He had exercised this Sovereign Power with Augustus before his 〈◊〉 to Rhodes Paterculus Hist. 2. cap. 99. had cast out some Words concerning his Humour and the Oddness of his Manners which seeming to Excuse did in effect Reproach them 12 This manner of Accusing while we Excuse is very much in fashion with Courtiers who according to the Florenâ—iâ—e Proverb have Honey in the Mouth and a Razor under the Girdle V. The Funerals of Augustus being ended there was a Temple and Divine Worship decreed for him and that being done earnest Supplications were address'd to Tiberius who on his side spoke ambiguously concerning the Greatness of the Empire and the Diffidence he had of his own Abilities Saying That nothing but the Soul and Genius of Augustus could support so great a Burden of Affairs 1 The Prince who immediately succeeds a Predecessor who hath performed great Things doth himself an Honour in exalting him for besides that it is believed that the Esteem that he hath for him will spur him on to the â—mitation of him he becomes himself more wonderful and more venerable to his Subjects when he equals him or excels him Tiberius was not inferior to Aâ—gustuâ— in Understanding and Experience The Day that Charles the Fifth had â—bâ—icated the Kingdom of Sâ—ain his Son Philip said in his Speech That the Emperor laid an heavy Weight upon him That he would not accept of a Crown which stood in need of the Prudence and Experience of his Imperial Majesty were it not to contribute to thâ— Preservation of so invaluable a Life Concluding that â—e would endeavour to imitate some of his Virtueâ— since to imitate them all was a Thing impossible for the most perfect Man in the World Cabrera lib 1. cap. 7. oâ— his History and that having sustain'd some part of them during the Life of the Emperour 2 It would be a great Advantage to the Children of Sovereig◠〈◊〉 if their Fathers would themselves take pains to instruct them I mean those who are to succeed them for from whom shall they learn the Art of Government if not from him who Governs And how can they be able to Govern when they ascend the Throne if they have never been admitted to any Knowledge of the Affairs of their State It must pass through the Hands of interessed Ministers who will make their Advantage of their Prince's Ignorance to render themselves more necessary and who to maintain themselves in the Power they have gotten will never let him see Aâ—â—airs but on that side which may give him a disgust of Business On the contrary a Prince who hath had some share in the Government in his Father's Life-time enters trained up and accustomed to act the difficult part of a King I don't pretend to say that a King ought to trouble himself to teach him a thousand Things which belong to the Office and Duty of a Praeceptor Majus aliquid exceâ—sius a Principâ— postulatur But setting Iealouâ—ie aâ—ide he cannot fairly dispense with himself from tâ—aching him 〈◊〉 Maxims which are as the Principles and the Springs of Government and which Tacitus calls Arcana Dominationis And as the Children of Sovereign Princes saith Cabrera have been accustomed to believe themselves above the Laws they have absolute need of the Instructions of their Fathers for besides the Impressions which Blood and the Majesty of Sovereign Power make upon them there are none but their Fathers who have the Authority to command them and the Means to make themselves obeyed cap. 8. lib. 1. of his History he was sensible by his own Experience how difficult and dangerous it was to charge his Shoulders with the Weight of Government That in a City which abounded with the Choice of great and able Persons all Things ought not to be intrusted to the Management of one since Publick Functions were better exercis'd when many join'd their Cares and Labours 3 It is very necessary for a Prince saith Commines to have several Persons of his Council because the wisest sometimes err and they help to set one another right l. 2. c. 2. The chief Point is to know how to chuse them well and to employ every one according to the Nature and Degree of their Abilities But there was more of Ostentation than of upright Meaning in these Discourses And besides if Tiberius whether by Nature or by Custom spoke obscurely even on those Subjects where he had no occasion to dissemble his Words at this time became more intricate and doubtful when he studied altogether to disguise his Thoughts Then the Senators who were all equally afraid of seeming to divine his Meaning broke out into Tears Complaints and Vows holding out their Hands to the Gods and to the Image of Augustus and embracing the Knees of Tiberius till he commanded a Register s Sueton calls this Registry Ratâ—â—narium i. e. an Inventory or a Iourâ—al to be brought written by the Hand of Augustus 4 Although Princes have Secretaries whose Hand might save them the trouble of Writing it is so far from being beneath them to write themselves Memoirs of this kind which Tacitus calls Dominationis Arcana that on the contrary it would be Imprudence in them to commit them to the Ears and Hand of another There is no Secretary nor Confident whosoever he be that ought to be admitted to the Knowledge of these Secrets A Prince who is guilty of this Oversight will become precarioâ—â— to such a Subject Edward the Sixth King of England wrote himself the Iournal of his Life whereof the three last Years are extant So that if this Prince who died at Sixteen had lived longer and continued his Labour he would have proved a very great Man In Portugal they have an Office which they call Escrivaon dâ— puridade as much as to say The Writer or Register of the Confidence or of the Secrets And Mariana often makes use of this Word in this sense when he saith Communicar sus consejos y puridades As this is the most important place of the Kingdom and which hath never been held by any other but by the chief Minister it is probable that it was erected on purpose to write the Secrets of the King's Cabinet and thence to prepare Memoirs of State Iohn the Second King of Portugal and Ferdinand the Fifth King of Arragon and Castille wrote them themselves and containing a Particular of the Publick Revenues with a Roll of the Names of Citizens and Allies which serv'd in the Armies of the Tributary Kingdoms of the Conquer'd Provinces of the Naval Strength of the Imposts and all the Pensions and Expences which were charg'd on the Commonwealth To which Augustus whether out of Fear for the Empire which had receiv'd so great a Blow in Germany or out of Iealousie lest some of his Successors should have the Glory of extending the Roman Conquests farther than himself added the Advice of Restraining the Empire within the present Limits
a General of an Army should not have Courage that is void of Iudgment so neither ought he to have too much Flegm or too much Speculation because it is to be feared that the foresight of many Inconveniencies which may happen but which do not may hinder him from attempting Things which would succeed in the Hands of others who are less Speculative and more Daring Politcical Test. par 2. sect 4. c. 9. Arminius a This young Man saith Paterculus was of a robust Constitution had a quick Apprehension and a delicate and penetrating Wit beyond what is to be imagined of a Barbarian Considering that nothing is more easie than to destroy those who fear nothing and that overmuch Confidence is the most ordinary cause of great Misfortunes he communicates his Design at first to very few People but afterwards to many more And this Resolution was so immediately followed with the Execution of it that Varus having neglected the first Advice of Segestes had not time to receive a second from him ch 118. Charles Duke of Burgundy committed the same Error that Varus did and perished like him by refusing to give Audience to a Country Gentleman named Cifron who came to discover to him the Treason of the Count de Campobasso and by not crediting the Intelligence which Lewis the Eleventh sent him by the Lord de Contay his Ambassador in France that this Count was selling his Life Whereby you see saith Commines that God infatuated him on this occasion Memoirs l. 4. â— ult l. 3. c. 6 â— For Segestes though he was drawn into the War by the general Consent of his Country-men yet he liv'd in perpetual Discord with Arminius and the bad Understanding betwixt them was increas'd by a particular Offence for Arminius had taken away by force his Daughter Thusnelda betroth'd already to another Thus the Father-in-Law and Son were equally hateful to each other and those mutual Ties which commonly beget Friendship were now the Provocations to the most bitter Enmity 5 As Princes seldom marry but by Interest not for Love Alliance is so far from being a Band of Friendship betwixt them that it opens a Gap to new Pretensions which grow into Quarrels and afterwards into Wars The last Duke of Burgundy hated Edward King of England and the whole House of York against which he assisted the House of Lancaster whence came his Grandmother by the Mother's side and yet at last he married Margaret Sister to Edward only to strengthen himself against King Lewis the Eleventh But as this Alliance was not made but by State-Interest and that both of them might gain their Ends the Duke notwithstanding hated Edward on whom he made biting Iests and Edward offer'd Lewis to joyn with him and to bear part of the Charges if he would continue the War against the Duke Commines l. 1. c. 5. l. 3. c. 4. l. 4. c. 8 11. of his Memoirs XLIX Germanicus on this Account commanded out Cecina with Four Legions Five thousand Auxiliary Soldiers and some Companies of Germans rais'd in haste from some Places on this side the Rhine He himself conducted a like Number of Legions but double the Number of Allies and having built a Fortress on the old Foundations which his Father had laid and which were yet standing he march'd with great speed against the Catti leaving behind him Lucius Apronius with Order to take care that if the Rivers should overflow by any sudden fall of Rains yet the Ways might be kept in repair and continue passable For in setting forward he found the Waters so very low and the Ways so dry a Thing uncommon in that Climate that he found no difficulty in his March but he feared in his return it might be otherwise He came so suddenly upon the Catti that the old Men the Women and the Children were either kill'd at first or taken Prisoners and the young Men forc'd to swim the River of Adrana b Now the Eder who attempting afterwards to obstruct the Romans in the building of a Bridge over it were repuls'd by their Arrows and their Engines These Hopes failing and their Propositions for Peace being also rejected some of them came over and submitted to Germanicus the rest forsaking their Cantons retir'd into the Fastnesses of their Woods Germanicus having burn'd Martium c Now Marpurg the Capital City of Hesse their Capital Town ravag'd all the Low-lands and took his March backwards to the Rhine the Enemy not daring to attack his Rear as their Custom is when they â—eign to fly rather through Stratagem than Fear The Cherusci d The People of Brunswick and of Thuring were desirous to have succour'd their Friends thâ— Catti but they were apprehensive of Cecina who caâ—ry'd far and near the Terrour of his Arms. On the contrary the Marsi having presum'd to charge him were vigorously repuls'd and entirely routed L. Some time afterwards there came Deputies from Segestes to desire his Assistance against his Country-men who had besieg'd him for Arminius had there the stronger Party because he had advis'd the War 1 As there is nothing subject to greater Iealousie nor more difficult to preserve amongst powerâ—ul Neighbours than Liberty they who advise War appear to have a greater Affection for their Country than those who advise Peace and consequently have more Credit amongst their Fellow-Citizens It was by this Method that Maurice Prince of Orange who looked on the Treaty of 1609. as the Ruine of his Authority in Holland where he aimed at the Sovereignty found means to destroy Iohn Barnevelt who had been the principal Promoter of this Treaty by perswading the People by Pamphlets that this great Man was corrupted by the Spanish Gold and held Intelligence with this King for the reduction of the United Provinces to his Obedience it being the common Practice of Barbarians only to love and esteem those Persons who are Fierce and Daring and more especially in unquiet Times Segestes had added to the Deputies his Son Segimond though the Mind of the young Man was wholly averse to that Employment 2 When a Subject is conscious that he is guilty of Tâ—eason he ought not to trust to the Prince's Clemency if he hath not good Security of it If my Mother was my Iudge said Alcibiades I would not trust her with much greater Reason they who have the Prince for Iudge and Party ought to take good Security before they surrender themselves into his Hands The Cardinal Alphonso Petrucci was no sooner come to Rome but Leo the Tenth caused him to be arrested and afterwards strangled in Prison altho he came thither under the Security of the Pope's safe Conduct whereof the Spaâ—ish Ambassador was Guarantee The Landgrave of Hesse was cheated by the Confidence he reposed in Charles the Fifth with whom he had two Electors and several other Princes of the Empire for Intercessors for the Year in which all Germany revolted being created Priest of
have govern'd with applause For instance If the King of Spain should send into Catalonia and Sâ—ciâ—y which are two fierce Nations and whose Obedience is as it were Arbitrary Viceroys who would take the same Courses that the Viceroys of Naples and the Governors of Milan do he would immediately lose these Provinces where there is nothing but Bones for the Spanish Ministers to gnaw upon LXI But Germanicus who did not yet know that his Iourney had given Offence went up the River Nile having Embark'd at Canopus a Town built by the Spartaâ—â— in Memory of a Captain of a Ship of that Name who was buried there when Mâ—nelaus in his return to Greece was driven back by contrary Winds to the Coasts of Lybia The Mouth of the River that is next to Canopus is consecrated to Hercules who as the Inhabitants affirm was a Native of their Countrey and the first of all who bore that Name with which the rest were honoured after him because they follow'd him in the same Paths of Valour He afterwards viewed the great Ruines of Thebes where there were yet remaining some Inscriptions engraven on Obelisks in Aegyptian Letters which describ'd its ancient Grandeur One of the Eldest Priests who was order'd to interpret it reported That it formerly contain'd seven hundred thousand Men of an age able to bear Arms and that with an Army of that Number King Rhameses conquer'd Libya Aethiopia the Medes and Persians Bactriania and Scythia and all the Countrey which is inhabited by the Syrians Armenians and their Neighbours the Cappadocians extending from the Bithynian Sea on one side to the Lycian on the other There was also read an account of the Tributes imposed on the Nations what weight of Gold and Silver what Numbers of Horses and Arms for War How much Ivory and Perfumes for Oblations to the Temples and what quantities of Corn and other Necessaries of Life each Nation paid which equall'd in Magnificence and Value the Tributes that are now imposed either by the Parthian or the Roman Empire LXII But Germanicus was led on with a Desire of seeing other Miracles whereof the Principal were the Statue of Memnon cut in Stone which gave a Sound like that of a Humane Voice when the Rays of the Sun stâ—uck upon it Pyramids as high as Mountains rais'd in moving and almost unpassable Sands 1 It is common for great Princes to raise Magnificent Edifices in Desart and dry Places and which by their situation seem to be Uninhabitable to make their Power appear the greater and to shew that every thing yields to their Fortune Philip II. had this Prospect when he chose the pitiful Village of the Escurial to build there the Famous Monastery which bears this Name and which the Spaniards call the Eighth Wonder of the World although an old Alcada aged â—ourscore years answer'd an Officer who ask'd him in the King's Name his Opinion of it That the King was going to make a Nest of Caterpillars who would devour the whole Country Cabrera c. 11. l 6. of his History by the Emulation and Wealth of their Kings Lakes cut in the Ground for the reception of the Waters of the Nile when it overflows and in other places Caverns so deep that their bottoms cannot be sounded From hence he went to Elephantine and Syene heretofore the Boundaries of the Roman Empire which now extends to the Red Sea LXIII Whilst Germanicus pass'd the Summer in Progresses Drusus acquired no small Glory amongst the Germans by fomenting their Division 1 It is true sign of the Destruction of a Country when those divide and abandon one another who ought to be united Memoirs l. 2. c. 1. Dum singuli pugnant universi vincuntur saith Tacitus in Agricola The Landtgrave of Hesse who commanded the Army of the League of Smalcald against Charles V. had reason to say to the Conâ—ederate Cities through which he pass'd My Friends let every Fox keep his Tail to let them understand that the League could not subsist but by their common agreement Epitomy of the Life of C. V. There can't be better Counsel than what the Lord Contay gave the C. de Charolois who took it very ill that the Lords of the League of the Publick Good held a Council amongst themselves without calling him to it Bear it patiently said Contay for if you displease them they will make their Peace with King Lewis more advantageously than you as you are the Strongest so you ought to be the Wisest Beware therefore of dividing them and use your ulmost industry to maintain a good Correspondence betwixt them and your self Memoirs of Commines l. 1. c. 12. and persuaded them that now Maroboduus d With what Prudence and Conduct saith Paterculus Tiberius by the Ministry of his son Drusus forced Marcâ—odâ—us to quit the Kingdom which he had Invaded and wherein he hid himself as Serpents do in the Bowels of the Earth Hist. 2. Cap. 129. Lewis XI took almost the same Method against the Duke of Burgundy not only by Separating from him all his Allies Edward King of England Gelasius Duke of Milan who had before left the Alliance of the King for that of the Duke of Burgundy Renatus King of Sicily who design'd to have made him his Heir and to put Provence into his hands the Dutchess of Savoy the King's Sister who saith Commines was so much in the Duke's Interest that the Duke disposed of the House of Savoy as of his own but also by raising him up new Enemies as the Swiss who beat him in two Battels and the Cittes of Basil Strasbourg Nuremburg and Francsort who enter'd into an Alliance with the Swiâ—s and to injure him was thought enough to get their own Pardoâ— His Memoirs Lib. 5. Cap. 1. 2. was already weakned they ought to follow their blow till he was entirely ruin'd 2 This Example sheweth that there is scarce any such thing as good Faith among Princes and that the Leagues and Confederacies which they enter into are rather sâ—ares which they lay for one another than Ties of Friendship Commonly the Weakest joyns himself with the Strongest only to make himself more considerable to his Neighbours and his Enemies and this was the Motive of Maroboduus who by his Alliance with the Romans hoped to become more formidable to the Cheruâ—ci and to his Rival Arminius The Strongest on the contrary allies himself with the Weaker under colour to protect and defend him but in truth to lay the Yoke of Slavery upon him as soon as he can find an Opportunity to do it And this is what Tiberius did with respect to Maroboduus in sending Drusus into Germany to sign a League with him Thus it may be truly said That Lâ—â—gues make more noise than they do service That they have more of Appearance and Ostentation than of Reality and Strength and that in fine they rather hasten the Ruine of the Weaker or the less Politick than they do retard or
principal Arguments sometimes directly and in form but always aptly and judiciously suitable to the Occasion the Place and the Party concern'd Though his Stile be extreamly concise and Brevity the thing he seems chiefly to affect yet does he frequently interweave with his main Business many entertaining Digressions such as that concerning the God Serapis in the Fourth Book of his History and that other strange one concerning the Iewish Religion and their Lawgiver Moses which we had occasion to pass our Censure on before He thought it seems very truly that as no Traveller would grudge sometimes to go a little out of his Way for the sight of a Place extreamly well worth his Pains or somewhat peculiar to the Country he is passing through so these little Excursions which please and refresh the Reader are no Transgressions of the Laws of History when seasonably indulged Even Thucydides and Salust are not more Sententious than he which yet is so artfully manag'd that there is no appearance of Ostentation but every Maxim he lays down â—lows naturally from the Subject he is treating of and resembles that Lustre and Beauty of the Stars which are said to be made out of the very Substance of that Firmament they adorn Here you see nothing foreign nothing affected nothing forc'd or far-fetch'd nothing superfluous but every Thought so pertinent so well fitted that no Man can dispute the Right it hath to that Place or think any other would better become it And which is still more here you do not learn barely the Events of Things but the very Reasons and Progress of those Events the secret Springs of each Action and all the Motives and Contrivances by which it was carry'd on And here a Man may say with great Reason with regard to History what the Poet does in the case of Husbandry Faelix qui potuit rerum cognoscere causas Virg. Georg. L. 2. Happy the Man who studying Nature's Laws Through known Effects can trace the secret Cause Mr. Dryden And if the Notion some Philosophers have advanc'd concerning the Sea be true That its Waters nearer the bottom are much fresher than those about the top it is undoubtedly a Truth of much greater evidence that a History which contents it self with an Account of Matter of Fact only and presents only with the Outâ—side and Sâ—â—face as 〈◊〉 were of Things cannot pretend to either the Pleasure or the Profit which arises from a Discovery of the mysterious Causes and the several Counsels and Debates upon which each Action mov'd This reaches the very bottom of the Matter and every Man can justifie the vulgar Proverb here That the deeper you go the sweeter and more delicious you find the Entertainment But one particular Character there is which raises the Merit and Reputation of Tacitus above other Writers that I mean of ordering Matters so that a Man may oftentimes receive as much Information from what he does not say as from what he does This instructive Silence is an Excellence which others have observ'd before me And a very peculiar one it is when to speak in Terms of Arithmetick his very Blanks are as considerable as his greatest Summs So that here you are directed to form a Notion of Men every way because whether he give Characters or whether he give none all is done with mature Consideration exact Iustice and accurate Iudgment 'T is thus that the Ancients exâ—ol the Skill of that Eminent Painter â—imanthes in whose Pieces there was a great deal more for the Thought to work upon than lay open to the Eye of the Beholder And this great Wisdom and Depth is indeed very agreeable to that ripeness of Age and Iudgment in which he apply'd himself to Writing For we arâ— assur'd from himself that this Work was begun after Nerva's and in Trajan's Reign at which time he must have been pretty far g See Note b advanc'd in Years The Reader who is desirous of a more particular Character of Tacitus his Writings may find it to good Advantage in the Second Volume of Muretus his XIII XIV and XV. Orations The Passages were thought too large to be inserted here A Chronological TABLE OF THE Annals and History OF Cornelius Tacitus The First Book of the Annals contains the History of almost two Years Consuls Sextus Pompeius and Sextus Apuleius C. Iulius Drusus Caesar and C. Norbanus THE Emperor Augustus died at Nola in The Years from the Incarnation of our Lord. 16 The Years from the Building of Rome 767 Campania the Nineteenth Day of August Claudius Tiberius Nero the Son-in-law of Augustus succeeded him who began his Reign with the Murder of Agrippa Posthumus The Consuls Sex Pompeius and Sex Apuleius are the first that took the Oaths of Fidelity to Tiberius Germanicus appeases a Sedition in the Army by pretending to send away his Wife Agrippina and his Son Caligula Iulia the Daughter of Augustus formerly banished by her Father for her Lewdness died through want of the Necessaries of Life Anno Ch. 17 An. U.C. 768 Germanicus defeated Arminius or Harman the General of the Cherusci and took his Wife Prisoner the sixth Year after the Defeat of Quintilius Varus A Temple built to Augustus in Spain The Tax of the Hundredth Penny upon Commerce imposed after the Civil Wars is confirmed The Second Book contains the History of four Years Consuls Sisenna Statilius Taurus and Lucius Scribonius Libo C. Coelius Rufus and L. Pomponius Flaccus Tib. Iul. Caes. Aug. 3 io and Germanicus Caesar M. Iunius Silanus and C. Norbanus Flaccus Anno Ch. 18 An. U.C. 769 THe Beginning of the Parthian War Germanicus brings his Fleet into the River Amisia or Ems and passing over the Weser defeats Arminius and the Germans Germanicus's Army sailing through the Amisia into the Ocean is shatter'd by a Storm and the greatest part of it lost The Accusation and Death of Libo Drusus The Astrologers and Magicians are banished Italy A Defence of Luxury The Counterfeit Agrippa is taken Anno Ch. 19 An. U.C. 770 Germanicus Triumphs for his Victories over the Cherusci Chatti and other Nations of Germany betwixt the Rhine and the Elb. The Tax of the Hundredth Penny is abated by Tiberius and made the Two Hundredth Twelve Cities of Asia perished by an Earthquake Tacfarinas the Numidian begins a War in Africk Germanicus goes into Asia Anno Ch. 20 An. U.C. 771 Germanicus visits Egypt as far as Syene and Anno Ch. 21 An. U.C. 772 Elephantina Maroboduus the King of the Marcomanni lives at Ravenna in Italy eighteen Years Germanicus is poysoned by Piso. Livia the Wife of Drusus Tiberius's Son and Sister of Germanicus is delivered of Twins Arminius the General of the Cherusci dies in the thirty seventh Year of his Age. The Third Book contains the Actions of three Years Consuls M. Valerius Missala and M. Aurelius Cotta Tiber. Iul. Caes. Augustus 4 o and C. Iul. Drusus Caesar 2 o C. Sulpicius Galba and D. Haterius Agrippa THe Grief and
