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Sejanus.
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125

S E J A N U S

H I S

F A L L.

A   T R A G E D Y.

First Acted in the Year 1603. By the KINGS MAJESTY'S Servants.

With the Allowance of the Master of REVELS.

The Author B. J.
Non hic Centauros, non Gorgonas, Harpyiasque
   Invenies: Hominem pagina nostra sapit.  Mart.

To the no less Noble by VERTUE than BLOOD,

Esme Lord Aubigny.

MY LORD,

I
F ever any Ruine were so great as to survive, I think this be one I send you, The Fall of SEJANUS. It is a Poem, that (if I well remember) in your Lordships sight suffered no less Violence from our People here, than the Subject of it did from the Rage of the People of Rome; but with a different Fate, as (I hope) Merit: For this hath out-liv'd their Malice, and begot it self a greater Favour than he lost, the Love of Good Men. Amongst whom, if I make Your Lordship the first it thanks, it is not without a just Confession of the Bond Your Benefits have, and ever shall hold upon me.

Your Lordships most faithful Honourer,           

BEN. JOHNSON.

126

The A R G U M E N T.

Æ
Lius Sejanus, Son to Seius Strabo, a Gentleman of Rome, and born at Vulsinium, after his long Service in Court, first, under Augustus; afterward, Tiberius; grew into that Favour with the latter, and won him by those Arts, as there wanted nothing but the Name to make him a Co-partner of the Empire. Which Greatness of his, Drusus, the Emperor's Son, not brooking, after many smother'd Dislikes (it one day breaking out) the Prince struck him publickly on the Face. To revenge which Disgrace, Livia, the Wife of Drusus, (being before corrupted by him to her Dishonour, and the Discovery of her Husband's Counsels) Sejanus practiseth with, together with her Physician called Eudemus, and one Lygdus an Eunuch, to poyson Drusus. This their inhumane Act having successful and unsuspected passage, it emboldneth Sejanus to further and more insolent Projects, even the Ambition of the Empire; where finding the Lets he must encounter to be many and hard, in respect of the Issue of Germanicus, (who were next in hope for the Succession) he deviseth to make Tiberius self, his Means, and instils into his Ears many Doubts and Suspicions, both against the Princes, and their Mother Agrippina; which Cæsar jealously hearkning to, as covetously consenteth to their Ruine, and their Friends. In this time, the better to mature and strengthen his Design, Sejanus labours to marry Livia, and worketh (with all his Ingine) to remove Tiberius from the knowledge of Publick Business, with Allurements of a quiet and retired Life; the latter of which, Tiberius (out of a proneness to Lust, and a desire to hide those unnatural Pleasures, which he could not so publickly practise) embraceth: The former enkindleth his Fears, and there gives him first cause of doubt or suspect towards Sejanus: Against whom he raiseth (in private) a new Instrument, one Sertorius Macro, and by him underworketh, discovers the others Counsels, his Means, his Ends, sounds the Affections of the Senators, divides, distracts them: At last, when Sejanus least looketh, and is most secure, (with pretext of doing him an unwonted Honour in the Senate) he trains him from his Guards, and with a long doubtful Letter, in one day hath him suspected, accused, condemned, and torn in pieces, by the Rage of the People.


The PERSONS of the PLAY.

T I B E R I U S.
D R U S U S  sen.
N E R O.
D R U S U S  jun.
C A L I G U L A.
A R R U N T I U S.
S I L I U S.
S A B I N U S.
L E P I D U S.
C O R D U S.
G A L L U S.
R E G U L U S.
T E R E N T I U S.
L A C O.
E U D E M U S.
R U F U S.
 S E J A N U S.
L A T I A R I S.
V A R R O.
M A C R O.
C O T T A.
A F E R.
H A T E R I U S.
S A M Q U I N I U S.
P O M P O N I U S.
P O S T H U M U S.
T R I O.
M I N U T I U S.
S A T R I U S.
N A T T A.
O P S I U S.
T R I B U N I.
A G R I P P I N A. { L I V I A.

