[Sidenote:—16—] As for Aurelius Zoticus, a native of Smyrna, whom they also called "Cook" (from his father's trade), he incurred the sovereign's thorough love and thorough hatred, and consequently his life was saved. This Aurelius had a body that was beautiful all over, as if ready for a gymnastic contest, and he surpassed everybody in the size of his private parts. The fact was reported to the emperor by those who were on the lookout for such features and the man was suddenly snatched away from the games and taken to Rome, accompanied by an immense procession, larger than Abgarus had in the reign of Severus or Tiridates in that of Nero. He was appointed cubicularius before he had been even seen by the emperor, [was honored by the name of his grandfather, Avitus, was adorned with garlands as at a festival,] and entered the palace the center of a great glare of lights. Sardanapalus, on seeing him, rose with modesty; the newcomer addressed him, as was usual, "My Lord Emperor, hail!" whereupon the other, bending his neck so as to assume a ravishing feminine pose, and turning his eyes wide open upon him, answered without hesitation: "Call me Not Lord, for I am a Lady." Then Sardanapalus immediately took a bath with him, and, finding his guest when stripped to correspond to the report of him, burned with even greater lust, reposed upon his breast, and took dinner, like some loved mistress, in his bosom. Hierocles began to fear that Zoticus would bring the emperor into a greater state of subjection than he himself was able to effect, and that he might suffer some terrible fate at his hands, as often happens in the case of rival lovers. Therefore he had the wine-bearers, who were well-disposed to him, administer some drug that abated the visitor's ferocity. And so Zoticus after a whole night of embarrassment, being unable to secure an erection, was deprived of all that he had obtained, and was driven out of the palace, out of Rome, and later out of the remainder of Italy; and this saved his life. [However, the emperor drove himself to such a frenzy of lewdness that he asked the physicians to contrive a woman's vagina in his person by means of an incision, and held out to them the hope of great pay for this achievement.]
[Sidenote:—17—] Sardanapalus himself was destined not much later to receive his well-deserved pay for his own defilement. For his acting in this way and for making himself the object of these actions he became hated by the populace and by the soldiers to whom he was most attached, and at last he was slain by them in the very camp.
¶The False Antoninus was despised and put out of the way by the soldiers. When any persons, particularly if armed, have accustomed themselves to feel contempt for their rulers, they set no limits on their right to do what they please but keep their arms ready to use even against the very man who gave them whatever rights they possess.
[Sidenote: A.D. 221 (a.u.974)] This is how it happened. He introduced his cousin Bassianus before the senate, and, having stationed Mæsa and Soæmias on either hand, adopted him as his child. Then did he congratulate himself on being suddenly the father of so large a child (as if he surpassed him in age) and declared that he needed no other offspring to keep his house free from despondency.
Elagabalus, he said, had ordered him to do this and further to call his son's name Alexander. And I for my part am persuaded that it came about in very truth by some divine intention, and I base my inference not upon what he said but upon what was said to him by some one, viz., that an Alexander would come from Emesa to succeed him, and again on what took place in upper Moesia and in Thrace. [Sidenote:—18—] A little before this a spirit, declaring that he was the famous Alexander of Macedon, wearing his appearance and all his apparatus, started from the regions near the Ister, appearing there in I know not what way. It traversed Thrace and Asia, reveling in company with four hundred male attendants, who were equipped with thyrsi and fawn-skins and did no harm. The fact was admitted by all those who lived in Thrace at that time that lodgings and all the provisions for It were provided at public expense. And no one dared to oppose It either by word or by deed,—no governor, no soldier, no procurator, no heads of provinces,—but It proceeded, as if in a daylight procession prescribed by proclamation, to the confines of Bithynia. Leaving that point, it approached the Chalcedonian land and there, after performing some sacred rite by night and burying a wooden horse, it vanished. These facts I ascertained while still in Asia, as I stated, and before anything at all had been done about Bassianus in Rome.
¶One day the same man said this: "I have no need of titles derived, from war and blood. It suffices me to have you call me 'Pious' and 'Fortunate'."
¶The False Antoninus on receiving praise from the senate one day remarked: "Yes, you love me and, by Jupiter, so does the populace and likewise the foreign legions. But I do not satisfy the Pretorians, to whom I keep giving so much."
[Sidenote: A.D. 222 (a.u.975)] [Sidenote:—19—] So long as Sardanapalus continued to love his cousin, he was safe. But, since he was suspicious of all men, and learned that their favor was turning solely and absolutely to the boy, he dared to change his mind and worked in every way to effect his overthrow.
¶Some persons were conversing with the False Antoninus and remarked how fortunate he was to be consul along with his son. He rejoined: "I shall be more fortunate next year, for then I'm going to be consul with my truly-begotten son."
The moment, though, that he tried to destroy him, he not only accomplished nothing but ran the risk of being killed himself. Alexander was sedulously guarded by his mother and his grandmother and the soldiers, and the Pretorians, on becoming aware of the attempt of Sardanapalus, raised a terrible tumult. They would not cease their rebellious attitude until Sardanapalus, with Alexander, visited the camp; and he poured out his supplications and under compulsion gave up such of his companions in lewdness as the soldiers demanded. In behalf of Hierocles he pled piteously and lamented him with tears, foretelling his own death, and adding: "Grant me this one man, whatever you are pleased to suspect about him, or else kill me!" and thus with difficulty he succeeded in appeasing them. On this occasion, then, he was saved, though with difficulty. His grandmother hated him for his practices (which seemed to show that he was not the son of Antoninus) and was coming to favor Alexander, as being really sprung from him.
[Sidenote:—20—] Later he again made a plot against Alexander and, as the Pretorians raised an outcry at this, entered the camp with him. Then, he became aware that he was under guard and awaiting execution, for the mothers of the two, being more openly at variance with each other than before, were stirring up the soldiers to action. He then made an attempt to flee, and intended to escape to some point by being placed in a box, but was discovered and slain, having reached eighteen years of age. His mother, who embraced and clung tightly to him, perished with him; their heads were cut off and their bodies, after being stripped naked, were first dragged all over the city, and then the woman's trunk was cast off in some corner, while his was thrown into the river.
[Sidenote:—21—] With him perished Hierocles, and others, and the prefects; and Aurelius Eubulus, who was an Emesenian by race [and had gone so far in lewdness and defilement that his surrender had earlier been demanded by the populace]. He had been entrusted with the general accounts [Footnote: One of therationales summarum.] and there was nothing that escaped his confiscations. So now he was torn to pieces by the populace and the soldiers, and Fulvius, the city prefect, with him. Comazon succeeded the latter, as he had succeeded Fulvius's predecessor. Just as a mask used to be carried into the theatres to occupy the stage during the intervals in the acting, when it was left vacant by the comedians, so was Comazon put in the vacant place of the men who had been prefects in his day over the city of Rome.—As for Elagabalus, [Footnote: Elagabalus, the god.] he was banished from Rome altogether.
Such was the story of Tiberinus: and none of those even who helped him arrange the uprising and attained great power in return, save perhaps a single individual, [Footnote: This probably refers to Comazon.] survived.
80
Why Dio was not able to relate in detail the history of the reign ofAlexander (chapter 1).
About Ulpian, Pretorian Prefect, and his death (chapter 2).
Undertakings of Artaxerxes the Persian against the Parthians and Romans (chapters 3, 4).
Dio's second consulship, his return to his own country, and conclusion of the History (chapter 5).
Duration of time eight years, in which the following are enumerated as consuls.
Antoninus Elagabalus (IV), M. Aurelius Severus Alexander Coss. (A.D. 222 = a.u. 975 = First of Alexander, from March 11th.)
