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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..7b84593 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #54702 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/54702) diff --git a/old/54702-0.txt b/old/54702-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 5871714..0000000 --- a/old/54702-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,1801 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of A Translation of Octavia, a Latin Tragedy, -with Notes and Introduction, by Elizabeth Twining Hall - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: A Translation of Octavia, a Latin Tragedy, with Notes and Introduction - -Author: Elizabeth Twining Hall - -Release Date: May 11, 2017 [EBook #54702] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A TRANSLATION OF OCTAVIA *** - - - - -Produced by Craig Kirkwood and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive.) - - - - - - -Transcriber’s Notes: - -Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_). - -Additional Transcriber’s Notes are at the end. - - * * * * * - - - - -A TRANSLATION OF OCTAVIA, A LATIN TRAGEDY, WITH NOTES AND INTRODUCTION - - - BY ELIZABETH TWINING HALL, A. B., 1900 - - THESIS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS IN THE GRADUATE SCHOOL - - UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS - - 1901 - - * * * * * - -UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS - -_May 29_ 190_1_ - -THIS IS TO CERTIFY THAT THE THESIS PREPARED UNDER MY SUPERVISION BY - -_Elizabeth Hall_ - -ENTITLED _Translation of Octavia, a Latin Tragedy with Notes and -Introduction_ - -IS APPROVED BY ME AS FULFILLING THIS PART OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE -DEGREE OF _A.M._ - - _Herbert J Barton_ - HEAD OF DEPARTMENT OF _Latin_. - - - - -INTRODUCTION - - -Octavia is the only extant tragedy in fabula praetexta or historical -Roman tragedy in Roman scene and setting. It is remarkably true to -fact, and almost every statement may be verified by reference to the -ancient historians. - -It deals with the sad story of Octavia, the daughter of Claudius and -Messalina. Married against her will when only twelve years old to Nero, -a lad of sixteen, she was after five years divorced by her husband on -a charge of barrenness in favor of Poppaea Sabina, and in 62 A.D. was -banished to a desert island there to be executed. - -The play is a well rounded whole, all the parts are well worked out, -and the characters are vivid and lifelike. There is a force and majesty -in the tragedy which carries the reader through without pause. The sad -story of Octavia forms the plot, but the poet has interwoven political -motives and represents the people as taking Octavia’s part. This only -serves to hasten her death, for Nero eagerly seizes upon this as a -pretext to condemn her. - -There are five acts in the play, and each is closed by chants from -the chorus which serve to explain the action further. There are many -references to history and mythology, but the atmosphere is distinctly -Roman. At no time do three actors appear on the stage in the same -scene. The characters are exactly as one would expect from a close -study of history and are delineated with marvelous skill and fidelity. - -The versification is confined to iambic meters in the dialogues, while -the choruses, though they form a very prominent feature, are restricted -to anapestic systems somewhat loosely constructed. - -The play is really a bitter impeachment of Nero and was composed -shortly after his death in 68 A.D. The tragedy of Octavia for a long -time was supposed to be written by Seneca and was handed down to -posterity with his genuine dramas, but later authorities ascribe its -authorship possibly to Curiatius Maternus. There is unmistakable -evidence in the words of the play that it was composed after Nero’s -death, and this would render the authorship of Seneca entirely out of -the question since he died three years before Nero. - -There is perceptible the strong influence of Greek tragedy, but -the plot and setting are distinctly original. Octavia has the -characteristics of tragedy as laid down by Aristotle, that the aim is -to purify the passions by means of action exciting pity for the actors -and fear for the hearers, and that the leading characters must partly -occasion their own misfortunes. Octavia conforms to the old Greek idea -of the unities of time, place, and action. The place of action is -confined to the palace of Nero; the action may be considered as taking -place in one day and night; and the action forms a whole of which -each part has its proper place and the parts follow one another in -logical order. - - - - -CAST OF CHARACTERS - - - NERO, THE EMPEROR - SENECA, THE TUTOR OF NERO - PREFECT - MESSENGER - OCTAVIA, THE DIVORCED WIFE OF NERO - POPPAEA, THE MISTRESS OF NERO - NURSE OF OCTAVIA - NURSE OF POPPAEA - AGRIPPINA, MOTHER OF NERO - CHORUS - - - - -OCTAVIA, A TRAGEDY. - - -_OCTAVIA_: Already glorious Aurora[1] chases the wandering stars from -the sky. Titan,[2] with radiant hair, rises and returns a clear day to -the world. Come, thou[3] who art burdened by so many great misfortunes, -utter once more thy sad lamentations. Surpass the kingfishers[4] and -the swift nightingales, for thy fate is more grievous than theirs. -O, mother, for whom I have always mourned, the first cause of my -misfortunes, (if any consciousness exists in the shades) hear the -sad lamentations of thy daughter. Would that Clotho[5] had broken my -threads with her own aged hand before I saw thy features sprinkled with -loathsome blood.[6] O, day always fatal to me, from that time thou -hast been to me more hateful than the lower regions. I have endured -commands, hostility, and fierce glances from my cruel stepmother.[7] -That gloomy Erinys[8] has brought to my bridal room Stygian[9] fires -and has destroyed thee, wretched father,[10] whom recently the -whole world beyond the Ocean obeyed, before whom retreated the -Britains,[11] ignorant of our leaders and their own rights. Woe to me, -father, that I am overwhelmed by the treachery of thy wife, and that -thou liest prostrate, and that thy conquered home and daughter obey the -tyrant. - -_NURSE_: If anyone is captivated, astonished, and stupefied by -the first gleam of deceptive royalty, he will see, overthrown by a -sudden attack of concealed Fortune, a recently powerful home and the -progeny of Claudius who ruled the world and commanded the ocean which -reluctantly received his fleets.[12] Behold, he who first placed the -yoke upon the Britains[13] and covered unknown seas with such great -fleets, and was safe among barbarous tribes and savage seas, perished by -his wife’s crime.[14] Soon she died by the hand of her own son whose -brother met death by poison. The unhappy sister and wife sorrows; -restrained indignation cannot conceal the grievous affliction of a -cruel husband whom she in her innocence always escapes, while the -passionate husband burns with a mutual hatred. In vain my fidelity and -loyalty to soothe her sorrowing mind. Pitiless grief frustrates my -plans; the mind’s generous ardor cannot be subdued but gathers strength -for evils. Alas, what an infamous crime our terror foresees. O, may the -gods avert it. - -_OCTAVIA_: My fortunes are comparable to no evils,[15] even if I -should recall thy sorrows, Electra.[16] Thou wast permitted to mourn -thy father and to avenge the crime by the vengeance of a brother whom -thy loyalty rescued and thy fidelity protected.[17] Fear prevents me -from lamenting my parents removed by a cruel destiny, and forbids me to -weep for the death of a brother who had been my only hope and the brief -solace for so many misfortunes. Now I remain in my sorrow the shadow of -a great name.[18] - -_NURSE_: Listen, I hear the voice of my sad foster daughter. Does -slow old age hesitate to go to the wedding chamber? - -_OCTAVIA_: O, nurse, thou faithful witness of my grief, see my tears. - -_NURSE_: What day, wretched daughter, will free thee from such sorrow? - -_OCTAVIA_: The day which will send me to the Stygian shades. - -_NURSE_: I hope that these forebodings of thine may be long in -realization. - -_OCTAVIA_: Not thy prayers but the fates rule my destiny. - -_NURSE_: A pitying god will give better opportunities to thee in thy -sorrow. Soon thou wilt quietly win over thy husband with caressing -obedience. - -_OCTAVIA_: I could conquer the savage lion and the fierce tiger sooner -than the merciless heart of a barbarous tyrant. He hates men of noble -descent, he scorns both gods and men, and not yet does he meet the -fate which his infamous mother by a dreadful crime bestowed upon him. -Although he may be ashamed to have gained this unacknowledged empire by -the kindness of his ill-omened mother, yet she will bear this title of -honor[19] after death for endless generations. - -_NURSE_: Restrain the thoughts of thy raging mind; repress those rashly -spoken words. - -_OCTAVIA_: However much I may endure the inevitable, never can -my misfortunes be ended except by sorrowful death. With a mother -murdered and a father removed through crime, deprived of a brother, -overwhelmed by my woes and grief, distasteful to my husband, and -submissive to my slaves, I do not enjoy a pleasant life. My heart is -always trembling, not from fear of death--to die would be a joy--but -from dread of crime[20] of which I hope I may never be accused. For -it is a punishment worse than death for me in my misery to see those -swollen features and to endure the fierce glances of a tyrant[21] and -the kisses of an enemy, not even whose courteous nod I cannot endure -after the murder of my brother[22] whose empire the wicked assassin -rules and over which he rejoices. How often the sorrowful apparition of -my brother appears to my vision when quiet relaxes my limbs and sleep -weighs down my eyes wearied by weeping. Now he arms his feeble hands -with smoky torches and with hostile intent seeks the presence of his -own brother;[23] now in fear and trembling he flees into my apartment; -his enemy follows and violently pierces us with his sword as we cling -together. - -Then tremulous dread drives away sleep and renews my wretched sorrow -and fear. Besides all these woes, there is the haughty mistress[24] -resplendent with the spoils of our home--the mistress whose son -rewarded her by placing her upon that fatal bark.[25] More cruel than -the waves of the sea, he destroyed[26] her by his sword after the -failure of the shipwreck in the peaceful waters. After such a great -crime, how can I hope to escape? A victorious and unfriendly woman[27] -threatens my marriage couch. Burning with hatred toward me, she -demands, as a reward for her dishonor, the head of the lawful wife. -Come forth from the shades and aid thy appealing daughter, father,[28] -or open the Stygian depths to the sundered earth whither I may be borne -headlong. - -_NURSE_: In vain, wretched daughter, dost thou invoke the spirit of -thy father who in the lower world has no thought for his child. He -could prefer the progeny of foreign blood[29] to his own son and he -married in disgraceful nuptials the daughter of his own brother.[30] -From thence is begun a long series of crime, murder, treachery, desire -for dominion, and thirst for royal blood. The noble son-in-law[31] was -betrayed by his wife’s father and perished in the bridal chamber lest -he become powerful by his union with thee. Alas, that such a crime -should be! Silanus, given as a reward to Agrippina who falsely accused -him, has taken his own life. Then there entered the conquered home the -hostile son-in-law[32] and yet an own son, a youth of infamous genius, -capable of any crime, and influenced by the wily stepmother who gave -him to thee in marriage although thou wast timid and reluctant. - -This fierce and victorious woman, carried away by her great success, -has dared to menace the sacred empire of the world. Who can recall the -many crimes, and infamous desires, and beguiling treachery of a woman -who seeks power through the steps of every crime? Then sacred Loyalty -fled with trembling step; cruel Erinys with deadly tread entered -the deserted halls, polluted with baneful fires the sacred Penates, -violated Justice, and broke every law of Nature. The unnatural wife -mixed poison for her husband; he perished; then soon, she, too, fell by -the hand of her own son. Thou, too, art fallen, Britannicus, unhappy -youth whom we forever mourn, recently the star of the universe and the -protector of a mighty home; now, woe to me, thou art only light ashes -and a sorrowful shade. Even the cruel stepmother shed tears when I -placed thy body upon the funeral pyre and when the cruel flame played -round thy godlike limbs and features.[33] - -_OCTAVIA_: Let it destroy me too lest this tyrant perish by my hand. - -_NURSE_: Nature has not given such strength to thee. - -_OCTAVIA_: Grief, sadness, misery, anguish, and mourning will give it. - -_NURSE_: Thou hadst better conquer pitiless Nero by obedience. - -_OCTAVIA_: For what purpose? That he may restore to me my brother whom -he has murdered? - -_NURSE_: That thou, thyself, mayst be safe; that thou by thy progeny, -mayst keep from ruin the former home of thy father. - -_OCTAVIA_: The home of the emperor desires another offspring. The -dreadful death of my brother distracts me. - -_NURSE_: Such great favor of the citizens toward him should soothe thy -mind.[34] - -_OCTAVIA_: It alleviates my sorrows but does not free me from them. - -_NURSE_: The power of the people is great. - -_OCTAVIA_: But the power of the ruler is greater. - -_NURSE_: He will have regard for his wife. - -_OCTAVIA_: His mistress forbids this.[35] - -_NURSE_: But as everyone knows, she is hated by all. - -_OCTAVIA_: But dear to my husband. - -_NURSE_: Not yet his wife, however. - -_OCTAVIA_: Soon she will be a wife and at the same time a mother. - -_NURSE_: Youthful ardor rages at first but easily languishes just as -the warmth of a little flame; not long does it continue in disgraceful -love, but unceasing love for a chaste wife remains. The first slave[36] -who dared to dishonor thy couch long swayed the emperor’s mind, but now -she fears-- - -_OCTAVIA_: Undoubtedly someone preferred to herself. - -_NURSE_: Humble, submissive, and confessing her fault, she heaps up -votive offerings by which she shows her own fear. Cupid, the fickle god -of love, will abandon her, and although beautiful in form and haughty -in her resources she will enjoy but brief happiness. Juno, the queen -of the gods, endured sorrows similar to thine when Jupiter, the lord -of the heavens and father of the gods, changed himself into every -form; now he took the wings of the swan;[37] now, the horns of the -Sidonian bull;[38] now he flowed in golden showers.[39] The stars of -Leda shine in the sky; Bacchus[40] resides on paternal Olympus; the -god Alcides[41] is the husband of Hebe,[42] nor fears the wrath of -Juno although she has been his lifelong enemy. Yet the wise compliance -and suppressed rage of the proud wife conquered. Great Juno alone now -retains the Thunderer securely on the heavenly couch, nor allured by -mortal beauty does Jupiter leave the lofty halls. Thou, too, a second -Juno on earth, sister[43] and wife of Augustus, mayst thus vanquish thy -heavy sorrows. - -_OCTAVIA_: The cruel seas will be united with the stars; fire with -water; the heavens with the gloomy under world; genial light with -darkness; day with dewy night, before my spirit, always mindful of my -murdered brother, will be united with the abandoned soul of my infamous -husband. - -May the ruler of the heaven dwellers who often shakes the world -with his deadly thunderbolts and terrifies our mind with sacred -lightning,--may he prepare to overwhelm the head of the impious chief -with flames.[44] We have seen in the sky, where Bootes[45] stiff with -cold slowly draws his wagons in the eternal change of night, the -glowing splendor of the comet expand its baneful light.[46] Behold, -even the very atmosphere is contaminated by the ominous breath of the -savage chief;[47] the stars foretell new calamities to the nations -which the impious leader rules. - -When long ago Tellus, furious at Jove, was a mother,[48] she did -not produce a monster as fierce as this infamous Nero. This curse, -more dreadful than Typhon, this enemy of gods and man, has driven -the celestial deities from their temples and the citizens from their -fatherland; he has deprived my brother of life; he has shed the blood -of his own mother; yet he sees the light, he enjoys life, and continues -to draw his deadly breath.[49] Alas, Jupiter, thou noble father of the -world, why dost thou vainly hurl with thine own royal hand so many -times at random? Why dost thou hesitate to act against such a baneful -monster? May Nero, the pretender, the true descendant of Domitius[50] -pay the penalty for his crimes--Nero, the tyrant of the world which he -burdens with a disgraceful yoke--Nero, who defiles the very name of -Augustus with his blemished character. - -_NURSE_: I acknowledge that he is unworthy of thee but submit to fate -and fortune, daughter, and do not, I implore thee, arouse the wrath of -thy angry husband. Perhaps some avenging god will appear and a joyful -day will dawn. - -_OCTAVIA_: For a long time our home has been beset with the heavy wrath -of the gods. Pitiless Venus first exacted punishment for the madness of -my wretched mother who was united in incestuous marriage, regardless -of me, of her husband, and forgetful of the laws.[51] With her hair -flowing and entwined with serpents, that avenging Erinys came to the -fatal marriage couch and quenched in blood the torches snatched from -the marriage chamber. Anger aroused the heart of the fierce leader -to disgraceful murder. Our unhappy mother perished by the sword, and -her death continually saddens me. She has led forth to death her own -husband and son; she has betrayed and destroyed our home. - -_NURSE_: Cease renewing filial sorrows by thy weeping. Do not disturb -the spirit of thy mother who has paid heavy penalties for her own -madness. - -_CHORUS_: What rumor do we now hear? Falsely believed and repeated in -vain so many times, may it lose credence; may the new wife not enter -the bridal apartments; may the former wife, the child of Claudius, -retain her own Penates; may she give birth to pledges of love in which -a peaceful universe may rejoice and Rome preserve an eternal glory. - -Great Juno, chosen by lot, occupies the bridal apartment of her -brother. Why is the wife and sister of Augustus driven from her -ancestral halls? What does sacred pity avail her? What, a divine -father? What, chastity and virtuous modesty? We, too, are forgetful -of ourselves after the death of a leader whose son we betrayed since -his life caused fear.[52] Once there was genuine Roman valor of the -ancestors and the true race and blood of Mars in these men. They drove -the haughty kings from Rome, and well did they avenge thy wrongs, -Lucretia, thou, dishonored by the cruel tyrant and killed by thy own -wretched hand.[53] Tullia, the wife of Tarquinius, paid the penalty -for her dreadful crimes.--Tullia who wickedly drove the cruel chariot -over the body of her murdered father and refused a funeral pyre to the -mangled old man.[54] - -This generation has seen the infamous crime of a son who sent -into the Tuscan seas his mother enticed into the fatal boat by -treachery.[55] The sailors are ordered to leave the peaceful port; the -waves resound with the measured beat of the oars. The ship is borne -along upon the deep seas; sinking slowly, it suddenly divides and sucks -in the waters. A great clamor mingled with women’s wailing is raised to -the stars; a dreadful death threatens them; each one seeks for himself -escape from death; some cling to the planks of the shattered stern; -their naked bodies cleave the waves; others swim for the shore; the -fates plunge many to the depths of the sea. Augusta rends her clothing; -she tears her hair and weeps. After she has given up hope of escape, -burning with wrath and overcome by her misfortune, she exclaims, “Dost -thou reward me, thus, for my great services, my son? I confess that I -am worthy of this ship since I gave birth to thee, and in my madness -gave thee life, dominion, and the royal name of Caesar. - -“Lift thy face from the lower world, husband, and feast upon my -punishment. The cause of thy death, Claudius, and the instigator of thy -son’s funeral pyre, I shall be borne to Tartarus, deservedly unburied -and overwhelmed by the savage waters of the sea.” As she spoke, the -waves beat her face, she rises again from the waters; in terror, she -beats the billows with her palms but finally exhausted she yields to -the struggle. Loyalty still remained in silent hearts though scorned -even in the hour of bitter death. Many hasten to aid their mistress -whose strength is broken by the force of the sea. With shouts they -encourage her as she slowly but persistently waves her arms. Eagerly -they lift her into their boat. What did it profit thee to escape the -waters of the cruel sea? Thou art destined to die by the sword of -thy son whose infamous crime posterity will scarcely believe and to -which succeeding generations will always be slow to give credence. The -unnatural son is furious at his mother’s escape, he grieves that she -is saved from the sea, and he commits a greater crime by hastening her -death. The servant sent to commit the murder lays open the breast of -the mother with his sword. The unhappy woman, while dying, commands -the slave to bury the fierce sword in her womb. “Here, here is the -place. The sword must pierce the womb which bore such a monster.” Then, -passionately weeping, she breathed her last. - -_SENECA_: O, thou powerful Fortune with beguiling but treacherous -countenance! Why didst thou elevate me when I was content with my lot? -Didst thou hope that, received into a lofty citadel, I might see afar -so many causes for anxiety and therefore fall most heavily?