|
Main
- books.jibble.org
My Books
- IRC Hacks
Misc. Articles
- Meaning of Jibble
- M4 Su Doku
- Computer Scrapbooking
- Setting up Java
- Bootable Java
- Cookies in Java
- Dynamic Graphs
- Social Shakespeare
External Links
- Paul Mutton
- Jibble Photo Gallery
- Jibble Forums
- Google Landmarks
- Jibble Shop
- Free Books
- Intershot Ltd
|
books.jibble.org
Previous Page
| Next Page
Page 16
Antonia was the daughter of the emperor's sister Octavia and of Mark
Antony, the famous triumvir whose name remains forever linked in story
with that of Cleopatra. This daughter of Antony was certainly the
noblest and the gentlest of all the women who appear in the lugubrious
and tragic history of the family of the Caesars. Serious, modest, and
even-tempered, she was likewise endowed with beauty and virtue, and she
brought into the family and into its struggles a spirit of concord,
serenity of mind, and sweet reasonableness, though they could not
always prevail against the violent passions and clashing interests of
those about her. As long as Drusus lived, Drusus and Antonia had been
for the Romans the model of the devoted pair of lovers, and their
tender affection had become proverbial; yet the Roman multitude, always
given to admiring the descendants of the great families, was even more
deeply impressed by the beauty, the virtue, the sweetness, the modesty,
and the reserve of Antonia. After the death of Drusus, she did not
wish to marry again, even though the _Lex de maritandis ordinibus_ made
it a duty. "Young and beautiful," wrote Valerius Maximus, "she
withdrew to a life of retirement in the company of Livia, and the same
bed which had seen the death of the youthful husband saw his faithful
spouse grow old in an austere widowhood." Augustus and the people were
so touched by this supreme proof of fidelity to the memory of the
ever-cherished husband that by the common consent of public opinion she
was relieved of the necessity of remarrying; and Augustus himself, who
had always carefully watched over the observance of the marital law in
his own family, did not dare insist. Whether living at her villa of
Bauli, where she spent the larger part of her year, or at Rome, the
beautiful widow gave her attention to the bringing up of her three
children, Germanicus, Livilla, and Claudius. Ever since the death of
Octavia, she had worshiped Livia as a mother and lived in the closest
intimacy with her, and, withdrawn from public life, she attempted now
to bring a spirit of peace into the torn and tragic family.
Antonia was very friendly with Tiberius, who, on his side, felt the
deepest sympathy and respect for his beautiful and virtuous
sister-in-law. It cannot be doubted, therefore, that in this crisis
Antonia, who was bound to Livia by many ties, must have taken sides for
Livia's son Tiberius. But Antonia was too gentle and mild to lead a
faction in the struggle which during these years began between the
friends and the enemies of Tiberius, and that r�le was assumed by
Livia, who possessed more strength and more authority.
The situation grew worse and worse. Public opinion steadily became
more hostile to Tiberius and more favorable to Julia and her elder son,
and it was not long before they wished to give to her younger son,
Lucius, the same honors which had already been bestowed upon his
brother Caius. Private interest soon allied itself with the hatred and
rancor against Tiberius; and scarcely had he departed when the senate
increased the appropriation for public supplies and public games. All
those who profited by these appropriations were naturally interested in
preventing the return of Tiberius, who was notorious for his opposition
to all useless expenditures. Any measure, however dishonest, was
therefore considered proper, provided only it helped to ruin Tiberius;
and his enemies had recourse to every art and calumny, among other
things actually accusing him of conspiracies against Augustus. Even
for a woman as able and energetic as Livia it was an arduous task to
struggle against the inclinations of Augustus, against public opinion,
against the majority of the senate, against private interest, and
against Julia and her friends. Indeed, four years passed during which
the situation of Tiberius and his party grew steadily worse, while the
party of Julia increased in power.
Finally the party of Tiberius resolved to attempt a startlingly bold
move. They decided to cripple the opposition by means of a terrible
scandal in the very person of Julia. The _Lex Julia de adulteriis_,
framed by Augustus in the year 18, authorized any citizen to denounce
an unfaithful wife before the judges, if the husband and father should
both refuse to make the accusation. This law, which was binding upon
all Roman citizens, was therefore applicable even to the daughter of
Augustus, the widow of Agrippa, the mother of Caius and Lucius Caesar,
those two youths in whom were centered the hopes of the republic. She
had violated the _Lex Julia_ and she had escaped the penalties which
had been visited on many other ladies of the aristocracy only because
no one had dared to call down this scandal upon the first family of the
empire. The party of Tiberius, protected and guided by Livia, at last
hazarded this step.
It is impossible to say what part Livia played in this terrible
tragedy. It is certain that either she or some other influential
personage succeeded in gaining possession of the proofs of Julia's
guilt and brought them to Augustus, threatening to lay them before the
pretor and to institute proceedings if he did not discharge his duty.
Augustus found himself constrained to apply to himself his own terrible
law. He himself had decreed that if the husband, as was then the case
of Tiberius, could not accuse a faithless woman, the father must do so.
It was his law, and he had to bow to it in order to avoid scandals and
worse consequences. He exiled Julia to the little island of
Pandataria, and at the age of thirty-seven the brilliant, pleasing, and
voluptuous young woman who had dazzled Rome for many years was
compelled to disappear from the metropolis forever and retire to an
existence on a barren island. She was cut off by the implacable hatred
of a hostile party and by the inexorable cruelty of a law framed by her
own father!
Previous Page
| Next Page
|
|