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36 Cards in this Set
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Gaio Vipstano C. Fonteio consulibus diu meditatum scelus non ultra Nero distulit, vetustate imperii coalita audacia et flagrantior in dies amore Poppaeae, quae sibi matrimonium et discidium Octaviae incolumi Agrippina haud sperans crebris criminationibus, aliquando per facetias incusaret principem et pupillum vocaret, qui iussis alienis obnoxius non modo imperii, sed libertatis etiam indigeret
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When Gaius Vipstanus and Gaius Fonteius were consuls, Nero no longer delayed a crime he had thought about for a long time, his audacity increasing with the length of his reign and as he was becoming everyday more violently in love with Poppaea, while Agrippina lived she had no hope of him divorcing Octavia and marrying her and she began to nag the emperor with frequent reproaches, at times, in jest, calling him a mere ward who was subject to the orders of others who not only lacked sovereignty but also freedom.
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cur enim differri nuptias suas? formam scilicet displicere et triumphalis avos, an fecunditatem et verum animum? timeri ne uxor saltem iniurias patrum, iram populi adversus superbiam avaritiamque matris aperiat. quod si nurum Agrippina non nisi filio infestam ferre posset, redderetur ipsa Othonis coniugio: ituram quoquo terrarum, ubi audiret potius contumelias imperatoris quam viseret periculis eius immixta.
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For why did he delay marrying her? To be sure her beauty and victorious ancestors displeased him. Or was it her fertility and sincerity of affection? In fact he was afraid that as his wife she would open his eyes to the wrongs inflicted on the Senate and the anger of the people against the arrogance and greed of his mother. But if Agrippina could only endure a daughter in law hostile to her son, then let he be returned to Otho’s marriage again. She would go anywhere in the world where she would rather hear of the emperor’s humiliations than see them and be involved in dangers with him.
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haec atque talia lacrimis et arte adulterae penetrantia nemo prohibebat, cupientibus cunctis infringi potentiam matris et credente nullo usque ad caedem eius duratura filii odia.
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No one stopped such things as these with the tears and the skill of a lover finding their way. Everyone wanted the power of his mother to be broken, but no one believed that her son’s hatred would harden itself to her murder.
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Tradit Cluvius ardore retinendae Agrippinam potentiae eo usque provectam, ut medio diei, cum id temporis Nero per vinum et epulas incalesceret, offerret se saepius temulento comptam et incesto paratam; iamque lasciva oscula et praenuntias flagitii blanditias adnotantibus proximis, Senecam contra muliebris inlecebras subsidium a femina petivisse, immissamque Acten libertam, quae simul suo periculo et infamia Neronis anxia deferret pervulgatum esse incestum gloriante matre, nec toleraturos milites profani principis imperium
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Cluvius records that Agrippina in her desire of keeping power went so far that in the middle of the day, when Nero was wram with wine and food at that time, she often offered herself to her drunken son decked out and ready for incest. Their companions noticed their sensual kisses and caresses suggesting evil. Seneca sought help against a woman’s seduction from a woman, and the freedwoman Acte, who was anxious by the danger to herself and the infamy which threatened Nero, was sent in to tell him that the scandal was noised abroad through his mother’s actual boasting of it and that the soldiers would not tolerate the rule of a sacrilegious emperor.
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Fabius Rusticus non Agrippinae sed Neroni cupitum id memorat eiusdemque libertae astu disiectum. sed quae Cluvius eadem ceteri quoque auctores prodidere, et fama huc inclinat, seu concepit animo tantum immanitatis Agrippina, seu credibilior novae libidinis meditatio in ea visa est, quae puellaribus annis stuprum cum Lepido spe dominationis admiserat, pari cupidine usque ad libita Pallantis provoluta et exercita ad omne flagitium patrui nuptiis.
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Fabius Rusticus relates that the desire was not Agrippina’s but Nero’s and that it was thwarted by the cunning of the same freedwoman. But all the other authorities record the same also, as Cluvius and tradition tends in this direction, either because Agrippina actually did conceive such a monstrous design or else the practice of novel lust seemed credible in a woman who in her early years had committed adultery with Lepidus in the hope of power and with equal desire she had sunk to be mistress of Pallas and practised every disgraceful act married to her uncle.
