Book 4 [40]
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Tacitus: History Book 4 [40]
| 40. Domitian, on the day of his taking his seat in the Senate, made a brief and measured speech in reference to the absence of his father and brother, and to his own youth. He was graceful in his bearing, and, his real character being yet unknown, the frequent blush on his countenance passed for modesty. On his proposing the restoration of the Imperial honours of Galba, Curtius Montanus moved that respect should also be paid to the memory of Piso. The Senate passed both motions, but that which referred to Piso was not carried out. Certain commissioners were then appointed by lot, who were to see to the restitution of property plundered during the war, to examine and restore to their place the brazen tables of the laws, which had fallen down through age, to free the Calendar from the additions with which the adulatory spirit of the time had disfigured it, and to put a check on the public expenditure. The office of praetor was restored to Tettius Julianus, as soon as it was known that he had fled for refuge to Vespasian. Griphus still retained his rank. It was then determined that the cause of Musonius Rufus against Publius Celer should be again brought on. Publius was condemned, and thus expiation was made to the shade of Soranus. The day thus marked by an example of public justice was not barren of distinction to individuals. Musonius was thought to have fulfilled the righteous duty of an accuser, but men spoke very differently of Demetrius, a disciple of the Cynical school of philosophy, who pleaded the cause of a notorious criminal by appeals to corrupt influences rather than by fair argument. Publius himself, in his peril, had neither spirit nor power of speech left. The signal for vengeance on the informers having been thus given, Junius Mauricus asked Caesar to give the Senate access to the Imperial registers, from which they might learn what impeachments the several informers had proposed. Caesar answered, that in a matter of such importance the Emperor must be consulted. | 40. Quo die senatum ingressus est Domitianus, de absentia patris fratrisque ac iuventa sua pauca et modica disseruit, decorus habitu; et ignotis adhuc moribus crebra oris confusio pro modestia accipiebatur. referente Caesare de restituendis Galbae honoribus, censuit Curtius Montanus ut Pisonis quoque memoria celebraretur. patres utrumque iussere: de Pisone inritum fuit. tum sorte ducti per quos redderentur bello rapta, quique aera legum vetustate delapsa noscerent figerentque, et fastos adulatione temporum foedatos exonerarent modumque publicis impensis facerent. redditur Tettio Iuliano praetura, postquam cognitus est ad Vespasianum confugisse: Grypo honor mansit. repeti inde cognitionem inter Musonium Rufum et Publium Celerem placuit, damnatusque Publius et Sorani manibus satis factum. insignis publica severitate dies ne privatim quidem laude caruit. iustum iudicium explesse Musonius videbatur, diversa fama Demetrio Cynicam sectam professo, quod manifestum reum ambitiosius quam honestius defendisset: ipsi Publio neque animus in periculis neque oratio suppeditavit. signo ultionis in accusatores dato, petit a Caesare Iunius Mauricus ut commentariorum principalium potestatem senatui faceret, per quos nosceret quem quisque accusandum poposcisset. consulendum tali super re principem respondit. |
| 41. The Senate, led by its principal members, then framed a form of oath, which was eagerly taken by all the magistrates and by the other Senators in the order in which they voted. They called the Gods to witness, that nothing had been done by their instrumentality to prejudice the safety of any person, and that they had gained no distinction or advantage by the ruin of Roman citizens. Great was the alarm, and various the devices for altering the words of the oath, among those who felt the consciousness of guilt. The Senate appreciated the scruple, but denounced the perjury. This public censure, as it might be called, fell with especial severity on three men, Sariolenus Vocula, Nonnius Attianus, and Cestius Severus, all of them infamous for having practised the trade of the informer in the days of Nero. Sariolenus indeed laboured under an imputation of recent date. It was said that he had attempted the same practices during the reign of Vitellius. The Senators did not desist from threatening gestures, till he quitted the chamber; then passing to Paccius Africanus, they assailed him in the same way. It was he, they said, who had singled out as victims for Nero the brothers Scribonius, renowned for their mutual affection and for their wealth. Africanus dared not confess his guilt, and could not deny it; but he himself turned on Vibius Crispus, who was pressing him with questions, and complicating a