Suetonius: DE VITIS CAESARUM

I. Titus cognomine paterno, amor ac deliciae generis humani, (tantum illi ad promerendam omnium voluntatem vel ingenii vel artis vel fortunae superfuit, et, quod difficillimum est, in imperio: quando privatus atque etiam sub patre principe ne odio quidem, nedum vituperatione publica caruit), natus est III. Kal. Ian.

I. Titus, by paternal cognomen, the love and delight of the human race, (so far as concerned him for winning the goodwill of all he surpassed in either talent or art or fortune, and, which is most difficult, in rule: for when private and even while under his father the prince he suffered not even hatred, much less public reproach), was born on the 3rd day before the Kalends of January (December 30).

insigni anno Gaiana nece, prope Septizonium, sordidis aedibus, cubiculo vero perparvo et obscuro (nam manet adhuc et ostenditur);

in the notable year of Gaius’s death, near the Septizonium, in sordid lodgings, and indeed in a very small and obscure room (for it still remains and is shown);

II. educatus in aula cum Britannico simul, ac paribus disciplinis et apud eosdem magistros institutus. Quo quidem tempore aiunt metoposcopum, a Narcisso Claudii liberto adhibitum, ut Britannicum inspiceret, constantissime affirmasse, illud quidem nullo modo, ceterum Titum, qui tunc prope astabat, utique imperaturum. Erant autem adeo familiares, ut de potione, qua Britannicus hausta periit, Titus quoque iuxta cubans gustasse credatur gravique morbo adflictatus diu.

2. educated in the palace together with Britannicus, and instructed in the same disciplines and by the same teachers. At that time they say a metoposcopus, employed by Narcissus, Claudius’s freedman, to examine Britannicus, most steadfastly affirmed that that one (Britannicus) in no wise, but Titus, who then stood near, would certainly be emperor. They were, moreover, so familiar that about the cup by which Britannicus, having drained it, died, Titus also, reclining close by, is believed to have tasted, and to have been long afflicted with a severe disease.

Quorum omnium mox memor, statum ei auream in Palatio posuit, et alteram ex ebore equestrem, quae Circensi pompa hodieque praefertur, dedicavit prosecutusque est.

Soon after the remembrance of all these things, he set up for him a golden statue on the Palatine, and dedicated another equestrian one of ivory, which is borne in the Circus procession and is displayed even today, and he accompanied it.

III. In puero statim corporis animique dotes exsplenduerunt, magisque ac magis deinceps per aetatis gradus; forma egregia et cui non minus auctoritatis inesset quam gratiae, praecipuum robur, quamquam neque procera statura et ventre paulo proiectiore; memoria singularis, docilitas ad omnis fere tum belli tum pacis artes. Armorum et equitandi peritissimus, Latine Graeceque, vel in orando vel in fingendis poematibus, promptus et facilis ad extemporalitatem usque; sed ne musicae quidem rudis, ut qui cantaret et psalleret iucunde scienterque.

3. In the boy immediately the gifts of body and soul shone forth, and more and more thereafter through the stages of his age; a distinguished appearance in whom there was no less of authority than of grace, a notable vigor, though neither of towering stature nor with the belly much more projecting; a singular memory, an aptness for almost all arts alike of war and of peace. Most expert in arms and in horsemanship, in Latin and Greek, whether in oratory or in composing poems, ready and facile even to extemporization; nor was he ignorant even of music, being one who would sing and play the psaltery pleasantly and skilfully.

E pluribus comperi, notis quoque excipere velocissime solitum, cum amanuensibus suis per ludum iocumque certantem, imitarique chirographa quaecumque vidisset, ac saepe profiteri maximum falsarium esse potuisse.

From many I learned, that he was also wont to take up notes very swiftly, when contending with his amanuenses in play or jest, and to imitate whatever chirographa (handwritings) he had seen, and often to boast that he could be the greatest forger.

IV. Tribunus militum et in Germania et in Britannis meruit summa industriae, nec minore modestiae fama, sicut apparet statuarum et imaginum eius multitudine ac titulus per utramque provinciam. Post stipendia foro operam dedit, honestam magis quam assiduam, eodemque tempore Arrecinam Tertullam, patre eq. R. sed praefecto quodam praetorianarum cohortium, duxit uxorem et in defunctae locum Marciam Furnillam splendidi generis; cum qua, sublata filia, divortium fecit.