 S O S I A.
P R Æ C O N E S.
F L A M E N.
T U B I C I N E S.
N U N T I U S.
 L I C T O R E S.
M I N I S T R I.
T I B I C I N E S.
S E R V U S.



The SCENE

R O M E.


The Principal T R A G œ D I A N S were,

RIC. BURBADGE.
AUG. PHILIPS.
WIL. SLY.
JOH. LOWIN.
 WILL. SHAKESPEAR.
JOH. HEMINGS.
HEN. CONDEL.
ALEX. COOKE.


127
S E J A N U S.

Act I.

Sabinus, Silius, Natta, Latiaris, Cordus, Satrius, Arruntius,
Eudemus, Haterius, &c.

H
Ail, Caius Silius.
   Sil. Titius, Sabinus, Hail.
 Yo' are rarely met in Court!
   Sab. Therefore, well met.
   Sil. 'Tis true: Indeed, this place is not our Sphere.
   Sab. No, Silius, we are no good Inginiers.
We want the fine Arts, and their thriving use,
Should make us grac'd, or favour'd of the times:
We have no shift of Faces, no cleft Tongues,
No soft and glutinous Bodies, that can stick,
Like Snails, or painted Walls; or, on our Breasts,
Creep up, to fall, from that proud height, to which
We did by slavery, not by service, climb.
We are no guilty Men, and then no great;
We have no place in Court, office in State,
That we can say, we owe unto our Crimes:
We burn with no black Secrets, which can make
Us dear to the pale Authors; or live fear'd
Of their still waking Jealousies, to raise
Our selves a Fortune, by subverting theirs:
We stand not in the Lines, that do advance
To that so courted Point.   Sil. But yonder lean
a pair that do.   (Sab. Good Cousin Latiaris.)
   Sil. Satrius Secundus, and Pinnarius Natta,
The great Sejanus Clients: There be two,
Know more, than honest Councels: whose close Breasts,
Were they rip't up to light, it would be found
A poor and idle sin, to which their Trunks
Had not been made fit Organs. These can lye,
Flatter, and swear, forswear, deprave, inform,
Smile, and betray; make guilty Men; then beg
The forfeit Lives, to get the Livings; cut
Mens Throats with Whisperings; sell to gaping Sutors
The empty Smoke, that flies about the Palace;
Laugh when their Patron laughs; sweat when he sweats;
Be hot and cold with him; change every Mood,
Habit, and Garb, as often as he varies;
Observe him, as his Watch observes his Clock;
And true, ar Turkiseas Turquoise in the dear Lords Ring,
Look well, or ill with him: ready to praise
His Lordship, if he spit, or but piss fair,
Have an indifferent stool, or break wind well;
Nothing can scape their catch.   Sab. Alas! these things
Deserve no note, confer'd with other vile,
And filthier Flatterers, that corrupt the Times:
When, not alone our Gentries chief are fain
To make their safety from such sordid acts,
But all our Consuls, and no little part
Of such as have been Prætors, yea, the most
Pedarii.
Of Senators (that else not use their Voices)
Start up in publick Senate, and there strive
Who shall propound most abject things, and base;
So much, as oft Tiberius hath been heard,
Leaving the Court, to cry, O race of Men,
Prepar'd for servitude! which shew'd, that he,
Who least the publick liberty could like,
As lothly brook'd their flat servility.
   Sil. Well, all is worthy of us, were it more,
Who with our Riots, Pride, and civil Hate,

[column break]

