Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 2.djvu/906

Rh 892 MAECENAS. have been present to take it down, or that Mae- cenas himself should have afterwards published it. Yet Suetonius, in his life of Augustus (28), contirms the account of Dion Cassius so far as that some such consultation took place ; and the tenor of the speech perfectly agrees with the known character and sentiments of Maecenas. If, therefore, we should be disposed to regard the part here attributed by Dion Cassius to Agrippa and Maecenas as some- thing more than a mere ticdon of the historian, for the purpose of stating the most popular arguments that might be advanced against, or in favour of, the establishment of the empire, the most probable solution is that the substance of the speech was extant in the Roman archives in the shape of a state paper or minute, drawn up by Maecenas. However that may be, the document is certainly a very able one, and should be carefully consulted by all who are studying the history of Rome during its transition from a republic to an empire. The regulations proposed for the consolidation of the monarchical power are admirably adapted to their purpose ; whether they were indispensable, or cal- culated to secure the happiness of the Roman people, depends upon the truth or falsehood of the former part of the speech, in which it is contended that the republic could no longer exist without con- stant danger of civil wars and dismemberment. The description of power exercised by Maecenas during the absence of Caesar should not be con- founded with the frae.fectura urbis. It was not till after the civil wars that the latter office was established as a distinct and substantive one ; and, according to Dion Cassius (Hi. 21), by the advice of Maecenas himself. This is confirmed by Tacitus {Ann. vi. 11), and by Suetonius {Aug. 37), who reckons it among the nova officia. The praefeclus urbis was a mere police magistrate, whose jurisdic- tion was confined to Rome and the adjacent country, within a radius of 750 stadia ; but Maecenas had the charge of political as well as municipal afi'airs, and his administration embraced the whole of Italy. Thus we are told by Seneca {Ep. 114) that he was invested vvith judicial power {in iribur nali^in rostris, in omni publico coetu) ; and also that he gave the watch- word {signum ah eo petebatur) ; a function of the very highest authority, and after- wards exercised by the emperors themselves. It is the more necessary to attend to this dis- tinction, because the neglect of it has given rise to the notion that Maecenas was never entrusted with the supreme administration after the close of the civil wars. The ofHce of praefectus urbis was a regular and continuous one ; and we learn from Tacitus that it was first filled by Messalla Cor- vinus, who held it but a few days ; then by Stati- lius Taurus, who, it is plain from Dion (liv. 19), must have enjoyed it for u*p wards of ten years at least ; and next by Piso, who, Tacitus tells us, was praefectus for the space of twenty years. {Ann. vi. 1 1.) But there is nothing in all this to show that Maecenas might not have been Caesar's vice- gerent whilst Taurus filled the subordinate office of prae/edas. Nor are we to infer from the expres- sion, "6e///« civUibus''^ in the passage of Tacitus {Augustus bellis civilibus Cilnium Aiaecenatem cunctis apud Romam utcjue Italiam praeposuit, Ann. vi. 11), that the political functions of Maecenas absolutely ceased with the civil wars. His meaning rather seerns to be that, during that period Maecenas com- bined the duties which afterwards belonged to the MAECENAS. praefectus alone, with those of the supreme political power. This is shown by the word cunctis., and by the mention of Italy as well as Rome ; to which latter only the praefedura related. In like manner Dion Cassius (liv. 19), when relating how Mae- cenas was finally superseded (b. c. 16) by Taurus, the praefectus^ as vicegerent, during the absence of Augustus, expressly mentions that the jurisdiction of Taurus was extended over the whole of Italy (to fJiiv acTTv rw Taup^ /x era ttjs aWrjs *Ito- Aias 5ioiK€7u e'TTtTpei^os). When Agrippa, indeed, could remain at Rome, he seems to have had the preference, as on the occasion of Augustus's expe- dition into Sicily in b. c. 21. (Dion Cass. liv. 6.) But when Agrippa accompanied the emperor, as in his Spanish campaign in B. c. 27, it is hardly to be doubted that Maecenas exercised the functions of Augustus at Rome. The 8th and 29th odes of the third book of Horace, which, although we cannot fix their precise dates, were evidently written after the civil wars, contain allusions to the political cares of Maecenas. Some of the expressions in them have been too literally interpreted. In both urbs is used in a sufficiently common sense for respuiy- lica ; and though in the latter the word civitatem is taken by the scholiast to allude to the office of praefectus, yet the phrase qiiis deceat status points to infinitely higher functions than those of a mere police magistrate. It may be observed, too, that both odes refer to ie foreign affairs of the empire. It must be confessed, however, that we have no means of determining with certainty on what occa- sions, and for how long, after the establishment of the empire, Maecenas continued to exercise his political power ; though, as before remarked, we know that he had ceased to enjoy it in B. c. 16. That he retained the confidence of Augustus till at least B. c. 21 may be inferred from the fact that about that time he advised him to marry his daughter Julia to Agrippa, on the ground that he had made the latter so rich and powerful, that it was dangerous to allow him to live unless he ad- vanced him still further. (Dion Cass. liv. 6.) The fact to which we have before alluded of Agrippa being entrusted in that year with the administra- tion, and not Maecenas, affords no ground for con- cluding that any breach had yet been made in the friendship of the emperor and Maecenas. Agrippa, being more nearly connected with Augustus, would of course obtain the preference ; and such an act of self-renunciation was quite in the character of Maecenas, and might have even formed part of his advice respecting the conduct to be observed to- wards Agrippa. Between b. c. 21 and G, how- ever, we have direct evidence that a coolness, to say the least, had sprung up between the emperor and his faithful minister. This estrangement, for it cannot be called actual disgrace, is borne out by the silence of historians respecting the latter years of Maecenas's life, as well as by the express testi- mony of Tacitus, who tells us {Ann. iii. 30) that during this period he enjoyed only the appearance, and not the reality, of his sovereign's friendship. The cause of this rupture is enveloped in doubt. Seneca {Ep. 19) drops a mysterious hint about Maecenas having taken in his sails too late ; whilst Dion Cassius (liv. 19) positively attributes it to an intrigue carried on by Augustus with Terentia, Maecenas's wife. It is certain that such a con- nection existed ; and the historian just cited men- tions a report that Augustus's motive for going into