The people he met, who were astounded at
this unexpected miracle, were instructed to take up the cry.
this unexpected miracle, were instructed to take up the cry.
Tacitus
Under the sainted Augustus
and Tiberius the pro-consul of Africa had in his command one legion
and some auxiliaries with which to guard the frontier of the
empire. [362] Caligula, who was restless by nature and harboured
suspicions of the then pro-consul, Marcus Silanus, withdrew the
legion from his command and put it under a legate whom he sent out for
the purpose. As each had an equal amount of patronage and their
functions overlapped, Caligula thus caused a state of friction which
was further aggravated by regrettable quarrels. The greater permanence
of his tenure[363] gradually strengthened the legate's position, and
perhaps an inferior is always anxious to vie with his betters. The
most eminent governors, on the other hand, were more careful of their
comfort than of their authority.
At the present time the legion in Africa was commanded by Valerius 49
Festus,[364] an extravagant young man, immoderately ambitious, whose
kinship with Vitellius had given him some anxiety. He had frequent
interviews with Piso, and it is impossible to tell whether he tempted
Piso to rebel or resisted Piso's temptations. No one was present at
their interviews, which were held in private, and after Piso's death
most people were inclined to sympathize with his murderer. Beyond
doubt the province and the garrison were unfavourable to Vespasian.
Besides, some of the Vitellian refugees from Rome pointed out to Piso
that the Gallic provinces were wavering. Germany was ready to rebel,
and he himself was in danger; 'and,' they added, 'if you earn
suspicion in peace your safest course is war. ' Meanwhile, Claudius
Sagitta, who commanded Petra's Horse,[365] made a good crossing and
outstripped the centurion Papirius, who had been sent out by Mucianus
and was commissioned, so Sagitta affirmed, to assassinate Piso.
Sagitta further stated that Galerianus,[366] Piso's cousin and
son-in-law, had already been murdered, and told him that while his one
hope lay in taking a bold step, there were two courses open to him: he
might either take up arms on the spot, or he might prefer to sail to
Gaul and offer to lead the Vitellian armies. This made no impression
on Piso. When the centurion whom Mucianus had sent arrived at the
gates of Carthage, he kept on shouting all sorts of congratulations to
Piso on becoming emperor.
The people he met, who were astounded at
this unexpected miracle, were instructed to take up the cry. With a
crowd's usual credulity, they rushed into the forum calling on Piso to
appear, and as they had a passion for flattery and took no interest in
the truth, they proceeded to fill the whole place with a confused
noise of cheering. Piso, however, either at a hint from Sagitta, or
from his natural good sense, would not show himself in public or give
way to the excitement of the crowd. He examined the centurion, and
learnt that his object was to trump up a charge against him and then
kill him. [367] He accordingly had the man executed more from
indignation against the assassin than in any hope of saving his life;
for he found that the man had been one of the murderers of Clodius
Macer,[368] and after staining his hand in the blood of a military
officer was now proposing to turn it against a civil governor. Piso
then reprimanded the Carthaginians in an edict which clearly showed
his anxiety, and refrained from performing even the routine of his
office, shutting himself up in his house, for fear that he might by
accident provide some pretext for further demonstrations.
When the news of the popular excitement and the centurion's 50
execution reached the ears of Festus, considerably exaggerated and
with the usual admixture of falsehood, he at once sent off a party of
horsemen to murder Piso. Riding at full speed, they reached the
governor's house in the twilight of early dawn and broke in with drawn
swords. As Festus had mainly chosen Carthaginian auxiliaries and Moors
to do the murder, most of them did not know Piso by sight. However,
near his bedroom they happened on a slave and asked him where Piso was
and what he looked like. In answer the slave told them a heroic lie
and said he was Piso, whereupon they immediately cut him down.
