching on the highest interests of the state, begged permission to speak ahead of the others. He then began by saying that crushing labours were placed on the emperor in his governance of the world, and support was needed for him to attend to the public good free from domestic worries. And where could the mind of a censor*find more honourable solace than in the taking of a wife, a companion in good times and bad, to whom he could entrust his most intimate thoughts and his little children? For he was a man who was not used to the life of luxury and pleasure, but one who from his earliest youth had lived in obedience to the laws.
6. Many expressions of agreement followed these preliminary remarks, which were couched in terms designed to win approval. Vitellius then made a fresh start, declaring that, since all were in favour of the emperor marrying, a woman known for noble birth, childbearing, and the purity of her life ought to be selected. And no long investigation was needed, he continued, to determine Agrippina’s superiority in family distinction; her fertility had been proven; and she had the corresponding moral attributes. But there was one outstanding benefit: by divine providence a widow would be united with an emperor whose experience of women was confined to his own marriages. They had heard from their parents, and seen for themselves, he said, how wives could be torn away from husbands at the whim of the Caesars*—that was far removed from the respectable situation now proposed. Indeed, a precedent should be set for the emperor receiving his wife from the Senate.
Now, it might be argued that marriage with daughters of brothers is unfamiliar to us, Vitellius continued; but it was regular practice in other societies, and was prohibited by no law. Marriages with cousins had long been unfamiliar to us, too, but had become frequent with the passage of time. Custom became adapted to expediency, he concluded, and this, too, would soon become part of common Roman practice.
7. There was no shortage of senators rushing from the Curia declaring that they would resort to force if Claudius hesitated; and a motley crowd gathered, crying out that the Roman people joined the Senate in its entreaty. Claudius waited no longer. Meeting them in the Forum he accepted their good wishes, and then, entering the Senate, asked for a decree* whereby marriage between uncles and their brothers’ daughters would, in future, too, be recognized in law. (Only one man, however, was found seeking such a marriage, the Roman knight Alledius Severus, and many claimed that his sole motivation was to ingratiate himself with Agrippina.)
With that the state was transformed, and everything passed under a woman’s control, one who, unlike Messalina, did not capriciously tamper with the Roman government. It was a strict despotism with a masculine character. In public there was austerity and, more often, arrogance, and at home no sexual impropriety, unless it helped gain power. She had an excessive greed for gold, her pretext for accumulating it being to assist the imperial power.
8. On the wedding day Silanus took his own life. Either he had reached that point buoyed with hopes of staying alive, or he chose the day to increase public resentment. His sister Calvina was banished* from Italy. Claudius went further, calling for ceremonies in conformity with the laws of King Tullus,* with expiatory rites celebrated by the pontiffs in the grove of Diana; and it brought general amusement that this was the time chosen for punishment and expiation for incest! But not to have a reputation only for evil deeds, Agrippina successfully petitioned for remission in the case of Annaeus Seneca’s* exile, and a praetorship for him along with it. She thought this would have public approval in view of Seneca’s literary fame, and she also planned to have Domitius’ early years mature under such a teacher. Moreover, they could profit from the man’s advice in their imperial aspirations, for (it was believed) Seneca would be loyal to Agrippina through remembrance of her benefaction, and hostile to Claudius because he was piqued by the wrong he had suffered.
9. It was decided that there be no further delay, and the consul-designate Mammius Pollio* was induced with lavish promises to put forward a motion in which Claudius would be entreated to sanction the engagement of Octavia to Domitius. At the age of the two this was not inappropriate, and it would open the way to greater things. Pollio made the proposal in terms not dissimilar to those recently employed by Vitellius. Octavia was then engaged and, in addition to his previous family connection, Domitius now became the emperor’s promised son-in-law and Britannicus’ equal—all because of his mother’s intrigues and the machinations of those who, having accused Messalina, feared retribution from her son.
10. At about this time the Parthian representatives* who (as I noted above) had been sent to ask for the return of Meherdates, made their appearance in the Senate and delivered their message in the following terms. They were not unaware of their treaty, they said, and in coming they were not revolting against the Arsacid family. They were, rather, calling upon the son of Vonones, grandson of Phraates, to counter the despotism of Gotarzes, which their nobility and common people alike found unbearable. Brothers, kinsmen, and more distant relatives had been wiped out in Gotarzes’ massacres; and pregnant women and little children were being added to the list while he, inactive at home and unsuccessful in war, covered up his cowardice with ruthlessness. They had a long-standing friendship with us that had been inaugurated officially, they said, and we should aid allies who, our equals in strength, nevertheless deferred to us out of respect. There was a reason that the children of their kings were given as hostages, they concluded: if the Parthians grew dissatisfied with the regime at home, they had recourse to the emperor and the senators, so that a king could be installed who would be all the better for exposure to their culture.
11. After the Parthians made these and similar arguments, Claudius proceeded with a speech on the grandeur of Rome and Parthian deference to it, and compared himself with the deified Augustus who, he noted, had also been asked for a king* (he omitted mention of Tiberius, though he too had sent them kings). He added some words of advice, since Meherdates was present. Meherdates should not think in terms of mastery over slaves, he said, but of being a director amongst citizens, and he should follow a policy of clemency and justice, qualities which, being unknown to barbarians, would be all the more appreciated. Then, turning to the representatives, he heaped praise on this ‘foster-child of Rome’, a man of exemplary self-discipline to that point. However, he added, the character of monarchs had to be tolerated, and frequent regimechanges were not beneficial. The Roman state, having acquired all too much glory, had arrived at the point of wanting settled conditions in foreign nations, too. Gaius Cassius,* the governor of Syria, was then given the responsibility of escorting the young man to the bank of the Euphrates.
12. At that time Cassius was pre-eminent for his jurisprudence; for military skills remain an unknown quantity in tranquil times, and peace keeps the energetic and the indolent on the same level. Even so Cassius (as far as he was allowed when there was no war) set about reviving the discipline of old, drilling the legions, and employing as much care and caution as if there were an enemy threat. For he thought this was in keeping with the dignity of his ancestors and the Cassian family,* which was also famous throughout the peoples in that area. He therefore mobilized the people on whose recommendation the request for the king had been made, and encamped at Zeugma, from which there is a very easy river crossing. After the arrival of the Parthian notables and Acbarus* the Arab king, Cassius warned Meherdates that the great zest of barbarians flagged with delay, or turned into treachery, and so he should press ahead with his enterprise. The advice was disregarded through Acbarus’ treachery. The young man lacked experience and thought the height of good fortune lay in dissipation; and Acbarus thus detained him for several days in the town of Edessa. And although Carenes* summoned him, and pointed out that success was at hand if they arrived swiftly, Meherdates did not head directly for Mesopotamia but took a detour into Armenia, which the onset of winter made impracticable at that time.
13. Then, worn out by the snow and mountainous terrain, they approached the plains and joined up with Carenes’ forces. Crossing the River Tigris, they made their way through the Adiabeni,* whose king, Izates,* had publicly taken up an alliance with Meherdates, but secretly favoured Gotarzes and had greater loyalty to him.
En route, the city of Ninos, the ancient Assyrian capital, was captured, as was a stronghold that had become famous as the site of the final battle* between Darius and Alexander, which signalled the collapse of the power of Persia. Meanwhile Gotarzes offered vows to the local deities on a mountain called Sanbulos, the prime cult in the area being that of Hercules who, on a fixed date, tells his priests during their sleep to station horses beside the temple geared up for hunting. When they have had quivers filled with arrows placed on them, the horses wander through the woodlands and eventually return at night panting heavily and with the quivers empty. The god then makes a second appearance during the night and indicates where he has wandered in the forests, and wild animals are found killed at various points.