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Igitur Nero vitare secretos eius congressus, abscedentem in hortos aut Tusculanum vel Antiatem in agrum laudare quod otium capesseret. postremo, ubicumque haberetur, praegravem ratus interficere constituit, hactenus consultans, veneno an ferro vel qua alia vi. placuitque primo venenum. sed inter epulas principis si daretur, referri ad casum non poterat tali iam Britannici exitio; et ministros temptare arduum videbatur mulieris usu scelerum adversus insidias intentae; atque ipsa praesumendo remedia munierat corpus.
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So Nero avoided private meetings with her and when she left for her gardens or her estate at Tusculum or Antium he praised her for taking a holiday. Finally wherever she was, considering her a great nuisance he decided to kill her, deliberating only whether to use poison, a dagger or some other sort of violence. Firstly poison pleased him. But if it were given at the Emperor’s table, it could not be attributed to chance, such having been the fate of Britannicus already, and it seemed difficult to bribe the servants of a woman who was on guard against plots through her experience of crimes. And she had fortified her body by taking antidotes beforehand.
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ferrum et caedes quonam modo occultaretur, nemo reperiebat; et ne quis illi tanto facinori delectus iussa sperneret metuebat. obtulit ingenium Anicetus libertus, classi apud Misenum praefectus et pueritiae Neronis educator ac mutuis odiis Agrippinae invisus. ergo navem posse componi docet cuius pars ipso in mari per artem soluta effunderet ignaram: nihil tam capax fortuitorum quam mare; et si naufragio intercepta sit, quem adeo iniquum, ut sceleri adsignet, quod venti et fluctus deliquerint?
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No one could find how death by the sword could be hidden. And he feared that the person chosen for such a crime would reject the orders. Anicetus a freedman produced a solution. He commanded the fleet at Misenum, and had been Nero’s boyhood tutor, and he and Agrippina hated each other. So he explained that a s hip would be built such that part might be designed to collapse while actually at sea and throw her overboard unawares. Nothing was so capable of accidents as the sea. If she was killed in a shipwreck, who would be so unfair as to attribute to a crime what the waves and winds did wrong?
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additurum principem defunctae templum et aras et cetera ostentandae pietati.
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When she was dead the Emperor could give a temple and altars to her and other things designed to display filial piety.
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Placuit sollertia, tempore etiam iuta, quando Quinquatruum festos dies apud Baias frequentabat. illuc matrem elicit, ferendas parentium iracundias et placandum animum dictitans, quo rumorem reconciliationis efficeret acciperetque Agrippina, facili feminarum credulitate ad gaudia. venientem dehinc obvius in litora (nam Antio adventabat) excepit manu et complexu ducitque Baulos. id villae nomen est, quae promunturium Misenum inter et Baianum lacum flexo mari adluitur. stabat inter alias navis ornatior, tamquam id quoque honori matris daretur: quippe sueverat triremi et classiariorum remigio vehi.
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The ingenious plan pleased him, the time of year also helped, for Nero usually spent the festival of Minerva at Baiae. There he lured his mother, repeatedly saying that one should bear the bad temper of parents and their feelings should be humoured, so that he could make an impression of reconciliation and Agrippina could accept this with the easy credulity of women towards cheerful news. Then Nero met her on the shore as she came from there (for she was coming from Antium). He stretched out his hands and embraced her and led her to Bauli. That is the name of a villa on the way which is washed over by the sea between the promontory of Misenum and the waters of Baiae. There was standing among others a ship finer than the rest, as if that too, were a tribute offered to his mother’s honour, for in fact she was used to travelling in a warship manned by sailors.
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ac tum invitata ad epulas erat, ut occultando facinori nox adhiberetur. satis constitit extitisse proditorem, et Agrippinam auditis insidiis, an crederet ambiguam, gestamine sellae Baias pervectam. ibi blandimentum sublevavit metum: comiter excepta superque ipsum collocata. iam pluribus sermonibus, modo familiaritate iuvenili Nero et rursus adductus, quasi seria consociaret, tracto in longum convictu, prosequitur abeuntem, artius oculis et pectori haerens, sive explenda simulatione, seu periturae matris supremus aspectus quamvis ferum animum retinebat.