4. As tribunus of the soldiers he earned the highest praise for industry both in Germania and in Britain, and a reputation no less for modesty, as appears from the multitude of his statues and images and his title throughout both provinces. After his terms of service he devoted himself to the forum, more honorably than constantly, and at the same time he took as wife Arrecina Tertulla, her father a knight of the Roman order and moreover a certain prefect of the praetorian cohorts, and, in place of the deceased, Marcia Furnilla of splendid birth; with the latter, their daughter having died, he divorced her.

Ex questurae deinde honore legioni praepositus, Taricheas et Gamalam urbes Iudaeae validissimas in potestate redegit, equo quadam acie sub feminibus amisso alteroque inscenso, cuius rector circa se dimicans occubuerat.

From the honour of the quaestorship then promoted and set over a legion, he brought Tarichae and Gamala, the very strong towns of Judea, into his power, one horse having been lost beneath the women in the battle‑line and the other thrown off, whose rider, fighting about him, had fallen.

V. Galba mox tenente rem p. missus ad gratulandum, quaqua iter convertit homine, quasi adoptionis gratia arcesseretur. Sed ubi turbari rursus cuncta sensit, redit ex itinere, aditoque Paphiae Veneris oraculo, dum de navigatione consulit, etiam de imperii spe confirmatus est. Cuius brevi compos, et ad perdomandam Iudaeam relictus, novissima Hierosolymorum oppugnatione duodecim propugnatores totidem sagittarum confecit ictibus, cepitque ea natali filiae suae tanto militum gaudio ac favore, ut in gratulatione imperatorem eum consalutaverint et subinde decedentem provincia detinuerint nec non et minaciter efflagitantes, aut remaneret aut secum omnes pariter abduceret.

5. Galba, soon holding the res publica, was sent to offer his congratulations; he turned his route wherever a man lay, as if he were being summoned for the sake of adoption. But when he perceived that all was again in turmoil, he returned from the journey, and having consulted the oracle of Paphian Venus while he inquired about navigation, he was also confirmed in the hope of the imperial power. This settled briefly, and left to fully subdue Judea, in the final assault on Jerusalem he by blows felled twelve defenders and struck them down with as many arrows, and he took these on his daughter's birthday with so much joy and favour from the soldiers that in their congratulation they hailed him as emperor and then detained the departing man in the province, even menacingly demanding either that he remain or that he carry off everyone alike with him.

Vnde nata suspicio est, quasi desciscere a patre Orientisque regnum sibi vindicare temptasset; quam suspicionem auxit, postquam Alexandriam petens in consecrando apud Memphim bove Apide diadema gestavit, de more quidem rituque priscae religionis; sed non deerant qui sequius interpretarentur. Quare festinans in Italiam, cum Regium, dein Puteolos oneraria nave appulisset, Romam inde contendit expeditissimus inopinantique patri, velut arguens rumorum de se temeritatem, veni, inquit, pater, veni.

Whence arose a suspicion, as if he had attempted to desert his father and to claim for himself the kingdom of the East; a suspicion which he increased, after, seeking Alexandria, he donned a diadem while consecrating himself at Memphis upon the ox Apis, according to the custom and rite of ancient religion; but there were not wanting those who gave more slavish interpretations. Therefore, hastening to Italy, when he had put into Regium and then Puteoli in a cargo-ship, he hastened thence to Rome, most unencumbered, toward his unsuspecting father, as if to refute the rumors of rashness about himself: "I have come," he said, "father, I have come."

VI. Neque ex eo destitit participem atque etiam tutorem imperii agere.

6. Nor on that account did he cease to act as a participator and even as guardian of the empire.

Triumphavit cum patre censuramque gessit una, eidem collega et in tribunicia potestate et in septem consulatibus fuit; receptaque ad se prope omnium officiorum cura (cum patris nomine et epistolas ipse dictares et edicta conscriberet orationesque in senatu recitaret etiam quaestoris vice) praefecturam quoque praetorii suscepit numquam ad id tempus nisi ab eq. R. administratam, egitque aliquando incivilius et violentius. Siquidem suspectissimum quemque sibi, summissis qui per theatra et castra quasi consensu ad poenam deposceret, haud cunctanter oppressit. In his Aulum Caecinam consularem, vocatum ad cenam ac vixdum triclinio egressum, confodi iussit; sane urgente discrimine, cum etiam chirographus eius praeparatae apud milites contioni deprehendisset.