14. His army not yet sufficiently strengthened, Gotarzes relied on the River Corma as a line of defence. Though challenged to fight by taunting messages, he manufactured delays, changed positions and, sending men with bribes to undermine the enemy’s loyalty, bought off a number of them. These included Izates and Acbarus, who left with the Adiabene and Arab armies respectively. This was an illustration of their national fickleness, but in addition—a well-established fact—barbarians are more content to ask for kings from Rome than to keep them!
Stripped of his powerful auxiliary troops, and suspecting treachery on the part of the others, Meherdates decided on the one remaining course of action, namely to trust to luck and risk a battle. Gotarzes did not decline the fight, either, his confidence boosted by the diminished enemy numbers. The clash yielded great carnage and an unclear result, until Carenes advanced too far after driving back those before him and was cut off to his rear by a fresh detachment. Then, losing all hope, Meherdates listened to promises made to him by Parraces, a client of his father, only to be tricked by him and delivered to the victor. Gotarzes reprimanded him as being no relative of his and no member of the Arsacid family, but a foreigner and a Roman. Then, to demonstrate his clemency and humiliate us, he ordered Meherdates to be left alive with his ears cut off. Gotarzes died of an illness after this, and Vonones, then ruler of the Medes, was invited to assume the throne. Vonones had neither successes nor reverses to make him noteworthy. His rule was short and undistinguished, and the Parthian empire then passed on to his son Vologaeses.*
15. Mithridates of Bosporus* had been roaming around after losing his power. He then learned that the Roman general Didius* and the cream of his forces had withdrawn, leaving the callow youth Cotys in his new kingdom, along with a few cohorts under the Roman knight Julius Aquila. With contempt for both men, Mithridates roused the local tribes to action and enticed deserters to his cause, and finally, mobilizing an army, drove out the king of the Dandaridae and took possession of his territory. When this became known to Aquila and Cotys, and it was expected that Mithridates would attack Bosporus at any moment, they felt no confidence in the strength of their own forces (for King Zorsines of the Siraci had now resumed hostilities against them). They accordingly sought outside help themselves, sending envoys to Eunones, who ruled over the tribe of the Aorsi. And for people who could point to the power of Rome facing the rebel Mithridates, negotiating an alliance was no difficult matter. They agreed therefore that Eunones would take charge of fighting the cavalry battles while the Romans would be responsible for besieging cities.
16. They then headed out in a combined column, the Aorsi giving protection to the front and rear, and the cohorts and Bosporani (who were armed in the Roman manner) to the centre. Defeating the enemy with this formation, they reached Soza, a town in Dandarica that had been deserted by Mithridates and which, given the ambivalent sympathies of its people, they thought should be secured by leaving a garrison in place. They next advanced on the Siraci and, after crossing the River Panda, blockaded Uspe, which stood on high ground and was protected by fortifications and ditches. However, the ramparts were not constructed of stone, but of wickerwork panels and frames with earth between them, making them weak in the face of attack; and our siege-towers rose up above them, creating havoc amongst the besieged population when torches and spears were discharged from them. In fact, had nightfall not cut short the fighting the siege would have started and been brought to an end the same day.
17. The next day the townspeople sent spokesmen to beg for a pardon for all free persons, and they offered to surrender ten thousand slaves. The victors rejected their entreaty because it would be barbaric to butcher men who surrendered, and difficult to surround such huge numbers with guards. Better, they reasoned, for them to die by the rules of war, and the soldiers who had scaled the walls on ladders were given the signal for a massacre.
The destruction of Uspe struck fear into the other tribes. They now thought they had no security, not when armies, defences, terrain difficult or high, rivers, and cities were all alike surmounted by the enemy. Zorsines therefore long considered whether he should consider Mithridates’ dire predicament or the kingdom of his forefathers.
The interests of his people prevailed, and he gave hostages and flung himself before the effigy of Claudius—to the great glory of the Roman army, for it was now well known that it was only three days’ march from the River Tanais, unbloodied and triumphant. On the return journey, however, fortunes were different. A number of ships—they were returning by sea—were driven on to the shores of the Tauri, where the barbarians surrounded them, killing a prefect of a cohort and several auxiliaries.
18. Meanwhile Mithridates, with no help to be sought in battle, wondered on whose mercy he should throw himself. His brother Cotys, once a traitor to him and then his enemy, inspired fear; of the Romans there was nobody at hand of sufficient authority for his assurances to carry much weight. He turned to Eunones, who had no private grudges against him, and who had recently been strengthened by an alliance with us. So, with dress and expression as much as possible adapted to his present fortunes, Mithridates entered Eunones’ palace and threw himself before his knees.
‘I, Mithridates,’ he said, ‘am here of my own accord, having been hunted by the Romans over land and sea for so many years. Deal as you wish with a descendant of the great Achaemenes*—the one thing my enemies have not taken from me.’
19. Eunones was touched by the man’s distinction, his reversal of fortune, and his entreaty, which did not lack dignity. He raised the suppliant and commended him for choosing the Aorsi people and Eunones’ right hand for making his appeal for forgiveness. At the same time he sent delegates to Claudius with a letter that ran like this. Friendship between the emperors of the Roman people and the rulers of great nations rested primarily on the equivalence of the positions, he said, but between himself and Claudius there was also the common bond of victory. The best ending to hostilities was one that came with forgiveness, he continued, and thus it was that Zorsines had faced no expropriation after defeat. Mithridates did deserve harsher treatment, he said, and his plea was not that the man should retain his power and his throne, only that he not be paraded in a triumph or face the death penalty.
20. Claudius was indulgent with foreign nobles, but he now wondered whether it would be better to accept Mithridates as a prisoner of war with his life guaranteed, or to recover him by armed force. Resentment over his injuries and a lust for revenge urged the second course; but the argument made against it was that the war would be undertaken in trackless countryside and on a harbourless sea. In addition there were aggressive rulers, nomadic peoples, and a barren terrain. Delay would arouse ennui, and haste would create dangers, while there would be little praise for victory and great disgrace if they were defeated. Why not take what was being offered and save the exile for whom, being destitute, a longer life meant only greater punishment?
Moved by these arguments, Claudius wrote to Eunones telling him that Mithridates deserved punishment of the choicest kind, and that he did not lack the power to inflict it, but his ancestors’ procedure was to show kindness to suppliants and determination against enemies in equal measure. For, he said, triumphs were won only when the powers of the defeated peoples and kings were unimpaired.
21. Mithridates was then handed over and taken to Rome* by Junius Cilo,* procurator of Pontus, and it was said that he spoke more aggressively before Claudius than his situation warranted. One of his statements that came to the notice of the public went like this: ‘I have not been sent back to you but have come back; and if you don’t believe that, release me and try to catch me!’ He also maintained his fearless expression when he was put on show for the people, surrounded by guards, beside the Rostra. Consular insignia were bestowed by decree on Cilo, and on Aquila praetorian insignia.
22. Agrippina was savage in her hatred, and she resented Lollia for having competed with her to marry the emperor. Now, in this same consulship, she engineered charges against her, finding an informer to accuse her of resorting to Chaldeans and magicians, and of having consulted the statue of Apollo of Clarus regarding the emperor’s marriage.
Without hearing the accused, Claudius prefaced an address to the Senate with many remarks on Lollia’s illustrious background. She was the daughter of Lucius Volusius’ sister,* he said; her great uncle was Cotta Messalinus; and she had once been married to Memmius Regulus (he was careful to say nothing about her marriage to Gaius Caesar). He then added that her machinations were injurious to the state, and that she should be deprived of the wherewithal to commit crime. Accordingly, he said, her property should be confiscated and she should leave Italy. As a result she was, in exile, left only five million sesterces from her enormous possessions.
