Chapter IV: Post-Augustan Writers (4)

The _Annals_ deal with the time from the death of Augustus to that of Nero, _i.e._ from 14 to 68 A.D. There are extant Books i.-iv. and a part of v. and vi., and Books xi.-xvi., except the beginning of xi. and the end of xvi. We have thus lost the whole of the reign of Caligula and the reign of Claudius from 41-47 (part), and Nero's reign from the close of 66 to 68. The work was published between A.D. 115 and 117. This is settled by _Ann._ ii. 61, 'Exin ventum Elephantinen ac Syenen, claustra olim Romani imperii, quod nunc rubrum ad mare patescit.'

The conquest here spoken of was made by Trajan A.D. 115, and his successor Hadrian, soon after coming to the throne (August, A.D. 117), gave up the regions beyond the Euphrates and Tigris (Spartianus, _Hadri._ 5).[113]

_Tacitus' views on politics, philosophy, and religion._--

(1) The ideal mixed form of government Tacitus considers to be impracticable.

_Ann._ iv. 33, 'Cunctas nationes et urbes populus aut primores aut singuli regunt: delecta ex eis et consociata rei publicae forma laudari facilius quam evenire, vel si evenit, haud diuturna esse potest.'

Tacitus is essentially a conservative. Thus he always uses _antiquus_ and _priscus_ in a good sense (_H._ ii. 5; 64; _Ann._ vi. 32).

In _Ann._ iii. 60 he speaks with pride of the republic: 'Magna eius diei species fuit, quo senatus maiorum beneficia, sociorum pacta, regum etiam, qui ante vim Romanam valuerant, decreta ipsorumque numinum religiones introspexit, libero, ut quondam, quid firmaret mutaretve.'

See also the speech of C. Cassius in _Ann._ xiv. 43. As an aristocrat Tacitus is sometimes unjust to men of low birth, as in _Ann._ iv. 3, where he sneers at Seianus as 'municipali adultero,' and attaches great value to high birth (cf. vi. 27). He is prejudiced against slaves and barbarians.

Tacitus theoretically prefers a republic (cf. _Ann._ vi. 42, 'Populi imperium iuxta libertatem, paucorum dominatio regiae libidini propior est'), but admits the impossibility of a restitution of the free state (_H._ ii. 37-8) and the necessity of empire. _H._ i. 1 (of Augustus), 'omnem potentiam ad unum conferri pacis interfuit.'

Cf. also Galba's speech in _H._ i. 16. The problem is to reconcile the empire with freedom (see _Agr._ 3 quoted p. 341). One's duty is to steer one's course _inter abruptam contumaciam et deforme obsequium_ (_Ann._ iv. 20). Tacitus gives only modified approval to patriots like Paetus Thrasea (_Ann._ xiv. 12; 49) and Helvidius Priscus (_H._ iv. 6), and on the other hand gives praise for moderation to men like Agricola (_Agr._ 42), M. Lepidus (_Ann._ iv. 20), L. Piso (_Ann._ vi. 10).

_Ann._ xiv. 12, 'Thrasea Paetus ... sibi causam periculi fecit, ceteris libertatis initium non praebuit.'

_Agr._ 42, 'Non contumacia neque inani iactatione libertatis famam fatumque provocabat.'

Tacitus blames those who despair of their own times. _Ann._ ii. 88, 'dum vetera extollimus recentium incuriosi.' He thinks that the emperors, from their irresponsible position, were often gradually led into wickedness, their downward career being helped by flatterers and satellites, and draws a moral lesson from the servile Senate and the _delatores_, who, like the emperors themselves, received punishment for their conduct (_Ann._ i. 74; iii. 65 _sqq._).

_Ann._ vi. 48, 'Cum Tiberius post tantam rerum experientiam vi dominationis convulsus et mutatus sit.'

_Ann._ iv. 33, 'Pauci prudentia honesta ab deterioribus utilia ab noxiis discernunt, plures aliorum eventis docentur.'

_Ann._ vi. 6, 'Adeo facinora atque flagitia sua ipsi quoque in supplicium verterant ... Quippe Tiberium non fortuna, non solitudines protegebant, quin tormenta pectoris suasque ipse poenas fateretur.'

(2) Tacitus attaches himself to no particular school of philosophy, and deprecates too close an attention to the subject.

_Agr._ 4, 'Memoria teneo solitum ipsum [Agricolam] narrare se prima in iuventa studium philosophiae acrius, ultra quam concessum Romano ac senatori, hausisse, ni prudentia matris incensum ac flagrantem animum coercuisset.'

He cannot make up his mind as to freewill and predestination, but in spite of this doubt expressly states his desire to find out the causes of events.

