ὡς οὖν ταῦτα τοῖς περί αὑτὸν ἐξήγγειλεν ὁ Τιβέριος, οὗτοι μὲν εὐθὺς τάς τε τηβέννους περιεζώννυντο, καὶ τὰ τῶν ὑπηρετῶν δόρατα συγκλῶντες οἷς ἀνείργουσι τὸν ὄχλον, διελάμβανον ὡς ἀμυνούμενοι τοῖς κλάσμασι τοὺς ἐπερχομένους.
Tiberius, accordingly, reported this to those who stood about him, and they at once girded up their togas, and breaking in pieces the spear-shafts with which the officers keep back the crowd, distributed the fragments among themselves, that they might defend themselves against their assailants. Those who were farther off, however, wondered at what was going on and asked what it meant.
τῶν δὲ ἀπωτέρω θαυμαζόντων τὰ γινόμενα καὶ πυνθανομένων, ὁ Τιβέριος ἥψατο τῇ χειρὶ τῆς κεφαλῆς, ἐνδεικνύμενος τῇ ὄψει τὸν κίνδυνον, ἐπεὶ τῆς φωνῆς οὐκ ἐπήκουον. οἱ δὲ ἐναντίοι τοῦτο ἰδόντες ἔθεον πρὸς τὴν βουλὴν, ἀπαγγέλλοντες αἰτεῖν διάδημα τὸν Τιβέριον καὶ τούτου σημεῖον εἶναι τὸ τῆς κεφαλῆς ἐπιθιγγάνειν.
Whereupon Tiberius put his hand to his head, making this visible sign that his life was in danger, since the questioners could not hear his voice. But his opponents, on seeing this, ran to the senate and told that body that Tiberius was asking for a crown; and that his putting his hand to his head was a sign having that meaning.
πάντες μὲν οὖν ἐθορυβήθησαν ὁ δὲ Νασικᾶς ἠξίου τὸν ὕπατον τῇ πόλει βοηθεῖν καὶ καταλύειν τὸν τύραννον. ἀποκριναμένου δὲ πράως ἐκείνου βίας μὲν οὐδεμιᾶς ὑπάρξειν οὐδὲ ἀναιρήσειν οὐδένα τῶν πολιτῶν ἄκριτον, εἰ μέντοι ψηφίσαιτό τι τῶν παρανόμων ὁ δῆμος ὑπὸ τοῦ Τιβερίου πεισθεὶς ἢ βιασθείς, τοῦτο κύριον μὴ φυλάξειν, ἀναπηδήσας ὁ Νασικᾶς, ἐπεὶ τοίνυν, ἔφη, προδίδωσιν ὁ ἄρχων τὴν πόλιν, οἱ βουλόμενοι τοῖς νόμοις βοηθεῖν ἀκολουθεῖτε.
All the senators, of course, were greatly disturbed, and Nasica demanded that the consul should come to the rescue of the state and put down the tyrant. The consul replied with mildness that he would resort to no violence and would put no citizen to death without a trial; if, however, the people, under persuasion or compulsion from Tiberius, should vote anything that was unlawful, he would not regard this vote as binding. Thereupon Nasica sprang to his feet and said: Since, then, the chief magistrate be trays the state, do ye who wish to succour the laws follow me.
καὶ ταῦτα λέγων ἅμα καὶ τὸ κράσπεδον τοῦ ἱματίου θέμενος ἐπὶ τῆς κεφαλῆς, ἐχώρει πρὸς τὸ Καπετώλιον. ἕκαστος δὲ τῶν ἑπομένων αὐτῷ τῇ χειρὶ τὴν τήβεννον περιελίξας ἐώθει τοὺς ἐμποδών, οὐδενὸς ἐνισταμένου πρὸς τὸ ἀξίωμα τῶν ἀνδρῶν, ἀλλὰ φευγόντων καὶ πατούντων ἀλλήλους.
With these words he covered his head with the skirt of his toga and set out for the Capitol. All the senators who followed him wrapped their togas about their left arms and pushed aside those who stood in their path, no man opposing them, in view of their dignity, but all taking to flight and trampling upon one another.
οἱ μὲν οὖν περί αὐτοὺς ῥόπαλα καὶ σκυτάλας ἐκόμιζον οἴκοθεν αὐτοὶ δὲ τῶν δίφρων καταγνυμένων ὑπὸ τοῦ φεύγοντος ὄχλου τὰ κλάσματα καὶ τοὺς πόδας λαμβάνοντες ἀνέβαινον ἐπὶ τὸν Τιβέριον, ἅμα παίοντες τοὺς προτεταγμένους καὶ τούτων μὲν ἦν τροπὴ καὶ φόνος· αὐτοῦ δὲ τοῦ Τιβερίου φεύγοντος ἀντελάβετό τις τῶν ἱματίων.