Calpurnia,* a lady of great distinction, was also ruined, because the emperor had praised her looks. There was no sexual interest; it was merely a remark made in passing, and Agrippina’s wrath therefore stopped short of extreme measures. In Lollia’s case* a tribune was sent to see that she was driven to suicide. Cadius Rufus* was also condemned, under the law of extortion, the charge brought by the people of Bithynia.
23. Because of its deep respect for the Senate, Narbonese Gaul was granted the privilege (already enjoyed by Sicily) of senators from the province being allowed to visit their estates without first consulting the emperor. On the death of their kings, Sohaemus* and Agrippa,* Ituraea and Judaea were annexed to the province of Syria.
It was decided that the Augury of Safety, abandoned for twenty-five years, should be revived and continued in future. Claudius also expanded the pomerium* of the city in accordance with the ancient custom by which those who extended the empire* are also granted the right to enlarge the boundaries of the city. In fact, despite the subjection of great peoples, Roman commanders had not exercised the right, with the exception of Lucius Sulla and the deified Augustus.
24. As for the kings, there are various popular accounts of their pretensions or praiseworthy actions in this matter, but I think it pertinent to investigate the initial foundation of the pomerium and its dimensions as Romulus fixed them. Now, a furrow was used to mark out the town limits. It began at the Forum Boarium (where we see the bronze statue of a bull, since this is the species of animal that is yoked to the plough) and was made to include the great altar of Hercules. After that there were stones set at regular intervals along the foot of the Palatine Hill* up to the temple of Consus,* then to the ancient curiae,* and after that to the shrine of the Lares. As for the Roman Forum and the Capitol, the general belief has been that these were added to the city not by Romulus but by Titus Tatius.* Later the pomerium was extended as Rome’s fortunes increased, and the bounds that Claudius at that time established are easily recognizable and are registered in the official records.
25. In the consulship of Gaius Antistius and Marcus Suillius, the adoption of Domitius was swiftly pushed ahead through Pallas’ influence. Pallas felt bound to Agrippina as the arranger of her marriage, and later because of a sexual relationship, and he now kept urging Claudius to take thought for the good of the state and provide protection for Britannicus in his early years. He cited the parallel of the deified Augustus in whose family, though he had grandsons to rely on, stepsons had a prominent role, and the case of Tiberius, who had children of his own but also adopted Germanicus. Claudius, too, he said, should equip himself with a young man who would assume some of his responsibilities.
Convinced by this, Claudius set Domitius, who was three years older, ahead of his own son, making a speech in the Senate along the lines of what he had heard from the freedman. Experts observed that there had been before this no case of adoption amongst the patricians of the Claudian family,* and that they had survived without interruption from Attus Clausus* on.
26. The emperor was thanked, and the flattery of Domitius was particularly well constructed; and a law was passed* that provided for his adoption into the Claudian family with the name ‘Nero’. Agrippina, too, received elevation with the cognomen Augusta.* When this was done, there was nobody so heartless as not to be touched by sadness for Britannicus’ lot. The boy was gradually deprived even of the service of his slaves, and he treated with derision the poorly timed solicitude of his stepmother, aware of its hypocrisy. For they do say that he was not slow-witted by nature. That may be true, or perhaps sympathy for his danger allowed him to keep that reputation without it being put to the test.
27. To demonstrate her power to the allied peoples, as well, Agrippina successfully petitioned for a colony* of veterans—its title was derived from her own name—to be established in the chief town of the Ubii, in which she had been born. And it so happened that this was the tribe that her grandfather Agrippa had taken under Roman protection when it crossed the Rhine.
In the same period there was alarm in Upper Germany with the arrival of the Chatti on a plundering expedition. The legate Publius Pomponius responded by dispatching auxiliaries of the Vangiones and Nemetes, with allied cavalry support, under orders to head off the raiders, or to surprise and surround them if they split up. Spirited action from his men followed up the commander’s plan. They split into two columns, and those who had headed out to the left encircled some of the enemy who had recently returned and who, after squandering their plunder on dissipation, were heavy with sleep. The joy of the Romans was increased by the fact that they had, after forty years, delivered from slavery some survivors of the disaster of Varus.
28. Those who had taken the right-hand, shorter routes inflicted greater loss on the enemy, who confronted them and risked pitched battle. Charged with spoils and glory, they returned to Mt. Taunus where Pomponius was waiting with the legions in case the Chatti, eager for revenge, offered him the chance of battle. But the Chatti feared being outflanked on the one side by the Romans and on the other by the Cherusci (with whom they were constantly feuding), and they sent spokesmen into the city with hostages. Pomponius was voted triumphal honours, a modest contribution to his standing with posterity, with whom the glory of his poetry takes precedence.
29. At this same time Vannius* was driven from his throne. Imposed on the Suebi by Drusus Caesar, he had, in the early years of his reign, enjoyed the respect and affection of his people. Presently, as time passed, he changed and became tyrannical, and found himself beleaguered by the hatred of his neighbours, along with civil disturbance at home. The ringleaders were Vibilius,* king of the Hermunduri, and Vangio and Sido,* the sons of Vannius’ own sister. And Claudius, despite numerous appeals, refused military intervention in this struggle between barbarians, promising only a safe refuge for Vannius were he driven out. He also sent written instructions to Palpellius Hister,* governor of Pannonia, to station a legion, and auxiliaries raised from the province itself, along the riverbank. These were to provide assistance to the conquered, and also intimidate the victors so they would not, elated with their good fortune, disturb our peace, as well. For there was an enormous force approaching—Lugii and other tribes—drawn by reports of the wealth of the kingdom that Vannius had built up through thirty years’ of plunder and taxation. Vannius had his own infantry force, and cavalry that came from the Sarmatian Iazyges. This was no match for the enemy numbers, and so he had decided to rely on his strongholds for defence, and to draw out the war.
30. The Iazyges, however, could not tolerate a siege, and as they drifted through the nearby plains they made battle inevitable, since the Lugii and Hermunduri had advanced into that area.
Vannius therefore came down from his strongholds and was defeated in the field, winning praise—despite his failure—for taking part in the battle himself and for receiving frontal wounds. He nevertheless sought refuge with the fleet that was waiting at the Danube. His clients soon followed and were settled in Pannonia with grants of land. Vangio and Sido divided the kingdom between them and maintained exceptional loyalty towards us; but because of their own character, or because such is the character of servitude, they won great affection from their subjects while gaining their fiefdoms, and greater hatred after doing so.
31. In Britain,* meanwhile, the propraetor Publius Ostorius* was faced with a state of turmoil. The enemy had poured into the territory of our allies with all the more fury because they believed that a new commander would not confront them with an army unfamiliar to him, and with winter already begun. Ostorius knew that fear or confidence is inspired by initial results, and he hurried along his light-armed cohorts, annihilated resistance, and hunted down the scattered fugitives. His aim now was to prevent the enemy from regrouping, and to avoid a peace negotiated with hostility and lack of faith that would permit neither the general nor the common soldier to be at ease. He therefore prepared to disarm those he suspected, and to hold in check with encampments the entire area as far as the rivers Trisantona* and Sabrina.
The first to oppose these measures were the Iceni,* a powerful tribe that had not been crushed in battle, having voluntarily entered into alliance with us. At their prompting, the surrounding tribes selected for the battlefield an area that was enclosed by a country dyke, with a narrow entrance that would make it impassable to cavalry. Such were the defences that the Roman commander prepared to breach, despite the fact that he was at the head only of allied troops* without the strength of the legions. He deployed his cohorts, and applied even his cavalry squadrons to the duties of infantrymen. He then gave the signal, and the men broke through the dyke and caused mayhem amidst the enemy, caught within a barrier of their own making. The Britons, from a guilty conscience over their rebellion and with escape routes blocked, brought off many brilliant exploits; and in that battle the legate’s son Marcus Ostorius won the prize of honour* for saving a citizen’s life.