[56] - -Rather would I, removed far away from envious misfortunes, lie -concealed among the rocks of the Corsican sea where my mind had freedom -and leisure to pursue its studies.[57] O how delightful it was to watch -the sky which is as great as anything Mother Nature, the builder of the -universe, has produced, to gaze upon the alternating changes of the sun -and moon surrounded by wandering stars, the far shining glory of the -lofty firmament. If this world wanes, if, although so great, it returns -again to gloomy chaos, be thou present to the world, that last day -which overwhelmed the wicked race of the world with ruin so that rising -again, it produced a new and better generation. Such a people[58] -Jupiter brought forth when Saturn held the dominion of the universe.[59] - -The maiden Justice, the goddess of divine majesty, sent with sacred -Piety from heaven, mercifully ruled the human race. The nations had not -known wars, nor the fierce blasts of the trumpets, nor arms; they did -not surround their cities with walls; everything was held in common. -Mother Earth herself, blessed and happy in her devout foster sons, -voluntarily opened her fruitful bosom. But a second race less skilled -and gentle appeared; then a third, practised in new arts but not wicked -yet.[60] Soon this age was restless. It dared to follow the swift wild -beasts in their course, to draw out with heavy net the fish concealed -in the depths, to catch the birds in lime twig snares, to hold a -trap-X-X-X,[61] make the fierce bulls submissive to the yoke, to plow -the earth before untouched by a plowshare,--the land which concealed its -fruits far within its sacred bosom. But a worse age pierced the vitals -of its own parent. - -It dug up heavy iron and gold and soon armed its cruel hands. The -land was divided; kingdoms were established; new cities were built; it -defended its own walls or, intent upon pillage, sought the property of -a stranger. Astraea, now the great glory of the stars, fled from the -earth and the cruel customs of men defiled with bloody carnage.[62] -Desire for war and thirst for gold increased throughout the entire -world. The greatest misfortunes had their origin in luxury, that -beguiling evil, which gained strength from time and serious error. -Vices acquired during so many long ages abound in us. We are oppressed -by an infamous age in which crime rules, raging impiety grows furious, -and passionate lust and disgraceful love conquer. With avaricious -hands, victorious Luxury grasps the immense resources of the world -to destroy them. But, lo, with frenzied step and fierce glance Nero -enters.[63] I fear what he brings. - -_NERO_: Fulfil my commands! Send a man who can bring back to me the -severed heads of Plautus and Sulla.[64] - -_PREFECT_: I shall not delay your commands. I will seek the camp -immediately. - -_SENECA_: It is best to decide nothing rashly against relatives. - -_NERO_: It is easy for him to be just whose heart is free from fear. - -_SENECA_: Clemency is a great cure for fear. - -_NERO_: To destroy an enemy is the greatest virtue of a leader. - -_SENECA_: It is a greater virtue to preserve the citizens for the -father of the fatherland.[65] - -_NERO_: It is right for a merciful old man to admonish youth. - -_SENECA_: Glowing young manhood must be guided more. - -_NERO_: I think there is enough advice for this period of life. - -_SENECA_: May the gods always sanction thy policy. - -_NERO_: I should be foolish to fear the gods for what I myself have -done. - -_SENECA_: Thou shouldst fear them all the more since they have given so -much power to thee. - -_NERO_: Fortune bestows all upon me. - -_SENECA_: Trust not too much to her compliance. The goddess is fickle. - -_NERO_: He is incompetent who does not know what he may do. - -_SENECA_: It is commendable for a ruler to do what is right, not what -he may. - -_NERO_: The crowd tramples upon the humble. - -_SENECA_: But it crushes the object of its hatred. - -_NERO_: The sword guards the emperor. - -_SENECA_: But loyalty better. - -_NERO_: It is imperative that they fear-- - -_SENECA_: Compulsion is dangerous. - -_NERO_: And that they obey my commands. - -_SENECA_: Grant privileges. - -_NERO_: I will be master. - -_SENECA_: This procedure may breed conspiracies. - -_NERO_: That the sword may destroy this object of contempt? - -_SENECA_: May this crime never happen! - -_NERO_: Shall I suffer my life, besides, to be sought so that, -unavenged and despised, I may suddenly be overwhelmed. Even far distant -exile did not subdue Plautus or Sulla whose persistent wrath arms the -servants of crime for my death, since there exists in our city great -partiality for these absent men and many foster the hopes of the -exiles. May all my possible enemies be put to the sword! May my hated -wife perish and follow her beloved brother! May whatever is noble cease -to be! - -_SENECA_: It is glorious for a man to be eminent among illustrious men, -to plan for the fatherland, to spare affliction, to refrain from fierce -carnage, to control wrath, to give quiet to the world and peace to his -own generation. This is the greatest virtue; by this path Heaven is -gained. Augustus, the first father of the fatherland, thus attained the -stars and is worshiped as a god in the temples.[66] Yet Fortune long -tossed him about on land and sea, through all the vicissitudes of war -until he crushed the enemy of his father. He bequeathed to thee his own -divinity without bloodshed; he held the reins of empire with skillful -hand; he made submissive to thy will the land and sea. Bitter envy -disappears conquered by blessed harmony. The applause of the equestrian -order and of the senate is aroused. Thou, the author of peace and the -arbiter of the human race, chosen by the plebeians’ entreaties and the -judgment of the senate,[67] now by a sacred resemblance art ruling the -world as father of the fatherland. - -Rome implores thee to guard this appellation and entrusts to thee her -own citizens. - -_NERO_: It is the gift of the gods since Rome herself and the senate -are devoted to me and since fear of me has wrested prayers and -submissive words from reluctant citizens. For a ruler to save men -hostile to him and to the fatherland and proud of their royal race -is madness, when with a word he can command his enemies to die. -Brutus armed his bands to kill a leader from whom he had received -prosperity.[68] Unconquerable in battle, father of nations and equal -to Jove, Caesar crowned with honors fell by the wicked crime of the -citizens. How many murders of her own citizens has Rome seen? How -many noble men have been killed by divine Augustus who deserved -Heaven by his sacred virtue? How many youths and old men has he -scattered over the world and destined to bitter death when from -fear of death they fled from their own homes and the sword of the -triumvirate?[69] Sorrowing fathers saw their sons’ heads exposed on the -Rostra, but they could neither weep nor groan for their own children, -even when the forum was defiled by dreadful corruption and the thick -blood dripped over the putrid countenances. There was no end to -bloodshed and murder. - -Gloomy Philippi long frightened the birds and savage wild beasts. -The Sicilian Sea engulfed the fleets and men often abandoning their -fellow countrymen, and the world was shaken by the mighty power of the -triumvirate. Conquered, with his ships prepared for flight, and soon -to die, Antony sought the Nile.[70] The Egyptian Cleopatra a second -time drained the blood of a Roman leader.[71] Now he has reached the -lower world. Yonder is buried civil war which long and wickedly has -been carried on. Finally the wearied victor sheathed his sword dulled -by fierce wounds, and fear held the empire. By the arms and fidelity of -the soldiery he was safe; he was pronounced a god by the noble piety of -the son, deified after death, and worshipped in the temples. Stars will -be destined for me, too, if I shall be the first to attack with a cruel -sword whatever is hostile to me and shall establish a home for a noble -offspring. - -_SENECA_: The glory of the Claudian house, the daughter of a god, and -chosen like Juno for the bridal couch of a brother, will fill thy home -with divine progeny. - -_NERO_: The vile mother withheld confidence from her daughter’s -husband, and never has the soul of Octavia been united with mine.[72] - -_SENECA_: Love is scarcely intelligible in youthful years; overcome -with shame it conceals its passion. - -_NERO_: I, too, long made this same mistake, but the unmistakable -signs of her lonely heart and features revealed her hatred for me. -Yet burning indignation has determined to avenge this. I have found -a wife worthy of my couch--a woman of noble family and magnificent -bearing.[73] She is more beautiful than Venus, or the wife of Jove, or -the stately goddess of war. - -_SENECA_: Let the goodness, fidelity, modesty, and character of the -wife please the husband. The good alone continue to be second to -none in mind and spirit. The days, one by one, rob the flower of its -beauty.[74] - -_NERO_: The gods have bestowed every gift upon one woman, and the -fates have decreed her for me. - -_SENECA_: Love will abandon thee. Do not trust rashly. - -_NERO_: Can Jove himself keep away this tyrant of the heavens who -penetrates the savage waves of Neptune and the kingdoms of Pluto and -draws the celestial deities from their home above? - -_SENECA_: The mind of man assumes that swift Love is a pitiless god. -It arms his divine hands with bow and arrow; it gives him a cruel -torch and believes him to be the son of Venus and Vulcan. Love is the -powerful force of the mind and the caressing warmth of the spirit. It -is fostered in youth and nourished in extravagance and idleness, among -the joyful blessings of Fortune. If thou shalt cease to nourish and -to cherish this Love, it falls in a short time and destroys its own -strength. - -_NERO_: I consider Love to be the greatest reason for existence; -through it, passions spring up. Love is harmless; the human race is -always refreshed by pleasing love which soothes the fierce wild beasts. -May Cupid bring to me nuptial torches, and may he join Poppaea to me in -wedlock. - -_SENECA_: The grief of the people can hardly endure these nuptials, nor -can sacred loyalty consent.[75] - -_NERO_: Shall I alone be forbidden what is permitted to all? - -_SENECA_: The people always exact greater deeds from the emperor.[76] - -_NERO_: It pleases me to test whether good will rashly harbored in -their minds dies overpowered by my strength. - -_SENECA_: Thou hadst better calmly gratify thy subjects. - -_NERO_: It is bad government when the common people rule the leader. - -_SENECA_: When the people can obtain no redress, they justly mourn. - -_NERO_: It is right to extort by force what entreaties can not -accomplish? - -_SENECA_: It is difficult to refuse. - -_NERO_: It is a crime for an emperor to be forced. - -_SENECA_: Let him yield. - -_NERO_: Rumor will report him conquered. - -_SENECA_: Rumor is light and airy. - -_NERO_: Although that may be, it brands many people. - -_SENECA_: It fears men in lofty positions. - -_NERO_: Yet not less does it censure. - -_SENECA_: Rumor can easily be suppressed. Let the favors of divine -Claudius, and the youth, fidelity, and modesty of Octavia appease thee. - -_NERO_: Yet cease to urge me. Already thou hast threatened me too much. -I have power to do even what SENECA condemns. Too long have I delayed -my solemn vows to Poppaea since she is soon to become the mother of my -child. Why do I not appoint tomorrow for our nuptials? - -_AGRIPPINA_: I have come from the lower world to this wicked bridal, -carrying the Stygian torch in my blood-stained hand. Poppaea as a -bride veils herself with these fires of passion which my vengeance -and anguish will turn to bitter destruction. Even among the shades, -the memory of my unnatural murder haunts me, and I am oppressed by my -unavenged spirit. Deservedly I recall the deadly reward of the ship, -the recompense for my ambition, and the night when I deplored my -shipwreck. I had vowed to lament the violent death of my companions and -my son’s cruel crime--he gave me no opportunity to weep but repeated -his wicked crime. Saved from a watery grave, slain by the sword, -defiled by wounds, among my own household gods, I breathed my last, nor -did I quench with my blood my son’s hatred. The fierce tyrant rages at -the very name of mother. He desires to forget benefits; he destroys -his mother’s statues and titles of honor throughout the entire empire -which her ill-fated love gave to him to control for her punishment. My -murdered husband disturbs and threatens me even after my death, and -with flames seeks my hated features. He approaches and menaces me; he -imputes to me his son’s death and cenotaph; he demands the assassin’s -punishment. Cease thy entreaties. Expiation will soon be made. -Avenging Erinys prepare for the impious tyrant the lash, disgraceful -flight, a worthy death, and punishments which surpass the thirst -of Tantalus,[77] the dreadful labor of Sisyphus,[78] the bird of -Tityos,[79] and the wheel that whirls the body of Ixion.[80] Although -the haughty tyrant may fill the hall with marble statues and cover it -with gold,[81] although an exhausted world may send riches, although -the suppliant Parthians may bow before his blood-stained hands,[82] -although empires may bestow their treasures, yet the day will come when -abandoned, ruined, and deprived of everything, he will turn his wicked -thoughts to his own crimes and surrender his life to his enemies.[83] - -Alas, how have my vows resulted? Whither have fury and the fates -led thee, my son, that the wrath of thy mother who perished by thy -crime may yield to such great misfortunes? Would that the savage wild -beasts had torn my vitals before I brought thee, a little child, -into the world and nourished thee. Would that guiltless and without -consciousness, my son, thou hadst perished. Would that with me thou -hadst seen the peaceful home of the lower world, thy father, and thy -ancestors, men of great renown. Now disgrace and unending grief await -them from thee, wicked son, and from me who gave birth to such a -monster. Why do I hesitate to hide my face in Tartarus, stepmother, -wife and parent who have brought misfortune to all my kinsfolk and -friends? - -_OCTAVIA_: Cease thy weeping on such a joyful holiday[84] of the city -lest thy great love for me excite the fierce wrath of the emperor and -be a source of misfortune to thee. This is not the first wound my heart -has known. I have felt deeper sorrows. Today will end my anguish by -death. I shall not be forced to see the face of my cruel husband nor to -enter the hated bridal chamber of a slave. Sister of Augustus I shall -be but not his wife. Let only bitter punishment and fear of death be -far from me. When thou dost remember the crimes of this wicked man, -canst thou in thy misery hope for mercy? Long saved for these nuptials, -an unfortunate victim at last thou wilt fall. But why dost thou with -tear-stained cheeks look so often in terror at thy father’s palace? -Hasten to the city walls. Leave the blood-stained hall of the chief. - -_CHORUS_: See, a day, long foretold by any rumor, dawns. Claudia is -forced to leave dread Nero’s bridal room which now victorious Poppaea -occupies. Our loyalty and indignation are oppressed by foreboding fear. -Where now is the power of the Roman people which often destroyed noble -leaders, which once gave laws to an invincible fatherland and fasces to -worthy citizens, which commanded war and peace, which conquered fierce -tribes and imprisoned royal captives? Behold the images of Poppaea and -Nero gleam every where before our sight.[85] May the angry people dash -to the ground the exquisitely carved statues of the mistress, and may -it drag her from the royal couch.[86] May it soon seek the palace of -the emperor with hostile flames and fierce weapons. - -_NURSE OF POPPAEA_: Where art thou going from thy husband’s bridal -chamber, trembling daughter? Why in terror dost thou seek concealment? -Why dost thou weep? Surely the day dawns for which we have sought -by prayers and vows. Thou art married to Caesar whom thy beauty -captivated. Although thou art despised by Seneca,[87] Venus, the mother -of Love and greatest of all divinities, has charmed the emperor and -given him over to thee. - -Thou hast sat in lofty halls; thou hast rested upon royal couches. -The astonished senate saw thee with thy head adorned with the red -bridal veil, offering incense to the gods and sprinkling the sacred -altars with fragrant wine.[88] Close by thy side, honored among the -many happy omens of the citizens, showing joy in his haughty bearing, -the chief advanced. Thus did Peleus receive his wife Thetis from the -foaming waves. They say the heaven dwellers and every divinity of the -sea united to celebrate their nuptials.[89] What has changed thee so -suddenly? Tell me why thou dost grow pale and weep? - -_POPPAEA_: O, nurse, confused by the sad and fearful sights of the past -night, disturbed in mind, and deprived of feeling, I am borne along. -When joyful day gave place to gloomy stars and heaven to night, clasped -in the embrace of Nero, I could not sleep nor rest for a long time. For -a sad throng seemed to celebrate my nuptials.[90] Roman matrons with -flowing hair made doleful lamentations. Often amid the terrible blasts -of trumpets, my husband’s cruel mother shook the blood-stained torch. -When resistless fear compelled me to follow her, the sundered earth -opened before me in a vast chasm. - -Borne headlong, I see the marriage couches and I marvel at mine in -which, wearied, I reclined. I see my former husband and son coming with -a crowd of attendants. Crispinus[91] hastens to embrace and kiss me. -Just as he entered my dwelling, trembling Nero buried the savage sword -in his throat. Then overwhelming terror seized me. Horrible fear shakes -my body and brings anguish to my heart. Anxiety has kept me speechless, -but now thy faithful loyalty induces me to speak. Alas, why do these -departed spirits come from the lower world to threaten me? Why have I -witnessed the death of my husband? - -_NURSE_: Whatever the restless activity of the mind considers, divine -consciousness silently and swiftly recalls in sleep.[92] Dost thou -wonder that, clasped in the embrace of a new husband, thou hast dreamed -of thy former one, of the bridal room, and nuptial couch? But on such -a happy day, does it disturb thee that matrons with flowing hair beat -their breasts? They mourn the divorce of Octavia among the sacred -Penates of her brother and in the home of her own ancestors. That torch -which thou didst follow, borne aloft by the hand of Augusta, predicts -to thee a royal and envied name. It foretells that the temples of the -lower world will be thy eternal couches. - -It does not predict war that thy chief buried the sword in his -throat, but it meant that he sheathed his sword in peace. Collect thy -thoughts, accept thy good fortune, I implore thee, and casting aside -all fear return to thy bridal apartments. - -_POPPAEA_: I have determined to seek the shrines and sacred altars, to -propitiate the gods with sacrifices that terror and astonishment may -return upon my enemies. Offer up vows for me and honor the god with -devout prayers that the present state of affair may continue. - -_CHORUS_: If gossiping rumor which now rules and again abandons the -stars, should tell of the true stratagems of Jove and his pleasing -loves--Jove who disguised as a swan had slept upon the breast of Leda, -and who, as a fierce bull, had carried the stolen Europa through the -waves--he will seek thy embraces, Poppaea, whom he prefers to Leda and -to Danae to whom he once descended in a golden shower. Although Sparta -may boast of Helen’s beauty and Paris, the shepherd of Phrygia, may -tell of his reward, Poppaea is more beautiful than the Spartan Helen -who caused such fierce wars and overthrew the kingdom of Priam. But -who rushes in with astonished step, and what news does he bring with -gasping breath? - -_MESSENGER_: May the soldiers who guard the palace of the emperor -defend the hall which the furious people threaten. Behold, the anxious -cohorts bear aid to the city. The anger of the people rashly aroused -does not yield to fear but gathers strength and force. - -_CHORUS_: What madness and terror distract his mind? - -_MESSENGER_: The crowds of people are strongly attached to Octavia, and -frenzied by her great wrongs and persecutions they surge in turmoil -everywhere.