_Ann._ vi. 22, 'Sed mihi haec ac talia audienti in incerto iudicium est, fatone res mortalium et necessitate immutabili an forte volvantur' (and the rest of the chapter, where the Stoic and Epicurean views are mentioned). On the other hand, _H._ i. 4, 'Ut non modo casus eventusque rerum, qui plerumque fortuiti sunt, sed ratio etiam causaeque noscantur.'

He expresses his belief in divine agency, particularly in the _Annals_, but sometimes adopts the pessimistic view that the gods take little interest in mankind.

_Ann._ xiv. 5, 'Noctem sideribus inlustrem et placido mari quietam, quasi convincendum ad scelus, di praebuere.'

_H._ v. 5, 'Pessimus quisque spretis religionibus patriis.'

_H._ i. 3, 'Nec enim umquam atrocioribus populi Romani cladibus magisve iustis indiciis adprobatum est non esse curae deis securitatem nostram, esse ultionem.'

_Ann._ xvi. 33, 'Aequitate deum erga bona malaque documenta.'

He believes in the science of divination (see especially _Ann._ iv. 58), but speaks contemptuously of the impostors found among soothsayers and astrologers.

_H._ i. 22, 'Mathematicis ... genus hominum potentibus infidum, sperantibus fallax, quod in civitate nostra et vetabitur semper et retinebitur.'

Prodigies are recognized, but mentioned only in the _Histories_ and the last books of the _Annals_ (from A.D. 51 onwards). See especially _H._ ii. 50.

_Tacitus as a historian._--As regards his sources, Tacitus makes more use of his predecessors than he does of original documents. Among the latter he mentions _acta diurna_ (_Ann._ iii. 3) and _commentarii_ or _acta senatus_ (_Ann._ xv. 74); but these he did not make much use of, as they were apt to be falsified. He also refers to _publica acta_, probably inscriptions (_Ann._ xii. 24); Tiberius' speeches (_Ann._ i. 81); memoirs of Agrippina, Nero's mother (_Ann._ iv. 53); and of Domitius Corbulo on his campaigns in Parthia (_Ann._ xv. 16). He also refers by name to several historians, especially in dealing with the times after Nero, as C. Plinius (_Ann._ i. 69, quoted p. 284), Vipstanus Messalla (_H._ iii. 25), Fabius Rusticus,[114] and Cluvius Rufus[115] (_Ann._ xiii. 20).

Other writers are sparingly mentioned, as Sisenna (_H._ iii. 51), Caesar (_Germ._ 28). It is certain that Tacitus made use of other historians, but he generally refers to his sources without mentioning names (as _Ann._ i. 29, 'tradunt plerique'). He sometimes weighs the value of two conflicting accounts, or mentions a story only to reject it.

_Ann._ iv. 11, 'Haec vulgo iactata, super id quod nullo auctore certo firmantur, prompte refutaveris.'

Tacitus' credibility has been attacked, particularly as regards his representation of the characters of Tiberius and Nero, but not very successfully. He has, however, made mistakes, the most striking of which are his view of the Christians (_Ann._ xv. 44) and his account of the Jews (_H._ v. 2 _sqq._). The explanation is that he held the view current in the upper classes, and did not take the trouble to investigate these matters, as the Jews and Christians belonged mostly to the lower orders.

Tacitus is not free from superstition (_Ann._ xi. 21; _H._ ii. 50, etc.), but one must not suppose he believes the fables he relates (as _Ann._ vi. 28; _H._ iv. 83) simply because he expresses no opinion of them.

Tacitus is free from party spirit (_Ann._ i. 1, 'sine ira et studio, quorum causas procul habeo'; cf. _H._ i. 1) and just in his judgment, except in a few passages in the _Histories_, where he is rather unfair (i. 42, ii. 95). He is milder in the _Annals_ through advancing years, and from the better times he lived in. Generally he takes a lenient view of things, except (1) in offences against the state (cf. the character of Tiberius); (2) when the religious element comes in; cf. what he says of Claudius' marriage with his brother's daughter Agrippina: _Ann._ xiv. 2, 'Agrippina ... exercita ad omne flagitium patrui nuptiis.'

He shows a somewhat lax morality occasionally, as in _Ann._ xiii. 17 _sqq._, when speaking of Nero's murder of his brother Britannicus. In _Ann._ xi. 19 he approves of compassing a barbarian's death by treachery.

For Tacitus' conception of history as dealing with great events cf. _Ann._ xiii. 31, 'pauca memoria digna evenere, nisi cui libeat laudandis fundamentis et trabibus, quis molem amphitheatri apud campum Martis Caesar extruxerat, volumina implere, cum ex dignitate populi Romani repertum sit res inlustres annalibus, talia diurnis urbis actis mandare.'

