LIBER VII · CAPUT 45
THE MISFORTUNES OF AUGUSTUS
Latine · Mayhoff 1906
In Divo quoque Augusto, quem universa mortalitas in hac censura nuncupet, si diligenter aestimentur cuncta, magna sortis humanae reperiantur volumina: repulsa in magisterio equitum apud avunculum et contra petitionem eius praelatus Lepidus, proscriptionis invidia ob collegium in triumviratu pessirnorum civium, nec aequa saltem portione, sed praegravi Antonio, Philippensi proelio morbi, fuga et triduo in palude aegroti et (ut fatentur Agrippa ac Maecenas) aqua subter cutem fusa turgidi latebra, naufragia Sicula et alia ibi quoque in spelunca occultatio, iam in navali fuga urguente hostium manu preces Proculeio mortis admotae, cura Perusinae contentionis, sollicitudo Martis Actiaci, Pannonicis bellis ruina e turri, tot seditiones militum, tot ancipites morbi corporis, suspecta Marcelli vota, pudenda Agrippae ablegatio, totiens petita insidiis vita, incusatae liberorum mortes luctusque non tantum orbitate tristis, adulterium filiae et consilia parricidae palam facta, contumeliosus privigni Neronis secessus, aliud in nepte adulterium; iuncta deinde tot mala: inopia stipendi, rebellio Illyrici, servitiorum dilectus iuventutis penuria, pestilentia urbis, fames Italiae, destinatio expirandi et quadridui inedia maior pars mortis in corpus recepta; iuxta haec Variana clades et maiestatis eius foeda suggillatio, abdicatio Postumi Agrippae post adoptionem, desiderium post relegationem, inde suspicio in Fabium arcanorumque proditionem, hinc uxoris et Tiberii cogitationes, suprema eius cura. in summa deus ille caelumque nescio adeptus magis an meritus herede hostis sui filio excessit.
English · Bostock & Riley 1855–57
In the life of the now deified emperor Augustus even, whom the whole world would certainly agree to place in this class, if we carefully examine it in all its features, we shall find remarkable vicissitudes of human fate. There was his rejection from the post of master of the horse, by his uncle, and the preference which was given to Lepidus, and that, too, in opposition to his own requests; the hatred produced by the proscription; his alliance in the Triumvirate with some among the very worst of the citizens, and that, too, with an unequal share of influence, he himself being entirely borne down by the power of Antony; his illness at the battle of Philippi; his flight, and his having to remain three days concealed in a marsh, though suffering from sickness, and, according to the account of Agrippa and Mecænas, labouring under a dropsy; his shipwreck on the coast of Sicily, where he was again under the necessity of concealing himself in a cave; his desperation, which caused him even to beg Proculeius to put him to death, when he was hard-pressed by the enemy in a naval engagement; his alarm about the rising at Perusia; his anxiety at the battle of Actium; the extreme danger he was in from the falling of a tower during the Pannonian war; seditions so numerous among his soldiers; so many attacks by dangerous diseases; the suspicions which he entertained respecting the intentions of Marcellus; the disgraceful banishment, as it were, of Agrippa; the many plots against his life; the deaths of his own children, of which he was accused, and his heavy sorrows, caused not merely by their loss; the adultery of his daughter, and the discovery of her parricidal designs; the insulting retreat of his son-in-law, Nero; another adultery, that of his grand-daughter; to which there were added numerous other evils, such as the want of money to pay his soldiers; the revolt of Illyria; the necessity of levying the slaves; the sad deficiency of young men; the pestilence that raged in the City; the famine in Italy; the design which he had formed of putting an end to his life, and the fast of four days, which brought him within a hair’s breadth of death. And then, added to all this, the slaughter of Varus; the base slanders whispered against his authority; the rejection of Posthumius Agrippa, after his adoption, and the regret to which Augustus was a prey after his banishment; the suspicions too respecting Fabius, to the effect that he had betrayed his secrets; and then, last of all, the machinations of his wife and of Tiberius, the thoughts of which occupied his last moments. In fine, this same god, who was raised to heaven, I am at a loss to say whether deservedly or not, died, leaving the son of his own enemy his heir.