Mourning for the Death of Anno Ch. 22 An. U.C. 773 Germanicus Nero Germanicus's Son is made High Priest and Marries Iulia the Daughter of Drusus Salust the Nephew of Salust the Historian dies Tiberius retires into Campania Anno Ch. 23 An. U.C. 774 It is debated whether the Governours should carry their Wives with them into the Provinces The Cities of Gaul labouring under the Burthen of excessive Debts rebelled being headed by Sacrovirus and Florus A Debate arose about restraining Luxury Anno Ch. 24 An. U.C. 775 Caius Silanus accused A Comparison betwixt Anteius Capito and Labeo Antistius the Lawyer The Fourth Book contains the Actions of near six Years Consuls C. Asinius and C. Antistius Cornelius Cethegus and Visellius Varro Cossus Cornelius Lentulus and M. Asinius Agrippa Cn. Lentulus Getulicus and C. Calvisius M. Licinius Crassus and L. Calpurnius Piso Ap. Iunius Silanus and P. Silius Nerva Anno Ch. 25 An. U.C. 776 IUnia the Wife of C. Cassius dies the sixty fourth Year after the Philippick War Aelius Sejanus the Praefect of the Praetorian Bands debauches Livia the Wife of Drusus Tiberius's Son and procures Drusus to be poisoned by his Physician Eudemus which Wickedness was discovered eight Years after The Condition of the Roman State that Year is described A Temple built to Tiberius in Asia Anno Ch. 26 An. U.C. 777 C. Silius being oppressed with false Accusations prevents his Sentence of Condemnation by a voluntary Death Cassius Severus after his Banishment draws upon himself a severer Punishment Tacfarinas the Numidian is conquered Q. Vibius Serenus being accused of Treason by his own Son is banished Anno Ch. 27 An. U.C. 778 Cremutius Cordus the Historian is accused for Praising Brutus and Cassius and puts an end to his own Life Sejanus demands Livia in Marriage L. Domitius Nero's Grandfather dies L. Antonius dies Pontius Pilate is sent Governour into Iudaea Anno Ch. 28 An. U.C. 779 The Triumph of Poppeius Sabinus for the Conquest of the Thracians Domitius Afer the Orator Agrippina the Wife of Germanicus offends Tiberius Tiberius leaves Rome whence he was absent eleven Years to the Day of his Death Coceius Nerva the Lawyer accompanies Tiberius Anno Ch. 29 An. U.C. 780 The Amphitheatre at Fidenae fell where fifty thousand Persons perished Tiberius hides himself in the Isle of Capreae Anno Ch. 30 An. U.C. 781 Titius Sabinus Germanicus's Friend is villanously betray'd and put to Death Iulia the Grand-daughter of Augustus dies in the Isle Trimerus on the Coast of Apuleia whither she had been banished twenty Years before for Adultery The Frisii defeat the Romans Agrippina the Daughter of Germanicus is married to Cn. Domitius the Father of Nero The Fifth Book contains the Actions of three Years most of which are lost Consuls C. Rubellius Geminus and C. Rufius Geminus M. Vinucius Quartinus and L. Cassius Longinus Tiber. Iul. Caes. Augustus 5 o and L. Aelius Sejanus LIvia the Wife of Augustus and Mother of Anno Ch. 31 An. U.C. 782 Tiberius dies fifteen Years after the Death of Augustus Her Grand-son Caligula praises her in a Funeral Oration Tiberius begins to exercise the greatest Cruelties towards the House of Germanicus In these two Years Agrippina Germanicus's Wife and her Son Nero are banished to the Islands Drusus is kept a Prisoner in the most secret part of the Pallace *********** A great Chasm in the History the Occurrences of almost three Years are wanting Sejanus falls and his Children are punished The Counterfeit Drusus is taken The Sixth Book contains the History of about six Years Consuls Cn. Domitius and M. Furius Camillus Ser. Sulpicius Galba and L. Cornelius Sulla Paulus Fabius Persicus and L. Vitellius C. Cestius Gallus and M. Servilius Rufus Q. Plautius and Sex Papinius Cn. Acerronius and C. Pontius TIberius's abominable Lusts. Anno Ch. 34 An. U.C. 785 Many Noble Men Friends of Sejanus are put to Death M. Terentius justifies his Friendship with Sejanus L. Piso the High Priest eighty Years old dies peaceably Anno Ch. 35 An. U.C. 786 Drusilla the Daughter of Germanicus is married to L. Cassius Iulia to M. Vinicius Vsuary is taken into Consideration and Vsurers are prosecuted Laws relating to Vsury C. Caligula marries Claudia the Daughter of M. Sillanius Tiberius's Presage of Ser. Galba His Tryal of the Astrologer Thrasyllus Drusus the Son of Germanicus and Asinius Gallus are starved to death Agrippina the Wife of Germanicus is starved to Death Cocceius Nerva ends his Life by a voluntary Death A Phoenix is seen The Poet Mamerius Scaurus is accused An. U.C. 787 The Parthian Affairs Anno Ch. 37 An. U.C. 788 Poppaeus Sabinus dies The Parthian Affairs Anno Ch. 38 An. U.C. 789 The terrible Death of Agrippa The Death of Tiberius in the 78th Year of Anno Ch. 39 An. U.C. 790 his Age on the Calends of April C. Caligula succeeds him in the Empire *********** Here is a Chasm of ten Years in which the History of the whole Reign of Caligula and the first six Years of Claudius are lost The Eleventh Book contains the Occurrences of two Years Consuls Ti. Claudius 4 o and L. Vitellius 3 io A. Vitellius and L. Vipstanus VAlerius Asiaticus is overborn with false Accusations Italus the Nephew of Arminius the Leader Anno Ch. 50 An. U.C. 801 of the Cherusci by his Brother Flavius is sent into Germany Messalina Wife to the Emperor Claudius is put to Death The Twelfth Book contains the History of six Years Consuls C. Pompeius and Q. Verranius C. Antistius and M. Suilius Rufus Ti. Claudius 5 o and Ser. Cornelius Orfitus P. Cornelius Sulla and L. Salvius Otho D. Iunius Silanus and Q. Haterius M. Asinius Marcellus and M. Acilius Ariola Anno Ch. 51 An. U.C. 802 CLaudius Marries Agrippina the Daughter of his Brother Germanicus and Mother of Nero. Seneca is recalled from Banishment and made Praeceptor to Nero. C. Cassius the Lawyer Governor of Syria Lollia Paulina Banished Anno Ch. 52 An. U.C. 803 Domitius Nero Adopted by Claudius Agrippina to shew her Power to the ally'd Nations procures some Veterans and a Colony to be sent to the City of the Ubii where she was Born which from her took the Name of Colonia Agrippina now Cologne This was done 40 Years after the Defeat of Varus Charactacus King of Britain is taken by the Romans under their General P. Oftorius in the 9th Year of the British War Anno Ch. 53 An. U.C. 804 Agrippina was Daughter and Sister and Wife and Mother to the Emperor Nero is admitted to be of Age. A Famine began under Claudius of which there is mention made in the Acts of the Apostles Chap. xi Quadratus Governour of Syria The Astrologers Banished and a Decree of the Senate against the â—ewdness of Women Foelix Governor of Iudea Brother of Pallas a Freed-man who is mention'd in the xiv Chap. of the Acts of the Apostles Ventidius Cumanus Governor of Galilee Nero at sixteen Years old Marries Octavia Anno Ch.
55 An. U.C. 806 the Daughter of Claudius and makes an Oration in behalf of the Trojans and the Inhabitants of Bolonia The Emperor Claudius is Poysoned by his Wife Anno Ch. 56 An. U.C. 807 The Thirteenth Book contains the Actions of four Years Consuls Nero Claudius and L. Antistius Vetus Q. Volusius and P. Cornelius Scipio Nero Claudius Augustus 2 o and L. Calpumius Piso Nero Claudius Augustus 3 io and Valerius Messala NEro begins his Reign well Anno Ch. 57 An. U.C. 808 He removes Pallas the Freed-man He procures his Brother Britannicus to be Poysoned Nero's Lewdness Anno Ch. 58 An. U.C. 809 Pomponia Graecina accused of Christianity or Anno Ch. 59 An. U.C. 810 of Iudaism Nero's Amphitheatre Provision is made for the Security of Masters against the Attempts of their Slaves Artaxata the capital City of Armenia is taken Anno Ch. 60 An. U.C. 811 by Domitius Corbulo The Cincian Law against mercenary Pleading or against those who plead Causes for Reward Sabina Poppaea Nero's Wife who had every thing but Vertue Nero hath Thoughts of remitting all Taxes A Design of joyning the Rivers Moselle and the Arar The Catti beaten by the Hermunduri The Fourteenth Book contains the Actions of four Years Consuls C. Vipsanius and L. Fonteius Capito Nero Cladius Augustus 4 o and Cossus Corn. Lentulus C. Caesenius Paetus and C. Petronius Turpilianus P. Marius Celsus and L. Asinius Gallus Anno Ch. 61 An. U.C. 812 NEro's Incest with his Mother Agrippina Agrippina's Death Nero a Fidler and a Poet. Domitius Afer the Orator dies Anno Ch. 62 An. U.C. 813 The Olympick Games instituted at Rome A Comet Domitius Corbulo the Roman General possesses himself of Armenia Laodicea not far from Colossis is ruined by an Earthquake Anno Ch. 63 An. U.C. 814 Seventy thousand Romans slain by the Britains London famous for its Merchants and Trade The Britains a while after are beaten by Suetonius Paulinus Anno Ch. 64 An. U.C. 815 Burrus Captain of Nero's Pretorian Bands and Seneca's great Friend dies Seneca is aspersed with Calumnies Musonius the Philosopher Persius the Poet dies Novemb. 14th Nero puts away Octavia and takes Poppaea again The Death of Pallas the Freed-man The Fifteenth Book contains the History of somewhat more than three Years Consuls C. Memmius Regulus and Verginius Rufus C. Lecanius Bassus and M. Licinius Crassus P. Silius Nerva and Atticus Vestinus A War with Vologeses the King of the Parthians Anno Ch. 65 An. U.C. 816 in which Domitius Corbulo is the Roman General Poppaea hath a Daughter Tiridates is constituted King of Armenia being placed before Nero's Statue The Conflagration of Rome continues six Days Anno Ch. 66 An. U.C. 817 The Christians are fasly charged with it Nero's new House A Conspiracy against Nero. Lucan the Poet dies with courage The Consul Lateranus is put to Death Seneca receives his Death with great Constancy April 30th The Sixteenth Book contains the Actions of one Year Consuls C. Suâ—tonius Paulinus and L. Pontius Telesmus POppaea big with Child dies of a Kick which she receives from her Husband Nero in his Rage A great Plague rages at Rome Anno Ch. 68 An. U.C. 819 Ostorius Scapula is destroyed by Calumny Nero puts to Death Bareas Soranus and Thraseas He sets the Diadem on the Head of Tiridates King of Armenia ********* The History of the remaining part of this Year and of the two following Years viz. 820 821 is wanting The First Book of the History contains the Actions of a few Months Consuls Ser. Sulpicius Galba and T. Vinius IUlius Vindex Governor of the Gauls and Galba revolt The Senate declare Nero a publick Enemy who at last kills himself Anno Ch. 71 An. U.C. 822 The Emperor Galba is sent for from Spain Galba Adopts Piso. Piso is Slain the fourth Day after his Adoption Galba resumes five hundred and fifty Tuns of Gold of what Nero had given away Otho Emperor Otho kills Galba Aulus Vitellius is chosen in Germany Vitellius marches towards Italy The Second Book The Occurrences are of the same Year but new Consuls A Counterfeit Nero in Asia Vitellius enters Italy He defeats Otho in a Battle The Death of Otho Vespasian is encouraged to take upon him the Empire The Third Book contains the History of the same Year LUcilius and Caecinna desert Vitellius Vitellius's Forces are defeated by Vespasian's Cremona destroyed Vitellius is taken and put to Death The Fourth Book Part of the Occurrences are of the same Year part in the Consulship of Consuls Vespasian Aug. 2 o and Ti. Flavius Vespasian THe Senate for Vespasian Helvidius Priscus Comotions in Germany Celer condemned Anno Ch. 72 An. U.C. 823 Vespasian cures a Blind and a Lame Man The Fifth Book contains the History of that same Year TItus Besieges Ierusalem A very false Account of the Iews and their Rites The Prodigies preceeding the Destruction of Ierusalem A War in Germany BOOKS Printed for and Sold by MATTHEW GILLYFLOWER at the Spread-Eagle in Westminster-hall FOLIO'S CAbala or Mysteries of State and Government in Letters of illustrious Persons in the Reigâ—s of Henry the VIII Queen Elizabeth King Iames and King Charles The Third Edition with large Additions The Compleat Gard'ner or Directions for the right Ordering of Fruit-gardens and Kitchen-gardens with the Culture of Oranges and Melons Made English by Iohn Evelyn Esq The Compleat Horseman discovering the surest Marks of the Beauty Goodness Faults and Imperfections of Horses with the Signs and Causes of their Diseases the true Method both of their Preservation and Cure with the regular Use of Bleeding and Purging Also the Art of Shooing Breeding and Backing of Colts with a Supplement of Riding By the Sieur de Sollâ—ysell Querry to the French King Made English from the 8th Edition by Sir Iohn Hope Kt. 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of all the Magistrates except the Tribunes of the People who sometimes had the better of him At first the Dictatorship was conferr'd only on the Nobles but afterwards the Commons were admitted to it as well as to the Consulship The Dictatorship saith Machiavel deserves to be reckon'd amongst those things which contributed most to the advancement of the Roman Empire For in Republicks which are always slow in their motions because no Magistrate can dispatch any business singly and one having need of anothers agreement in their opinions the time insensibly slips away The ordinary remedies are very dangerous when they are to provide against some pressing Evil which doth not give time to wait for the Consultation of many whence I conclude that Common-Wealths which in pressing dangers have not recourse either to a Dictator or some other Magistrate of the like Nature will certainly run a-ground upon some sudden accident Heretofore the Dutchy of Brabanâ— created a Râ—vert or a Protector on whom the Province conferr'd an Absolute Power for the time The Prince of Orange got himself chosen Ruvert Anno. 1577. Cabrera c. 24. l. 11. of his Philip II. and Strada lib. 1. dec 1. Dictatorship was granted but as necessiâ—y requir'd and for some time And the Authority of the d Ten Men who govern'd the Common-Wealth instead of Consuls It was under them that the XII Tables were compos'd i. e. a Compilation of the best Laws of Greece but particularly of Athens whose Polity was esteem'd the most Excellent For all those which the Kings had made were abolish'd in hatred of Monarchy The first year each made his Table according to the several matters which fell to their lot and the Year following they made two more in common to supply what was wanting in the ten former But as they were endeavouring to perpetuate their Government which began to degenerate into Tyranny the Deâ—emvirate was abolished for Ever and the Consulship restored The Decemvirs had greater Authority than the Dictator for the Dictator could make no alteration in the ancient Laws of the City nor do any thing which was prejudicial to the State the Tribunes of the People the Consuls and the Senate who still subsisted put a Bridle upon him which kept him from breaking out of the right way saith Machiavel on the contrary the Consulship and the Tribuneship having been abolish'd by the Creation of the Decemvirs to whom the People transferred all their Rights these Ten who had their hands at liberty there remaining no appeal from them to the People had an opportunity of becoming insolent Decemvirate continu'd only for two Years 1 The surest way to preserve Liberty saith Livy is not to permit the Magistracy wherein the Supreme Authority is lodg'd to be of long duration There is no place in the World where this Maxim is so well observed as at Venice and it may be this is the chief Cause which hath made it out-live so many Ages and so many States which were more powerful than theirs and not surrounded with so many dangerous Neighbours Machiavel saith that the short Duration of the Dictatorship hinder'd the Dictator from transgressing the Bounds of his Duty Discourses lib. 1. ch 34. The Consular Power of the e The Patricii or the Nobles being at discord with the People who would have the Commons admitted to the Consulship as well as the Nobles â—ound an Expedient to create Military Tribunes in the room of the Consuls so that as often as the People and the Nobility could not agree in the Election of the Consuls they created Military Tribunes who exercised all the Military Functions A Testimony saith Machiavel Discourse l. 1. c. 34. that it was rather the Name of Consul that they hated than the Authority of the Consulship And this Custom lasted about 80 Years not in a continu'd Succession for there was sometimes of Consuls and sometimes of Tribunes Tacitus says nothing here of the Tribunes of the People who held notwithstanding a considerable Rank in the ancient Common-Wealth as having been instituted to moderate the Power of the Consuls and to protect the meaner sort against the Insolence of the Great ones besides their Persons were Sacred and Inviolable They were instituted fifty years before the Creation of Military Tribunes when the People jealous of the Power of the Nobles and weary of their Insults retired to the Crustumerin Hill call'd afterward the Sacred Hill because of the happy accommodation of this quarrel There was at first but two Tribunes of the People but a little while after there was four other and in process of time they were multiply'd to ten and the Nobility excluded from this Office which was not observed in following times C. â—â—â—inius Stolo and Sextius Lateranus put a stop to the Elections of Consuls for the space of five years and by these means the Senate was forced to admit Plebeans to the Consulship which was conâ—err'd upon them the first time in the Persons of Sextus and Liciâ—â—us Sylla the sworn Enemy of the Common People had much humbled these Tribunes but after lus Death they resumed all their Authority Military Tribunes remain'd in force but for a little space 1 All Power that is Established by Sedition as was that of these Tribunes can never subsist long Neither was the Arbitrary Dominion of Cinna or that of Sylla of any long continuance 2 Nothing is so weak and so obnoxious to a reverse of Fortune as a Power which hath neither Right nor Reason for its Foundation Cinna was sâ—ain in a Sedition by his own Soldiers and Sylla constrain'd to renounce the Dictatorship Upon which Caesar said pleasantly that Sylla could not Read seeing he knew not how to Dictate The Power of Pompey and Crassus were soon transferr'd to Iulius Caesar and the Arms of Marc Anthony and Lepidus gave place to those of his Successor Augustus Then it was that the Civil Wars having exhausted the Forces of the Common-wealth Augustus Caesar assum'd the Government 1 Ambition and the Quarrels of Great Men are the Shelves on which the Liberty of Common-Wealths are always split for the State is weakned in Proportion as particular Persons fortifie themselves by Arms under pretence of revenging their Injuries or of securing themselves against the Resentments of their Enemies or the Violence of these that are stronger And as the People suffer themselves in the end to be the Prey of their Dissentions they are constrain'd to receive an absolute Master that they may have Peace Thus Tacitus had good reason to say that the Factions of Citizens are much more dangerous in Common-Wealths and that Regal Power came not into the World but since Equality and Modesty went out of it Periculosiores sunt inimicitiae juxta libertatem In Germania Postquam exui aequalitas pro modestia ac pudore ambitio vis incedebat provenere dominationes Ann. 3. To conclude Tacitus seems to observe here that
Henry Cardinal King of Portugal died the same hour in which he was born 68 years before had finish'd his Life The number of his Consulships was extoll'd likewise which equall'd those of Valerius Corvinus and Caius Marius c Paterculus says that he was Consul eleven times and refused to be Consul any more Book 2. Chap. 89. Now Marius had been Consul seven times and Corvinus six both together that had enjoy'd the Tribunitial Power without Intermission 37 Years had been saluted Emperor d That is Victorious General or Great Captain Tacitus says that 't is an honour which Armies formerly gave to their Captains when they were over-joy'd for having gain'd a Victory So that at the same time there were many Emperors who did not take place of one another At the end of the 3 Book of his Annals one and twenty times Besides a multitude of other Honours which had been heap'd upon him or invented for him But the Politicians examin'd the conduct of his Life after another manner Some said that his filial Piety to Caesar the necessity of Affairs and the importance of the Laws had hurry'd him into a Civil War 1 We must not always ascribe to Princes the Cause of publick Evils for sometimes the Times contribute more to them than the Men. A Prince who at his accession to the Throne finds the Kingdom in disorder and upon the brink of ruine must of necessity use violent Remedies to give Life again to the Laws to root out dissentions and to set the Government upon a right foot which cou'd not possibly be manag'd with the Forms of Iustice though the Cause was honest That he had consented to many violent proceedings of Anthony and e 'T is true says Paterculus they reviv'd again the Proscription which had been begun by Sylla but this was not approved of by 〈◊〉 though being single against two he could not oppose the Fury of 〈◊〉 and Lepidus joyn'd together Lepidus 2 Sometimes Princes shut their Eyes that they may not see the Oppressions and Crimes they would be obliged to punish if their Eyes were open There are times when rigour wou'd be pâ—ejudicial to their Affairs and particularly in the midst of a Civil War when 't is dangerous to encrease the Number of Male-Contents because he had need of their assistance to revenge the Murther of his Father That Lepidus being grown Effeminate by the Sloath of a Private Life Anthony drown'd in his debauches and the Common-Wealth torn in pieces by the Discord of her Citizens there was no other Remedy left in Nature but the Government of a single Person which notwithstanding Augustus had never taken up the Title f Paterculus says that Caesar was become odious from the day he assisted at the Feast of the Lupercalia when Mark Anthony his Coleague in the Consulship put upon his Head a Royal Diadem for Caesar refused it in such a manner as shewed that though the Action was rash yet it had not much displeased him Hist. 2. Chap. 56. Besides he happen'd to say before that they must take care how they spoke to him for the future and that he meant what he said should be a Law Suetonius in his Life of King 3 A Prince ought to forbear to assume new Titles and Honours for instead of gaining by the new Power he pretends to he runs the risque of losing that which no body denied him Augustus a wise Prince was cautious of taking the Title which a Thought of only cost his Predecessor his Life or of Dictator 4 The Dictatorship being an image of the ancient Regal Power Augustus would never accept it to shew that he avoided whatsoever had made his Uncle odious Ovid makes the reign of Augustus and Romulus to oppose each other as Liberty and Sovereign Power Tiâ— domini nomen says he to Romulus principis ille gerit but contented himself to be call'd Prince of the Senate That the Empire was owing to him for being surrounded by the Ocean g The Roman Empire was bounded on the West by the Ocean on the North by the Danube and the Rhine on the East by the Euphrates and the Tygris on the South by the Mountain Atlaâ— and remote Rivers 5 The greatest Contests which happen among Princes arise upon the subject of limits especially when their Lands lie one among the others as those of the Dukes of Savoy and Mantua in Montferrat of the King of Spain and of the Dukedome of Venice in the Milaneze of the same Republick and of the Grand Signior in Dalmatia and in the Islands of the Levant On the contrary when Kingdoms are divided by the Sea by Mountains or by strong Forts which hinder a Passage Princes have less disputes with one another That the Provinces the Legions and the Naval Force were well united the Citizens obedient to the Laws the Allies in terms of dutiful respect and the Town adorn'd with stately Buildings that it was to be acknowledg'd he sometimes made use of Severity and Force but very rarely and always for preservation of the Publick Safety h Paterculus says that Augustus was resolved to refuse the Dictatorship when the People offer'd it to him Chap. 89. On the other side it was alledg'd that the boasted Piety of a Son to a Father and the Necessities of a Common-Wealth were only his pretext 6 The actions of great Princes have always been liable to the Peoples censure how wise soever they may have been the Speculative have ever been able to give probable reasons for their conduct nor do the Male-contents and the Envious ever want matter to deâ—ame them When Philip II. caused his Son Don Carlos to be arrested all the Courtiers spoke of it as their inclinations led them for the Father or the Son Some call'd him Prudent and others Severe because his Sport and his Revenge met together Cabrera Chap. 22. the 7th Book of his History Commines paints Iohn II. King of Portugal as a Cruel and Barbarous Prince because he kill'd his Coâ—in-German the Duke of Viseu and cut off the Head of the Duke of Bragance Brother to the Queen his Wife Chap. 17. of the last Book of his Memoirs On the contrary Mariana says that he was a lover of â—ustice and the Great Men of the Kingdom hated him because he seiz'd the Criminals who withdrew for shelter into their Territories and Castles And as for the Dukes of Viseu and Bragance who had both conspired against the Person of the King and his Kingdom I believe Commines would have agreed with Mariana if he more narrowly examin'd this matter Chap. 23. of the 14th Book and the 11th of the 26 Book of the History Where by the way we may observe that the Resemblance between Vice and Virtue often causes the Common People to confound and blend 'em together giving to both the Name which belongs to its contrary that through an insatiable desire of reigning he