However, Piso himself was killed very soon after, for there was one
man among them who knew him, and that was Baebius Massa, one of the
imperial agents in Africa, who was already a danger to all the best
men in Rome. His name will recur again and again in this narrative, as
one of the causes of the troubles which beset us later on. [369]
Festus had been waiting at Adrumetum[370] to see how things went, and
he now hastened to rejoin his legion. He had the camp-prefect,
Caetronius Pisanus, put in irons, alleging that he was one of Piso's
accomplices, though his real motive was personal dislike. He then
punished some of the soldiers and centurions and rewarded others; in
neither case for their deserts, but because he wanted it to be thought
that he had stamped out a war.
and Tiberius the pro-consul of Africa had in his command one legion
and some auxiliaries with which to guard the frontier of the
empire. [362] Caligula, who was restless by nature and harboured
suspicions of the then pro-consul, Marcus Silanus, withdrew the
legion from his command and put it under a legate whom he sent out for
the purpose. As each had an equal amount of patronage and their
functions overlapped, Caligula thus caused a state of friction which
was further aggravated by regrettable quarrels. The greater permanence
of his tenure[363] gradually strengthened the legate's position, and
perhaps an inferior is always anxious to vie with his betters. The
most eminent governors, on the other hand, were more careful of their
comfort than of their authority.
At the present time the legion in Africa was commanded by Valerius 49
Festus,[364] an extravagant young man, immoderately ambitious, whose
kinship with Vitellius had given him some anxiety. He had frequent
interviews with Piso, and it is impossible to tell whether he tempted
Piso to rebel or resisted Piso's temptations. No one was present at
their interviews, which were held in private, and after Piso's death
most people were inclined to sympathize with his murderer. Beyond
doubt the province and the garrison were unfavourable to Vespasian.
Besides, some of the Vitellian refugees from Rome pointed out to Piso
that the Gallic provinces were wavering. Germany was ready to rebel,
and he himself was in danger; 'and,' they added, 'if you earn
suspicion in peace your safest course is war. ' Meanwhile, Claudius
Sagitta, who commanded Petra's Horse,[365] made a good crossing and
outstripped the centurion Papirius, who had been sent out by Mucianus
and was commissioned, so Sagitta affirmed, to assassinate Piso.
Sagitta further stated that Galerianus,[366] Piso's cousin and
son-in-law, had already been murdered, and told him that while his one
hope lay in taking a bold step, there were two courses open to him: he
might either take up arms on the spot, or he might prefer to sail to
Gaul and offer to lead the Vitellian armies. This made no impression
on Piso. When the centurion whom Mucianus had sent arrived at the
gates of Carthage, he kept on shouting all sorts of congratulations to
Piso on becoming emperor.
The people he met, who were astounded at
this unexpected miracle, were instructed to take up the cry. With a
crowd's usual credulity, they rushed into the forum calling on Piso to
appear, and as they had a passion for flattery and took no interest in
the truth, they proceeded to fill the whole place with a confused
noise of cheering. Piso, however, either at a hint from Sagitta, or
from his natural good sense, would not show himself in public or give
way to the excitement of the crowd. He examined the centurion, and
learnt that his object was to trump up a charge against him and then
kill him. [367] He accordingly had the man executed more from
indignation against the assassin than in any hope of saving his life;
for he found that the man had been one of the murderers of Clodius
Macer,[368] and after staining his hand in the blood of a military
officer was now proposing to turn it against a civil governor. Piso
then reprimanded the Carthaginians in an edict which clearly showed
his anxiety, and refrained from performing even the routine of his
office, shutting himself up in his house, for fear that he might by
accident provide some pretext for further demonstrations.
When the news of the popular excitement and the centurion's 50
execution reached the ears of Festus, considerably exaggerated and
with the usual admixture of falsehood, he at once sent off a party of
horsemen to murder Piso. Riding at full speed, they reached the
governor's house in the twilight of early dawn and broke in with drawn
swords. As Festus had mainly chosen Carthaginian auxiliaries and Moors
to do the murder, most of them did not know Piso by sight. However,
near his bedroom they happened on a slave and asked him where Piso was
and what he looked like. In answer the slave told them a heroic lie
and said he was Piso, whereupon they immediately cut him down.
However, Piso himself was killed very soon after, for there was one
man among them who knew him, and that was Baebius Massa, one of the
imperial agents in Africa, who was already a danger to all the best
men in Rome. His name will recur again and again in this narrative, as
one of the causes of the troubles which beset us later on. [369]
Festus had been waiting at Adrumetum[370] to see how things went, and
he now hastened to rejoin his legion. He had the camp-prefect,
Caetronius Pisanus, put in irons, alleging that he was one of Piso's
accomplices, though his real motive was personal dislike. He then
punished some of the soldiers and centurions and rewarded others; in
neither case for their deserts, but because he wanted it to be thought
that he had stamped out a war.