His complaints as to his subject-matter in _Ann._ iv. 32, 'Nobis in arto et inglorius labor,' must not be taken too seriously.

SUETONIUS.

(1) LIFE.

C. Suetonius Tranquillus was the son of Suetonius Laetus, a tribune of the thirteenth legion, who took part in the battle of Bedriacum, A.D. 69 (Sueton. _Otho_, 10). His birth seems to have taken place soon after that year,[116] for he was 'adulescens' twenty years after Nero's death; _Nero_ 57, 'cum post viginti annos, adulescente me, exstitisset condicionis incertae qui se Neronem esse iactaret.'

Suetonius was a friend of the younger Pliny, to whom he was indebted for a military tribuneship, which he afterwards passed on to a relative (Plin. _Ep._ iii. 8), and for assistance in the purchase of a small estate (ibid. i. 24). Pliny encouraged him to publish some of his writings (v. 10), and obtained for him from Trajan the _ius trium liberorum_ (_ad Trai._ 94).

Under Hadrian he was _magister epistularum_, but was dismissed from office in A.D. 121. Spartianus, _Hadr._ 11, 3, 'Septicio Claro praefecto praetorio et Suetonio Tranquillo epistularum magistro multisque aliis, quod apud Sabinam uxorem in usu eius familiarius se tunc egerant quam reverentia domus aulicae postulabat, successores dedit.' The remainder of his life appears to have been devoted to literature.

(2) WORKS.

1. _De Vita Caesarum_, in eight Books (Books i.-vi. Iulius-Nero; vii. Galba, Otho, and Vitellius; viii. Vespasian, Titus, and Domitian). It was published A.D. 119-21, as it was dedicated (according to Joannes Lydus) to C. Septicius Clarus, praetorian prefect, who held office during those years. The preface and the beginning of the life of Iulius are wanting. Suetonius is a conscientious and accurate writer (cf. his discussion of Caligula's birthplace, _Calig._ 8), and he makes use of good sources, e.g. the _Monumentum Ancyranum_, _Acta populi_, _Acta senatus_, autograph documents of the emperors (_Aug._ 87, _Nero_ 52); but there is in his work an almost entire absence of dates, and the personal element is, from the point of view of history, unduly prominent.

2. _De Viris Illustribus_, including poets, orators (beginning with Cicero), historians (from Sallust onwards), philosophers, grammarians, and rhetoricians. The greater part of the section _De grammaticis et rhetoribus_ is extant, as well as lives of Terence, Horace, and Lucan from the section _de poetis_, and of Pliny the elder from the section _de historicis_. Extracts from the rest of the work are preserved by Jerome. In each section there was (1) a list of the authors discussed, (2) a general survey of their branch of literature, (3) brief notices of the authors in chronological order. The publication took place, according to Roth, 106-113 A.D.

3. Minor works, now lost (mentioned by Suidas), on Greek games, Roman games, the Roman year, on critical marks, on Cicero's _Republic_, on dress, on imprecations (+peri dysphêmôn lexeôn êtoi blasphêmiôn kai pothen hekastê+), on Roman laws and customs. Some of these were probably only sections of the _Prata_, a miscellany in ten Books, which also treated of natural science and philology. The books on Greek games and on imprecations were almost certainly composed in Greek.

Footnotes to Chapter IV

[72] The praenomen 'Gaius' is rendered highly probable by the reading of the _editio princeps_ and by an inscription found in Africa (_C.I.L._ viii. 10311).

[73] _Les Poètes Latins de la Décadence_, vol. i., p. 8.

[74] Antwerp edition, p. 89.

[75] Tacitus does not say openly that Seneca was privy to the murder. On the whole he is favourable to Seneca, either because he followed the authority of Fabius Rusticus, a friend of Seneca, or because Seneca perished afterwards through Nero's agency, or because he thought Seneca deserved his consideration.

[76] Seneca's influence on the Imperial policy, especially in the liberal view it took regarding religion, is well brought out by Prof. W. M. Ramsay, in his book, _St. Paul the Traveller and the Roman Citizen_, pp. 354 _sqq._

[77] See the very large list of parallels collected by Heitland, _Introduction_ to Haskins' _Lucan_, § 51.

[78] See under Varro, p. 96.

[79] Ed. of _Cena Trimalchionis_, p. 7.

[80] See O. Hirschfeld's note on this passage in _Römische Verwaltungsgeschichte_, p. 261.

[81] Messalla was a favourite of Gaius, Narcissus of Claudius.

[82] Pomponius was the author of _Aeneas_ and other tragedies. Pliny calls him 'consularis poeta,' 'vates civisque clarissimus' (_N.H._ vii. 80, xiii. 83). Cf. Tac. _Ann._ xii. 28.

[83] Given with other examples by W. C. Summers, _Study of the Argonautica_ (Camb. 1894), p. 27.

