§52Filiorum neque naturalem Drusum neque adoptiuum Germanicum patria caritate dilexit, alterius uitiis infensus.
Of his sons, he loved neither his natural son Drusus nor his adoptive son Germanicus with a father's affection, being incensed by the vices of the former.
nam Drusus fluxioris remissiorisque uitae erat.
For Drusus lived a rather loose and careless life.
itaque ne mortuo quidem perinde adfectus est, sed tantum non statim a funere ad negotiorum consuetudinem rediit iustitio longiore inhibito.
Therefore, even when he died, Tiberius was not particularly affected, but returned to his usual business almost immediately after the funeral, having forbidden a longer public mourning.
quin et Iliensium legatis paulo serius consolantibus, quasi obliterata iam doloris memoria, irridens se quoque respondit uicem eorum dolere, quod egregium ciuem Hectorem amisissent.
Indeed, when the envoys of the Ilians offered their condolences a little too late, as if the memory of his grief were already wiped out, he mockingly replied that he also felt sorry for their lot, because they had lost so eminent a citizen as Hector.
Germanico usque adeo obtrectauit, ut et praeclara facta eius pro superuacuis eleuarit et gloriosissimas uictorias ceu damnosas rei p. increparet.
He disparaged Germanicus to such a extent that he belittled his magnificent deeds as superfluous and censured his most glorious victories as damaging to the state.
quod uero Alexandream propter immensam et repentinam famem inconsulto se adisset, questus est in senatu.
Furthermore, he complained in the senate because Germanicus had gone to Alexandria without consulting him on account of an immense and sudden famine.
etiam causa mortis fuisse ei per Cn. Pisonem legatum Syriae creditur, quem mox huius criminis reum putant quidam mandata prolaturum, nisi ea secreto ostentant quae multifariam inscriptum et per noctes celeberrime adclamatum est: 'redde Germanicum!' quam suspicionem confirmauit ipse postea coniuge etiam ac liberis Germanici crudelem in modum afflictis.
He is even believed to have been the cause of his death through Cnaeus Piso, the governor of Syria, who, being soon after accused of this crime, is thought by some to have been about to produce his instructions, had they not secretly shown those things which were written in many places and shouted very frequently during the nights: 'Give back Germanicus!' This suspicion he himself afterward confirmed by afflicting even the wife and children of Germanicus in a cruel manner.
§53Nurum Agrippinam post mariti mortem liberius quiddam questam manu apprehendit Graecoque uersu: 'si non dominaris,' inquit, 'filiola, iniuriam te accipere existimas?' nec ullo mox sermone dignatus est.
When his daughter-in-law Agrippina spoke rather too freely in complaint after her husband's death, he took her by the hand and said to her in a Greek verse: 'If you do not rule, my little girl, do you think you are receiving an injury?' and from that time on he did not deign to hold any conversation with her.
quondam uero inter cenam porrecta a se poma gustare non ausam etiam uocare desiit, simulans ueneni se crimine accersi; cum praestructum utrumque consulto esset, ut et ipse temptandi gratia offerret et illa quasi certissimum exitium caueret.
Indeed, when on one occasion during dinner she did not dare to taste some fruit offered by him, he even ceased to invite her, pretending that he was being accused of the crime of poisoning; whereas both things had been deliberately arranged beforehand, so that he himself should offer it to test her, and she should avoid it as certain destruction.
nouissime calumniatus modo ad statuam Augusti modo ad exercitus confugere uelle, Pandatariam relegauit conuiciantique oculum per centurionem uerberibus excussit.
At last, falsely accusing her of wishing to flee now to the statue of Augustus and now to the armies, he banished her to Pandataria, and when she cursed him, he had her eye struck out by a centurion with blows.
rursus mori inedia destinanti per uim ore diducto infulciri cibum iussit.