[93] - -_CHORUS_: Tell what they have dared to do and by what counsel? - -_MESSENGER_: The gods prepare to return to Claudia her brother’s -penates and couch, the empire which was her dowry. - -_CHORUS_: Whom does Poppaea now hold in allegiance? - -_MESSENGER_: This rash favor inflames the mind of the people and drives -them headlong into raging madness. All the costly marble and shining -bronze images of Poppaea are broken and lie prostrate overthrown by -their savage swords. They drag her dismembered statues along and after -trampling them in the filthy mire, finally destroy them entirely. -My fears conceal their plans and fierce deeds. They prepare to burn -the palace of the emperor unless he surrenders the new wife to their -wrath and submissively returns to Claudia her own penates. I shall not -delay to carry out the commands of the prefect, that Nero may know the -movements of his citizens. - -_CHORUS_: Cupid carries invincible weapons with which thou dost vainly -excite fierce wars. He will overwhelm thee with the fires of passion -with which he has often destroyed thunderbolts and has drawn captive -Jove from the sky. Thou wilt pay the penalty with thy life. Glowing -with passion, he is not patient nor easily controlled. He commanded -fierce Achilles to play the lyre; he shattered the Greeks and Menelaus; -he overturned the kingdom of Priam; he destroyed royal cities. Now the -mind fears what the relentless power of the pitiless god brings. - -_NERO_: O, too lenient is the band of my soldiers and my anger -after such a great wrong, since civilian blood has not quenched the -torches burning for us and since Rome which produced such a monster -does not reek with the blood of the people. The wicked crime of the -common people deserves more severe punishment. But let that woman who -has stirred up rebellion among the citizens and whom I have always -suspected though she was wife and sister, too--let her die by my wrath -and let her extinguish my anger in her own blood. Let the walls of the -city perish in my flames. Let disgraceful poverty, hunger, and cruel -sorrow destroy a hated nation. Great crowds corrupted by the prosperity -of the times run riot; moderation does not please it, nor can it endure -a peaceful reign, but it is borne hither by restless audacity, and -is hurled thither by its own temerity. Misfortune must govern it; a -heavy yoke must always crush it down lest it should dare to compare me -with former rulers and to conspire against my wife. Crushed by fear of -punishment, the people will learn to obey the will of its own leader. -But I see a man coming whose singular loyalty and remarkable fidelity -have placed him in command of my legions. - -_PREFECT_: I announce that the uprising of the people is checked by the -death of a few who long rashly resisted. - -_NERO_: And is this all? Dost thou, a soldier, thus obey thy leader’s -commands? Why dost thou cease thy endeavors? Is this the vengeance due -me? - -_PREFECT_: The leaders of the rebellion have fallen. - -_NERO_: Why have not all perished who dared to seek my palace with -torches, to lay down the law to the emperor, to remove such a wife from -my couch, and to dishonor her in every way? Shall they escape richly -deserved punishment? - -_PREFECT_: Will thy indignation prepare punishment for thy own citizens? - -_NERO_: It will prepare a punishment which will never be forgotten. - -_PREFECT_: Let thy wrath, not our fear, restrain us. - -_NERO_: The first age which has deserved my wrath shall expiate it. - -_PREFECT_: Disclose what thy anger demands so that we may punish the -culprit. - -_NERO_: It demands my sister’s death and her severed head. - -_PREFECT_: Chilling horror holds me spellbound. - -_NERO_: Dost thou hesitate to obey? - -_PREFECT_: Why dost thou doubt my loyalty? - -_NERO_: Because thou art merciful to an enemy. - -_PREFECT_: Should a woman receive this name? - -_NERO_: She incites crime. - -_PREFECT_: Who is it who accuses her? - -_NERO_: The wrath of the people against me. - -_PREFECT_: Who can rule the frenzied crowd? - -_NERO_: She who influenced it. - -_PREFECT_: I do not think anyone could. - -_NERO_: A woman whose mind is naturally inclined to evil has inflamed -their hearts with evil plans to injure me. - -_PREFECT_: But she refused their aid. - -_NERO_: But only that she might not be accused and that fear of -punishment might not overcome her weak strength. Retribution will -finally overtake the long condemned criminal. Hear my plans and carry -out my commands.[94] Order Octavia to be placed on a ship and carried -far away to a desert isle. There let her be killed that the fear in my -heart may subside. - -_CHORUS_: Indignation at the present instance forbids mention of many -examples of fickle fortune. The woman upon whom the citizens wished -to bestow the empire of the world, now they see led weeping to bitter -punishment and death. Well does contented poverty conceal itself -in humble dwellings. Often tempests shake those homes or fortune -overwhelms them. - -_OCTAVIA_: Where dost thou lead me? What exile does the tyrannical -queen command for me, if, touched by my many misfortunes, she grants -me life? But if she intends to end my sorrow by death, why does she -begrudge me the pleasure of dying in my own native land? But now I -cannot hope to escape. In my misery, I see my brother’s boat prepared -for me.[95] Borne along in this vessel, once a wife, now only a sister, -driven from my own palace, sorrowfully I shall drift away. Loyalty now -has no divinity, nor are there gods above. Gloomy Erinys rules in the -world! What nightingale can return soft plaintive notes to my weeping? -I would like to escape my sorrows on the uplifted pinions of a bird and -borne aloft and far away flee from the gloomy crowds of men and fierce -carnage. Alone in a deserted forest and suspended on a slender bough, I -would utter sad and mournful murmurs. - -_CHORUS_: Mortals are ruled by fate, and no one can depend upon -the certainty of human life. A single portentous day brings forth -varying fortunes. May the many misfortunes which thy home has endured -strengthen thy mind. What is more cruel to thee than destiny, -Octavia? Thou, a mother worthy of many sons, daughter of Agrippa, -daughter-in-law of Augustus, and wife of Caesar[96] whose royal name -is illustrious in the entire world, soon a barren wife, thou wilt -endure exile, the scourge, cruel fetters, gloomy sights, sorrows, -long continued torture, and finally death itself. Livia, blessed -in the couch and sons of Drusus, committed a great sin and received -punishment.[97] Julia followed her mother’s fortunes.[98] Yet after a -time, although innocent, she falls by the sword. Why was not thy former -mother victorious who dear to her husband and rich in children ruled -the palace of the emperor? She was submissive to her own servant and -fell by the sword of a rough soldier.[99] Why was such a mother of Nero -permitted to hope for divinity? Injured by the blows of the oarsmen -but not fatally, mangled by the sword, she perished, the victim of her -cruel son. - -_OCTAVIA_: Alas, the cruel tyrant sends me to the sorrowing shades -in the lower world. Why do I in my misery vainly hesitate? Hasten to -the death which fate has bestowed upon thee. I call to witness the -immortal gods--What art thy doing in thy madness? Cease to supplicate -the gods who hate thee--I call to witness Tartarus, the avenging -goddesses of Erebus, and thee, father, who art worthy of such a death -and punishment. This dreadful death was not unforeseen by me. -Equip and launch the ship. Let the pilot set sail for the shores of -Pandataria.[100] - -_CHORUS_: Gentle breezes and light zephyrs which bore away Iphigenia -from the cruel altars of the Virgin and covered her with a heavenly -cloud, we beseech thee, waft this maiden far away from bitter -punishment to the temples of Trivia.[101] The harbor of Aulis[102] and -the barbarian land of the Tauri are more merciful than our city. The -gods above are propitiated by the sacrifice of a stranger, but Rome -rejoices in the murder of her own citizen. - - * * * * * - -FOOTNOTES: - -[1] Goddess of the dawn. - -[2] The sun. - -[3] Messalina, third wife of Claudius and mother of Octavia and -Britannicus. She acquired the most infamous celebrity of all the Roman -matrons. - -[4] Alcyone threw herself into the sea when Ceyx, her husband, -was shipwrecked, and the gods in compassion changed the two into -kingfishers. Ovid Book XI l. 583-748. - -[5] The spinner among the Parcae. - -[6] Murder of Messalina. - -[7] Agrippina. - -[8] One of the Furies. - -[9] Styx, river in the lower world. - -[10] Claudius, fifth Caesar, reigned 41-54 A.D. He was distinguished -among the Roman emperors by his politic munificence in founding empires. - -[11] Claudius determined to carry into effect the plan which Augustus -had prematurely announced of an invasion of the great island of -Britain. He conquered magnificently and was accorded a triumph at Rome. - -[12] Referring probably to the construction of Portus Romanus and the -extension of maritime power. - -[13] Claudius was the first emperor who really conquered the Britains. - -[14] Tiberius Claudius Drusus who succeeded Caligula obtained with -his infant son the name of Britannicus in honor of his British -victories. After the death of his third wife Messalina, he married -his own niece Agrippina 49 A.D. She influenced him to set aside his -own son Britannicus and to adopt her son Domitius Ahenobarbus giving -him the name of Nero. Having afterward shown a disposition to return -the succession to Britannicus, Claudius was poisoned by Agrippina 54. -Britannicus was poisoned in 55 and Agrippina murdered in 59 by order of -Nero. - -[15] To Octavia her marriage was a funeral in a house where her father -and soon afterward her brother had been poisoned, where a maid had -become more powerful than her mistress, where a paramour had supplanted -the lawful wife, and where she had been branded with a crime more -hateful to her than the worst of deaths. - -[16] Electra, daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra and sister of -Orestes. Her sad story has formed the basis of three extant plays, the -Choephori of Aeschylus and the Electra of Sophocles and Euripides. - -[17] Orestes. - -[18] Lucan Bk I. 135. - -[19] Sarcasm. - -[20] Evidently the fear of suicide. - -[21] Nero. - -[22] Britannicus. - -[23] Nero. - -[24] Agrippina. - -[25] The attempt by Nero to dispose of his mother by shipwreck. - -[26] Murder of Agrippina. - -[27] Poppaea. - -[28] Claudius. - -[29] The adoption of Nero and Octavia’s forced betrothal to him. - -[30] Agrippina was the niece of Claudius and their marriage was -contrary to law. The senate gave permission. - -[31] Appius Silanus to whom Octavia was affianced. Agrippina by a -pretended charge of immorality caused him to be disgraced and the -betrothal to be rescinded. At the marriage of Agrippina and Claudius, -Silanus put an end to his own life. - -[32] Nero. - -[33] Agrippina was innocent of the death of Britannicus. The simple -pyre had been prepared before and the corpse was consumed that very -night in the midst of a sudden tempest. - -[34] The sympathy of the people was with Britannicus. The superiority -of natural over legal descent seems to have been generally acknowledged. - -[35] Poppaea who became Nero’s wife in 62 A.D. - -[36] Acte, the favorite concubine of Nero. Originally a slave from Asia -Minor, after Nero’s infatuation she was claimed to be a descendant of -King Attalus and at one time he even thought of marrying her. See Quo -Vadis. - -[37] Leda bore by Jupiter, who visited her in the form of a swan, two -eggs from one of which came Pollux and Helen and from the other Castor -and Clytemnestra. - -[38] Europa was carried off to Crete by Jupiter in the form of a bull. - -[39] Danae was mother of Perseus by Jupiter who visited her in the form -of a shower of gold. - -[40] Bacchus, god of wine, son of Jupiter and Semele. - -[41] Hercules, son of Jupiter and Alcmena, was pursued by Juno’s hatred. - -[42] Hebe was daughter of Juno, cupbearer to the gods, and wife of -Hercules after his deification. - -[43] After Nero’s adoption by Claudius, he became Octavia’s brother. - -[44] Whole passage similar to Vergil. - -[45] The Great Bear Constellation. - -[46] The appearance of a comet was considered a herald of misfortune. A -comet appeared at this time and was generally supposed to portend the -fall of the reigning prince. - -[47] In 63, a comet, great tempests, pestilence, the partial -destruction of Pompei by an earthquake, and the news of the evacuation -of Armenia by the Roman legions seemed to confirm the belief that the -blessing of the gods was no longer with the emperor. - -[48] Typhon was the youngest son of Tartarus and Tellus who was angry -at Jupiter’s giving birth to Minerva. Typhon was a monster with one -hundred heads, fearful eyes, and terrible voices, who wished to obtain -dominion over gods and men but was subdued by Jupiter. - -[49] Life of Nero by Suetonius. - -[50] The Domitian gens was noted for its cruelty. - -[51] Tacitus affirms that Messalina was actually married with the most -formal ceremonies to her lover, Caius Silius, during the lifetime of -Claudius, her lawful husband. - -[52] Britannicus. - -[53] Sextus, son of Tarquinius committed an outrage upon Lucretia who, -after informing her husband Collatinus and father Lucretius, stabbed -herself. The people then arose and drove out the Tarquins. - -[54] Tullia, wife of Tarquinius, urged her husband to the murder of her -father. She drove her chariot over the mangled body and her father’s -blood spurted over her and her carriage. - -[55] Nero attempted to shipwreck his mother on her return from Baiae -to Bauli, but the empress was picked up by boats from the shore and -carried to Lucrine villa. Nero immediately sent Amicetus with a band of -soldiers to complete the crime. As she lay dying from her many wounds, -she exclaimed, “Strike the womb which bore a monster.” - -[56] L. Annaeus Seneca was a senator and philosopher in the reign -of Caligula. Incurring the displeasure of Messalina, the wife of -Claudius, he was banished in 41 A.D. to Corsica. He was recalled in 48 -by Agrippina to be the tutor of Nero. After the accession of his pupil -to the throne, Seneca was for a long time the ruling power, but being -implicated in the Pisonian conspiracy, he was driven to suicide 65 A.D. - -[57] Eight weary years of waiting were relieved by study and -authorship. He is said to have written his extant tragedies during his -exile. - -[58] When Jupiter ordered the flood to come, Deucalion and his wife -Pyrrha alone found refuge on Mt. Parnassus. They were ordered by -the oracle to cast behind them the bones of their mother which they -interpreted to be the stones of the earth. As they threw the stones, -those thrown by Deucalion became men and those by Pyrrha became women. - -[59] Saturn was the father of all the gods. His reign was the Golden -age, the age of innocence and happiness. - -[60] Second was the Silver Age when good Saturn was banished from above -and Jove reigned. - - “To this came next in course the Brazen Age; - A warlike offering prompt to bloody rage; - Not impious yet! - Hard steel succeeded then; - And stubborn as the metal were the men.” - - Ovid’s Metam--Book I Dryden’s Translation. - -[61] Evidently something omitted. - -[62] Astraea was goddess of purity and innocence and daughter of -Justice. After she was driven from earth, she was placed among the -stars where she became the constellation Virgo. - -[63] Nero Claudius Caesar, the sixth of the Roman emperors, born 37 -A.D. was the son of Domitius Ahenobarbus and Agrippina, the daughter of -Germanicus. He was originally named Lucius Domitius. After the death -of Ahenobarbus and a second husband, Crispus Passienus, Agrippina -married Claudius who gave his daughter Octavia to Nero in marriage and -subsequently adopted him with the formal sanction of the senate. - -[64] Cornelius Sulla who had been banished to Massilia in 58 was put to -death on the grounds that his residence in Gaul was likely to arouse -disaffection in that province, and a similar charge proved fatal to -Rubellius Plautus who had for two years been living in retirement in -Asia. - -[65] Formal title of the emperor. - -[66] Augustus Caesar, the first Roman emperor, originally Gaius -Octavius. After his adoption by his great uncle, C. Julius Caesar, he -was called Augustus by the senate. He defeated Brutus and Cassius, his -adopted father’s murderers, at Philippi B.C. 42. - -[67] In Nero’s first speech, he placed the authority of the senate on -the same footing with the consent of the soldiers. - -[68] Brutus murdered Caesar, his patron. - -[69] Augustus, Antony, and Lepidus formed a triumvirate and made a -proscription of all their enemies. More than two thousand knights -and three hundred senators were thus put to death and their property -confiscated. - -[70] Marcus Antonius, the triumvir, received Asia as his share and -there met Cleopatra. He followed her to Egypt, a victim of her charms. -At the battle of Actium, her flight and Antony’s subsequent pursuit -changed the destiny of the Roman empire. - -[71] Pompeius had fallen victim to the charms of the beautiful Egyptian. - -[72] Agrippina embraced the cause of the wretched Octavia and declared -herself to be the protectress of her injured innocence. - -[73] Poppaea Sabina, a very beautiful but licentious woman. She was the -daughter of T. Ollius but assumed the name of her maternal grandfather, -Poppaeus Sabinus. She was first married to Rufrius Crispinus and -afterward to Otho from whom she was divorced in order to marry Nero. -She persuaded Nero to murder his mother who was opposed to the -marriage. She was killed by a kick from Nero. - -[74] Similar to Catullus and Vergil. - -[75] The Romans were very indignant at this marriage. - -[76] Noblesse oblige. - -[77] Tantalus was admitted to the feasts of the gods, but having -disclosed their secrets he was sent for punishment to the lower world -where he stood up to his chin in water under an overhanging fruit tree, -both of which retreated whenever he attempted to satisfy the hunger and -thirst which tormented him. - -[78] Sisyphus’ task in the lower world was to roll up hill a huge stone -which constantly rolled back again. - -[79] A vulture was constantly feeding upon Tityos’ liver which as -constantly grew again. - -[80] Ixion was bound to an ever-revolving wheel. - -[81] Life of Nero by Suetonius. - -[82] In 66 occurred the visit of the Parthian prince, Tiridates to -Italy to receive his crown from the hands of the Roman emperor. - -[83] Compare with curse of Dido in Vergil when Aeneas went below. - -[84] Wedding day of Poppaea and Nero. - -[85] Poppaea’s head appeared on the coins side by side with Nero, and -her statues were erected in the public places of Rome. - -[86] Sejanus. Juvenal’s Satires. - -[87] Seneca and Burrhus were both opposed to the marriage. - -[88] Similar to Catullus. - -[89] The wedding of Peleus and Thetis was honored by the presence of all -the gods with the exception of Discord who was not invited and who took -revenge by throwing among the assembled gods the golden apple which was -the source of so much misery. - -[90] Poppaea’s dream. - -[91] Poppaea’s first husband was Rufrius Crispinus. - -[92] Attempt of the nurse to explain the dream. - -[93] Twelve days after Nero divorced Octavia, he married Poppaea who -brought a false accusation against the former wife, and Octavia was -imprisoned in Campania. When the citizens murmured against such an -unjust decree and Nero recalled her, they rushed tumultuously to the -capital to offer sacrifice. They overthrew all the statues of Poppaea -within reach and crowned Octavia’s. They surged around the palace until -the emperor dispersed them with an armed force. - -[94] Rebellion against Nero. - -[95] Octavia was banished to the island of Pandataria where she was -murdered by order of Nero. Her head was severed from her body and -carried to the cruel Poppaea. Vows and sacrifices were offered to the -gods by order of the senate. - -[96] Nero. - -[97] Livilla, the wife of the younger Drusus son of the emperor -Tiberius, was persuaded by her lover, Sejanus, to poison her husband. - -[98] Julia, daughter of Caligula and Milonia Caesaria, suffered death -with her mother after the assassination of her father. - -[99] Messalina. - -[100] Now Ventotene; a small island off the coast of Campania to which -political offenders were sometimes banished. - -[101] Iphigenia was daughter of Agamemnon who offered her up to appease -the gods. She was rescued by Diana and carried off in a cloud to the -land of the Tauri where it fell to her lot to offer up as victims all -strangers who were shipwrecked on the coast. - -[102] Aulis, a harbor in Beotia where Iphigenia was offered in -sacrifice. - - * * * * * - -Transcriber’s Notes: - -The original text is typewritten with hand corrections by the author. - -Some text on the certification page following the title page in the -original text is handwritten, and this text is shown in italics. - -Character names are underlined in the original script, and these are -shown in italics. - -Footnotes, which appear on the page where they are anchored in the -original text, have been moved to the end of the text and relabeled -consecutively through the document. - -Punctuation has been made consistent. - -Variations in spelling and hyphenation were retained as they appear in -the original text, except that obvious typographical errors have been -corrected. - -The following changes were made: - -p. 3: Materneus changed to Maternus (Curiatius Maternus. There) - -p. 11: A footnote anchor is missing on this page in the original text. -The anchor for the footnote 17 in the original text was reassigned -to footnote 18, and an anchor for footnote 17 was inserted based on -context. - -p. 11: to added (go to the) - -p. 14: The last footnote on this page in the original text has no -anchor. It is a duplicate of footnote 29 on the next page, and it was -deleted. - -p. 19: Footnotes 40 and 41 were reversed to agree with hand corrections -made by the author on this page. - -p. 23: Tarquinus changed to Tarquinius on this page and also in -footnotes 53 and 54. - -p. 50: Footnote 96 does not have a label or anchor in the original -text, and an anchor was inserted based on context. - -p. 51: Footnotes 99, 100, and 101 are mislabeled in the original text, -and the labels were changed. - -p. 51: Aulus changed to Aulis on this page and also in footnote 102. - -p. 51, footnote 100: Vendutene changed to Ventotene (Now Ventotene; a) - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of A Translation of Octavia, a Latin -Tragedy, with Notes and Introduct, by Elizabeth Twining Hall - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A TRANSLATION OF OCTAVIA *** - -***** This file should be named 54702-0.txt or 54702-0.