No More Learning

Some moved for the
letters written to Piso from Rome; a motion opposed by Tiberius no less
than by Piso. From without, at the same time, were heard the cries of
the people, "that if he escaped the judgment of the Senate, they would
with their own hands destroy him. " They had already dragged his statues
to the place from whence malefactors were precipitated, and there
had broken them; but by the orders of Tiberius they were rescued and
replaced. Piso was put into a litter and carried back by a tribune of
a Praetorian cohort; an attendance variously understood, whether as a
guard for his safety, or a minister of death.

Plancina was under equal public hatred, but had more secret favour:
hence it was doubted how far Tiberius durst proceed against her. For
herself; while her husband's hopes were yet plausible, she professed
"she would accompany his fortune, whatever it were, and, if he fell,
fall with him. " But when by the secret solicitations of Livia, she had
secured her own pardon, she began by degrees to drop her husband, and to
make a separate defence. After this fatal warning, he doubted whether
he should make any further efforts; but, by the advice of his sons,
fortifying his mind, he again entered the Senate: there he found the
prosecution renewed, suffered the declared indignation of the Fathers,
and saw all things cross and terrible; but nothing so much daunted
him as to behold Tiberius, without mercy, without wrath, close, dark,
unmovable, and bent against every access of tenderness. When he was
brought home, as if he were preparing for his further defence the next
day, he wrote somewhat, which he sealed and delivered to his freedman:
he then washed and anointed, and took the usual care of his person. Late
in the night, his wife leaving the chamber, he ordered the door to be
shut; and was found, at break of day, with his throat cut, his sword
lying by him.

I remember to have heard from ancient men, that in the hands of Piso
was frequently seen a bundle of writings, which he did not expose, but
which, as his friends constantly averred, "contained the letters of
Tiberius and his cruel orders towards Germanicus: that he resolved to
lay them before the Fathers and to charge the Emperor, but was deluded
by the hollow promises of Sejanus: and that neither did Piso die by his
own hands, but by those of an express and private executioner. " I dare
affirm neither; nor yet ought I to conceal the relations of such
as still lived when I was a youth. Tiberius, with an assumed air of
sadness, complained to the Senate, that Piso, by that sort of death,
had aimed to load him with obloquy; and asked many questions how he had
passed his last day, how his last night? The freedman answered to most
with prudence, to some in confusion. The Emperor then recited the letter
sent him by Piso.
It was conceived almost in these words: "Oppressed by
a combination of my enemies and the imputation of false crimes; since
no place is left here to truth and my innocence; to the Immortal Gods I
appeal, that towards you, Caesar, I have lived with sincere faith,
nor towards your mother with less reverence. For my sons I implore her
protection and yours: my son Cneius had no share in my late management
whatever it were, since, all the while, he abode at Rome: and my son
Marcus dissuaded me from returning to Syria. Oh that, old as I am, I
had yielded to him, rather than he, young as he is, to me! Hence
more passionately I pray that innocent as he is, he suffer not in the
punishment of my guilt: by a series of services for five-and-forty
years, I entreat you; by our former fellowship in the consulship; by the
memory of the deified Augustus, your father; by his friendship to me; by
mine to you, I entreat you for the life and fortune of my unhappy son.
It is the last request I shall ever make you. " Of Plancina he said
nothing.

Tiberius, upon this, cleared the young man of any crime as to the
civil war: he alleged "the orders of his father, which a son could not
disobey. " He likewise bewailed "that noble house, and even the grievous
lot of Piso himself, however deserved," For Plancina he pleaded with
shame and guilt, alleging the importunity of his mother; against whom
more particularly the secret murmurs of the best people waxed bitter and
poignant. "Was it then the tender part of a grandmother to admit to her
sight the murderess of her grandson, to be intimate with her, and to
snatch her from the vengeance of the Senate? To Germanicus alone was
denied what by the laws was granted to every citizen. By Vitellius
and Veranius, the cause of that prince was mourned and pleaded: by the
Emperor and his mother, Plancina was defended and protected. Henceforth
she might pursue her infernal arts so successfully tried, repeat
her poisonings, and by her arts and poisons assail Agrippina and her
children; and, with the blood of that most miserable house, satiate the
worthy grandmother and uncle. " In this mock trial two days were wasted;
Tiberius, all the while, animating the sons of Piso to defend their
mother: when the pleaders and witnesses had vigorously pushed the
charge, and no reply was made, commiseration prevailed over hatred. The
Consul Aurelius Cotta was first asked his opinion: for, when the Emperor
collected the voices, the magistrates likewise voted. Cotta's sentence
was, "that the name of Piso should be razed from the annals, part of
his estate forfeited, part granted to his son Cneius, upon changing that
name; his son Marcus be divested of his dignity, and content with fifty
thousand great sestertia, [Footnote: £42,000. ] be banished for ten
years: and to Plancina, at the request of Livia, indemnity should be
granted.