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She had been invited to dinner so that night could be used to hide the crime. It is well known that there was an informer and that Agrippina heard of the plot, but she was uncertain whether to believe it and travelled to Baiae in a sedan chair. There his flatteries alleviated her fear, she was kindly received and seated next to him. Then Nero prolonged the entertainment with many topics of conversation, at one moment with youthful intimacy, at another with a serious air, as if he was communicating important matters and when she was going away he saw her off clinging to her breast and looking into her eyes, either putting the finishing touches to his hypocrisy or else the last sight of his mother going to her death was catching at her heart, brutalised as it was.
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Noctem sideribus inlustrem et placido mari quietam quasi convincendum ad scelus dii praebuere. nec multum erat progressa navis, duobus e numero familiarium Agrippinam comitantibus, ex quis Crepereius Gallus haud procul gubernaculis adstabat, Acerronia super pedes cubitantis reclinis paenitentiam filii et reciperatam matris gratiam per gaudium memorabat, cum dato signo ruere tectum loci multo plumbo grave, pressusque Crepereius et statim exanimatus est: Agrippina et Acerronia eminentibus lecti parietibus ac forte validioribus, quam ut oneri cederent, protectae sunt. nec dissolutio navigii sequebatur, turbatis omnibus et quod plerique ignari etiam conscios impediebant
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The gods might provided a night with stars, quiet with a calm sea as if to reveal the crime. The ship had not gone far and Agrippina was accompanied by 2 of her friends, one of whom was Crepereius Gallus was standing not far from the tiller, the other Acerronia leaning over the feet of her mistress who was lying down was happily talking about her son’s repentance and her mother’s restotred influence. Then the signal was given and the roof (of the place) weighted down with much lead fell in, Crepereius was crushed and immeadiately died; Agrippina and Acerronia were protected by the sides of the couch which happened to be too strong to give way to the weight. The ship did not fall to pieces; because everyone was in confusion, the majority who knew nothing got in the way of the conspirators.
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visum dehinc remigibus unum in latus inclinare atque ita navem submergere; sed neque ipsis promptus in rem subitam consensus, et alii contra nitentes dedere facultatem lenioris in mare iactus. verum Acerronia, imprudentia dum se Agrippinam esse utque subveniretur matri principis clamitat, contis et remis et quae fors obtulerat navalibus telis conficitur. Agrippina silens eoque minus adgnita (unum tamen vulnus umero excepit) nando, deinde occursu lenunculorum Lucrinum in lacum vecta villae suae infertur.
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Then some of the rowers thought it a good idea to lean to one side and to thus sink the boat, but it took them too long to carry out the improvised plan and the others lent in the opposite direction and provided the opportunity for a gentler descent into the water. But Acerronia while foolishly calling out that she was Agrippina and that they should help the Emperor’s mother, was killed with blows from poles, oars and other ship’s equipment that happened to be there. Agrippina kept quiet and so was not recognised (however she received one wound in the shoulder) by swimming then by falling in with some boats shetraveled by boat to the Lucrine Lake and was brought to her villa.
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Illic reputans ideo se fallacibus litteris accitam et honore praecipuo habitam, quodque litus iuxta, non ventis acta, non saxis impulsa navis summa sui parte veluti terrestre machinamentum concidisset; observans etiam Acerroniae necem, simul suum vulnus aspiciens, solum insidiarum remedium esse, si non intellegerentur; misitque libertum Agerinum, qui nuntiaret filio benignitate deum et fortuna eius evasisse gravem casum; orare ut quamvis periculo matris exterritus visendi curam differret; sibi ad praesens quiete opus. atque interim securitate simulata medicamina vulneri et fomenta corpori adhibet; testamentum Acerroniae requiri bonaque obsignari iubet, id tantum non per simulationem.
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There reflecting that it was for this purpose that she had been summoned by treacherous letters and treated with such distinguished honour and on the fact that the shore was nearby and it had not been driven by winds, and it had not struck the rocks and that the ship had collapsed in the upper part like stage apparatus used on land. She observed also Acerronia’s death and looked at her own wound and realised that the only way she could counter the plot was by seeming not to notice it. She sent her freedman Agerinus to announce to her son that through the goodwill of the gods and her own good fortune she had escaped a grave accident. She begged that however alarmed he might be of his mother’s danger, he should put off the intention of visiting her. For the moment she needed rest. Meanwhile she pretended unconcern and applied medications to her wound and dressings for her body. She ordered that Aceronnia’s will to be searched for and her good sealed up. No pretence was needed here.
