第67章 A.D.23-28(10)

"For myself, Senators, I am mortal and limited to the functions of humanity, content if I can adequately fill the highest place; of this I solemnly assure you, and would have posterity remember it.They will more than sufficiently honour my memory by believing me to have been worthy of my ancestry, watchful over your interests, courageous in danger, fearless of enmity, when the State required it.These sentiments of your hearts are my temples, these my most glorious and abiding monuments.Those built of stone are despised as mere tombs, if the judgment of posterity passes into hatred.And therefore this is my prayer to our allies, our citizens, and to heaven itself; to the last, that, to my life's close, it grant me a tranquil mind, which can discern alike human and divine claims; to the first, that, when I die, they honour my career and the reputation of my name with praise and kindly remembrance."Henceforth Tiberius even in private conversations persisted in showing contempt for such homage to himself.Some attributed this to modesty; many to self-distrust; a few to a mean spirit."The noblest men," it was said, "have the loftiest aspirations, and so Hercules and Bacchus among the Greeks and Quirinus among us were enrolled in the number of the gods.Augustus, did better, seeing that he had aspired.All other things princes have as a matter of course; one thing they ought insatiably to pursue, that their memory may be glorious.For to despise fame is to despise merit."Sejanus meanwhile, dazed by his extravagant prosperity and urged on too by a woman's passion, Livia now insisting on his promise of marriage, addressed a memorial to the emperor.For it was then the custom to apply to him by writing, even though he was at Rome.This petition was to the following effect:- The kindness of Augustus, the father, and then the many favourable testimonies of Tiberius, the son, had engendered the habit of confiding his hopes and wishes to the ears of emperors as readily as to those of the gods.The splendour of high distinctions he had never craved; he had rather chosen watchings and hardships, like one of the common soldiers, for the emperor's safety.But there was one most glorious honour he had won, the reputation of being worthy of an alliance with a Caesar.This was the first motive of his ambition.As he had heard that Augustus, in marrying his daughter, had even entertained some thoughts of Roman knights, so if a husband were sought for Livia, he hoped Tiberius would bear in mind a friend who would find his reward simply in the glory of the alliance.He did not wish to rid himself of the duties imposed on him; he thought it enough for his family to be secured against the unjust displeasure of Agrippina, and this for the sake of his children.For, as for himself, enough and more than enough for him would be a life completed while such a sovereign still reigned.

Tiberius, in reply, after praising the loyal sentiments of Sejanus and briefly enumerating the favours he had bestowed on him, asked time for impartial consideration, adding that while other men's plans depended on their ideas of their own interest, princes, who had to regulate their chief actions by public opinion, were in a different position."Hence," he said, "I do not take refuge in an answer which it would be easy to return, that Livia can herself decide whether she considers that, after Drusus, she ought again to marry or rather to endure life in the same home, and that she has in her mother and grandmother counsellors nearer and dearer to her.I will deal more frankly.First, as to the enmity of Agrippina, I maintain that it will blaze out more fiercely if Livia's marriage rends, so to say, the house of the Caesars into two factions.Even as it is, feminine jealousies break out, and my grandsons are torn asunder by the strife.

What will happen if the rivalry is rendered more intense by such a marriage? For you are mistaken, Sejanus, if you think that you will then remain in the same position, and that Livia, who has been the wife of Caius Caesar and afterwards of Drusus, will have the inclination to pass her old age with a mere Roman knight.Though Imight allow it, do you imagine it would be tolerated by those who have seen her brother, her father, and our ancestors in the highest offices of state? You indeed desire to keep within your station; but those magistrates and nobles who intrude on you against your wishes and consult you on all matters, openly give out that you have long overstepped the rank of a knight and gone far beyond my father's friendships, and from their dislike of you they also condemn me.

But, you say, Augustus had thoughts of giving his daughter to a Roman knight.Is it surprising that, with so many distracting cares, foreseeing too the immense elevation to which a man would be raised above others by such an alliance, he talked of Caius Proculeius and certain persons of singularly quiet life, wholly free from political entanglements? Still, if the hesitation of Augustus is to influence us, how much stronger is the fact that he bestowed his daughter on Marcus Agrippa, then on myself.All this, as a friend, I have stated without reserve, but I will not oppose your plans or those of Livia.

My own earnest thoughts and the ties with which I am still purposing to unite you to myself, I shall for the present forbear to explain.

This only I will declare, that nothing is too grand to be deserved by your merits and your goodwill towards me.When an opportunity presents itself, either in the Senate, or in a popular assembly, Ishall not be silent."