He triumphed with his father and bore the censorship together, was likewise his colleague in tribunician power and in seven consulships; and having taken upon himself the care of almost all offices (with his father’s name he himself dictated letters and drew up edicts and even recited speeches in the senate, acting also in the place of quaestor), he likewise undertook the prefecture of the praetorium, hitherto administered only by the equestrian order, and at times behaved more uncivilly and violently. For he did not hesitate to crush anyone most suspected by him, those whom, having been brought down through the theatres and the camps as if by common consent, he would demand be punished. In one of these cases he ordered Aulus Caecina, a consul, who had been summoned to dinner and had scarcely left the triclinium, to be stabbed; certainly in the pressing emergency, since even his clerk had been detected at a prepared assembly among the soldiers.

Quibus rebus sicut in posterum securitati satis cavit, ita ad praesens plurimum contraxit invidiae, ut non temere quis tam adverso rumore magisque invitis omnibus transierit ad principatum.

By these acts, just as he provided sufficiently for his security in the future, so for the present he drew upon himself very great envy, so that no one would rashly pass over to the principate amid such adverse rumor and with almost everyone the more unwilling.

VII. Praeter saevitiam suspecta in eo etiam luxuria erat, quod ad mediam noctem comissationem cum profusissimo quoque familiarum extenderet; nec minus libido, propter exoletorum et spadonum greges propterque insignem reginae Berenices amorem, cum etiam nuptias pollicitus ferebatur; suspecta rapacitas, quod constabat in cognitionibus patris nundinari praemiarique solitum; deinque propalam alium Neronem et opinabantur et praedicabant. At illi ea fama pro bono cessit conversaque est in maximas laudes, neque vitio ullo reperto et contra virtutibus summis.

7. Besides cruelty, he was also suspected of luxury, in that he prolonged revelry with even the most lavish of his household to midnight; no less was lust, because of the throngs of worn-out men and eunuchs and because of the notable love for Queen Berenice, and he was even reported to have promised marriage; rapacity was suspected, since it was established in his father's investigations that he was wont to attend fairs and to accept rewards; and then openly they both supposed and proclaimed him another Nero. But that report proved to his advantage and was turned into the highest praises, no fault being found and, on the contrary, with the greatest virtues.

Convivia instituit iucunda magis quam profusa. Amicos elegit, quibus etiam post eum principes ut et sibi et rei p. necessariis adquieverunt praecipueque sunt usi. Berenicen statim ab urbe dimisit, invitus, invitam.

He held entertainments pleasant rather than profuse. Amicos elegit, he chose friends, to whom even after him the princes acquiesced as necessary both for himself and for the res publica, and above all he made use of them. Berenicen statim ab urbe dimisit, he at once dismissed Berenice from the city, himself unwilling and she unwilling.

Quosdam e gratissimis delicatorum, quamquam tam artifices saltationis, ut mox scaenam tenuerint, non modo fovere prolixius, sed spectare omnino in publico coetu supersedit. Nulli civium quicquam ademit; abstinuit alieno, ut si qui umquam, ac ne concessas quidem ac solitas conlationes recepit. Et tamen nemine ante se munificentia minor, amphitheatro dedicato thermisque iuxta celeriter exstructis, munus edidit apparatissimum largissimusque; dedit et navale proelium in veteri naumachia, ibidem et gladiatores atque uno die quinque milia omne genus ferarum.

He favored some of the most pleasing of the delicati, although they were such masters of dancing that, as soon as they had taken the stage, he not only indulged them at length but altogether ceased to attend public performances. He took nothing from any citizen; he abstained from another’s goods as if he ever would, and did not even accept granted or customary donations. And yet, in generosity inferior to none before him, with the amphitheatre dedicated and baths quickly erected beside it, he produced a most sumptuous and fully prepared spectacle, exceedingly lavish; he also gave a naval battle in the old naumachia, and there likewise gladiators and, in one day, five thousand of every sort of wild beast.

VIII. Natura autem benivolentissimus, cum ex instituto Tiberi omnes dehinc Caesares beneficia a superioribus concessa principibus aliter rata non haberent, quam si eadem iisdem et ipsi dedissent, primus praeterita omnia uno confirmavit edicto, nec a se peti passus est. In ceteris vero desideriis hominum obstinatissime tenuit, ne quem sine spe dimitteret; quin et admonentibus domesticis, quasi plura polliceretur quam praestare posset, non oportere ait quemquam a sermone principis tristem discedere; atque etiam recordatus quondam super cenam, quod nihil cuiquam toto die praestitisset, memorabilem illam meritoque laudatam vocem edidit: "Amici, diem perdidi."