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At Neroni nuntios patrati facinoris opperienti adfertur evasisse ictu levi sauciam et hactenus adito discrimine, ne auctor dubitaretur. tum pavore exanimis et iam iamque adfore obtestans vindictae properam, sive servitia armaret vel militem accenderet, sive ad senatum et populum pervaderet, naufragium et vulnus et interfectos amicos obiciendo: quod contra subsidium sibi? nisi quid Burrus et Seneca; quos expergens statim acciverat, incertum an et ante gnaros.
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As Nero was waiting for news that the crime had been carried out, it was reported that she had escaped, wounded slightly and having come so near to death that the author of it could not be in doubt. Out of his mind with fear he kept declaring that she would arrive at any moment hastening to exact vengeance, she would arm her slaves, or rouse the soldiers and make her way to the Senate and People and blame him for the shipwreck, the wound and her friends’ murder. What help was there for him to counter this unless Burrus and Seneca could produce anything. He awakened and summoned them at once. It is uncertain whether they had been in the plot before.
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igitur longum utriusque silentium, ne inriti dissuaderent, an eo descensum credebant, ut, nisi praeveniretur Agrippina, pereundum Neroni esset. post Seneca hactenus promptius, ut respiceret Burrum ac sciscitaretur, an militi imperanda caedes esset. ille praetorianos toti Caesarum domui obstrictos memoresque Germanici nihil adversus progeniem eius atrox ausuros respondit: perpetraret Anicetus promissa. qui nihil cunctatus poscit summam sceleris.
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So both were silent for a long time. They feared that they might be unsuccessful in dissuading him or they believed that matters had gone so far that, unless Agrippina was forestalled, Nero would be killed. Afterwards Seneca ventured so far as to look at Burrus and ask if a soldier might be ordered to carry out the murder. He replied that the Praetorians were devoted to Germanicus’ family and they would dare do nothing terrible against one of his descendants. Anicetus should carry out his promise. Anicetus made no delay and asked to be put in charge of the crime.
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ad eam vocem Nero illo sibi die dari imperium auctoremque tanti muneris libertum profitetur: iret propere duceretque promptissimos ad iussa. ipse audito venisse missu Agrippinae nuntium Agerinum, scaenam ultro criminis parat, gladiumque, dum mandata perfert, abicit inter pedes eius, tum quasi deprehenso vincla inici iubet, ut exitium principis molitam matrem et pudore deprehensi sceleris sponte mortem sumpsisse confingeret.
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When he heard him, Nero declared that on this day an Empire had been given to him and the giver of so great a gift was a freedman. Let him go at once and take with him men very ready to carry out orders. When it was heard that Agerinus, the messenger sent by Agrippina had come, he took the initiative and prepared the scene for an accusation and while he was delivering the message, he threw a sword at his feet, then ordered him to be thrown into chains as if to caught red handed so that he could pretend that his mother had plotted the Emperor’s murder and with the shame of the plot being detected had killed herself.
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Interim vulgato Agrippinae periculo, quasi casu evenisset, ut quisque acceperat, decurrere ad litus. hi molium obiectus, hi proximas scaphas scandere; alii, quantum corpus sinebat, vadere in mare; quidam manus protendere; questibus, votis, clamore diversa rogitantium aut incerta respondentium omnis ora compleri; adfluere ingens multitudo cum luminibus, atque ubi incolumem esse pernotuit, ut ad gratandum sese expedire, donec adspectu armati et minitantis agminis disiecti sunt.
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Meanwhile the version of Agrippina’s perilous experience which had been noised abroad was to the effect that it had been an accident. As soon as each heard the news, they rushed to the shore. Some climbed on the barriers of the embankments, others onto nearby boats; others waded out to sea as far as bodies allowed, stretching out their hands. The whole shore was filled with wailing, prayers, confused noise of enquiries and ignorant answers. A huge crowd assembled with lights and when it became known she was safe, they made ready as if to rejoice, until they were scattered by the sight of an armed and threatening column.
