§6Romae quidem, cum ad primam famam ualitudinis attonita et maesta ciuitas sequentis nuntios opperiretur, et repente iam uesperi incertis auctoribus conualuisse tandem percrebruisset, passim cum luminibus et uictimis in Capitolium concursum est ac paene reuolsae templi fores, ne quid gestientis uota reddere moraretur, expergefactus e somno Tiberius gratulantium uocibus atque undique concinentium:
salua Roma, salua patria, saluus est Germanicus. et ut demum fato functum palam factum est, non solaciis ullis, non edictis inhiberi luctus publicus potuit durauitque etiam per festos Decembris mensis dies.
Indeed in Rome, when the city, astonished and sorrowful at the first rumor of his illness, was waiting for subsequent news, and suddenly in the evening, although from unverified sources, it spread widely that he had finally recovered, people rushed from all sides with torches and victims to the Capitol, and the temple doors were almost torn off, lest anything should delay those who were eager to pay their vows. Tiberius was awakened from sleep by the voices of those congratulating him and singing together from all sides: "Rome is safe, the fatherland is safe, Germanicus is safe." And when it was at last made public that he had died, the public mourning could not be restrained by any consolations or edicts, and it continued even through the festive days of the month of December.
auxit gloriam desideriumque defuncti et atrocitas insequentium temporum, cunctis nec temere opinantibus reuerentia eius ac metu repressam Tiberi saeuitiam, quae mox eruperit.
The glory of the deceased and the longing for him were increased also by the cruelty of the times that followed, since all people believed, and not without reason, that the savagery of Tiberius, which soon after broke out, had been repressed by reverence for and fear of him.
§7habuit in matrimonio Agrippinam, M. Agrippae et Iuliae filiam, et ex ea nouem liberos tulit: quorum duo infantes adhuc rapti, unus iam puerascens insigni festiuitate, cuius effigiem habitu Cupidinis in aede Capitolinae Veneris Liuia dedicauit, Augustus in cubiculo suo positam, quotiensque introiret, exosculabatur; ceteri superstites patri fuerunt, tres sexus feminini, Agrippina Drusilla Liuilla, continuo triennio natae; totidem mares, Nero et Drusus et C. Caesar.
He had in marriage Agrippina, the daughter of Marcus Agrippa and Julia, and by her he had nine children: of whom two were snatched away while still infants, and one when just growing into boyhood, a child of extraordinary charm, whose effigy in the guise of Cupid Livia dedicated in the temple of Capitoline Venus, and Augustus kept it in his bedchamber, kissing it as often as he entered; the rest survived their father, three of the female sex, Agrippina, Drusilla, and Livilla, born in three consecutive years; as many of the male sex, Nero, Drusus, and Gaius Caesar.
Neronem et Drusum senatus Tiberio criminante hostes iudicauit.
Nero and Drusus were judged public enemies by the senate upon the accusation of Tiberius.
§8C. Caesar natus est pridie Kal. Sept. patre suo et C. Fonteio Capitone coss.
Gaius Caesar was born on the day before the Kalends of September, in the consulship of his father and Gaius Fonteius Capito.
ubi natus sit, incertum diuersitas tradentium facit.
Where he was born is rendered uncertain by the disagreement of those who record it.
Cn. Lentulus Gaetulicus Tiburi genitum scribit, Plinius Secundus in Treueris uico Ambitaruio supra Confluentes; addit etiam pro argumento aras ibi ostendi inscriptas
"ob agrippinae"
"pverperivm"
. uersiculi imperante mox eo diuulgati apud hibernas legiones procreatum indicant:
in castris natus, patriis nutritus in armis,
iam designati principis omen erat. ego in actis Anti editum inuenio.
Gnaeus Lentulus Gaetulicus writes that he was born at Tibur; Plinius Secundus in the village of Ambitaruius among the Treveri, above Confluentes; he also adds as a proof that altars are shown there inscribed: "ob agrippinae" "pverperivm" Verses published soon after when he was emperor indicate that he was begotten in the winter quarters of the legions: "Born in the camp, and nurtured in his father's arms, he was already an omen of the appointed prince." I myself find in the public records that he was born at Antium.
Gaetulicum refellit Plinius quasi mentitum per adulationem, ut ad laudes iuuenis gloriosique principis aliquid etiam ex urbe Herculi sacra sumeret, abusumque audentius mendacio, quod ante annum fere natus Germanico filius Tiburi fuerat, appellatus et ipse C. Caesar, de cuius amabili pueritia immaturoque obitu supra diximus.
Pliny refutes Gaetulicus as having lied out of flattery, so that he might draw something for the praise of a young and glorious prince even from the city sacred to Hercules, and as having more boldly abused a lie because a son had been born to Germanicus at Tibur nearly a year before, who was also called Gaius Caesar, of whose amiable boyhood and untimely death we have spoken above.
Plinium arguit ratio temporum.
But the calculation of time argues against Pliny.
nam qui res Augusti memoriae mandarunt, Germanicum exacto consulatu in Galliam missum consentiunt iam nato Gaio.
For those who committed the deeds of Augustus to memory agree that Germanicus was sent to Gaul at the end of his consulship, when Gaius was already born.
nec Plini opinionem inscriptio arae quicquam adiuuerit, cum Agrippina bis in ea regione filias enixa sit, et qualiscumque partus sine ullo sexus discrimine puerperium uocetur, quod antiqui etiam puellas pueras, sicut et pueros puellos dictitarent.
Nor would the inscription on the altar support Pliny's opinion at all, since Agrippina twice gave birth to daughters in that region, and any birth whatever, without distinction of sex, is called "puerperium" (delivery), since the ancients used to call even girls "pueras", just as they called boys "puellos".
extat et Augusti epistula, ante paucos quam obiret menses ad Agrippinam neptem ita scripta de Gaio hoc—neque enim quisquam iam alius infans nomine pari tunc supererat—: 'puerum Gaium XV. Kal. Iun. si dii uolent, ut ducerent Talarius et Asillius, heri cum iis constitui.
There is also an extant letter of Augustus, written to his granddaughter Agrippina a few months before he died, concerning this Gaius—for no other infant of the same name was then surviving—: "I arranged yesterday with Talarius and Asillius that they should bring the boy Gaius on the fifteenth day before the Kalends of June, if the gods are willing.
mitto praeterea cum eo ex seruis meis medicum, quem scripsi Germanico si uellet ut retineret.
I also send with him one of my slaves who is a physician, whom I wrote to Germanicus he might keep if he wished.
ualebis, mea Agrippina, et dabis operam ut ualens peruenias ad Germanicum tuum. ' abunde parere arbitror non potuisse ibi nasci Gaium, quo prope bimulus demum perductus ab urbe sit.
Farewell, my Agrippina, and take care to arrive in good health to your Germanicus." I think it is abundantly clear that Gaius could not have been born there, where he was brought from the city when he was almost two years old.
uersiculorum quoque fidem eadem haec eleuant et eo facilius, quod ii sine auctore sunt.
This same fact also diminishes the credibility of the verses, and all the more easily because they are without an author.
sequenda est igitur, quae sola restat et publici instrumenti auctoritas, praesertim cum Gaius Antium omnibus semper locis atque secessibus praelatum non aliter quam natale solum dilexerit tradaturque etiam sedem ac domicilium imperii taedio urbis transferre eo destinasse.
Therefore, we must follow the authority of the public records, which alone remains, especially since Gaius always preferred Antium to all other places and retreats as if it were his native soil, and is said even to have intended to transfer the seat and home of the empire there from disgust with the city.