service of thine to me will be for thy advantage; for, if I once get clear of these my bonds, I will soon procure thee thy freedom from Caius, who has not been wanting to minister to me, now I am in bonds, in the same manner as when I was in my former state and dignity." Nor did he deceive him in what he promised him, but made him amends for what he had now done; for, when afterward Agrippa was come to the kingdom, he took particular care of Thaumastus, and got him his liberty from Caius, and made him the steward over his own estate; and when he died, he left him to Agrippa his son, and to Bernice his daughter, to minister to them in the same capacity. The man also grew old in that honourable post, and therein died. But all this happened a good while later. 7. Now Agrippa stood in his bonds before the Royal palace, and leaned on a certain tree for grief, with many others, who were in bond also; and as a certain bird sat upon the tree on which Agrippa leaned, (the Romans call this bird bubo,) [an owl,] one of those that were bound, a German by nation, and asked a soldier what that man in purple was? and when he was informed that his name was Agrippa, and that he was by nation a Jew, and one of the principal men of that nation, he asked leave of the soldier to whom he was bound,* to let him come nearer to him, to speak with him; for that he had a mind to inquire of him about some things relating to his country; which liberty when he had obtained, and as he stood near him, he said thus to him by an interpreter, that "this sudden change of thy condition, O young man! is grievous to thee, as bringing on thee a manifold and very great adversity; nor wilt thou believe me, when I foretell how thou wilt get clear of this misery which thou art now under, and how divine Providence will provide for thee. Know therefore (and I appeal to my own country gods, as well as to the gods of this place, who have awarded these bonds to us,) that all I am going to say about thy concerns, shall neither be said for favour, nor bribery, nor out of an endeavour to make thee cheerful without cause, for such predictions, when they come to fail, make the grief at last, and in earnest, more bitter than if the party had never heard of any such thing. However, though I run the hazard of my own self, I think it fit to declare to thee the prediction of the gods. It cannot be that thou shouldest long continue in these bonds; but thou wilt soon be delivered from them, and wilt be promoted to the highest dignity and power, and thou wilt be envied by all those who now pity thy had fortune; and thou wilt be happy till thy death, and wilt leave thine happiness to the children whom thou shalt have. But, do thou remember, when thou seest this bird again, that thou wilt then live but five days longer. This event will be brought to pass by that God who hath sent this bird hither to be a sign unto thee. And I cannot but think it unjust to conceal from thee what I foreknow concerning thee, that by thy knowing beforehand what happiness is coming upon thee, thou mayest not regard thy present misfortunes. But when this happiness shall actually befall thee, do not forget what misery I am in myself, but endeavour to deliver me." So, when the German had said this, he made Agrippa laugh at him as much as he afterwards appeared worthy of admiration. But now Antonia took Agrippa's misfortunes to heart; however, to speak to Tiberius on his behalf, she took to be a very difficult thing, and indeed quite impracticable, Dr. Hudson here takes notice, out of Seneca, Epistle v. that this was the custom of Tiberius, to couple the prisoner, and the soldier that guarded him, together in the same chain. as to any hope of success; yet did she procure of Macro, that the soldiers that kept him should be of a gentle nature, and that the centurion wno was over them, and was to diet with him, should be of the same disposition, and that he might have leave to bathe himself every day, and that his freed men and friends might come to him, and that other things that tended to ease him might be indulged him. So his friend Silas came in to him, and two of his freed men, Marsyas and Stechus, brought him such sort of food as he was fond of, and indeed took great care of him; they also brought him garments, under pretence of selling them, and, when the night came on, they laid them under him; and the soldiers assisted him, as Macro had given them order to do beforehand. And this was Agrippa's condition for six months' time, and in this case were his affairs. : 8. But for Tiberius, upon his return to Capreæ, he fell sick. At first his distemper was but gentle; but as that distemper increased upon him, he had small or no hopes of recovery. Hereupon he bade Euodus, who was that freed man whom he most of all respected, to bring the children* to him; for that he wanted to talk to them before he died. Now he had at present no sons of his own alive; for Drusus, who was his only son, was dead; but Drusus' son Tiberius was still living, whose additional name was Gemellus there was also living Caius, the sont of Germanicus, who was the son of his brother [Drusus.] He was now grown up, and had a liberal education, as well improved by it, and was in esteem and favour with the people, on account of the excellent character of his father Germanicus, who had attained the highest honour among the multitude, by the firmness of his virtuous behaviour, by the easiness and agreeableness of his conversing with the multitude, and because the dignity he was in did not hinder his familiarity with them all, as if they were his equals; by which behaviour he was not only greatly esteemed by the people and the senate, but by every one of those nations that were subject to the Romans; some of whom were affected, when they came to him, with the gracefulness of their reception by him, and others were affected in the same manner by the report of the others that had been with him: and upon his death there was a lamentation made by all men; not such a one as was to be made in flattery to their rulers, while they did but counterfeit sorrow, but such as was real; while every body grieved at his death, as if they had lost one that was near to them. And truly such had been his conversation with men, that it turned greatly to the advantage of his son among all; and, among others, the soldiery were so peculiarly affected to him, that they reckoned it an eligible thing, if need were, to die themselves, if he might but attain to the government. 