being then a Youth and of a private Fortune had corrupted the Veteran Troops with Bribes and Donatives had rais'd an Army and debauch'd the Legions of Decimus Brutus then Consul under colour of reconciliation with Pompey's party that after he had extorted from the Senate the Ornaments and Authority of a Praetor and seiz'd on the Troops which had been commanded by Hirtius and Pansa newly slain i In the War of Modena against Anthony Hirtius and Pansa were Consuls and Augustus commanded there in quality of Propraetor Anthony was forc'd to fly and leave Italy either by the Enemy or by the Treason of this young Caesar for Pansa was thought to have been brought to his end by an envenom'd Plaister apply'd to his wound and Hirtius was slain by the hands of his own Soldiers he caused himself to be created Consul in spight of the Senate and had turn'd those arms against the Common-Wealth which he had taken up against Anthony The Proscription of so many Citizens was charg'd on him and the division of the Lands k That is That these Lands belonging to the Community could not be given to private Persons much less to the Soldiers without wronging the Publick disapprov'd even by those to whom they fell The Death of Cassius and the two Bruti l Marcus and Decimus Brutus of whom the first kill'd himself as I have already said and the other was killed by the command of Anthony A punishment he justly deserved for his ingratitude towards Caesar whom he was so hardy as to Murther at the same time he received favours from him He envy'd says Paterculus the Fortune of him who had made his and after having taken away the Life of Caesar he thought it no injustice to keep the Estate he had received from him Hist. lib. 2. Chap. 64. 'T is fit to observe by the way that of all the Murtherers of Caesar who were sixty in number there was not one of them who did not die a Violent Death nor did any of them out-live him more than three years must indeed be own'd for a just Vengeance on the Murderers of his Father m Hoc opus haec pietas haec prima elementa fuerunt Caesaris ulcisci justa per arma patrem Ovid. l. 3. Fast. Cato the Censor meeting a Young Man who came for a Decree to disgrace one of his Father's greatest Enemies See there says he how a well-bred Child ought to offer sacrifice to the Memory of his Father though still it had been more glorious for him to have sacrific'd his private hatred to the Publick Interest But the younger Pompey had been unworthily betray'd under the shadow of a pretended Peace and Lepidus by a dissembled Friendship Anthony sooth'd and lull'd asleep by the Treaties of Tarentum and Brundusium and by his Marriage with the Sister of Augustus had paid with his Life the forfeit of that fraudulent Alliance After this a Peace was of necessity to ensue but it was a bloody Peace and infamous for the punishment of the Varro's the Egnatii n Rufus Egnatius who according to Paterculus was in every thing more like a Gladiator than a Senator having form'd a Cabal of Men like himself he resolved to kill Augustus but his design succeeded no better than Lucius Murena's and Fannius Caepio's He was punished with the Accomplices of his Treason by such a Death as his detestable Life deserved and the Iulii of Rome to which succeeded the Defeats of Lollius o Marcus Lollius according to Paterculus was more careful to enrich himself than to do his duty and Varus p Quintilius Varus a Peaceable Man but heavy and more fit to command an Army in time of Peace than to make War He was so imprudent says Florus Book 4. Chap 12. as to assemble the Germans in the midst of his Camp to do them justice as if he had been able to restrain the Violence of these barbarous People with a Serpent's Wand He imagined saith Paterculus that they were plain honest People who had little more than the Shape and voice of Men and whom he could civilize by mild Laws and tame by the Forms of Iustice those who could not be subdued by the force of Arms. Segestes gave him notice of the intended revolt of Arminius but he would not believe it thinking the Germans had as much good will for him as he had for them In the mean time his Army is Surpris'd and Massacred by people whom they butcher'd before like Sheep Poor Varus more couragious to die than fight stab'd himself in Germany Neither did they spare his private Life in their discourses They reproach'd him for having forcibly taken from her Husband a Woman then with Child and for having made a Scoff of Religion by demanding of the Priests if it were lawful for him to espouse her before she was deliver'd 7 Princes often make Religion yield to their Interests whereas their Interests ought to give place to Religion Dispensations for marriages within the Degrees forbidden are become so common that 't is not any longer a matter of scruple to marry two Sisters or two Brothers Philip II. who according to Historians had so nice a Conscience was very near Marrying Elizabeth the Queen of England and Isabel the Queen-Dowager of France both his Sisters-in-Law and the latter also the Daughter of the Empress Mary his Sister and matching his Son Don Carlos with his other Sister Ioan the Princess-Dowager of Portugal alledging for a President Moses and Aaron who were the Sons of Amram by his Father's Sister Henry the Cardinal King of Portugal as devout a Priest and Arch-Bishop as he was at the age of 67 years was very earnest to obtain a Dispensation to marry the Duke of Braganza's Daughter who was but 13 years old Upon which Cabrera tells an odd Story that Don Duarte de Castelblanco advised Henry to marry and advised the Iesuits who govern'd him absolutely to make him take a Wife that was already with Child there being no hopes by reason of his Age and Infirmities that he could otherwise have Children Lib. 12. Chap. 14. Paul Piasecki saith that the Poles abhor incestuous Marriages and the Dispensations that permit them and that the Famous Iohn Zamoyski Great Chancellor of Poland who to his Death opposed the Marriage of Sigismund III. with Constance of Austria Sister to his former Wife Ann remonstrating to Clement VIII that such a Marriage was repugnant to common honesty and that the Polish Nation would never suffer this Decency to be Violated by his breeding Mares Insomuch that Sigismund was not able to procure the Dispensation he demanded till after the Death both of the Pope and the Chancellor In his Latin Chronicle ad An. 1604. I tremble saith Commines speaking of the Marriage of Ferrand King of Naples with the Sister of his own Father King Alphonso to speak of such a Marriage of which Nature there have already been several in
5 Whether this Counsel proceeded from Fear or Iealousie it was certainly good Power is not always augmented in proportion as it is extended It is often with a vast State as it is with prodigious Ships whose Burden hinders their sailing Besides there are Conquests which are burthensome because they can't be preserved It was for this Reason that Edward King of England would not hearken to the Proposals of Lewis the Eleventh who would have engaged him in the Conquest of Flanders after the Death of the last Duke of Burgundy answering That the Cities of Flanders were strong and great and the Country not easie to keep after it was conquered Memoires of Commines l. 6. c. 2. The King of Spain would gain more by giving up to France the remainder of the Low-Countries than by keeping it for besides that this Country not only brings him in nothing but costs him a great deal it would be much more Honourable to give it up voluntarily than to lose it by piece-meals after a shameful manner as it were by the Attachments of a Sergeant Pensees diverses ch or sect 40. This Counsel of Augâ—stus to shut up the Empire within its Limits crossed saith Ammirato the inviolable Maxim of the Romans who were ever endeayouring by all ways possible to enlarge their Empire but Augustus knowing by his own Experience the Evils that might ensue thence thought it his Duty to leave this Counsel to his Successors to cut up the Root both of Foreign and Civil Wars And if Tacitus gives the Name of Fear to this Advice it is because it is the part of a wise Man to â—ear that which deserves to be feared and to foresee how many Dangers he expoâ—es himself to who never ceases â—â—om invading others Commentary lib. 1. disc 6. and lib. 12. disc 1. VI. In the mean time the Senate still descending to the most abject Supplications it happen'd that Tiberius said unwarily He found himself uncapable of Governing the whole Empire but if it pleas'd them to commit some part of it to his Administration whatsoever it were he would accept it Then Asinius Gallus laying hold of the Word And what part of it O Tiberius said he wouldst thou undertake He not expecting such a Question and not having his Answer in a readiness for a while stood silent 1 Nothing gives greater Offence to a dissembling Prince such as Tiâ—erius was than to endeavour to sound his Heart or to let him see that you perceive that he dissembles We ought never to put Princes upon explaining themselves farther than they are willing when they speak obscurely it is a sign that there is some Mystery in it and consequently it is dangerous to enquire into it The Marquis of Aitone saith M. de Montresor went to visit Monsieur who kept his Bed pretending to have the Goâ—t and knew well enough that his Highness acted a Part but he made no discovery thereof by any outward shew or by any particular Act to prevent his Retreat out of the Territories of the King his Master In his Memoirs But having recover'd the use of his Reason answer'd That it was unbecoming of his Modesty to choose a Share of it when he had rather discharge himself altogether of the Burden 2 This Answer of Tiberius plainly shews that Princes do not love to be replied upon and that it is want of Respect towards them to put them to the Trial. Princes deâ—ire to be thought sincere because this conduces much to the obtaining their Ends but they will not be so Asinius who discover'd in his Countenance that he had stung him replied That the Demand which he had made tended not to the sharing of that Power which could not be divided but to draw this Acknowledgment from his own Mouth that the Commonwealth being but one Body could only be govern'd by one Soul Then after he had prais'd Augustus he desired Tiberius to remember his own Victories in War and his excellent Actions in Peace during the space of so many Years wherein he had the Management of Affairs But all this was not sufficient to make him well with the Emperour 3 The Praises which a Subject gives his Prince after he has given him Offence by Words are never a Plaister so broad as the Sore The Affronts offered Princes are irreparable because they impute the Reparations thereof to the Fear which the Offenders have of their Resentment and not to their Repentance who bore him an ancient Grudge suspecting him for having espous'd Vipsania the Daughter of Marcus Agrippa and formerly the Wife of Tiberius t Dio adds a Reason which is of yet greater weight That Asinius having married Vipsaâ—ia Drusus his Mother he looked upon Drusus as his own Son So that not being satisfied with having Tiberius's first Wife he also shared with him in his Prerogatives of a Father It looked also as if he would have had a share also in Drusus's Heart Câ—m Drusum filii instar haberet These are Dio's Words lib. 57. Lastly as Tiberius had always loved Vipsâ—nâ—â— whom he had not divorced but to please Augustus who gave him his own Daughter he could not endure that Asinius should ' enjoy this Lady who had as many good Qualities as Augustus's Daughter had bad ones as if by that Marriage he design'd to raise himself above the Condition of a private Life 4 A Prince never looks with a good Eye on him who hath married a Wife whom he hath divorced whether he divorced her out of Aversion or by Constraint for if he did it out of Aversion he looks on the Husband as a Person who hath taken her Part against him or who knows the Secrets of the Family whereof he may make an ill Use If by Constraint which was the case of Tiberius he hates the Husband as a Rival who hath enrich'd himself with his Spoils or as an ambitious Person who by the advantage of his Marriage hopes to advance his Fortunes The Honour which Asinius had of being Father-in-Law to Drusus one of the presumptive Heirs of the Empire join'd with his ambitious Spirit distinguished him too much not to raise Iealousie in Tiberius Piasecki relates that Iohn Duke of Filandia who was afterwards King of Poland was imprisoned by King Eric his Brother with his Wife Catharine Sister to Sigismund Augustus King of Poland because he seemed to have compassed this high Alliance to enable him to seize the Crown of Suedeland as their Father Gustavus had done In the beginning of his Chronicle and inherited the imperious Humour of Asinius Pollio his Father VII After this Speech Lucius Aruncius likewise offended him by another almost of the same Tenour For though Tiberius had not any old Animosity against him yet he hated him for his Riches for the Excellency of his Natural Endowments and Moral Perfections and for the Reputâ—tion which they had gain'd him with the People which was not inferiour to his Merit
1 Kings saith Salust are more aâ—raid or Men of Virtue and Merit than of ill Men. 〈◊〉 boni quâ—m 〈◊〉 suspectiores sunt sâ—mperque his 〈◊〉 virâ—us sormidâ—losa est In Calilina Tiberius was well perswaded of what Agrippa had said to Augustus That a Man of great Underâ—â—anding and great Courage could â—ot but be a Lover of Liberty and in his Heart an Enemy to an absolute Master Diâ—n lib. 52. Commines saith that Lewis the Eleventh â—eared all Men but especially those who were worthy to be in Authority Memoirs l. 6. c. 12. Besides that Augustus in one of the last Discourses which he held speaking of those who would refuse the Empire though capable of Ruling it or who would be Ambitious of it though uncapable of Governing or who at once would be capable of Governing and desirous of the Government said That Lepidus would be worthy of it without wishing for 2 A Prince can never give better sustructions to his Successor than to â—ark out what great Men he ought 〈◊〉 distrust This Knowledge is the most necessary thing to a Prince when he 〈◊〉 ascends the Throne and 〈◊〉 much the 〈◊〉 because it is in the â—â—ginning that he is most eaâ—â—â—y deceived and the great Men most 〈◊〉 to make their Atâ—â—mpts upon an Authority that is not yet well eâ—tablished In the last Counsels which David on his Death-bed gave to his Son Salomon he advised him not to let 〈◊〉 go to the Grave in peace who had 〈◊〉 two just Men Almer and 〈◊〉 to bring to the Grave with blood the hoar Head of Shimei who had dared to curse him and to causâ— the Sons of Barzillai to eat at his own Table who had â—urnished him with Provisions and other Necessaries for his whole Army when he fled before Absalom 1 Kings chap. 2. Francis the First in the last Hours of his Life advised his Son Henry not to admit the House of Lorrain to any share of the Government foretelling that the Guises would be the Ruine of the Valois Counsel that would have saved France from many Wars and Calamities had Henry the Second been wise enough to have made use of it On the contrary Philip the Second employed all those Ministers which Charles the Fifth recommended to him when he resigned the Crown of Spain and especially the Duke d'Alva the Bishop of Arras who was afterwards Granvelle Diego de Bargâ—â— Francis de Eraso and Gonzalo Peres the Father of Anthony who was so famous for his Misfortunes And this he did with so much the more success because Charles the Fifth by a secret Memoir which he had sent him had fully informed him of the true Character of their Minds and of the difference of their Interests This was a Paper of so excellent Instructions saith the Commander of Vera that if Tiberius had made thâ— like Tacitus would have given him Immortal Praises Epitâ—me of the Life of Charles the Fifth and Cabrera cap. 7. lib. 1. of his History Burnet saith that Edward the Sixth King of England wrote in a Book the Portraitures of the Lord-Lieutenants of his Counties and of the principal Magistrates of his Kingdom with all the Particulars that he was told of them Part. 2. l. 1. of his History Certainly he had in this â—ound the Secrets of knowing every thing and consequently of being well served it that Asinius would be desirous of it without deserving it that Aâ—â—untius neither was unworthy of it nor would fail to lay hold of the first Occasion 3 Ambition Merit Courage and Opportunity are all that are necessary to make a Usurper A Subject who hath been esteemed worthy to Govern by a Prince who hath excelled in the Arts of Government will always be suspected by the Successor of that Prince and which is worse will fall a Sacrifice if the Prince be of a sanguinary Temper It was never doubted but Ferdinand d'Avalos Marquis de Pesquera who commanded the Army of Charles the Fifth in Italy was disposed to accept of the Kingdom of Naples which Francis Sforsa Duke of Milain in the Name of the Pope and the Venetians offered him with the Title of Captain-General of the Italian League for he was a long time in Treaty with Ierom Moron who was this Duke's chief Minister And that he afterwards discovered all to the Emperour was an effect of the difficulty of the Enterprize rather than of his Fidelity which Charles the Fifth ever after suspected to seize it â— Concerning the two first of these 't is agreed on all Hands but some in stead of Arruntius have nam'd Cneius Piso. Certain it is that all of them excepting Lepidus perish'd afterwards by Tiberius under the supposition of several Crimes Quintus Haterius and Mamercus Scaurus incurr'd likewise the Displeasure of that suspicious Soul The first for asking him How long O Caesar wilt thou suffer the Commonwealth to be without a Head 4 Subjects cannot reproach their Prince more than to complain that the State is without a Head and consequently fallen into an Anarchy From the moment that a Prince ascends the Throne he ought to set upon Action and not to give his Subjects space to doubt whether they have a Master Anthony Perez said That the King and Kingdom make a Marriage that the King is the Husband and the Kingdom the Wife and that a Kingdom is a Widow that hath nor a laborious and vigilant King The other for saying It was to be hop'd that the Suit of the Senate would not be unprofitable because when the Consuls propos'd him to them for Emperour he interpos'd not his Tribunitial Power to resist the Motion He reprehended Haterius on the spot but he said not a Word in reply to Scaurus against whom he was more deeply u Because he discovered that all Tiberius's refusals of the Empire were not in earnest whereas Haterius seemed to be perswaded that his Refusal was sincere when he conjured him not to suffer the Commonwealth to be longer without a Head which was also an oblique way of flattering Tiberius intimating thereby that the Senate was not the Head of the Empire offended 5 Silence is the most certain sign of a deep Resentment for whereas the Mouth gives the Heart vent Silence nourishes in it Hatred and the desire of Revenge Tacitus saith that Agricola was a little too sharp in his Repâ—imands but that afterwards there remained no more in his Breast so that none had any jealousie of his Silence At length being tir'd with hearing the general Complaints and Murmurs and the Remonstrances of each Man in particular he unbent somewhat of his Stiffness not to the degree of declaring that he would accept the Empire but only as he said to put an end to their Requests 6 Most Popes use this Policy at first they seem not willing to hear any mention made of a Cardinal Nephew or of the Acquisition of Principalities or Duchies for their Kindred but
