Immagini della pagina
PDF
ePub
[blocks in formation]

CONTENTS.

BOOK XIII.

I. SILANUS, proconsul of Asia, poisoned at the instigation
of Agrippina. Narcissus, the late emperor's freedman, de-
stroyed, though favoured by Nero on account of his vices.
II. The characters of Burrhus and of Seneca. Funeral of
Claudius; Nero delivers the oration. IV. The beginning of
Nero's reign promises well. The senate acts with indepen-
dence. VI. The Parthians claim a right over the kingdom
of Armenia. Corbulo sent to command the army against
them. His message to Vologeses, king of Parthia, who de-
livers hostages. The senate proposes to make the year be-
gin from the first of December, the month in which Nero
was born: the prince rejects the proposal. XII. Nero's
passion for Acté, an enfranchised slave. Agrippina's indig-
nation; her power diminished. XIV. Pallas dismissed from
court, and Nero's observation upon it. XV. Britannicus
poisoned, and his funeral in the dead of night. XVIII.
Agrippina obnoxious to Nero, who removes her from his
palace to another mansion. She is accused of designs against
the state. Nero is for putting her to death. Burrhus goes
to hear her defence. Her haughty spirit. She punishes her
enemies, and rewards her friends. XXIII. Pallas and Burr-
hus accused; both acquitted, and the prosecutor banished.
XXV. Nero's debauchery and midnight riots. XXVI. De-
bates in the senate about the insolence of the freedmen. A
proposal to make them subject to their original bondage.
XXVIII. The jurisdiction of the tribunes and ædiles re-
strained within narrower limits. Short history of the admi-
nistration of the revenue. XXX. Vipsanius Lenas con-

demned. Lucius Volusius dies at the age of ninety-three:
his character. XXXI. The magistrates chosen for the pro-
vinces not to give public spectacles. Regulations for pro-
tecting the masters against their slaves. Pomponia Græcina
charged with embracing a foreign superstition, and acquit-
ted by the judgment of her husband. XXXIII. Pubitus
Celer, Cossutianus Capito, and Eprius Marcellus accused
of extortion. XXXIV. Nero's bounty to Valerius Messala,
and others. New broils with the Parthians about Armenia.
Corbulo reforms his soldiers by the rigour of his discipline.
He enters Armenia: his army suffers by the inclemency of
the winter. Tiridates, brother to Vologeses, king of Par-
thia, makes head against him, but in vain. He flies before
the Romans: Corbulo takes the city of Artaxata, and burns
it to the ground. XLII. Publius Suillius accused at Rome:
he rails bitterly against Seneca. He is tried and condemned.
XLIV. Octavius Sagitta, in a fit of love and fury, stabs
Pontia because she is not willing to perform a promise of
marriage. The fidelity of his freedman: Sagitta is con-
demned. XLV. Nero's passion for Sabina Poppæa. Her
history, her beauty, and her artifices. Otho seduced her
from her husband, Rufus Crispinus. Nero in love with her.
He sends Otho to the government of Lusitania. XLVII.
Nero throws off the mask. He sends Cornelius Sylla into
banishment. A sedition at Puzolli suppressed by military
force. XLIX. Pætus Thrasea opposes a motion in the se-
nate: his enemies inveigh against his character; his answer
to his friends. L. The exorbitant practices of the tax-ga-
therers restrained. Nero thinks of remitting all taxes what-
ever, but is dissuaded from it. The revenue laws laid open
to the public. LII. The tranquillity of affairs in Germany.
The Frisians take the opportunity to settle on the banks of
the Rhine. Their two leading chiefs go to Rome to solicit
the emperor. Their behaviour in Pompey's theatre. By
Nero's order the Frisians extirminated. The Ansibarians,
under Boiocalus, make the same attempt, and with no bet-
ter success The spirited answer of Boiocalus to the Roman
general. LVII. War between the Hermundurians and the
Cattians: both nations entertain superstitious notions about

a river that produces salt; their quarrel on that account
more fierce and violent. The Hermundurians conquer, and
the Cattians almost cut to pieces. LVIII. The Ruminal
tree, that gave shade to Romulus and Remus, begins to de-
cay; this was deemed an ill omen, till the branches once
more displayed their leaves.

These transactions passed in four years.

[blocks in formation]
« IndietroContinua »