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/4/7/0/54702/ - -Produced by Craig Kirkwood and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive.) - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: A Translation of Octavia, a Latin Tragedy, with Notes and Introduction - -Author: Elizabeth Twining Hall - -Release Date: May 11, 2017 [EBook #54702] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A TRANSLATION OF OCTAVIA *** - - - - -Produced by Craig Kirkwood and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive.) - - - - - - -</pre> - - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 629px;"> -<img id="coverpage" src="images/cover.jpg" width="629" height="850" alt="Cover." /> -</div> - -<div style="padding-top:1em"> - -<h1>A TRANSLATION OF OCTAVIA, A<br /> -LATIN TRAGEDY, WITH NOTES<br /> -AND INTRODUCTION</h1> - - -<p class="center p3">BY</p> -<p class="center p2">ELIZABETH TWINING HALL, A. B., 1900</p> - -<p class="center p3"><span class="xlargefont">THESIS</span></p> - -<p class="center p2">FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS</p> -<p class="center p1">IN THE GRADUATE SCHOOL</p> - -<p class="center p3">UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS</p> - -<p class="center smallfont">1901 -</p> -</div> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<div class="chapter"></div><!--Page break for ePub--> - -<div class="boxit"> - -<p class="center">UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS</p> - -<p class="p2 marginrightindent largefont"><em>May 29</em> -<span class="smallfont">190</span><em><span class="smallfont">1</span></em></p> - -<p class="p2 smallfont">THIS IS TO CERTIFY THAT THE THESIS PREPARED UNDER MY SUPERVISION BY</p> - -<p class="center largefont"><em>Elizabeth Hall</em></p> - -<p><span class="smallfont">ENTITLED</span> <span class="largefont"><em>Translation of Octavia, a Latin Tragedy with Notes and Introduction</em></span></p> - -<p><span class="smallfont">IS APPROVED BY ME AS FULFILLING THIS PART OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF</span> <span class="largefont"><em>A.M.</em></span></p> - -<p style="margin-left:15em"><span class="largefont"><em>Herbert J Barton</em></span><br /> -<span class="smallfont">HEAD OF DEPARTMENT OF</span> <span class="largefont"><em>Latin</em>.</span></p> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"></div><!--Page break for ePub--> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[2]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2>INTRODUCTION</h2> - - -<p>Octavia is the only extant tragedy in fabula -praetexta or historical Roman tragedy in Roman scene and setting. -It is remarkably true to fact, and almost every statement may be -verified by reference to the ancient historians.</p> - -<p>It deals with the sad story of Octavia, the daughter -of Claudius and Messalina. Married against her will when -only twelve years old to Nero, a lad of sixteen, she was after -five years divorced by her husband on a charge of barrenness in -favor of Poppaea Sabina, and in 62 A.D. was banished to a desert -island there to be executed.</p> - -<p>The play is a well rounded whole, all the parts -are well worked out, and the characters are vivid and lifelike. -There is a force and majesty in the tragedy which carries the -reader through without pause. The sad story of Octavia forms the -plot, but the poet has interwoven political motives and represents -the people as taking Octavia’s part. This only serves to hasten -her death, for Nero eagerly seizes upon this as a pretext to condemn -her.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[3]</a></span></p> - -<p>There are five acts in the play, and each is closed -by chants from the chorus which serve to explain the action -further. There are many references to history and mythology, but -the atmosphere is distinctly Roman. At no time do three actors -appear on the stage in the same scene. The characters are exactly -as one would expect from a close study of history and are delineated -with marvelous skill and fidelity.</p> - -<p>The versification is confined to iambic meters in -the dialogues, while the choruses, though they form a very prominent -feature, are restricted to anapestic systems somewhat loosely -constructed.</p> - -<p>The play is really a bitter impeachment of Nero -and was composed shortly after his death in 68 A.D. The tragedy -of Octavia for a long time was supposed to be written by Seneca -and was handed down to posterity with his genuine dramas, but -later authorities ascribe its authorship possibly to Curiatius -<a id="ref_3">Maternus</a>. There is unmistakable evidence in the words of the -play that it was composed after Nero’s death, and this would render -the authorship of Seneca entirely out of the question since -he died three years before Nero.</p> - -<p>There is perceptible the strong influence of -Greek tragedy, but the plot and setting are distinctly original. -Octavia has the characteristics of tragedy as laid down by Aristotle, -that the aim is to purify the passions by means of action -exciting pity for the actors and fear for the hearers, and that -the leading characters must partly occasion their own misfortunes. -Octavia conforms to the old Greek idea of the unities of -time, place, and action. The place of action is confined to the -palace of Nero; the action may be considered as taking place in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[4]</a></span> -one day and night; and the action forms a whole of which each -part has its proper place and the parts follow one another in -logical order.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"></div><!--Page break for ePub--> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[5]</a></span></p> - - - -<div class="boxit1"> -<h2>CAST OF CHARACTERS</h2> - - -<p> -NERO, THE EMPEROR<br /> -SENECA, THE TUTOR OF NERO<br /> -PREFECT<br /> -MESSENGER<br /> -OCTAVIA, THE DIVORCED WIFE OF NERO<br /> -POPPAEA, THE MISTRESS OF NERO<br /> -NURSE OF OCTAVIA<br /> -NURSE OF POPPAEA<br /> -AGRIPPINA, MOTHER OF NERO<br /> -CHORUS<br /> -</p> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"></div><!--Page break for ePub--> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[6]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2>OCTAVIA, A TRAGEDY.</h2> - - -<p class="cindent"><em>OCTAVIA</em>: Already glorious Aurora<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> chases the wandering -stars from the sky. Titan,<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a> with radiant hair, rises and -returns a clear day to the world. Come, thou<a name="FNanchor_3_3" id="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a> who art burdened -by so many great misfortunes, utter once more thy sad lamentations. -Surpass the kingfishers<a name="FNanchor_4_4" id="FNanchor_4_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a> and the swift nightingales, for thy -fate is more grievous than theirs. O, mother, for whom I have -always mourned, the first cause of my misfortunes, (if any consciousness -exists in the shades) hear the sad lamentations of thy -daughter. Would that Clotho<a name="FNanchor_5_5" id="FNanchor_5_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a> had broken my threads with her -own aged hand before I saw thy features sprinkled with loathsome -blood.<a name="FNanchor_6_6" id="FNanchor_6_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a> O, day always fatal to me, from that time thou hast been -to me more hateful than the lower regions. I have endured commands, hostility, and -fierce glances from my cruel stepmother.<a name="FNanchor_7_7" id="FNanchor_7_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a> -That gloomy Erinys<a name="FNanchor_8_8" id="FNanchor_8_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_8_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a> has brought to my bridal room Stygian<a name="FNanchor_9_9" id="FNanchor_9_9"></a><a href="#Footnote_9_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a> -fires and has destroyed thee, wretched father,<a name="FNanchor_10_10" id="FNanchor_10_10"></a><a href="#Footnote_10_10" class="fnanchor">[10]</a> whom recently -the whole world beyond the Ocean obeyed, before whom retreated -the Britains,<a name="FNanchor_11_11" id="FNanchor_11_11"></a><a href="#Footnote_11_11" class="fnanchor">[11]</a> ignorant of our leaders and their own rights. -Woe to me, father, that I am overwhelmed by the treachery of thy -wife, and that thou liest prostrate, and that thy conquered home -and daughter obey the tyrant.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[9]</a></span></p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>NURSE</em>: If anyone is captivated, astonished, and stupefied -by the first gleam of deceptive royalty, he will see, overthrown -by a sudden attack of concealed Fortune, a recently powerful -home and the progeny of Claudius who ruled the world and -commanded the ocean which reluctantly received his fleets.<a name="FNanchor_12_12" id="FNanchor_12_12"></a><a href="#Footnote_12_12" class="fnanchor">[12]</a> -Behold, he who first placed the yoke upon the Britains<a name="FNanchor_13_13" id="FNanchor_13_13"></a><a href="#Footnote_13_13" class="fnanchor">[13]</a> and covered -unknown seas with such great fleets, and was safe among barbarous -tribes and savage seas, perished by his wife’s crime.<a name="FNanchor_14_14" id="FNanchor_14_14"></a><a href="#Footnote_14_14" class="fnanchor">[14]</a> -Soon she died by the hand of her own son whose brother met death -by poison. The unhappy sister and wife sorrows; restrained indignation -cannot conceal the grievous affliction of a cruel husband -whom she in her innocence always escapes, while the passionate -husband burns with a mutual hatred. In vain my fidelity and loyalty -to soothe her sorrowing mind. Pitiless grief frustrates my -plans; the mind’s generous ardor cannot be subdued but gathers -strength for evils. Alas, what an infamous crime our terror foresees. -O, may the gods avert it.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[11]</a></span></p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>OCTAVIA</em>: My fortunes are comparable to no evils,<a name="FNanchor_15_15" id="FNanchor_15_15"></a><a href="#Footnote_15_15" class="fnanchor">[15]</a> even if -I should recall thy sorrows, Electra.<a name="FNanchor_16_16" id="FNanchor_16_16"></a><a href="#Footnote_16_16" class="fnanchor">[16]</a> Thou wast permitted -to mourn thy father and to avenge the crime by the vengeance of -a brother whom thy loyalty rescued and thy fidelity protected.<a name="FNanchor_17_17" id="FNanchor_17_17"></a><a href="#Footnote_17_17" class="fnanchor">[17]</a> -Fear prevents me from lamenting my parents removed by a cruel -destiny, and forbids me to weep for the death of a brother who -had been my only hope and the brief solace for so many misfortunes. -Now I remain in my sorrow the shadow of a great name.<a name="FNanchor_18_18" id="FNanchor_18_18"></a><a href="#Footnote_18_18" class="fnanchor">[18]</a></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[12]</a></span></p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>NURSE</em>: Listen, I hear the voice of my sad foster daughter. -Does slow old age hesitate to <a id="ref_11"></a>go to the wedding chamber?</p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>OCTAVIA</em>: O, nurse, thou faithful witness of my grief, -see my tears.</p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>NURSE</em>: What day, wretched daughter, will free thee from -such sorrow?</p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>OCTAVIA</em>: The day which will send me to the Stygian -shades.</p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>NURSE</em>: I hope that these forebodings of thine may be -long in realization.</p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>OCTAVIA</em>: Not thy prayers but the fates rule my destiny.</p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>NURSE</em>: A pitying god will give better opportunities -to thee in thy sorrow. Soon thou wilt quietly win over thy husband -with caressing obedience.</p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>OCTAVIA</em>: I could conquer the savage lion and the fierce tiger -sooner than the merciless heart of a barbarous tyrant. He hates -men of noble descent, he scorns both gods and men, and not yet -does he meet the fate which his infamous mother by a dreadful -crime bestowed upon him. Although he may be ashamed to have gained -this unacknowledged empire by the kindness of his ill-omened -mother, yet she will bear this title of honor<a name="FNanchor_19_19" id="FNanchor_19_19"></a><a href="#Footnote_19_19" class="fnanchor">[19]</a> after death -for endless generations.</p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>NURSE</em>: Restrain the thoughts of thy raging mind; repress -those rashly spoken words.</p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[13]</a></span></p> -<p class="cindent"><em>OCTAVIA</em>: However much I may endure the inevitable, never -can my misfortunes be ended except by sorrowful death. With a -mother murdered and a father removed through crime, deprived of a -brother, overwhelmed by my woes and grief, distasteful to my husband, and -submissive to my slaves, I do not enjoy a pleasant life. -My heart is always trembling, not from fear of death—to die would -be a joy—but from dread of crime<a name="FNanchor_20_20" id="FNanchor_20_20"></a><a href="#Footnote_20_20" class="fnanchor">[20]</a> of which I hope I may -never be accused. For it is a punishment worse than death for me -in my misery to see those swollen features and to endure the -fierce glances of a tyrant<a name="FNanchor_21_21" id="FNanchor_21_21"></a><a href="#Footnote_21_21" class="fnanchor">[21]</a> and the kisses of an enemy, not even -whose courteous nod I cannot endure after the murder of my brother<a name="FNanchor_22_22" id="FNanchor_22_22"></a><a href="#Footnote_22_22" class="fnanchor">[22]</a> whose -empire the wicked assassin rules and over which he -rejoices. How often the sorrowful apparition of my brother appears -to my vision when quiet relaxes my limbs and sleep weighs -down my eyes wearied by weeping. Now he arms his feeble hands -with smoky torches and with hostile intent seeks the presence -of his own brother;<a name="FNanchor_23_23" id="FNanchor_23_23"></a><a href="#Footnote_23_23" class="fnanchor">[23]</a> now in fear and trembling he flees into -my apartment; his enemy follows and violently pierces us with his -sword as we cling together.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[14]</a></span></p> - -<p>Then tremulous dread drives away sleep and renews my wretched -sorrow and fear. Besides all these woes, there is the haughty -mistress<a name="FNanchor_24_24" id="FNanchor_24_24"></a><a href="#Footnote_24_24" class="fnanchor">[24]</a> resplendent with the spoils of our home—the mistress -whose son rewarded her by placing her upon that fatal bark.<a name="FNanchor_25_25" id="FNanchor_25_25"></a><a href="#Footnote_25_25" class="fnanchor">[25]</a> -More cruel than the waves of the sea, he destroyed<a name="FNanchor_26_26" id="FNanchor_26_26"></a><a href="#Footnote_26_26" class="fnanchor">[26]</a> her by -his sword after the failure of the shipwreck in the peaceful -waters. After such a great crime, how can I hope to escape? A victorious -and unfriendly woman<a name="FNanchor_27_27" id="FNanchor_27_27"></a><a href="#Footnote_27_27" class="fnanchor">[27]</a> threatens my marriage couch. -Burning with hatred toward me, she demands, as a reward for her -dishonor, the head of the lawful wife. Come forth from the shades -and aid thy appealing daughter, father,<a name="FNanchor_28_28" id="FNanchor_28_28"></a><a href="#Footnote_28_28" class="fnanchor">[28]</a> or open the Stygian depths -to the sundered earth whither I may be borne headlong.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[15]</a></span></p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>NURSE</em>: In vain, wretched daughter, dost thou invoke the -spirit of thy father who in the lower world has no thought for -his child. He could prefer the progeny of foreign blood<a name="FNanchor_29_29" id="FNanchor_29_29"></a><a href="#Footnote_29_29" class="fnanchor">[29]</a> to -his own son and he married in disgraceful nuptials the daughter -of his own brother.<a name="FNanchor_30_30" id="FNanchor_30_30"></a><a href="#Footnote_30_30" class="fnanchor">[30]</a> From thence is begun a long series of -crime, murder, treachery, desire for dominion, and thirst for royal -blood. The noble son-in-law<a name="FNanchor_31_31" id="FNanchor_31_31"></a><a href="#Footnote_31_31" class="fnanchor">[31]</a> was betrayed by his wife’s father -and perished in the bridal chamber lest he become powerful by -his union with thee. Alas, that such a crime should be! Silanus, given -as a reward to Agrippina who falsely accused him, has -taken his own life. Then there entered the conquered home the -hostile son-in-law<a name="FNanchor_32_32" id="FNanchor_32_32"></a><a href="#Footnote_32_32" class="fnanchor">[32]</a> and yet an own son, a youth of infamous -genius, capable of any crime, and influenced by the wily stepmother -who gave him to thee in marriage although thou wast timid -and reluctant.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[16]</a></span></p> - -<p>This fierce and victorious woman, carried away by her great success, has -dared to menace the sacred empire of the world. Who can -recall the many crimes, and infamous desires, and beguiling treachery -of a woman who seeks power through the steps of every -crime? Then sacred Loyalty fled with trembling step; cruel Erinys -with deadly tread entered the deserted halls, polluted with baneful -fires the sacred Penates, violated Justice, and broke every -law of Nature. The unnatural wife mixed poison for her husband; he -perished; then soon, she, too, fell by the hand of her own son. -Thou, too, art fallen, Britannicus, unhappy youth whom we forever -mourn, recently the star of the universe and the protector of a -mighty home; now, woe to me, thou art only light ashes and a sorrowful -shade. Even the cruel stepmother shed tears when I placed -thy body upon the funeral pyre and when the cruel flame played -round thy godlike limbs and features.<a name="FNanchor_33_33" id="FNanchor_33_33"></a><a href="#Footnote_33_33" class="fnanchor">[33]</a></p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>OCTAVIA</em>: Let it destroy me too lest this tyrant perish -by my hand.