9. But when Tiberius had given order to Euodus to bring the children to him the next day in the morning, he prayed to his country gods to show him a manifest signal, which of those children should come to the government; being very desirous to leave it to his son's son, but still depending upon what God should foreshow concerning them, more than upon his own opinion and inclination; so he made this to be the omen, that the government should be left to him who should come to him first the next day. When he had thus resolved within himself, he sent to his grandson's tutor, and ordered him to bring the child to him early in the morning, as supposing • Tiberius his own grandson, and Caius his brother Drusus' grandson. + So I correct Josephus' copy, which calls Germanicus his brother, who was his brother's son. that God would permit him to be made emperor. But God proved opposite to his designation; for, while Tiberius was thus contriving matters, and as soon as it was at all day, he bade Euodus to call in that child which should be there ready. So he went out, and found Caius before the door, for Tiberius was not yet come, but stayed waiting for his breakfast; for Euodus knew nothing of what his lord intended; so he said to Caius, Thy father calls thee," and then brought him in. As soon as Tiberius saw Caius, and not before, he reflected on the power of God, and how the ability of bestowing the government on whom he would, was entirely taken from him; and thence he was not able to establish what he had intended. So he greatly lamented that his power of establishing what he had before contrived was taken from him, and that his grandson Tiberius was not only to lose the Roman empire by his fatality, but his own safety also, because his preservation would now depend upon such as would be more potent than himself, who would think it a thing not to be borne, that a kinsman should live with them, and so his relation would not be able to protect him but he would be feared and hated by him who had the supreme authority, partly on account of his being next to the empire, and partly on account of his perpetually contriving to get the government, both in order to preserve himself, and to be at the head of affairs also. Now Tiberius had been very much given to astrology,* and the calculation of nativities, and had spent his life in the esteem of what predictions had proved true more than those whose profession it was. Accordingly, when he once saw Galba coming in to him, he said to his most intimate friends, that "there came in a man that would one day have the dignity of the Roman empire." So that this Tiberius was more addicted to all such sorts of diviners than any other of the Roman emperors, because he had found them to have told him truth in his own affairs. And indeed he was now in great distress upon this accident that had befallen him, and was very much grieved at the destruction of his son's son, which he foresaw, and complained of himself, that he should have made use of such a method of divination beforehand, while it was in his power to have died without grief by his knowledge of futurity; whereas, he was now tormented by his foreknowledge of the misfortunes of such as were dearest to him, and must die under that torment. Now, although he were disordered at this unexpected revolution of the government to those for whom he did not intend it, he spoke thus to Caius, though unwillingly, and against his own inclination: "O child! though Tiberius be nearer related to me than thou art, I, by my own determination, and the conspiring suffrage of the gods, do give, and put into thy hand, the Roman empire; and I desire thee never to be unmindful when thou comest to it, either of my kindness to thee, who set thee in so high a dignity, or of thy relation to Tiberius. But as thou knowest that I am, together with and after the gods, the procurer of so great happiness to thee, so I desire that thou wilt make me a return for my readiness to assist thee, and wilt take care of Tiberius because of his near relation to thee. Besides which, thou art to know, that, while Tiberius is alive, he will be a security to thee, both as to empire and as to thy own preservation; but, if he die, that will be but a prelude to thy own misfortunes; for, to be alone, under the weight of such vast affairs, is very dangerous; nor will the gods suffer those actions which are unjustly done, contrary to that law This is a known thing among the Roman historians and poets, that Tiberius was greatly addicted to astrology and divination. VOL. II. which directs men to act otherwise, to go off unpunished." This was the speech which Tiberius made, which did not persuade Caius to act accord ingly, although he promised so to do; but, when he was set led in the government, he took off this Tiberius, as was predicted by the other Tiberius; as he was also himself, in no long time afterward, slain by a secret plot laid against him. 10. So when Tiberius had at this time appointed Caius to be his succes. sor, he lived but a few days, and then died, after he had held the government twenty-two years, five months, and three days: now Caius was the fourth emperor. But, when the Romans understood that Tiberius was dead, they rejoiced at the good news, but had not courage to believe it; not because they were unwilling it should be true, for they would have given large sums of money that it might be so, but because they were afraid, that if they had showed their joy, when the news proved false, their joy should be openly known, and they should