CHAP. 46.—THE MISFORTUNES OF AUGUSTUS.
In the life of the now deified emperor Augustus even, whom
the whole world would certainly agree to place in this class,[1]
if we carefully examine it in all its features, we shall find
remarkable vicissitudes of human fate. There was his rejection from the post of master of the horse, by his uncle,[2] and
the preference which was given to Lepidus, and that, too, in
opposition to his own requests; the hatred produced by the
proscription; his alliance in the Triumvirate[3] with some among
the very worst of the citizens, and that, too, with an unequal
share of influence, he himself being entirely borne down by
the power of Antony; his illness[4] at the battle of Philippi;
his flight, and his having to remain three days concealed in a
marsh,[5] though suffering from sickness, and, according to the
account of Agrippa and Mecænas, labouring under a dropsy;
his shipwreck[6] on the coast of Sicily, where he was again
under the necessity of concealing himself in a cave; his desperation, which caused him even to beg Proculeius[7] to put
him to death, when he was hard-pressed by the enemy in a
naval engagement;[8] his alarm about the rising at Perusia;[9]
his anxiety at the battle of Actium;[10] the extreme danger he
was in from the falling of a tower during the Pannonian war[11]
seditions so numerous among his soldiers; so many attacks by
dangerous diseases;[12] the suspicions which he entertained
respecting the intentions of Marcellus;[13] the disgraceful banishment, as it were, of Agrippa;[14] the many plots against his
life;[15] the deaths of his own children,[16] of which he was
accused, and his heavy sorrows, caused not merely by their
loss;[17] the adultery[18] of his daughter, and the discovery of her
parricidal designs; the insulting retreat of his son-in-law,
Nero;[19] another adultery, that of his grand-daughter;[20] to
which there were added numerous other evils, such as the
want of money to pay his soldiers; the revolt of Illyria;[21]
the necessity of levying the slaves; the sad deficiency of
young men;[22] the pestilence that raged in the City;[23] the
famine in Italy; the design which he had formed of putting
an end to his life, and the fast of four days, which brought
him within a hair's breadth of death. And then, added to
all this, the slaughter of Varus;[24] the base slanders[25] whispered against his authority; the rejection of Posthumous
Agrippa, after his adoption,[26] and the regret to which Augustus was a prey after his banishment;[27] the suspicions too
respecting Fabius, to the effect that he had betrayed his secrets; and then, last of all, the machinations of his wife and
of Tiberius, the thoughts of which occupied his last moments.
In fine, this same god,[28] who was raised to heaven, I am at a
loss to say whether deservedly or not, died, leaving the son of
his own enemy his heir.[29]
1. In the class of those who were considered peculiarly fortunate; "hâc
censurâ," literally, "in this assessment," in allusion to the classification of
the citizens of Rome, according to the estimate of their property.—B.
2. In B.C. 45, when, being but about eighteen years of age, he had the
presumption to ask his uncle for the office of "magister equitum;" upon
which Julius Cæsar bestowed it on M. Lepidus, probably being of opinion
that his nephew was not yet fit for the office.
3. In his triumvirate with Antony and Lepidus, he showed himself no
less cruel than his colleague, Antony, notwithstanding the gloss which
Pliny attempts to throw over his actions. Two thousand equites and
three hundred senators are said to have been put to death during this
proscription.
4. Augustus was detained at Dyrrhachium for some time before the battle
of Philippi by illness, and had not recovered when the battle took place.
5. In the first engagement at Philippi, Brutus defeated the army of Augustus, while Cassius was defeated by Antony. Appian speaks also of his
concealment in a marsh to the south of Philippi.
6. In his war against Sextus Pompeius, his fleet was twice shattered by
shipwreck off the coast of Sicily, and he suffered several defeats by sea.
7. C. Proculeius, a member of the equestrian order, and a familiar friend
of Augustus. It is of him that Horace speaks in the lines (II. Ode 2),
"Vivet extento Proculeius ævo
Notus in fratres animi paterni."
He was one of the Romans to whom Augustus thought of giving his
daughter Julia in marriage. The mode of his death is mentioned in B.
xxxvi. c. 59.
8. This circumstance is stated more fully by Suetonius in his Life of
Augustus; he tells, that "in crossing from Sicily to Italy to rejoin his forces,
Augustus was unexpectedly attacked by Demochares and Apollophanes,
two of Pompey's captains, and only escaped in a small vessel with the
greatest difficulty."
9. L. Antonius having raised an army at Præneste, took possession of
the town of Perusia, which was blockaded by Augustus, and Antonius was
at last obliged to surrender. During this siege Augustus encountered
several dangers, and was once nearly killed while sacrificing beneath the
walls, by a band of gladiators, who came upon him unawares.