</p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>NURSE</em>: Nature has not given such strength to thee.</p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>OCTAVIA</em>: Grief, sadness, misery, anguish, and mourning will -give it.</p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>NURSE</em>: Thou hadst better conquer pitiless Nero by obedience.</p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[17]</a></span></p> -<p class="cindent"><em>OCTAVIA</em>: For what purpose? That he may restore to me -my brother whom he has murdered?</p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>NURSE</em>: That thou, thyself, mayst be safe; that thou by thy -progeny, mayst keep from ruin the former home of thy father.</p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>OCTAVIA</em>: The home of the emperor desires another offspring. -The dreadful death of my brother distracts me.</p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>NURSE</em>: Such great favor of the citizens toward him -should soothe thy mind.<a name="FNanchor_34_34" id="FNanchor_34_34"></a><a href="#Footnote_34_34" class="fnanchor">[34]</a></p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>OCTAVIA</em>: It alleviates my sorrows but does not free -me from them.</p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>NURSE</em>: The power of the people is great.</p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>OCTAVIA</em>: But the power of the ruler is greater.</p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>NURSE</em>: He will have regard for his wife.</p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>OCTAVIA</em>: His mistress forbids this.<a name="FNanchor_35_35" id="FNanchor_35_35"></a><a href="#Footnote_35_35" class="fnanchor">[35]</a></p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>NURSE</em>: But as everyone knows, she is hated by all.</p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>OCTAVIA</em>: But dear to my husband.</p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>NURSE</em>: Not yet his wife, however.</p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>OCTAVIA</em>: Soon she will be a wife and at the same time -a mother.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[18]</a></span></p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>NURSE</em>: Youthful ardor rages at first but easily languishes -just as the warmth of a little flame; not long does it -continue in disgraceful love, but unceasing love for a chaste wife -remains. The first slave<a name="FNanchor_36_36" id="FNanchor_36_36"></a><a href="#Footnote_36_36" class="fnanchor">[36]</a> who dared to dishonor thy couch long -swayed the emperor’s mind, but now she fears—</p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>OCTAVIA</em>: Undoubtedly someone preferred to herself.</p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>NURSE</em>: Humble, submissive, and confessing her fault, she -heaps up votive offerings by which she shows her own fear. Cupid, the -fickle god of love, will abandon her, and although beautiful in -form and haughty in her resources she will enjoy but brief happiness. -Juno, the queen of the gods, endured sorrows similar to thine -when Jupiter, the lord of the heavens and father of the gods, changed -himself into every form; now he took the wings of the swan;<a name="FNanchor_37_37" id="FNanchor_37_37"></a><a href="#Footnote_37_37" class="fnanchor">[37]</a> now, the -horns of the Sidonian bull;<a name="FNanchor_38_38" id="FNanchor_38_38"></a><a href="#Footnote_38_38" class="fnanchor">[38]</a><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[19]</a></span> -now he flowed in golden showers.<a name="FNanchor_39_39" id="FNanchor_39_39"></a><a href="#Footnote_39_39" class="fnanchor">[39]</a> The stars of Leda shine in -the sky; Bacchus<a name="FNanchor_40_40" id="FNanchor_40_40"></a><a href="#Footnote_40_40" class="fnanchor">[40]</a> resides on paternal Olympus; the god Alcides<a name="FNanchor_41_41" id="FNanchor_41_41"></a><a href="#Footnote_41_41" class="fnanchor">[41]</a> -is the husband of Hebe,<a name="FNanchor_42_42" id="FNanchor_42_42"></a><a href="#Footnote_42_42" class="fnanchor">[42]</a> nor fears the wrath of Juno although -she has been his lifelong enemy. Yet the wise compliance and suppressed -rage of the proud wife conquered. Great Juno alone now -retains the Thunderer securely on the heavenly couch, nor allured -by mortal beauty does Jupiter leave the lofty halls. Thou, too, a -second Juno on earth, sister<a name="FNanchor_43_43" id="FNanchor_43_43"></a><a href="#Footnote_43_43" class="fnanchor">[43]</a> and wife of Augustus, mayst thus -vanquish thy heavy sorrows.</p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>OCTAVIA</em>: The cruel seas will be united with the stars; fire -with water; the heavens with the gloomy under world; genial -light with darkness; day with dewy night, before my spirit, always -mindful of my murdered brother, will be united with the abandoned -soul of my infamous husband.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[20]</a></span></p> - -<p>May the ruler of the heaven dwellers who often shakes the world -with his deadly thunderbolts and terrifies our mind with sacred -lightning,—may he prepare to overwhelm the head of the impious -chief with flames.<a name="FNanchor_44_44" id="FNanchor_44_44"></a><a href="#Footnote_44_44" class="fnanchor">[44]</a> We have seen in the sky, where Bootes<a name="FNanchor_45_45" id="FNanchor_45_45"></a><a href="#Footnote_45_45" class="fnanchor">[45]</a> -stiff with cold slowly draws his wagons in the eternal change of -night, the glowing splendor of the comet expand its baneful light.<a name="FNanchor_46_46" id="FNanchor_46_46"></a><a href="#Footnote_46_46" class="fnanchor">[46]</a> -Behold, even the very atmosphere is contaminated by the ominous -breath of the savage chief;<a name="FNanchor_47_47" id="FNanchor_47_47"></a><a href="#Footnote_47_47" class="fnanchor">[47]</a> the stars foretell new calamities -to the nations which the impious leader rules.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[21]</a></span></p> - -<p>When long ago Tellus, furious at Jove, was a mother,<a name="FNanchor_48_48" id="FNanchor_48_48"></a><a href="#Footnote_48_48" class="fnanchor">[48]</a> she did not -produce a monster as fierce as this infamous Nero. This curse, more -dreadful than Typhon, this enemy of gods and man, has driven the -celestial deities from their temples and the citizens from their -fatherland; he has deprived my brother of life; he has shed the -blood of his own mother; yet he sees the light, he enjoys life, and -continues to draw his deadly breath.<a name="FNanchor_49_49" id="FNanchor_49_49"></a><a href="#Footnote_49_49" class="fnanchor">[49]</a> Alas, Jupiter, thou noble -father of the world, why dost thou vainly hurl with thine own royal -hand so many times at random? Why dost thou hesitate to act against -such a baneful monster? May Nero, the pretender, the true descendant -of Domitius<a name="FNanchor_50_50" id="FNanchor_50_50"></a><a href="#Footnote_50_50" class="fnanchor">[50]</a> pay the penalty for his crimes—Nero, the -tyrant of the world which he burdens with a disgraceful yoke—Nero, -who defiles the very name of Augustus with his blemished -character.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[22]</a></span></p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>NURSE</em>: I acknowledge that he is unworthy of thee but -submit to fate and fortune, daughter, and do not, I implore thee, -arouse the wrath of thy angry husband. Perhaps some avenging god -will appear and a joyful day will dawn.</p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>OCTAVIA</em>: For a long time our home has been beset with -the heavy wrath of the gods. Pitiless Venus first exacted punishment -for the madness of my wretched mother who was united in incestuous -marriage, regardless of me, of her husband, and forgetful -of the laws.<a name="FNanchor_51_51" id="FNanchor_51_51"></a><a href="#Footnote_51_51" class="fnanchor">[51]</a> With her hair flowing and entwined with serpents, that -avenging Erinys came to the fatal marriage couch and quenched -in blood the torches snatched from the marriage chamber. Anger -aroused the heart of the fierce leader to disgraceful murder. -Our unhappy mother perished by the sword, and her death continually -saddens me. She has led forth to death her own husband and son; she -has betrayed and destroyed our home.</p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>NURSE</em>: Cease renewing filial sorrows by thy weeping. -Do not disturb the spirit of thy mother who has paid heavy penalties -for her own madness.</p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>CHORUS</em>: What rumor do we now hear? Falsely believed and -repeated in vain so many times, may it lose credence; may the new -wife not enter the bridal apartments; may the former wife, the -child of Claudius, retain her own Penates; may she give birth to -pledges of love in which a peaceful universe may rejoice and Rome -preserve an eternal glory.</p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[23]</a></span></p> -<p>Great Juno, chosen by lot, occupies the bridal apartment of her -brother. Why is the wife and sister of Augustus driven from her -ancestral halls? What does sacred pity avail her? What, a divine -father? What, chastity and virtuous modesty? We, too, are forgetful -of ourselves after the death of a leader whose son we betrayed -since his life caused fear.<a name="FNanchor_52_52" id="FNanchor_52_52"></a><a href="#Footnote_52_52" class="fnanchor">[52]</a> Once there was genuine Roman -valor of the ancestors and the true race and blood of Mars in -these men. They drove the haughty kings from Rome, and well did -they avenge thy wrongs, Lucretia, thou, dishonored by the cruel tyrant -and killed by thy own wretched hand.<a name="FNanchor_53_53" id="FNanchor_53_53"></a><a href="#Footnote_53_53" class="fnanchor">[53]</a> Tullia, the wife of -<a id="ref_23">Tarquinius</a>, paid the penalty for her dreadful crimes.—Tullia who -wickedly drove the cruel chariot over the body of her murdered -father and refused a funeral pyre to the mangled old man.<a name="FNanchor_54_54" id="FNanchor_54_54"></a><a href="#Footnote_54_54" class="fnanchor">[54]</a></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[24]</a></span></p> - -<p>This generation has seen the infamous crime of a son who sent into -the Tuscan seas his mother enticed into the fatal boat by treachery.<a name="FNanchor_55_55" id="FNanchor_55_55"></a><a href="#Footnote_55_55" class="fnanchor">[55]</a> -The sailors are ordered to leave the peaceful port; the -waves resound with the measured beat of the oars. The ship is -borne along upon the deep seas; sinking slowly, it suddenly divides -and sucks in the waters. A great clamor mingled with women’s -wailing is raised to the stars; a dreadful death threatens them; each -one seeks for himself escape from death; some cling to the -planks of the shattered stern; their naked bodies cleave the waves; others -swim for the shore; the fates plunge many to the depths of -the sea. Augusta rends her clothing; she tears her hair and weeps. -After she has given up hope of escape, burning with wrath and overcome -by her misfortune, she exclaims, “Dost thou reward me, thus, for -my great services, my son? I confess that I am worthy of this -ship since I gave birth to thee, and in my madness gave thee life, dominion, and -the royal name of Caesar.</p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[25]</a></span></p> -<p>“Lift thy face from the lower world, husband, and feast upon my -punishment. The cause of thy death, Claudius, and the instigator -of thy son’s funeral pyre, I shall be borne to Tartarus, deservedly -unburied and overwhelmed by the savage waters of the sea.” As -she spoke, the waves beat her face, she rises again from the waters; in -terror, she beats the billows with her palms but finally exhausted -she yields to the struggle. Loyalty still remained in silent -hearts though scorned even in the hour of bitter death. Many hasten -to aid their mistress whose strength is broken by the force of -the sea. With shouts they encourage her as she slowly but persistently -waves her arms. Eagerly they lift her into their boat. What -did it profit thee to escape the waters of the cruel sea? Thou art -destined to die by the sword of thy son whose infamous crime posterity will -scarcely believe and to which succeeding generations -will always be slow to give credence. The unnatural son is furious -at his mother’s escape, he grieves that she is saved from the -sea, and he commits a greater crime by hastening her death. The -servant sent to commit the murder lays open the breast of the -mother with his sword. The unhappy woman, while dying, commands the -slave to bury the fierce sword in her womb. “Here, here is the -place. The sword must pierce the womb which bore such a monster.” -Then, passionately weeping, she breathed her last.</p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>SENECA</em>: O, thou powerful Fortune with beguiling but -treacherous countenance! Why didst thou elevate me when I was -content with my lot? Didst thou hope that, received into a lofty -citadel, I might see afar so many causes for anxiety and therefore -fall most heavily?<a name="FNanchor_56_56" id="FNanchor_56_56"></a><a href="#Footnote_56_56" class="fnanchor">[56]</a></p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[27]</a></span></p> -<p>Rather would I, removed far away from envious misfortunes, lie -concealed among the rocks of the Corsican sea where my mind had -freedom and leisure to pursue its studies.<a name="FNanchor_57_57" id="FNanchor_57_57"></a><a href="#Footnote_57_57" class="fnanchor">[57]</a> O how delightful -it was to watch the sky which is as great as anything Mother -Nature, the builder of the universe, has produced, to gaze upon the -alternating changes of the sun and moon surrounded by wandering -stars, the far shining glory of the lofty firmament. If this -world wanes, if, although so great, it returns again to gloomy chaos, be -thou present to the world, that last day which overwhelmed the -wicked race of the world with ruin so that rising again, it produced -a new and better generation. Such a people<a name="FNanchor_58_58" id="FNanchor_58_58"></a><a href="#Footnote_58_58" class="fnanchor">[58]</a> Jupiter -brought forth when Saturn held the dominion of the universe.<a name="FNanchor_59_59" id="FNanchor_59_59"></a><a href="#Footnote_59_59" class="fnanchor">[59]</a></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[28]</a></span></p> - -<p>The maiden Justice, the goddess of divine majesty, sent with sacred -Piety from heaven, mercifully ruled the human race. The nations had -not known wars, nor the fierce blasts of the trumpets, nor arms; they -did not surround their cities with walls; everything was -held in common. Mother Earth herself, blessed and happy in her -devout foster sons, voluntarily opened her fruitful bosom. But a -second race less skilled and gentle appeared; then a third, practised -in new arts but not wicked yet.<a name="FNanchor_60_60" id="FNanchor_60_60"></a><a href="#Footnote_60_60" class="fnanchor">[60]</a> Soon this age was restless. -It dared to follow the swift wild beasts in their course, to -draw out with heavy net the fish concealed in the depths, to catch -the birds in lime twig snares, to hold a trap-X-X-X,<a name="FNanchor_61_61" id="FNanchor_61_61"></a><a href="#Footnote_61_61" class="fnanchor">[61]</a> make the -fierce bulls submissive to the yoke, to plow the earth before -untouched by a plowshare,—the land which concealed its fruits -far within its sacred bosom. But a worse age pierced the vitals -of its own parent.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[29]</a></span></p> - -<p>It dug up heavy iron and gold and soon armed its cruel hands. The -land was divided; kingdoms were established; new cities were built; it -defended its own walls or, intent upon pillage, sought the property -of a stranger. Astraea, now the great glory of the stars, fled -from the earth and the cruel customs of men defiled with bloody -carnage.<a name="FNanchor_62_62" id="FNanchor_62_62"></a><a href="#Footnote_62_62" class="fnanchor">[62]</a> Desire for war and thirst for gold increased throughout -the entire world. The greatest misfortunes had their origin -in luxury, that beguiling evil, which gained strength from time -and serious error. Vices acquired during so many long ages abound -in us. We are oppressed by an infamous age in which crime rules, raging -impiety grows furious, and passionate lust and disgraceful -love conquer. With avaricious hands, victorious Luxury grasps the -immense resources of the world to destroy them. But, lo, with frenzied -step and fierce glance Nero enters.<a name="FNanchor_63_63" id="FNanchor_63_63"></a><a href="#Footnote_63_63" class="fnanchor">[63]</a> I fear what he brings.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[30]</a></span></p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>NERO</em>: Fulfil my commands! Send a man who can bring back -to me the severed heads of Plautus and Sulla.<a name="FNanchor_64_64" id="FNanchor_64_64"></a><a href="#Footnote_64_64" class="fnanchor">[64]</a></p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>PREFECT</em>: I shall not delay your commands. I will seek -the camp immediately.</p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>SENECA</em>: It is best to decide nothing rashly against -relatives.</p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>NERO</em>: It is easy for him to be just whose heart is free -from fear.</p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>SENECA</em>: Clemency is a great cure for fear.</p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>NERO</em>: To destroy an enemy is the greatest virtue of a -leader.</p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>SENECA</em>: It is a greater virtue to preserve the citizens -for the father of the fatherland.<a name="FNanchor_65_65" id="FNanchor_65_65"></a><a href="#Footnote_65_65" class="fnanchor">[65]</a></p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>NERO</em>: It is right for a merciful old man to admonish -youth.</p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>SENECA</em>: Glowing young manhood must be guided more.</p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>NERO</em>: I think there is enough advice for this period -of life.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[31]</a></span></p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>SENECA</em>: May the gods always sanction thy policy.</p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>NERO</em>: I should be foolish to fear the gods for what I -myself have done.</p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>SENECA</em>: Thou shouldst fear them all the more since -they have given so much power to thee.</p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>NERO</em>: Fortune bestows all upon me.</p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>SENECA</em>: Trust not too much to her compliance. The goddess -is fickle.</p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>NERO</em>: He is incompetent who does not know what he may -do.</p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>SENECA</em>: It is commendable for a ruler to do what is -right, not what he may.</p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>NERO</em>: The crowd tramples upon the humble.</p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>SENECA</em>: But it crushes the object of its hatred.</p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>NERO</em>: The sword guards the emperor.</p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>SENECA</em>: But loyalty better.</p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>NERO</em>: It is imperative that they fear—</p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>SENECA</em>: Compulsion is dangerous.</p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>NERO</em>: And that they obey my commands.</p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>SENECA</em>: Grant privileges.</p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>NERO</em>: I will be master.</p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>SENECA</em>: This procedure may breed conspiracies.</p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>NERO</em>: That the sword may destroy this object of contempt?</p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>SENECA</em>: May this crime never happen!</p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>NERO</em>: Shall I suffer my life, besides, to be sought so -that, unavenged and despised, I may suddenly be overwhelmed. Even -far distant exile did not subdue Plautus or Sulla whose persistent -wrath arms the servants of crime for my death, since there -exists in our city great partiality for these absent men and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[32]</a></span> -many foster the hopes of the exiles. May all my possible enemies -be put to the sword! May my hated wife perish and follow her beloved -brother! May whatever is noble cease to be!