§4Spectacula assidue magnifica et sumptuosa edidit non in amphitheatro modo, uerum et in circo, ubi praeter sollemnes bigarum quadrigarumque cursus proelium etiam duplex, equestre ac pedestre, commisit; at in amphitheatro nauale quoque.
He constantly gave magnificent and costly spectacles, not only in the amphitheatre, but also in the circus, where, in addition to the customary races of two-horse and four-horse chariots, he also exhibited a double battle, both of horse and of foot; and in the amphitheatre, a naval battle as well.
nam uenationes gladiatoresque et noctibus ad lychnuchos, nec uirorum modo pugnas, sed et feminarum.
For he exhibited wild-beast hunts and gladiatorial shows even at night by lamplight, and not only combats of men but also of women.
praeterea quaestoriis muneribus, quae olim omissa reuocauerat, ita semper interfuit, ut populo potestatem faceret bina paria e suo ludo postulandi eaque nouissima aulico apparatu induceret. ac per omne gladiatorum spectaculum ante pedes ei stabat puerulus coccinatus paruo portentosoque capite, cum quo plurimum fabulabatur, nonnumquam serio.
Moreover, he always attended the quaestorian games, which had formerly been omitted but which he had revived, in such a way as to give the people the opportunity of demanding two pairs from his own school, and he brought these out last in courtly splendor.And during the whole of every gladiatorial show there stood at his feet a little boy clad in scarlet, with a strangely small head, with whom he used to talk a great deal, and sometimes in earnest.
auditus est certe, dum ex eo quaerit, ecquid sciret, cur sibi uisum esset ordinatione proxima Aegypto praeficere Mettium Rufum.
At all events, he was heard to ask him whether he knew why he had decided in the last appointment to place Mettius Rufus in charge of Egypt.
edidit naualis pugnas paene iustarum classium, effosso et circumstructo iuxta Tiberim lacu, atque inter maximos imbres perspectauit. Fecit et ludos saeculares, computata ratione temporum ad annum non quo Claudius proxime, sed quo olim Augustus ediderat; in iis circensium die, quo facilius centum missus peragerentur, singulos e septenis spatiis ad quina corripuit. Instituit et quinquennale certamen Capitolino Ioui triplex, musicum equestre gymnicum, et aliquanto plurium quam nunc est coronatorum.
He also exhibited naval battles of almost regular fleets, having dug and built a lake near the Tiber, and he watched them even in the heaviest rains.He also celebrated the Secular Games, calculating the period of time not to the year in which Claudius had last given them, but to that in which Augustus had formerly celebrated them; during these, on the day of the circus games, in order that a hundred starts might more easily be completed, he shortened each race from seven laps to five.He also established a five-yearly contest in honor of Capitoline Jupiter, of a threefold nature, musical, equestrian, and gymnastic, and with somewhat more crowns than are awarded now.
certabant enim et prosa oratione Graece Latineque ac praeter citharoedos chorocitharistae quoque et psilocitharistae, in stadio uero cursu etiam uirgines.
For they competed also in prose declamation both in Greek and in Latin, and besides lyre-players there were also choruses of lyre-players and solo lyre-players, and in the stadium even young girls ran in the races.
certamini praesedit crepidatus purpureaque amictus toga Graecanica, capite gestans coronam auream cum effigie Iouis ac Iunonis Mineruaeque, adsidentibus Diali sacerdote et collegio Flauialium pari habitu, nisi quod illorum coronis inerat et ipsius imago.
