Tiberius | Page 7

the people, he was attended by them in
procession to the several temples.
XVIII. Next year he went again to Germany, where finding that the
defeat of Varus was occasioned by the rashness and negligence of the
commander, he thought proper to be guided in everything by the advice
of a council of war; whereas, at other times, he used to follow the
dictates of his own judgment, and considered himself alone as
sufficiently qualified for the direction of affairs. He likewise used more
cautions than usual. Having to pass the Rhine, he restricted the whole
convoy within certain limits, and stationing himself on the bank of the
river, would not suffer the waggons to cross the river, until he had
searched them at the water- side, to see that they carried nothing but
what was allowed or necessary. Beyond the Rhine, such was his way of
living, that he took his meals sitting on the bare ground [321], and often
passed the night without a tent; and his regular orders for the day, as
well as those upon sudden emergencies, he gave in writing, with this
injunction, that in case of any doubt as to the meaning of them, they
should apply to him for satisfaction, even at any hour of the night.
XIX. He maintained the strictest discipline amongst the troops;
reviving many old customs relative to punishing and degrading
offenders; setting a mark of disgrace even upon the commander of a
legion, for sending a few soldiers with one of his freedmen across the
river for the purpose of hunting. Though it was his desire to leave as
little as possible in the power of fortune or accident, yet he always
engaged the enemy with more confidence when, in his night-watches,
the lamp failed and went out of itself; trusting, as he said, in an omen
which had never failed him and his ancestors (206) in all their
commands. But, in the midst of victory, he was very near being
assassinated by some Bructerian, who mixing with those about him,
and being discovered by his trepidation, was put to the torture, and
confessed his intended crime.
XX. After two years, he returned from Germany to the city, and
celebrated the triumph which he had deferred, attended by his
lieutenants, for whom he had procured the honour of triumphal
ornaments [322]. Before he turned to ascend the Capitol, he alighted
from his chariot, and knelt before his father, who sat by, to superintend

the solemnity. Bato, the Pannonian chief, he sent to Ravenna, loaded
with rich presents, in gratitude for his having suffered him and his army
to retire from a position in which he had so enclosed them, that they
were entirely at his mercy. He afterwards gave the people a dinner at a
thousand tables, besides thirty sesterces to each man. He likewise
dedicated the temple of Concord [323], and that of Castor and Pollux,
which had been erected out of the spoils of the war, in his own and his
brother's name.
XXI. A law having been not long after carried by the consuls [324] for
his being appointed a colleague with Augustus in the administration of
the provinces, and in taking the census, when that was finished he went
into Illyricum [325]. But being hastily recalled during his journey, he
found Augustus alive indeed, but past all hopes of recovery, and was
with him in private a whole day. I know, it is generally believed, that
upon Tiberius's quitting the room, after their private conference, those
who were in waiting overheard Augustus say, "Ah! unhappy Roman
people, to be ground by the jaws of such a slow devourer!" Nor am I
ignorant of its being reported by some, that Augustus so openly and
undisguisedly condemned the sourness of his temper, that sometimes,
upon his coming in, he would break off any jocular conversation in
which he was engaged; and that he was only prevailed upon by the (207)
importunity of his wife to adopt him; or actuated by the ambitious view
of recommending his own memory from a comparison with such a
successor. Yet I must hold to this opinion, that a prince so extremely
circumspect and prudent as he was, did nothing rashly, especially in an
affair of so great importance; but that, upon weighing the vices and
virtues of Tiberius with each other, he judged the latter to preponderate;
and this the rather since he swore publicly, in an assembly of the people,
that "he adopted him for the public good." Besides, in several of his
letters, he extols him as a consummate general, and the only security of
the Roman people. Of such declarations I subjoin the following
instances: "Farewell, my dear Tiberius, and may success attend you,
whilst you are warring