Lucius Aelius Sejanus

“ Suddenly fortune deranged everything; the emperor became a cruel tyrant, as well as an abettor of cruelty in others. Of this the cause and origin was Aelius Sejanus, commander of the praetorian cohorts, of whose influence I have already spoken. I will now fully describe his extraction, his character, and the daring wickedness by which he grasped at power. Born at Vulsinii, the son of Seius Strabo, a Roman knight, he attached himself in his early youth to Caius Caesar, grandson of the Divine Augustus, and the story went that he had sold his person to Apicius, a rich debauchee. ”

“ At the loud, harsh tones of Drusus the guests became even more constrained. With a deeper frown on his forehead and a sneer on his lips, Tiberius said: “Thou knowest not the man thou abusest. No one in Rome sacrifices personal pleasures for public duties more than he does. Affairs of state occupy all his time. His unselfish nature is one that all should imitate. Vilify the sluggard who revels continually. Revile not the just. Sejanus is my friend, and nothing shall be spoken before me that tends to dishonor him.” ”

“ In everything the emperor, now advanced in years, weary of public business, and conscious that he was detested by a majority of the Roman citizens, gave way to Sejanus. The weak bent to the strong will—the man who could rise no higher to the man who was still climbing up ambition's ladder. So ostentatious was his favor, perhaps, for a while, so sincere his friendship, that, in his speeches and letters to the senate, Tiberius frequently made honorable mention of Sejanus. He was his guide, his other self, in the government of the empire. ”

“ We must further note that it is not probable that a cautious man, as Sejanus was in the year 23, would have thought of committing so serious a crime as that of poisoning the son of his protector. For what reason would he have done so? He did not then think of succeeding Tiberius; by removing Drusus, he would merely have improved the situation of the family of Germanicus, which at that time was already hostile to him and with which he was preparing to struggle. ”

“ Yet sage instructions to refine the soul And raise the genius, wondrous aid impart, Conveying inward, as they purely roll, Strength to the mind and vigour to the heart: When morals fail, the stains of vice disgrace The fairest honours of the noblest race.—Francis.
Upon the death of Drusus, Sejanus openly avowed a desire of marrying the widowed princess; but Tiberius opposing this measure, and at the same time recommending Germanicus to the senate as his successor in the empire, the mind of Sejanus was more than ever inflamed by the united, and now furious, passions of love and ambition. ”

“ The honors of which thou speakest are not to be seized by violence. Nay, when the gods see—”
“The gods help not those who supinely wait,” interrupted Sejanus. “Nay, O daughter of the outraged Julia, nay, O mother of princes of celestial blood, nay, thou, granddaughter of the Divine Augustus, what is now required is action. Let Sejanus honor thee! Let the true friend of the Julian family—the man whom thou seemest to reject as unworthy of thy confidence—let him be the first to throw himself at the feet of the mother of an emperor! ”

“ Drusus passes over the stage, attended by Haterius, etc.
SABINUS.
Stand by! lord Drusus.
HATERIUS.
The emperor’s son! give place.
SILIUS.
I like the prince well.
ARRUNTIUS.
A riotous youth;
There’s little hope of him.
SABINUS.
That fault his age
Will, as it grows, correct. Methinks he bears
Himself each day more nobly than other;
And wins no less on men’s affections,
Than doth his father lose. Believe me,
I love him; And chiefly for opposing to Sejanus. ”

“ A little watery stream colored with blood trickled down his cheek and dropped upon his toga. Tiberius pressed the plaster with his hand, which, becoming moist with the suppuration, he wiped on his greasy hair.
“Right well do I remember, O Tiberius, the cliffs of Capri,” said Sejanus. “There thou shalt be truly free. Ay, and respect for a ruler increases when his power is felt and he is not seen. But thou hast friends in Rome, O Tiberius,—friends who would die for thee.”
“Ay, thou art the only man who dost understand my wishes. I love and trust thee. ”