Slaves of Blesus being put to the Torture persisted to deny the Murder the General was in immediate danger of Assassination In the mean time they forc'd the Tribunes and the Praefect of the Camp to â—ly for their Safety they plunder'd their Baggage and kill'd Lucilius the Centurion to whom they had given the Nick-name of â—edo alteram because when he had broken his Baton s The Roman Soldiers were chastized with a Wand of a Vine and the Foreigners in their Service with Blowâ— of Cudgels on the Back of any Soldier he was wont to call for another to continue the Correction The rest of the Centurions absconded excepting only Iulius Clemens who was sav'd as being one who for his ready Wit was thought a proper Man to execute the Commissions of the Soldiers 2 As Soldiers commonly exercise their Hands more than their Minds and consequently understand how to Fight better than how to Speak they set a great Value upon a Man who is able to Speak well and Negotiate especially when they have Complaints to make at Court against their Generals or Favours and Rewards to sollicit which there is some difficulty to obtain There were two of the Legions the Eighth and the Fifteenth who were ready to come to Blows with one another concerning one Sirpicus a Centurion the Eighth demanding him to be produc'd and put to Death the other defending him If the Ninth had not interpos'd and partly with Prayers partly with Threatnings brought them to Reason on either side XVIII These Things coming to the knowledge of Tiberius constrain'd him as expert as he was in dissembling his Temper and concealing all ill News 1 Princes take great care to conceal ill Success from their Subjects because they have the less Veneration for them when Fortune is against them The Army of Lewis the Eleventh having taken several Towns in Burgunâ—y and defeated all the Forces that opposed them the Duke who was then in Picardy caused a Report to be spread in his Camp That his Forces had had the better for fear lest his Army should Revolt if it should know the News of Burgunâ—y Commines l. 3. c. 3. of his Memoirs But of all Evils a Sedition or a Revolt is that which Princes are most concerned to keep the Knowledge of from their Subjects because it is an Example which never stops at the place where it begins It is a Civil Contagion which spreads from Province to Province and whose Progress is so much the quicker as it finds every where many Incendiaries and very few Physicians to send away his Son with all speed to Pannonia without other Instructions than only to act according to the present Necessity and as the juncture of Affairs 2 There are knotty Affairs in which Princes cannot take certain Measures Seditions are of this Nature Severity and Mildness being equally dangerous towards People who must neither be altogether exasperated nor wholly satisfied When the Evil is pressing the best Expedient is to send them a Person of eminent Quality with Power to act according as the Occasion shall require without expecting farther Orders which would retard the conclusion of the Accommodation But Commissions of this nature ought never to be given but to Persons of approved Fidelity And it was for this Reason that Tiberius sent his Son and his Favourite to the mutinous Legions requir'd He gave for his Attendants two Praetorian Cohorts reinforc'd with a Recruit of select Soldiers with a great part of his Cavalry and the Choice of his German Guards sent in his Company the principal Men of Rome and appointed for the Governor of his Person Elius Sejanus his Favourite 3 When a Prince gives a Governor to his Son he ought to chuse a Man of Authority to the end that the young Prince may have an Awe and Respect for him Education saith Cabrera is the Source of all the good and bad Qualities of a Prince and consequently of the good or bad Fortune of his Subjects For want of good Education the Prince in stead of being the Father and the Shepherd of his People becomes the publick Scourge and the universal Plague The inward Counsel of a Prince comes both from Education and Nature which opens the first Windows to the Understanding and displays there more or less Light according to the disposition of the Constitution which gives the first Lineaments to the Manners and Actions ... A Prince's Son is born with no more Understanding than a common Man's he is a Diamond that is hard to cut but which casts a great Lustre after it is polished l. 4. c. 2. of his History Mariana â—aith That Peter King of Castile Sirnamed The Cruel had a mixture of great Virtues and of great Vices that at his Accession to the Throne which was at the Age of fifteen Years and a half he shewed a Mind a Courage and Qualities which gave great Hopes that his Body was indefaâ—â—gable and his Courage invincible in all Difficulties but that with these Virtues there began to appear Vices which Age encreased and Time multiplied and which were owing to the ill Education which he had had under Aâ—phonso d'Albuquâ—rquâ— the Governour of his Childhood Insomuch that his Reign almost in every thing resembled Nero's for he put to Death two of his Natural Brothers with their Mother his Wife Blanche of Bourbon to gratifie his Concubine the Queen of Arragon his Aunt by the Mother's side the Infant Iohn of Arragon his Cousin-German Ioan of Lara his Sister-in-Law and many more Princes and Lords c. 16 c. l. 16 17. of his History of Spain then Praefect of the Praetorium t This Office was new having been created by the Emperors Some are of Opinion that the Praefectus Praetorio was much the same with the Magister Equitum or the General of the Horse under the ancient Common-wealth For as this General held the first Place after the Dictator to whom he was properly Lieutenant the Praefectus Praetorio was the second Person of the Empire especially after Seâ—anus thought fit to lodge in one Camp all the Praetorian Cohorts or Companies of Guards which were before dispersed in several Quarters of the City Tacit. ann 4. Mâ—de 〈◊〉 speaks properly in saying That he was as the Constable of the Empire His Authority grew so great that there was no Appeal from his Iudgments whereas there lay an Appeal from those of the Consuls to the People when Rome was a Commonwealth In the Year 1631 Urban the Eighth having created his Nephew Dom Tade Barberino Praefect of Rome this Lord by virtue of this new Dignity which was but a Phantom of the Ancient would have the Precedency of Ambassadors to Solio and Collegue to his Father Strabo in that Office Employ'd particularly on this Occasion to promise Rewards to those who should submit and threaten Punishments to such as should persist in their Rebellion On the approach of Drusus to the
old Camp The Sedition was begun by them there was no Crime so heinous which they had not committed and to compleat their Villany they were still for pushing on their Fury to the utmost nothing frighted with the Punishment of some nothing mov'd with Remorse or with the Penitence of others Germanicus therefore gave his Orders to prepare Vessels on the Rhine resolving to terrifie them into Duty in case they persisted in their Disobedience XXXIX The News of this Revolt amongst the Legions being come to Rome before the Event of the other in Pannonia was known the City struck with Fear began to murmur against Tiberius accusing him that while he by his artificial Delays and Dissimulations was still imposing on the People and the Senate which were both of them unarm'd and without Power in the mean time the Soldiers were raising a Rebellion They said that the two young Princes for want of Knowledge and Authority could not hold the Armies in Obedience It was his Duty to go in Person thither and oppose the Majesty of the Empire to the Mutineers who would never dare to make Head against a Prince of consummate Wisdom and Experience and who alone had their Life and Death at his Dispose that Augustus in his declining Age and languishing with Sickness had taken many Iourneys into Germany and that Tiberius now in the Vigour of his Years led a sedentary Life at Rome and employ'd his Time in cavilling at the Expressions of the Senators that he very sufficiently provided for domestick Slavery that it was now incumbent on him to restrain the License of the Soldiers and teach them how to behave themselves in Peace 1 Soldiers cannot love Peace because it confounds them with the Citizens and subjects them to the Laws from which they set themselves at liberty with Impunity in time of War Militares artes per otium ignotae industriosque ac ignavos pax in aequo tenet Ann. 12. The Citizens saith Sir W. Temple pretend to live in safety under the Protection of the Laws which the Soldiers would subject to their Sword and to their Will Chap. of his Remarks on the United Provinces XL. Tiberius was unmov'd at these e Fabius Maximus whose Method was not to fight slighted those envious Persons who in a Ieer called him The Temporiser and Hannibal's Paedagogue saying That it was greater Cowardice to fear the Iudgments of the People than to fear the Enemy But all Captains saith Livy l. 4. have not that strength of Mind which Fabius had who would rather unjustly suffer the diminution of his Authority than do otherwise than what was his Duty to gain the Approbation of the People Seneca saith That there is nothing more ridiculous than a Man who stands in fear of what others will say of him Nil sâ—ultius est homine verba metuente Contradiction in stead of Shoâ—king doth but fortifie and â—arden a resolved Mind Discourses 1 An able Prince ought not to take his Measures from what the People say who always speak by a Passion Non ex ruâ—â—ore statuendum Ann. 3. It is a good Commendation which Tacitus gives Tiberius that he was always a great Enemy to the Reports of the Town Tiberium speruendis Rumâ—ribus validum An. 3. So that Paterculus ought not to be suspected of Flattery in saying That he was an excellent Iudge of what he ought to do and that he embraced not what the Multitude did approve but what they ought to approve For saith he he was more concerned for his Duty than for his Reputation and the Army never directed the Counsels and the Designs of the General but the General always gave Laws to his Army Ch. 113 115. Amiâ—ato saith That Princes who disquâ—et themselves with the Iudgments of the People fall into the same Error with those who scruple certain Things which are not sinful for as the Scrupulous sin by the Opinion which they have of sinning altho they have not sinn'd so Princes who are concerned to hear the People blame what they have done or are doing with good Counsel and thorough Information shew that they have not acted upon certain Principles but by false Prejudices Disc. 7. of l. 3. A Baron of Chevreau who served in Flanders under the Duke of Alva perceiving that the Duke would not hazard a Battel which the Officers judged convenient to fight threw his Pistol in Anger on the Ground saying The Duke will never fight To whom the Duke who had heard him answered That he was pleased to see the Desire which the Soldiers had to fight the Enemy because their Profession required it but that â— General ought to consider nothing but conquering It is ordinary for Soldiers saith the Author who furnishes me with this Example to desire to â—ight to get Reputation by shewing their Courage but the Repuâ—atâ—on of Generals depends upon knowing how to conquer without losing a Soldier if it be possible and consequently not to fight unless they are invited to it by the Necessity of relieâ—ing a Place or by a most certain Advantage Thus they ought never to comply with the Will of the Soldiers if Reason doth not absolutely require it for a Captain hath never suffer'd himself to be prevail'd on by the Discourses and Importunities of his Army but he hath been afterwards beaten by his Enemies Bernard de Mendoza's Memoirs l. 4. c. 11. having fix'd his Resolutions not to leave the Seat of Empire 2 The capital City of a Kingdom according to Tacitus is the Centre and Helm of Affairs Caput Rerum and consequently the Prince's Presence is most necessary there especially in the beginning of a Reign If the Great Pompey had not left Rome where he was the strongest Caesar would have had a great Difficulty to have entred it Philip the Second consulting in his Council Whether he should go into Flanders Don Iohn Manriqua de Lara said wisely That the War being in a remote Country the King ought not to leave the Heart of his Kingdom whence issued out the Strength and the Preservation of all the other Parts Gabrera's Philip the Second l. 7. c. 7. In the Year 1591 the City of Saragossa having made an Insurrection against him about the Privileges of the Tribunal which they call El Iustitia he would never go thither although the People of Madrid and several even of the Grandees aggravated the Danger and when they had reported to him what every one said of him on this Occasion he answered That it was not agreable to the Grandeur of the Monarchy that the Prince for a rebellious City should quit that whence he gave Motion to his whole Empire Herrera's Second Part of his History l. 7. c. 20. No Reason of State nor of War saith Cabrera requires that a King should hazard his Person because neither Vigilance nor Fortune are sufficient Guarantees for the Safety of Princes who ought not to ground their Deliberations on the
was left to him that Henry the Third nourished Vipers in his Bosom that if he any longer deferred the Remedy of the Evils which threatned him he would see his Fault when it was too late It is worth observing by the way that Coloma himself believed that the Duke of Guise had sold himself to the King of Spain when he saith That the Commander Iohn Morâ—o who managed the Money which Philip the Second distâ—ibuted in France so entirely gained this Duke that he became wholly Spanish L. 3. of the same History and above all by giving them their Discharge so soon Yet he was not wanting to relate to the Senate his Exploits and to give large Commendations to his Valour but in Terms too much affected and labour'd to be thought sincere q It was his Desire that they should believe that he exceeded in the Praises of Germanicus thereby to lessen all the great Things which he had said of him Pessâ—mum inimicorum genus laudantes He spoke more sparingly of Drusus and of the Success of his Voyage into Illyria but it was with more Frankness and more Love and besides he order'd the same Conditions to be made for the Legions in Pannonia which Germanicus had granted to his own XLVI In the same Year died Iulia the Daughter of Augustus r Iulia saith Paterculus utterly forgetting that she was Augustus's Daughter and Tiberius's Wife gave herself up to all manner of Debaucheries which a Woman was capable of how shameful and infamous soever She measured the Greatness of her Fortune by Licentiousness and Impunity Her Adulterers were Iulius Antonius the Son of Mark Anthony and Husband of Marcella Augâ—stus's Niece Quintius Crispinus Appius Claudius Semproâ—ius Gracchus and Scipio besides some others of less Quality Hist. 2. c. 100. She had four Children by Agrippa her second Husband three Sons and one Daughter who inherited her Name and her Manners Sueton saith That when she was the Wife of Marcâ—llus she had a great Passion for Tiberius as it is the way of Coâ—ueâ—s and lewd Women always to love another better than their own Husband Seneca saith That Augustus perceiving too late the Error he had committed in publishing the Infamy of his Daughter by banishing her said with Grief That all this would not haâ—e 〈◊〉 him iâ— Agrippa or 〈◊〉 had been alive whom for her Incontinence he had formerly confin'd to the Isle of Pandataria s Now Pianosa in the Bay of Poâ—zzoli and afterwards to Rhegium near the Coast of Sicily During the Life of Caius and Lucius Agrippa her Sons she had been given in second Marriage to Tiberius whom she despis'd as a Man below her Quality 1 Unequal Marriages are almost always unfortunate especially those of Gentlemen with Princesses of the Royal Blood For commonly these Princesses will make up this Inequality at the Expence of the Honour or the Estate of their Husbands And it is of them that it is truly said That Majesty and Love never dwell together Add hereto that the infinite Respect which they exact upon the account of their Rank is insupportable to Husbands who have reason to be highly displeased at Irregularities which they dare not take notice of We ought therefore to observe the Precept of the Wise Man of Greece who advises not to marry a Wife of too great Riches or too high a Birth for fear of having a Master in stead of a Companion or as an old Poet said wittily for fear of meeting with a Husband in stead of a Wife and this was the principal Occasion of the Retirement of Tiberius to Rhodes But when he succeeded to the Empire not content to behold her banish'd dishonour'd and by the Death of Agrippa Posthumus depriv'd not only of all Hopes but of all Support he caus'd her to die in Want and Misery imagining that the distance of the Place to which she was banish'd would hide the manner of her Death Sempronius Gracchus was likewise slain on her Account Gracchus who was of a ready Wit and Eloquent with Cunning and Insinuation had debauch'd Iulia during her Marriage with Agrippa and his Gallantry with that Lady ended not with her first Husband's Death for he continu'd her perpetual Adulterer even after her Marriage with Tiberius He was continually provoking her against her Husband and encourag'd her to Disobedience It was also thought that he was the Author of those Letters which she writ to her Father against Tiberius and which occasion'd his Disgrace For these Reasons he was confin'd to an African Island call'd Cercina where he remain'd in Exile 14 Years He was found by the Soldiers who were sent to kill him on a Prominence at a little distance from the Shore and presaging no Good from their Arrival He desir'd some little Time to write his Last Will to his Wife Alliaria after which he freely offer'd them his Head A Constancy not unworthy of the Sempronian Name though he had degenerated from it by the Voluptuousness of his Life 2 Men are never throughly known till their Deaths All the Stains of a Voluptuous and Irregular Life are effaced by a Generous Death The Count de Chalais did himself as great Honour by his Death at which he called upon God to the Twentieth Stroke of the Thirty six that he received from the Executioner's Hand an extraordinary Thing as the Disorders of his Life and his Conspiracy against the King had dishonoured him Letters of the 19th of August 1626. Tome I. of the Memoirs of Cardinal Richelieu Don Rodrigo Calderon the Favourite of Philip the Third King of Spain by the Heroick Constancy of his Death turned the Hatred under which he lay into Esteem and Compassion Savadra Empr. 33. Un bel morir saith Petrarch tutta la vita honora Some have written that those Soldiers were not sent from Rome but from Lucius Asprenas Proconsul of Africa on whom Tiberius thought in vain to have cast the Odium of that Murder 3 How desirous soever Princes are to throw upon others the Hatred of the violent Resolutions which are executed against Great Men they are always believed to be the Authors thereof when they let those Persons go unpunished who have put them in execution After that Peter the Cruel had secretly put to Death Iohn Nugnez de Prado Grand Master of Calatrava this King saith Mariana expressed Grief for it to avoid the Hatred and the Insamy which would be upon him by the unjust Death of a Lord whose greatest Crime was his Friendship with a disgrac'd Favourite But when he made no inquiry and consequently inflicted no Punishment for so horrid a Fact the whole Kingdom believed that what all Pâ—â—ple before suspected of the King was a Truth which admitted of no Doubt History of Spain lib. 16. cap. 18. XLVII This Year was also made Remarkable by the Institution of new Ceremonies for there was establish'd at this time a College of Priests in Honour of Augustus in
la Ferte-Senecterre their Iealousie rendred the fairest Enterprizes abortive but from the time that the former was got rid of his Companion who put every thing to hazard Fortune always â—avoured him wanting Moderation in their good Fortune and Courage in their bad Arminius and Inguiomer retir'd out of the Battle the first untouch'd the last desperately wounded The Slaughter lasted all the Day and at the shutting of Evening the Legions return'd into their Camp many of them being hurt and all without Victuals yet well contented finding in their Victory Health and Vigour and large Provision of whatsoever they desir'd LXIII In the mean time a Report was spread that the Romans were defeated and that the Germans were descending upon Gaul And they were on the point of breaking down the Bridge upon the Rhine if Agrippina had not oppos'd her Courage to the Cowardise of those who had advis'd so infamous an Action During the time of that Consternation she discharg'd all Duties of a General a In the Siege of Tournay ann 1581 Mary of Lalain Princess of Epinoy being not contented incessantly to exhort the Soldiers and the Burghers to a vigorous defence against the Duke of Parma and the Spaniards she so valiantly exposed herself that she had her Arm broken by the Shot of an Arquebuss of which she died the Year following Thus this Lady made good the Character which Commines gives of her Family 〈◊〉 Philip de Lalain saith he was of a Race of which there have been few who have not been valiant and have almost all died in 〈◊〉 their Princes in War Memoirs l. 1. c. 2. Ann. 1595 the Lady De Bâ—â—â—gny Wiâ—e of the Lord of Cambray performed the Dâ—â—y of a Captain and oâ— a private Soldier in the defence of this Town againâ—t the Spaniards Night and Day she went to visit the Sentinâ—â—s and to observe the Battery â—he wrought on the Fortifications she diâ—charged the Cannon with her Pike in her Hand she exposed herselâ— to all Dangers and braved the Spaniaras and would not hear of a Capitulation Which might have succeeded if her Husband had not been so odious to the City over which he tyrannized without Pity Herrera calls this Lady another 〈◊〉 another Vâ—rulana Hist. part 3. l. 11. c. 16. Don Câ—râ—os Coloma l. â— of 〈◊〉 Wars of Fâ—anders she reliev'd the poor Soldiers she supply'd the Sick with Remedies 1 It is not one of the least Praises of a General to take care of the â—ealth and Lives of his Soldiers As there is nothing so Valuable as Life so there is no Benefit whereof Men have a more grateful Sense than of it especially Soldiers who are exposed to more Dangers than all the rest of Mankind The Spanish Commentator on Commines saith That the Soldiers set upon the Tomb of a certain Captain who died at Milain the Words of the Creed Qui propter nos propter nosâ—ram salutem descendit 〈◊〉 infâ—ros The Spaniards adds he gave not this Praise to the Prince of Parma in Flanders for whilst his Army was in want of every thing he must not want Mules to â—etch Spaw-Waters for his Baths Ch. 9. l. 6. and provided Clothes for those who were perishing with Cold. Caius â—liâ—ius who has written the History of these Wars says That she stood on the entry of the Bridge to praiâ—e and thank the Legions as they pass'd along All which Proceedings made a deep Impression of Discontent and Melancholy on the Soul of Tiberius He strongly suspected that this Over-Diligence and Care could not possibly be innocent 2 In the Opinion of Livy Civility and Liberality are never free in a great Fortune The Prince can't look upon a great Man who studies to gain the People's Affections but as a Rival who would steal from him the Hearts of his Subjects that he may afterwards deprive him of their Obedience Henry the Third saith a Politick Spaniard one Day ask'd his Confidents this Question What doth the Duke of Guise do thus to charm the People's Hearts Sir said a cunning Courtier he gives with both Hands and when it is not in his Power to grant what they desire he supplies it with Words Let them invite him to a Wedding he goes to a Funeral he assists at it to be Godfather to a Child he accepts it He is affable caressing and liberal he carries it fair to all People and speaks ill of none in short he reigns in their Hearts as your Majesty doth in your Territories Gracian's Heroes ch 12. Of all that Don Pâ—dro Giron Duke of Ossen did to continue himself in he Viceroyship of Naples and to hinder the Cardinal Gaspar Borgia from taking Possession of it nothing rendred him more suspected or rather more criminal than what he did after the arrival of the Cardinal to Prochira an Isle near Naples Having assembled the common People he threw among them abundance of Money and when he had no more left he pull'd off the Gold Buttons which he had on his Clothes and a Girdle of Diamonds and after that by an extravagant Liberality he also threw his Hat and his Cloke to them imploring the Assistance of this Multitude against a Priest who he said was not fit to govern a Kingdom of which the Pope had a desire to possess himself Conjuratio Ossuniana 1612 1620. at the bottom that it was not against Foreigners that Agrippina thus fortifi'd herself with the Favour of the Soldiers that the Generals might now securely take their Ease when a Woman could perform their Office take Reviews of the Legions march amidst the Roman Ensigns and their Eagles and make Donatives to the Soldiers How could it be without Design that her little Son was carried round the Camp in the plain habit of a private Soldier that she caus'd him to be Sirnam'd Caligula That she had already more Authority in the Army than all the Generals 3 Tiberius transgressed through Distrust and Iealousie but Agrippina through Imprudence for she better remembred whence she descended and whose Wife she was than whose Subject The same Commentator on Comminus saith That Distrust is wont to take away the Iudgment of Women but that on the contrary it gives Iudgment to Princes and improves it that it is a Passion that absolutely masters Ladies whereas it is a Quality that is absolutely necessary to Kings Witness Edward the Fourth King of England who according to Commines was driven out of his Kingdom by the Earl of Warwick because he always lived withou Suspicion Chap. 1. of the Commentary let E. and ch 5. of l. 1. of the Memoirs since she had appeas'd a Mutiny where the Name of the Emperour had been of no Consideration 4 Great Services draw Calamities on those who perform them especially when they are Men whose Birth Courage or Merit gives Iealousie to the Prince The younger Pliny saith That it is seldom seen that a Prince loves those to whom he