Have so provok'd the Justice of the Gods.
We, that (within these fourscore Years) were born
Free, equal Lords of the triumphed world,
And knew no Masters, but Affections;
To which betraying first our Liberties,
We since became the slaves to one Man's Lusts;
And now to many: every ministring Spy
That will accuse, and swear, is Lord of you,
Of me, of all our Fortunes, and our Lives.
Our looks are call'd to question, and our words,
How innocent soever, are made Crimes;
We shall not shortly dare to tell our Dreams,
Or think, but 'twill be Treason.   Sab. "Tyrants Arts
"Are to give Flatterers, grace; Accusers, power;
"That those may seem to kill whom they devour.
Now good Cremutius Cordus.
   Cor. Hail to your Lordship.
   Nat. Who's that salutes your Cousin?
[They whisper.
   Lat. 'Tis one Cordus,
A Gentleman of Rome: one, that has writ
Annals of late, they say, and very well.
   Nat. Annals? of what Times?   Lat. I think of Pompey's,
And Caius Cæsar's; and so down to these.
   Nat. How stands h' affected to the present State?
Is he or Drusian? or Germanican?
Or ours? or Neutral?   Lat. I know him not so far.
   Nat. Those times are somewhat queasie to be toucht.
Have you or seen or heard part of his work?
   Lat. Not I, he means they shall be publick shortly.
   Nat. O, Cordus do you call him?
   Lat. I, Sab. but these our Times
Are not the same, Arruntius.   Arr. Times? the Men,
The Men are not the same: 'tis we are base,
Poor, and degenerate from th' exalted strain
Of our great Fathers. Where is now the Soul
Of God-like Cato? he, that durst be good,
When Cæsar durst be evil; and had power,
As not to live his Slave, to die his Master.
Or where's the constant Brutus? that (being proof
Against all Charm of Benefits) did strike
So brave a blow into the Monsters Heart
That fought unkindly to captive his Country?
O, they are fled the Light. Those mighty Spirits
Lie rak'd up, with their Ashes in their Urns,
And not a spark of their eternal Fire
Glows in a present Bosom. All's but blaze,
Flashes, and smoke, wherewith we labour so,
There's nothing Roman in us; nothing Good,
Gallant, or Great: 'Tis true, that Cordus says,
Brave Cassius was the last of all that Race.
[Drusus passeth by.

   Sab. Stand by, Lord Drusus.
   Hat. Th' Emperours Son, give place.
   Sil. I like the Prince well.   Arr. A riotous youth.
There's little hope of him.   Sab. That fault his Age
Will, as it grows, correct. Methinks he bears
Himself, each Day, more Nobly than other:
And wins no less on Mens Affections,
Than doth his Father lose. Believe me, I love him;
And chiefly for opposing to Sejanus.
   Sil. And I, for gracing his young Kinsmen so,
The Sons of Prince Germanicus: It shews
A gallant Cleerness in him, a straight Mind,
That envies not, in them, their Fathers Name.
Arr. His


128 Sejanus.                     

   Arr. His name was, while he liv'd, above all envy;
And being dead, without it. O, that Man!
If there were Seeds of the old vertue left,
They liv'd in him.   Sil. He had the Fruits, Arruntius,
More than the Seeds: Sabinus, and my self
Had means to know him, within; and can report him.
We were his followers, (he would call us Friends.)
He was a Man most like to vertue; In all,
And every action, nearer to the Gods,
Than Men, in Nature; of a Body as fair
As was his Mind; and no less reverend
In Face, than Fame: He could so use his state,
Temp'ring his Greatness, with his Gravity,
As it avoided all self-love in him,
And spight in others. What his Funerals lack'd
In Images, and Pomp, they had suppli'd
With honourable sorrow, Soldiers sadness,
A kind of silent Mourning, such, as Men
(Who know no Tears, but from their Captives) use
To shew in so great losses.   Cor. I thought once,
Considering their Forms, Age, manner of Deaths,
The nearness of the places, where they fell,
T' have paralell'd him with great Alexander:
For both were of best Feature, of high Race,
Year'd but to thirty, and, in Foreign Lands,
By their own People, alike made away.
   Sab. I know not, for his Death, how you might wrest it:
But, for his Life, it did as much disdain
Comparison, with that voluptuous, rash,
Giddy, and drunken Macedon's, as mine
Doth with my Bond-mans. All the good, in him,
(His Valour, and his Fortune) he made his;
But he had other touches of late Romans,
That more did speak him: Pompey's Dignity,
The Innocence of Cato, Cæsar's Spirit,
Wise Brutus Temp'rance; and every Vertue,
Which, parted unto others, gave them name,
Flow'd mixt in him. He was the Soul of Goodness:
And all our Praises of him are like Streams
Drawn from a Spring, that still rise full, and leave
The part remaining greatest.   Arr. I am sure
He was too great for us, and that they knew
Who did remove him hence.   Sab. When Men grow fast
Honour'd, and lov'd, there is a trick in State
(Which jealous Princes never fail to use)
How to decline that growth, with fair pretext,
And honourable colours of employment,
Either by Embassie, the War, or such,
To shift them forth into another Air,
Where they may purge, and lessen; so was he:
And had his seconds there, sent by Tiberius,
And his more subtile Dam, to discontent him;
To breed, and cherish Mutinies; detract
His greatest Actions; give audacious check
To his Commands; and work to put him out
In open act of Treason. All which snares
When his wise cares prevented, a fine Poyson
Was thought on, to mature their practices.
   Cor. Here comes Sejanus.   Sil. Now observe the stoops,
The bendings, and the falls.   Arr. Most creeping base!

