WIVES OF THE CACSAUS. 593 



pride, which she was capable of tempering at pleasure, and of pre- 

 serving inoffensively in her communication with the various grades 

 of Roman life, to which she affably apportioned her civility and con- 

 descension. Octavius had already witnessed the accomplishments of 

 Livia, and was smitten with the beauty of her person. His admi- 

 ration grew into attachment, and the ardour of his assiduities be- 

 came the subject of remark. The pomp of Caesar's feast, upon the 

 rasure of his beard, a ceremony of established splendour among the 

 higher classes of the Roman people, was ascribed to his desire of 

 winning Livia Drusilla by the exhibition of inordinate magnificence. 

 Though Tacitus has questioned the propensity of Livia, there ap- 

 pears but little reason to suppose that either decency or conjugal fide- 

 lity repressed the eagerness of Caesar's suit. It was whispered that 

 she had even gratified his passion before the forms of law had ren- 

 dered her legitimately subject to his wish. Her natural ambition 

 was decisive of the choice presented to her, in the mediocrity of 

 Tiberius Nero and the supremacy of Octavius. The latter, inde- 

 pendently of his exalted state, presented the allurements of a character 

 and person which readily prevailed on the affections of a susceptible 

 and intellectual beauty. He was in the flower of life; and the his- 

 torians, when describing him, appear to have delighted in the minute- 

 ness of detail. The proportions of his figure were so exquisitely just, 

 and his carriage was so graceful and erect, that his stature, somewhat 

 lower than the middling size, appeared of full dimensions, unless im- 

 mediately beside a person of considerable height. His hair was 

 light, and naturally curled ; and the expression of his eyes was said 

 to be so vivid, that the vision of beholders was averted by the daz- 

 zling splendour of their glance : yet, notwithstanding their peculiar 

 brilliance, his countenance, when he was either silent or discoursing, 

 was tranquil and serene. His teeth were uneven, few, and small ; his 

 eyebrows joined j his nose was aquiline and prominent, and his com- 

 plexion of a palish brown. His body was suffused with natural spots, 

 which lay along the breast and abdomen, in number and position in 

 the likeness of the constellation called the Bear. Octavius, too, pos- 

 sessed a gracious, affable, and kind deportment ; his powers of con- 

 versation were variable and great, and eminently calculated to per- 

 suade in politics or love. Thus endowed, with all the circumstance 

 of state and fortune to assist him, his suit to Livia was successfully 

 preferred, and he accordingly solicited Tiberius Nero to divorce his 

 wife, that he might own by lawful marriage the charms which 

 touched him with so much enthusiasm. 



The request of Octavius to Tiberius Nero had the effect of a com- 

 mand ; yet the former was desirous that his union with Livia should 

 be sanctioned by the apparent acquiescence of her husband. But as 

 the existing law forbade the marriage of a woman for ten months 

 from the date of her divorce, Octavius, with a show of reverence for 

 its authority, convened the College of the Pontiffs to inquire if it 

 were legal to espouse a pregnant woman; and the augurs were be- 

 sides instructed to consult Apollo and the chief divinities of Rome. 

 It will not be doubted that the oracle of the gods and the decision of 

 the pontiffs concurred in an opinion favourable to the wishes of Oc- 



M.M. No. 102. 4 G 