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Anicetus villam statione circumdat refractaque ianua obvios servorum abripit, donec ad fores cubiculi veniret; cui pauci adstabant, ceteris terrore inrumpentium exterritis. cubiculo modicum lumen inerat et ancillarum una, magis ac magis anxia Agrippina, quod nemo a filio ac ne Agerinus quidem: aliam fore laetae rei faciem; nunc solitudinem ac repentinos strepitus et extremi mali indicia. abeunte dehinc ancilla, "tu quoque me deseris?" prolocuta respicit Anicetum,
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Anicetus surrounded the house with soldiers, broke down the door and arrested those of the slaves who stood in his way, until he came to the door of her bedroom. A few were standing here, the rest frightened away by the noise of those breaking in. A small light was in the bedroom and one slave girl. Agrippina was more and more worried because no one had come from her son, not even Agerinus. If things were going well, everything would be different. Now the silence and sudden noises indicated extreme peril. As the maid left she said, “Are you leaving me as well?. She looked around and saw Anicetus
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, trierarcho Herculeio et Obarito centurione classiario comitatum: ac si ad visendum venisset, refotam nuntiaret, sin facinus patraturus, nihil se de filio credere; non imperatum parricidium. circumsistunt lectum percussores et prior trierarchus fusti caput eius adflixit. iam in mortem centurioni ferrum destringenti protendens uterum "ventrem feri" exclamavit multisque vulneribus confecta est.
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accompanied by the captain of the fleet Herculeius and centurion Obaritus. If he had come to visit, let him report that she was recovered if to carry out a crime, she did not believe her son had a share in it. He would not order his mother’s murder. The murderers stood around her bed and first the captain hit her on the head with a club. As the centurion drew his sword to kill her, she thrust out her stomach and shouted “strike my womb” and was killed with many wounds.
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Haec consensu produntur. aspexeritne matrem exanimem Nero et formam corporis eius laudaverit, sunt qui tradiderint, sunt qui abnuant. cremata est nocte eadem convivali lecto et exequiis vilibus; neque, dum Nero rerum potiebatur, congesta est aut clausa humus. mox domesticorum cura levem tumulum accepit, viam Miseni propter et villam Caesaris dictatoris, quae subiectos sinus editissima prospectat
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This much is granted. Some record, some deny that Nero inspected his mother’s body and praised her figure. She was cremated the same night on a dining couch with meagre rites. Nor, while Nero was in power, was the grave heaped into a mound or enclosed. Later on through the care of her household, she received a modest tomb near the road to Misenum and Julius Caesar’s villa on the heights which looked out over the bay.
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accenso rogo libertus eius cognomento Mnester se ipse ferro transegit, incertum caritate in patronam an metu exitii. hunc sui finem multos ante annos crediderat Agrippina contempseratque. nam consulenti super Nerone responderunt Chaldaei fore ut imperaret matremque occideret; atque illa "occidat" inquit, "dum imperet."
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During the cremation her freedman, called Mnester, killed himself with a sword: it is uncertain whether from affection for his mistress or fear of death. Agrippina had anticipated this end many years before and had rejected it. For when she consulted the Chaldaeans about Nero, they replied that he would rule and kill his mother. She said “Let him kill me so long as he reigns.”
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Sed a Caesare perfecto demum scelere magnitudo eius intellecta est. reliquo noctis modo per silentium defixus, saepius pavore exsurgens et mentis inops lucem opperiebatur tamquam exitium adlaturam. atque eum auctore Burro prima centurionum tribunorumque adulatio ad spem firmavit, prensantium manum gratantiumque, quod discrimen improvisum et matris facinus evasisset. amici dehinc adire templa, et coepto exemplo proxima Campaniae municipia victimis et legationibus laetitiam testari: ipse diversa simulatione maestus et quasi incolumitati suae infensus ac morti parentis inlacrimans.
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But only when the crime had been committed did the Emperor realise its enormity. The rest of the night he spent silent and motionless, often leaping to his feet in terror and witless he waited for the dawn as if it would bring his death. And at Burrus’ suggestion flattery of centurions and tribunes first restored him to hopefulness, grasping his hand and congratulating him because he had escaped an unforeseen danger from his mother’s evil deed. Then his friends approached temples, and following the example the nearest towns of Campania showed their joy with sacrifices and deputations. Nero’s own hypocrisy took the opposite course and he pretended to be sad and as if upset by his own safety and weeping for his mother’s death.