three Muâ—al and fourteen Civick had never but one Obâ—idional Crown The Civick was of Oak or Holm and was given for saving the Life of a Citizen and killing him who was going to take it away The Mural and the Camp or Trench Crâ—â—m was given to those who first mounted the Breach or Forced the Enemy's Camp Which was represented by Battlements or Pallisadoes engraved on these Crowns They who obtain'd an Ovation i. e. The lesser Triumph wore a Myrtle Crown on their Heads Paterculus saith that Agrippa Son-in-Law to Augustus was the first Roman who was honoured with a Naval Crown Hist. 2. Ch. 87. This sort of Crown had for distinction the Beaks of Ships engraved round it whence it was called Corona 〈◊〉 The Romans saith Cobrera used Crowns of Grass and Wood and rings of Iron to exclude mercenary rewards by separating Profit from Glory and to engrave the Love of Virtue on their Hearts with the graving Instrument of Honour Ch. 12. of the 8th Book of his History Rewards of this kind saith a Modern Author have no bounds because the Royal Power is a Fountain whence new Honours and new Dignities incessantly spring as Rays of Light every moment emane from the Sun which are so far from exhausting that they increase its light Chap. 9. of the Politicks of France and other Military Hâ—nours 1 It is not the matter of the Gift which is regarded in these rewards but the Opinion which Men have of them Their Esteem is not paid to the Mettal of the Collar of the Crown or of the Cross but to the Reason for which they are given Thus it signifies little whether these Exterior Marks be of Gold Silver Brass Wood or Stuff These are Arms of Inquest which by exciting the Curiosity of those that see them draw Respect and Admiration on him that wears them T. Labienus having given Golden Bracelets a Military Gift which Soldiers wore on the left Arm to a Trooper who had perform'd some great actions Scipio said to this Trooper for whom he had a great Esteem You have the share of a rich Man as much as to say You have not the share of a Soldier The Trooper blushing at this Raillery went and threw this Present at the Feet of Labienus after which Scipio his General having sent him Bracelets of Silver he esteem'd himself highly honour'd therewith An instance that it is easie for Princes to reward their Soldiers and Servants â—t a Cheap Rate and that brave Men set a Greater Value upon that which honours them than upon that which enriches them Sebastian King of Portugal presenting a Sword set with precious Stones to the young Duke of Pastrana the Son of Ruy Gomez de Silva Prince of Eboli this Duke who was but fifteen years old immediately unsheath'd it and touching the Blade without regarding the precious Stones said It is very good Cabrera Chap. 10. Lib. 11. of his Philip II. To conclude Princes give what value they please to things and Iron and Lead are more precions in their hands when they know how seasonably to make use of them than Gold is in the hands of Subjects If the shameful Hair of a Lady of Bruges hath served for the Occasion and Institution of an Order of which the Kings of Spain and the Emperors of Germany think it a Glory to wear the Collar what is there so Base and Vile which may not furnish Princes with an inexhaustible Fund wherewith to recompence Great Men. which Armenius ridicul'd as base prizes of Slavery X. Whereupon they begin to be hot Flavius extols the Roman Grandeur and the Power of the Emperor His Severity towards those that are Conquer'd and his Clemency towards those that submit and that his Wife and his Son were well treated Arminius on the other hand insists on the Rights of his Countrey their ancient Liberty the Tutelar Gods of Germany and adds that it was their common Mother's request as well as his own that he would at last chuse rather to be the General of his own Nation than the Deserter and the Traytor of it They proceeded by degrees to bitter reproaches 1 The Interviews of Great Men do rather exasperate than sweeten their Spirits for there is always something said either by themselves or by those that accompany them whence they take an occasion to part Enemies and had certainly come to blows notwithstanding the River was betwixt them had not Stertinius ran and held Flavius who in a Rage 2 Even those who have renounc'd their Honour and who glory in their Wickedness are offended when they are call'd Traytors Flavius had patiently endur'd the cutting Raillery of Arminius who had reproach'd him with being a Slave of the Romans irridente Arminio vilia servitii pretia but so soon as his Brother call'd him Traytor he could no longer dissemble and had it not been for Stertinius who stopt him by main force he was going to revenge the Affron I cannot omit here the Answer of one Iohn Bravo when he was on the Scaffold to be beheaded at these Words of the Sentence a estâ—s Cavalleros por traidores which the Executioner pronounc'd with a loud Voice he cry'd out You Lie in that and all those who make you say it A Heat which did not indeed discover a Contrite Heart but it shew'd at least one that was but little stained with the Guilt of Treason Which are the words of Don Iuan Antonio de Vera in the Epitome of the life of Charles the Fifth call'd for his Horse and Arms. Arminius on the other side with a Menacing Countenance was heard to Challenge us to a Battel for he spake several words in Latin having formerly serv'd in the Roman Army as a Commander of some Auxiliaries of his own Nation XI The next Day the German Army was drawn up in Battel on the other side of the Weser Germanicus thinking it not prudence in a General to hazard the Legions 1 A good General ought never to hazard a Battel till he hath put all things in good order To begin to be in a Condition not to be Conquer'd is to begin to Conquer Lewis XI saith Commines understood this Point very well He was slow in Undertaking but when once he undertook he took such care for every thing that it was a very great chance if he did not succeed in his Enterprize Lib. 2. Cap. 13. Prosper Colonna and the Duke of Alva who took him for his Patern would never give their Enemies Battel till they were sure of gaining it Ste thâ— first Note of the 40th Article of the first Book Henry the IV. having sent to demand Battel of the Dukes of Parma and Maine the first answered the Herald they are the Words of Chancellor de Chiverny that the King of Spain had sent him to prevent the Alteration of the Catholick Religion in France and to raise the Siege of Paris As for the Former he had already done it and for the Latter
the Tiberius of our Kings obtain'd his ends of the King of England and the Dukes of Normandy of Britany of Burgundy and of the Dutchess of Savoy who were all in a Confederacy against him by as many Particular Treaties which baâ—â—led all their ill designs After the Death of the Duke of Burgunay he Re-united to his Crown Peronne Mondidier Roie Arras Hesdin and Boâ—logne by gaining the Lord of Cordes who was Governor thereof And Coâ—â—â—ines saith that he could not in a long time have done thaâ— by Force which he did by secret ln telligence by the means of this Lord Lib. 5. Cap. 15. 16. And of all the Persons that I ever knew Lewis XI was the most dextrous in getting himself out of the Briars in times oâ— Adversity and in gaining to his interest a Man that could serve or hurt him Lib. 1. Cap. 10. It was by this way that he oblig'd the Sigambri p The People of Guelderland and Friesâ—and to submit the Suâ—vi and King Marobodâ—â—s to accept a Peace That now the Romans were reveng'd and their Honour repair'd the Cherusci and the other rebellious Nations might be securely left to worry one another by Domestick Quarrels Germanicus desiring one Year more to compleat his Undertaking 3 Iealous and Suspicious Princes as Tiberius was had rather lose a certain Good than to be oblig'd for it to a Captain whose Glory gives them jealousie They love Conquests very well but commonly they cannot enduâ—e the Conquerors Cardinal Richelieu said that there is no Prince in a worse Condition than â—e who instead of governing himself with respect to the Publick Interests hath Passion for his Guide and who being not able always to do himself the things which he is obliged to is uneasie to let them be done by another and that to be capable to suffer himself to be served is not one of the least Qualities which a great King can have Chap. 6. de la 1 partie de son Testament Pol. Observe by the way the Malignity of Tiberius He calls Germaniâ—us to the Enjoyment of the Consulship and to the Honour of a Triumph before he had compleated the Conquest of Germany to turn that into Grace and Favour to him which he was upon the Point of meriting under the Title of a Reward By this advance he chang'd the Obligation and would have that appear to be the Effect of Paternal Kindness which was Tyrannical injustice Tiberius more briskly attacks his Modesty with the Offer of a New Consulship which he was to execute at Rome in Person adding That if the War should continue he ought to leave it as a Scene of Glory for his Brother Drusus who now the Empire had no other Enemies could not acquire the Title of Imperator nor merit a Triumph unless in the German War 4 Thus Princes endeavour to justifie their Resolutions by specâ—ous Reasons notwithstanding they have power to command absolutely Modesty serves for a Cover of the Injustice Germanicus press'd it no farther though he knew well enough 5 The more insight we have into the Thoughts of Princes the less we ought to discover it for nothing offends them more than to shew them that we are more cunning than themselves Part of our respect saith Tacitus consists in feigning that we understand nothing of their Artifices Intelligebantur artes sed pars obsequii in â—o ne depreâ—enderentur Hist. that these were no other than specious Pretences and that he was recall'd through Envy when he was at the very Point of accomplishing his glorious Enterprizes q Philip II. of Spain a Prince who had much of Tiberius in him dealt almost in the same manner with his Brother Don Iohn of Austria in giving the Command of the Army in the War of Grenada to Don Lewis Fejarâ—o Marquis of Vâ—lez under colour of â—asing Don Iohn who had the whole weight of the Government of this Kingdom upon him but in truth to take out of his hands the Glory of reducing the Rebels which were already much weakned Dâ—â—go de Mendoza Cap. â— Lib. 3. of the War of Grenada XXVII About the same time Libâ— Drusus of the Family of the Scribonii was accus'd of a Conspiracy against the Government I shall give an exact Account of the Rise Progress and Issue of this Affair because this was the first time those pernicious Practices were set on foot which for a long time after afflicted the State and prey'd on the very Vitals of it Firmius Catus a Senator and an intimate Friend of Libo puts this imprudent Young-man who was apt enough to be amused with vain Hopes r Monsieur de Cinqmars Grand-Ecuier of France much resembled Libâ— but with this Difference that Libo was ruin'd by the Treachery of his Confident whereas Monsieur de Cinqmars ruin'd his Confident Monsieur 〈…〉 a Man of as great Virtue as Caâ—us was of Villâ—â—y upon trinketting with Astrologers Magicians and Interpreters of Dreams 1 The Predictions of Astrologers and Fortune-tellers have in all times been fatal to Great Men who havâ— given credit to them for either they have render'd them suspected to their Prince as Persons who build their hopes on Revolutions and Opportunities which they wait for or they have engaged them in Unfortunate Enterprizes of which they would have never dreamt if their Credulity had not blinded them Mariana relates a remarkable Instance of this in Don Diego Duke of Viseu who being at the Head of a Conspiracy against Iohn II. King of Portugal had the Confidence or rather Rashness to go to the King who sent for him being persuaded that he should escape so great a Danger because it had been predicted to him that he should reign and that if the King seized him he should be succour'd in the very nick of time by all the Great Men that were engag'd in the Conspiracy But he was mistaken in his reasoning for the King stabb'd him with his own hand saying to him Go and tell the Duke of Braganza the issue of the Plot which he laid Whereupon Mariana concludes with the Words of Tacitus That Astrologers are a Generation of Men â—it only to abuse Great Persons by Vain and Flattering Promises who have and always will find Belief and Applause in all Countrys notwithstanding their Lies are so common and so well known to all the World Lib. 24. Cap. ult of his History 'T is true saith Father Paul these Predictions sometimes come to pass by Chance or by some other secret Cause but most commonly they are the Cause that a great many Credulous People run themselves upoâ— ruine Hist. of the Council of Trent Lib. 5. To conclude it looks as if God permitted Great Men to be beset by Astrologers to humble them for he hath always sent them so many Disgraces and Afflictions as these Raâ—cally Cheats have promised them Grandeurs and Successes These study only to make them Prognosticks which set them above the
his Son Iohn III had a great many Children The Family of Valieri at Venice is as they say a Branch of the ancient Family Faliers which changed the first Letter of their Name to shew that they detested and execrated the Memory of the Doge Marin Falier who was beheaded for attempting to make himself Sovereign of the State Pomponius Flaccus that a Publick Day of Thanksgiving might be appointed for this Deliverance Lucius Publius Gallus Asinius Papius Mutilus and Lucius Apronius that an Oblation might be made to Iupiter to Mars and to Concord and that the 13th of September being the Day on which Libo kill'd himself might be observ'd as an Anniversary Festival I have given the Names and the Flattering Opinions of these Men to shew that this is no new Evil in the Common-Wealth The Senate also made a Decree to banish Astrologers and Magicians out of Italy of which number Lucius Pituanius was thrown headlong from the Tarpeian Stone Publius Martius according to the ancient Custom s Which was to whip the Criminal before his Head was cut off was executed without the Esquâ—line Gate the Consuls having first pronounced Sentence on him with sound of Trumpet XXXIII In the next Assembly of the Senate Q. Haterius who was a Consular Person and Octaviâ—s Fronto who had been Praetor spoke much against the Luxury of the City and a Decree pass'd that for the time to come none should be serv'd at their Tables in Vessels of Massy Gold nor should Men wear t A very Rich and Costly Silk much different from ours in which the Great Men of Rome so magnificent in their Habits would have thought themselves poorly clad Indian Silk Fronto went farther and mov'd that Silver Plate Furniture and the Number of Servants should be regulated by sumptuary Laws for it was yet customary for the Senators to propose any thing else which they thought for the Good of the State as well as to give their Opinion on the Matter already propos'd Gallus Asinius oppos'd this saying That the Empire being enlarg'd the Wealth of Private Persons was also proportionably Encreas'd and that this was no new thing but agreeable to the Manners of our Ancestors There was quite another manner of living in the Age of the Scipio 's than what had been in that of the Fabricii and yet both suitable to the Condition of the Common-Wealth at those several times When That was little the Romans liv'd in little Houses but after that was raised to such a pitch of Glory it was but fit that its Citizens should make a greater Figure That there is no way to determine what is Excess or Moderation in Plate Equipage and in those things which are for the conveniency of Life but from the Riches of the Possessor That the Laws had made a Distinction betwixt the Revenues of Senators and Knights not for any natural difference that was betwixt them but that those who were in the greatest Places and highest Stations might be best accommodated with every thing that might contribute to the Satisfaction of the Mind or the Health of the Body 1 It is but just that Princes who have so great Cares and such laborious Employs should have Diversions in proportion to their Toyls that there may be such a Consort betwixt the Mind and the Body that one might not be a Burthen to the other The nature of Affairs of State saith M. the Cardinal de Richelieu so much the more requires an unbending of the Mind as the weight thereof is heavier than that of all other Affairs and the strength of the Mind and the Body being limited continual labour would in a little time exhaust them It allows all sorts of honest Diversions which do not take off the Persons who make use of them from those things whereunto they ought principally to apply themselves The first Part of his Politick Testament Sect. 5 Ch. 8. But it is not with the Pleasures of Princes as with those of the Common People it is their Mind that measures them and not their Body They keep a certain Mean by the help of which the Mind grows stronger and more vigorous in not applying themselves either to any business or pleasures but such as are necessary to maintain a good Habit of Body and consequently to continue still Princes For in effect they are not so when Health fails them seeing that Affairs are not dispatch'd Audiences not given their Designs broken or suspended and every thing is at a stand upon the failure of the first Movement Whereupon follow Complaints Murmurings Change of Minds Tyranny in the Ministers and Despair in the Subjects In short nothing is wanting to a Prince who hath Health since without it there is no true Pleasure and with it any labour is supportable Cap. 1. Lib. 9. of his History And in another place he saith that it is Health that makes great Kings whereas Sickness makes Subjects of them And from this Principle he concludes that Princes ought not to have much commerce with Women the Frequency of which enervates the Vigour both of the Mind and Body and is the Cause that most of them die in the Flower of their Age Lib. 4. Cap. 2. And speaking of the Dukes of Ioyeuse and Epâ—rnon who drew Henry III. to a Soft and Voluptuous Life under a Pretence of taking care of his Health he saith That on the contrary there have never been any Princes who have liv'd longer than those who have employ'd their Minds most about the Affairs of Government lib. 12. cap. 11. Witness Charles-Emanuel l. Duke of Savoy and â—hristian IV. King of Denmark both of them the most laborious Princes of Europe and both threescore and ten years old Happy was that King of Portugal Alphonso who having spent some days successively in hunting met with Counsellors at his return who took the Liberty to tell him that at the Hour of his Death God would not require an account of him of the Beasts and Birds which he had not kill'd but of the Men whose Prayers and Complaints he should have neglected to hear * In a Spanish Treatise Entituled Audiencia de Principes Words that deserve to be Engraved on the Hearts of Princes unless they would have the Greatest Men be oppressed with a greater Weight of Cares and be expos'd to more Dangers and not be allow'd the means to sweeten their Lives and secure their Persons Gallus with these specious Colours gain'd and easie assent from Persons whose Inclinations lay the same way which however was no better than a Confession of their Vices 2 Men are always of that opinion which is most agreeable to their Manners and by this Maxim we may make a good Iudgment of their Manners by their Opinions Laâ—dibus arguitur vini vinâ—sus Homerus saith Horace Ep. lib. 1. Ep. 19. Tiberius added That this was not a time for Reformation and that if any dissolution of Manners appeared the State should not want
to punish the Injuries which are done to the Memory of his Predecessors for besides that the Honour which he doth herein to them returns directly on himself it is an Example which he leaves his Successors to do the like for him after his Death but he would not have her question'd for what she had spoken against himself 2 The Lashes of Womens Tongues deserv'd to be despised rather than resented If fools have Liberty to say any thing because what they say signifies nothing it is for the Honour of Princes to let some Women eternally enjoy this Privilege And being ask'd by the Consul what should be done in case she should be convicted to have defam'd Livia he return'd no answer at that time but at the next Assembly of the Senate he said That it was his Mother's desire that none should be molested for any words spoken against her and thereby acquitted Apuleia from the Indictment of Treason He also desir'd that her Adultery might not be punish'd with the utmost rigour and obtain'd that she might according to the ancient Custom be only banish'd by her Relations 200 Miles from Rome But Manlius her Gallant was banish'd from Italy and Africk LII A Contest arose about the Election of a Praetor to succeed Vipsanius Gallus deceas'd Germanicus and Drusus for they were yet at Rome employ'd their Interest in favour of Haterius Agrippa who was a Kinsman of Germanicus's but they were oppos'd by a great Party who contended that the Competitor who had most Children ought to be prefer'd as the Law requir'd 1 In the Disposal of great Offices it is for the Interest of the Prince to prefer those Competitors who â—aeteris paribus have the more numerous Families because more persons remain thereby oblig'd to him Tiberius was well enough pleas'd to see the Senate divided betwixt his Children and the Laws 2 A new Prince I mean a Prince whose form of Government is new can't have a greater Pleasure than to see the Laws weakned which had been made in those times when the State was govern'd in the Form of a Common-Wealth Thus when the Senate was divided betwixt the ancient Laws and the Parties of Germanicus and Drusus it was insensibly sinking to that Slavery to which Tiberius design'd to bring it Observe by the way that Germanicus who was the Darling of the People and the Senate for his popular temper did not himself stick to destroy the Liberties and that if ever he had come to the Empire he might possibly have had quite different sentiments from those which he shew'd under another's Reign and it was no wonder that the Laws truckled however it was carry'd 3 In the pursuit of Offices and Honours the support of Princes is of much greater advantage than that of the Laws And it is upon this Maxim that the Cardinal de Richelieu concludes for the selling of Offices because if that be suppress'd the Disorders that will proceed from Competitions and Underhand-practices by which Offices will be obtain'd will be greater than those which arise from the Liberty of buying and Selling them because in that case all would depend on the Favour and Artifice of those who are in the greatest Credit with Kings Sect. 1. Chap. 4. of the first part of his Politick Testament but by few Voices and not without some struggle against the Laws as it us'd to be sometimes when they were in force LIII The same Year a War brake out in Africk in which one Tacfarinas a Numidian was the Leader who had formerly served as an Auxiliary in the Roman Army which having Deserted and drawn together a Company of Vagabonds and Robbers for Plunder and Rapine he afterwards form'd them into a regular Body after a Military manner dividing them into Companies under their respective Colours after which he became General 1 War is the best of all Trades for those to whom Nature hath given great Courage It is the School wherein Fortune hath raised most of her greatest Favourites and whence Men born in Poverty Contempt and the most abject state of Mankind have ascended to the supreme Command of Armies and oftentimes to the Regal Power it self Francis Sforsa from the Son of a poor Shoemaker became General of an Army and his Son Duke of Milan The Constable de Lediguieres and the Mareschals de Toiras de Gassion and de Fabret who all three had no other Estate nor other maintenance but their Sword are Examples of a late Date which like the Trophees of Miltiades ought to rouze the Courage and Industry of so many poor Gentlemen who live in shameful idleness of the Musulans a Potent Nation bordering on the Desarts of Africk living without Cities or Houses who having taken arms against the Romans drew their Neighbours the Moors into the Quarrel whose General was named Mazippas betwixt whom and Tackfarinas the Army was divided The latter had the choice Troops which he arm'd after the Roman Fashion and confin'd them in a Camp to inure them to Discipline and Obedience whilst the Former with a Light-arm'd Body ravag'd the Country with Fire and Sword carrying Terror where-ever he came so that they had compell'd the Cinithii which was no contemptible Nation to enter into their League when Furius Camillus Proconsul of Africk marched against them with a single Legion and what Forces of the Roman Allies which were with him which was a very small Force in comparison of the numbers of the Numidians and Moors who were therefore so confident of the Victory that they feared nothing but that the Romans would not give them Battel but this Confidence prov'd their Ruine for Camillus having plac'd his Legion in the Middle and Light-arm'd Cohorts and two Squadrons of Horse in the Wings he receiv'd Tackfarinas so warmly that he defeated the Numidians 2 An over-confidence of Generals in their strength is oftentimes the Cause of the Defeat of their Armies As there is no little Errors in War we need not wonder that the strongest are sometimes vanquish'd Add hereto on the Occasion of this Diversion which was made betwixt Tuckfarinas and Mazippâ—â— that a single Head with ordinary Prudence makes better Officers than two brave Generals who are jealous of each other and hereby reviv'd after a long tract of time the Military Glory of the Family of the Camilli 3 It is with Families as with Cities sometimes they flourish sometimes they decline sometimes they are utterly Extinguish'd sometimes they rise again out of their Ashes after they have been whole ages buried in Obscurity and Oblivion This Vicissitude is more rare in Common-Wealths in which they more easily preserve themselves by means of Equality which covers them from Oppression whereas in Monarchyâ— a thousand of them perish under one reign when the Prince or his principal Ministers are Sanguinary or Covetous which since the famous Deliverer of Rome r It was in the Consulship of Furius Philo or Furius