[They pass over
    the Stage.
         Sejanus, Satrius, Terentius, &c.


I
 Note 'em well: No more. Say you.   Sat. My Lord,
 There is a Gentleman of Rome would buy ——
   Sej. How call you him you talk'd with?
   Sat. 'Please your Lordship, it is Eudemus, the Physician
To Livia, Drusus's Wife.   Sej. On with your Sute.
Would buy, you said —   Sat. A Tribunes place, my Lord.
   Sej. What will he give?   Sat. Fifty Sestertia.
   Sej. Livia's Physician, say you, is that Fellow?

[column break]

   Sat. It is, my Lord, your Lordships answer.
   Sej. To what?
   Sat. The Place, my Lord. 'Tis for a Gentleman,
Your Lordship will well like of, when you see him;
And one, you make yours, by the grant.
   Sej. Well, let him bring Money, and his Name.
   Sat. 'Thank your Lordship. He shall, my Lord.
   Sej. Come hither.
Know you this same Eudemus? Is he learn'd?
   Sat. Reputed so, my Lord, and of deep practice.
   Sej. Bring him in, to me, in the Gallery;
And take you cause to leave us there together:
I would confer with him, about a grief. — On.
   Arr. So, yet! another? yet? O desperate state
Of grov'ling honour! Seest thou this, O Son,
And do we see thee after? Methinks, day
Should lose his light, when Men do lose their shames,
And for the empty circumstance of life,
Betray their cause of living.   Sil. Nothing so.
Sejanus can repair, if Jove should ruine.
He is the now Court-god; And well applied
With sacrifice of Knees, of Crooks, and Cringe;
He will do more than all the House of Heav'n
Can, for a thousand Hecatombs. 'Tis he
Makes us our Day, or Night; Hell, and Elysium
Are in his look: We talk of Rhadamanth,
Furies, and Fire-brands; But 'tis his frown
That is all these; where, on the adverse part,
His smile is more, than e're (yet) Poets fain'd
Of Bliss, and Shades, Nectar — Arr. A serving Boy!
I knew him, at Caius trencher, when for hire,
He prostituted his abused Body
To that great gormond, fat Apicius;
And was the noted Pathick of the time.
   Sab. And, now, the second face of the whole World.
The partner of the Empire, hath his Image
Rear'd equal with Tiberius, born in Ensigns,
Commands, disposes every Dignity,
Centurions, Tribunes, Heads of Provinces,
Prætors, and Consuls; all that heretofore
Romes general suffrage gave, is now his sale.
The gain, or rather spoil, of all the Earth,
One, and his House, receives.   Sil. He hath of late
Made him a strength too, strangely, by reducing
All the Prætorian Bands into one Camp,
Which he commands: pretending that the Soldier
By living loose, and scattered, fell to Riot;
And that if any sudden Enterprise
Should be attempted, their united strength
Would be far more than sever'd; and their life
More strict, if from the City more remov'd.
   Sab. Where, now, he builds, what kind of Fort's he please,
Is hardheard to court the Soldier, by his name,
Wooes, feasts the chiefest Men of action,
Whose wants, not loves, compel them to be his.
And though he ne'r were liberal by kind,
Yet, to his own dark ends, he's most profuse,
Lavish, and letting fly, he cares not what
To his Ambition.   Arr. Yet, hath he Ambition?
Is there that step in State can make him higher?
Or more? or any thing he is, but less?
   Sil. Nothing, but Emp'rour.   Ar. The name Tiberius
I hope, will keep; how ere he hath fore-gone
The Dignity, and Power.   Sil. Sure, while he lives.
   Arr. And dead, it comes to Drusus. Should he fail,
To the brave issue of Germanicus;
And they are three: Too many (ha?) for him
To have a Plot upon?   Sab. I do not know
The Heart of his Designs; but, sure, their Face
Looks farther than the present.   Arr. By the Gods,
If I could guess he had but such a thought,
My Sword should cleave him down from Head to Heart,
But I would find it out: and with my Hand
I'ld hurl his panting Brain about the Air,
In