charge which he could not rebut, shifted the blame from himself by associating another with his guilt. | 41. Senatus inchoantibus primoribus ius iurandum concepit quo certatim omnes magistratus, ceteri, ut sententiam rogabantur, deos testis advocabant, nihil ope sua factum quo cuiusquam salus laederetur, neque se praemium aut honorem ex calamitate civium cepisse, trepidis et verba iuris iurandi per varias artis mutantibus, quis flagitii conscientia inerat. probabant religionem patres, periurium arguebant; eaque velut censura in Sariolenum Voculam et Nonium Attianum et Cestium Severum acerrime incubuit, crebris apud Neronem delationibus famosos. Sariolenum et recens crimen urgebat, quod apud Vitellium molitus eadem foret: nec destitit senatus manus intentare Voculae, donec curia excederet. ad Paccium Africanum transgressi eum quoque proturbant, tamquam Neroni Scribonios fratres concordia opibusque insignis ad exitium monstravisset. Africanus neque fateri audebat neque abnuere poterat: in Vibium Crispum, cuius interrogationibus fatigabatur, ultro conversus, miscendo quae defendere nequibat, societate culpae invidiam declinavit. |
| 42. Great was the reputation for brotherly affection, as well as for eloquence, which Vipstanus Messalla earned for himself on that day, by venturing, though not yet of Senatorial age, to plead for his brother Aquilius Regulus. The fall of the families of the Crassi and Orfitus had brought Regulus into the utmost odium. Of his own free will, as it seemed, and while still a mere youth, he had undertaken the prosecution, not to ward off any peril from himself, but in the hope of gaining power. The wife of Crassus, Sulpicia Praetextata, and her four children were ready, should the Senate take cognizance of the cause, to demand vengeance. Accordingly, Messalla, without attempting to defend the case or the person accused, had simply thrown himself in the way of the perils that threatened his brother, and had thus wrought upon the feelings of several Senators. On this Curtius Montanus met him with a fierce speech, in which he went to the length of asserting, that after the death of Galba, money had been given by Regulus to the murderer of Piso, and that he had even fastened his teeth in the murdered man's head. "Certainly," he said, "Nero did not compel this act; you did not secure by this piece of barbarity either your rank or your life. We may bear with the defence put forward by men who thought it better to destroy others than to come into peril themselves. As for you, the exile of your father, and the division of his property among his creditors, had left you perfectly safe, besides that your youth incapacitated you for office; there was nothing in you which Nero could either covet or dread. It was from sheer lust of slaughter and greed of gain that you, unknown as you were, you, who had never pleaded in any man's defence, steeped your soul in noble blood, when, though you had snatched from the very grave of your Country the spoils of a man of consular rank, had been fed to the full with seven million sesterces, and shone with all sacerdotal honours, you yet overwhelmed in one common ruin innocent boys, old men of illustrious name, and noble ladies, when you actually blamed the tardy movements of Nero in wearying himself and his informers with the overthrow of single families, and declared that the whole Senate might be destroyed by one word. Keep, Conscript Fathers, preserve a man of such ready counsels, that every age may be furnished with its teacher, and that our young men may imitate Regulus, just as our old men imitate Marcellus and Crispus. Even unsuccessful villany finds some to emulate it: what will happen, if it flourish and be strong? And the man, whom we dare not offend when he holds only quaestor's rank, are we to see him rise to the dignities of praetor and consul? Do you suppose that Nero will be the last of the tyrants? Those who survived Tiberius, those who survived Caligula, thought the same; and yet after each there arose another ruler yet more detestable and more cruel. We are not afraid of Vespasian; the age and moderation of the new Emperor reassure us. But the influence of an example outlives the individual character. We have lost our vigour, Conscript Fathers; we are no longer that Senate, which, when Nero had fallen, demanded that the informers and ministers of the tyrant should be punished according to ancient custom. The first day after the downfall of a wicked Emperor is the best of opportunities." | 42. Magnam eo die pietatis eloquentiaeque famam Vipstanus Messala adeptus est, nondum senatoria aetate, ausus pro fratre Aquilio Regulo deprecari. Regulum subversa Crassorum et Orfiti domus in summum odium extulerat: sponte [ex sc] accusationem subisse iuvenis admodum, nec depellendi periculi sed in spem potentiae videbatur; et Sulpicia Praetextata Crassi uxor quattuorque liberi, si cognosceret senatus, ultores aderant. igitur Messala non causam neque reum tueri, sed periculis fratris semet opponens flexerat quosdam. occurrit truci oratione Curtius Montanus, eo usque progressus ut post caedem Galbae datam interfectori Pisonis pecuniam a Regulo adpetitumque morsu Pisonis caput obiectaret. 