They dragged Piso forth and
butchered
him on the threshold
of the temple.
of the temple.
Tacitus
As
to the actual murderer there is a difference of opinion. Some say it
was Terentius, a reservist,[71] others that his name was Laecanius.
The most common account is that a soldier of the Fifteenth legion, by
name Camurius, pierced his throat with a sword-thrust. The others
foully mangled his arms and legs (his breast was covered) and with
bestial savagery continued to stab the headless corpse. Then they made
for Titus Vinius. Here, too, there is a doubt whether the fear of 42
imminent death strangled his voice, or whether he called out that they
had no mandate from Otho to kill him. He may have invented this in his
terror, or it may have been a confession of his complicity in the
plot. His whole life and reputation give reason to suppose that he was
an accomplice in the crime of which he was the cause. He was brought
to the ground in front of the temple of Julius by a blow on the knee,
and afterwards a common soldier named Julius Carus ran him through
with a sword.
However, Rome found one hero that day. This was Sempronius Densus, 43
a centurion of the Guards, who had been told off by Galba to protect
Piso. Drawing his dagger he faced the armed assassins, flinging their
treason in their teeth, and by his shouts and gestures turned their
attention upon himself, thus enabling Piso to escape despite his
wounds. Piso, reaching the temple of Vesta, was mercifully sheltered
by the verger, who hid him in his lodging. There, no reverence for
this sanctuary but merely his concealment postponed his immediate
death. Eventually, Otho, who was burning to have him killed,[72]
dispatched as special agents, Sulpicius Florus of the British cohorts,
a man whom Galba had recently enfranchised, and Statius Murcus of the
Body Guard.
They dragged Piso forth and butchered him on the threshold
of the temple.
FOOTNOTES:
[56] These troops, having no head-quarters in Rome, were put
up in a piazza built by M. Vipsanius Agrippa, and decorated
with paintings of Neptune and of the Argonauts. Cp. ii. 93,
where troops are quartered in collonades or temples.
[57] The term primipilaris denotes one who had been the
centurion commanding the first maniple (pilani) of the first
cohort of a legion. He was an officer of great importance,
highly paid, and often admitted to the general's council.
Otho's expedition to Narbonese Gaul (chap. 87) was commanded
by two such 'senior centurions'.
[58] See chap. 6, note 11.
[59] See chap. 6.
[60] Nero was meditating an Ethiopian campaign when the revolt
of Vindex broke out. Cp.
to the actual murderer there is a difference of opinion. Some say it
was Terentius, a reservist,[71] others that his name was Laecanius.
The most common account is that a soldier of the Fifteenth legion, by
name Camurius, pierced his throat with a sword-thrust. The others
foully mangled his arms and legs (his breast was covered) and with
bestial savagery continued to stab the headless corpse. Then they made
for Titus Vinius. Here, too, there is a doubt whether the fear of 42
imminent death strangled his voice, or whether he called out that they
had no mandate from Otho to kill him. He may have invented this in his
terror, or it may have been a confession of his complicity in the
plot. His whole life and reputation give reason to suppose that he was
an accomplice in the crime of which he was the cause. He was brought
to the ground in front of the temple of Julius by a blow on the knee,
and afterwards a common soldier named Julius Carus ran him through
with a sword.
However, Rome found one hero that day. This was Sempronius Densus, 43
a centurion of the Guards, who had been told off by Galba to protect
Piso. Drawing his dagger he faced the armed assassins, flinging their
treason in their teeth, and by his shouts and gestures turned their
attention upon himself, thus enabling Piso to escape despite his
wounds. Piso, reaching the temple of Vesta, was mercifully sheltered
by the verger, who hid him in his lodging. There, no reverence for
this sanctuary but merely his concealment postponed his immediate
death. Eventually, Otho, who was burning to have him killed,[72]
dispatched as special agents, Sulpicius Florus of the British cohorts,
a man whom Galba had recently enfranchised, and Statius Murcus of the
Body Guard.
They dragged Piso forth and butchered him on the threshold
of the temple.
FOOTNOTES:
[56] These troops, having no head-quarters in Rome, were put
up in a piazza built by M. Vipsanius Agrippa, and decorated
with paintings of Neptune and of the Argonauts. Cp. ii. 93,
where troops are quartered in collonades or temples.
[57] The term primipilaris denotes one who had been the
centurion commanding the first maniple (pilani) of the first
cohort of a legion. He was an officer of great importance,
highly paid, and often admitted to the general's council.
Otho's expedition to Narbonese Gaul (chap. 87) was commanded
by two such 'senior centurions'.
[58] See chap. 6, note 11.
[59] See chap. 6.
[60] Nero was meditating an Ethiopian campaign when the revolt
of Vindex broke out. Cp.
