Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 1.djvu/1099

Rh DRUSUS. fortunate competitors. The Roman populace hated the foreigners who were striving to obtain equal franchise with themselves. The great body of the equites, who were very numerous, felt all the invi- diousness of raising a select few to the rank of senators, while the rest would not only suffer the mortification of exclusion, but be practically de- prived of that profitable share which they had pre- viously enjoyed in the administration of justice. But worse than all was the apprehended inquisi- tion into their past misdeeds. The senators viewed with di.slike the proposed elevation to their own level of nearly 300 equites, now far below them in rank, and dreaded the addition of a heterogeneous mass, which was likely to harmonize badly with the ancient body. Moreover, they now suspected the ambition of Drusus, and did not choose to accept the transfer of the judicia at his hands. The Latins and socii demanded of him with stern importunity the price of their recent assistance ; and their murmurs at delay were deepened when they saw the Roman populace dividing the ager publicus, and depriving them of those possessions which they had hitherto occupied by stealth or force. They even began to tremble for their pri- vate property-. (Appian, /. c; Auct. de Vir. 111. 66.) In this state of affairs, the united dissatisfaction of all parties enabled the senate, upon the proposi- tion of Philippus, who was augur as well as consul, to undo, by a few short lines, what had lately been done. (Cic. deLcft. ii. 6, 12.) The senate now, in pursuance of that anomalous constitution which practically allowed a plurality of supreme legislative powers, voted that all the laws of Dru- sus, being carried against the auspices, were null and void from the beginning. " Senatui videtur, M. Drusi lejfibus populura non teneri." (Cic. jiro Cornel, fr. ii. vol. iv. p. ii. p, 449 ; Asconius, in Cic. pro Cornel, p. 6R, ed. Orelli.) The lex Cae- cilia Didia required that a law, before being put to the vote in the comitia, should be promulgated for three nundinae (17 days), and directed that several distinct clauses should not be put to the vote in a lump. If we may trust the suspected oration p^o Dortio (c. 16 and c. 'PO), the senate resolved that, in the passing of the laws of Drusus, the provisions of the lex Caecilia Didia had not been observed. It is difficult to suppose that the largesses of coiTi cmd land, so far as they had been carried into effect, were revoked ; but probably the establish- ment of colonies was stopped in its progress, and undoubtedly the lex judiciaria was completely de- feated. From the expressions of some ancient authors, it might be imagined that tlrti lex judicia- ria had never been carried ; but this is to be ex- plained by considering that, during its short appa- rent existence, it never came into actual operation, and that, according to the resolution of the senate, it was null ab initio for want of essential prc-requi- sites of validity. From the narrative of Velleius Paterculus (li. 13, 14) and Asconius (/. c), it might be inferred (contrary to the opinion of seve- ral modern scholars), that it was in tlie lifetime of Drusus that the senate declared his laws null, and the fact is now established by a fragment of Dio- drirus Siculus brouglit to light by Mai {Script. Vet. y ova Col lectio, W. ^. 116); from which we learn that Drusus told the senate, that he could have prevented them from passing their resolutions, had he chosen to exert his power, and that the hour would come when they would rue their suicidal DRUSUS. 1081 act. As to the precise order of thcae events, which took place within the period of a few months, we are in want of detailed information. The 70th and 71 St books of Livy are unfortunately lost, and the abbreviated accounts of minor historians arc not always easily reconcilable with each other and with the incidental notices contained in other classical authors. Drusus, who had been sincere in his promises, felt grievously the difficulty of performing them. Weariness and vexation of spirit overtook him. He found that, with all his followers, he had not one true friend. He repented him of his unquiet life, and longed for repose ; but it was too late to retreat. The monstrous powers that he had brought into life urged him onward, and he became giddy with the prospect of danger and confusion that lay before him. (Senec. de lirev. Vit. 6.) Then came the news of strange portents and fearful auguries from all parts of Italy to perplex and confound his superstitious soul. (Ores, v. 18; Obsequ. 114. He was himself an augur and pontifex ; pro Dome. 46. Hence the expression sodalis metis in the mouth of Cotta, Cic. de Nat. Deor. iii. 32.) Then came the exasperating thought of the ingratitude of the se- nate, and the determination to make them feel the energy which they had slighted. Thus agitated by uneasy passions, he scrupled not to meddle with the two-edged weapons of intrigue, sedition, and conspiracy, which he had neither force nor skill to wield. He was like the Gracchi with their lustre faded. {Gracchortcm obsclelus nitor., Auct. ad Heren. iv. 34.) He adopted the factious practice (of which the example Avas first set by C. Gracchus), of hold- ing separate meetings of his followers, and he made distinctions among them according to their supposed fidelity. One he would admit to a pri- vate interview, another he would invite to a con- ference where seveml were present, and there were some whom he did not ask to attend except on those occasions when all his adherents were sum- moned in a body. In furtherance of a common object, the secret conclave plotted, and the more general association worked and organized, while the crowded meeting and the armed mob intimi- dated by the demonstration and exercise of phy- sical force. (Senec. de Bene/, vi. 34 ; Li v. £jnt. Ixxxi.) In Mai's exti-acts from Diodorus (/. c.) is preserved a remarkable oath (unaccountably headed opKos ^i'nnrou), by which members of the associa- tion bound themselves together. After calling by name on the Roman gods, demigods, and heroes, the oath proceeds : " 1 swear that I will have the sjune friends and foes with Drusus ; that I will spare neither substance, nor parent, nor child, nor life of any, so it be not for the good of Drusus and of those who have tiiken this oath ; that if I be- come a citizen by the law of Drusus, I will hold Rome my country-, and Drusus my greatest bene- factor ; and that I will administer this oath to as many more as I be able. So may weal or woe be mine as I keep this oath or not." The fennent soon became so great, that the public peace was more than threatened. Standards and eagles were seen in the streets, and Rome was like a battle- field, in which the contending armies were en- camped. (Florus, L c.) The end could not much longer be postponed. At a public assembly of the tribes, when the impa- tience and disappointment of the multitude were loudly expressed, Drusus was seized with a faint-