his own Words Commines utterly blames the Iourney which Alphonso V. King of Portugal made into France to procure assistance against Isabella Queen of Castille and Ferdinand of Aragon her Husband who had usurp'd this Crown from his Niece For during his long stay in France which was above a Year his affairs in Castille were chang'd where the Lords of the Kingdom who were almost all of his Party before his absence made their terms with Ferdinand and Isabella being weary of expecting succours from France and his return But that which he adds shews to what Princes expose themselves who go into another's Dominions The King of Portugal 's End saith he was that he suspected that the King Lewis XI had a design to seize him and deliver him up to his Enemy the King of Castile For this reason he disguised himself a third time being resolved to go away to Rome and to retire into a Monastery For he was asham'd to return into Castille or Portugal without having done any thing in France whither he went against the Opinion of many of his Council In this Habit he was taken by one Robinet le Beuf And half a Page after This King endeavour'd to marry his Niece to the Dauphine now Charles VIII in which he could not succeed Insomuch that his coming into France was to his great Prejudice and Trouble and was the Cause that he died soon after his return into Portugal His Memoris Lib. 5. Cap. 7. Paul Piasecki speaking of the Death of Cardinal Iohn Albert Brother to Uladisâ—aus King of Poland who travelâ—'d into Italy saith That the wisest Lords of the Kingdom condemn'd this Passion for travell as a thing unbecoming and alway fatal to great Princes and especially to the Sons of Kings Proceres prudentiores talem peregrinationem Princibus majoris nominis praecipue Regum filiis indignam improbabant And in the Margent Peregrinatio filiis Regum indecora periculosa In Chronico ad annum 1634. Add hereto That for the most part Princes return dissatisfy'd with those whose Countreys they have visited because almost always part of the Honours which they pretend to are contested with them For which reason most have had recourse to the Expedient of being Incognito during their stay in Foreign Countreys or their passage through them By opening the Publick Granaries he brought down the Price of Corn did many Popular things went abroad without Guards 2 Persons placed in high stations ought never to appear in publick without the Exterior Marks of their Power for although Authority is not in the Ensigns yet they are the Ensigns which attract the Veneration of the People to the Magistrates And it was partly for this Reason that they call'd the Duties which they render'd to the Emperors at Rome purpuram adorare And Mamertinus saith That the Guards which environ good Princes are not for the Defence of their Bodies but only to give some lustre to Majesty Non custodiae corporis sunt sed quidam imperatoriae majestatis solemnis ornatus Paneg. Iuliaâ—â— It is therefore becoming Princes and Great Magistrates to support Majesty by Exteriour Splendor which makes Admiration and Respect enter by the Eyes Commines speaking of the Interview of our Lewis XI and Henry IV. King of Castile saith That the Castilians made a Iest of Lewis because he was in a mean Habit and wore a Pitiful Hat with a Leaden Image on the top of it saying That it was for Covetousness And some lines after he saith That the Burgundians contemned the little train of the Emperor Frederick III. and the sorry Cloaths of the Germans His Meâ—oirs l. 2. c. 8. An instance that Princes and consequently Magistrates also have need to go with an Equipage suitable to their Grandeur if they will be respected Pagliari saith That that which obliged Pope Gregory XIV to give the red Cap to Cardinal Monks was that during his Cardinalship he had often observed the little respect that was given and even the Indignities which were sometimes offer'd to these venerable Prelates in the throng of great Ceremonies because having black Caps they were not sufficiently distinguish'd Observation 213. And it was for the same Reason that the late King gave the Pectoral Cross to the Bishops of France who it is said are beholding to the rudeness of the Swiss for it in Sandals b The Romans wore Buskins which reach'd up to the Calf of the Leg but the Graecians wore Shoes made almost like Slippers which left the upper part of the Foot uncover'd and in a Graecian Habit in imitation of Scipio who is said to have done the same in Sicily in the heat of the Carthaginian War Tiberius made some gentle Reflections on his Habit but severely reprimanded him for entring Alexandria without the Prince's Permission which was contrary to the Order of Augustus For Augustus amongst other Secrets of State had prohibited any Senators or Roman Knights that were of the Illustrious Rank to go into Aegypt without a Pass from the Emperor 3 Germanicus's intentions were good but his Imprudence brought them under suspicion His going into Aegypt without leave from Tiberius taught the Great Men of Rome to contemn the Prohibition of Augustus The opening of the Publick Granaries the affecting to go abroad without the Rods might very well appear criminal to Tiberius there being no vertues more dangerous than those which may create a Desire in an Unsteady and Changeable People to receive for their Master him who hath them for fear lest any one by making himself Master of that Province which having the Keys both of the Sea and Land c Aegypt is environ'd on the South with steep Mountains which serve for Walls and Bulwarks to it On the West and the East with Mountains and Desarts and on the North with a Sea that hath no Road nor Harbours Which makes it Inaccessible on all sides and consequently easie to defend Augustus who knew all the Conveniencies of this Province which was a Granary to Rome and all Italy would debar all the Great Men from acquaintance with it for fear lest any of them should take a Resolution to make himself Master thereof And this Vespasian did when he rebell'd against Vitellius Sciens Aegyptum plurimam esse partem imperii saith Iosephus eaque si potitus soret Vitellium dejiciendum sperabat Cogitabat etiam propugnacula sibi fore illam regionem adversus incerta fortunae nam terra difficilis accessu marique importuosa est Belli Iudaici l. 5. might be easily defended by a small Force against Numerous Armies should starve Italy 4 The Knowledge of the Situation and the Commodities of his Provinces and of the Manners of their Inhabitants is very necessary for a Prince for without this he will often be deceiv'd in the Choice of his Governors and send into a Province a Person who will raise nothing but Troubles there whereas if he had been sent into another he might
serve our Country And some lines after he concludes with these words Therefore our Author unjustly blames Maroboduus since in my Opinion there is no less glory for a Man to be a Good Husband of his Life to serve God his Country and his Friends and to reserve himself for a better Fortune than to run into Battels and throw it away to acquire Glory which like smoke is carried away by a Blast of Wind. But this Consideration which is the 145. of the Second Part is fitter for Monks and Tradesmen than for Princes and Noblemen to whom War is the most Natural Employment Catualda had the same Fate and no other refuge for being expell'd not long after by the Hermunduri under their General Vibilius he was received by the Romans who sent him to Forum Iulii a Colony of Gallia Narbonensis And lest the Barbarous People who came with these two Princes might raise any Disturbances in these Provinces which were in perfect quiet they were transplanted beyond the Danube betwixt the River Marus and Cusus and Vannius of the Nation of the Quadi was set over them as King LXV The Senate having at the same time receiv'd the News that Germanicus had made Artaxias King of Armenia they decreed that he and Drusus should enter the City in Ovation and that Arches with their Statues should be built on both sides of the Temple of Mars the Avenger And Tiberius being better pleas'd that he had made Peace by his Prudence 1 A Prince who understands Negotiations as Tiberius did ought always to prefer the way of Treaties to that of Aâ—ms It is certainly more honour for him to overcome his Enemies by Skill than by Force A Gascon Gentleman who was in the Service of Edward King of England on occasion of the Peace of Pâ—quigny said That his Master had gain'd Nine Battels in Person but that what we made him lose by this Peace which drove the English out of France brought him greater Shame and Loss than the other Nine which hâ— had gain'd had acquir'd him Honour and Advantage Commines l. 4. c. 10. of his Memoirs Queen Margaret speaking of the Peace which the Duke of Alensoâ— made at Neraâ— with the King of Navarre and the Huguenots on his Party My Brother said she having made a Peace to the Satisfaction of the King and all the Catholicks and not less to the Contentment of the Huguenots return'd thence into France with as much Honour and Glory for having compos'd so great Troubles as from all the Victories which he had obtain'd by Arms. Memoirs l. 3. than if he had ended the War with the Sword employs the same Artifices against Rhescuporis King of Thrace After the Death of Rhoemetalces who was in possession of the whole Countrey Augustus had divided it betwixt his Brother Rhescuporis and his Son Cotys In which division thâ— Arrable-Land the Cities and the Parts adjoyning to Greece fell to Cotys's share the Wild uncultivated Parts and which border'd on Enemies to Rhescuporis The tempers of these two Kings were as different the Former being Mild and Complaisant the Latter Covetous Ambitious and Cruel However they liv'd at first in an appearance of Friendship But in a while Rhescuporis pass'd his Bounds usurp'd upon Cotys and stuck not sometimes to use Force where he found Resistance but this he did by wary and slow Methods in the Reign of Augustus who he feared would revenge the Injustice as he was the Founder of these two Kingdoms But when he heard of his Death he sent Troops of Robbers and demolished some of his Castles to give an occasion for War LXVI Tiberius who feared nothing more than new Troubles dispatches away a Centurion with a Message to the two Kings enjoyning them not to decide their Quarrel by the Sword 1 Divisions never began in a Country saith Commines but they have proved destructive in the end and very difficult to extinguish Lib. 4. Cap. 9. For a King to nourish Divisions betwixt Princes and Persons of Virtue and Courage is to kindle a Fire in his House for sometimes one or the other will say The King is against us and under this Pretence will think of fortifying themselves and making Alliances with his Enemies l. 6. c. ult And whilst one of the Parties takes Arms against the Prince he is always ill obey'd by the other who thinking that he stands in great need of them sets their Services at the higher price Thus a Powerâ—ul King ought never to suffer the Princes who are his Vassals or Neighbours to go to War for the Fire comes to spread it self thence into his Dominions On the contrary he ought to assume the Office or an Arbitrator or a Mediator betwixt the Parties and threaten to declare against him who will not hearken to Peace Cotys immediately disbands the Army he had raised and Rhescuporis with a feign'd Submission desir'd that they might have an Enterview and terminate their Differences by Treaty and what with the Easie Compliance of the one and the Fraudulent Compliance of the other they soon adjusted not only the Time and Place of their Treaty but also the Conditions of their Agreement Rhescuporis under colour of ratifying the Agreement with greater Ceremony makes a Feast which he protracts till Midnight and then puts Cotys in Chains 2 A wise Prince ought never to put himself into the hands of another with whom he hath great Interests depending He that goes to meet another can't be reasonably secur'd by any Promises Oaths or Passports Safe Conducts are as feeble Arms against Force as Paper is against Iron And Iulius II. before he was Pope said often That they were great Fools who exchanged Liberty and Life for a Dead Beast's Skin * Apology for the Council of Pisa. The Duke of Bâ—rgundy wrote to Lewis XI a large Letter with his own hand giving him security to come and to return and the King took no guaâ—d with him but would rely entirely upon the security given by the Duke Commines l. 2. c. 5. Notwithstanding the Duke order'd the Gates of the City and of the Castle of Peronne to be shut saying That the King was come thither to betray him and these Gates were shut three days during which time the Duke did not see the King nor did any of the King's Servants enter into the Castle but through the Wicket of the Gate Chap. 7. and 9. of the same Book This Duke when he was only Count de Charolois committed the â—ame Error by suffering himself to be insensibly led on by the King with whom he walked to a Place call'd the Boulevart or Bulwark through which People enter into Paris for which he was much blamed by the Count de S. Pol and by the Mareschal de Burgundy who put him in mind of the Misfortune that happen'd to his Grandfather King Charles the Seventh at Montereau-faut-Yonne To which Reprimand the Duke return'd this Answer Don't rebuke me for I know very
why he had omitted to punish his Wife according to Law u The Law Iulia. seeing she was notoriously criminal and he pretending that the Sixty days allowed by the Law to consult were not yet expired they thought it sufficient to proceed against Vistilia and banish'd her into the Island Seriphos x One of the Ciclades The Senate took into consideration the Extirpation of the Egyptian and Iewish Religion out of Rome and a Decree pass'd that 4000 Persons infected with that Superstition who were of the Race of Freedmen and of an Age fit for Service should be sent into the Island of Sardinia to suppress the Robberies there as being People whose loss would be inconsiderable if they should perish by the Unwholsomeness of the Air and that the rest should leave Italy if they did not by such a Day renounce their Prophane Rites 2 New or Foreign Sects and Ceremonies do by degrees ruine the Religion of the Country and consequently it nearly concerns Princes not to Tolerate them in their Dominions They who introduce a New Worship said Mecaenas to Augustus open a Gap to New Laws whence at last arise Cabals Factions and Conspiracies Dio. Lib. 52. LXXXVII After which Tiberius propos'd the Election of a Virgin to succeed Occia who for the space of fifty seven Years had presided over the Vestals with great Integrity He thank'd Fonteius Agrippa and Domitius Pollio because that by offering their Daughters they â—ied with one another in their Zeal for the Common-Wealth Pollio's Daughter was preferr'd for no other reason but because her Mother had always lived with her first Husband whereas Agrippa had lessen'd the Reputation of his Family by a Divorce 1 If a Heathen Prince so strictly examined not only the Personal Qualifications of those who possessed Offices of Religion but also the Conduct and Morals of their Parents with much more reason ought Christian Princes carefully to inform themselves of the Birth of those who sue to them for Bishopricks and Abbeys I say of the Birth for it is a shame to see Bastards and adulterous Slips install'd in Ecclesiastical Dignities Cardinal Charles Borrâ—meo saith Ammirato had great reason to be astonish'd that Christians left Pagans the glory of Excelling them in Moral Virtues Lib. 11. Disc. 2. However Tiberius to comfort her that lost it gave her five thousand Pounds for her Dowry LXXXVIII The People complaining of the Dearth of Corn he set a Price for the Buyer to pay and promis'd that he would add two Nummi y A Roman Nummus is about Seven Pence half-penny of our Money a Bushel 1 In a Famine a Prince may buy the People's Liberty at a Cheap rate for in such a time the People are best disposed to sell it People accustom themselves to Slavery but never to Hunger The Israelites being in the Wilderness murmur'd against Moses for having brought them out of Aegypt where they had Bread and Meat in abundance to make them die of Hunger in the Wilderness It had been better for us said they to have served the Aegyptians than to die in the Wilderness Exod. 14. Would to God we had died by the hand of the Lord in the Land of Aegypt when we sat by the flesh-pots and when we did eat bread to the full Exod. 16. to the Seller And yet for all this he would not assume the Title of the Father of the Country which was now again offer'd him 2 The Name of Father of the Country is a Title which a Prince who either is so or desires to be so ought never to refuse To accepâ— the Title is to impose an Obligation upon himself to deserve it Therefore Tiberius would not promise that which he knew he never intended to be So that his refusaâ— was rather the Effect of his Evil Disposition than of his Modesty The younger Pliny saith that Trajan who was a very Modest Prince wept for Ioy every time that he heard himself call'd Optimus and he gave a sharp Reprimand to those who stil'd him Lord and his Employments Divine 3 Princes are Mortal and although they are God's Vicegerentâ— here on Earth yet the Functions they Execute are Humane So that there was but little left to be said and that scarce with safety under a Prince who hated Flattery and feared Liberty LXXXIX I find in the ancient Writers of those times That Letters from Adgandestrius a Prince of the Chatti were read in the Senate wherein he engaged to put Arminius to death if they would send him Poison for that purpose 1 Princes who make use of Poison against other Princes teach them to Employ it against themselves The safety of Princes consists in a mutual Good Faith betwixt one another Charles V. answer'd Barbarossa's Baker who offer'd to Poison his Master and thereby to make him enter Tâ—nis without any difficulty That he would not honour a Moor so far as to use so much ceremony with him After which he sent notice to Barbarossa to fortifie himself against Poyson but without naming the Baker to him Epitome of Don Antonio de Vera. who was answer'd That the Romans did revenge themselves on their Enemies not Clandestinely and by Treachery but Openly and in Arms whereby Tiberius equall'd himself to the Glory of the old Roman Generals who prevented the Design of Poysoning King Pyrrus and discover'd it to him At last after the Romans were retir'd and Maroboduus was expell'd Arminius aspiring to Monarchy made his own Countrymen his Enemies who taking up Arms against him in defence of their Liberties 2 There was never any one saith Tacitus design'd to Rule who did not make use of the pretence of Liberty Hist. 4. after variety of Fortune he fell at last by the Treachery of his own Kindred He was the undoubted Deliverer of Germany and which adds to his glory he did not attack the Romans in their Infancy as other Kings and Captains had done but in the most flourishing State of their Empire His Fortune was various in the Battels which he fought but he was not conquer'd in the War He lived 37 years and commanded 12 and his Memory is still famous amongst those barbarous Nations who celebrate his great actions in their Songs z Tacitus saith That the ancient Germans had no other Annals but their Verses and their Songs In hiâ— Germany although he is not known in the Annals of the Greeks who admire nothing but what is done amongst themselves nor so renown'd as he deserves amongst us who whilst we extoll things done long since are apt to neglect late Examples 3 The Mind of Man is so humoursome that by much admiring past times it comes to have a Disgust and Iealousie of the Present The Past instructs us but the Present shocks us because it seems to Eclipse our Glory Paterâ— THE ANNALS OF Cornelius Tacitus From the Death of AUGUSTUS Book III. Vol. I. By WILLIAM BROMLEY Esq I. AGRIPPINA
continuing her Voyage notwithstanding the Severities of the Winter and Storms at Sea arrived at last at Corfu an Island opposite to the Ports of Calabria She staid there a few days to quiet her Mind divided betwixt Grief and Impatience Upon the News of her coming Germanicus's Friends and the Soldiers that had served under him and many Strangers also some out of Duty and others following either for Company or Curiosity flocked from the Neighbouring Places to Brindâ—si a Or Brundusium an Archiepiscopal City in the Kingdom of Naples wâ—â—ch has a strong Castle and safe Harbour and lies upon the Adriatick Sea where she was expected as the nearest and safest Port. As soon as the Ships were discerned at Sea not only the Haven and Shores but the Walls Houses and other Places as far as could be seen were filled with Mourners enquiring oâ—ten whether they should receive her with Silence or Acclamation Neither were they determined which was properest when the Fleet came in not rowing briskly as they used to do but slowly and with Sorrow in their Countenances When she came with her two Children on Shore carrying her Husbands Urn and her Eyes fixt on the Ground there was an universal Lamentation so that you could not distinguish the Grief of Relations from Strangers nor the Mens from the Womens only theirs who met Agrippina being fresh exceeded those came with her which a long Affliction had spent II. Tiberius sent two Companies of his Guards to meet them ordering the Magistrates of Apulia Calabria and Campania to pay their last Respects to the Memory of his Son The Tribunes and Centurions therefore carried the Ashes the Banners were rolled up and with the reversed Fasces went before In all the Colonies as they passed the People in Mourning and the Nobles in their Purple Habits according to the Wealth of the Place burnt Perfumes and other things that add to Funeral Solemnities Those that lived out of the Road met them in great numbers and shewed their Grief 1 However magnificent and extraordinary the Funerals of a Prince are nothing does more Honour to his Memory than the Grief of the People that lament the loss of him The History of Portugal says That upon the Death of Iohn II. all the Kingdom went into Mourning and at Lisbon the Barbers were â—orbid Shaving any Person for 6 Months which was never done for any King before Dialogo quarto Varia Historia c. 11. not only by their Lamentations and Confused Cries but by their Sacrifices to the Infernal Gods Drusus went to Terracina with Germanicus his Children that were at Rome and Claudius his Brother The Year of the City 773. The Consuls M. Valerius and M. Aurelius who then entred on their Office with a great number of the People filled the way without observing any order 2 At the Funerals of Princes it is an infallible sign of great Affliction when the great Men and Magistrates decline those Honours that are due to their Rank Now the Masters of Ceremonies have more to do to regulate the Claims of Officers and to adjust the Disputes among Great Men than in all the other Parts of their Office So that Princes Funerals are oftner memorable for the Disorders that happen at them than for the Universal Affliction every one bewailing the loss of Germanicus as he saw good for there was no Flattery in this Mourning and all knew Tiberius rejoyced at Germanicus's Death tho' he pretended to be troubled for it III. Tiberius and his Mother forbore appearing in publick believing it a lessening to Majesty to grieve publickly 3 The Laws of Nature are the same to Princes as the rest of Mankind Grief for their Children and Princes of their Blood is not unbecoming them provided it does not degenerate into Weakness nor Excess Henry III. of France in my Opinion little regarded his Dignity when he assisted at the Interrment of Cardinal Biragne in the Habit of a Penitent and it looks as if he had forgot he was a King when he kissed the Bodies of Quelus and Maugiron his Favourites Iournal de son Regne 1578. or perhaps fearing lest the People by their Looks should discover their Dissimulation b Cabrera speaking of the Funerals of Don Carlos says That Cardinal Espinosa attended the Body only to the Church Door because he would not be at the Ceremony of the Service pretending himself indisposed tho' he might with more Truth have said it was because his being there would have displeased the King who was not sorry for his Death The 5th Chapter in the 8th Book of his History I find not in any Registers of the City or our Histories that Antonia had any particular share in this Solemnity tho' Agrippina Drusus and Claudius are named with other Relations It may be she was prevented by Sickness or so overcome with Affliction she had not the Courage to see the Funerals of her Son 4 Of all the Duties of Nature there is not any a good Mother is less obliged to observe than that of assisting at her Son's Funerals Upon such an Occasion she is too much afflicted to behold what will only encrease her Sorrow or to endeavour appearing unconcern'd when it will bring her natural affection in question tho' I should rather believe she was kept at home by Tiberius and Livia that they might seem all equallyâ—afflicted and to have it believed the Grandmother and Uncle kept in upon the Mothers Example 5 A Prince that is not afflicted but rather rejoices at the Death of one whom the People regret acts more wisely in not appearing at his Funerals for fear it be discover'd that his Sorrow is only â—eigned or that he is displeased at the Honour paid to the Memory of one he always Hated IV. The day the Ashes were laid in Augustus's Tomb there was sometimes a profound Silence and at others great Lamentation the Streets full of People and the Campus Martius of lighted Torches The Soldiers in Arms the Magistrates without their Habits the People ranked by their Tribes cryed out All was lost beyond Recovery and in this they were so bold you would have thought they had forgot their Governors c In the 18th chapter of 1 Kings 't is said Saul began to hate David mortally after the Women of Israel sang and played before him for his overcoming Goliah and their using these Words Saul hath killed his Thousands but David his Ten Thousands Why have they said he ascribed unto David Ten Thousand and to me that am their King only a Thousand and what can he have more save the Kingdom This Song was rather a Satyr against Saul than any thing else What Mortification was it to Henry III. to understand that the Preachers at Paris Preached as if they had no King but that it was through the Courage and Constancy of the Duke of Guise the Ark fell not into the Hands of the Philistines and that Heresie Triumphed not