CHAPTER 8. Natura, most kindly by disposition, since by Tiberius’ precedent all the Caesars thereafter would not hold as valid the benefits granted by predecessors to princes unless the same had been given by themselves, was the first to confirm all past things by one edict, and did not suffer them to be claimed from himself. In other matters, however, he adhered most stubbornly to the desires of men, so that he would dismiss no one without hope; in fact, when his household admonished him, as if he promised more than he could perform, he said that it was not fitting that anyone should leave the prince’s presence sad; and once, remembering at dinner that he had conferred nothing upon anyone the whole day, he uttered that memorable and deservedly praised phrase: "Friends, I have lost the day."

Populum in primis universum tanta per omnes occasiones comitate tractavit, ut proposito gladiatorio munere, non ad suum, sed ad spectantium arbitrium editurum se professus sit; et plane ita fecit. Nam neque negavit quicquam petentibus et ut quae vellent peterent ultro adhortatus est. Quin et studium armaturae Thraecum prae se ferens, saepe cum populo et voce et gestu ut fautor cavillatus est, verum maiestate salva nec minus aequitate.

He treated the whole people above all with such courtesy on every occasion, that concerning the proposed gladiatorial spectacle he professed that he would give it not by his own will but by the judgment of the spectators; and plainly he did so. For he neither denied anything to those who asked, and even encouraged them of his own accord to ask for what they wished. Moreover, bearing before him the Thracian zeal for armament, he often with the people both in voice and gesture jested as a partisan, true with majesty preserved and no less with equity.

Ne quid popularitatis praetermitteret, nonnumquam in thermis suis admissa plebe lavit.

Lest he omit anything of popularity, he sometimes bathed in his baths with the plebs admitted.

Quaedam sub eo fortuita ac tristia acciderunt, ut conflagratio Vesevi montis in Campania, et incendium Romae per triduum totidemque noctes, item pestilentia quanta non temere alias. In iis tot adversis ac talibus non modo principis sollicitudinem sed et parentis affectum unicum praestitit, nunc consolando per edicta, nunc opitulando quatenus suppeteret facultas. Curatores restituendae Campaniae consularium numero sorte duxit; bona oppressorum in Vesevo, quorum heredes non exstabant, restitutioni afflictarum civitatum attribuit.

Some things happened under him by chance and grievous, such as the conflagration of Mount Vesuvius in Campania, and a fire at Rome for three days and as many nights, and likewise a pestilence greater than was commonly seen at other times. In those so many and such adversities he displayed not only the solicitude of a prince but also the singular affection of a parent, now consoling by edicts, now aiding so far as his resources permitted. He chose by lot curators from the number of the consulars for the restoration of Campania; he assigned the goods of those overwhelmed on Vesuvius, whose heirs did not exist, to the restitution of the afflicted cities.

Vbis incendio nihil nisi sibi publice perisse testatus, cuncta praetorium suorum ornamenta operibus ac templis destinavit praeposuitque complures ex equestri ordine, quo quaeque maturius paragerentur. Medendae valitudini leniendisque morbis nullam divinam humanamque opem non adhibuit, inquisito omni sacrificiorum remediorumque genere.

Where, testifying that nothing had perished in the fire except what was publicly his, he devoted all the ornaments of his praetorium to works and temples and set over them several men of the equestrian order, that each thing might be prepared more swiftly. For healing the sick and soothing diseases he neglected no divine or human aid, every sort of sacrifice and remedy being investigated.

Inter adversa temporum et delatores mandatoresque erant ex licentia veteri. Hos assidue in foro flagellis ac fustibus caesos ac novissime traductos per amphitheatri arenam, partim subici ac venire imperavit, partim in asperrima insularum avehi. Vtque etiam similia quandoque ausuros perpetuo coerceret, vetuit inter cetera de eadem re pluribus legibus agi, quaerive de cuiusquam defunctorum statu ultra certos annos.

Among the adversities of the times there were delatores and mandatores by ancient licence. He ordered that these be continually in the forum beaten with whips and clubs and at last led across the amphitheatre’s arena, partly to be exposed and put up for sale, partly to be carried off to the most harsh of the islands. And so that those who might at times dare similar things would be restrained forever, he forbade, among other measures, that multiple suits be brought about the same matter, or that any inquiry be made concerning the status of the deceased beyond certain fixed years.