He presided at the contest wearing sandals and clad in a purple toga in the Greek fashion, bearing on his head a golden crown with the images of Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva, while there sat by him the priest of Jupiter and the college of Flavian priests in similar attire, except that their crowns also bore his own image.
celebrabat et in Albano quotannis Quinquatria Mineruae, cui collegium instituerat, ex quo sorte ducti magisterio fungerentur ederentque eximias uenationes et scaenicos ludos superque oratorum ac poetarum certamina. Congiarium populo nummorum trecenorum ter dedit atque inter spectacula muneris largissimum epulum Septimontiali †sacrorum quidem senatui equitique panariis, plebei sportellis cum obsonio distributis initium uescendi primus fecit; dieque proximo omne genus rerum missilia sparsit, et quia pars maior intra popularia deciderat, quinquagenas tesseras in singulos cuneos equestris ac senatorii ordinis pronuntiauit. §5Plurima et amplissima opera incendio absumpta restituit, in quis et Capitolium, quod rursus arserat;
He also celebrated every year at his Alban estate the Quinquatria of Minerva, in whose honor he had established a college of priests, from which members chosen by lot were to perform the duties of the priesthood and exhibit splendid wild-beast hunts and stage plays, and besides these, contests of orators and poets.He three times distributed a largess of three hundred sesterces a head to the people, and during the exhibition of one of his gladiatorial shows he gave a most bountiful feast on the feast of the Seven Hills; distributing bread-baskets to the senate and the knights, and small baskets with food to the plebeians, he was the first to begin to eat; and on the following day he scattered all kinds of things to be scrambled for, and because the greater part had fallen into the seats of the common people, he announced fifty tickets for each wedge of the equestrian and senatorial orders.He restored a great many very large buildings which had been destroyed by fire, among them the Capitol, which had again been burned; but all of them under his own name only, and without any mention of the original builder.
sed omnia sub titulo tantum suo ac sine ulla pristini auctoris memoria. nouam autem excitauit aedem in Capitolio Custodi Ioui et forum quod nunc Neruae uocatur, item Flauiae templum gentis et stadium et odium et naumachiam, e cuius postea lapide maximus circus deustis utrimque lateribus extructus est. §6Expeditiones partim sponte suscepit, partim necessario: sponte in Chattos, necessario unam in Sarmatas legione cum legato simul caesa; in Dacos duas, primam Oppio Sabino consulari oppresso, secundam Cornelio Fusco praefecto cohortium praetorianarum, cui belli summam commiserat.
He also built a new temple on the Capitoline to Jupiter the Guardian, and the forum which is now called Nerva's, likewise the temple of the Flavian clan, a stadium, an odeum, and a pool for land-fights, from the stone of which the sides of the Circus Maximus, when they had been burned down on both sides, were afterwards rebuilt.His expeditions he undertook partly of his own accord, and partly of necessity: of his own accord against the Chatti, and of necessity one against the Sarmatians, a legion having been cut off together with its legate; against the Dacians he made two, the first when Oppius Sabinus, a man of consular rank, was defeated and slain, and the second when Cornelius Fuscus, prefect of the praetorian cohorts, to whom he had entrusted the chief command of the war, met a similar fate.
de Chattis Dacisque post uaria proelia duplicem triumphum egit, de Sarmatis lauream modo Capitolino Ioui rettulit. Bellum ciuile motum a L. Antonio, superioris Germaniae praeside, confecit absens felicitate mira, cum ipsa dimicationis hora resolutus repente Rhenus transituras ad Antonium copias barbarorum inhibuisset.
After various battles with the Chatti and Dacians he celebrated a double triumph, but for the victory over the Sarmatians he merely dedicated a laurel crown to Capitoline Jupiter.The civil war set on foot by Lucius Antonius, governor of Upper Germany, he brought to an end in his absence with marvelous good fortune, since at the very hour of the battle the Rhine suddenly thawed and prevented the barbarian troops from crossing over to Antonius.
de qua uictoria praesagiis prius quam nuntiis comperit, siquidem ipso quo dimicatum erat die statuam eius Romae insignis aquila circumplexa pinnis clangores laetissimos edidit;
He learned of this victory through omens before he received the messengers, since on the very day the battle was fought, a remarkable eagle clasped his statue at Rome with its wings and uttered the most joyful cries.
pauloque post occisum Antonium adeo uulgatum est, ut caput quoque adportatum eius uidisse se plerique contenderent.
And shortly afterwards the rumor of Antonius' death became so common that many people insisted they had even seen his head brought in.