</p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>SENECA</em>: It is glorious for a man to be eminent among -illustrious men, to plan for the fatherland, to spare affliction, -to refrain from fierce carnage, to control wrath, to give quiet to -the world and peace to his own generation. This is the greatest -virtue; by this path Heaven is gained. Augustus, the first father -of the fatherland, thus attained the stars and is worshiped as a -god in the temples.<a name="FNanchor_66_66" id="FNanchor_66_66"></a><a href="#Footnote_66_66" class="fnanchor">[66]</a> Yet Fortune long tossed him about on land -and sea, through all the vicissitudes of war until he crushed the -enemy of his father. He bequeathed to thee his own divinity without -bloodshed; he held the reins of empire with skillful hand; he -made submissive to thy will the land and sea. Bitter envy disappears -conquered by blessed harmony. The applause of the equestrian -order and of the senate is aroused. Thou, the author of peace and -the arbiter of the human race, chosen by the plebeians’ entreaties -and the judgment of the senate,<a name="FNanchor_67_67" id="FNanchor_67_67"></a><a href="#Footnote_67_67" class="fnanchor">[67]</a> now by a sacred resemblance art -ruling the world as father of the fatherland.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[33]</a></span></p> - -<p>Rome implores thee to guard this appellation and entrusts to thee -her own citizens.</p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>NERO</em>: It is the gift of the gods since Rome herself -and the senate are devoted to me and since fear of me has wrested -prayers and submissive words from reluctant citizens. For a ruler -to save men hostile to him and to the fatherland and proud of -their royal race is madness, when with a word he can command his -enemies to die. Brutus armed his bands to kill a leader from whom -he had received prosperity.<a name="FNanchor_68_68" id="FNanchor_68_68"></a><a href="#Footnote_68_68" class="fnanchor">[68]</a> Unconquerable in battle, father of -nations and equal to Jove, Caesar crowned with honors fell by the -wicked crime of the citizens. How many murders of her own citizens -has Rome seen? How many noble men have been killed by divine Augustus -who deserved Heaven by his sacred virtue? How many youths -and old men has he scattered over the world and destined to bitter -death when from fear of death they fled from their own homes -and the sword of the triumvirate?<a name="FNanchor_69_69" id="FNanchor_69_69"></a><a href="#Footnote_69_69" class="fnanchor">[69]</a> Sorrowing fathers saw their -sons’ heads exposed on the Rostra, but they could neither weep nor -groan for their own children, even when the forum was defiled by -dreadful corruption and the thick blood dripped over the putrid -countenances. There was no end to bloodshed and murder.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[34]</a></span></p> - -<p>Gloomy Philippi long frightened the birds and savage wild beasts. -The Sicilian Sea engulfed the fleets and men often abandoning -their fellow countrymen, and the world was shaken by the mighty -power of the triumvirate. Conquered, with his ships prepared for -flight, and soon to die, Antony sought the Nile.<a name="FNanchor_70_70" id="FNanchor_70_70"></a><a href="#Footnote_70_70" class="fnanchor">[70]</a> The Egyptian -Cleopatra a second time drained the blood of a Roman leader.<a name="FNanchor_71_71" id="FNanchor_71_71"></a><a href="#Footnote_71_71" class="fnanchor">[71]</a> -Now he has reached the lower world. Yonder is buried civil war -which long and wickedly has been carried on. Finally the wearied -victor sheathed his sword dulled by fierce wounds, and fear held -the empire. By the arms and fidelity of the soldiery he was safe; he -was pronounced a god by the noble piety of the son, deified after -death, and worshipped in the temples. Stars will be destined for -me, too, if I shall be the first to attack with a cruel sword whatever -is hostile to me and shall establish a home for a noble offspring.</p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>SENECA</em>: The glory of the Claudian house, the daughter of -a god, and chosen like Juno for the bridal couch of a brother, will -fill thy home with divine progeny.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[35]</a></span></p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>NERO</em>: The vile mother withheld confidence from her daughter’s -husband, and never has the soul of Octavia been united with -mine.<a name="FNanchor_72_72" id="FNanchor_72_72"></a><a href="#Footnote_72_72" class="fnanchor">[72]</a></p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>SENECA</em>: Love is scarcely intelligible in youthful years; -overcome with shame it conceals its passion.</p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>NERO</em>: I, too, long made this same mistake, but the unmistakable -signs of her lonely heart and features revealed her hatred -for me. Yet burning indignation has determined to avenge this. -I have found a wife worthy of my couch—a woman of noble family -and magnificent bearing.<a name="FNanchor_73_73" id="FNanchor_73_73"></a><a href="#Footnote_73_73" class="fnanchor">[73]</a> She is more beautiful than Venus, or -the wife of Jove, or the stately goddess of war.</p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>SENECA</em>: Let the goodness, fidelity, modesty, and character -of the wife please the husband. The good alone continue to be second -to none in mind and spirit. The days, one by one, rob the flower -of its beauty.<a name="FNanchor_74_74" id="FNanchor_74_74"></a><a href="#Footnote_74_74" class="fnanchor">[74]</a></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[36]</a></span></p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>NERO</em>: The gods have bestowed every gift upon one woman, -and the fates have decreed her for me.</p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>SENECA</em>: Love will abandon thee. Do not trust rashly.</p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>NERO</em>: Can Jove himself keep away this tyrant of the heavens who -penetrates the savage waves of Neptune and the kingdoms of Pluto -and draws the celestial deities from their home above?</p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>SENECA</em>: The mind of man assumes that swift Love is a -pitiless god. It arms his divine hands with bow and arrow; it gives -him a cruel torch and believes him to be the son of Venus and -Vulcan. Love is the powerful force of the mind and the caressing -warmth of the spirit. It is fostered in youth and nourished in -extravagance and idleness, among the joyful blessings of Fortune. -If thou shalt cease to nourish and to cherish this Love, it falls -in a short time and destroys its own strength.</p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>NERO</em>: I consider Love to be the greatest reason for -existence; through it, passions spring up. Love is harmless; the human -race is always refreshed by pleasing love which soothes the -fierce wild beasts. May Cupid bring to me nuptial torches, and may -he join Poppaea to me in wedlock.</p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>SENECA</em>: The grief of the people can hardly endure these -nuptials, nor can sacred loyalty consent.<a name="FNanchor_75_75" id="FNanchor_75_75"></a><a href="#Footnote_75_75" class="fnanchor">[75]</a></p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>NERO</em>: Shall I alone be forbidden what is permitted to all?</p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>SENECA</em>: The people always exact greater deeds from the -emperor.<a name="FNanchor_76_76" id="FNanchor_76_76"></a><a href="#Footnote_76_76" class="fnanchor">[76]</a></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[37]</a></span></p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>NERO</em>: It pleases me to test whether good will rashly -harbored in their minds dies overpowered by my strength.</p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>SENECA</em>: Thou hadst better calmly gratify thy subjects.</p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>NERO</em>: It is bad government when the common people rule -the leader.</p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>SENECA</em>: When the people can obtain no redress, they justly -mourn.</p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>NERO</em>: It is right to extort by force what entreaties can -not accomplish?</p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>SENECA</em>: It is difficult to refuse.</p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>NERO</em>: It is a crime for an emperor to be forced.</p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>SENECA</em>: Let him yield.</p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>NERO</em>: Rumor will report him conquered.</p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>SENECA</em>: Rumor is light and airy.</p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>NERO</em>: Although that may be, it brands many people.</p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>SENECA</em>: It fears men in lofty positions.</p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>NERO</em>: Yet not less does it censure.</p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>SENECA</em>: Rumor can easily be suppressed. Let the favors -of divine Claudius, and the youth, fidelity, and modesty of Octavia -appease thee.</p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>NERO</em>: Yet cease to urge me. Already thou hast threatened -me too much. I have power to do even what SENECA condemns. Too -long have I delayed my solemn vows to Poppaea since she is soon -to become the mother of my child. Why do I not appoint tomorrow for -our nuptials?</p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>AGRIPPINA</em>: I have come from the lower world to this -wicked bridal, carrying the Stygian torch in my blood-stained hand. -Poppaea as a bride veils herself with these fires of passion which<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[38]</a></span> -my vengeance and anguish will turn to bitter destruction. Even -among the shades, the memory of my unnatural murder haunts me, and -I am oppressed by my unavenged spirit. Deservedly I recall the -deadly reward of the ship, the recompense for my ambition, and the -night when I deplored my shipwreck. I had vowed to lament the -violent death of my companions and my son’s cruel crime—he gave -me no opportunity to weep but repeated his wicked crime. Saved -from a watery grave, slain by the sword, defiled by wounds, among -my own household gods, I breathed my last, nor did I quench with my -blood my son’s hatred. The fierce tyrant rages at the very name -of mother. He desires to forget benefits; he destroys his mother’s -statues and titles of honor throughout the entire empire which -her ill-fated love gave to him to control for her punishment. My -murdered husband disturbs and threatens me even after my death, and -with flames seeks my hated features. He approaches and menaces me; -he imputes to me his son’s death and cenotaph; he demands the -assassin’s punishment. Cease thy entreaties. Expiation will soon -be made. Avenging Erinys prepare for the impious tyrant the lash, -disgraceful flight, a worthy death, and punishments which surpass the -thirst of Tantalus,<a name="FNanchor_77_77" id="FNanchor_77_77"></a><a href="#Footnote_77_77" class="fnanchor">[77]</a><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[39]</a></span> -the dreadful labor of Sisyphus,<a name="FNanchor_78_78" id="FNanchor_78_78"></a><a href="#Footnote_78_78" class="fnanchor">[78]</a> the bird of Tityos,<a name="FNanchor_79_79" id="FNanchor_79_79"></a><a href="#Footnote_79_79" class="fnanchor">[79]</a> and the -wheel that whirls the body of Ixion.<a name="FNanchor_80_80" id="FNanchor_80_80"></a><a href="#Footnote_80_80" class="fnanchor">[80]</a> Although the haughty tyrant -may fill the hall with marble statues and cover it with gold,<a name="FNanchor_81_81" id="FNanchor_81_81"></a><a href="#Footnote_81_81" class="fnanchor">[81]</a> -although an exhausted world may send riches, although the -suppliant Parthians may bow before his blood-stained hands,<a name="FNanchor_82_82" id="FNanchor_82_82"></a><a href="#Footnote_82_82" class="fnanchor">[82]</a> -although empires may bestow their treasures, yet the day will come -when abandoned, ruined, and deprived of everything, he will turn his -wicked thoughts to his own crimes and surrender his life to his -enemies.<a name="FNanchor_83_83" id="FNanchor_83_83"></a><a href="#Footnote_83_83" class="fnanchor">[83]</a></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[40]</a></span></p> - -<p>Alas, how have my vows resulted? Whither have fury and the fates -led thee, my son, that the wrath of thy mother who perished by thy -crime may yield to such great misfortunes? Would that the savage -wild beasts had torn my vitals before I brought thee, a little -child, into the world and nourished thee. Would that guiltless -and without consciousness, my son, thou hadst perished. Would that -with me thou hadst seen the peaceful home of the lower world, thy -father, and thy ancestors, men of great renown. Now disgrace and -unending grief await them from thee, wicked son, and from me who -gave birth to such a monster. Why do I hesitate to hide my face -in Tartarus, stepmother, wife and parent who have brought misfortune -to all my kinsfolk and friends?</p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>OCTAVIA</em>: Cease thy weeping on such a joyful holiday<a name="FNanchor_84_84" id="FNanchor_84_84"></a><a href="#Footnote_84_84" class="fnanchor">[84]</a> -of the city lest thy great love for me excite the fierce wrath of -the emperor and be a source of misfortune to thee. This is not -the first wound my heart has known. I have felt deeper sorrows. -Today will end my anguish by death. I shall not be forced to see -the face of my cruel husband nor to enter the hated bridal chamber -of a slave. Sister of Augustus I shall be but not his wife. -Let only bitter punishment and fear of death be far from me. When -thou dost remember the crimes of this wicked man, canst thou in -thy misery hope for mercy? Long saved for these nuptials, an unfortunate -victim at last thou wilt fall. But why dost thou with tear-stained -cheeks look so often in terror at thy father’s palace? -Hasten to the city walls. Leave the blood-stained hall of the -chief.</p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[41]</a></span></p> -<p class="cindent"><em>CHORUS</em>: See, a day, long foretold by any rumor, dawns. -Claudia is forced to leave dread Nero’s bridal room which now victorious -Poppaea occupies. Our loyalty and indignation are oppressed -by foreboding fear. Where now is the power of the Roman people -which often destroyed noble leaders, which once gave laws to an invincible -fatherland and fasces to worthy citizens, which commanded -war and peace, which conquered fierce tribes and imprisoned royal -captives? Behold the images of Poppaea and Nero gleam every where -before our sight.<a name="FNanchor_85_85" id="FNanchor_85_85"></a><a href="#Footnote_85_85" class="fnanchor">[85]</a> May the angry people dash to the ground the -exquisitely carved statues of the mistress, and may it drag her -from the royal couch.<a name="FNanchor_86_86" id="FNanchor_86_86"></a><a href="#Footnote_86_86" class="fnanchor">[86]</a> May it soon seek the palace of the emperor -with hostile flames and fierce weapons.</p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>NURSE OF POPPAEA</em>: Where art thou going from thy husband’s -bridal chamber, trembling daughter? Why in terror dost thou -seek concealment? Why dost thou weep? Surely the day dawns for -which we have sought by prayers and vows. Thou art married to -Caesar whom thy beauty captivated. Although thou art despised by -Seneca,<a name="FNanchor_87_87" id="FNanchor_87_87"></a><a href="#Footnote_87_87" class="fnanchor">[87]</a> Venus, the mother of Love and greatest of all divinities, -has charmed the emperor and given him over to thee.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[42]</a></span></p> - -<p>Thou hast sat in lofty halls; thou hast rested upon royal couches. -The astonished senate saw thee with thy head adorned with the red -bridal veil, offering incense to the gods and sprinkling the sacred -altars with fragrant wine.<a name="FNanchor_88_88" id="FNanchor_88_88"></a><a href="#Footnote_88_88" class="fnanchor">[88]</a> Close by thy side, honored among -the many happy omens of the citizens, showing joy in his haughty -bearing, the chief advanced. Thus did Peleus receive his wife -Thetis from the foaming waves. They say the heaven dwellers and -every divinity of the sea united to celebrate their nuptials.<a name="FNanchor_89_89" id="FNanchor_89_89"></a><a href="#Footnote_89_89" class="fnanchor">[89]</a> -What has changed thee so suddenly? Tell me why thou dost grow -pale and weep?</p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>POPPAEA</em>: O, nurse, confused by the sad and fearful sights -of the past night, disturbed in mind, and deprived of feeling, I am -borne along. When joyful day gave place to gloomy stars and heaven -to night, clasped in the embrace of Nero, I could not sleep nor -rest for a long time. For a sad throng seemed to celebrate my -nuptials.<a name="FNanchor_90_90" id="FNanchor_90_90"></a><a href="#Footnote_90_90" class="fnanchor">[90]</a> Roman matrons with flowing hair made doleful lamentations. -Often amid the terrible blasts of trumpets, my husband’s -cruel mother shook the blood-stained torch. When resistless fear -compelled me to follow her, the sundered earth opened before me in -a vast chasm.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[43]</a></span></p> - -<p>Borne headlong, I see the marriage couches and I marvel at mine -in which, wearied, I reclined. I see my former husband and son coming -with a crowd of attendants. Crispinus<a name="FNanchor_91_91" id="FNanchor_91_91"></a><a href="#Footnote_91_91" class="fnanchor">[91]</a> hastens to embrace -and kiss me. Just as he entered my dwelling, trembling Nero buried -the savage sword in his throat. Then overwhelming terror seized -me. Horrible fear shakes my body and brings anguish to my heart. -Anxiety has kept me speechless, but now thy faithful loyalty induces -me to speak. Alas, why do these departed spirits come from the -lower world to threaten me? Why have I witnessed the death of my -husband?</p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>NURSE</em>: Whatever the restless activity of the mind considers, divine -consciousness silently and swiftly recalls in sleep.<a name="FNanchor_92_92" id="FNanchor_92_92"></a><a href="#Footnote_92_92" class="fnanchor">[92]</a> -Dost thou wonder that, clasped in the embrace of a new husband, thou -hast dreamed of thy former one, of the bridal room, and nuptial -couch? But on such a happy day, does it disturb thee that matrons -with flowing hair beat their breasts? They mourn the divorce of -Octavia among the sacred Penates of her brother and in the home of -her own ancestors. That torch which thou didst follow, borne aloft -by the hand of Augusta, predicts to thee a royal and envied name. -It foretells that the temples of the lower world will be thy eternal -couches.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[44]</a></span></p> - -<p>It does not predict war that thy chief buried the sword in his -throat, but it meant that he sheathed his sword in peace. Collect -thy thoughts, accept thy good fortune, I implore thee, and casting -aside all fear return to thy bridal apartments.</p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>POPPAEA</em>: I have determined to seek the shrines and sacred -altars, to propitiate the gods with sacrifices that terror and -astonishment may return upon my enemies. Offer up vows for me and -honor the god with devout prayers that the present state of affair -may continue.</p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>CHORUS</em>: If gossiping rumor which now rules and again -abandons the stars, should tell of the true stratagems of Jove and -his pleasing loves—Jove who disguised as a swan had slept upon -the breast of Leda, and who, as a fierce bull, had carried the stolen -Europa through the waves—he will seek thy embraces, Poppaea, whom -he prefers to Leda and to Danae to whom he once descended in a -golden shower. Although Sparta may boast of Helen’s beauty and -Paris, the shepherd of Phrygia, may tell of his reward, Poppaea is -more beautiful than the Spartan Helen who caused such fierce wars -and overthrew the kingdom of Priam. But who rushes in with astonished -step, and what news does he bring with gasping breath?