The Society for Ancient Languages
Week Nine
SUETONII TRANQUILLI |
SUETONIUS TRANQUILLUS |
LIBER VIII |
BOOK 8 |
| XII. Ceteris in rebus statim ab initio principatus usque ad exitum civilis et clemens, mediocritatem pristinam neque dissimulavit umquam ac frequenter etiam prae se tulit. Quin et conantis quosdam originem Flavii generis ad conditores Reatinos comitemque Herculis, cuius monimentum exstat Salaria via, referre irrisit ultro. Adeoque nihil ornamentorum extrinsecus cupide appetivit, ut triumphi die fatigatus tarditate et taedio pompae non reticuerit, merito se plecti, qui triumphum, quasi aut debitum maioribus suis aut speratum umquam sibi tam inepte senex concupisset. Ac ne tribuniciam quidem potestatem statim nec patris patriae appellationem nisi sero recepit. Nam consuetudinem scrutandi salutantes manente adhuc bello civili omiserat. | 12. In other matters he was unassuming and lenient from the very beginning of his reign until its end, never trying to conceal his former lowly position, but often even parading it. Indeed, when certain men tried to trace the origin of the Flavian family to the founders of Reate and a companion of Hercules whose tomb still stands on the Via Salaria, he laughed at them for their pains. So far was he from a desire for pomp and show, that on the day of his triumph, exhausted by the slow and tiresome procession, he did not hesitate to say: "It serves me right for being such a fool as to want a triumph in my old age, as if it were due to my ancestors or had ever been among my own ambitions." He did not even assume the tribunician power at once nore the title of Father of his Country until late. As for the custom of searching for those who came to pay their morning calls, he gave that up before the civil war was over. |
| XIII. Amicorum libertatem, causidicorum figuras ac philosophorum contumaciam lenissime tulit. Licinium Mucianum notae impudicitiae, sed meritorum fiducia minus sui reverentem, numquam nisi clam et hactenus retaxare sustinuit, ut apud communem aliquem amicum querens adderet clausulam: "Ego tamen vir sum." Salvium Liberalem in defensione divitis rei ausum dicere: "Quid ad Caesarem, si Hipparchus sestertium milies habet?" et ipse laudavit. Demetrium Cynicum in itinere obvium sibi post damnationem ac neque assurgere neque salutare se dignantem, oblatrantem etiam nescio quid, satis habuit canem appellare. | 13. He bore the frank language of his friends, the quips of pleaders, and the impudence of the philosophers with the greatest patience. Though Licinius Macianus, a man of notorious unchastity, presumed upon his services to treat Vespasian with scant respect, he never had the heart to criticise him except privately and then only to the extent of adding to a complaint made to a common friend, the significant words, "I at least am a man." When Salvius Liberalis ventured to say while defending a rich client, "What is it to Caesar if Hipparchus has a hundred millions?" he personally commended him. When the Cynic Demetrius met him abroad after being condemned to banishment, and without deigning to rise in his presence or to salute him, even snarled out some insult, he merely called him "cur." |
| XIV. Offensarum inimicitiarumque minime memor exsecutorve Vitelli hostis sui filiam splendidissime maritavit, dotavit etiam et instruxit. Trepidum eum interdicta aula sub Nerone quaerentem- que, quidnam ageret aut quo abiret, quidam ex officio admissionis simul expellens abire Morboviam iusserat. In hunc postea deprecantem non ultra verba excanduit, et quidem totidem fere atque eadem. Nam ut suspicione aliqua vel metu ad perniciem cuiusquam compelleretur tantum afuit, ut monentibus amicis cavendum esse Mettium Pompusianum, quod volgo crederetur gensim habere imperatoriam, insuper consulem fecerit, spondens quandoque beneficii memorem futurum. | 14. He was not inclined to remember or to avenge affronts or enmities, but made a brilliant match for the daughter of his enemy Vitellius, and even provided her with a dowry and a house-keeping outfit. When he was in terror at being forbidden Nero's court, and asked what on earth he was to do or where he was to go, one of the ushers put him out and told him to "go to Morbovia"; but when the man later begged for forgiveness, Vespasian confined his resentment to words, and those of about the same number and purport.[Meaning he told the usher to go to Morbovia.--Webmaster.] Indeed, so far was he from being led by any suspicion or fear to cause anyone's death, that when his friends warned him that he must keep an eye on Mettius Pompusianus, since it was commonly believed that he had an imperial horoscope, he even made him consul, guaranteeing that he would one day be mindful of the favor. |