GCSE Latin - Prose texts

Germanicus and Piso (pages 100ff)
GCSE Latin - Prose texts
A.D.18: Tiberius had been emperor for four years. He recalled Germanicus from
Germany and sent him to do various important jobs in the East. (He was regarded
as Tiberius’ heir. He was married to Augustus’ granddaughter, Agrippina.) At the
same time he sent Piso, a senior noble, to become governor of Syria - as such he
was strictly a subordinate of Germanicus, who was much younger. His wife,
Plancina, was also of an old noble family, and was a friend of Tiberius’ mother,
the aged and influential Livia (widow of Augustus).
Piso in Syria
But Gnaeus Piso, in order to begin his plans more quickly, after he reached
Syria and the legions, started helping the most disreputable of the soldiers with
generous gifts (largesse) and bribery. When he had removed the senior
centurions and the strict tribunes, and he had handed over their posts to his
clientes, he allowed idleness in the camp, wild behaviour in the cities, and
soldiers running riot through the countryside. And Plancina, the wife of Piso, did
not behave as a woman should, but she attended the exercises of the cavalry,
and threw insults at Agrippina and at Germanicus. These things were known to
Germanicus, but a more pressing care was to attend first (prae-) to the
Armenians ?.
summary
The Death of Germanicus
The belief that poison had been received from Piso increased the terrible force
of the illness; and there were found, dug up from the floor and the walls,
remains of human bodies, spells (in verse) and curses and the name of
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Cambridge Latin Anthology (GCSE 2011-12)
Germanicus inscribed on tablets made of lead, ashes half burnt and smeared
with rotten flesh and other evil objects with which it is believed that souls are
dedicated to the spirits of the underworld. At the same time people sent by Piso
were criticised for waiting for signs of unfavourable health. These things were
received by Germanicus with no less anger than fear (i.e. he was obviously
afraid but he was also very angry). He wrote a letter known in which he broke
off his (official) friendship with him.
Germanicus for a short time believed that he was getting better; then his body
started becoming tired. When the end was near, he spoke to friends standing
there as follows: “There will be an opportunity to complain before the Senate
and to appeal to the laws. It is proper for friends not to escort the dead man
with pointless lamentation, but to remember what he wanted, to carry out what
he ordered. You will avenge me if you loved me rather than my status.” The
friends, grasping the right hand of the dying man, swore that they would
abandon their life before their revenge.
Not long after this he died (A.D.19), with great grief in the province and the
surrounding peoples (i.e. in the empire). Foreign peoples and kings mourned:
so great had been his friendliness to provincials, and his mercy towards
enemies; because of his looks and eloquence he had earned the respect of
everyone. And there were people who compared him with
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Alexander the Great because of his appearance, his age, the manner of and
the place of his death; for they claimed that each of them was endowed with a
handsome body, was descended from a noble family, and had died when
hardly 30 years old. (Alexander: Germanicus: )
Mourning
Meanwhile Agrippina, although exhausted by grief and her sick body,
nevertheless was impatient of all the things which delayed revenge. She
boarded a ship with the ashes of Germanicus and with their children, with
everyone showing pity because a woman of the highest nobility and with a very
splendid marriage who deserved respect of everyone was then carrying in her
arms funereal remains, uncertain about revenge.
Meanwhile the news reached Piso on the island of Cos that Germanicus had
died. Rejoicing at this, he killed victims, he visited temples. Not only did Piso
himself behave with excessive joy but also Plancina became more arrogant,
Plancina who changed then for the first time her mourning clothes, as her sister
had died, for cheerful clothes.
Meanwhile in Rome, after the rumour of Germanicus' illness spread and
everything was reported, exaggerated for the worse as happens from a distance,
grief, anger and lamentations started breaking out: (people said) that was
obviously the reason why Germanicus had been exiled to very
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distant lands, that was the reason why the province had been entrusted to Piso.
The death of Germanicus, when it was announced, inflamed this talk of the
people to such an extent that before any proclamation of the magistrates, before
a decree of the Senate, a suspension of legal business (was) assumed, courts
were deserted and houses were closed ?. Everywhere there was silence and
mourning. And although they did not refrain from the outward signs of people
mourning, they were grieving more deeply in their hearts.
Her voyage over the wintry sea not having been interrupted at all, Agrippina
approached Brindisi. Meanwhile, her arrival having been heard of, many friends
and very many soldiers who had served under Germanicus rushed to the port.
As soon as the ship was seen not only the port but also the walls and the
buildings were filled with a crowd of people mourning and asking each other
whether they should receive her when disembarking in silence or with some
words. The ship approached slowly, not quickly as normal, but with everything
arranged for sadness. After she left the ship, with the two children (?) and
carrying the funeral urn, and cast down her eyes, there was one groan from
everyone.
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Revenge
summary
Cambridge Latin Anthology (GCSE 2011-12)
On the day of the Senate’s meeting Tiberius made a restrained speech. "Piso,"
he said, "was a representative of my father ? Augustus and a friend. I sent him
as assistant to Germanicus with the authority of the Senate to administer affairs
in the East. It must be judged with impartial minds whether Piso caused
problems for the young man with obstinacy and acts of rivalry and rejoiced at his
death, or he killed him criminally. At the same time consider whether he
encouraged the legions to rebel."