L. Marius Maximus (II), L. Roscius Ælianus. (A.D. 223 = a.u. 976 =Second of Alexander.)
Iulianus (II), Crispinus. (A.D. 224 = a.u. 977 = Third of Alexander.)
Fuscus (II), Dexter. (A.D. 225 = a.u. 978 = Fourth of Alexander.)
Alexander Aug. (II), C. Marcellus Quintilianus (II). (A.D. 226 = a.u. 979 = Fifth of Alexander.)
Lucius Albinus, Max. Æmilius Æmilianus. (A.D. 227 = a.u. 980 = Sixth ofAlexander.)
T. Manilius Modestus, Ser. Calpurnius Probus. (A.D. 228 = a.u. 981 =Seventh of Alexander.)
Alexander Aug. (III), Cassius Dio (II). (A.D. 229 = a.u. 982 = Eighth of Alexander.)
[Sidenote: A.D. 222-229 (a.u.975-982)] [Sidenote:—1—] Alexander became emperor immediately after him [and at once proclaimed Augusta, his own mother, Mammæa, who had in hand the administration of affairs and gathered wise men about her son, that by their guidance he might be duly trained in morals; and she chose out of the senate the better class of counselors, to whom she communicated everything that had to be done]. He entrusted to one Domitius Ulpianus the command of the Pretorians and the remaining business of the empire.—These matters I have set down in detail, so far as I was able, in each case, but of the rest I have not found it feasible to give a detailed account, for the reason that for a long time I did not sojourn in Rome. After going from Asia to Bithynia I fell sick, and from there I hurried to my duties as head of Africa. On returning to Italy I was almost immediately sent to govern in Dalmatia and from there into Upper Pannonia. After that I came back to Rome and on reaching Campania at once set out for home.
[Sidenote:—2—] For these reasons, then, I have not been able to compile an account of what follows similar to that which precedes. I will narrate briefly, however, all the things that were done up to the time of my second consulship.
Ulpianus corrected many of the irregular practices instituted by Sardanapalus; but, after putting to death Flavianus and Chrestus, that he might succeed them, he was himself before long slain by the Pretorians, who attacked him in the night; and it availed nothing that ran to the palace and took refuge with the emperor himself and the latter's mother.—Even during his lifetime a great dispute had arisen between the populace and the Pretorians, from some small cause, with the result that they fought each other for three days, and many were lost by both sides. The soldiers, on getting the worst of it, directed their efforts to firing the buildings, and so the populace, fearing that the whole city would be destroyed, reluctantly came to terms with them. Besides these occurrences, Epagathus, who was believed to have been chiefly [Footnote: Reading [Greek: to pleon] (Reimar, Bekker, Boissevain).] responsible for the death of Ulpianus, was sent into Egypt, supposedly to govern it, but really to prevent any disturbance taking place in Rome when he met with punishment. From there he was taken to Crete and executed. [Alexander's mother, being a slave to money, gathered funds from all sources. She also brought home for her son a spouse, whom she would not allow to be addressed as Augusta. After a time, however, she separated her from her son and drove her away to Libya, in spite of the woman's possessing his affections. Alexander, however, could not oppose his mother, for she ruled him absolutely.]
[Sidenote:—3—] Many uprisings were made by many persons, some of which caused serious alarm, but they were all checked. But affairs in Mesopotamia were still more terrifying, and provoked in the hearts of all, not merely the men of Rome but the rest of mankind, a fear that had a truer foundation. Artaxerxes, a Persian, having conquered the Parthians in three battles and killed their king, Artabanus, [made a campaign against Hatra, which he endeavored to take as a base for attacking the Romans. He did make a breach in the wall but, as he lost a number of soldiers through an ambuscade, he transferred his position into Media. Of this district, as also of Parthia, he acquired no small portion, partly by force and partly by intimidation, and then] marched against Armenia. Here he suffered a reverse at the hands of the natives, some Medes, and the children of Artabanus, and either fled (as some say) or (as others assert) retired to prepare a larger expedition. [Sidenote:—4—] He accordingly became a source of fear to us; for he was encamped with a large army over against not Mesopotamia only but Syria also and boasted that he would win back everything that the ancient Persians had once held, as far as the Grecian Sea. It was, he said, his rightful inheritance from his forefathers. He was of no particular account himself, but our military affairs are in such a condition that some joined his cause and others refused to defend themselves. The troops are so distinguished by wantonness, and arrogance, and freedom from reproof, that those in Mesopotamia dared to kill their commander, Flavius Heracleo, and the Pretorians found fault with me before Ulpianus because I ruled the soldiers in Pannonia with a strong hand; and they demanded my surrender, through fear that some one might compel them to submit to a régime similar to that of the Pannonian troops.
[Sidenote:—5—] Alexander, however, paid no attention to them, but promoted me in various ways, appointing me to be consul for the second time, as his colleague, and taking upon himself personally the responsibility of meeting the expenditures of my office. As the malcontents evinced displeasure at this, he became afraid that they might kill me if they saw me in the insignia of my office, and he bade me spend the period of my consulship in Italy, somewhere outside of Rome. Later, accordingly, I came both to Rome and to Campania to visit him. After spending a few days in his company, during which the soldiers saw me without offering to do me any harm, I started for home, being released on account of the trouble with my feet. Consequently, I expect to spend all the remainder of my life in my own country, as the Divine Presence revealed to me most clearly at the time I was in Bithynia. Once, in a dream there, I thought I saw myself commanded by it to write at the close of my work the following verses:
"Hector was led of Zeus far out of the range of the missiles,Out of the dust and the slaying of men, out of blood and of uproar."
[Footnote: From Homer's Iliad, XI, verses 163-4.]
* * * * *
PRESERVED FROM BOOKSPRECEDING No. 36.
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(The "Fragments" of Dio.)
[Frag. I]
1. Dio says: "I am anxious to write a history of all (that is worth remembering) done by the Romans both at peace and in war, so as to have nothing essential lacking, either of those matters or of others. (Valesius, p. 569.)
2[lacuna] everything about them, so to speak, that has been written by any persons, and I have put in my history not everything but what I have selected. However, let no one entertain any suspicions (as has happened in the case of some other writers), regarding the truth of it merely because I have used elaborate diction to whatever extent the subject matter permitted; for I have been anxious to be equally perfect in both respects so far as was possible. I will begin at the point where I have obtained the clearest accounts of what is reported to have taken place in this land which we inhabit.
This territory in which the city of Rome has been built" [Lacuna](Mai, p. 135.)
[Frag. II]
1. Ausonia, as Dio Cocceianus writes, is properly the land of the Aurunci only, lying between the Campanians and Volsci along the sea-coast. Many persons, however, thought that Ausonia extended even as far as Latium, so that all of Italy was called from it Ausonia. (Isaac Tzetzes on Lycophron, 44. and 615, 702.)
2. Where now Chone is there was formerly a district called Oenotria, in which Philoctetes settled after the sack of Troy as Dionysius and Dio Cocceianus and all those who write the story of Rome relate. (Idem, v. 912.)
3. ¶ About the Etruscans Dio says: "These facts about them required to be written at this point in the narrative, and elsewhere something else and later some still different fact will be told as occasion demands, in whatever way the course of the history may chance to prepare the point temporarily under discussion. Let this same explanation be sufficient [Footnote: The MS. here has [Greek: ekontes] = "being (plural) sufficient." I have adopted the reading [Greek: eketo], suggested by Melber.] to cover also the remaining matters of importance. For I shall recount to the best of my ability all the exploits of the Romans, but as to the rest only what has a bearing on the Romans will be written." (Mai, p. 136.)