“ The frown of Cæsar, proud Sejanus’ hatred,
Base Varro’s spleen, and Afer’s bloodying tongue,
The senate’s servile flattery, and these
Muster’d to kill, I’m fortified against;
And can look down upon: they are beneath me.
It is not life whereof I stand enamour’d;
Nor shall my end make me accuse my fate.
The coward and the valiant man must fall,
Only the cause and manner how, discerns them:
Which then are gladdest, when they cost us dearest.
Romans, if any here be in this senate,
Would know to mock Tiberius’ tyranny,
Look upon Silius, and so learn to die. ”

“ He was therefore entirely in the hands of the man who was preparing to sacrifice him to the tenacious hatred of the people and the senatorial aristocracy. Young, energetic, and the favorite of fortune, Sejanus had with him a formidable party in the senate, he was the commander of the pretorian guard,—that is, of the only military force stationed in Italy,—and he had terrified with his implacable persecutions all those whom he had failed to win over through his promises or his favors. ”

“ If Livia will be now corrupted, then
Thou hast the way, Sejanus, to work out
His secrets, who, thou know’st, endures thee not,
Her husband, Drusus: and to work against them.
Prosper it, Pallas, thou that better’st wit;
For Venus hath the smallest share in it.
Enter Tiberius and Drusus, attended.
TIBERIUS.
[to Haterius, who kneels to him.]
We not endure these flatteries; let him stand;
Our empire, ensigns, axes, rods and state
Take not away our human nature from us:
Look up on us, and fall before the gods.
SEJANUS.
How like a god speaks Cæsar!
ARRUNTIUS.
There, observe! ”

“ Darker still, if possible, became the prospect under his successor, Tiberius, whose reign had reached the climax of moral debasement, when Sejanus was all-powerful at Rome. Hope for the human race there appeared none, when such an emperor devolved his omnipotence on such a prime minister. ”

“ Tiberius hath not seen him yet:
He needs would thrust himself to go with me,
Against my wish or will; but I have quitted
His forward trouble, with as tardy note
As my neglect or silence could afford him.
Your lordship cannot now command me aught,
Because I take no knowledge that I saw you;
But I shall boast to live to serve your lordship:
And so take leave.
SEJANUS.
Honest and worthy Macro;
Your love and friendship.
[Exit Macro.]
—Who’s there? Satrius,
Attend my honourable friend forth.—O!
How vain and vile a passion is this fear,
What base uncomely things it makes men do! ”

“ Had Sejanus now been governed by common prudence and moderation, he might have attained to the accomplishment of all his wishes; but a natural impetuosity of temper, and the intoxication of power, precipitated him into measures which soon effected his destruction. As if entirely emancipated from the control of a master, he publicly declared himself sovereign of the Roman empire, and that Tiberius, who had by this time retired to Capri, was only the dependent prince of that tributary island. ”

“ The emperor built several villas in different parts of the beautiful islet, and, having gathered a band of congenial companions, passed in this pleasant retreat the later years of his reign. Both Tacitus the historian and Suetonius the biographer tell many stories of the scandalous profligacy of the emperor's life on the island; but these tales, it should be added, are discredited by some.
Meanwhile, Sejanus was ruling at Rome very much according to his own will. No man's life was safe. He even grew so bold as to plan the assassination of the emperor himself. ”

“ That man was Sejanus. He sees a man respected by the emperor, advanced to almost equal honors, acclaimed by the Roman Senate and people. That man was Sejanus. He looks into the future. He sees a man sitting on a curule chair, receiving petitions and imperiously granting requests. That man is Sejanus. He [293] finally sees, ruling the world, one man who has reached the highest possible place for mortal man. That man is the Emperor Sejanus!
On the path of his advancement he has left the corpses of some trivial common people, the dead bodies of the heir Drusus and the Prince Nero. ”

“ With infernal ingenuity Sejanus so endeared himself to Tiberius that the emperor withdrew his favor from the other satellites and made Sejanus his adviser and minister.
Like a serpent, Sejanus would coil himself around his victim, and if the victim proved too strong to crush, he would use his poisoned fangs. Like a panther, he would crouch in the vilest holes; and when he saw his prey unguarded, he would steal upon it with padded feet, spring upon it, and strike it down. Like a huge tarantula, he would suck the life-blood of some wealthy man ”