Now, the attendants of the senators carried clubs and staves which they had brought from home; but the senators themselves seized the fragments and legs of the benches that were shattered by the crowd in its flight, and went up against Tiberius, at the same time smiting those who were drawn up to protect him. Of these there was a rout and a slaughter; and as Tiberius himself turned to fly, someone laid hold of his garments.
ὁ δὲ τὴν τήβεννον ἀφεὶς καὶ φεύγων ἐν τοῖς χιτῶσιν ἐσφάλη καὶ κατηνέχθη περί τινας τῶν πρὸ αὐτοῦ πεπτωκότας. ἀνιστάμενον δὲ αὑτὸν μὲν ἐμφανῶς καὶ πρῶτος εἷς τὴν κεφαλὴν πατάξας ποδὶ δίφρου Πόπλιος ἦν Σατυρήϊος εἷς τῶν συναρχόντων τῆς δὲ δευτέρας ἀντεποιεῖτο πληγῆς Λεύκιος Ῥοῦφος, ὡς ἐπὶ καλῷ τινι σεμνυνόμενος. τῶν δὲ ἄλλων ἀπέθανον ὑπὲρ τριακοσίους ξύλοις καὶ λίθοις συγκοπέντες, σιδήρῳ δὲ οὐδείς.
So he let his toga go and fled in his tunic. But he stumbled and fell to the ground among some bodies that lay in front of him. As he strove to rise to his feet, he received his first blow, as everybody admits, from Publius Satyreius, one of his colleagues, who smote him on the head with the leg of a bench; to the second blow claim was made by Lucius Rufus, who plumed himself upon it as upon some noble deed. And of the rest more than three hundred were slain by blows from sticks and stones, but not one by the sword.
ταύτην πρώτην ἱστοροῦσιν ἐν Ῥώμῃ στάσιν, ἀφʼ οὗ τὸ βασιλεύεσθαι κατέλυσαν, αἵματι καὶ φόνῳ πολιτῶν διακριθῆναι· τὰς δὲ ἄλλας οὔτε μικρὰς οὔτε περὶ μικρῶν γενομένας ἀνθυπείκοντες ἀλλήλοις, φόβῳ μὲν οἱ δυνατοὶ τῶν πολλῶν, αἰδούμενοι δὲ τὴν βουλὴν ὁ δῆμος, ἔπαυον. ἐδόκει δὲ καὶ τότε μὴ χαλεπῶς ἂν ἐνδοῦναι παρηγορηθεὶς ὁ Τιβέριος, ἔτι δὲ ῥᾷον εἶξαι δίχα φόνου καὶ τραυμάτων ἐπιοῦσιν·
This is said to have been the first sedition at Rome, since the abolition of royal power, to end in bloodshed and the death of citizens; the rest though neither trifling nor raised for trifling objects, were settled by mutual concessions, the nobles yielding from fear of the multitude, and the people out of respect for the senate. And it was thought that even on this occasion Tiberius would have given way without difficulty had persuasion been brought to bear upon him,
οὐ γὰρ πλείονες ἢ τρισχίλιοι περὶ αὐτὸν ἦσαν. ἀλλʼ ἔοικεν ὀργῇ τῶν πλουσίων καὶ μίσει πλέον ἢ διʼ ἃς ἐσκήπτοντο προφάσεις ἡ σύστασις ἐπʼ αὐτὸν γενέσθαι· καὶ τούτου μέγα τεκμήριον ὠμῶς καὶ παρανόμως ὑβρισθεὶς ὁ νεκρός, οὐ γὰρ ἐπέτρεψαν ἀνελέσθαι τὸ σῶμα τῷ ἀδελφῷ δεομένῳ καὶ θάψαι νυκτός, ἀλλὰ μετὰ τῶν ἄλλων νεκρῶν εἰς τὸν ποταμὸν ἔρριψαν.
and would have yielded still more easily if his assailants had not resorted to wounds and bloodshed; for his adherents numbered not more than three thousand. But the combination against him would seem to have arisen from the hatred and anger of the rich rather than from the pretexts which they alleged; and there is strong proof of this in their lawless and savage treatment of his dead body. For they would not listen to his brother’s request that he might take up the body and bury it by night, but threw it into the river along with the other dead.