[Frag. III]
1. Dio and Dionysius give the story of Cacus (Tzetzes, History, 5, 21).
2. In this way the country was called Italy. Picus was the first king of it, and after him his son Faunus, when Heracles came there with the rest of the kine of Geryon. And he begat Latinus by the wife of Faunus, who was king of the people there, and from him all were called Latins. In the fifty-fifth year after Heracles this Æneas, subsequent to the capture of Troy, came, as we have remarked, to Italy and the Latins. He landed near Laurentum, called also Troy, near the River Numicius along with his own son by Creusa, Ascanius or Ilus. There his followers ate their tables, which were of parsley or of the harder portions of bread loaves (they had no real tables), and likewise a white sow leaped from his boat and running to the Alban mount, named from her, gave birth to a litter of thirty, by which she indicated that in the thirtieth year his children should get fuller possession of both land and sovereignty. As he had heard of this beforehand from an oracle he ceased his wanderings, sacrificed the sow, and prepared to found a city. Latinus would not put up with him, but being defeated in war gave Æneas his daughter Lavinia in marriage. Æneas then founded a city and called it Lavinium. When Latinus and Thurnus, king of the Rutuli, perished in war each at the other's hands, Æneas became king. After Æneas had been killed in war at Laurentum by the same Rutuli and Mezentius the Etruscan, and Lavinia the wife of Æneas was pregnant (of Silvius [Footnote: Reimar thinks this word a later interpolation.]), Ascanius the child of Creusa was king. He finally conquered Mezentius, who had opposed him in war and had refused to receive his embassies but sought to command all the dependents of Latinus for an annual tribute. When the Latins had grown strong because of the arrival of the thirtieth year, they scorned Lavinium and founded a second city named from the sow Alba Longa, i. e. "long white,"—and likewise called the mountain there Albanus. Only, the images from Troy turned back a second time to Lavinium.
After the death of Ascanius it was not Ascanius's son Iulus who becameking, but Æneas's son by Lavinia, Silvius,—or, according to someAscanius's son Silvius. Silvius again begat another Æneas, and heLatinus, and he Capys. Capys had a child Tiberinus, whose son wasAmulius, whose son was Aventinus.
So far regarding Alba and Albanians. The story of Rome follows. Aventinus begat Numitor and Amulius. Numitor while king was driven out by Amulius, who killed Numitor's son Ægestes in a hunting party and made the sister of Ægestes, daughter of the aforesaid Numitor, Silvia or Rhea Ilia, a priestess of Vesta, so that she might remain a virgin. He stood in terror of an oracle which foretold his death at the hands of the children of Numitor. For this reason he had killed Ægestes and made the other a priestess of Vesta, that she might continue a virgin and childless. But she while drawing water in Mars's grove conceived, and bore Romulus and Remus. The daughter of Amulius by supplication rescued her from being put to death, but the babes she gave to Faustulus, a shepherd, husband of Laurentia, to expose in the vicinity of the river Tiber. These the shepherd's wife took and reared up; for it happened that she had about that time brought forth a still-born infant.
When Romulus and Remus were grown they kept flocks in the fields of Amulius, but as they killed some of the shepherds of their grandfather Numitor a watch was set for them. Remus being arrested, Romulus ran and told Faustulus, and he ran to narrate everything to Numitor. Finally Numitor recognized them to be his own daughter's children. They with the assistance of many persons killed Amulius, and after bestowing the kingdom of Alba on their grandfather Numitor themselves made a beginning of founding Rome in the eighteenth year of Romulus's life. Prior to this great Rome, which Romulus founded on the Palatine mount about the dwelling of Faustulus, another Rome in the form of a square had been founded by a Romulus and Remus older than these.
(Is. Tzetzes on Lycophron, 1232. Consequently Dio must have written what is found in Zonaras 7, 3 [vol. II, p. 91, 7-10:]) "Romulus has been described as eighteen years old when he joined in settling Rome. He founded it around the dwelling of Faustulus. The place had been named Palatium."
3. I have related previously at some length the story how Æneas founded Lavinium, though these ignorant persons say Rome. See howtheytell the story. Æneas received an oracle to found the city on the spot where his companions should devour their own tables. Now when they came to Italy and were in want of tables they used loaves instead of tables. Finally they ate also the tables—or the loaves. Æneas, consequently, understanding the oracle founded there the Lavinian city, even if the ignorant do say Rome. (Is. Tzetz. on Lycophr. 1250.) (Cp. Frag. III, 4.)
4. ¶Rome is part of the Latin country and the Latins have the same name as Latinus, who is said to be the son of Odysseus and Circe, and the Tiber, once called Albulus, received its change of name from the fact that King Tiberius lost his life in it; this is proclaimed by Dio's history among others. The Tiberius here meant by the history is not the one subsequent to Augustus, but another who came earlier. He, they say, died in battle and was carried away by the stream, and so left his own name to the river. (Eustathius on Dionysius, 350.)
5. Arceisius—Lærtes was a son of Arceisius who was so called either from [Greek: arkeo arkeso] [Footnote: These are the first two principal parts of a Greek verb meaning "to be sufficient."] as if he were able merely to be sufficient ([Greek: eparkeo]), whence comes the epithet [Greek: podarkaes] (sufficient with the feet) or else because anarkosorarktos(bear) suckled him, just as some one else was suckled by a horse or goat, and still others by a wolf, among whom were also the Roman chiefs (according to Dio),—Remus, that is to say, and Romulus, whom a wolf (lykaina) suckled, called by the Italianslupa; this name has been aptly used metaphorically as a title for thedemi-monde. (Eustathius on the Odyssey, p. 1961, 13-16.)
[Frag. IV]
1. [Lacuna] [lacuna] (for it is not possible that one who is a mortal should either foresee everything, or find a way to turn aside what is destined to occur) children to punish his wrongdoing were born [infinitive] of that maiden. [Footnote: I.e., Rhea Sylvia.] (Mai, p. 136.)
2. ¶Romulus and Remus, by their quarrel together, made it plain that some can bear dangers straight through life altogether more easily than good fortune. (Mai, p. 136.)
3. On Romulus and Remus Dionysius of Halicarnassus makes remarks in his History, and so do Dio and Diodorus. (Scholia of Io. Tzetzes in Exeg. Hom. II. p. 141, 20.)
4. After they had set about the building of the city a dispute arose between the brothers regarding the sovereignty and regarding the city, and they got into a conflict in which Remus was killed. (Zonaras, 7, 3, vol. II, p-90, 7 sqq.) (Cp. Haupt,HermesXIV.)
5. Whence also the custom arose that he who dared to cross the trench of the camp otherwise than by the usual paths should be put to death. (Zonaras, ib., p. 90, 16-18.)
6. They themselves [Footnote: The Cæninenses, Crustumini, and Antemnates are meant (Bekker).—Compare Livy, I, 10, 11.] learned well and taught others the lesson that those who take vengeance on others are not certainly right merely because the others have previously done wrong, and that those who make demands on stronger men do not necessarily get them, but often lose the rest besides. (Mai, p. 136.)