Again, when she resolved to die of starvation, he ordered food to be forced into her mouth by prying it open.
sed et perseuerantem atque ita absumptam criminosissime insectatus, cum diem quoque natalem eius inter nefastos referendum suasisset, imputauit etiam, quod non laqueo strangulatam in Gemonias abiecerit: proque tali clementia interponi decretum passus est, quo sibi gratiae agerentur et Capitolino Ioui donum ex auro sacraretur.
But even when she persisted and thus perished, he persecuted her most slanderously, and having advised that her birthday also should be placed among the unlucky days, he even claimed credit because he had not strangled her with a rope and thrown her onto the Gemonian stairs; and for such clemency he allowed a decree to be passed, by which thanks were returned to him and a golden gift was consecrated to Capitoline Jupiter.
§54Cum ex Germanico tres nepotes, Neronem et Drusum et Gaium, ex Druso unum Tiberium haberet, destitutus morte liberorum maximos natu de Germanici filiis, Neronem et Drusum, patribus conscriptis commendauit diemque utriusque tirocinii congiario plebei dato celebrauit.
Although he had three grandsons from Germanicus, Nero, Drusus, and Gaius, and one from Drusus, Tiberius, being left destitute by the death of his children, he commended the eldest of Germanicus's sons, Nero and Drusus, to the conscript fathers and celebrated the day of the coming of age of both by giving a bounty to the common people.
sed ut comperit ineunte anno pro eorum quoque salute publice uota suscepta, egit cum senatu, non debere talia praemia tribui nisi expertis et aetate prouectis.
But when he found out that at the beginning of the year public vows had been undertaken for their safety as well, he argued with the senate that such rewards ought not to be granted except to those of tried experience and advanced age.
atque ex eo patefacta interiore animi sui nota omnium criminationibus obnoxios reddidit uariaque fraude inductos, ut et concitarentur ad conuicia et concitati proderentur, accusauit per litteras amarissime congestis etiam probris et iudicatos hostis fame necauit, Neronem in insula Pontia, Drusum in ima parte Palatii.
And from that time, the inner mark of his mind being revealed, he exposed them to the accusations of everyone, and having induced them by various deceits to be provoked to insolent language and, when provoked, to be betrayed, he accused them by letters with most bitterly amassed reproaches and starved them to death after they were judged public enemies, Nero on the island of Pontia, Drusus in the lowest part of the Palatium.
putant Neronem ad uoluntariam mortem coactum, cum ei carnifex quasi ex senatus auctoritate missus laqueos et uncos ostentaret, Druso autem adeo alimenta subducta, ut tomentum e culcita temptauerit mandere; amborum sic reliquias dispersas, ut uix quandoque colligi possent.
It is believed that Nero was forced to a voluntary death, when an executioner sent to him, as if by the authority of the senate, showed him ropes and hooks, while Drusus was so deprived of food that he attempted to chew the stuffing of his mattress; the remains of both were so scattered that they could scarcely ever be collected.
§55Super ueteres amicos ac familiares uiginti sibi e numero principum ciuitatis depoposcerat uelut consiliarios in negotiis publicis.
In addition to his old friends and intimates, he had demanded twenty from the number of the leading citizens of the state as counselors in public affairs.
horum omnium uix duos anne tres incolumis praestitit, ceteros alium alia de causa perculit, inter quos cum plurimorum clade Aelium Seianum; quem ad summam potentiam non tam beniuolentia prouexerat, quam ut esset cuius ministerio ac fraudibus liberos Germanici circumueniret, nepotemque suum ex Druso filio naturalem ad successionem imperii confirmaret.
Of all these, he preserved scarcely two or three in safety; the rest he ruined, some for one reason, some for another, among whom, with the destruction of very many others, was Aelius Sejanus; whom he had raised to the highest power not so much out of goodwill, but so that he might have someone by whose assistance and frauds he might circumvent the children of Germanicus, and confirm his own natural grandson by his son Drusus in the succession to the empire.