10. The victory was long doubtful, and it was only the sudden panic of
Cleopatra, that finally ensured it to Augustus.
11. The exact nature of the accident here alluded to, is discussed by Hardouin, Lemaire, vol. iii. p. 169; he concludes, from the account of Suetonius and of Dion Cassius, that it was owing to the fall of a gallery, which
extended between two towers.—B.
12. These are fully described by Suetonius, in his Life of Augustus, c. 80
and 81.
13. M. Claudius Marcellus, the son of Octavia, sister of Augustus. He
was adopted by Augustus. Tacitus seems to hint that he was greatly beloved by the Roman people, and it is not improbable that Augustus may
have become suspicious or jealous of him; his decease took place in his
twentieth year.
14. To Mitylene. This refers to the jealousy between Marcellus and his
brother-in-law, M. Vipsanius Agrippa. Pliny probably uses the term
"pudenda," implying that Augustus showed neither firmness nor gratitude
on this occasion; for anxious, at any cost, to prevent these differences, he
sent Agrippa, against his will, as proconsul to Syria; immediately on which
Agrippa left Rome, but stopped at Mitylene, and left the government of
Syria to his legatus. Upon the death of Marcellus, Agrippa returned to
Rome.
15. Dion Cassius mentions three conspiracies, the first by Fabius Cæpio
and Muræna, a second, of which he does not name the authors, and a
third by Cornelius Cinna.
16. Said in allusion to the suspicious deaths of his grandchildren Lucius
and Caius, the children of his daughter Julia by Agrippa. They were
probably removed by the criminal acts of Livia; but some historians have
hinted that Augustus was privy to their destruction, the object of which
was to remove all obstacles that lay in the way of Tiberius to the throne.
17. Implying that he was conscience-stricken at his share in their death,
as well as struck with sorrow and remorse.
18. She was his only child; Scribonia was her mother. She was first
married to her cousin Marcellus; on his death to L. Vipsanius Agrippa,
and after his decease to Tiberius Nero, the son of Livia. Her profligacy
was universally known, and Augustus did not scruple to enlarge upon it
before the senate; but Pliny is the only writer who states that she contemplated an attempt on the life of his father; though Suetonius says
that she became, at a late period of her reign, an object of interest to those
who were disaffected. Julia was first banished to Pandataria, off the coast
of Campania, and then to Rhegium, which she was never allowed to leave.
Her death took place A.D. 14.
19. Tiberius Nero, afterwards emperor. Pliny here alludes to his retirement to Rhodes, where he remained seven years. Tacitus represents
that his chief reason for leaving Rome was to escape the society of his
wife Julia, who treated him with the utmost contempt, and whose licentious life was not unknown to him. During this retreat he devoted himself to the study of astrology. He left Rome without the consent of Augustus, who was equally unwilling to allow of his return.
20. Julia, one of the daughters of Julia and Agrippa, and the wife of L.
Æmilius Paulus. She fully inherited the vices of her mother. For an
adulterous intercourse with D. Silanus she was banished, by Augustus to
Tremerus, off the coast of Apulia, where she survived twenty years, dependent on the bounty of the empress Livia. A child born after her dis-
grace, was, by order of Augustus, exposed as spurious. She is supposed
by some to be the Corinna of Ovid's amatory poems.
21. He probably alludes to the rising of some tribes in the provinces
on the north-eastern coast of the Adriatic, in B.C. 35, who refused to
pay their tribute. They were finally vanquished by Statilius Taurus,
B.C. 33.
22. After the defeat of his general Varus, by Arminius, in Germany.
23. This pestilence is also mentioned by Dion Cassius; it took place
A.U.C. 732.—B.
24. We have an account of the disastrous expedition of Varus in Florus,
B. iv. c. 12.—B.
25. Suetonius speaks of calumnious pamphlets (libelli), that were circulated about, even in the senate-house, to his extreme disparagement.
26. A posthumous son of M. Vipsanius Agrippa by Julia, the daughter
of Augustus, by whom he was adopted together with Tiberius. He was
afterwards banished to Planaria, off the coast of Corsica, on account of
his savage and intractable character, though guilty of no crime. Augustus is said to have privately visited him there, which, coming to the ears
of Livia, increased her enmity against this youth, and he was murdered by
her orders or those of Tiberius.
27. Tacitus, Ann. B. i. c. 3, says that he was banished by the artifices of
Nero.—B.
28. After his death his solemn apotheosis took place in the Campus Martius. In some of the coins which were struck even during his life-time, he
was called "Divus," or "the god."
29. For Tiberius Nero, the father of Tiberius Cæsar, took the side of
M. Antonius in the Civil War.—B.