32. After the defeat of the Iceni, calm prevailed amongst those who were wavering between war and peace, and the army was led against the Decangi.* Lands were plundered, and booty carried off in all areas, since the enemy would not risk battle, and their trickery was punished if they tried to harass the column from concealed positions. By now the Romans had reached a point not far from the sea facing the island of Hibernia when trouble arising among the Brigantes made the commander turn back, for he was resolutely determined not to undertake new conquests before consolidating earlier gains.
The Brigantes were, in fact, pacified when the few who initiated hostilities were put to death and the others pardoned. However, no cruel punishment, and no clemency, could change the hearts of the tribe of the Silures and deter them from continuing the war, and they had to be suppressed by the installation of a legionary camp.* So that this could be effected more easily, a colony comprising a large unit of veterans was established on conquered lands at Camulodunum.* This would serve as a defensive force against rebellion and inculcate respect for the laws in the allies.
33. Next came an expedition against the Silures who, apart from being naturally recalcitrant, also had confidence in the might of Caratacus,* whom many indecisive and many successful engagements had raised to a level above the other commanders of the Britons. But on that occasion, being inferior in numbers, Caratacus relied on cunning and a treacherous terrain to gain advantage, shifting the theatre of war to the land of the Ordovices. There, reinforced by all those who feared a peace with us, he took the ultimate risk, after selecting a site for the battle where everything—advancing and pulling back alike—was unfavourable to us, but to his own men’s advantage. There were high mountains on one side, and any area that was reachable by a gentle incline Caratacus blocked with rocks that formed a kind of rampart. Before the site flowed a river with a ford of varying depth, and bands of armed men had taken a position before the defences.
34. Moreover, the tribal chieftains were doing the rounds of their men, giving encouragement and building confidence by easing fears, kindling hopes, and providing other incentives to battle. As for Caratacus, he was darting this way and that, proclaiming that this was the day and this the battle that would begin their recovery of liberty or else their eternal slavery. He also called out the names of their ancestors, who had driven back the dictator Caesar, and thanks to whose courage they had been spared the axes and tribute-payments, and had kept the persons of their wives and children free from violation. As he made these and similar comments, the crowd noisily applauded, and all swore by their tribal gods that no weapons and no wounds would make them give ground.
35. This fervour astounded the Roman commander. The river that stood in his way, and the fortifications that had been added, also caused him alarm; so did the towering mountains, and the whole grim scene bristling with defending forces. But the men were clamouring for battle, crying out that everything could be overcome by courage; and prefects and tribunes intensified the ardour of the troops with similar comments.
Ostorius looked around him to see what was impenetrable and what accessible, and then, at the head of his frenzied troops, he crossed the river without difficulty. When the men reached the rampart, wounds were more numerous on our side, and there were considerable losses, as long as the fighting was confined to projectiles. Then, with the use of a tortoise formation, the crude and shapeless stone structure was dismantled, and close-quarter fighting began on equal terms. At that point the barbarians retreated to the hilltops. There, too, the skirmishers and heavy infantry broke in upon them, the skirmishers attacking with their spears, the infantry advancing in close order. And on the side of the Britons, who had no breastplates or helmets for protection, the ranks were thrown into disorder. If they attempted to resist the auxiliaries, they were cut down by the swords and javelins of the legionaries; and if they turned to face the legionaries they were felled by the broadswords and lances of the auxiliaries. It was a brilliant victory. Caratacus’ wife and daughter* were taken prisoner, and his brothers surrendered.
36. Caratacus himself sought the protection of Cartimandua,* queen of the Brigantes, but (as insecurity generally attends adversity) he was put in chains and handed over to the victors, eight years* after the commencement of hostilities in Britain. His fame had thus passed beyond the island and spread through the nearby provinces, becoming known throughout Italy, as well. People were therefore eager to see who this man was who had for so many years disdained our might. Even in Rome the name of Caratacus was not unknown; and while Claudius sought to enhance his own repute, he also added lustre to the defeated man. For the people were invited to what was apparently a remarkable spectacle; and the praetorian cohorts stood under arms on the level ground before their camp. Then, as the king’s clients filed past, Caratacus’ ornaments, necklaces, and the prizes that he had garnered in foreign wars were carried along; and after that his brothers, his wife and daughter, and finally the man himself, were put on display. The other prisoners, out of fear, resorted to unbecoming entreaties. Not so Caratacus, who sought pity neither with a downcast expression nor with his words. Halting at the tribunal, he said:
37. ‘Had I, in my successes, observed a moderation that was as great as my nobility and rank, I would have come into this city as a friend rather than as a prisoner of war. Nor would you have objected to accepting into a peace-treaty a man descended from famous fore-fathers, and one ruling over many nations. My present lot, degrading to me, is glorious for you. I had horses and men, arms and wealth. Is it surprising if I was loath to lose them? For if you want to be masters of the world, does it follow that the world should welcome slavery? If I were being brought here after an immediate surrender, there would have been no fame attaching either to my misfortune or your great success. And forgetfulness will follow my execution, whereas if you keep me alive I shall be an everlasting illustration of your clemency.’
Claudius’ response was to grant pardon to Caratacus himself, and to his wife and brothers. Freed from their chains, these also paid their respects to Agrippina, who was highly visible on another dais close by, praising her and thanking her in the same terms as they had the emperor. Of course, it was something new, and out of step with the traditions of old, for a woman to be seated before the Roman standards; she was making it clear that she had a share in the empire that her forefathers* had won.
38. After this, the senators were convened, and they made long, grandiose speeches on the capture of Caratacus. The event was as glorious as when Publius Scipio put Syphax* on display for the Roman people, they said, or when Lucius Paulus displayed Perses,* and other generals other conquered kings. Ostorius was voted triumphal insignia. Until then his record was one of success, but it subsequently became patchy, either because our own military precautions declined—as though the war was concluded with Caratacus’ removal—or because the enemy’s desire for retribution flared up more fiercely through compassion for such a great king. They surrounded a camp prefect and the legionary cohorts which had been left behind to construct garrisonposts amongst the Silures; and these would have been wiped out had not help swiftly arrived in response to messages sent from the neighbouring fortresses. Even so the prefect, eight centurions, and the most intrepid of the rank and file lost their lives. And not much later the enemy overwhelmed a foraging party of ours, along with the cavalry squadrons sent to support it.
39. Ostorius next used his light cohorts to check the Britons, but even then he would have failed to stem the rout if the legions had not taken up the fight. Through their strength, evenness was restored to the battle, which then turned in our favour. Because the day was fading, the enemy fled with only meagre losses.
There were frequent battles after that, more often than not looking like guerrilla engagements. They were fought in woods and marshes, the outcome dependent on individual luck or courage, and they could be fortuitous or planned. They arose from anger or to gain plunder, sometimes on the orders of the commanders, and sometimes without their knowledge. The resolution made by the Silures was remarkable. What enraged them was a remark of the Roman commander that had gained currency. Just as the Sugambri* had earlier been destroyed, or moved to the Gallic provinces, he had said, so now the Silurian name should be completely wiped out. The Silures therefore cut off two auxiliary cohorts which, because of the greed of their officers, were pillaging with too little caution; and by making gifts of spoils and prisoners of war they also began to bring over other tribes to join the revolt. It was now that Ostorius departed this life, weary and exhausted by his responsibilities. The enemy were delighted that a leader who was not to be underestimated had been removed by the war, even if it was not in battle.