“ The courts were filled with trials for treason. The city [99] became a festering mass of sneaking spies, unscrupulous informers, and infamous liars.
Sejanus had already greeted the emperor in the room adjoining the council chamber. With an air of satisfaction Tiberius had replied that the minister was gladly welcome.
“Why has the audience been dismissed so hastily, O Tiberius?” asked Sejanus.
“Sit thou down. I will tell thee,” drawled the emperor, as he slowly paced up and down the room. He added: “Life at Rome is unbearable. I long to leave the city and live where I can be free.” ”

“ He therefore urged his demand with increased importunity; but the emperor still refusing his consent, and things being not yet ripe for an immediate revolt, Sejanus thought nothing so favourable for the prosecution of his designs as the absence of Tiberius from the capital. With this view, under the pretence of relieving his master from the cares of government, he persuaded him to retire to a distance from Rome. The emperor, indolent and luxurious, approved of the proposal, and retired into Campania, leaving to his ambitious minister the whole direction of the empire. ”

“ With respect to Sejanus it is impossible to acquit Tiberius of blame. If he was deceived in his favourite he must have been willing to be deceived. He conferred on Sejanus a position as great as had been held by Agrippa during the reign of Augustus, and the minister was actually, and all but formally, joint emperor. ”

“ Thou art not safe, Sejanus, if thou prove it.
Canst thou believe, that Livia, first the wife
To Caius Cæsar, then my Drusus, now
Will be contented to grow old with thee,
Born but a private gentleman of Rome,
And raise thee with her loss, if not her shame?
Or say that I should wish it, canst thou think
The senate, or the people (who have seen
Her brother, father, and our ancestors,
In highest place of empire) will endure it!
The state thou hold’st already, is in talk;
Men murmur at thy greatness; and the noble! ”

“ All this, not indeed with any graciousness, but in a blunt fashion which often alarmed, he still kept up, until the death of Drusus changed everything. While he lived, the system continued, because Sejanus, as yet only in the beginning of his power, wished to be known as an upright counsellor, and there was one whose vengeance he dreaded, who did not conceal his hatred and incessantly complained "that a stranger was invited to assist in the government while the emperor's son was alive. How near was the step of declaring the stranger a colleague! Ambition at first had a steep path before it ”

“ As a citizen of the plain coat he will be able to devote more time to his wife. Fabricius, you dine with me to-night.’
So saying the Emperor rose smiling, and, leaning on his gigantic Nubian, passed into the inner apartment. When he had disappeared the others departed by degrees, full of interest and speculation on what had passed.
Sullen and impenetrable, Afer refused to enter into any intercourse, despite the Prefect’s efforts for that purpose; and Sejanus, therefore, shrugging his shoulders, left him in the apartment which was appointed to him, until the time came to proceed to Rome. ”

“ A Roman mob was always ready to cry, "A bas les aristocrats!" and a London or Parisian one is always ready to do the like. Among the earliest and certainly the most conspicuous victims struck down by Sejanus, was Drusus, the emperor's only son. But the direct heir to the purple was beyond the informer's shaft: and the prince-imperial was murdered by the aid of his young wife Livia, whom an adulterous connection had previously brought into the snares of the ambitious minister. It was against the widow of Germanicus, her sons, and their adherents, that he first let slip his bloodhounds. ”

“ At Rome, in all affairs of serious or slight importance, the senators turned to Sejanus, and about him, whom all fell into the habit of considering as the true emperor, a court and party were formed. In fear of his great power, the senators and the old aristocracy suppressed the envy which the dizzy rise of this obscure knight had aroused. Rome suffered without protest that a man of obscure birth should rule the empire in the place of a descendant of the great Claudian family, and the senators of the most illustrious houses grew accustomed to paying him court. ”

“ Why would he not rather have tortured the minister of the poison? Why not inquired into the author of the poison? Why not observed towards his only son, a son hitherto convicted of no iniquity, that slowness and hesitation, which, even in his proceedings against strangers, was inherent in him? But as Sejanus was reckoned the framer of every wickedness, therefore, from the excessive fondness of Tiberius towards him, and from the hatred of all others towards both, things the most fabulous and direful were believed of them ”