'hoc certe' inquit 'Nero non coegit, nec dignitatem aut salutem illa saevitia redemisti. sane toleremus istorum defensiones qui perdere alios quam periclitari ipsi maluerunt: te securum reliquerat exul pater et divisa inter creditores bona, nondum honorum capax aetas, nihil quod ex te concupisceret Nero, nihil quod timeret. libidine sanguinis et hiatu praemiorum ignotum adhuc ingenium et nullis defensionibus expertum caede nobili imbuisti, cum ex funere rei publicae raptis consularibus spoliis, septuagiens sestertio saginatus et sacerdotio fulgens innoxios pueros, inlustris senes, conspicuas feminas eadem ruina prosterneres, cum segnitiam Neronis incusares, quod per singulas domos seque et delatores fatigaret: posse universum senatum una voce subverti. retinete, patres conscripti, et reservate hominem tam expediti consilii ut omnis aetas instructa sit, et quo modo senes nostri Marcellum, Crispum, iuvenes Regulum imitentur. invenit aemulos etiam infelix nequitia: quid si floreat vigeatque? et quem adhuc quaestorium offendere non audemus, praetorium et consularem ausuri sumus? an Neronem extremum dominorum putatis? idem crediderant qui Tiberio, qui Gaio superstites fuerunt, cum interim intestabilior et saevior exortus est. non timemus Vespasianum; ea principis aetas, ea moderatio: sed diutius durant exempla quam mores. elanguimus, patres conscripti, nec iam ille senatus sumus qui occiso Nerone delatores et ministros more maiorum puniendos flagitabat. optimus est post malum principem dies primus.' |
| 43. Montanus was heard with such approval on the part of the Senate, that Helvidius conceived a hope that Marcellus also might be overthrown. He therefore began with a panegyric on Cluvius Rufus, who, though not less rich nor less renowned for eloquence, had never imperilled a single life in the days of Nero. By this comparison, as well as by direct accusations, he pressed Eprius hard, and stirred the indignation of the Senators. When Marcellus perceived this, he made as if he would leave the House, exclaiming, "We go, Priscus, and leave you your Senate; act the king, though Caesar himself be present." Crispus followed. Both were enraged, but their looks were different; Marcellus cast furious glances about him, while Crispus smiled. They were drawn back, however, into the Senate by the hasty interference of friends. The contest grew fiercer, while the well-disposed majority on the one side, and a powerful minority on the other, fought out their obstinate quarrel, and thus the day was spent in altercation. | 43. Tanto cum adsensu senatus auditus est Montanus ut spem caperet Helvidius posse etiam Marcellum prosterni. igitur a laude Cluvii Rufi orsus, qui perinde dives et eloquentia clarus nulli umquam sub Nerone periculum facessisset, crimine simul exemploque Eprium urgebat, ardentibus patrum animis. quod ubi sensit Marcellus, velut excedens curia 'imus' inquit, 'Prisce, et relinquimus tibi senatum tuum: regna praesente Caesare.' sequebatur Vibius Crispus, ambo infensi, vultu diverso, Marcellus minacibus oculis, Crispus renidens, donec adcursu amicorum retraherentur. cum glisceret certamen, hinc multi bonique, inde pauci et validi pertinacibus odiis tenderent, consumptus per discordiam dies. |
| 44. At the next meeting of the Senate Caesar began by recommending that the wrongs, the resentments, and the terrible necessities of former times, should be forgotten, and Mucianus spoke at great length in favour of the informers. At the same time he admonished in gentle terms and in a tone of entreaty those who were reviving indictments, which they had before commenced and afterwards dropped. The Senators, when they found themselves opposed, relinquished the liberty which they had begun to exercise. That it might not be thought that the opinion of the Senate was disregarded, or that impunity was accorded to all acts done in the days of Nero, Mucianus sent back to their islands two men of Senatorial rank, Octavius Sagitta and Antistius Sosianus, who had quitted their places of banishment. Octavius had seduced one Pontia Postumia, and, on her refusing to marry him, in the frenzy of passion had murdered her. Sosianus by his depravity had brought many to ruin. Both had been condemned and banished by a solemn decision of the Senate, and, though others were permitted to return, were kept under the same penalty. But this did not mitigate the hatred felt against Mucianus. Sosianus and Sagitta were