40. When he learned of the death of his legate, Claudius replaced him with Aulus Didius so the province would not be without a governor. Didius sailed quickly, but still did not find a healthy situation in the province, for in the meantime the legion that Manlius Valens* commanded had been defeated in battle. The report of this had actually been exaggerated by the enemy to demoralize the incoming commander, and the commander further exaggerated the reports he was given—he would have greater praise if the rebels were pacified, or, if they held out, a more acceptable excuse for failure.
It was once again the Silures who had inflicted the damage, and they continued their sweep of the land until driven back by Didius’ arrival. After Caratacus’ capture, however, the leading British military strategist was Venutius, whose origins in the Brigantian community I have already mentioned,* and he long remained loyal and enjoyed Roman military protection, while he remained married to Queen Cartimandua. Presently there was a divorce, which was immediately followed by war, and Venutius took up hostilities against us, as well. At first, however, the struggle was just between the two, and Cartimandua with some clever tactics captured Venutius’ brother and close relatives. The enemy were incensed over this, and the shame of being subjected to a woman’s power further exacerbated them; and so a powerful and exceptionally well-armed body of young warriors swept into her kingdom. This we had foreseen, and cohorts that were sent to assist Cartimandua fought a fierce battle, in which a happy conclusion followed a shaky beginning. In these operations similar success attended the legion,* which Caesius Nasica commanded (for Didius, with the weight of his years upon him, and covered with honours, was satisfied to act through his subordinates and keep the enemy at bay).
Although these campaigns were conducted over a number of years by two propraetors, I have put them together in case, related separately, they would not appear in my account as being as important as they were. I now return to the chronological narrative.
41. In the consulship of Tiberius Claudius (his fifth) and Servius Cornelius, Nero was granted the toga virilis before his time* so that he would appear ready for a political career. And Claudius happily acceded to the sycophantic request of the Senate that Nero enter the consulship in his twentieth year,* and that in the meantime he hold consular power outside the city as consul-designate, and be given the title ‘Prince of the Youth’.* There was, in addition, largesse for the soldiers along with gifts for the people, all made in Nero’s name. Moreover, at the games in the Circus—put on to win over the favour of the masses—Britannicus rode past in the procession wearing the boy’s toga and Nero triumphal dress.* The people were supposed to see one in the insignia of a commander, and the other in the clothes of a boy, and to anticipate on that basis the future prospects of each. At the same time, any centurions and tribunes commiserating with Britannicus’ lot were removed on spurious grounds, and some with the pretence of promotion. In the case of freedmen, too, anyone whose loyalty remained untainted was ejected when opportunities like the following arose. When the two met, Nero greeted Britannicus by name, but Britannicus called Nero ‘Domitius’.* Agrippina brought this to her husband’s notice with bitter complaints, saying it was the start of internal dissension: the adoption was being disregarded, the vote of the senators and the command of the people repudiated within their home. Unless the evil influence of those inculcating such hostility were checked, she added, it would erupt with disastrous consequences for the state. Disturbed by these veiled charges, Claudius punished all the finest tutors of his son with exile or execution, putting his stepmother’s appointees in charge of the boy.
42. However, Agrippina did not yet dare attempt her supreme coup without Lusius Geta and Rufrius Crispinus being first relieved of their command of the praetorian cohorts. She believed that they remained faithful to Messalina’s memory, and were devoted to her children. So when the emperor’s wife insisted that there was dissension in the cohorts because the two were jockeying for position, and that discipline would be stricter if the troops were commanded by one man, authority over the cohorts was transferred to Burrus Afranius.* (Burrus had an outstanding reputation as a soldier, but he also knew on whose wishes his appointment depended.) Agrippina was also raising even further her own already high profile. She would enter the Capitol in a carriage, a privilege confined in the old days to priests and to sacred paraphernalia, and that increased the reverence felt for a woman whose position was, and remains to this day, unparalleled. For she had been daughter of a commander, and sister, wife, and mother of men* who gained the supreme power.
Meanwhile, Agrippina’s special champion Vitellius, who was at the height of his influence and well on in age, suddenly found himself hit with an arraignment—so capricious are the fortunes of the great—with the senator Junius Lupus as his accuser. Lupus brought against him charges of treason and reproached him with designs on the throne. Claudius would have lent an ear to this, had his mind not been changed by what were threats rather than entreaties emanating from Agrippina, which made him instead forbid water and fire to the accuser. That was all Vitellius* had wanted.
43. That year there were many prodigies. Ill-omened birds roosted on the Capitol. There were frequent earthquakes causing the collapse of houses, and in the spreading fear all the weak were trodden underfoot by the panicking crowds. There was a shortage of crops that led to a famine, and that too was taken as a prodigy. Nor were there only muted protests. People surrounded Claudius with boisterous shouting as he was dispensing judgements, drove him to the far end of the Forum, and kept jostling him until he burst through the ugly mob with a body of troops. It was established that the city had fifteen days’ worth of food left—and no more than that—and that it was only because of the great bounty of the gods and the mildness of the winter that relief was brought to a desperate situation. (For heaven’s sake, Italy once used to transport supplies for our legions to the distant provinces! Even now there is no problem with sterility, but we prefer to cultivate Africa and Egypt, with the livelihood of the Roman people left to shipping and its hazards!)
44. That same year war broke out between the Armenians and Iberi, and it had serious repercussions for Parthian-Roman relations. The Parthian race was under the rule of Vologaeses. On his mother’s side, Vologaeses was the son of a Greek concubine, and he had gained the throne because it was ceded to him by his brothers.* The Iberi had long been under the sway of Pharasmanes, and the Armenians were, with our support, under his brother Mithridates. Pharasmanes had a son called Radamistus who, tall and handsome, had remarkable physical strength, was well trained in the skills of his country, and enjoyed an illustrious reputation amongst his neighbours. Radamistus would proclaim—too insistently and frequently for him to mask his ambition—that the insignificant realm of Iberia was being kept from him by his father’s lingering old age.
Now Pharasmanes feared the young man, who was eager for power and buttressed by the support of his people, while he himself was already in his declining years. He therefore tried to attract his son to other prospects, and drew his attention to Armenia which, he reminded him, he had given to Mithridates after driving out the Parthians. But, added the king, the use of force must be postponed, and a trick with which to take Mithridates by surprise was preferable. And so Radamistus, feigning a rift with his father, and appearing unable to take his stepmother’s hatred, went to his uncle, by whom he was subsequently treated with great kindness, just like one of Mithridates’ own children. He then proceeded to entice the leading Armenians to revolt. Mithridates knew nothing of this, and was showing him great honour to boot.
45. Radamistus then made a pretence of reconciliation and returned to his father, reporting that all that could be achieved by trickery was ready, and that the rest had to be accomplished by armed force. Meanwhile, Pharasmanes concocted pretexts for war. When he was fighting the king of the Albani,* he said, and calling on the Romans for assistance, his brother had opposed him, and now he would avenge that wrong by killing him. At the same time, he put large forces in his son’s hands. Radamistus then terrified Mithridates with a surprise attack, drove him from the plains, and forced him into the stronghold of Gorneae, which was safeguarded by its position and by a garrison of Roman soldiers under a prefect, Caelius Pollio, and a centurion, Casperius.*
Barbarian ignorance is nowhere greater than in engines and stratagems for assaulting towns. Radamistus’ attacks on the defences proved futile, or resulted in loss, and he proceeded with a blockade. Then, abandoning force, he tried to buy off the avaricious prefect, although Casperius objected to the wrongful overthrow by bribery of an allied king and of Armenia, which had been a gift of the Roman people. In the end, however, because Pollio kept dwelling on the enemy numbers, and Radamistus on his father’s instructions, the centurion negotiated a truce and left. If he could not deter Pharasmanes from the war, he would tell Ummidius Quadratus,* governor of Syria, how matters stood in Armenia.