             Sejanus. 129

In Mites, as small as Atomes, to undo
The knotted Bed — Sab. You are observ'd Arruntius.
   Arr. Death! I dare to tell him so; and all his Spies:
[He turns to Sejanus Clyents.

You, Sir, I would, do you look? and you.   Sab. Forbear.

Satrius, Eudemus, Sejanus.

H
Ere' he will instant be: Let's walk a turn;
 Yo' are in a muse, Eudemus?   Eud. Not I, Sir.
I wonder he should mark me out so! well,
Jove and Apollo form it for the best.
   Sat. Your Fortune's made unto you now, Eudemus,
If you can but lay hold upon the means;
Do but observe his humour, and — believe it —
He's the noblest Roman, where he takes —
Here comes his Lordship.   Sej. Now, good Satrius.
   Sat. This is the Gentleman, my Lord.   Sej. Is this?
Give me your hand, we must be more acquainted.
Report, Sir, hath spoken out your Art and Learning:
And I am glad I have so needful cause,
(However in it self painful and hard)
To make me known to so great Vertue. Look,
Who's that? Satrius —— I have a grief, Sir,
That will desire your help. Your name's Eudemus?
   Eud. Yes. Sej. Sir? Eud. It is, my Lord. Sej. I hear you are
Physician to Livia, the Princess?
   Eud. I minister unto her, my good Lord.
   Sej. You minister to a Royal Lady then.
   Eud. She is, my Lord, and Fair.   Sej. That's understood
Of all their Sex, who are or would be so;
And those that would be, Physick soon can make 'em:
For those that are, their Beauties fear no Colours.
   Eud. Your Lordship is conceited.   Sej. Sir, you know it.
And can (if need be) read a learned Lecture,
On this, and other Secrets. 'Pray you tell me,
What more of Ladies, besides Livia,
Have you your Patients?   Eud. Many, my good Lord.
The great Augusta, Urgulania,
Mutilia, Prisca, and Plancina; divers ——
   Sej. And, all these tell you the Particulars
Of every several Grief? how first it grew,
And then increas'd, what Action caused that;
What Passion that: and answer to each Point
That you will put 'em.   Eud. Else, my Lord, we know not
How to prescribe the Remedies.   Sej. Go to,
Yo' are a subtil Nation, you Physicians!
And grown the only Cabinets in Court,
To Ladies Privacies. Faith, which of these
Is the most pleasunt Lady in her Physick?
Come, you are modest now.   Eud. 'Tis fit, my Lord.
   Sej. Why, Sir, I do not ask you of their Urines,
Whose smels most Violet? or whose Seige is best?
Or who makes hardest Faces on her Stool?
Which Lady sleeps with her own Face a Nights?
Which puts her Teeth off, with her Clothes in Court?
Or, which her Hair? which her Complexion?
And, in which Box she puts it? These were questions,
That might, perhaps, have put your Gravity
To some defence of blush. But, I enquir'd,
Which was the wittiest? merriest? wantonnest?
Harmless Intergatories,Inter'gatories but Conceits.
Methinks, Augusta should be most perverse,
And froward in her Fit?   Eud. She's so, my Lord.
   Sej. I knew it. And Mutilia the most jocund.
   Eud. 'Tis very true, my Lord.   Sej. And why would you
Conceal this from me, now? Come, what's Livia?
I know she's quick and quaintly spirited,
And will have strange thoughts, when she's at leisure?
She tells 'em all to you.   Eud. My noblest Lord,
He breathes not in the Empire, or on Earth,
Whom I would be ambitious to serve
(In any act, that may preserve mine Honour)
Before your Lordship.   Sej. Sir, you can lose no honour,