Then it was decided (to have) two days for presenting the charges and that after
an interval of six days the accused should be defended for three days. Three
friends of Germanicus with equal enthusiasm accused Piso of, through hatred
of Germanicus and a desire for revolution, having corrupted the soldiers with
wild behaviour and unfair treatment of provincials (i.e allowing them to do what
they liked); they said that finally he had killed Germanicus with curses and
poison. Then both Piso and Plancina, after they had carried out rites and wicked
sacrifices, attacked the state with arms.
The defence stumbled over the other charges; for neither the bribery of the
soldiers nor injustice towards the province, not even the insults against the
general ? , could be denied: Piso could only refute the charge of poison. But at
the same time voices of the people in front of the Senate-house were heard: they
would not restrain their hands if Piso escaped from the votes of the senators.
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There was the same hostility towards Plancina. And she, so long as there was
hope for Piso of acquittal, promised that she would be his companion whatever
his fate and if it was necessary would be his companion in death: but gradually
she began to distance herself from her husband. After Piso realised that this was
fatal for him, he doubted whether he should plead his case any more. Therefore,
as if he were planning his defence for the next day, he wrote a few things and
sealed them and handed them to a freedman; then he carried out the normal
things for looking after his body. Then late at night, his wife having left the
bedroom, he gave orders for the door to be shut; and at dawn he was found
with his throat cut and a sword lying on the ground.
How does Tacitus make it seem dramatic?
Do you believe everything he says?
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Pythius (page 152)
Cambridge Latin Anthology (GCSE 2011-12)
When Gaius Canius, a Roman eques (?), had travelled to Syracuse (?), he kept saying
that he wanted to buy some estate, to which he could invite his friends and where he
could amuse himself without interruptions. When this (quod) had become well-known,
a man called (quidam = a certain) Pythius, who ran a bank in Syracuse, told him that
he had some gardens, (which were) not for sale in fact (quidem) but which Canius
could use if he wanted as his own: at the same time he invited the man (?) to dinner
in his gardens. When he had accepted, Pythius then summoned fishermen to him, and
he asked them to fish the next day in front of his estate, and he told them what he
wanted them to do. Canius came for dinner on time. (There was) a large number of
fishing boats before his eyes; each man (quisque) according to his ability was bringing
what he had caught; fish were being thrown (deicio) in front of Pythius’ feet. Then
Canius said, “Please tell me, Pythius, what is this? Why so many fish and so many
ships?” And the other (ille) said, “What is surprising? All the fish there are in Syracuse
are in this place.” Canius (was) overcome with greed (and) begged Pythius to sell (it).
He at first refused. Finally however the man, greedy and rich, bought it for as much
as Pythius wanted.The next day Canius invited (he uses the vivid present tense for this
section) his close friends; he himself arrived early; he could not see any boat. He asked
his closest neighbour whether there was a holiday of fishermen. “None as fas as I
know,” he said, “but none normally fish here. Therefore I was amazed yesterday at
what had happened.” Canius (was) very angry; but what could he do?
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Clodia (page 158)
Cambridge Latin Anthology (GCSE 2011-12)
Since you, from a noble family (the gens Claudia), had married into a very
distinguished family (Q. Metellus Celer, a consul in 60BC, was her husband), why was
Caelius so intimate with you? For he was neither a relative nor a friend of your
husband. What (reason) was there (for?) then except a certain recklessness or desire?
The prosecutors (i.e. people on Clodia’s side!) allege/mention desires, affairs,
adultery, Baiae (?), parties, concerts, boats; they declare that they (se) say nothing
with you unwilling/against your wishes. You should (te oportet) either (aut)
refute/disprove these allegations/accusations, which you foolishly wanted to be
brought forward in the forum and the court, or admit that neither your charge
(attempted murder) nor your evidence should be trusted. (i.e. if these charges about
Caelius’ behaviour with you are not true, you have no case against Caelius; if they are
true, you were involved in these activities and are clearly not someone we should
trust).
You caught sight of a young man next door; his beauty and height, his looks and his
eyes impressed you; you wanted to see him more often; sometimes you were in the
same gardens; you, a noble woman, want to have the son of a miserly and mean
father bound/tied up by your wealth; you cannot do it; he resists, he rejects you, he
doesn’t think your gifts are worth so much; take yourself off to somewhere else. You
have bought gardens near the Tiber, in the place where all the young men come for
the purpose of swimming/in order to swim. From here everyday you can make your
own conditions (i.e. choose any young man she wanted); (so) why are you so
annoying to this man who rejects you?
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Notes
Cambridge Latin Anthology (GCSE 2011-12)
Clodia had a brother called Clodius, always an enemy of Cicero.
Caelius rented a flat from Clodius and found himself living near Clodia on the
Palatine Hill soon after her husband had died. They had an affair (for some two
years). His father seems to have not allowed him much money. She owned gardens
there. When they split up, Clodius brought various charges against Caelius, including
trying to poison her.
Cicero had been a friend of Caelius for some time and an enemy of the Clodius
family; it was not surpringing that he took the case, although he probably
disapproved of Caelius’ life-style.
What reasons does Cicero have for discrediting Clodia here? (2)
How relevant is what he says to a murder charge?
(The poet Catullus wrote many poems about his love for “Lesbia”, almost certainly
Clodia. See The Venus Throw by Steven Saylor.)
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