IX. Pontificatum maximum ideo se professus accipere ut puras servaret manus, fidem praestitis, nec auctorem posthac cuiusquam necis nec conscius, quamvis interdum ulciscenti causa non deesset, sed periturum se potius quam perditurum adiurans. Duos patricii generis convicto in adfectationem imperii, nihil amplius quam ut desisteret monuit, docens principatum fato dati, si quid praeterea desiderarent, promitteres se tributurum; et confestim quidem at alterius matrem, quae procul aberat, cursore suos misit, qui anxiae salvum filium nuntiarent; ceterum ipsos non solum familiari cenae adhibuit, sed et insequenti die gladiatorum spectaculo circa se ex industria conlocatis ablata sibi ferramenta pugnantium inspicienda porrexit. Dicitur etiam cognita utriusque genitura imminere ambobus periculum adfirmasse, verum quandoque et ab alio; sicut evenit.

9. He therefore professed to accept the supreme pontificate so that he might keep his hands pure, having given his oath, and neither be henceforth the author nor the conscious accomplice of any murder, although at times he would not be wanting for the sake of avenging, but swearing that he would die rather than be ruined. He warned two men of patrician stock, convicted of a design upon the empire, to do nothing more than desist, teaching that the principate is given by fate, and promising that if they desired anything further he would bestow it; and straightway indeed he sent his own men by courier to the mother of one, who was far away, to tell the anxious woman that her son was safe; moreover he not only had them at an intimate dinner, but on the following day, at the gladiators’ spectacle, with weapons of the fighters placed about him on purpose, he held them up for inspection. It is also said that, once the birth of each was known, he declared that danger threatened them both, and sometimes from another source; as it happened.

Fratrem insidiari sibi non desinentem, sed paene ex professo sollicitantem exercitus, meditantem fugam, neque occidere neque seponere ac ne in minore quidem honore habere sustinuit, sed, ut a primo imperii die, consorte successoremque testari perseveravit, nonnumquam secreto precibus et lacrimis orans, ut tandem mutuo erga se animo vellet esse.

He could not endure that his brother, who did not cease to plot against him but almost openly was unsettling the armies, and was contemplating flight, should be killed or cast off or even held in any lesser honor; but, as from the very first day of his imperial power, he persisted in appointing him as consort and successor, sometimes secretly begging with prayers and tears that at last he would be willing to bear a reciprocal goodwill toward him.

X. Inter haec morte praeventus est, maiore hominum damno quam suo. Spectaculis absolutis, in quorum fine populo coram ubertim fleverat, Sabinos petiit aliquanto tristior, quod sacrificanti hostia aufugerat quodque tempestate serena tonuerat. Deinde ad primam statim mansionem febrim nactus, cum inde lectica transferretur, suspexisse dicitur dimotis plagulis caelum, multumque conquestus eripi sibi vitam immerenti; neque enim exstare ullum suum factum paenitendum, excepto dum taxat uno.

10. Meanwhile he was forestalled by death, to the greater loss of men than his own. With the games concluded, at the point where he had wept plentifully before the people, he went to the Sabines somewhat sadder, because the victim had fled from the sacrificer and because it had thundered in clear weather. Then, at the very first lodging he took a fever; when he was being borne away on a litter from there, he is said to have looked up at the sky with the curtains drawn aside, and to have complained much that life was being snatched away from him undeserving; for there was no deed of his to be regretted, except, perhaps, that one only.

Id quale fuerit, neque ipse tunc prodidit neque cuiquam facile succurrat. Quidam opinantur consuetudinem recordatum, quam cum fratris uxore habuerit; sed nullam habuisse, persancte Domitia iurabat: haud negatura, si qua omnino fuisset, immo etiam gloriatura, quod illi promptissimum erat in omnibus probris.

What sort it was, he himself then did not disclose, nor would it readily occur to anyone. Some suppose he recalled a familiarity which he had had with his brother’s wife; but the very chaste Domitia swore she had none: not one to deny it, if there had been any at all—indeed she would even have boasted of it, which to her was most ready in every disgraceful matter.

XI. Excessit in eadem qua pater villa Id. Septb. post biennium ac menses duos diesque XX. quam successerat patri, altero et quadragesimo aetatis anno. Quod ut palam factum est, non secus atque in domestico luctu maerentibus publice cunctis, senatus prius quam edicto convocaretur ad curiam concurrit, obseratisque adhuc foribus, deinde apertis, tantas mortuo gratias egit laudesque congessit, quantas ne vivo quidem umquam atque praesenti.

11. He departed in the same villa as his father on the Ides of September, two years and two months and twenty days after he had succeeded his father, in the forty-second year of his age. When this became public, no less than those mourning at home and all grieving publicly, the senate hastened together to the curia before it had been summoned by edict, and with the doors at first still closed, then opened, rendered such great thanks and heaped up such praises for the dead as never even while he was alive and present.