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quia tamen non, ut hominum vultus, ita locorum facies mutantur, obversabaturque maris illius et litorum gravis adspectus (et erant qui crederent sonitum tubae collibus circum editis planctusque tumulo matris audiri), Neapolim concessit litterasque ad senatum misit, quarum summa erat repertum cum ferro percussorem Agerinum, ex intimis Agrippinae libertis, et luisse eam poenam conscientia, quasi scelus paravisset.
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But the face of nature does not change like the face of men, and the sight of that sea and shore obtruded itself upon him with an unpleasant effect (and there were those who believed that the sound of a trumpet could be heard around the high hills and wailing from his mother’s grave). Nero departed to Naples and sent letters to the Senate of which the gist was that Agerinus, a confidential ex slave of Agrippina, had been found with a sword about to murder him and that she, conscious of her guilt in having planned the murder had paid the penalty.
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Adiciebat crimina longius repetita, quod consortium imperii iuraturasque in feminae verba praetorias cohortis idemque dedecus senatus et populi speravisset, ac postquam frustra habita sit, infensa militi patribusque et plebi dissuasisset donativum et congiarium periculaque viris inlustribus struxisset. quanto suo labore perpetratum, ne inrumperet curiam, ne gentibus externis responsa daret! temporum quoque Claudianorum obliqua insectatione cuncta eius dominationis flagitia in matrem transtulit, publica fortuna exstinctam referens.
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He added charges dredged up from distant past, that she had hoped for joint sovereignty and hoped that the Praetorian cohorts would swear an oath of allegiance to a woman and that the Senate and People would willingly undergo the same humiliation and when she had been baffled, hating the soldiers and Senate and People she had dvised against donations and gratuities and she had plotted against the lives of distinguished citizens. With what effort he had stopped her from bursting into the Senate and from giving replies to foreign envoys. With an indirect attack on the Claudian epoch he laid all the crimes of that reign at his mother’s door, representing that her death was due to the good luck which attended the Roman state.
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namque et naufragium narrabat: quod fortuitum fuisse, quis adeo hebes inveniretur ut crederet? aut a muliere naufraga missum cum telo unum, qui cohortis et classis imperatoris perfringeret? ergo non iam Nero, cuius immanitas omnium questus anteibat, sed Seneca adverso rumore erat, quod oratione tali confessionem scripsisset.
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For he even related her shipwreck as an example of this: but who could have been found stupid enough to believe that this was due to luck or that one man with a sword had been sent from a shipwrecked woman to break through the cohorts and fleets of the Emperor. Therefore not Nero whose monstrous cruelty surpassed all reproach but Seneca became unpopular because he had written this self incriminating speech.
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Miro tamen certamine procerum decernuntur supplicationes apud omnia pulvinaria, utque Quinquatrus, quibus apertae insidiae essent, ludis annuis celebrarentur; aureum Minervae simulacrum in curia et iuxta principis imago statuerentur; dies natalis Agrippinae inter nefastos esset. Thrasea Paetus silentio vel brevi adsensu priores adulationes transmittere solitus exiit tum senatu, ac sibi causam periculi fecit, ceteris libertatis initium non praebuit.
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However there was a remarkable competition among the nobles. Thanksgivings were voted at every shrine and the feast of Minerva, when the plot had been discovered, was to be celebrated with annual games. A gold statue of Minerva was to be set up in the Senate House and near her a statue of the Emperor. Agrippina’s birthday was to be among the ill-omened days. Thrasea Paetus was accustomed to pass over earlier flatteries in silence or curt assent, now he walked out of the Senate and endangered himself but he did not give to the rest an impulse to assert their freedom. Frequent prodigies occurred also, all useless.
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prodigia quoque crebra et inrita intercessere: anguem enixa mulier, et alia in concubitu mariti fulmine exanimata; iam sol repente obscuratus et tactae de caelo quattuordecim urbis regiones. quae adeo sine cura deum eveniebant, ut multos post annos Nero imperium et scelera continuaverit. ceterum quo gravaret invidiam matris eaque demota auctam lenitatem suam testificaretur, feminas inlustres Iuniam et Calpurniam, praetura functos Valerium Capitonem et Licinium Gabolum sedibus patriis reddidit, ab Agrippina olim pulsos
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A woman gave birth to a snake and another was killed in her husband’s embrace by a thunderbolt. The sun was suddenly eclipsed and all 14 districts were struck by lightning. But the hand of Providence was so far from appearing in these things that Nero actually continued to reign for many years after this. However that maybe, to aggravate dislike for his mother and to show his increased clemency now that she was gone, he brought back 2 noble woman Junia and Calpurnia and restored to their ancestral estates 2 ex-praetors V Capito and Licinius Gabdus once exiled by Agrippina.