καὶ τοῦτο πέρας οὐκ ἦν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῶν φίλων αὐτοῦ τοὺς μὲν ἐξεκήρυττον ἀκρίτους, τοὺς δὲ συλλαμβάνοντες ἀπεκτίννυσαν ἐν οἷς καὶ Διοφάνης ὁ ῥήτωρ ἀπώλετο. Γάϊον δέ τινα Βίλλιον εἰς ἀγγεῖον καθείρξαντες καὶ συνεμβαλόντες ἐχίδνας καὶ δράκοντας οὕτω διέφθειραν. ὁ δὲ Κυμαῖος Βλόσσιος ἀνήχθη μὲν ἐπὶ τοὺς ὑπάτους, ἐρωτώμενος δὲ περὶ τῶν γεγονότων ὡμολόγει πεποιηκέναι πάντα Τιβερίου κελεύοντος.
Nor was this all; they banished some of his friends without a trial and others they arrested and put to death. Among these Diophanes the rhetorician also perished. A certain Caius Villius they shut up in a cage, and then put in vipers and serpents, and in this way killed him. Blossius of Cumae was brought before the consuls, and when he was asked about what had passed, he admitted that he had done everything at the bidding of Tiberius.
εἰπόντος δὲ τοῦ Νασικᾶ πρὸς αὐτόν, τί οὖν, εἴ σε Τιβέριος ἐκέλευσεν ἐμπρῆσαι τὸ Καπετώλιον; τὸ μὲν πρῶτον ἀντέλεγεν ὡς οὐκ ἂν τοῦτο Τιβερίου κελεύσαντος· πολλάκις δὲ καὶ πολλῶν τὸ αὐτὸ πυνθανομένων, ἀλλʼ ἐκείνου γε προστάσσοντος, ἔφη, κἀμοὶ τοῦτο πρᾶξαι καλῶς εἶχεν· οὐ γὰρ ἂν Τιβέριος τοῦτο προσέταξεν, εἰ μὴ τῷ δήμῳ συνέφερεν, οὗτος μὲν οὖν διαφυγὼν ὕστερον ᾤχετο πρὸς Ἀριστόνικον εἰς Ἀσίαν, καὶ τῶν ἐκείνου πραγμάτων διαφθαρέντων ἑαυτὸν ἀνεῖλεν.
Then Nasica said to him, What, then, if Tiberius had ordered them to set fire to the Capitol? Blossius at first replied that Tiberius would not have given such an order; but when the same question was put to him often and by many persons, he said: If such a man as Tiberius had ordered such a thing, it would also have been right for me to do it; for Tiberius would not have given such an order if it had not been for the interest of the people. Well, then, Blossius was acquitted, and afterwards went to Aristonicus in Asia, and when the cause of Aristonicus was lost, slew himself.
ἡ δὲ βουλὴ θεραπεύουσα τὸν δῆμον ἐκ τῶν παρόντων οὔτε πρὸς τὴν διανομὴν ἔτι τῆς χώρας ἠναντιοῦτο, καὶ ἀντὶ τοῦ Τιβερίου προὔθηκε τοῖς πολλοῖς ὁριστὴν ἑλέσθαι. λαβόντες δὲ τὰς ψήφους εἵλοντο Πόπλιον Κράσσον, οἰκεῖον ὄντα Γράγχῳ· θυγάτηρ γὰρ αὐτοῦ Λικιννία Γαΐῳ Γράγχῳ συνῴκει.
But the senate, trying to conciliate the people now that matters had gone so far, no longer opposed the distribution of the public land, and proposed that the people should elect a commissioner in place of Tiberius. So they took a ballot and elected Publius Crassus, who was a relative of Gracchus; for his daughter Licinia was the wife of Caius Gracchus.
καίτοι Νέπως ὁ Κορνήλιός φησιν οὐ Κράσσου, Βρούτου δὲ τοῦ θριαμβεύσαντος ἀπὸ Λυσιτανῶν θυγατέρα γῆμαι Γάιον· ἀλλὰ οἱ πλείους ὡς ἡμεῖς γράφομεν ἱστοροῦσιν. ἐπεὶ δὲ χαλεπῶς μὲν ὁ δῆμος εἶχε τῷ θανάτῳ τοῦ Τιβερίου καὶ φανερὸς ἦν ἀμύνης περιμένων καιρόν, ἤδη δὲ καὶ δίκαι τῷ Νασικᾷ προανεσείοντο, δείσασα περὶ τοῦ ἀνδρὸς ἡ βουλὴ ψηφίζεται μηδὲν δεομένη πέμπειν αὐτὸν εἰς Ἀσίαν.