be accused for it, and be thereby undone. For this Tiberius had brought a vast number of miseries on the best families of the Romans, since he was easily inflamed with passion in all cases, and was of such a temper as rendered his anger irrrevocable, till he had executed the same, although he had taken a hatred against men without reason; for he was by nature fierce in all the sentences he gave, and made death the penalty for the slightest offences; insomuch that, when the Romans heard the rumour about his death gladly, they were restrained from the enjoyment of that pleasure by the dread of such miseries as they foresaw would follow, if their hopes proved ill grounded. Now, Marsyas, Agrippa's freed-man, as soon as he heard of Tiberius' death, came running to tell Agrippa the news; and finding him going out to the bath, he gave him a nod, and said in the Hebrew tongue, The lion is dead:"* who understanding his meaning, and being overjoyed at the news, "Nay," said he, "but all sorts of thanks and happiness attend thee for this news of thine: only I wish that what thou sayest may prove true. Now the centurion, who was set to keep Agrippa, when he saw with what haste Marsyas came, and what joy Agrippa had from what he said, he had a suspicion that his words implied some great innovation of affairs, and he asked them about what was said. They at first diverted the discourse; but, upon his further pressing, Agrippa, without more ado, told him, for he was already become his friend; so he joined with him in that pleasure which this news occasioned, because it would be fortunate to Agrippa, and made him a supper. But, as they were feasting, and the cups went about, there came one who said, that "Tiberius was still alive, and would return to the city in a few days." At which news the centurion was exceedingly troubled, because he had done what might cost him his life, to have treated so joyfully a prisoner, and this upon the news of the death of Cæsar; so he thrust Agrippa from the couch whereon he lay, and said, "Dost thou think to cheat me by a lie about the emperor without punishment? and shalt not thou pay for this thy malicious report at the price of thine head?" When he had so said, he ordered Agrippa to be bound again, (for he had loosed him before,) and kept a severer guard over him than formerly, and in that evil condition was Agrippa that night; but the The name of a lion is often given to tyrants, especially by the Jews, such as Agrippa, and probably his freed-man Marsyas, in effect were, Ezek. xix. 1, 9. Esth. xiv. 13. 2 Tim. iv. 1. They are also sometimes compared to or represented by wild beasts, of which the lion is the principal. Dan. vii. 3. 8. Apoc. xiii. 1, 2. next day the rumour increased in the city, and confirmed the news that Tiberius was certainly dead; insomuch that men durst now openly and freely talk about it; nay, some offered sacrifices on that account. Several letters also came from Caius, one of them to the senate, which informed them of the death of Tiberius, and of his own entrance on the government; another to Piso, the governor of the city, who told him the same thing. He also gave order that Agrippa sh uld be removed out of the camp, and go to that house where he lived before he was put in prison; so that he was now out of fear as to his own affairs; for, although he were still in custody, yet it was now with ease as to his own affairs. Now, as soon as Caius was come to Rome, and had brought Tiberius' dead body with him, and had made a sumptuous funeral for him, according to the laws of his country, he was much disposed to set Agrippa at liberty that very day, but Antonia hindered him, not out of any ill-will to the prisoner, but out of regard to decency in Caius, lest that should make men believe that he received the death of Tiberius with pleasure, when he loosed one whom he had bound immediately. However, there did not many days pass ere he sent for him to his house, and had him shaved, and made him change his raiment, after which he put his diadem upon his head, and appointed him to be king of the tetrarchy of Philip. He also gave him the tetrarchy of Lysanias,* and changed his iron chain for a golden one of equal weight. He also sent Marullus to be procurator at Judea. 11. Now, in the second year of the reign of Caius Cæsar, Agrippa desired leave to be given him to sail home, and settle the affairs of his government, and he promised to return again, when he had put the rest in order, as it ought to be put. So, upon the emperor's permission, he came into his own country, and appeared to them all unexpectedly as a king, and thereby demonstrated to the men that saw him the power of fortune, when they compared his former poverty with his present happy affluence; so some called him a happy man, and others could not well believe that things were so much changed with him for the better. CHAP. VII. How Herod the Tetrarch was banished. § 1. BUT Herodias, Agrippa's sister, who now lived as wife to that Herod who was tetrarch of Galilee and Perea, took this authority of her brother in an envious manner, particularly when she saw that he had a greater dignity bestowed on him than her husband had; since, when he ran away, he was not able to pay his debts; and now he was come back, it was because he was in a way of dignity, and of great good fortune.-She was therefore grieved, and much displeased at so great a mutation of his affairs, and chiefly when she saw him marching among the multitude with the usual ensigns of royal authority, she was not able to conceal how miserable she was, by reason of the envy she had towards him; but she excited her husband, and desired him that he would sail to Rome, to court honours equal to his for she said, that "she could not bear to live any longer, while Agrippa, the son of that Aristobulus who was condemned to Although Caius now promised to give Agrippa the tetrarchy of Lysanias, yet was it not actually conferred upon him till the reign of Claudius, as we learn, Antiq. b. xix. chap. v. § 1. |