Inhabitants of the Isle of Candia Lycurgus the Lacedemonians and Solon the Athenians but his were more numerous and more refined 6 The more cunning and discerning People are the more numerous the Laws should be for as a Law-Maker can never foresee all Cases that may happen nor all the Subtilties and Cavils will be thought on for evading his Law or at least the Exceptions will be found that is the Reasons against obeying it hic nunc he is obliged to explain his Law or rather to make as many Laws as new Cases shall arise There is no Country where there are better Laws nor more than in Normandy for the Normans have always been very cunning and are in France like the Athenians in Greece Romulus ruled as he pleased Numa established a Form for Divine Worship and Religious Ceremonies Tullus and Ancus made some Laws but our chiefest Law-Maker was Servius Tullius whose Laws Kings themselves were bound to Obey 7 According to Plato Monarchy is the worst and best sort of Government The worst if absolute the best if limited Those that teach Kings and Sovereign Princes the contrary learn them to Tyrannize not Reign not to keep the People in Duty and Obedience but to make them Rebel No Princes have ever been better Obeyed nor consequently more Princes than those that have not set themselves above the Laws Commines gives a very good instance in Charles VIII of France that at his Accession to the Crown obtained of the States at Tours a Gift of Two Millions and Five Hundred Thousand Livres which was says he rather too much than too little tho' the Kingdom had been under griâ—vous Taxes for Twenty Years On the contrary when a Prince will do every thing according to his Will and inordinate Desire his People will not Obey him nor Succour him in his Necessities but instead of aiding him when he has great Affairs upon his Hands they despise and run into Rebellion against him Chap. dernier du liv 5. de ses Memoires XXVIII After Tarquinius Superbus was expelled 8 See the end of Independent Arbitrary and Unlimited Authority which Flatterers make Princes assume See what happened to Henry III. of France of whom it is said he forbid the French make any Applications to him and taught them there was no other measure of Iustice than his Will Mezeray de sa Vie One thing that most hurâ— this poor Prince says the Chancellor de Chiverny was the Opinion he had entertained of his own Sufficiency despising others Iudgments which is the greatest Misfortune that can befal a Prince or any other Person Dans sâ—s Mâ—moirs the People made many against the Factions of the Senators 9 The Nobility always love a Prince whatever he is better than a popular Government where the People never fail bringing them to an Equality which they cannot bear being used to Distinction For it is the same with Great Men as it was with Agrippa Augustus's Son-in-Law who according to Paterculus willingly obeyed one but in revenge would command all others Parendi sed uni scientissimus aliis sanè imperandi cupidus to defend their Liberties and establish Union The Decemviri l See Decemviri in the Historical Notes of the Preface to Tacitus were chosen to collect the best 10 Nothing is more useful to a Prince that has great Dominions and consequently great Affairs to Transact with other Princes than an exact Knowledge of the Laws and Customs of other Countries Besides that it teaches him to distinguish good and bad in every Government shews him proper Expedients for Reforming Abuses that daily happen in Government whether in his Revenue in his Military Discipline in his Courts of Iustice and in all other Parts thereof Mariana says That Henry III. of Castile sent Ambassadors to Christian Princes and to Mahometans only to inform him their manner of Governing so to collect the Wisdom of all Courts in his own and to know the better how to shew the Majesty of a King in all his Actions What might have been expected from this Prince who died at 27 years old and was the ablest that had Reigned in Spain Chap. 14. de liv 19. de son Histoire Laws of other Countries out of which they composed the Twelve Tables the sum of Law and Iustice. As for the Laws that followed though some were made against Malefactors yet they were most commonly brought in through the Dissensions of the People and Senate for obtaining unlawful Dignities driving out Noblemen or other Disorders Witness the Gracchii and Saturnini the Incendiaries of the People and Drusus who was no less prodigal in the Name of the Senate and corrupted his Companions by Hopes or deluded them Neither the War of Italy nor the Civil War m That this Recital of the History of the ancient Commonwealth may be the better understood in which Tacitus is so short it is in my Opinion proper to give an Extract here of some Chapters of Paterculus which relate very well those Dissentions Scipâ—o Nasica says he was the first advised Force against the Tribune Tiberius Gracchus his Cosin to prevent the Execution of the Legeâ— Agrariae made in favour of the People Ten years after Nasica was followed by the Consul Opimius taking up Arms against Caius Gracchus who either to revenge his Brother Tiberius's Death or to open a way to Sovereignty which he affected exercised the Tribunate with greater Violence than his elder Brother and subverted the Governmeâ—t of the City and State The Gracchi being Dead Opimius caused all their Friends or Servants to be put to Death which was not liked as procâ—â—ding rather from his particular Hatred to the Gracchi than a desire to make publick Examples of them The Gracchi were succeeded by Servilius Glaucia and Saturninus Apuleius who to keep the Tribunate longer than the Laws allowed and to prevent others being chose in their Places which Tacitus expresses by apisci inlicitos Honores dissolved by Fire and Sword the meetings of the People which obliged Marius then Consul the sixth time to Sacrifice them to the publick Hatred The Tribunate of Livius Drusus who would have restored to the Senate the right of judging Causes which Caius Gracchus had transferred to the Knights was neither more quiet nor happier all the Senators opposing him in those things he designed in their Favour chusing rather to bear the Insults of his Colleagues than be beholding to him for the Honour he would procure them So much enviâ—d they his Glory which appeared to them too great The Death of Drâ—sus who was killed as the Gracchi for extending the Priviledges of the City of Rome to all Italy which explains Tacitus Corrupâ—i spâ— aut 〈◊〉 per intercessionem socii kindles a War in Italy or of the Contederates 〈…〉 who presently demanded this Honour complaining with good Reason that they were treated like Strangers by a City maintained by their Arms tho' of the same Nation
able Man both in Government and War has given a good reason for it Wavering in Counsels says he has never been found good and whatever probability there may be that time will â—urnish better Expedients yet 't is safer to resolve to master the present Difficulties than to expect they will cease for we know not nor can certainly but greater may happen Livre 8. dâ— son Histoire 〈◊〉 Guerres dâ— Flandres For Florus pursuing his Designs laboured to corrupt a Regiment of Horse raised at Treves and used to our Discipline inciting them to begin the VVar with destroying the Roman Merchants there A few only were gained most continued in their Duty Other Bankrupt Men and some of his Dependants took Arms and would have thrown themselves into the Forest of Arden but the Legions from both Armies n They were encamped upon the Rhine Duo apud ripam Rheni exercitus erant cui nomen superiâ—ri sub C. Silio legâ—to inâ—eriorem A. â—â—cina curaâ—â—t Ann. 1. which Ursellius and C. Silius sent prevented them And Iulius Indus being sent before with a Detachment glad of an occasion to shew himself against Florus his Countryman and particular Enemy 3 Great Men often revenge the Injuries done to a Prince or State out of Malice to the Offenders Cardinal Richlieu had reason to say Such Men did good upon an ill Principle When a great Man Rebels in a Province a Prince cannot do better than to give another great Man of the same Province who has been his Rival and Enemy a Commission against him defeated the disordered multitude Florus escaped by sculking in divers places but finding all Passages stopt and that he was like to be taken killed himself And thus ended the Rebellion at Treves XLV That at Angiers was greater because that City was more populous and the Army distant Sacrovir made himself Master of this City where all the Youth of France studied to oblige their Relations and Friends to him by such Pledges and distributed Arms among them His Troops consisted of near Forty thousand Men a Fifth Part were arm'd as the Legions the rest with Hunting-staves Hangers and such other Arms as Huntsmen carry These were join'd by some Fencers cover'd over with Armour of Iron they were call'd Crupellarii Cuirassiers unfit to assault and impenetrable The Forces daily augmented by a Confluence from the Neighbouring Cities not that they declar'd for them but all long'd for Liberty To which contributed the Dissentions of the Roman Generals 1 There is not a better Opportunity to revolt than when there are Dissenâ—ions and consequently Disorder in the Armies of a Prince whose Authority you would shake off So a Prince that hath discontented Subjects ought at any rate to prevent a Misâ—nderstanding among his Generals For when he is 〈◊〉 serv'd by them as ever happens when they differ he is exposed to the Practices of his Enemiâ—s both coveting to command the Army But Visellius being Old yielded to Silius who was in his Prime 2 Health of Body is almost as necessary to a Genâ—â—al as a Capacity of Mind for it is an Employ will exercise both According to Caâ—dinal Richelieu a General to be Excellent shouâ—d be young in Years but not in Service and Experience And though those that are Old are commonly the Wisest yet they are not the Best to undertake because they often want the heat of Youth that is requisite on such Occasions Besides that 't is certain Fortune smiles upon Youth and turns her back upon Old Age. Section 4. du Chap. 9 de la seconde partie du Testament Politique XLVI In the mean time it was reported at Rome that besides Tours and Argiers 64 Cities had rebell'd that the Germans had join'd them that Spain was wavering all as the Manner of Report is made much greater than they were Every good Man was concern'd for the Common-wealth many out of Hatred to the Present Government desir'd a Change 3 The Great Men in a Kingdom govern'd by such a Prince as Tiberius that is by a Prince that will endure no Companion are apt to desire he may have Troubles and Wars either to make them the more necessary or to have the Pleasure of seeing him perplex'd and his Affairs in an ill Condition The Count S. Paul Constable of France says Commines and certain of the Duke of Guiâ—n's Servants with several others desir'd rather War than Peace betwixt the King and the Duke of Burgundy for two Reasons the one because they fear'd their great Offices and Pensions would be lessen'd if Peace conâ—inu'd for the Constable paid four hundred Men every Muster without controul and besides the Profits of his Office aboâ—e thirty thousand Livres a year in Pension and the Revenues of many good Places he held the other was because they were persuaded the King was of such a Disposition he could never be idle so that unless he was busied with Princes abroad he would be with his Servants and Officers at home The Constable offer'd to take Saint-Quintin when he pleased and boasted of Intelligence in Flanders and Brabant and that he could make many Towns revolt from the Duke The Duke of Guien and his principal Servants offer'd to serve the King in this Quarrel but their Design was other than the King expected Chap. 1. du Livre 1. de ses Memoires Claudian explains in three Words Why great Men hate Peace Mandataque fortius urget Imperiosa quies and rejoyc'd in their Dangers Blaming Tiberius for employing himself in reading Informers Accusations when there was so great Commotions What said they have the Senate found Iulius Sacrovir guilty of Treason Some have had the Courage to suppress by Arms the Bloody Libels o That is the Secret Orders a Prince gives to his Centurions and Soldiers to Murder Men in their Houses that they suspect They are called in other Places his Letters his Codicils and the Execution of his Orders Ministeria militum Ann. 1. of a Tyrant War is a good Change for a Miserable Peace But he neither chang'd Place nor Countenance 4 Able Princes little regard the Censures of the People it satisfies them to arrive at their End which is the good of the State Pope Urban VIII used to say he would willingly sacrifice his Reputation to the Good of the Publick and to Peace provided he could any way obtain it repeating St. Paul's words per gloriam ignobilitatem per 〈◊〉 bonam famam Lettres de M. de Marquemont Ambassadeur a Rome dans le 1. Tome des Memoires du Cardinal de Richelieu affecting to shew he was not afraid either through Courage or that he knew things to be less than they were reported XLVII Silius march'd with two Legions having sent some Auxiliary Troops before he laid waste the Towns in the Franche Comte which joyn'd to the Anjovins and were their Confederates Then marched speedily to Autun p Autun an ancient City in the Dutchy
private Condition or when persecuted by their Predecessors The Friendship of particular Persons is never acquir'd but by time with greater reason then that of Princes should be acquir'd with long Services They have little value for those that come to them when they are in their Thrones because they are commonly such as make Court rather to their Forâ—une than Person and look upon their Reward as near when those that adhere to them in the time of their Rivals and Enemies as Quirinus did to Tiberius while C. Caesar was alive and next Heir to the Empire have full Right to a Prince's Favour who conâ—ideâ—s them as disinherited Friends So the Duke of Beaufort at his return from England was the Favourite of Queen Ann of Spain who not only spoke of him with all marks of Esteem and commanded her Creatures to have a Friendship for him but when the Physitians one day thought Lewis XIII dying chose him to be Governor of the Dauphine and Monsieur A Trust that shewed sufficiently to what Honours and Dignities he was destin'd if he had known how to manage his Fortune Memoires de la Chastre Henry IV. of France never leâ—t asking the Promotion of the Sieur Seraâ—in to be a Cardinal till he obtain'd it because this Prelate he was Auditor of the Roâ—a above 30 Years was always for him and his Crown in the most difficult and dangerous Times So says Cardinal d'Ossat Dans sa Letre 61. which Tiberius open'd to the Senate commending his Dutifulness and accus'd Lollius s Paterculâ—s says so of Lollius That he was a Man that more desir'd to grow rich than to live well and with all the Care he took to conceal his Vice Yet he was and also appear'd to be very vicious Cap. 97 du Livre 2. de son â—pitome And in the 102 Chap. â—â—e adds Augusâ—us chose Lollius to be C. Ceasâ—r's Governor Quem moderatorâ—m juvâ—nâ—ae filii sui Augustus esse voluerat as the Author of C. Caesar's 2 An ill Governor or Tutor is very dangerous for a Young Prince Testa recenâ— imbuta diu servabit odorâ—m Plato says That Kings should have four Masters or Governors for their Children to teach them the four Virtues necessary for those that Reign The first teaches them Prudence the Second Iustice the Third Temperance and to despise Pleasures the Last the Art of War and sets Examples before them of the Courage and Constancy of their Glorious Ancestors Dans son premier Alâ—ibiade Paul Emilius says that Giles Romain Arch-Bishop of Bourges exhorted King Philip the Fair in that to imitate the Kings of Persia Livre 8. de son Histoire de France Sedition and Lewdness But his Memory was not very agreeable to the Senate because he accused Lepida and was sordid and insolent in his Old Age. LI. The end of this Year C. Lutorius Priscus a Roman Knight who had compos'd an Excellent Elegy on Germanicus and received a Reward from the Emperor for it was accus'd for making it for Drusus when he was sick in hopes of a greater Gratuity if he had died 3 There is nothing more disagreeable to Princes than what puts them in mind of their Death In whatever Condition they are they would not be told they shall die When Lewis XI answer'd those that told him he was a Dead Man It may be I am not so bad as you think me He shew'd That those who took upon them this Commission did him a piece of Service he should not thank them for if he recover'd It seems the late King who was much a better Prince than Lewis XI was displeas'd with the Credulity of the Queen and would have her hold a Council as she had done the day before by his Order and made her go out of his Chamber as he was Departing So easily do Princes â—latter themselves with hopes oâ— long Life So M. de Chiverny acted very wisely when he refused to assist at a Consultation of Physitians upon Charles IX because belonging to the King of Poland his Brother and Lawâ—ul Successor he would have been look'd upon at that Meeting as one that deâ—ir'd the King's Death and the Accession of his Master to the Crown Dans ses Memoires If Lutonius did ill in making an Elegy upon Drusus's Death which he thought certain these are no lâ—ss Criminal that make Funeral Orations upon Princes in their perfect Health to be early enough with them when they die and to get the Reputation of great Orators persuading the World they have made a Discourse in five or six days which sometimes has cost them more years However these People shew their Vanity more than their Eloquence C. Lutorius was so vain as to read it in P. Petronius's House to several Noble Ladies And when the Informer cited them to give Testimony only Vitellia denied she heard it read but greater Credit was given to others that testified against him Haterius Agrippa Consul Elect delivers his Opinion that he should die M. Lepidus spoke to this Effect LII If we consider only how Lutorius Priscus hath debauched his Mind and his Auditors â—ars neither Prison nor Halter nor any servile Punishments were enough for him But though his Crimes are without measure yet the Moderation of a Prince their own and your Ancestors Examples will qualifie the Punishments Vanity differs from Wickedness and Words from ill Deeds There may such a Way be found to punish him that we may neither repent our Clemency nor Severity I have heard our Princes complain when any through Despair have prevented their Mercy 4 How cruel soever a Prince is he takes Pleasure in being praised for his Clemency It some times happens that the Commendations given him for Vertue he has not create a desire in him to merit that by his future Practices Lutorius's Life is yet safe and the preserving it will neither endanger the Common-Wealth nor can the taking it away be any Example As his Studies were full of Folly so were they senceless and soon over Neither have we reason to fear any thing great or serious in one that betrays himself to the Women Yet let him leave the City his Goods be seiz'd and he banish'd which I take to be as bad as if he was convict of Treason LIII Among all the Consuls only Rubellius Blandus 5 A Subject that has his Prince against him never finds many Iudges to protect his Innocence and if little guilty all ways are thought on to condemn him Dangerous says Anthony Perez is that Iâ—stice where there is an Inclination to condemn What will it be then if accompanied with absolute Power Displeasure and Flattery Aâ—orismes de ses Relations That puts me in mind of the Spanish Proverb alla van Leyos do quiâ—ren Reyos The Laws go aâ— the Kings please agreed with Lepidus the rest were of Agrippa's Opinion so Lutonius was carried back to Prison and soon suffer'd Tiberius writ to the Senate with his usual Ambiguities