7. ¶Hersilia and the rest of the women of her kin on discovering them one day drawn up in opposing ranks ran down from the Palatine with their little children (children had already been born), and rushing suddenly into the space between the armies aroused much pity by their words and their actions. Looking now at the one side and now at the other they cried: "Why, fathers, do you do this? Why, husbands, do you do it? When will you stop fighting? When will you stop hating each other? Make peace with your sons-in-law! Make peace with your fathers-in-law! For Pan's sake spare your children, for Quirinus's sake your grandchildren! Pity your daughters, pity your wives! For if you refuse to make peace and some bolt of madness has fallen upon your heads to drive you to frenzy, then kill at once us, the causes of your contention, and slay at once the little children whom you hate, that with no longer any name or bond of kinship between you you may gain the greatest of evils—to slay the grandsires of your children and the fathers of your grandchildren." As they said this they tore open their garments and exposed their breasts and abdomens, while some pressed themselves against the swords and others threw their children against them. Moved by such sounds and sights the men began to weep, so that they desisted from battle and came together for a conference there, just as they were, in thecomitium, which received its name from this very event. (Mai, p. 137.)
8. Tribous Trittys; or a third part. Romulus's heavy-armed men, three thousand in number (as Dio tells us in the first book of his History), were divided into three sections calledtribous, i. e. trittyes, which the Greeks also termed "tribes." Each trittys was separated into tenCuriæor "thinking bodies"—curameaning thoughtfulness—and the men who were appointed to each particularcuriacame together and thought out the business in hand.
Among the Greeks thecuriaeare calledphratriaeandphatriae—in other wordsassociations, brotherhoods unions, guilds—from the fact that men of the samephratry phrasedor revealed to one another their own intentions without scruple or fear. Hence fathers or kinsmen or teachers arephrators,—those who share in the samephratry. But possibly it was derived from the Roman wordfrater, which signifies "brother." (—Glossar. Nom. Labbaei.)
9. (And he named the peoplepopulus.) Hence in the Law Books the popular assembly has the namepopularia. (Zonaras 7, 3 (vol. 11, p. 91, 17 and 18.) Cp. Haupt,HermesXIV.)
10. She [i. e. Tarpeia] having come down for water was seized and brought to Tatius, and was induced to betray the fathers. (Zonaras, ib., p. 93, 15-17.)
11. It is far better for them [senate-houses?] to be established anew than having existed previously to be named over. (Mai, p. 137.)
12. ¶Romulus assumed a rather harsh attitude toward the senate and behaved toward it rather like a tyrant, and the hostages of the Veientes he returned [Footnote: Mai supplies the missing verb.] on his own responsibility and not by common consent, as was usually done. When he perceived them vexed at this he made a number of unpleasant remarks, and finally said: "I have chosen you, Fathers, not for the purpose of your ruling me, but that I might give directions to you." (Mai, p. 138.)
[What is said of Romulus in John of Antioch, Frag. 32 (Mueller) to have been drawn from the extant books of Dio. Cp. Haupt,HermesXIV.]
13. Dio I: "Thus by nature, doubtless, mankind will not endure to be ruled by what is similar and ordinary partly through jealousy, partly through contempt of it." [Footnote: This is probably a remark in regard to the quarrels of the Roman elders over the kingdom after the death of Romulus.—Compare Livy. I, 17.] (—Bekker, Anecd. p. 164, 15.)
14. Dio in I: "What time he threw both body and soul into the balance, encountering danger in your behalf." [Footnote: Perhaps a reference to the father of Horatius defending his son, or even to Romulus.] (Ib. p. 165, 27.)
[Frag. V] 1. Romulus had a crown and a sceptre with an eagle on the top and a white cloak reaching to the feet striped with purple embroideries from the shoulders to the feet: the name of the cloak was toga, i. e. "covering," fromtegerethe corresponding verb (this is the word the Romans use for "cover") and a purple shoe which was calledcothurnus, as Cocceius says. (Io. Laur. Lydus, De Magis. Reip. Rom. 1, pp. 20-22.)
Therefore the words of Zonaras II, p. 96, 5, may be attributed to Dio:"(Romulus) also used red sandals."
2. "Shedding ashes from the hearth over the earth, they skillfully traced the prophesies with this wand, as they gazed at the sun and foretold the future. This wand Plutarch termslituos, butlituoiis what Cocceianus Cassius Dio says." (Io. Tzetzes, Alleg. Iliadis 1, 28.)
3. Numa dwelt on a hill called Quirinal, because he was a Sabine, but he had his official residence in the Sacred Way and used to spend his time near the temple of Vesta and sometimes even remained on the spot. (Valesius, p. 569.)
4. For since he understood well that the majority of mankind hold in contempt what is of like nature and consorts with them through a feeling that it is no better than themselves, but cultivate what is obscure and foreign as being superior, because they believe it divine, he dedicated a certain lot of land to the Muses [lacuna] (Mai, p. 138.)
5. ¶The gods, as guardians of peace and justice, must be pure of murder; and not listen to or look at anything pertaining to divinity in a cursory or neglectful manner, but must exist enjoying leisure from other affairs and fixing their attention on the practice of piety as the most important act.—Zonaras, 7, 5 (vol. II, p. 100).
6. Dio, Book I: "This, then, is what Numa thought" (Bekker, Anecd. p. 158, 23.)
7. Furthermore, also, that they became composed at that time through their own efforts, and took the sacred oath; after which they themselves continued at peace both with one another and with the outside tribes throughout the entire reign of Numa, and they seemed to have lighted upon him by divine guidance no less than in the case of Romulus. Men who know Sabine history best declare that he was born on the same day that Rome was founded. In this way, because of both them the city quickly became strong and well adorned: for the one gave it practice in warfare,—of necessity, since it was but newly founded,—and the other taught it besides the art of peace, so that it was equally distinguished in each of these two particulars. (Valesius, p. 569.)
8. Dio the Roman says that Janus, an ancient hero, because of his entertainment of Saturn, received the knowledge of the future and of the past, and that on this account he was represented with two faces by the Romans. From him the month of January was named, and the beginning of the year comes in the same month. (Cedrenus, Vol. 1, p. 295, 10, Bekker.)
9. Book 1, Dio:—"For in some beginnings, when grasping at ends, the costs that we endure are not unwelcome." (Bekker, Anecd. p. 161, 3.)
10. (Numa) having lived for a period of three more than eighty years, and having been king forty and three years.—Zonaras, 7, 5. (Cp. Haupt,HermesXIV.)
[Frag. VI]
1. Dio, Book 2: "that their [Footnote: Probably refers to the people of Alba.] reputation would stand in the way of their growth." (Bekker, Anecd., p. 139, 12.)
2. ¶Neither of the two [Tullus or Mettius] sanctioned the removal, but both championed their own pretensions. For Tullus in view of the report about Romulus and the power they possessed was elated and so was Fufetius in view of the age of Alba and because it was the mother city not only of the Romans themselves but of many others; and both felt no little pride. For these reasons they withdrew from that dispute but plunged into a new quarrel about the sovereignty: for they saw that it was impossible [Footnote: Refers to the Romans.] to keep them free from party feeling, dwelling with them in safety on fair terms; and this was due to the inherent disposition of men to quarrel with their equals, and to desire to rule others. Many claims also regarding this they preferred against each other, to see if by any means the one party would voluntarily concede either of the two favors to the other. They accomplished nothing, but formed a compact to struggle in her behalf.
(Mai, p. 139.)
3. Dio, Book 2.—"and attacking them who expected no further danger." (Bekker, Anecd. p. 139, 15.)
4. ¶Tullus was deemed most able against the enemy, but absolutely despised and neglected religion until, during the recurrence of a plague, he himself fell sick. Then, indeed, he paid the strictest regard to all the gods, and furthermore established the Salii Collini. (Valesius, p. 569.)