utterly insignificant, even if they did return; but men dreaded the abilities of the informers, their wealth, and the power which they exercised in many sinister ways. | 44. Proximo senatu, inchoante Caesare de abolendo dolore iraque et priorum temporum necessitatibus, censuit Mucianus prolixe pro accusatoribus; simul eos qui coeptam, deinde omissam actionem repeterent, monuit sermone molli et tamquam rogaret. patres coeptatam libertatem, postquam obviam itum, omisere. Mucianus, ne sperni senatus iudicium et cunctis sub Nerone admissis data impunitas videretur, Octavium Sagittam et Antistium Sosianum senatorii ordinis egressos exilium in easdem insulas redegit. Octavius Pontiam Postuminam, stupro cognitam et nuptias suas abnuentem, impotens amoris interfecerat, Sosianus pravitate morum multis exitiosus. ambo gravi senatus consulto damnati pulsique, quamvis concesso aliis reditu, in eadem poena retenti sunt. nec ideo lenita erga Mucianum invidia: quippe Sosianus ac Sagitta viles, etiam si reverterentur: accusatorum ingenia et opes et exercita malis artibus potentia timebantur. |
| 45. A trial, conducted in the Senate according to ancient precedents, brought into harmony for a time the feelings of its members. Manlius Patruitus, a Senator, laid a complaint, that he had been beaten by a mob in the colony of Sena, and that by order of the magistrates; that the wrong had not stopped here, but that lamentations and wailings, in fact a representation of funeral obsequies, had been enacted in his presence, accompanied with contemptuous and insulting expressions levelled against the whole Senate. The persons accused were summoned to appear, and after the case had been investigated, punishment was inflicted on those who were found guilty. A resolution of the Senate was also passed, recommending more orderly behaviour to the people of Sena. About the same time Antonius Flamma was condemned under the law against extortion, at the suit of the people of Cyrene, and was banished for cruel practices. | 45. Reconciliavit paulisper studia patrum habita in senatu cognitio secundum veterem morem. Manlius Patruitus senator pulsatum se in colonia Seniensi coetu multitudinis et iussu magistratuum querebatur; nec finem iniuriae hic stetisse: planctum et lamenta et supremorum imaginem praesenti sibi circumdata cum contumeliis ac probris, quae in senatum universum iacerentur. vocati qui arguebantur, et cognita causa in convictos vindicatum, additumque senatus consultum quo Seniensium plebes modestiae admoneretur. isdem diebus Antonius Flamma <accusantibus> Cyrenensibus damnatur lege repetundarum et exilio ob saevitiam. |
| 46. Amidst all this a mutiny in the army all but broke out. The troops who, having been disbanded by Vitellius, had flocked to support Vespasian, asked leave to serve again in the Praetorian Guard, and the soldiers who had been selected from the legions with the same prospect now clamoured for their promised pay. Even the Vitellianists could not be got rid of without much bloodshed. But the money required for retaining in the service so vast a body of men was immensely large. Mucianus entered the camp to examine more accurately the individual claims. The victorious army, wearing their proper decorations and arms, he drew up with moderate intervals of space between the divisions; then the Vitellianists, whose capitulation at Bovillae I have already related, and the other troops of the party, who had been collected from the capital and its neighbourhood, were brought forth almost naked. Mucianus ordered these men to be drawn up apart, making the British, the German, and any other troops that there were belonging to other armies, take up separate positions. The very first view of their situation paralyzed them. They saw opposed to them what seemed a hostile array, threatening them with javelin and sword. They saw themselves hemmed in, without arms, filthy and squalid. And when they began to be separated, some to be marched to one spot, and some to another, a thrill of terror ran through them all. Among the troops from Germany the panic was particularly great; for they believed that this separation marked them out for slaughter. They embraced their fellow soldiers, clung to their necks, begged for parting kisses, and entreated that they might not be deserted, or doomed in a common cause to suffer a different lot. They invoked now Mucianus, now the absent Emperor, and, as a last resource, heaven and the Gods, till Mucianus came forward, and calling them "soldiers bound by the same oath and servants of the same Emperor," stopped the groundless panic. And indeed the victorious army seconded the tears of the vanquished with their approving shouts. This terminated the proceedings for that day. But when Domitian harangued them a few days afterwards, they received him with