91 



force, which, if e»?2J<;Vd by a desire to court popularity, uill have to he 

 filled again by unlawful and criminal measures." 



Nothing can be more characteristic of the age, than that this 

 language, so plain, straight-foi'ward, sensible and just,'* should be 

 received by that noble body of senators, the elite of the nation, with 

 scai'ce suppressed disgust, so as to compel even the haughty Tiberius 

 to relent, and to yield to the wish of the senate so far as to grant 

 200,000 sesterces to each of the sons of Hortalus. Only one cir- 

 cumstance can increase our surprise ; it is the apparent sympathy 

 which Tacitus, the philosophical historian, the proud republican, the 

 defender of the innate dignity of man, evinces for the abject petitioner 

 and his servile compeers. He does not hesitate to insinuate, that the 

 words of Tiberius deserved the censure of good men ; that Hortalus, 

 when he was struck dumb by the Emperor's invective, " maintained the 

 dignity of his noble house," and that the Emperor showed a want of 

 feeling by suffering him afterwards to fall into the most abject poverty. 



When we calmly reflect on this scene, can we help coming to the 

 conclusion, that Tiberius in his notions of the duty of a citizen to 

 society was far in advance of his age ? We can sympathise with his 

 feelings in the case of Hortalus ; no statesman of our days would judge 

 otherwise. Who could rise in either house of parliament to advocate 

 a grant from the public purse to retrieve the fortunes of a bankrupt 

 nobleman, not for any merit of his, but on account of the nobility of his 

 house ? But the contemporaries of Tiberius judged otherwise ; so did 

 his historian. They stai'ted from entirely different premises ; their 

 political convictions rooted in the republican times ; their summum 

 bonum was the splendour, wealth, influence and glory of the great 

 families. All other considerations were secondary in their eyes, and 

 they hated the Emperor, who refused to look upon the resources of the 

 state as the patrimony of a few noble families. 



From what has been said respecting the spirit of administration in 

 general, and of that of the finances in particular, we may infer, that 

 under Tiberius the most sacred of all the political interests of society — 

 the fair and impartial administration of justice — was as well secured as 

 was warranted by the prevailing ideas of justice, and by the outward 

 appliances for tlieir realization. Where a wise economy removed all 

 the temptations of pecuniary embarrassment — where cupidity and 

 avarice were foreign to the prince, and were repressed with a firm and 



'* Tliis is one of the many instances which are utterly at variance with the assertion of 

 Tacitus, that Tiberius habiiually concealed his mind, even when he had no motive lor it, 

 (I'ac. Ann. i. 2.) "Tibcriuijiie etiam in rebus c^uas nun ucculeret,seu uatura, sive adsuetudine 

 lutjieiiia temper ct uhacuia verba," 