[Frag. VII]
¶Marcius, comprehending how it is not sufficient for men who wish to remain at peace to refrain from wrongdoing, and that refusing to molest others, without active measures, is not a means of safety, but the more one longs for it the more vulnerable does one become to the mass of mankind, changed his course. He saw that a desire for quiet was not a power for protection unless accompanied by equipment for war: he perceived also that delight in freedom from foreign broils very quickly and very easily ruined men who were unduly enthusiastic over it. For this reason he thought that war was nobler and safer, both as a preparation and as forethought, than was peace, and so whatever he was unable to obtain from the Latins with their consent, and without harming them, he took away against their will by means of a military expedition. (Mai, p. 139.)
[Frag. VIII]
¶Tarquinius, by using wealth, knowledge, and great wit opportunely everywhere, put Marcius in such a frame of mind than he was enrolled by the latter among the patricians and among the senators, was often appointed general and was entrusted with the guardianship of his children and of the kingdom. He was no less agreeable to the rest, and consequently ruled them with their consent. The reason was that while he took all measures from which he might derive strength he did not lose his head, but though among the foremost humbled himself. Any laborious tasks he was willing to undertake openly in the place of others, but in pleasure he willingly made way for others while he himself obtained either nothing or but little, and that unnoticed. The responsibility for what went well he laid upon any one sooner than upon himself and placed the resulting advantages within the reach of the public for whoever desired them, but more unsatisfactory issues he never laid to the charge of any one else, nor attempted to divide the blame. Besides, he favored all the friends of Marcius individually both by deeds and by words. Money he spent without stint and was ready to offer his services if any one wanted anything of him. He neither said nor did anything mean against any one, and did not fall into enmity with any one if he could help it. Furthermore, whatever benefits he received from any persons he always exaggerated, but unpleasant treatment he either did not notice at all or minimized it and regarded it is of very slight importance: not only did he refuse to take offensive measures in return, but he conferred kindnesses until he won the man over entirely. This gained him a certain reputation for cleverness, because he had mastered Marcius and all the latter's followers, but through subsequent events he caused the majority of men to be distrusted, either as being deceitful by nature or as changing their views according to their own influence and fortunes. (Valesius, p. 570.)
[Frag. IX]
Second Book of Dio: "As there was nothing in which they did not yield him obedience." (Bekker, Anecd. p. 164, 19.)
[Frag. X] 1. Dio, Book 2.—"Because his brother did not cooperate with him he secretly put him out of the way by poison through the agency of his wife." (Bekker, Anecd. p. 139, 17. Cp. Zonaras, 7, 9.)
2. ¶Tarquinius, when he had equipped himself sufficiently to reign over them even if they were unwilling, first arrested the most powerful members of the senate and next some of the rest, and put to death many publicly, when he could bring some real charge against them, and many besides secretly, while some he banished. Not merely because some of them loved Tullius more than him, nor because they had family, wealth, intelligence, and displayed conspicuous bravery and distinguished wisdom did he destroy them, out of jealousy and out of a suspicion likewise that their dissimilarity of character must force them to hate him, the while he defended himself against some and anticipated the attack of others; no, he slew all his bosom friends who had exerted themselves to help him get the kingship no less than the rest; for he thought that impelled by the audacity and fondness for revolution through which they had obtained dominion for him they might equally well give it to some one else. So he made away with the best part of the senate and of the knights and did not appoint to those orders any one at all in place of the men who had been destroyed: he understood that he was hated by the entire populace and was anxious to render the classes mentioned extremely weak through paucity of men. Yes, he even undertook to abolish the senate altogether, since he believed that every gathering of men and especially of chosen persons who had some pretence of prestige from antiquity, was most hostile to a tyrant. But as he was afraid that the multitude or else his body-guards themselves, in their capacity as citizens, might by reason of vexation at the change in government revolt, he refrained from doing this openly, but effected it in a conveniently outrageous way. He failed to introduce any new member into the senate to make up the loss, and to those who were left he communicated nothing of importance. He called the senators together not to help him in the administration of any important business; no, this very act was to give them a proof of their littleness, and thereby to enable him to humiliate and show scorn for them. Most of his business he carried on by himself or with the aid of his sons, in the first place to the end that no one else should have any power, and secondly because he shrank from publishing matters involving his own wrongdoing. He was difficult of access and hard to accost, and showed such great haughtiness and brutality toward all alike that he received the nickname among them of "Proud." Among other decidedly tyrannical deeds of himself and his children might be mentioned the fact that he once had some citizens bound naked to some crosses in the Forum and before the eyes of the citizens, and had them shamefully beaten to death with rods. This punishment, invented by him at that time, has often been inflicted. (Valesius, p. 573.)
3. Dio in 2nd Book: "Publicly and by arrangement reviling his father in many unusual ways on the ground that he was a tyrant and was forsworn." (Bekker, Anecd. p. 155, 1.)
4. The Sibyl about whom Lycophron is now speaking was the Cumæan, who died in the time of Tarquin the Proud and left behind three or nine of her prophetic books. Of these the Romans bought either one or three, after the Sibyl's servant had destroyed the rest by fire because they would not give her as much gold as she wanted. This they did later and bought up either one that was left over or else three, and gave them to Marcus Acilius to keep. Him they cast alive into the skin of an ox and put to death because he had given them to be copied: but for the book or books they dug a hole in the Forum and buried them along with a chest. (Ioannes Tzetzes, scholia on Lycophr. 1279.)
5. ¶Lucius Junius, a son of Tarquinius's sister, in terror after the king had killed his father and had moreover taken his property away from him feigned madness, to the end that he might possibly survive. For he well understood that every person possessed of sense, especially when he is of a distinguished family, becomes an object of suspicion to tyrants. And when once he had started on this plan he acted it out with great precision, and for that reason was called Brutus. This is the name that the Latins gave to idiots. Sent along with Titus and Arruns as if he were a kind of plaything he carried a staff as a votive offering, he said, to the gods, though it had no great value so far as anyone could see. (Mai, p. 139.)
6. Dio in Book 2: "After that he was found in the Pythian god's temple." (Bekker, Anecd. p. 139, 21.)
7. ¶They made sport of the gift [i. e. the staff] of Brutus, and when to the enquiry of the ambassadors as to who should succeed to the kingdom of their father the oracle replied that the first to kiss his mother should hold dominion over the Romans, he kissed the earth, pretending to have fallen down by accident, for he regarded her as the mother of all mankind. (Mai, p. 140.)
8. ¶Brutus overthrew the Tarquins for the following reason. During the siege of Ardea the children of Tarquin were one day dining with Brutus and Collatinus, since these two were of their own age and relatives; and they fell into a discussion and finally into a dispute about the virtue of their wives,—each one giving the preference to his own spouse. And, as all the women happened to be absent from the camp, they decided straightaway that night, before they could be announced, to take horse and ride away to all of them simultaneously. This they did, and found all engaged in a carousal except Lucretia, wife of Collatinus, whom they discovered at work on wool. This fact about her becoming noised abroad led Sextus to desire to outrage her. Perchance he even felt some love for her, since she was of surpassing beauty; still it was rather her reputation than her body that he desired to ruin. He watched for an opportunity when Collatinus was among the Rutuli, hurried to Collatia, and coming by night to her house as that of a kinswoman obtained both food and lodging. At first he tried to persuade her to grant her favors to him, but as he could not succeed he attempted force. When he found he could make no progress by this means either, he devised a plan by which in the most unexpected way he compelled her to submit voluntarily to be debauched. To his declaration that he would cut her throat she paid no attention, and his statement that he would make away with one of the servants she listened to in contempt. When, however, he threatened to lay the body of the servant beside her and spread the report that he had found them sleeping together and killed them he was no longer to be resisted: and she, fearing it might be believed that this had so happened, chose to yield to him and die after giving an account of the affair rather than lose her good name in perishing at once. For this reason she did not refuse to commit adultery, but afterward she made ready a dagger beneath the pillow and sent for her husband and her father. As soon as they had come she shed many tears, then spoke with a sigh: "Father, I utter your name because I have disgraced it less than my husband's. It is no honorable deed I have done this last night, but Sextus forced me, threatening to kill me and a slave together and pretend he had found me sleeping with the man. This threat compelled me to sin, to prevent you from believing that such a thing had taken place. And I, because I am a woman, will treat my case as becomes me: but do you, if you are men and care for your wives and for your children, avenge me, free yourselves, and show the tyrants what manner of creatures you are and what manner of woman they have outraged." Having spoken to this effect she did not wait for any reply but immediately drawing the dagger from its hiding place stabbed herself. (Valesius, p. 574.)