</p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>MESSENGER</em>: May the soldiers who guard the palace of the -emperor defend the hall which the furious people threaten. Behold, -the anxious cohorts bear aid to the city. The anger of the people -rashly aroused does not yield to fear but gathers strength and -force.</p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>CHORUS</em>: What madness and terror distract his mind?</p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>MESSENGER</em>: The crowds of people are strongly attached -to Octavia, and frenzied by her great wrongs and persecutions they<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[45]</a></span> -surge in turmoil everywhere.<a name="FNanchor_93_93" id="FNanchor_93_93"></a><a href="#Footnote_93_93" class="fnanchor">[93]</a></p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>CHORUS</em>: Tell what they have dared to do and by what counsel?</p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>MESSENGER</em>: The gods prepare to return to Claudia her -brother’s penates and couch, the empire which was her dowry.</p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>CHORUS</em>: Whom does Poppaea now hold in allegiance?</p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>MESSENGER</em>: This rash favor inflames the mind of the people -and drives them headlong into raging madness. All the costly -marble and shining bronze images of Poppaea are broken and lie -prostrate overthrown by their savage swords. They drag her dismembered -statues along and after trampling them in the filthy mire, finally -destroy them entirely. My fears conceal their plans and -fierce deeds. They prepare to burn the palace of the emperor unless -he surrenders the new wife to their wrath and submissively -returns to Claudia her own penates. I shall not delay to carry -out the commands of the prefect, that Nero may know the movements -of his citizens.</p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[46]</a></span></p> -<p class="cindent"><em>CHORUS</em>: Cupid carries invincible weapons with which thou -dost vainly excite fierce wars. He will overwhelm thee with the -fires of passion with which he has often destroyed thunderbolts -and has drawn captive Jove from the sky. Thou wilt pay the penalty -with thy life. Glowing with passion, he is not patient nor -easily controlled. He commanded fierce Achilles to play the lyre; he -shattered the Greeks and Menelaus; he overturned the kingdom of -Priam; he destroyed royal cities. Now the mind fears what the relentless -power of the pitiless god brings.</p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>NERO</em>: O, too lenient is the band of my soldiers and my -anger after such a great wrong, since civilian blood has not quenched -the torches burning for us and since Rome which produced -such a monster does not reek with the blood of the people. The -wicked crime of the common people deserves more severe punishment. -But let that woman who has stirred up rebellion among the citizens -and whom I have always suspected though she was wife and sister, too—let -her die by my wrath and let her extinguish my anger -in her own blood. Let the walls of the city perish in my -flames. Let disgraceful poverty, hunger, and cruel sorrow destroy -a hated nation. Great crowds corrupted by the prosperity of the -times run riot; moderation does not please it, nor can it endure a -peaceful reign, but it is borne hither by restless audacity, and is -hurled thither by its own temerity. Misfortune must govern it; a -heavy yoke must always crush it down lest it should dare to compare -me with former rulers and to conspire against my wife. Crushed -by fear of punishment, the people will learn to obey the will -of its own leader. But I see a man coming whose singular loyalty -and remarkable fidelity have placed him in command of my legions.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[47]</a></span></p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>PREFECT</em>: I announce that the uprising of the people is -checked by the death of a few who long rashly resisted.</p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>NERO</em>: And is this all? Dost thou, a soldier, thus obey thy -leader’s commands? Why dost thou cease thy endeavors? Is this the -vengeance due me?</p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>PREFECT</em>: The leaders of the rebellion have fallen.</p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>NERO</em>: Why have not all perished who dared to seek my -palace with torches, to lay down the law to the emperor, to remove -such a wife from my couch, and to dishonor her in every way? Shall -they escape richly deserved punishment?</p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>PREFECT</em>: Will thy indignation prepare punishment for -thy own citizens?</p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>NERO</em>: It will prepare a punishment which will never be -forgotten.</p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>PREFECT</em>: Let thy wrath, not our fear, restrain us.</p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>NERO</em>: The first age which has deserved my wrath shall -expiate it.</p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>PREFECT</em>: Disclose what thy anger demands so that we may -punish the culprit.</p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>NERO</em>: It demands my sister’s death and her severed head.</p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>PREFECT</em>: Chilling horror holds me spellbound.</p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>NERO</em>: Dost thou hesitate to obey?</p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>PREFECT</em>: Why dost thou doubt my loyalty?</p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>NERO</em>: Because thou art merciful to an enemy.</p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>PREFECT</em>: Should a woman receive this name?</p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>NERO</em>: She incites crime.</p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>PREFECT</em>: Who is it who accuses her?</p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>NERO</em>: The wrath of the people against me.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[48]</a></span></p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>PREFECT</em>: Who can rule the frenzied crowd?</p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>NERO</em>: She who influenced it.</p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>PREFECT</em>: I do not think anyone could.</p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>NERO</em>: A woman whose mind is naturally inclined to evil -has inflamed their hearts with evil plans to injure me.</p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>PREFECT</em>: But she refused their aid.</p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>NERO</em>: But only that she might not be accused and that -fear of punishment might not overcome her weak strength. Retribution -will finally overtake the long condemned criminal. Hear my -plans and carry out my commands.<a name="FNanchor_94_94" id="FNanchor_94_94"></a><a href="#Footnote_94_94" class="fnanchor">[94]</a> Order Octavia to be placed -on a ship and carried far away to a desert isle. There let her -be killed that the fear in my heart may subside.</p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>CHORUS</em>: Indignation at the present instance forbids -mention of many examples of fickle fortune. The woman upon whom -the citizens wished to bestow the empire of the world, now they -see led weeping to bitter punishment and death. Well does contented -poverty conceal itself in humble dwellings. Often tempests shake -those homes or fortune overwhelms them.</p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>OCTAVIA</em>: Where dost thou lead me? What exile does the -tyrannical queen command for me, if, touched by my many misfortunes, she -grants me life? But if she intends to end my sorrow by -death, why does she begrudge me the pleasure of dying in my own -native land? -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[49]</a></span> -But now I cannot hope to escape. In my misery, I see my brother’s -boat prepared for me.<a name="FNanchor_95_95" id="FNanchor_95_95"></a><a href="#Footnote_95_95" class="fnanchor">[95]</a> Borne along in this vessel, once a wife, now -only a sister, driven from my own palace, sorrowfully I shall -drift away. Loyalty now has no divinity, nor are there gods above. -Gloomy Erinys rules in the world! What nightingale can return -soft plaintive notes to my weeping? I would like to escape my -sorrows on the uplifted pinions of a bird and borne aloft and far -away flee from the gloomy crowds of men and fierce carnage. Alone -in a deserted forest and suspended on a slender bough, I would -utter sad and mournful murmurs.</p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>CHORUS</em>: Mortals are ruled by fate, and no one can depend -upon the certainty of human life. A single portentous day brings -forth varying fortunes. May the many misfortunes which thy home -has endured strengthen thy mind. What is more cruel to thee than -destiny, Octavia? Thou, a mother worthy of many sons, daughter of -Agrippa, daughter-in-law of Augustus, and wife of Caesar<a name="FNanchor_96_96" id="FNanchor_96_96"></a><a href="#Footnote_96_96" class="fnanchor">[96]</a> whose royal -name is illustrious in the entire world, soon a barren wife, thou -wilt endure exile, the scourge, cruel fetters, gloomy sights, sorrows, -long continued torture, and finally death itself. -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[50]</a></span> -Livia, blessed in the couch and sons of Drusus, committed a great -sin and received punishment.<a name="FNanchor_97_97" id="FNanchor_97_97"></a><a href="#Footnote_97_97" class="fnanchor">[97]</a> Julia followed her mother’s -fortunes.<a name="FNanchor_98_98" id="FNanchor_98_98"></a><a href="#Footnote_98_98" class="fnanchor">[98]</a> -Yet after a time, although innocent, she falls by the -sword. Why was not thy former mother victorious who dear to her -husband and rich in children ruled the palace of the emperor? -She was submissive to her own servant and fell by the sword of a -rough soldier.<a name="FNanchor_99_99" id="FNanchor_99_99"></a><a href="#Footnote_99_99" class="fnanchor">[99]</a> Why was such a mother of Nero permitted to hope -for divinity? Injured by the blows of the oarsmen but not fatally, mangled -by the sword, she perished, the victim of her cruel son.</p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>OCTAVIA</em>: Alas, the cruel tyrant sends me to the sorrowing -shades in the lower world. Why do I in my misery vainly hesitate? -Hasten to the death which fate has bestowed upon thee. I -call to witness the immortal gods—What art thy doing in thy -madness? Cease to supplicate the gods who hate thee—I call to -witness Tartarus, the avenging goddesses of Erebus, and thee, father, who -art worthy of such a death and punishment. -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[51]</a></span> -This dreadful death was not unforeseen by me. Equip and launch -the ship. Let the pilot set sail for the shores of Pandataria.<a name="FNanchor_100_100" id="FNanchor_100_100"></a><a href="#Footnote_100_100" class="fnanchor">[100]</a></p> - -<p class="cindent"><em>CHORUS</em>: Gentle breezes and light zephyrs which bore -away Iphigenia from the cruel altars of the Virgin and covered -her with a heavenly cloud, we beseech thee, waft this maiden far -away from bitter punishment to the temples of Trivia.<a name="FNanchor_101_101" id="FNanchor_101_101"></a><a href="#Footnote_101_101" class="fnanchor">[101]</a> The -harbor of <a id="ref_51">Aulis</a><a name="FNanchor_102_102" id="FNanchor_102_102"></a><a href="#Footnote_102_102" class="fnanchor">[102]</a> and the barbarian land of the Tauri are more -merciful than our city. The gods above are propitiated by the -sacrifice of a stranger, but Rome rejoices in the murder of her -own citizen.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<div class="chapter"></div><!--Page break for ePub--> - -<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> Goddess of the dawn.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> The sun.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_3_3" id="Footnote_3_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> Messalina, third wife of Claudius and mother of Octavia -and Britannicus. She acquired the most infamous celebrity -of all the Roman matrons.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_4_4" id="Footnote_4_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_4"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> Alcyone threw herself into the sea when Ceyx, her husband, was -shipwrecked, and the gods in compassion changed -the two into kingfishers. Ovid Book XI l. 583-748.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_5_5" id="Footnote_5_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_5"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> The spinner among the Parcae.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_6_6" id="Footnote_6_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_6"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> Murder of Messalina.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_7_7" id="Footnote_7_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7_7"><span class="label">[7]</span></a> Agrippina.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_8_8" id="Footnote_8_8"></a><a href="#FNanchor_8_8"><span class="label">[8]</span></a> One of the Furies.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_9_9" id="Footnote_9_9"></a><a href="#FNanchor_9_9"><span class="label">[9]</span></a> Styx, river in the lower world.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_10_10" id="Footnote_10_10"></a><a href="#FNanchor_10_10"><span class="label">[10]</span></a> Claudius, fifth Caesar, reigned 41-54 A.D. He was distinguished -among the Roman emperors by his politic munificence -in founding empires.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_11_11" id="Footnote_11_11"></a><a href="#FNanchor_11_11"><span class="label">[11]</span></a> Claudius determined to carry into effect the plan which -Augustus had prematurely announced of an invasion of -the great island of Britain. He conquered magnificently and -was accorded a triumph at Rome.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_12_12" id="Footnote_12_12"></a><a href="#FNanchor_12_12"><span class="label">[12]</span></a> Referring probably to the construction of Portus Romanus -and the extension of maritime power.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_13_13" id="Footnote_13_13"></a><a href="#FNanchor_13_13"><span class="label">[13]</span></a> Claudius was the first emperor who really conquered the -Britains.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_14_14" id="Footnote_14_14"></a><a href="#FNanchor_14_14"><span class="label">[14]</span></a> Tiberius Claudius Drusus who succeeded Caligula obtained -with his infant son the name of Britannicus in honor of his -British victories. After the death of his third wife Messalina, -he married his own niece Agrippina 49 A.D. She influenced him to -set aside his own son Britannicus and to adopt her son Domitius -Ahenobarbus giving him the name of Nero. Having afterward shown -a disposition to return the succession to Britannicus, Claudius -was poisoned by Agrippina 54. Britannicus was poisoned in 55 -and Agrippina murdered in 59 by order of Nero.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_15_15" id="Footnote_15_15"></a><a href="#FNanchor_15_15"><span class="label">[15]</span></a> To Octavia her marriage was a funeral in a house where -her father and soon afterward her brother had been poisoned, -where a maid had become more powerful than her mistress, where a -paramour had supplanted the lawful wife, and where she had been -branded with a crime more hateful to her than the worst of deaths.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_16_16" id="Footnote_16_16"></a><a href="#FNanchor_16_16"><span class="label">[16]</span></a> Electra, daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra and -sister of Orestes. Her sad story has formed the basis of three -extant plays, the Choephori of Aeschylus and the Electra of Sophocles -and Euripides.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_17_17" id="Footnote_17_17"></a><a href="#FNanchor_17_17"><span class="label">[17]</span></a> Orestes.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_18_18" id="Footnote_18_18"></a><a href="#FNanchor_18_18"><span class="label">[18]</span></a> Lucan Bk I. 135.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_19_19" id="Footnote_19_19"></a><a href="#FNanchor_19_19"><span class="label">[19]</span></a> Sarcasm.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_20_20" id="Footnote_20_20"></a><a href="#FNanchor_20_20"><span class="label">[20]</span></a> Evidently the fear of suicide.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_21_21" id="Footnote_21_21"></a><a href="#FNanchor_21_21"><span class="label">[21]</span></a> Nero.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_22_22" id="Footnote_22_22"></a><a href="#FNanchor_22_22"><span class="label">[22]</span></a> Britannicus.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_23_23" id="Footnote_23_23"></a><a href="#FNanchor_23_23"><span class="label">[23]</span></a> Nero.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_24_24" id="Footnote_24_24"></a><a href="#FNanchor_24_24"><span class="label">[24]</span></a> Agrippina.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_25_25" id="Footnote_25_25"></a><a href="#FNanchor_25_25"><span class="label">[25]</span></a> The attempt by Nero to dispose of his mother by shipwreck.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_26_26" id="Footnote_26_26"></a><a href="#FNanchor_26_26"><span class="label">[26]</span></a> Murder of Agrippina.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_27_27" id="Footnote_27_27"></a><a href="#FNanchor_27_27"><span class="label">[27]</span></a> Poppaea.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_28_28" id="Footnote_28_28"></a><a href="#FNanchor_28_28"><span class="label">[28]</span></a> Claudius.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_29_29" id="Footnote_29_29"></a><a href="#FNanchor_29_29"><span class="label">[29]</span></a> The adoption of Nero and Octavia’s forced betrothal -to him.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_30_30" id="Footnote_30_30"></a><a href="#FNanchor_30_30"><span class="label">[30]</span></a> Agrippina was the niece of Claudius and their marriage -was contrary to law. The senate gave permission.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_31_31" id="Footnote_31_31"></a><a href="#FNanchor_31_31"><span class="label">[31]</span></a> Appius Silanus to whom Octavia was affianced. Agrippina -by a pretended charge of immorality caused him to be disgraced -and the betrothal to be rescinded. At the marriage of Agrippina -and Claudius, Silanus put an end to his own life.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_32_32" id="Footnote_32_32"></a><a href="#FNanchor_32_32"><span class="label">[32]</span></a> Nero.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_33_33" id="Footnote_33_33"></a><a href="#FNanchor_33_33"><span class="label">[33]</span></a> Agrippina was innocent of the death of Britannicus. The -simple pyre had been prepared before and the corpse was consumed -that very night in the midst of a sudden tempest.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_34_34" id="Footnote_34_34"></a><a href="#FNanchor_34_34"><span class="label">[34]</span></a> The sympathy of the people was with Britannicus. The -superiority of natural over legal descent seems to have been -generally acknowledged.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_35_35" id="Footnote_35_35"></a><a href="#FNanchor_35_35"><span class="label">[35]</span></a> Poppaea who became Nero’s wife in 62 A.D.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_36_36" id="Footnote_36_36"></a><a href="#FNanchor_36_36"><span class="label">[36]</span></a> Acte, the favorite concubine of Nero. Originally a slave -from Asia Minor, after Nero’s infatuation she was claimed to be a -descendant of King Attalus and at one time he even thought of -marrying her. See Quo Vadis.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_37_37" id="Footnote_37_37"></a><a href="#FNanchor_37_37"><span class="label">[37]</span></a> Leda bore by Jupiter, who visited her in the form of a -swan, two eggs from one of which came Pollux and Helen and from -the other Castor and Clytemnestra.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_38_38" id="Footnote_38_38"></a><a href="#FNanchor_38_38"><span class="label">[38]</span></a> Europa was carried off to Crete by Jupiter in the -form of a bull.