increased confidence. The land that was offered them they contemptuously rejected, and begged for regular service and pay. Theirs were prayers indeed, but such as it was impossible to reject. They were therefore received into the Praetorian camp. Then such as had reached the prescribed age, or had served the proper number of campaigns, received an honourable discharge; others were dismissed for misconduct; but this was done by degrees and in detail, always the safest mode of reducing the united strength of a multitude. | 46. Inter quae militaris seditio prope exarsit. praetorianam militiam repetebant a Vitellio dimissi, pro Vespasiano congregati; et lectus in eandem spem e legionibus miles promissa stipendia flagitabat. ne Vitelliani quidem sine multa caede pelli poterant: sed immensa pecunia tanta vis hominum retinenda erat. ingressus castra Mucianus, quo rectius stipendia singulorum spectaret, suis cum insignibus armisque victores constituit, modicis inter se spatiis discretos. tum Vitelliani, quos apud Bovillas in deditionem acceptos memoravimus, ceterique per urbem et urbi vicina conquisiti producuntur prope intecto corpore. eos Mucianus diduci et Germanicum Britannicumque militem, ac si qui aliorum exercituum, separatim adsistere iubet. illos primus statim aspectus obstupefecerat, cum ex diverso velut aciem telis et armis trucem, semet clausos nudosque et inluvie deformis aspicerent: ut vero huc illuc distrahi coepere, metus per omnis et praecipua Germanici militis formido, tamquam ea separatione ad caedem destinaretur. prensare commanipularium pectora, cervicibus innecti, suprema oscula petere, ne desererentur soli neu pari causa disparem fortunam paterentur; modo Mucianum, modo absentem principem, postremum caelum ac deos obtestari, donec Mucianus cunctos eiusdem sacramenti, eiusdem imperatoris milites appellans, falso timori obviam iret; namque et victor exercitus clamore lacrimas eorum iuvabat. isque finis illa die. paucis post diebus adloquentem Domitianum firmati iam excepere: spernunt oblatos agros, militiam et stipendia orant. preces erant, sed quibus contra dici non posset; igitur in praetorium accepti. dein quibus aetas et iusta stipendia, dimissi cum honore, alii ob culpam, sed carptim ac singuli, quo tutissimo remedio consensus multitudinis extenuatur. |
| 47. It is a fact that, whether suggested by real poverty or by a wish to give the appearance of it, a proposition passed the Senate to the effect that a loan of sixty million sesterces from private persons should be accepted. Pompeius Silvanus was appointed to manage the affair. Before long, either the necessity ceased or the pretence was dropped. After this, on the motion of Domitian, the consulships conferred by Vitellius were cancelled, and the honours of a censor's funeral were paid to Sabinus; great lessons both of the mutability of fortune, ever bringing together the highest honours and the lowest humiliations. | 47. Ceterum verane pauperie an uti videretur, actum in senatu ut sescentiens sestertium a privatis mutuum acciperetur, praepositusque ei curae Pompeius Silvanus. nec multo post necessitas abiit sive omissa simulatio. abrogati inde legem ferente Domitiano consulatus quos Vitellius dederat, funusque censorium Flavio Sabino ductum, magna documenta instabilis fortunae summaque et ima miscentis. |
| 48. About the same time the proconsul Lucius Piso was murdered. I shall make the account of this murder as exact as possible by first reviewing a few earlier circumstances, which have a bearing on the origin and motives of such deeds. The legion and the auxiliaries stationed in Africa to guard the frontiers of the Empire were under the proconsul's authority during the reigns of the divine Augustus and Tiberius. But in course of time Caligula, prompted by his restless temper and by his fear of Marcus Silanus, who then held Africa, took away the legion from the proconsul, and handed it over to a legate whom he sent for that purpose. The patronage was equally divided between the two officers. A source of disagreement was thus studiously sought in the continual clashing of their authority, and it was further developed by an unprincipled rivalry. The power of the legates grew through their lengthened tenure of office, and, perhaps, because an inferior feels greater interest in such a competition. All the more distinguished of the proconsuls cared more for security than for power. | 48. Sub idem tempus L. Piso pro consule interficitur. ea de caede quam verissime expediam, si pauca supra repetiero ab initio causisque talium facinorum non absurda. legio in Africa auxiliaque tutandis imperii finibus sub divo Augusto Tiberioque principibus proconsuli parebant. mox G. Caesar, turbidus animi ac Marcum Silanum obtinentem Africam metuens, ablatam proconsuli legionem misso in eam rem legato tradidit. aequatus inter duos beneficiorum numerus, et mixtis utriusque mandatis discordia quaesita auctaque pravo certamine. legatorum ius adolevit diuturnitate officii, vel quia minoribus maior aemulandi cura, proconsulum splendidissimus quisque securitati magis quam potentiae consulebant. |