9. Dio, Second Book: "And he [Footnote: Van Herweiden's reading is the one adopted in this doubtful passage.] went outside of Roman territory making frequent trials of neighboring peoples." (Bekker, Anecd. p. 164, 25.)
1. ¶All crowds of people judge measures according to the men who direct them, and of whatever sort they ascertain the men to be, they believe that the measures are of the same sort. (Mai, p. 140.)
[Frag. XI]
2. Every one prefers the untried to the well known, attaching great hope to the uncertain in comparison with what has already gained his hatred. (Ib.)
3. All changes are very dangerous, and especially do those in governments work the greatest and most numerous evils to both individuals and state. Sensible men, therefore, decide to remain under the same forms continually, even if they be not very good, rather than by changing to have now one, now another, and be continually wandering. (Ib.)
4. Dio, 2nd Book: "When he had learned this he accordingly both came to them the following day [lacuna]" (Bekker, Anecd., p. 178, 20.)
5. In 3rd Book of Dio: "Whose father also ruled you blamelessly." (Ib., p. 120, 24.)
6. Dio's 3rd Book: "Of the fact that he loves you, you could get no greater proof than his eagerness to live in your midst and his action in having his possessions long since brought here." (Ib., p. 139, 26, and p. 164, 28.)
7. Dio's 3rd Book: "How would it pay any one to do this?" (Ib, p. 155,14.)
8. Dio's 3rd Book: "As Romulus also enjoined upon us." (Ib., p. 139, 29.)
9. ¶Every person comes to possess wishes and desires according to his fortune and whatever his circumstances be, of like nature are also the opinions he acquires. (Mai, p. 141.)
10. ¶The business of kingship, more than any other, demands not merely virtue, but also great understanding and intelligence, and it is not possible without these qualities for the man who takes hold of it to show moderation. Many, for example, as if raised unexpectedly to some great height, have not endured their elevation, but startled from their senses have fallen and made failures of themselves and have shattered all the interests of their subjects. (Mai, ib.)
11. With regard to the future form a judgment from what they have done, but do not be deceived by what they as suppliants falsely pretend. Unholy deeds proceed in every case from a man's real purpose, but any one may concoct creditable phrases. Hence judge from what a man has done, not from what he says he will do. (Mai, ib.)
12. 3rd Book of Dio: "It is done not merely by the actual men who rule them, but also by those who share the power with those rulers." (Bekker, Anecd. p.130, 23, and p.164, 32.)
In the preceding fragment we have, apparently, some comment of Dio himself on the change in the Roman government (from monarchy to republic) together with scraps of two speeches,—namely, that of the envoys of Tarquinius to the Roman people, and that of Brutus in reply.
[Frag. XII]
1. ¶Valerius, the colleague of Brutus, although he had proved himself the most democratic of men came near being murdered in short order by the multitude: they suspected him, in fact, of being eager to become sole sovereign. They would have slain him, indeed, had he not quickly anticipated their action by courting their favor. He entered the assembly and bent the rods which he had formerly used straight, and took away the surrounding axes that were bound in with them. After he had in this way assumed an attitude of humility, he kept a sad countenance for some time and shed tears: and when he at last managed to utter a sound, he spoke in a low fearful voice with a suggestion of a quaver. [The general subject is speechmaking.] (Mai, p. 141.)
2. On account of whom (plur.) also [Collatinus] was enraged. Consequently Brutus so incited the populace against him that they came near slaying him on the spot. They did not quite do this, however, but compelled him to resign without delay. They chose as colleague to the consul in his place Publius Valerius, who had the additional title of Poplicola. This appellation translated into Greek signifies "friend of the people" or "most democratic." (Zonaras, 7, 12. Cp. Haupt,HermesXIV.)
[Frag. XIII]
¶The temple of Jupiter was dedicated by Horatius, as determined by lot, although Valerius made the declaration that his son was dead, and arranged to have this news brought to him during the very performance of his sacred office, with the purpose that Horatius under the blow of the misfortune and because in general it was impious for any one in grief to fulfill the duties of priest, should yield to him the dedication of the structure. The other did not refuse credence to the report—for it was noised abroad by many trustworthy persons—yet he did not surrender his ministry: on the contrary, after bidding some men to leave unburied the body of his son, as if it were a stranger's, in order that he might seem unconcerned regarding the rites due to it, he then performed all the necessary ceremonies. (Valesius, p.577.)
[Frag. XIV]
1. (Tarquinius continued to supplicate Klara Porsina.) (Zonaras, 7, 12. Cp. Tzetz. Hist. 6, 201. Plutarch, Poplic. 16, has "Lara Porsina.")
2. Dio in 4th Book: "But they overran the Roman territory and harried everything up to the wall." (Bekker, Anecd. p.152, 3 and 1.) 3. Larta Porsenna, an Etruscan, or, perhaps, Klara Porsenna, was proceeding against Rome with a great army. But Mucius, a noble Roman soldier, after equipping himself in arms and dress of Etruscans then started to spy upon them, wishing to kill Porsenna. Beside the latter at that time was sitting his secretary, who in the Etruscan tongue was called Clusinus; and Mucius, doubtful which might be the king, killed Clusinus instead of the king. The man was arrested, and when Porsenna asked him: "Why in the world did you do this thing? What injury had you received from him?" the other cried out: "I happen to be not Etruscan but Roman; and three hundred others of like mind with me who are now hunting thee to slay thee." This he had spoken falsely; and, with his right hand thrust into the fire, he gazed on Porsenna as though another were suffering: and when the prince enquired: "Why do you look fixedly upon us?" he said: "Reflecting how I erred in failing to slay thee and in thy stead killed one whom I thought Porsenna." And when Porsenna exclaimed: "You shall now become my friend!" Mucius rejoined: "If thou becom'st a Roman." Porsenna admiring the man for his uprightness becomes a friend to the Romans and checks the tide of battle. (Tzetzes, Chiliades, VI, 201-223.)
(Cp. Scholia on John Tzetzes's Letters in Cramer's Anecd. Oxon., vol. III, p.360, 30: "Clusinus was the name of Porsenna's secretary, according to what Dio says"; and Zonaras, 7, 12: "Drawing his sword he killed his secretary, who was sitting beside him and was similarly arrayed.")
4. Dio's 4th Book: "And he [Footnote: Porsenna.] presented to the maiden [Footnote: Clælia] both arms (or so some say) and a horse." (Bekker, Anecd. p.133, 8.)