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_39_39" id="Footnote_39_39"></a><a href="#FNanchor_39_39"><span class="label">[39]</span></a> Danae was mother of Perseus by Jupiter who visited her -in the form of a shower of gold.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_40_40" id="Footnote_40_40"></a><a href="#FNanchor_40_40"><span class="label">[40]</span></a> Bacchus, god of wine, son of Jupiter and Semele.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_41_41" id="Footnote_41_41"></a><a href="#FNanchor_41_41"><span class="label">[41]</span></a> Hercules, son of Jupiter and Alcmena, was pursued by Juno’s -hatred.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_42_42" id="Footnote_42_42"></a><a href="#FNanchor_42_42"><span class="label">[42]</span></a> Hebe was daughter of Juno, cupbearer to the gods, and -wife of Hercules after his deification.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_43_43" id="Footnote_43_43"></a><a href="#FNanchor_43_43"><span class="label">[43]</span></a> After Nero’s adoption by Claudius, he became Octavia’s -brother.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_44_44" id="Footnote_44_44"></a><a href="#FNanchor_44_44"><span class="label">[44]</span></a> Whole passage similar to Vergil.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_45_45" id="Footnote_45_45"></a><a href="#FNanchor_45_45"><span class="label">[45]</span></a> The Great Bear Constellation.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_46_46" id="Footnote_46_46"></a><a href="#FNanchor_46_46"><span class="label">[46]</span></a> The appearance of a comet was considered a herald of -misfortune. A comet appeared at this time and was generally supposed -to portend the fall of the reigning prince.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_47_47" id="Footnote_47_47"></a><a href="#FNanchor_47_47"><span class="label">[47]</span></a> In 63, a comet, great tempests, pestilence, the partial -destruction of Pompei by an earthquake, and the news of the evacuation -of Armenia by the Roman legions seemed to confirm the belief -that the blessing of the gods was no longer with the emperor.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_48_48" id="Footnote_48_48"></a><a href="#FNanchor_48_48"><span class="label">[48]</span></a> Typhon was the youngest son of Tartarus and Tellus who -was angry at Jupiter’s giving birth to Minerva. Typhon was a monster -with one hundred heads, fearful eyes, and terrible voices, who -wished to obtain dominion over gods and men but was subdued by -Jupiter.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_49_49" id="Footnote_49_49"></a><a href="#FNanchor_49_49"><span class="label">[49]</span></a> Life of Nero by Suetonius.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_50_50" id="Footnote_50_50"></a><a href="#FNanchor_50_50"><span class="label">[50]</span></a> The Domitian gens was noted for its cruelty.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_51_51" id="Footnote_51_51"></a><a href="#FNanchor_51_51"><span class="label">[51]</span></a> Tacitus affirms that Messalina was actually married -with the most formal ceremonies to her lover, Caius Silius, during -the lifetime of Claudius, her lawful husband.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_52_52" id="Footnote_52_52"></a><a href="#FNanchor_52_52"><span class="label">[52]</span></a> Britannicus.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_53_53" id="Footnote_53_53"></a><a href="#FNanchor_53_53"><span class="label">[53]</span></a> Sextus, son of Tarquinius committed an outrage upon Lucretia -who, after informing her husband Collatinus and father Lucretius, stabbed -herself. The people then arose and drove out the -Tarquins.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_54_54" id="Footnote_54_54"></a><a href="#FNanchor_54_54"><span class="label">[54]</span></a> Tullia, wife of Tarquinius, urged her husband to the murder -of her father. She drove her chariot over the mangled body and -her father’s blood spurted over her and her carriage.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_55_55" id="Footnote_55_55"></a><a href="#FNanchor_55_55"><span class="label">[55]</span></a> Nero attempted to shipwreck his mother on her return -from Baiae to Bauli, but the empress was picked up by boats from -the shore and carried to Lucrine villa. Nero immediately sent -Amicetus with a band of soldiers to complete the crime. As she -lay dying from her many wounds, she exclaimed, “Strike the womb -which bore a monster.”</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_56_56" id="Footnote_56_56"></a><a href="#FNanchor_56_56"><span class="label">[56]</span></a> L. Annaeus Seneca was a senator and philosopher in the -reign of Caligula. Incurring the displeasure of Messalina, the -wife of Claudius, he was banished in 41 A.D. to Corsica. He -was recalled in 48 by Agrippina to be the tutor of Nero. After -the accession of his pupil to the throne, Seneca was for a long -time the ruling power, but being implicated in the Pisonian conspiracy, he -was driven to suicide 65 A.D.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_57_57" id="Footnote_57_57"></a><a href="#FNanchor_57_57"><span class="label">[57]</span></a> Eight weary years of waiting were relieved by study and -authorship. He is said to have written his extant tragedies during -his exile.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_58_58" id="Footnote_58_58"></a><a href="#FNanchor_58_58"><span class="label">[58]</span></a> When Jupiter ordered the flood to come, Deucalion and -his wife Pyrrha alone found refuge on Mt. Parnassus. They were -ordered by the oracle to cast behind them the bones of their mother -which they interpreted to be the stones of the earth. As they -threw the stones, those thrown by Deucalion became men and those -by Pyrrha became women.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_59_59" id="Footnote_59_59"></a><a href="#FNanchor_59_59"><span class="label">[59]</span></a> Saturn was the father of all the gods. His reign was -the Golden age, the age of innocence and happiness.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_60_60" id="Footnote_60_60"></a><a href="#FNanchor_60_60"><span class="label">[60]</span></a> Second was the Silver Age when good Saturn was banished -from above and Jove reigned. -</p> -<p> -“To this came next in course the Brazen Age;<br /> -A warlike offering prompt to bloody rage;<br /> -Not impious yet!<br /> -Hard steel succeeded then;<br /> -And stubborn as the metal were the men.”<br /> -<span style="padding-left:2em">Ovid’s Metam—Book I Dryden’s Translation.</span> -</p> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_61_61" id="Footnote_61_61"></a><a href="#FNanchor_61_61"><span class="label">[61]</span></a> Evidently something omitted.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_62_62" id="Footnote_62_62"></a><a href="#FNanchor_62_62"><span class="label">[62]</span></a> Astraea was goddess of purity and innocence and daughter -of Justice. After she was driven from earth, she was placed among -the stars where she became the constellation Virgo.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_63_63" id="Footnote_63_63"></a><a href="#FNanchor_63_63"><span class="label">[63]</span></a> Nero Claudius Caesar, the sixth of the Roman emperors, -born 37 A.D. was the son of Domitius Ahenobarbus and Agrippina, the -daughter of Germanicus. He was originally named Lucius Domitius. -After the death of Ahenobarbus and a second husband, Crispus -Passienus, Agrippina married Claudius who gave his daughter Octavia -to Nero in marriage and subsequently adopted him with the -formal sanction of the senate.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_64_64" id="Footnote_64_64"></a><a href="#FNanchor_64_64"><span class="label">[64]</span></a> Cornelius Sulla who had been banished to Massilia in 58 -was put to death on the grounds that his residence in Gaul was -likely to arouse disaffection in that province, and a similar -charge proved fatal to Rubellius Plautus who had for two years -been living in retirement in Asia.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_65_65" id="Footnote_65_65"></a><a href="#FNanchor_65_65"><span class="label">[65]</span></a> Formal title of the emperor.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_66_66" id="Footnote_66_66"></a><a href="#FNanchor_66_66"><span class="label">[66]</span></a> Augustus Caesar, the first Roman emperor, originally Gaius -Octavius. After his adoption by his great uncle, C. Julius Caesar, he -was called Augustus by the senate. He defeated Brutus and Cassius, his -adopted father’s murderers, at Philippi B.C. 42.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_67_67" id="Footnote_67_67"></a><a href="#FNanchor_67_67"><span class="label">[67]</span></a> In Nero’s first speech, he placed the authority of the -senate on the same footing with the consent of the soldiers.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_68_68" id="Footnote_68_68"></a><a href="#FNanchor_68_68"><span class="label">[68]</span></a> Brutus murdered Caesar, his patron.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_69_69" id="Footnote_69_69"></a><a href="#FNanchor_69_69"><span class="label">[69]</span></a> Augustus, Antony, and Lepidus formed a triumvirate and -made a proscription of all their enemies. More than two thousand -knights and three hundred senators were thus put to death and -their property confiscated.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_70_70" id="Footnote_70_70"></a><a href="#FNanchor_70_70"><span class="label">[70]</span></a> Marcus Antonius, the triumvir, received Asia as his share -and there met Cleopatra. He followed her to Egypt, a victim of -her charms. At the battle of Actium, her flight and Antony’s subsequent -pursuit changed the destiny of the Roman empire.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_71_71" id="Footnote_71_71"></a><a href="#FNanchor_71_71"><span class="label">[71]</span></a> Pompeius had fallen victim to the charms of the beautiful -Egyptian.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_72_72" id="Footnote_72_72"></a><a href="#FNanchor_72_72"><span class="label">[72]</span></a> Agrippina embraced the cause of the wretched Octavia -and declared herself to be the protectress of her injured innocence.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_73_73" id="Footnote_73_73"></a><a href="#FNanchor_73_73"><span class="label">[73]</span></a> Poppaea Sabina, a very beautiful but licentious woman. -She was the daughter of T. Ollius but assumed the name of her -maternal grandfather, Poppaeus Sabinus. She was first married to -Rufrius Crispinus and afterward to Otho from whom she was divorced -in order to marry Nero. She persuaded Nero to murder his mother -who was opposed to the marriage. She was killed by a kick from -Nero.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_74_74" id="Footnote_74_74"></a><a href="#FNanchor_74_74"><span class="label">[74]</span></a> Similar to Catullus and Vergil.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_75_75" id="Footnote_75_75"></a><a href="#FNanchor_75_75"><span class="label">[75]</span></a> The Romans were very indignant at this marriage.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_76_76" id="Footnote_76_76"></a><a href="#FNanchor_76_76"><span class="label">[76]</span></a> Noblesse oblige.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_77_77" id="Footnote_77_77"></a><a href="#FNanchor_77_77"><span class="label">[77]</span></a> Tantalus was admitted to the feasts of the gods, but having -disclosed their secrets he was sent for punishment to the lower -world where he stood up to his chin in water under an overhanging -fruit tree, both of which retreated whenever he attempted to -satisfy the hunger and thirst which tormented him.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_78_78" id="Footnote_78_78"></a><a href="#FNanchor_78_78"><span class="label">[78]</span></a> Sisyphus’ task in the lower world was to roll up hill a -huge stone which constantly rolled back again.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_79_79" id="Footnote_79_79"></a><a href="#FNanchor_79_79"><span class="label">[79]</span></a> A vulture was constantly feeding upon Tityos’ liver which -as constantly grew again.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_80_80" id="Footnote_80_80"></a><a href="#FNanchor_80_80"><span class="label">[80]</span></a> Ixion was bound to an ever-revolving wheel.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_81_81" id="Footnote_81_81"></a><a href="#FNanchor_81_81"><span class="label">[81]</span></a> Life of Nero by Suetonius.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_82_82" id="Footnote_82_82"></a><a href="#FNanchor_82_82"><span class="label">[82]</span></a> In 66 occurred the visit of the Parthian prince, Tiridates -to Italy to receive his crown from the hands of the Roman emperor.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_83_83" id="Footnote_83_83"></a><a href="#FNanchor_83_83"><span class="label">[83]</span></a> Compare with curse of Dido in Vergil when Aeneas went -below.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_84_84" id="Footnote_84_84"></a><a href="#FNanchor_84_84"><span class="label">[84]</span></a> Wedding day of Poppaea and Nero.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_85_85" id="Footnote_85_85"></a><a href="#FNanchor_85_85"><span class="label">[85]</span></a> Poppaea’s head appeared on the coins side by side with -Nero, and her statues were erected in the public places of Rome.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_86_86" id="Footnote_86_86"></a><a href="#FNanchor_86_86"><span class="label">[86]</span></a> Sejanus. Juvenal’s Satires.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_87_87" id="Footnote_87_87"></a><a href="#FNanchor_87_87"><span class="label">[87]</span></a> Seneca and Burrhus were both opposed to the marriage.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_88_88" id="Footnote_88_88"></a><a href="#FNanchor_88_88"><span class="label">[88]</span></a> Similar to Catullus.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_89_89" id="Footnote_89_89"></a><a href="#FNanchor_89_89"><span class="label">[89]</span></a> The wedding of Peleus and Thetis was honored by the -presence of all the gods with the exception of Discord who was not -invited and who took revenge by throwing among the assembled gods -the golden apple which was the source of so much misery.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_90_90" id="Footnote_90_90"></a><a href="#FNanchor_90_90"><span class="label">[90]</span></a> Poppaea’s dream.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_91_91" id="Footnote_91_91"></a><a href="#FNanchor_91_91"><span class="label">[91]</span></a> Poppaea’s first husband was Rufrius Crispinus.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_92_92" id="Footnote_92_92"></a><a href="#FNanchor_92_92"><span class="label">[92]</span></a> Attempt of the nurse to explain the dream.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_93_93" id="Footnote_93_93"></a><a href="#FNanchor_93_93"><span class="label">[93]</span></a> Twelve days after Nero divorced Octavia, he married Poppaea -who brought a false accusation against the former wife, and -Octavia was imprisoned in Campania. When the citizens murmured -against such an unjust decree and Nero recalled her, they rushed -tumultuously to the capital to offer sacrifice. They overthrew -all the statues of Poppaea within reach and crowned Octavia’s. -They surged around the palace until the emperor dispersed them -with an armed force.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_94_94" id="Footnote_94_94"></a><a href="#FNanchor_94_94"><span class="label">[94]</span></a> Rebellion against Nero.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_95_95" id="Footnote_95_95"></a><a href="#FNanchor_95_95"><span class="label">[95]</span></a> Octavia was banished to the island of Pandataria where -she was murdered by order of Nero. Her head was severed from her -body and carried to the cruel Poppaea. Vows and sacrifices were -offered to the gods by order of the senate.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_96_96" id="Footnote_96_96"></a><a href="#FNanchor_96_96"><span class="label">[96]</span></a> Nero.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_97_97" id="Footnote_97_97"></a><a href="#FNanchor_97_97"><span class="label">[97]</span></a> Livilla, the wife of the younger Drusus son of the emperor Tiberius, was -persuaded by her lover, Sejanus, to poison her husband.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_98_98" id="Footnote_98_98"></a><a href="#FNanchor_98_98"><span class="label">[98]</span></a> Julia, daughter of Caligula and Milonia Caesaria, suffered -death with her mother after the assassination of her father.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_99_99" id="Footnote_99_99"></a><a href="#FNanchor_99_99"><span class="label">[99]</span></a> Messalina.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_100_100" id="Footnote_100_100"></a><a href="#FNanchor_100_100"><span class="label">[100]</span></a> Now Ventotene; a small island off the coast of Campania -to which political offenders were sometimes banished.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_101_101" id="Footnote_101_101"></a><a href="#FNanchor_101_101"><span class="label">[101]</span></a> Iphigenia was daughter of Agamemnon who offered her up -to appease the gods. She was rescued by Diana and carried off in -a cloud to the land of the Tauri where it fell to her lot to -offer up as victims all strangers who were shipwrecked on the -coast.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_102_102" id="Footnote_102_102"></a><a href="#FNanchor_102_102"><span class="label">[102]</span></a> Aulis, a harbor in Beotia where Iphigenia was offered -in sacrifice.</p></div> -</div> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<div class="chapter"></div><!--Page break for ePub--> - -<div class="transnote"> -<h2 id="TN_end" style="margin-top: 0em">Transcriber’s Notes:</h2> - -<p>The original text is typewritten with hand corrections by the author.</p> - -<p>Some text on the certification page following the title page in the -original text is handwritten, and this text is shown in italics.</p> - -<p>Character names are underlined in the original script, and these are -shown in italics.</p> - -<p>Footnotes, which appear on the page where they are anchored in the -original text, have been moved to the end of the text and relabeled -consecutively through the document.</p> - -<p>Punctuation has been made consistent.</p> - -<p>Variations in spelling and hyphenation were retained as they appear in -the original text, except that obvious typographical errors -have been corrected.</p> - -<p>The following changes were made:</p> - -<p><a href="#ref_3">p. 3</a>: Materneus changed to Maternus (Curiatius Maternus. There)</p> - -<p>p. 11: A footnote anchor is missing on this page in the original text. -The anchor for the footnote 17 in the original text was reassigned to -footnote 18, and <a href="#FNanchor_17_17">an anchor for footnote 17</a> was inserted based on -context.</p> - -<p><a href="#ref_11">p. 11</a>: to added (go to the)</p> - -<p>p. 14: The last footnote on this page in the original text has no -anchor. It is a duplicate of <a href="#FNanchor_29_29">footnote 29</a> on the next page, and it -was deleted.</p> - -<p>p. 19: Footnotes <a href="#Footnote_40_40">40</a> and <a href="#Footnote_41_41">41</a> were reversed to agree with hand corrections -made by the author on this page.</p> - -<p><a href="#ref_23">p. 23</a>: Tarquinus changed to Tarquinius on this page and also in -footnotes <a href="#Footnote_53_53">53</a> and <a href="#Footnote_54_54">54</a>.</p> - -<p>p. 50: Footnote 96 does not have a label or anchor in the original -text, and <a href="#FNanchor_96_96">an anchor was inserted</a> based on context. -</p> - -<p>p. 51: Footnotes <a href="#Footnote_99_99">99</a>, <a href="#Footnote_100_100">100</a>, and <a href="#Footnote_101_101">101</a> are mislabeled in the original text, -and the labels were changed.</p> - -<p><a href="#ref_51">p. 51</a>: Aulus changed to Aulis on this page and also in <a href="#Footnote_102_102">footnote 102</a>.</p> - -<p>p. 51, footnote <a href="#Footnote_100_100">100</a>: Vendutene changed to Ventotene (Now Ventotene; a)</p> -</div> - - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of A Translation of Octavia, a Latin -Tragedy, with Notes and Introduct, by Elizabeth Twining Hall - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A TRANSLATION OF OCTAVIA *** - -***** This file should be named 54702-h.htm or 54702-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/4/7/0/54702/ - -Produced by Craig Kirkwood and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive.) - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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