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etiam Lolliae Paulinae cineres reportari sepulcrumque extrui permisit; quosque ipse nuper relegaverat Iturium et Calvisium poena exolvit. nam Silana fato functa erat, longinquo ab exilio Tarentum regressa labante iam Agrippina, cuius inimicitiis conciderat, vel mitigata.
[13] Cunctari tamen in oppidis Campaniae, quonam |
He even allowed the ashes of Lollia Paulina to be brought back and a tomb to be built. Those whom he recently had exiled himself, Iturius and Calvisius he pardoned. For Silana had already died, after having returned to Tarentum from her long exile under Agrippina, by whose malevolence she had been struck down, who became less vindictive or less powerful.
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Cunctari tamen in oppidis Campaniae, quonam modo urbem ingrederetur, an obsequium senatus, an studia plebis reperiret anxius: contra deterrimus quisque, quorum non alia regia fecundior extitit, invisum Agrippinae nomen et morte eius accensum populi favorem disserunt: iret intrepidus et venerationem sui coram experiretur;
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Even so he lingered on in the cities of Campania, worried about how he could enter Rome, whether he would find the obedience of the Senate or support of the people. By contrast All the worst characters and no other court was more fertile in them, declared that Agrippina’s name was hated and that by her death the support of the people had increased. Let him go fearlessly and in person experience the respect he was held in.
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simul praegredi exposcunt. et promptiora quam promiserant inveniunt, obvias tribus, festo cultu senatum, coniugum ac liberorum agmina per sexum et aetatem disposita, extructos, qua incederet, spectaculorum gradus, quo modo triumphi visuntur. hinc superbus ac publici servitii victor Capitolium adiit, grates exolvit, seque in omnes libidines effudit, quas male coercitas qualiscumque matris reverentia tardaverat.
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At the same time they asked to go before him. They found even greater enthusiasm than they promised, the tribes went to meet him, the senate was in festive dress, wives and children drawn up in lines by sex and age. They found tiers of seats built along the route by which he would proceed, like the arrangements for viewing triumphal processions. Because of this proud and securing public subservience, he approached the Capitol and paid his thanks and gave himself up to all kinds of wickedness which some reverence for his mother had delayed, though with difficulty restrained.
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Vetus illi cupido erat curriculo quadrigarum insistere, nec minus foedum studium cithara ludicrum in modum canere. concertare equis regium et antiquis ducibus factitatum memorabat, idque vatum laudibus celebre et deorum honori datum. enimvero cantus Apollini sacros, talique ornatu adstare non modo Graecis in urbibus, sed Romana apud templa numen praecipuum et praescium. nec iam sisti poterat, cum Senecae ac Burro visum, ne utraque pervinceret, alterum concedere.
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Nero had long desired to compete in 4 horse chariot races, equally disgraceful was his ambition to sing to a lyre as a theatrical performer. He kept recalling that chariot racing was a royal pursuit and regularly engaged in by princes of old, celebrated by the praise of poets and associated with divine worship. Yes and song moreover was sacred to Apollo. There stood not only in Greek cities but also in Roman temples statues of that glorious and foreseeing god in such nor now could he be stopped but Burrus and Seneca decided to allow one so that he might not win his way in both.
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clausumque valle Vaticana spatium, in quo equos regeret, haud promisco spectaculo: mox ultro vocari populus Romanus laudibusque extollere, ut est vulgus cupiens voluptatum et, si eodem princeps trahat, laetum. ceterum evulgatus pudor non satietatem, ut rebantur, sed incitamentum attulit. ratusque dedecus molliri, si pluris foedasset, nobilium familiarum posteros egestate venalis in scaenam deduxit;
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In the Vatican valley an enclosure was built where he could drive horses, remote from the public sight. Soon Roman people actually began to be invited and to extol him with praises, as one might expect from a mob greedy of pleasure and happy if the Emperor influences it in the same direction. But this common publicity did not satiate Nero, as they thought, but provoked him. Thinking that the disgrace would be lessened if he had corrupted more, he brought onto stage descendants of noble families, corruptible because of their poverty.