5. After this the Tarquins endeavored on several occasions, by forming alliances with tribes bordering on Roman dominions, to recover the kingdom; but they were all destroyed in the battles save the sire, who, moreover, was called Superbus (or, as a Greek would say, Proud). Subsequently he found his way to Cyme of Opicia and there died. Thus the careers of the Tarquins reached a conclusion. And after their expulsion from the kingdom consuls, as has been stated, were chosen by the Romans. One of these was Publius Valerius, who became consul four times,—the one to whom also the name Poplicola was applied. (Zonaras 7, 12 sq. Cp. Haupt,HermesXIV.)
6. And the management of the funds they assigned to others in order that the men holding the consular office might not possess the great influence that would spring from their having the revenues in their power. Now for the first time "stewards" began to be created and they called themquæstors. These in the first place tried capital cases, from which fact they have obtained this title,—on account of theirquestioningsand on account of their search for truth as the result ofquestionings. But later they acquired also management of the public funds and received the additional name of Stewards ([Greek: tamiai]). After a time the courts were delivered over to different persons, while these officials were managers of the funds. (Zonaras 7, 13. Cp. Haupt,Hermes, XIV.)
7. Dio's 4th Book: "And they provided them [Footnote: Probably a reference to the quæstors.] with separate titles besides in general making very different provision for them in the different cases." (Bekker, Anecd. p.133, 16.)
8. Dio in 5th Book: "The lords filling them with hope on certain points." (Ib. p.140, 10.)
9. Dio in 5th Book: "With this accordingly he honored him." (Ib. p.175, 19.)
[Frag. XV]
¶To a large extent success consists in planning secretly, acting at the opportune moment, following one's own counsel somewhat, and in having no chance to fall back upon any one else, but being obliged to take upon one's self the responsibility for the issue, however it turns out. [Footnote: Fragment XV may perhaps be a comment on dictatorships.] (Mai, p.142.)
[Frag. XVI]
1. They had recourse to civil strife. And the reason is plain. Those whose money gave them influence desired to surpass their inferiors in all respects as though they were their sovereigns, and the weaker citizens, sure of their own equal rights, were unwilling to obey them even in some small point. The one class, insatiate of freedom, sought to enjoy the property of the other; and this other, uncontrolled in its pride of place, to enjoy the fruits of the former's labors. So it was that they sundered their former relations, wherein they were wont harmoniously to assist each other with mutual profit, and no longer made distinctions between foreign and native races. Indeed, both disdained moderation, and the one class set its heart upon an extreme of dominion, the other upon an extreme of resistance to voluntary servitude; consequently they missed the results accomplished by their previous allied efforts and inflicted many striking injuries, partly in defence against each other's movements and partly by way of anticipating them. More than all the rest of mankind they were at variance save in the midst of particularly threatening dangers that they incurred in the course of successive wars,—wars due chiefly to their own dissensions; and for the sake of the respite many prominent men on several occasions brought on these conflicts purposely. This, then, was the beginning of their suffering more harm from each other than from outside nations. And the complexion of their difficulties inspires me to pronounce that it was impossible that they should be deprived of either their power or their sway, unless they should lose it through their own contentions. (Mai, ib.)
2. They were especially irritated that the senators were not of the same mind after obtaining something from them as they were while requesting it, but after making them numbers of great promises while in the midst of danger failed to perform the slightest one of them when safety had been secured. (Mai, p.143.)
3. So to the end that they might not fight in a compact mass, but each division struggle separately for its own position and so become easier to handle, they divided the army. [Footnote: Cp. Livy, II, 30.] (Ib.)
4. ¶The populace, as soon as Valerius the dictator became a private citizen, began a most bitter contest, going so far even as to overturn the government. The well-to-do classes insisted, in the case of debts, upon the very letter of the agreement, refusing to abate one iota of it, and so they both failed to secure its fulfillment and came to be deprived of many other advantages; they had failed to recognize the fact that an extreme of poverty is the heaviest of curses and that the desperation which results from it is, especially if shared by a large number of persons, very difficult to combat. This is why not a few politicians voluntarily choose the course which is expedient in preference to that which is absolutely just. Justice is often worsted in an encounter with human nature and sometimes suffers total extinction, whereas expediency, by parting with a mere fragment of justice, preserves the greater portion of it intact.
Now the cause of most of the troubles that the Romans had lay in the unyielding attitude adopted by the more powerful class toward its inferiors. Many remedies were afforded them against delays in payment of debts, one of which was that in case it happened that several persons had been lending to anybody, they had authority to divide his body piecemeal according to the proportionate amounts that he was owing. Yet, however much this principle had been declared legal, still it had surely never been put into practice. For how could a nation have proceeded to such lengths of cruelty when it frequently granted to those convicted of some crime a refuge for their preservation and allowed such as were thrust from the cliffs of the Capitoline to live in case they should survive the experience? (Mai, p.143. Cp. Zonaras. 7, 14.)
5. ¶Those who were owing debts took possession of a certain hill and having placed one Gaius at their head proceeded to secure their food from the country as from hostile territory, thereby demonstrating that the laws were weaker than arms, and justice than their desperation. The senators being in terror both that this party might become more estranged and that the neighboring tribes in view of the crisis might join in an attack upon them proposed terms to the rebels offering everything that they hoped might please them. The seceders at first were for brazening it out, but were brought to reason in a remarkable way. When they kept up a series of disorderly shouts, Agrippa, one of the envoys, begged them to hearken to a fable and having obtained their consent spoke as follows. Once all the Members of Man began a contention against the Belly, saying that they worked and toiled without food or drink, being at the beck and call of the Belly in everything, whereas it endured no labor and alone got its fill of nourishment. And finally they voted that the Hands should no longer convey aught to the Mouth nor the latter receive anything, to the end that the Belly might so far as possible come to lack both food and drink and so perish. Now when this measure was determined and put into execution, at first the entire body began to wither away and next it collapsed and gave out. Accordingly, the members through their own evil state grew conscious that the Belly was the salvation of them and restored to it its nourishment.
On hearing this the multitude comprehended that the abundance of the prosperous also supports the condition of the poor; therefore they showed greater mildness and accepted a reconciliation on being granted a release from their debts and from seizures therefor. This then, was voted by the senate. (Mai, p.144. Cp. Zonaras 7, 14.) The account of John of Antioch, frag. 46 (Müller, fr. hist gr. IV, p.556) regarding this secession of the plebs seems to have been taken from intact books of Dio. (Cp. Haupt,HermesXIV, p.44, note 1; also G. Sotiriadis, Zur Kritik des Johannes von Antiochia, Supplem. annal. philol. vol. XVI, p.50.)
6. And it seemed to be most inconsistent with human conditions, and to many others also, some willingly, some unwillingly [lacuna]
¶Whenever many men gathered in a compact body seek their own advantage by violence, for the time being they have some equitable agreement and display boldness, but later they become separated and are punished on various pretexts. (Mai, p.146. Cp. Zonaras, 7, 15.)
7. Through the tendency, natural to most persons, to differ with their fellows in office (it is always difficult for a number of men to attain harmony, especially in a position of any influence)—through this natural tendency, then, all their power was dissipated and torn to shreds. None of their resolutions was valid in case even one of them opposed it. They had originally received their office for no other purpose than to resist such as were oppressing their fellow-citizens, and thus he who tried to prevent any measure from being carried into effect was sure to prove stronger than those who supported it. (Mai, ib. Cp. Zonaras 7, 15.)
[Frag. XVII]
1. For it is not easy for a man either to be strong at all points or to possess excellence in both departments,—war and peace,—at once. Those who are physically strong are, as a rule, weak-minded and success that has come in unstinted measure generally does not luxuriate equally well everywhere. This explains why after having first been exalted by the citizens to the foremost rank he was not much later exiled by them, and how it was that after making the city of the Volsci a slave to his country he with their aid brought his own land in turn into an extremity of danger. (Mai, p. 146. Cp. Zonaras 7,16.)