[84] Summers, _ibid._ p. 56.

[85] Cf. Tac. _Hist._ iii. 65.

[86] Mart. vii. 63.

[87] Mart. xi. 48; 49.

[88] Mart. viii. 66.

[89] Mart. ix. 68.

[90] The references are to L. Friedländer's edition (Leipzig, 1886).

[91] Ed. of Book x., Introd. p. 9 (Oxford, 1891).

[92] A passage probably inserted by the pseudo-Frontinus from memoirs of the genuine Frontinus to give an air of authenticity to his work.

[93] J. Dürr, _Das Leben Juvenals_ (Ulm, 1888). L. Friedländer (ed. of Juvenal: Leipzig, 1895) attaches little importance to this and the other _vitae_, but his arguments do not appear to us to be convincing.

[94] E. G. Hardy (ed. of Juvenal: London, 1891, introd. p. 8) thinks that this is supported by Juvenal's gentile name Iunius. As a representative of the middle classes he (thinks Hardy) could not have been related by blood to either of the two _gentes_ of that name. Hardy also states that Decimus is a common _praenomen_ of the plebeian _gens Iunia_, and suggests that Juvenal may have got his _praenomen_ from them. There is no reason, however, to think that every Iunius must be related or associated in some way with one of these two _gentes_.

[95] The statement of the _vitae_, 'ad mediam fere aetatem declamavit,' may imply no more than that he continued his studies in private; but it must be observed that the usual meaning of _declamare_ is 'to attend college classes'; and the statement, in whatever way it is taken, must be looked upon as improbable.

[96] If the number I. is right, and this appears most likely. II. is the only other possible reading, and it must be noted that the second Dalmatian cohort was in Britain at the beginning of the second century, and probably had been there for a considerable time. _Trib._ in the inscription is a conjecture suggested by the _vitae_: _praef._, which is epigraphically possible, is preferred by some authorities.

[97] E. G. Hardy thinks that A.D. 87 was one of the years when _duumviri quinquennales_ (appointed every five years) were elected in Aquinum, and hypothetically assigns Juvenal's holding of the post to that year.

[98] _C.I.L._ vii. 1195.

[99] Cf. E. G. Hardy, ed. of Juvenal.

[100] Cf. E. G. Hardy, _ibid._

[101] The reference in 4, 126, 'De temone Britanno excidet Arviragus,' proves nothing. It is the sort of reference that would be made by an Italian ignorant of Britain, and is, in fact, put into the mouth of one.

[102] The view that _Sat._ i. 33 _sqq._ refers to M. Aquilius Regulus, who died probably A.D. 105 (Pliny, _Ep._ i. 5, 14-15), is rejected by Friedländer _ad loc._

[103] H. Nettleship (_Journal of Philology_, xvi., p. 45) points out that C. Vipstanus Apronianus and C. Fonteius Capito were consuls A.D. 59, and suggests that this may be the year meant. This would give A.D. 119 as the date of composition.

[104] The scholiast connects with 4, 37-8.

[105] This story is rejected both by Hardy and by Friedländer.

[106] Juvenal had a leaning to Stoicism: cf. _Sat._ 10 _ad fin._, and his references to fate, _e.g._ 7, 200; 10, 365; 12, 63. He believes in the gods (13, 247-9), but disbelieves the doctrines of the popular religion (2, 149 _sqq._).

[107] The inscription records the appointment of Cilo's sons and a woman Lutulla as trustees of a fund, the interest of which was to be disbursed to the people of Comum.

[108] _Hermes_, iii. 31 _sqq._

[109] The inscription in Caria, formerly supposed to give P. as praenomen, is now shown to have been misread.

[110] The inhabitants of Terni (Interamna) erected a statue to Tacitus as to a fellow-townsman in A.D. 1514.

[111] _Bull. de Corr. Hell._, 1890, p. 621, quoted by Prof. W. M. Ramsay, _The Church in the Roman Empire_, p. 228.

[112] One of the speakers in the Dialogue, Curiatius Maternus, was the author of tragedies _Medea_ and _Thyestes_, and of praetextae _Domitius_ and _Cato_ (_Dial._ 2-3).

[113] Various attempts have been made, especially in a work published in London, 1878, to prove, of course unsuccessfully, that the _Annals_ were forged in the fifteenth century by the Italian scholar Poggio Bracciolini.

[114] Fabius Rusticus, a friend of Seneca, quoted also for the shape of Britain (_Agr._ 10).

[115] Cluvius Rufus, governor of Hispania Tarraconensis B.C. 69 (_H._ i. 8). Mommsen considers that he is one of the historians censured in _H._ ii. 101.

[116] Roth gives 71, Teuffel 75 at latest.