Cardinal Richlieu to apply your self to those great matters concern your State and despise the lesser as unworthy your Care and Thoughts You will not only be â—ar from receiving any Advantage from employing your self in things not considerable but on the contrary much Damage by diverting you from others that are better and also because little Thorns being more apt to prick than bigger which are more easily perceived it were impossible to prevent Discontents uâ—eless to your Affairs and very coâ—trary to your Health Chap. 5. de la premiere partie de son Testament Politique Something more is expected from a Prince and when every man assumes to himself the Praise of what is well done the blame of what succeeds not falls upon him alone Where shall I begin to Reform Shall it be your large and spacioâ—s Country Seats The multitude of your Servants of several Nations The Quantities of your Silver and Gold y The way Hâ—nry III. of Castile took to put down Excess in Entertainments desâ—rvâ—s to be mentioned here as a great instance of what a Prince may do that has Wit and Courage One day when his Table was ill served he was told The Grandees of his Kingdom lived much better and that there was nothing so Magnificent as the Entâ—rtainments they gave one another The same day he had notice the Archbishop of Toledo gave a Supper to several Lords he went in Disguise and saw the Magnificence of the Entertainment where nothing was wanting and what was worse he heard them relate their great Estates and the Pensions they held out of the King'â— Demeasâ—s The next morning he caused a Report to be spread That he was Sick and would make his Will upon which they all went to Court About Noon he came into the Room where he usually gave Audience and they waited â—or him and as soon as he sate down he directed his Discourse to the Archbishop and asked him how many Kings of Castille he had known and asked all the same Question Some said they had known three others four others five c. How can that be says the King when I have known twenty at my Age. And seeing them surprised at what he said he proceeded 'T is you my Lords are the Kings to the great Damage of this Kingdom and Dishoâ—our of your King but I will prevent your Reign continuing long and carrying the Merriment any farther you make of me The Archbishop threw himselâ— at his Feet and asked Pardon as did also the rest The King gave them their Lives but made them Prisoners till they restored the Castles they held of the Crown and all they had got from the last Kings An Action that gained him so much Glory and Authority that the great Men were never so humble and obedient Besides it brought him in suâ—h a Treasure that he left a great Sum behind him without over-charging his People Mariana Chap. 14. du Liv. 9. de son Histoire d'Espagne 'T is observable tâ—o the King did this at 15 or 16 years of Age. He was called Henry thâ— Inâ—irm because of his Sickly Countenance but deserved the Title of Henry tâ—e Brave and Valiant for his Courage Which Example plainly shews as Richlieu says Kings can do any thing when constant and resolute and that those things which seem the most difficult and almost impossible are so only because of the negligence and indifference of their Execuâ—ion Your painted Tables and brasen Statâ—es of exquisite Work The promisâ—uous Habits of Men and Women Or the Extravagances of the Women only in their Iewels for which our Money is carried away to Foreigners and Strangers I am not ignorant you blame these things at your Entertainments and a mean is wished for But if a Law should be made against them and punishments appointed those that complain now will cry out that the City is subverted the Destruction of the Nobility sought for and none free from those Crimes But we see old Maladies are not to be Cured without sharp and harsh Remedies 1 Desperate Diseases must have desperate Cures A corrupt Mind is not to be regulated with gentle Methods when inflamed by inordinate Appetites So many Laws framed by our Ancestors so many by Augustus have only given greater Establishment to our Luxury the former have been forgot the latter which is worse have been contemned 2 There is no Remedy when Vice is turned into Virtue Then we are to accommodate our selves to Hippocrateâ—'s Aphorism to administer no Remedies where Diseases are desperate For when we love what is not yet forbid we fear it may be but when we transgress the Laws and are not punished there is neither Fear nor Shame left 3 While Abuses are tolerated Men observe some Rules of Decency because they fear if they take too much liberty the Prince or Magistrate will Reform them But iâ— a Reformer wants Power to make himself Obeyed as it sometimes happens or wants Courage to punish the Great Men who are commonly the first that break new Regulations the Examples of such Impunity opens the Door to Contempt and from Contempt they go insensibly to Licentiousness Therefore a Prince should noâ— meddle with Reformation if he finds himself wanting in Power or of a Temper to be wrought upon by Intercessions or if he will Reform should take a Resolution to be inexorable as Sixâ—us V. was when any dared to break his Laws Why was Frugality formerly used because every Man moderated his Desires we had only one City and our Dominions not reaching out of Italy we had not the same Provocations by Foreign Conquests we learn the use of Foreign Commodities by Civil Wars our own z Patercuâ—us imputes the Luxury of Rome to the two Scipio's surnamed Aâ—ricans The 〈◊〉 says he openâ—d the way to the Roman Gâ—eatness â—ut the other to their Luxury For when Rome no longer sâ—ared Carthage which was burnt they leâ—t not their Virtue by degrees as before but run impeâ—â—ously into all Pleasures and Vices The antient Discipline was despited and gave way to new Customs and all the City turned presently from their Vigilance to Laziness from Warlike Exercises to Looseness and from Laboâ—â— to Idleness At last the publick Magnificence was succeeded with the wastful Expences of particular Men. Au Commencement du Liv. 2. de son Epitome That which the Ediles complain of is a small matter in comparison of others 4 Some People think all is lost if what offends them is not immediately Remedied but a Prince should not be drawn away by anothers Passion He is to forâ—see the Inconveniences may arise from the Refâ—rmation is desired and to consider well if he can undertake it with success so that he may satisfie more than he shall displease For so you see the Wisdoâ— of a Reâ—ormer But no man puts us in mind that Italy wants the support of other Countries that the Liâ—e of the People of Rome is tossed with the
the Land and climbs up to the Tops of Mountains as if they were its proper Road and Channel XI Whether the first Inhabitants of this Island were Natives or imported Strangers is hardly to be found in this or any barbarous Nation We may conjecture at their Original by the various Fashions of their Bodies They that live in Caledonia are red Headed big Limb'd which speaks them of a German Extraction The Swarthiness of the Silures and their curled Hair would induce one to believe by their Situation over-against Spain that the Iberi had heretofore failed over and planted themselves in these parts They that are Neighbours to the French are like them either because the Qualities and Strength of their Progenitors continue in them or because in Countries bordering upon one another the same Climate createth the same Complexion But 't is generally believed the French first Peopled those Parts You may guess at their Religion by their superstitious Opinions Their Speech differs but little with equal Boldness they challenge Dangers and with equal Fear decline them when they come The British Fierceness has the Preference being not at present softned by a long and a sluggish Peace The French were formerly brave but being invaded by Sloth and Idleness they lost their Courage and their Liberty The same Fate attended the Britains heretofore The rest remain such as the French were XII Their greatest Strength lies in their Infantry Some Nations use Chariots in War the greatest Men drive them and their Dependants defend them They were formerly governed by Kings but now they are divided into Faction and Parties by some Ring-Leaders That which contributed most to our conquering these Warlike Nations was their having no Common Council seldom above two or three Cities at a time concerted Methods of repelling the Common Foe So that whilst they fought singly they were universally overcome They have a dropping and a cloudy Sky the Cold here is not sharp the Days are of a greater Length than ours the Night is clear and in the Extream Parts short so that you scarce distinguish the Beginning from the Ending of the Day They affirm if the Clouds did not interpose the Rays of the Sun would be always visible and that he does not rise and set but glide by because the Extream and Plain Parts of the Earth project a low and humble Shadow which makes Night hang hovering under the Stars and Sky The Soil will bear all sorts of Grain besides the Olive and the Vine and such as love a hotter Climate It is very fruitful and every thing springs quickly but ripens slowly which is the effect of moist Grounds and showry Heavens This Country produces Gold and Silver and other Metals which defray the Charge of their Conquest The Sea breeds Pearl not very Orient but pale and wan Some suppose it want of Skill in those that pick them up for in the Red Sea they are plucked from the Rock alive and breathing but in Britain they are gathered as they lie about in the Sea But I believe there is more want of Worth in the Pearl than Skill viz. Greediness in them who gather ' em XIII The Britains suffer patiently the Levying of Men and Money and faithfully discharge all Publick Employments imposed on them if so be they are not abused thereby which to them is intolerable being at present subdued to Obedience but not to Vassalage Iulius Caesar altho' he first made a Descent with his Army and â—righted the People with a successful Battel yet he possessed himself of nothing but the Shoar and seem'd rather to shew than deliver them to Posterity Now the Civil Wars of Rome turned the Great Mens Swords upon the Common-wealth and Britain was forgot during a long Peace Augustus but especially Tiberius termed that Oblivion State-Policy But 't is certainly known Caius had a Design to attack Britain had he not been of a Temper to resolve suddenly and as suddenly to alter his Resolution or had he not been disappointed by the bad Success his Arms had in Germany 't was Claudius who first effectually prosecuted its Conquest transporting Legions and Auxiliaries and taking Vespatian in to the Enterprize which was a Prelude to his future Greatness Now it was that Countries were reduced Kings captivated and Vespatian made known to the World XIV The first Lieutenant-General â— was Aulus Plautius the next Ostorius Scapula both great Commanders By degrees the nearest Parts were brought into the Form of a Province where a Colony of old Soldiers was planted Some Cities were bestowed on King Cogidunus who continued faithful even within our Memory according to an Ancient Practice of the Romans who made Kings the Instruments of the Peoples Slavery What others acquired Didius Gallus preserved and by erecting a few Castles farther up in the Country sought to gain the Reputation of having extended his Trust. Verantius followed Didius and died in a Year's time After that Suetonius Paullinus was very successful for two Years subduing Nations and fortifying Garisons upon Confidence of which he was resolved to make an Attempt on the Island Mona that still furnished the Rebels with fresh Supplies XV. But this turning of his Back gave the Britains a fair Opportunity whose Fear left them with the Lieutenant-General they had now leisure to consider the Mischiefs of Bondage and to compare their Miseries and be inflamed by their reflecting upon them What was the Effect of their Patienâ—e but to have heavier Burdens laid upon their Shoulders as if they were ready to bear any thing They had heretofore but one King at a time but now they had two a Lieutenant to be lavish of their Lives and a Procurator to make havock of their Fortunes Their Governour 's Discord or Concord was equally pernicious to the Subject vexed by the Soldiers and Centurions of the one and the Force and Contumely of the other nothing was exempted from their Luxury and Lust The Brave in Fight should plunder but now their Houses were become a Prey to base ignoble Cowards their Children forced away and Soldiers required of them as if they knew nothing but to die for their Country If the Britains would but Number themselves they would find how few of their Soldiers compared to them had been brought over The Germans shook off their Yoke who had not the Ocean but a River only for their Defence And that they had the juster Cause of War their Country Parents and their Wives whereas their Enemies had no pretence but Avarice and Luxury Would they but emulate their Ancestors and not be daunted at the Event of one or two Battles and consider that Men in Misery are apt to make the braver Attempts and to go on with the greater Perseverance they might make these their Enemies as hastily return as their Ancestors did their first Invader Iulius by calling away the Roman General and by detaining him and his banish'd Army in another Island they had vanquished the greatest Difficulty
Piso by false promises 305 A Statue erected for him 379 Sentences of Death stopped 10 days 352 Sentius Câ—eius Governor of Syria after the Death of Germanicus 271 Sâ—ptimius a Centurion his General constrained to abandon him to the Fury of his Soldiers 72 Servius Governour of Comagena 245 Sibyls Tibrius binders the consulting the Books of the Sibyls 148 Silanus Cret Governor of Syria treats Vanones as King and Prisoner 168 Recalled from Syria because of his Alliance with Germanicus 221 Silanus C. accused 371 Pressed by Tiberius 372 Banished 373 That Sentence mitigated by Tiberius 375 Silanus D. accused for debauching Augustus his Niece banishes himself 318 Returns to Rome but as a private person 319 Silanus M. gives Tiberius Thanks for his Brother's return 318 Tiberius his Answer ib. Dishonours the Consulate by his proposing that all Acts should be dated from the Tribunes 361 Silius C. Lieutenant-General in Germany 70 Receives the Ornaments of a Triumph 130 Enters into the Country of the Catti where he carries away the Wiâ—e and Daughter of the Prince 171 191 Commands the Army against the Rebels 344 Lays waste the Towns in the Franche Comte 345 His Harangue 347 Defeats Sacrovir ib. Soldiers their Pay amongst the Romans 49 Son excused from Rebellion for obeying his Father Vid. Rest. 1. 306 Stertinius Lieutenant to Germanicus defeats the Bructerians 119 Chastizes the Angrivarians 172 Strabo Father of Sejanus the Favourite of Tiberius 21 58 Sylla expelled the Senate 234 Sylla the Dictator his Government not long Vid. Note m. 322 Sylla Lucius his Dispute with Corbulo 330 T. Tacâ—arinas Head of the Robbers becomes General of the Mâ—sulans 236 Overcome by the Romans 237 Renews the War in Africk 312 Is defeated 313 Driven to the Deâ—arts 314 Tacitus a faithful unbyassed Historian 6 Ridicules every where the Flatterers 25 201 373 361 370 376 Recites the Death of Cn. Piso from old Men. 305 Teaches the part of an Historian 370 Teâ—â—tis a City of Asia overturned by an Earthquake 231 Terror Panick Fear in the Camp of Cecina 129 Teutberg a Forest where Varus and his Legions were defeated 120 Thala a Fort besieged by Tacfarinas 313 Tâ—â—bes her ancient Puissance 251 Theophilus condemned by the Arâ—opagus 242 Thrace divided by Augustus between Resâ—uporis and Câ—tys 257 Divided again by Tiberius between their Children 262 Tiberius takes the Command of the Armies 8 9 Is adopted by Augustus who associates him to the Tribunitial Power 9 His accession to the Empire 13 He caused young Agrippa to be assassinated 17 Receives the Oath of Fidelity of the Consuls 20 21 Affects great Modesty in the beginning of his Reign and why 21 Consults the Senate concerning the Funeral of Augustus 23 Speaks ambiguously 35 Says he is not capable to Govern the Empire ib. Retrenches the Honours designed for his Mother 43 Transfers the Peoples Election of Magistrates to the Senate 44 45 Unmov'd at the Murmurs of the People 95 Amuses the Senate and Provinces by the Preparations he makes for a Voyage to the Frontiers 97 Le ts his Wife Iulia die in Want and Misery 104 Loves not the publick Games and Shows 108 Wherefore 151 Refuses the Title of Father of the Country 139 285 Renews and enlarges the Law of High-Treason 139 Assists at the Audiences of Inferior Courts without turning Iudges out of their Places 146 Gives a Senator wherewithal to support his Dignity ib. Sends back others to the Senate 147 Opposes the Suppression of the Hundredth part of the Gain by Commerce 152 Seldom changes the Governors and Officers of Provinces 154 Wherefore 155 Gives the Parâ—hians a King 163 And the Praetorship to Libo whose Death he studies 196 Defers the Reformation of Luxury 203 Severely treats Hortalus the Senator fallen into Poverty 210 Answered well by counterâ—eit Agrippa 216 Discharges Rome of one half of the Payment of the Handâ—eâ— Penny 220 And some Cities of Asia of all Taxes for 5 years 230 231 Will not be Heir of those who made him their Heir to be aveng'd of their Relations 233 His third Consulship 239 His Day of Rejoicing for the two Sons at a Birth Heirs of Drusus 282 His generous Answer to him who offered to poison Arminius 286 His Trouble to see Agrippina adored by the People of 〈◊〉 292 And the Mourning for the Death of Germanicus to hold so long 294 His Prudence at the Process of 〈◊〉 Piso. 300 His fourth Consulship of which he leaves all the Business to his Son 329 His refusal of Honours 348 His Gratitude towards one of his Friends ib. His Order to stop the execution of Iudgments 351 His Answer to the Senate's demand of a Reformation 353 His Popularity the more agreeable to the Senate because very â—are 375 Tiber its Inundations 148 Methods proposed to prevent them â—53 Tigranes made King of Armenia reigns no long time 166 Tours its Revolt against the 〈◊〉 342 Tribunate a Magistracy exercised 37 years by Augustus 27 Invented by Augustus 360 He takes Agrippa and after â—â—â—rius for Associates 361 Trio Fulcinius a celebrated Promoter â—97 Accuser of Piso. 299 His great Heat 〈◊〉 his Eâ—oquence 310 Trophy of Arms taken by Germanicus his Soldiers irritates the Germans 184 Another by Germanicus to the Honour of Tiberius 187 Troy a City famous for giving Birth to the Romans 241 Tubantes a People of Germany destroyed by Germanicus 101 V. Varilia accused for Lampooning Augustus and Livia 234 Acquitted from the Indictment of High-Treason but punished for Adultery 235 Varus surprized by Arminius for neglecting the Advice of Segestes 110 His Body ignominiously treated by the Nephew of Segestes 138 His Legions had a Tomb made for their Bones 121 Demolished by the Bructerians 171 Varro Visellius Lieutenant of Lower Germany 342 He yields the Command to Silius 344 Raises the Siege of Philippopoli Vid. Note 341 Ubians 71 Their City pillaged 79 Their Altar 83 Son of Segestes Priest of that Altar 114 Veranius first Governor of Cappadocia discharged it of part of the Tributes which it payed to its Kings 214 Friend of Germanicus 272 Revenges his Death in pursuing that of Piso. 299 302 307 Is honoured with the Dignity of Priesthood 310 Verus Antistius a Macedonlan Lord accused to keep Intelligence with Rescupori banished 339 Vesâ—als carry the Last Will of Augustus to the Senate 23 Appeared before the Iudge when called to witness 205 Vâ—tera or the old Camp-place upon the Rhine 94 Veterans Soldiers offer the Empire to Germanicus 77 Demand the Legacies of Augustus ib. They are promised it double to appease them 80 They would be paid upon the spot and are so 80 81 Tiberius revokes the Promise he made to free them at the end of 16 years 153 Vibidius Varro expected the Senate wherefore 234 Vibilius General of the Hermunduri 257 Vibuleus a common Soldier devises how to â—eign that they have killed his Brother and to demand his Body 55 Counterfeits so well that General Blâ—sus had been killed if the Imposture had not been discovered 56 Drusus puts him to Death 68 Vipsania first Wife of Tiberius 39 Mother of Drusus 311 The most fortunate of all the Children of Agrippa ib. Vistilia a Roman Lady declares that she will prostitute her self 283 The prudent Answer of her Husband to the Iudges ib. Vitellia will not depose against Luc. Priscus 350 Vitellius Publ. is in danger of drowning with the two Legions 136 137 Goes to receive the Tribute of the Gauls 170 Accuses Piso and Plancina as Authors of the Death of Germanicus 299 Is honoured with Priesthood 310 Vitellius Qu. expelled the Senate 234 Vonones given in Hostage to Augustus by his Father 162 Demanded by the Parthians for King 163 Despised and why ib. Expelled 167 Called to Royalty by the Armenians 168 Whose Inconstancy obliges him to retire into Syria where he is treated as Prisoner ib. Taken from thence by Germanicus and why 248 He corrupts his Guards and flies but is taken 263 An Evocate supposed to be privy to his Escape kills him ib. Urgulania Favourite of Augusta cited to Court but refuses to appear 204 Usipoles cut to pieces by Germanicus 101 Volusius Luc. his Death aâ—d Commendation 327 Z. Zeno Son of the King of Pontus is made King of Armenia by Germanicus 244 FINIS The Family of AUGUSTUS The former is AUGUSTUS's Family Blood this that follows is his Family by Affnity or his Wife LIVIA's Family which was taken into his own by Adoption
this Family within thirty years last past Memoirs L. 8. Ch. 14. Thus the Author of the Satyr Menippe had reason to say that the House of Austria do as the Iews and lie with one another like May Bugs They allow'd him to have suffer'd the Luxury of Quintus Atedius and Vedius Pollio 8 Princes are reproach'd not only with their own Vices and Irregularities but also with those of their Ministers and their Favourites For people suppose they have the Vices which they tolerate in persons who are in their Service or their Favour his Minors and also of having given himself up to be govern'd by Livia 9 Where is the Difference saith Aristotle in being govern'd by Women or by Men who leave the Management of affairs to Women Polit. Lib. 2. Ch. 7. a heavy Burden to the Common-Wealth and a worse Step-mother to the Family of the Caesars That he had made himself a Fellow to the Gods commanding Temples to be dedicated to him as to a Deity with the Pomp of Images Priests and Sacrifices That for the rest he had appointed Tiberius to succeed him 10 A Prince who voluntarily chuses a bad Successor instead of augmenting effaces the Glory of his Reign for his Memory becomes as odious as his Successor's person To leave a good one saith Cabrera after the younger Pliny is a kind of Roman Divinity Hist. Philip II. Lib. 1. Ch. 8. If some of the better actions of the most moderate Princes are ill interpreted after their Deaths as Tacitus sheweth by the Example of Augustus whom they railed at with so much Liberty they have Hatred enough to bear without loading themselves also with that which the choice of an unworthy Successor draws upon them not out of any Affection which he bore him nor out of any Consideration for the Publick Good but only to add a Lustre to his own Glory by the Foyl of that Comparison as having a perfect Insight into his Nature and knowing him at the bottom to be Proud q Dio and Sueton don't differ much from Tacitus Suspicio saith the first quosdam tenuit consulto Tiberium ab Augusto satis â—um qualis esset cognescenâ—â— successorem ordinatum quo magis ipsius gloria floreret Lib. 56. Nec iâ—â—ud ignore saith the other aliquos tradidisse Augustum etiam ambitione tractum ut â—ali successore desiderabilior ipse quandoque fieret In Tib. cap. 23. So that P. Bouhours censures all at once these three Roman Historians when he speaks thus Is it probable that Augustus preferred Tiberius to Agrippa and Germanicus for no other Reason but to acquire Glory by the comparison which would be made of a cruel and arrogant Prince such as Tiberius was with himself his Predecessor For although Tacitus puts this in the Mouth of the Romans 't is visible enough that the Reflection is his own as well as that which he makes on the same Augustus for having put in his Will amongst his Heirs the principal Persons of Rome of whom the greatest part were odious to him that he had put them in I say through Vanity to make himself estemed by Posterity Dialogue 3. de sa manier de bien penser If this Reflection is Tacitus's own it ought to be attributed likewise to Dio and Sueton who are esteemed nevertheless true and well-informed Historians And consequently we may say of Pere Bouhours what Raphael dalla Torre said of Strada on occasion of the Censure of this Passage of History and many others that he knew better how to accuse Tacitus than to justifie Augustus For although Sâ—eton saith Raphael declares in the place forementioned that so sinister an Opinion is not agreeable to the Goodness of Augustus yet in stead of confuting it by any Reason he confirms it by the Knowledge which he owns Augustus had long before of the Evil Qualities of Tiberius 〈…〉 Livia veteres quosdam ad se Augusti codicillos de acerbitate intolerantia morum ejus è sacrario protulit atque recitavit And by the Words which he saith Augustus spoke after the last Discourse which he had with Tiberius crying out Unhappy is the People of Rome who 〈◊〉 to fall under such heavy 〈◊〉 Sueton therefore may say as much as he will that he cannot believe that so prudent a Prince could be willing to choose a Successor of so Tyrannical a Temper to make himself the more regretted but seeing he consellâ—â— that Augustus knew the Ill-Nature of him that he chose he ought at least to have given us some pertinent Reason to excuse so bad a Choice câ—p 4. of his Astrolabe of State and 11 In Princes the Vices of the Man don't unqualifie him for good Government Thus Augustus made no scruple to demand the Tribuneship for Tiberius although he knew he had many Personal Vices because he knew he had the Virtues of a Prince to ballance them Commines after having observed in several places of his Memoirs all the Vices of Lewis the Eleventh his Inquietude his Iealousie his Levity in Discourse his Aversion to great Men his Natural Inclination to Men of mean Birth his Insincerity his Cruelty concluded notwithstanding that God had made him wiser and more virtuous in all things than the Princes who were contemporary with him because without flattering him he had more of the Qualities requisite to a King than any Prince that he had â—ver seen lib. 6. cap. 10. And speaking of Iohn Galeas Duke of Millain he saith That he was a great Tyrant but Honourable l. 7. c. 7. Cabrera speaking of Cardinal Henry King of Portugal saith That he had the Virtues of a Priest and the Faults of a Prince which was as much as to say That he wanted the Qualities that are necessary to a King cap. 24. lib. 12. of his Philip Iâ— There have been saith the same Author Princes and Governours who notwithstanding great Vices have been Venerable for having had Qualities that deserve Reverence as Eloquence Liberality Civility the discernment of good and bad Counsels the Art of governing Cities and commanding Armies and other Natural Virtues resembling Moral ones whence arise great Advantages which make the Persons who are the Authors of them highly Esteemed and Respected It is for this Reason that some have said by way of Proverb A bad Man makes a good King A severe Prince who doth not violate Natural and Divine Laws is never called a Tyrant The Imperious Majesty of King Francis I. although it was excessive was more useful than the Sweetness and Humanity of his Son who authorised Vice and Licentiousness and who by the Gifts and Favours which he conferred on Flatterers converted the Publick Good into Private Interest and left the People to the Mercy of Great Men and never punished the Injustice of his Officers cap. 8. lib. 2. of the same History Cruel For not many Years before Augustus requesting the Senate once more to confer the Tribunitial Power on Tiberius r