Other intimations of the future, auspicious or gloomy, doubtful or not to be Were prodigies in heaven and earth, the warning voices of the thunder, and Were illustrious men driven to the last necessity, and enduring it withįortitude there were closing scenes that equalled the famous deaths ofĪntiquity. Sons in law there were slaves whose fidelity defied even torture there Mothers accompanied the flight of their sons wivesįollowed their husbands into exile there were brave kinsmen and faithful The age was not so barren in noble qualities, as not also to exhibitĮxamples of virtue. Masters, and freedmen to betray their patrons and those who had not an Share of the spoil, others on procuratorships, and posts of moreĬonfidential authority, they robbed and ruined in every direction amid The rewards of the informers were no less odious than theirĬrimes for while some seized on consulships and priestly offices, as their Nobility, wealth, the refusal or theĪcceptance of office, were grounds for accusation, and virtue ensuredĭestruction. In theĬapital there were yet worse horrors. Rites were profaned there was profligacy in the highest ranks the sea wasĬrowded with exiles, and its rocks polluted with bloody deeds. Richest plains were swallowed up and overwhelmed Rome was wasted by conflagrations, its oldest templesĬonsumed, and the Capitol itself fired by the hands of citizens. Or that recurred only after a long succession of ages cities in Campania's Now too Italy was prostrated by disasters either entirely novel, Set in motion by the cheat of a counterfeit Nero. Suffering defeat the armies of Parthia were all but Immediately abandoned the tribes of the Suevi and the Sarmatæ rose inĬoncert against us the Dacians had the glory of inflicting as well as Its allegiance Britain was thoroughly subdued and Success in the East, and disaster in the West. There were three civil wars there were more with foreignĮnemies there were often wars that had both characters at once. I am entering on the history of a period rich in disasters, frightened in its wars, torn by civil strife, and even in peace full of horrors. Of times, when we may think what we please, and express what we think. Reign of the Divine Nerva and the empire of Trajan, enjoying the rare Life be long enough, a subject at once more fruitful and less anxious in the I have reserved as an employment for my old age, should my Profess inviolable truthfulness must speak of all without partiality and I would not deny that my elevation was begun by Vespasian,Īugmented by Titus, and still further advanced by Domitian but those who Knew nothing of Galba, of Otho, or of Vitellius, either from benefits orįrom injuries. Servility, whereas malignity wears the false appearance of honesty. Instinctively shrink from a writer's adulation, we lend a ready ear toĭetraction and spite, because flattery involves the shameful imputation of Servility of the other, neither had any regard for posterity. And so between the enmity of the one and the Them, then, through their passion for flattery, or, on the other hand, their Through men's ignorance of public affairs, which were now wholly strange to Then too the truthfulness of history was impaired in many ways at first, Power should be centered in one man, these great intellects passed away. After the conflict at Actium, and when it became essential to peace, that all They wrote with equal eloquence and freedom. Treated and while they had to record the transactions of the Roman people, The 820 years dating from the founding of the city, many authors have The second time with Titus Vinius for his colleague. I JANUARY-MARCH, AD 69 I BEGIN my work with the time when Servius Galba was consul for
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