Consolation to Marcia Chapter 15

Quid aliorum tibi funera Caesarum referam ? Quos in hoc mihi videtur interim violare fortuna, ut sic quoque generi humano prosint ostendentes ne eos quidem, qui dis geniti deosque genituri dicantur, sic suam fortunam in potestate habere quemadmodum alienam. Divus Augustus amissis liberis, nepotibus, exhausta Caesarum turba adoption desertam domum fulsit ; tulit tamen tam fortiter quam cuius iam res agebatur cuiusque maxime intererat de dis neminem queri. Ti. Caesar et quem genuerat et quem adopta- verat amisit ; ipse tamen pro rostris laudavit filium stetitque in conspectu posito corpore, interiecto tantummodo velamento, quod pontificis oculos a funere arceret, et flente populo Romano non flexit vultum ; experiendum se dedit Seiano ad latus stanti, quam patienter posset suos perdere. Videsne quanta copia virorum maximorum sit, quos a The Latin expression is reminiscent of Virgil, Aeneid, ix. 641 sq: Macte nova virtute, puer; sic itur ad astra, dis genite et geniture deos. b An allusion to the later apotheosis of Augustus. c Germanicus, his nephew. d Drusus, who was poisoned by Sejanus, the imperial favourite, in A.D. 23. (Tacitus, Annals, iv. 8.) e i.e., the emperor in his capacity of Pontifex Maximus. f A veiled allusion to the spectacular overthrow of Sejanus himself, eight years later. non excepit hic omnia prosternens casus, et in quos tot animi bona, tot ornamenta publice privatimque congesta erant ? Sed videlicet it in orbem ista tempestas et sine dilectu vastat omnia agitque ut sua. Iube singulos conferre rationem ; nulli contigit im- pune nasci.

Why need I remind you of the deaths of the other Caesars, whom fortune appears to me sometimes to have outraged in order that even by their deaths they might be useful to mankind, by proving that not even they, although they were styled “sons of gods,” and “fathers of gods to come,” could exercise the same power over their own fortunes which they did over those of others? The Emperor Augustus lost his children and his grandchildren, and after all the family of Caesar had perished was obliged to prop his empty house by adopting a son: yet he bore his losses as bravely as though he were already personally concerned in the honour of the gods, and as though it were especially to his interest that no one should complain of the injustice of Heaven. Tiberius Caesar lost both the son whom he begot and the son whom he adopted, yet he himself pronounced a panegyric upon his son from the Rostra, and stood in full view of the corpse, which merely had a curtain on one side to prevent the eyes of the high priest resting upon the dead body, and did not change his countenance, though all the Romans wept: he gave Sejanus, who stood by his side, a proof of how patiently he could endure the loss of his relatives. See you not what numbers of most eminent men there have been, none of whom have been spared by this blight which prostrates us all: men, too, adorned with every grace of character, and every distinction that public or private life can confer. It appears as though this plague moved in a regular orbit, and spread ruin and desolation among us all without distinction of persons, all being alike its prey. Bid any number of individuals tell you the story of their lives: you will find that all have paid some penalty for being born.

Vous citerai-je d’autres morts dans la famille des Césars, que la Fortune me semble frapper si souvent, pour que leurs deuils même servent le genre humain, en lui montrant qu’eux aussi, réputés fils des dieux, qui doivent engendrer des dieux, ne sont pas maîtres de leur propre sort comme du sort d’autrui ? Le divin Auguste vit ses enfants, ses petits-enfants, toute la race impériale s’éteindre, et repeupla par l’adoption la solitude de son palais. Et pourtant il souffrit tous ces revers en homme intéressé déjà à ce que nul ne se plaignît des dieux. La nature et l’adoption avaient donné deux fils à Tibère : il les perdit tous deux. Et lui-même fit à la tribune l’éloge du second ; et debout, en face du cadavre dont il n’était séparé que par un voile qui doit préserver les yeux d’un pontife de ce funèbre aspect, au milieu des pleurs de tout un peuple, il ne détourna pas son visage ; il apprit à Séjan, présent à ses côtés, avec quelle force d’âme Tibère pouvait perdre les siens . Voyez que de grands hommes n’a point respectés le sort devant qui tout succombe, bien qu’ils fassent ornés de tous les trésors de l’âme, de toutes les grandeurs publiques ou privées. Ainsi la mort fait sa ronde dévastatrice et sans moissonne et chasse tout devant elle comme sa proie. Demandez à chacun le compte de sa vie : nul n’a reçu impunément la lumière !