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By trusting ought to me. The coursest act
Done to my Service, I can so requite,
As all the World shall stile it honourable:
"Your idle vertuous definitions
"Keep honour poor, and are as scorn'd as vain:
"Those Deeds breath Honour that do suck in gain.
   Eud. But, good my Lord, if I should thus betray
The Counsels of my Patient, and a Ladies
Of her high place and worth; what might your Lordship,
(Who presently are to trust me with your own)
Judg of my Faith?   Sej. Only the best I swear.
Say now that I should utter you my Grief;
And with it the true Cause; that it were Love,
And love to Livia; you should tell her this?
Should she suspect your Faith? I would you could
Tell me as much from her; see if my Brain
Could be turn'd jealous.   Eud. Happily, my Lord,
I could, in time, tell you as much and more;
So I might safely promise but the first
To her, from you.   Sej. As safely, my Eudemus,
(I now dare call thee so) as I have put
The Secret into thee.   Eud. My Lord — Sej. Protest not.
Thy looks are Vows to me, use only speed,
And but affect her with Sejanus's love,
Thou art a Man, made to make Consuls. Go.
   Eud. My Lord, I'll promise you a private meeting
This day together. Sej. Canst thou? Eud. Yes. Sej. The place?
   Eud. My Gardens, whither I shall fetch your Lordship.
   Sej. Let me adore my Æsculapius.
Why, this indeed is Physick! and out-speaks
The knowledge of cheap Drugs, or any use
Can be made out of it! more comforting
ThenThan all your Opiates, Juleps, Apozemes,
Magistral Syrrups, or — Be gone my Friend
Not barely stiled, but created so;
Expect things greater than thy largest hopes,
To overtake thee: Fortune shall be taught
To know how ill she hath deserv'd thus long,
To come behind thy wishes. Go, and speed.
"Ambition makes most trusty Slaves than need.
These Fellows, by the favour of their Art,
Have still the means to tempt; oft-times the Power.
If Livia will be now corrupted, then
Thou hast the way, Sejanus, to work out
His Secrets, who (thou knowst) endures thee not,
Her Husband Drusus: and to work against them.
Prosper it, Pallas, thou that betterst Wit;
For Venus hath the smallest share in it.

Tiberius, Sejanus, Drusus.

[One
kneels
to him.
W
E not endure these Flatteries, let him stand;
 Our Empire, Ensigns, Axes, Rods and State
Take not away our human nature from us:
Look up, on us, and fall before the Gods.
   Sej. How like a God speaks Cæsar! Arr. There, observe!
He can endure that second, that's no flattery.
O, what is it, proud Slime will not believe
Of his own worth, to hear it equal prais'd
Thus with the Gods?   Cor. He did not hear it, Sir?
   Arr. He did not. Tut, he must not, we think meanly.
'Tis your most courtly known Confederacy,
To have your private Parasite redeem
What he in publick subtilty will lose
To making him a Name.   Hat. Right mighty Lord —
   Tib. We must make up our Ears 'gainst these Assaults
Of charming Tongues; we pray you use no more
These Contumelies to us; stile not us
Or Lord, or Mighty, who profess our self
The Servant of the Senate, and are proud
T' enjoy them our good, just, and favouring Lords.
   Cor. Rarely dissembled.   Arr. Prince-like to the Life.
   Sab. 'When power, that may command, so much descends,
'Their Bondage, whom it stoops to, it intends.
S                                              Tib.       