46. Feeling released from surveillance by the centurion’s departure, the prefect urged Mithridates to conclude a treaty. He emphasized the ties between brothers, Pharasmanes’ seniority in age, and the other ways in which the two were connected—Mithridates being married to Pharasmanes’ daughter, and being also father-in-law to Radamistus. The Iberi were not averse to peace, he said, despite having the upper hand at the moment; the treachery of the Armenians was well known; and the only defence he had was a stronghold without provisions. He should therefore not choose an unpredictable outcome in battle over terms without bloodshed. Mithridates was hesitant in the face of such arguments, and he suspected the prefect’s advice—the man had seduced a royal concubine and could be bribed, it was thought, to commit any wanton act.
Casperius meanwhile came to Pharasmanes and called on him to raise the siege. Pharasmanes’ responses in public were non-committal, and quite often conciliatory, but by secret messages he warned Radamistus to accelerate the siege at all costs. The price of dishonour went up, and by covert bribes Pollio induced the soldiers to demand a peace-treaty and to threaten to abandon the garrison. This obliged Mithridates to accept a date and location for negotiating the treaty, and he left the stronghold.
47. Radamistus first of all threw himself into Mithridates’ embrace, pretending to defer to him and using the terms ‘father-in-law’ and ‘father’. He then added an oath, that he would do no violence to him, either by the sword or by poison. At the same time he took him into a nearby copse, saying that preparations for a sacrifice had been made there so the ratification of their treaty could be witnessed by the gods.
When kings meet to form an alliance, it is their custom to grasp each other’s right hand and bind the thumbs together, fastening them tightly with a knot. Then, when the blood has flowed to the thumb-tips, they let it out with a slight nick and each of them licks it in turn. Such a treaty is regarded as having mystical qualities, being sanctified by each other’s blood. On that occasion, however, the man who was doing the fastening pretended that he had tripped, and he seized Mithridates’ knees and bowled him over. At the same moment several men ran up, and Mithridates was put in chains and dragged off in leg-irons, which is shameful to barbarians. Soon the common people, because they were harshly dealt with under him, began to direct abuse and blows at him. But there were also those who felt sympathy for such a change of fortunes, and his wife, who followed with their young children, filled the whole area with her laments. The prisoners were hidden in separate covered wagons until Pharasmanes’ orders could be ascertained. For him, desire for the kingdom counted for more than his brother and daughter, and in his heart he was ready to commit crimes—but he spared his eyes the sight of having them killed before him. Radamistus, likewise, seems to have remembered his oath—he did not bring out a sword and did not bring out poison to use on his sister and uncle. Instead he had them thrown to the ground and killed by burying them under a large amount of heavy clothing. Mithridates’ sons were also led to the slaughter for having wept at the murder of their parents.
48. When Quadratus learned of Mithridates’ betrayal and the occupation of the kingdom by his murderers, he called a meeting of his staff,* informed them of what had happened and sought advice on whether to take punitive measures. A few were concerned about the honour of the state; more talked about security. All crime abroad should be welcomed with joy, they said, and one should even sow the seeds of disaffection, just as Roman emperors had often offered this same Armenia, seemingly as a gift, in order to create confusion in the barbarians’ minds. Let Radamistus enjoy what he had dishonourably gained, as long as he was hated and disgraced, since that was more useful for us than if he had won it gloriously. This was the opinion that was accepted. But they wished to avoid the impression of having approved a crime when Claudius’ orders might turn out to be different, and so messengers were sent to Pharasmanes with orders for him to leave Armenian territory and remove his son.
49. The procurator of Cappadocia was Julius Paelignus, a man contemptible both for his idle intellect and his physical deformity. He was, however, very close to Claudius—for when the emperor was still a private citizen he added amusement to his leisure time by fraternizing with buffoons. This Paelignus had raised some auxiliary troops amongst the provincials with the avowed aim of recovering Armenia. Instead, he pillaged the allies more than the enemy, and when his men deserted him, and he had no help in the face of barbarian attacks, he came to Radamistus. Won over by his gifts, Paelignus actually encouraged Radamistus to assume the royal diadem, and when he did so was present as his promoter and assistant. The disgraceful story spread abroad and, so the other governors would not be judged by Paelignus’ standard, the legate Helvidius Priscus* was sent with a legion to deal with the troubles as circumstances required. Priscus, therefore, swiftly crossed Mt. Taurus, and restored tranquillity in more cases by exercising restraint than by using force. He then received orders to return to Syria, in order to avoid anything that might start a war with Parthia.
50. For Vologaeses thought an opportunity had arrived to invade Armenia, once possessed by his ancestors and now, through an outrageous crime, in the hands of a foreign king. He accordingly mobilized his troops and prepared to put his brother Tiridates on the throne, so that no member of his family would be without a kingdom. The Iberi were driven back without a battle by the advancing Parthians, and the Armenian cities of Artaxata and Tigranocerta submitted to the yoke. Then a savage winter, an inadequate stockpiling of supplies, and a wasting disease arising from the combination of the two forced Vologaeses to drop his immediate plans. Armenia being once more leaderless, Radamistus invaded, more ruthlessly than before, feeling he was facing rebels who would, when the time was ripe, rise against him again. And the Armenians, used to servitude though they were, threw off their submissiveness and surrounded the palace in arms.
51. All that Radamistus had to help him was the speed of his horses, and on these he and his wife rode off. But his wife was pregnant. The first part of the flight she managed to endure somehow because of her fear of the enemy and her love for her husband. Later, her uterus shaken, and her insides jostled in their unremitting haste, she begged to be spared the indignities of captivity by an honourable death. Radamistus at first held her in his arms, and consoled and encouraged her, wavering between admiration for her courage and a sickening fear of someone possessing her if she were left behind. Finally, urged on by the violence of his love, and being no novice in atrocities, he drew his sabre, stabbed her, and dragged her to the bank of the Araxes; then he consigned her to the river so that even her corpse would be taken from the enemy. Radamistus himself rode speedily to his native kingdom of Iberia.
Meanwhile, Zenobia (as his wife was called) was spotted in a calm backwater by some shepherds, breathing and showing vital signs. Judging from her distinguished appearance that she was not of low birth, the shepherds bound her wound, applied their rustic cures and, on learning her name and circumstances, conveyed her to the city of Artaxata. From there she was officially escorted to Tiridates,* by whom she was cordially received and accorded regal treatment.
52. In the consulship of Faustus Sulla and Salvius Otho, Furius Scribonianus* was driven into exile on a charge of employing Chaldean astrologers to make enquiries about the emperor’s death. His mother, Vibia, was linked with the accusation for not willingly accepting her earlier misfortune (she had been relegated). Camillus, the father of Scribonianus, had fomented armed insurrection in Dalmatia, and Claudius used this to illustrate his clemency, in that he was for a second time sparing a hostile family. However, the exile did not have long to live after that, and people spread the word of a natural death or murder by poison according to their personal beliefs. On the matter of driving astrologers out of Italy, there was a senatorial decree that was harsh, and ineffectual.
After this, in a speech by the emperor, praise was heaped on those who voluntarily withdrew from the senatorial order* because of financial difficulties in the family, and those who added brazenness to the poverty by choosing to remain were expelled.