| 49. At this time the legion in Africa was commanded by Valerius Festus, a young man of extravagant habits and immoderate ambition, who was now made uneasy by his relationship to Vitellius. Whether this man in their frequent interviews tempted Piso to revolt, or whether he resisted such overtures, is not known for certain, for no one was present at their confidential meetings, and, after Piso's death, many were disposed to ingratiate themselves with the murderer. There is no doubt that the province and the troops entertained feelings of hostility to Vespasian, and some of the Vitellianists, who had escaped from the capital, incessantly represented to Piso that Gaul was hesitating and Germany ready to revolt, that his own position was perilous, and that for one who in peace must be suspected, war was the safer course. While this was going on, Claudius Sagitta, prefect of Petra's Horse, making a very quick passage, reached Africa before Papirius, the centurion despatched by Mucianus. He declared that an order to put Piso to death had been given to the centurion, and that Galerianus, his cousin and son-in-law, had perished; that his only hope of safety was in bold action; that in such action two paths were open; he might defend himself on the spot, or he might sail for Gaul and offer his services as general to the Vitellianist armies. Piso was wholly unmoved by this statement. The centurion despatched by Mucianus, on landing in the port of Carthage, raised his voice, and invoked in succession all blessings on the head of Piso, as if he were Emperor, and bade the bystanders, who were astonished by this sudden and strange proceeding, take up the same cry. The credulous mob rushed into the market-place, and demanded that Piso should shew himself. They threw everything into an uproar with their clamorous shouts of joy, careless of the truth, and only eager to flatter. Piso, acting on the information of Sagitta, or, perhaps, from natural modesty, would not make his appearance in public, or trust himself to the zeal of the populace. On questioning the centurion, and finding that he had sought a pretext for accusing and murdering him, he ordered the man to be executed, moved, not so much by any hope of saving his life, as by indignation against the assassin; for this fellow had been one of the murderers of Macer, and was now come to slay the proconsul with hands already stained with the blood of the legate. He then severely blamed the people of Carthage in an edict which betrayed his anxiety, and ceased to discharge even the usual duties of his office, shutting himself up in his palace, to guard against any casual occurrence that might lead to a new outbreak. | 49. Sed tum legionem in Africa regebat Valerius Festus, sumptuosae adulescentiae neque modica cupiens et adfinitate Vitellii anxius. is crebris sermonibus temptaveritne Pisonem ad res novas an temptanti restiterit, incertum, quoniam secreto eorum nemo adfuit, et occiso Pisone plerique ad gratiam interfectoris inclinavere. nec ambigitur provinciam et militem alienato erga Vespasianum animo fuisse; et quidam e Vitellianis urbe profugi ostentabant Pisoni nutantis Gallias, paratam Germaniam, pericula ipsius et in pace suspecto tutius bellum. inter quae Claudius Sagitta, praefectus alae Petrianae, prospera navigatione praevenit Papirium centurionem a Muciano missum, adseveravitque mandata interficiendi Pisonis centurioni data: cecidisse Galerianum consobrinum eius generumque; unam in audacia spem salutis, sed duo itinera audendi, seu mallet statim arma, seu petita navibus Gallia ducem se Vitellianis exercitibus ostenderet. nihil ad ea moto Pisone, centurio a Muciano missus, ut portum Carthaginis attigit, magna voce laeta Pisoni omnia tamquam principi continuare, obvios et subitae rei miraculo attonitos ut eadem adstreperent hortari. vulgus credulum ruere in forum, praesentiam Pisonis exposcere; gaudio clamoribusque cuncta miscebant, indiligentia veri et adulandi libidine. Piso indicio Sagittae vel insita modestia non in publicum egressus est neque se studiis vulgi permisit: centurionemque percontatus, postquam quaesitum sibi crimen caedemque comperit, animadverti in eum iussit, haud perinde spe vitae quam ira in percussorem, quod idem ex interfectoribus Clodii Macri cruentas legati sanguine manus ad caedem proconsulis rettulisset. anxio deinde edicto Carthaginiensibus increpitis, ne solita quidem munia usurpabat, clausus intra domum, ne qua motus novi causa vel forte oreretur. |
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