[Sidenote: B.C. 491 (a.u.263)] 2. ¶The same man wished to be made prætor, and upon failing to secure the office became angry at the populace; and in his displeasure at the great influence of the tribunes he employed greater frankness in speaking to that body than was attempted by others whose deeds entitled them to the same rank as himself. A severe famine occurring at the same time that a town Norba needed colonizing, the multitude censured the powerful classes on both these points, maintaining that they were being deprived of food and were being purposely delivered into the hands of enemies for manifest destruction. Whenever persons come to suspect each other, they take amiss everything even that is done in their behalf, and yield wholly to their belligerent instincts. Coriolanus had invariably evinced contempt for the people, and after grain had been brought in from many sources (most of it sent as a gift from princes in Sicily) he would not allow them to receive allotments of it as they were petitioning. Accordingly, the tribunes, whose functions he was especially eager to abolish, brought him to trial before the populace on a charge of aiming at tyranny and drove him into exile. It availed nothing that all his peers exclaimed and expressed their consternation at the fact that tribunes dared to pass such sentences upontheirorder. So on being expelled he betook himself, raging at his treatment, to the Volsci, though they had been his bitterest foes. His valor, of which they had had a taste, and the wrath that he cherished toward his fellow-citizens gave him reason to expect that they would receive him gladly, since they might hope, thanks to him, to inflict upon the Romans injuries equal to what they had endured, or even greater. When one has suffered particular damage at the hands of any party, one is strongly inclined to believe in the possibility of benefit from the same party in case it is willing and also able to confer favors. (Mai, p.147. Cp. Zonaras 7, 16.) 3. For he was very angry that they, who were incurring danger for their own country would not even under these conditions withdraw from the possessions of others. When, accordingly, this news also was brought, the men did not cease any the more from factional strife. They were, indeed, so bitterly at variance that they could be reconciled not even by dangers. But the women, Volumnia the wife of Coriolanus and Veturia his mother, gathering a company of the other most eminent ladies visited him in camp and took his children with them; and they caused him to end the war not only without requiring the submission of the country, but without even demanding restoration from exile. For he admitted them at once as soon as he learned they were there, and granted them a conversation, the course of which was as follows. While the rest wept without speaking Veturia began: "Why are you surprised, my child? Why are you startled? We are not deserters, but the country has sent to you, if you should yield, your mother and wife and children, if otherwise, your spoil; hence, if even now you still are angry, kill us first. Why do you weep? Why turn away? Can you fail to know how we have just ceased lamenting the affairs of state, in order that we might see you? Be reconciled to us, then, and retain no longer your anger against your citizens, friends, temples, tombs; do not come rushing down into the city with hostile wrath nor take by storm your native land in which you were born, were reared, and became Coriolanus, bearer of this great name. Yield to me, my child, and send me not hence without result, unless you would see me dead by own hand."
At the end of this speech she sighed aloud, and tearing open her clothing showed her breasts, and touching her abdomen exclaimed: "See, my child, this brought you forth, these reared you up." When she had said this, his wife and the children and the rest of the women joined in the lament, so that he too was cast into grief. Recovering himself at length with difficulty he embraced his mother and at the same time kissing her replied: "Mother, I yield to you. Yours is the victory, and let the other men, too, bestow their gratitude for this upon you. For I can not endure even to see them, who after receiving such great benefits at hands have treated me in such a way. Hence I never even enter the city. Do you keep the country instead of me, since you have so wished it, and I will take myself out of the way of you all."
Having spoken thus he withdrew. For through fear of the multitude and shame before his peers, in that he had made an expedition against them at all he would not accept even the safe return offered him, but retired among the Volsci, and there, either as the result of a plot or from old age, died. (Mai, p.148. Zonaras, 7, 16. Cp. John Tzetzes, Letters, 6, p.9, 16.)
4. Dio Cocceianus himself and numberless others who have set forth the deeds of the Romans, tell the story of this Marcus Coriolanus. This Marcus, as he was formerly called and later Gnæus, had along with these the name of Coriolanus. When the Romans were warring against the city of Coriolanus [sic], and had all turned to flight at full speed, the man himself turned toward the hostile city and finding it open alone set fire to it. As the flames rose brilliantly he mounted his horse and with great force fell upon the rear of the barbarians, who were bringing headlong flight upon the Romans. They wheeled about and when they saw the fire consuming the city, thinking it was sacked they fled in another direction. He, having saved the Romans and sacked the city, which we have already said was called Coriolanus, received, in addition to his former names Marcus and Gnæus, the title of Coriolanus, from the rout. But (the usual treatment that jealousy accords to benefactors) after a little in the course of reflections they fine the man. The man excessively afflicted with most just wrath leaves his wife, his mother, and his country, and goes to the Corioli, and they receive the man. Then after that they arrayed themselves against the Romans. And had not his spouse and mother at the breaking out of that war run and torn apart their tunics and stood about him naked,—Veturia and Volumnia were their names,—and checked him with difficulty from the battle against the Romans, Rome would have made a resolve to honor benefactors. But brought to a halt by the prayers of his mother and of his spouse he stopped the war against the Romans, and he himself leaving behind the Corioli and the Romans hurried to another land, smitten by sorrow. (Tzetzes, Hist. 6, 527-560. Cp. Haupt,Hermes, XIV.)
5. I pass over mention of the noble Marcus Coriolanus, and with Marcus himself also Marcus Corvinus; of whom the one, having sacked unaided a city named Coriolanus and burned it down, although the entire army of the Romans had been routed, was called Coriolanus, though otherwise termed Marcus. (Tzetzes, Hist. 3, 856-861.)
[Frag. XVIII]
[Sidenote: B.C. 486 (a.u.268)] Cassius after benefiting the Romans was put to death by that very people. So that thereby it is made plain that there is no element deserving confidence in multitudes. On the contrary they destroy men who are altogether devoted to them no less than men guilty of the greatest wrongs. With respect to the interest of the moment on various occasions they deem those great who are the cause of benefits to them, but when they have profited to the full by such men's services they no longer regard them as having any nearer claims than bitterest foes. For Cassius, although he indulged them, they killed because of the very matters on which he prided himself: and it is manifest that he perished through envy and not as a result of some injustice committed. (Mai, p.150.)
[Frag. XIX]
1. For the men from time to time in power when they became unable to restrain them by any other method stirred up purposely wars after wars in order that they might be kept busy attending to those conflicts and not disturb themselves about the land. (Mai, ib. Zonaras 7, 17.)
2. At any rate they were so inflamed with rage by each of the two as to promise with an oath victory to their generals: with regard to the immediate attack they thought themselves actually lords of fortune. (Mai, p.150.)
3. ¶It is natural for the majority of the human race to quarrel with any opposing force even beyond what is to its own advantage and upon those who yield to bestow a benefit in turn even beyond its power. (Mai, p.151.)
[Frag. XX]
[Sidenote: B.C. 477 (a.u.277)] 1. ¶The Fabii, who on the basis of birth and wealth made pretensions equal with the noblest, very quickly indeed saw that they were dejected. For when persons involve themselves in many undertakings that are at the same time hard to manage, they can discover no device for confronting the multitude and array of dangers, and give up as hopeless quite easy projects: after which their sober judgments and, contrary to what one would expect, their very opinions cause them to lose heart and they voluntarily abandon matters in hand with the idea that their labor will be but vain; finally they surrender themselves to unforseen dispensations of Heaven and await whatever Chance may bring. (Mai, p.151. Zonaras 7,17.)