And yet Cornelius Nepos says that it was not the daughter of Crassus, but of the Brutus who triumphed over the Lusitanians, whom Caius married; the majority of writers, however, state the matter as I have done. Moreover, since the people felt bitterly over the death of Tiberius and were clearly awaiting an opportunity for revenge, and since Nasica was already threatened with prosecutions, the senate, fearing for his safety, voted to send him to Asia, although it had no need of him there.
οὐ γὰρ ἀπεκρύπτοντο κατὰ τὰς ἀπαντήσεις οἱ ἄνθρωποι τὴν δυσμένειαν, ἀλλʼ ἐξηγριαίνοντο καὶ κατεβόων ὅπου προστύχοιεν, ἐναγῆ καὶ τύραννον καὶ μεμιαγκότα φόνῳ σώματος ἀσύλου καὶ ἱεροῦ τὸ ἁγιώτατον καὶ φρικωδέστατον ἐν τῇ πόλει τῶν ἱερῶν ἀποκαλοῦντες. οὕτω μὲν ὑπεξῆλθε τῆς Ἰταλίας ὁ Νασικᾶς, καίπερ ἐνδεδεμένος ταῖς μεγίσταις ἱερουργίαις· ἦν γὰρ ὁ μέγιστος καὶ πρῶτος τῶν ἱερέων, ἔξω δὲ ἀλύων καὶ πλανώμενος ἀδόξως οὐ μετὰ πολὺν χρόνον κατέστρεψε περὶ Πέργαμον.
For when people met Nasica, they did not try to hide their hatred of him, but grew savage and cried out upon him wherever he chanced to be, calling him an accursed man and a tyrant, who had defiled with the murder of an inviolable and sacred person the holiest and most awe-inspiring of the city’s sanctuaries. And so Nasica stealthily left Italy, although he was bound there by the most important and sacred functions; for he was pontifex maximus. He roamed and wandered about in foreign lands ignominiously, and after a short time ended his life at Pergamum.
οὐ δεῖ δὲ θαυμάζειν εἰ Νασικᾶν μεμίσηκεν οὕτως ὁ δῆμος, ὅπου καὶ Σκηπίων ὁ Ἀφρικανός, οὗ δοκοῦσι Ῥωμαῖοι μηδένα δικαιότερον μηδὲ μᾶλλον ἀγαπῆσαι, παρὰ μικρὸν ἦλθεν ἐκπεσεῖν καὶ στέρεσθαι τῆς πρὸς τὸν δῆμον εὐνοίας, ὅτι πρῶτον μὲν ἐν Νομαντίᾳ τὴν τελευτὴν τοῦ Τιβερίου πυθόμενος ἀνεφώνησεν ἐκ τῶν Ὁμηρικῶν ὣς ἀπόλοιτο καὶ ἄλλος ὅτις τοιαῦτά γε ῥέζοι,
Now, it is no wonder that the people so much hated Nasica, when even Scipio Africanus, than whom no one would seem to have been more justly or more deeply loved by the Romans, came within a little of forfeiting and losing the popular favour because, to begin with, at Numantia, when he learned of the death of Tiberius, he recited in a loud voice the verse of Homer:— So perish also all others who on such wickedness / venture, /
ἔπειτα τῶν περὶ Γάϊον καὶ Φούλβιον αὐτοῦ διʼ ἐκκλησίας πυνθανομένων τί φρονοίη περὶ τῆς Τιβερίου τελευτῆς, οὐκ ἀρεσκομένην τοῖς ὑπʼ ἐκείνου πεπολιτευμένοις ἀπόκρισιν ἔδωκεν. ἐκ τούτου γὰρ ὁ μὲν δῆμος ἀντέκρουσεν αὐτῷ λέγοντι, μηδέπω τοῦτο ποιήσας πρότερον, αὐτὸς δὲ τὸν δῆμον εἰπεῖν κακῶς προήχθη, περὶ μὲν τούτων ἐν τῷ Σκηπίωνος βίῳ τὰ καθʼ ἕκαστα γέγραπται.
and because, in the second place, when Caius and Fulvius asked him in an assembly of the people what he thought about the death of Tiberius, he made a reply which showed his dislike of the measures advocated by him. Consequently the people began to interrupt him as he was speaking, a thing which they had never done before, and Scipio himself was thereby led on to abuse the people. Of these matters I have written circumstantially in my Life of Scipio.
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