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quos fato perfunctos ne nominatim tradam, maioribus
eorum tribuendum puto. nam et eius flagitium est, qui pecuniam ob delicta potius dedit, quam ne delinquerent. notos quoque equites Romanos operas arenae promittere subegit donis ingentibus, nisi quod merces ab eo, qui iubere potest vim necessitatis adfert. |
They are dead, and i think out of respect for their ancestors, i ought to refrain from recording their names. For also the blame belongs to the man who gave them money to offend, rather than not to do so. Well known Roman Equites he induced to offer their services in the arena with huge gifts except that a reward from one who can command is tantamount to compulsion.
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Ne tamen adhuc publico theatro dehonestaretur, instituit ludos Iuvenalium vocabulo, in quos passim nomina data. non nobilitas cuiquam, non aetas aut acti honores impedimento, quo minus Graeci Latinive histrionis artem exercerent usque ad gestus modosque haud virilis. quin et feminae inlustres deformia meditari; extructaque apud nemus, quod navali stagno circumposuit Augustus, conventicula et cauponae et posita veno inritamenta luxui. dabantur stipes, quas boni necessitate, intemperantes gloria consumerent. inde gliscere flagitia et infamia, nec ulla moribus olim corruptis plus libidinum circumdedit quam illa conluvies.
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However Nero was not yet ready to debase himself in the public theatre, he instituted Youth Games, in which names from all areas of life enlisted. Nobility, age, office did not deter men from the practice of Greek or Latin actor’s art, not stopping short of effeminate gestures and manners. Indeed noble ladies studied degraded parts. Constructed among the groves, which Augustus had planted around his naval llagoon, were assembly rooms and taverns and inducements to debauchery displayed for sale. Doles were given to people to spend, decent folk under compulsion, the licentious for vanity. Thence immorality and degradation flourished nor did any gathering impart more debauchery into morals long ago corrupt than that scum.
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vix artibus honestis pudor retinetur, nedum inter certamina vitiorum pudicitia aut modestia aut quicquam probi moris reservaretur. postremus ipse scaenam incedit, multa cura temptans citharam et praemeditans adsistentibus phonascis. accesserat cohors militum, centuriones tribunique et maerens Burrus ac laudans. tuncque primum conscripti sunt equites Romani cognomento Augustianorum, aetate ac robore conspicui, et pars ingenio procaces, alii in spem potentiae. ii dies ac noctes plausibus personare, formam principis vocemque deum vocabulis appellantes; quasi per virtutem clari honoratique agere.
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Even in moral society decency is hard to uphold, still less in this competition of vice could chastity or decency or any uprightness of character be maintained. Finally the Emperor himself made his debut, tuning his lyre with great care and trying out his voice to those singing masters present. A cohort of soldiers attended, centurions, tribunes and Burrus grieving and applauding. Then were first enrolled the Roman Knights, known by the name of Augustiani, powerful young men, some impudent by nature, others by ambition. They kept the applause going day and night, calling on Nero’s beauty and voice with divine epithets. They lived as distinguished and honoured men as if they owed it to their virtue.
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Ne tamen ludicrae tantum imperatoris artes notescerent, carminum quoque studium adfectavit, contractis quibus aliqua pangendi facultas necdum insignis erat. hi cenati considere simul, et adlatos vel ibidem repertos versus conectere atque ipsius verba quoquo modo prolata supplere. quod species ipsa carminum docet, non impetu et instinctu nec ore uno fluens. etiam sapientiae doctoribus tempus impertiebat post epulas, utque contraria adseverantium discordia frueretur. nec deerant qui ore vultuque tristi inter oblectamenta regia spectari cuperent.
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LestHowever the Emperor did obtain his publicity by his theatrical talents only. He also pretended an enthusiasm to poetry, gathering together those who had some skill in versification but had not yet made a name thereby. They would sit after dinner stringing together verses they had brought with them or invented on the spot and supplementing Nero’s compositions just as they fell from his mouth. The style of his poems show this, for they do not flow with force or inspiration nor with uniformity of style. After dinner he used to share time with professors of philosophy so that he could enjoy their oposing disagreements of those with opposing views. There was not a lack of those who were willing to be seen with sad faces and expressions for the entertainment of the court.
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