53. During this session, Claudius brought before the senators the question of punishment for women involved in sexual relationships with slaves. It was decided* that women descending to that level without the knowledge of the slave’s master should be considered to have servile status; if the master gave his consent, they would be regarded as freedwomen. Claudius declared Pallas to be the author of the proposal, and a motion that the freedman be awarded praetorian insignia and fifteen million sesterces was made by the consul-designate, Barea Soranus.* A rider to the motion, that Pallas be given official thanks, was proposed by Cornelius Scipio on the grounds that, though descended from Arcadian* royalty, Pallas saw his ancient nobility as secondary to the common good, and permitted himself to be regarded as one of the emperor’s servants. Claudius stated that Pallas was satisfied with the honour* paid him, and would remain within the bounds of his earlier modest condition. So it was that a decree of the Senate was set up in public, engraved on a bronze plaque, in which a freedman in possession of three hundred million sesterces had praise heaped on him for his old-fashioned thrift.
54. However, Pallas’ brother, who was surnamed Felix,* did not behave with the same moderation. He had been made governor of Judaea some time before and, enjoying as he did such powerful support, he thought that all his misdeeds would go unpunished. The Jews had, in fact, given indications of an uprising when disaffection broke out after* <…> but, when they learned of his assassination, they had not carried out the order. Still, the fear remained that some emperor would issue the same instructions. Meanwhile, Felix was only aggravating the mischief with ill-timed remedies, and Ventidius Cumanus,* under whose authority a part of the province lay, rivalled him in the worst of his actions.
The division of power was such that Ventidius had the tribe of the Galileans under him, and Felix the Samaritans,* the two peoples having long been at odds, with their animosities now less suppressed because of their contempt for their governors. They were, as a result, pillaging each other, sending out bands of marauders, laying traps, and occasionally fighting pitched battles; and they would bring back the spoils of their looting to the procurators. The procurators were pleased at first but, as the destruction increased, they intervened with armed force, and some soldiers were cut down. The province would then have gone up in the flames of war had not Quadratus, governor of Syria, brought assistance. With respect to the Jews who had rushed into killing the soldiers, there was little hesitation over the death penalty. Cumanus and Felix gave some pause because, on hearing the reasons for the revolt, Claudius had given Quadratus authority to decide the case of the procurators, as well. But Quadratus put Felix on view amongst the judges, welcoming him to his tribunal in order to temper by fear the enthusiasm of the accusers. Cumanus was condemned for the wrongdoings of the two, and calm returned to the province.
55. Not long after this the wild Cilician tribes called the Cietae, which had also caused trouble on numerous other occasions, chose some rugged mountains for a camp, under their leader Troxoborus. From there they would sweep down to the coastline or to the cities, where they had the temerity to inflict violence on the country people and urban dwellers, and very frequently on traders and shipowners. The community of Anemurium was blockaded, and a cavalry force sent to its aid from Syria, under the prefect Curtius Severus, was routed; for the harsh terrain in the area, though suited to fighting on foot, was not conducive to cavalry engagements. Then Antiochus,* who was the ruler of that shoreline, broke the unity of the barbarian troops by using inducements on the rank and file and trickery on their leader. After executing Troxoborus and a few of the chiefs, he established peace amongst the others by showing clemency.
56. At about this same time excavation of a passage through the mountain between the Fucine lake* and the River Liris was completed and, to enable this magnificent achievement to be viewed by more spectators, a naval battle was staged on the lake itself. It was like the one that Augustus had once put on (though his vessels were lighter, and the personnel fewer) when he constructed his lagoon close to the Tiber. Claudius fitted out triremes and quadriremes, and armed nineteen thousand men. He surrounded the battle area with rafts in order to prevent stragglers from escaping; but he enclosed enough space for the rowers to demonstrate their power and the helmsmen their skill, and also for charges to be made by the ships and for other standard features of battle. On the rafts companies and squadrons of the praetorian cohorts were deployed, with a barricade before them from which their catapults and ballistas were to be operated. Marines on decked ships covered the rest of the lake. The immense crowd, coming from the neighbouring towns, and some from the city itself, filled the banks, the higher ground and the hilltops like a theatre, wishing to see the spectacle or out of respect for the emperor. Dressed in a magnificent military cloak, Claudius presided over the event in person, along with Agrippina, who was not far from him in a mantle of gold cloth. Although it was a battle between criminals, they fought with the spirit of courageous men, and after they had received many wounds their lives were spared.
57. But when, on the conclusion of the spectacle, the passageway was opened for the waters, defects in the construction became clear, for it had not been excavated deeply enough to reach the bottom of the lake. And so, later on, the tunnel was dug deeper and, in order to bring together a crowd once again, a gladiatorial display was put on, with pontoons set down for an infantry battle. In fact, there was even a banquet laid out at the outlet of the lake, and there was intense alarm amongst all present because the force of the gushing waters swept away everything close by, and areas further off were shaken or filled with terror from the crashing and roaring. At the same time Agrippina took advantage of the emperor’s fright to accuse Narcissus,* the man responsible for the scheme, of avarice and fraud. And Narcissus did not remain silent, either, criticizing her typically female lack of restraint, and her inordinate ambition.
58. In the consulship of Decimus Junius and Quintus Haterius, Nero, now aged sixteen,* married Claudius’ daughter Octavia.* And to gain a brilliant reputation for honourable pursuits and public speaking, he took up the cause of the people of Ilium. After an eloquent disquisition on the Roman people’s Trojan descent, on Aeneas as the founder of the Julian family, and other old tales not far removed from legend, he succeeded in having the people of Ilium granted immunity from all public taxation. Thanks to the same public speaker, the colony of Bononia, which had been razed by fire, was assisted with a grant of ten million sesterces. The Rhodians* had their freedom restored—it had often been taken from them, or confirmed, depending on their service in foreign wars, or their misdeeds in time of civil discord—and Apamea, shaken by an earthquake, was excused payment of tribute for a five-year period.
59. Claudius, however, was being pushed into committing the most heinous crimes, also by the wiles of Agrippina. She destroyed Statilius Taurus,* who was renowned for his wealth, because she coveted his gardens, and Tarquitius Priscus* provided the accusation. Priscus had been Taurus’ legate in Africa when Taurus governed there with proconsular powers. After their return from the province, Priscus brought a few charges of extortion against him, but in particular he accused him of practising magic. Taurus did not tolerate a lying accuser and his own unmerited defendant’s rags for long; he violently ended his life before the Senate passed sentence. Tarquitius, however, was driven from the Curia, something the senators, who hated the informer, managed to achieve despite Agrippina’s canvassing on his behalf.
60. That same year the emperor was quite often heard to comment that judgements made by his procurators should have as much authority as if he had made them himself.* And so it should not be seen as a slip on his part, a senatorial decree was passed to that effect which was fuller and more comprehensive than before. In fact, the deified Augustus had authorized judicial proceedings to be held before knights who governed Egypt,* with their decisions regarded as being as binding as if Roman magistrates had made them. After that, in other provinces and in Rome, several more judicial matters, which were formerly decided by praetors, were put in the hands of equestrians.
Claudius now surrendered to them the entire legal system, over which there had been so much class struggle* or armed conflict. By the Sempronian proposals the equestrian order had been put in charge of the judicial process; the Servilian laws* then restored it to the Senate; and it was over this especially that Marius and Sulla went to war. On those occasions, however, it was a matter of the classes having different interests, and the victories won by them had validity for the whole state. Gaius Oppius and Cornelius Balbus* were, with Caesar’s support, the first to be able to negotiate peace terms and take decisions about war. There would be no point in bringing up the people who followed, people like the Matii, the Vedii,* and other Roman knights with influential names—not when Claudius raised up to his own level, and that of the laws, freedmen whom he had set in charge of his personal wealth.
61. Claudius’ next proposal was tax-exemption for the people of Cos, and he presented a long discourse on their antiquity. The oldest inhabitants of the island, he said, were the Argives or Coeus, father of Latona; and presently, with the arrival of Aesculapius, the art of healing was introduced, and this gained great fame in the time of his descendants. (At that point Claudius mentioned the names of the various individuals and the floruit of each.) Indeed, he continued, Xenophon*—on whose medical knowledge he himself relied—came from that same family, and they should answer Xenophon’s prayers by granting that the Coans should live, from then on, free of tribute on a sacred island that ministered exclusively to that god. There is no doubt that many of those same islanders’ services* to the Roman people could have been cited, along with victories in which they had participated. Claudius, however, had no need of extraneous arguments to cloak a favour that he had, with his customary indulgence, granted to one individual.
62. Not so the people of Byzantium who, in an appeal to the Senate for relief of their heavy tax burden, listed all their services when granted permission to speak. They began with the treaty they had struck with us in the days of our war with the Macedonian king* who was of low birth and so given the title ‘Pseudo-Philip’. After that they brought up the forces they had sent against Antiochus, Perses, and Aristonicus,* and the help given to Antonius* in the war against the pirates. Next came the offers they had made to Sulla, Lucullus, and Pompey, and then their recent services to the Caesars. This was all possible, they said, because they occupied an area convenient for the passage of generals and their armies, travelling by land or sea, and also for the transport of provisions.
63. In fact, the Greeks founded Byzantium* at the far edge of Europe, on the narrowest part of the strait between Europe and Asia. When they consulted Pythian Apollo on where to establish the city, the answer from the oracle was that ‘they should seek a site opposite the lands of the blind’. It was the people of Chalcedon who were being referred to in this riddling phrase because they had arrived there earlier and seen the advantages of the region first, but had then chosen an inferior* one. For Byzantium possesses fertile soil, and teeming sea-waters, the result of the immense fish shoals that come pouring out from the Pontus; frightened by the slanting rocks beneath the surface, these avoid the winding shoreline opposite and are brought into the harbours on this side. As a result, the people were initially rich and prosperous. Later, under the weight of their tax burdens, they made urgent requests for them to be ended or curtailed. The emperor supported them, noting that they had recently been exhausted by wars in Thrace and the Bosporus* and needed help. So it was that their tribute was remitted for five years.
64. In the consulship of Marcus Asinius and Manius Acilius, it was understood from a succession of prodigies that a warning of change for the worse was being given. Soldiers’ standards and tents burned with fire that came from the sky; a swarm of bees settled on the top of the Capitol; hermaphroditic babies had been delivered, and a pig with hawk’s talons. One phenomenon included amongst the portents was the diminished number of all the magistrates, since a quaestor, an aedile, a tribune, a praetor, and a consul all died within the space of a few months.
But Agrippina was especially frightened. She was alarmed at a remark of Claudius’—which he had let drop when he was drunk— that it was his fate to suffer, and then to punish, the sexual misconduct of his wives. She decided to take action and take it quickly, though first she destroyed Domitia Lepida, and for typically female motives. Lepida was a daughter of the younger Antonia;* she had had Augustus as her uncle; she was first cousin once removed to Agrippina; and she was the sister of Agrippina’s former husband Gnaeus—and so she thought herself on Agrippina’s level of distinction. Nor was there a great difference in beauty, age, and wealth; and both were immoral, disreputable, and violent, rivals no less in vices than in the blessings granted them by fortune. But the most bitter rivalry between them was over whether aunt or mother would have the greater influence on Nero.* For Lepida was trying to win over the young man’s mind by cajoling and liberality; Agrippina, by contrast, was grim and threatening—able to give her son an empire, unable to stand him as emperor.
65. The charges brought against Lepida, however, were those of having made the emperor’s wife the object of magical spells, and causing disturbance of the peace in Italy by not keeping her troops of slaves in Calabria sufficiently under control. On these grounds she was condemned to death, despite Narcissus’ vigorous opposition. For Narcissus was becoming ever more suspicious of Agrippina, and he was said to have remarked amongst his cronies that, whether it was Britannicus or Nero who acceded to power, his death was certain, but that Claudius had done so well by him that he would lay down his life in his service. Messalina and Silius had been condemned, he said, and there were similar grounds for another accusation should Nero become emperor. If Britannicus were the successor, as emperor he would have nothing to fear.* But now the whole royal house was being rent asunder by his stepmother’s intrigues, which would be a greater crime than if he had said nothing about the sexual impropriety of the earlier wife. Not that there was even a lack of sexual impropriety now, he added, since she had Pallas as her lover—just so no one could doubt that honour, morals, and her body all meant less to her than supreme power! Uttering these and similar comments, he would embrace Britannicus* and pray for him to acquire the strength of age as quickly as possible. Let him grow up, he would say, stretching out his hands at one moment to the gods, at another to the boy himself; let him drive off his father’s enemies, and even take revenge on his mother’s killers.
66. Burdened with all these anxieties, Narcissus fell ill and went to Sinuessa to restore his strength in its mild climate and wholesome waters. Agrippina had long been set on committing the crime, was quick to grasp the opportunity she was offered, and was not short of agents for it; and so she considered the type of poison to be used. The act should not be betrayed by an effect that was swift and deadly, she thought. If she chose one that was slow and lingering, however, Claudius might, as he reached the end, become aware of the trick played on him and regain affection for his son. Something recherché was what was wanted, something to disrupt his reasoning while delaying his end. A specialist in such matters, whose name was Locusta,* was selected for the job; she had recently been found guilty of murder by poison, and had long been retained as one of the instruments of the palace. A poison was concocted with this woman’s expertise, and the agent to administer it was one of the court eunuchs, Halotus,* whose usual occupation was to bring in, and act as taster for, the imperial dinners.
67. The whole story soon gained such notoriety that writers of the period have recorded that the poison was smeared on a particularly succulent mushroom, and that its immediate effects went unnoticed, either from inadvertence or Claudius’ drunkenness. At the same time, a bowel movement appeared to have come to his aid. Agrippina was terrified. Fearing the worst, she ignored the odium immediate action might arouse and relied on the complicity of the doctor Xenophon, which she had secured in advance. As if he were helping Claudius in his efforts to vomit, Xenophon, it is thought, put down his throat a feather smeared with fast-working poison. He was not unaware that the greatest crimes involve risk at the beginning, but bring reward* on completion.
68. Meanwhile, the Senate was being called together, and the consuls and priests were beginning to recite their vows for the preservation of the emperor’s life. And this was when the already dead Claudius was being covered with blankets and dressings—a time during which the appropriate arrangements were being made to secure Nero’s accession to power. First of all, Agrippina, seemingly overwhelmed with grief and seeking consolation, held Britannicus in her arms, calling him the very image of his father, and using various devices to stop him leaving his room. She likewise kept back his sisters Antonia and Octavia, and she had blocked with guards* all access to the scene, making frequent announcements that the emperor’s health was improving. This was so that the soldiers would have their hopes raised, and the auspicious moment could arrive as the Chaldeans had advised.
69. Then, in the middle of the day, on 13 October, the doors of the palace suddenly opened. With Burrus accompanying him, Nero came out to the cohort that, following regular military routine, was on guard duty. There, at the prompting of the commanding officer, he was cheered and placed in a litter. They say that some had hesitated, looking round and asking where Britannicus was, but presently, as no one suggested an alternative, they went along with the choice that was on offer. Nero was carried into the camp, and after a few preliminary words appropriate to the occasion he promised largesse on the scale of his father’s generous distributions,* and was hailed as emperor.
The decision of the troops was followed by decrees from the Senate, and there was no indecision in the provinces either.
Claudius was voted divine honours, and the funeral ceremony for him matched that of the deified Augustus, since Agrippina was trying to rival the pomp of her great-grandmother Livia. The will was not read out, however, for fear that the shameful injustice of the stepson being preferred to the son might upset the common people.