130 Sejanus.                     

   Tib. Whence are these Letters?   Hat. From the Senate.
      Tib. So.
Whence these?   Lat. From thence too.   Tib. Are they
      sitting now?
   Lat. They stay thy answer, Cæsar.   Sil. If this Man
Had but a mind allied unto his words,
How blest a fate were it to us, and Rome?
We could not think that State for which to change,
Although the aym were our old Liberty:
The Ghosts of those that fell for that, would grieve
Their Bodies liv'd not, now, again to serve.
"Men are deceiv'd, who think there can be thrall
"Beneath a Vertuous Prince. Wish'd liberty
"Ne're lovelier looks, than under such a Crown.
But, when his Grace is meerly but Lip-good,
And, that no longer than he airs himself
Abroad in publick, there, to seem to shun
The strokes, and stripes of Flatterers, which within
Are Lechery unto him, and so feed
His brutish sense with their afflicting sound,
As (dead to Vertue) he permits himself
Be carried like a Pitcher by the Ears,
To every act of Vice: this is a Case
Deserves our fear, and doth presage the nigh
And close approach of Blood and Tyranny.
"Flattery is Midwife unto Princes rage:
"And nothing sooner, doth help forth a Tyran,
"ThenThan that, and whisperers grace, who have the time,
"The place, the power, to make all Men Offenders.
   Arr. He should be told this; and be bid dissemble
With Fools and blind Men: we that know the evil,
Should hunt the Palace-rats, or give them bane;
Fright hence these worse than Ravens, that devour
The quick, where they but prey upon the Dead:
He shall be told it.   Sab. Stay, Arruntius,
We must abide our opportunity:
And practise what is fit, as what is needful.
"It is not safe t' enforce a Soveraigns Ear:
"Princes hear well, if they at all will hear.
   Arr. Ha? Say you so, well. In the mean time, Jove,
(Say not, but I do call upon thee now,)
Of all wild Beasts preserve me from a Tyran;
And of all tame, a Flatterer.   Sil. 'Tis well pray'd.
   Tib. Return the Lords this Voice, we are their Creature:
And it is fit, a good and honest Prince,
Whom they out of their Bounty have instructed
VVith so dilate and absolute a Power,
Should owe the Office of it to their Service,
And good of all and every Citizen.
Nor shall it e're repent us to have wish'd
The Senate just, and fav'ring Lords unto us,
"Since their free loves do yield no less defence
"T' a Princes State, than his own Innocence.
Say then, there can be nothing in their thought
Shall want to please us, that hath pleased them;
Our suffrage rather shall prevent, than stay
Behind their Wills: 'tis Empire, to obey,
Where such, so great, so grave, so good determine.
Yet, for the sute of Spain, t' erect a Temple
In honour of our Mother, and our self,
We must (with Pardon of the Senate) not
Assent thereto. Their Lordships may object
Our not denying the same late request
Unto the Asian Cities: We desire
That our defence for suffering that be known
In these brief Reasons, with our after purpose.
Since deified Augustus hindred not
A Temple to be built at Pergamum,
In honour of himself, and sacred Rome;
We, that have all his Deeds and Words observ'd
Ever, in Place of Laws, the rather follow'd
That pleasing President, because with ours,
The Senates reverence also, there, was joyn'd.
But, as, t' have once receiv'd it, may deserve

[column break]

The gain of pardon; so, to be ador'd
With the continu'd Stile, and note of Gods,
Through all the Provinces, were wild Ambition,
And no less pride: Yea even Augustus's name
Would early vanish, should it be prophan'd
With such promiscuous Flatteries. For our part,
We here protest it, and are covetous
Posterity should know it, we are mortal;
And can but Deeds of Men: 'twere Glory enough,
Could we be truly a Prince. And, they shall add
Abounding Grace unto our Memory,
That shall report us worthy our Fore-fathers,
Careful of your Affairs, constant in Dangers,
And not afraid of any private Frown
For publick good. These things shall be to us
Temples, and Statues, reared in our Minds,
The fairest, and most during imag'ry:
For those of Stone, or Brass, if they become
Odious in Judgment of Posterity,
Are more contemn'd as dying Sepulchres,
Than tane for living Monuments. We then
Make here our sute, alike to Gods and Men,
The one, until the Period of our Race,
T' inspire us with a free and quiet Mind,
Discerning both divine and human Laws;
The other, to vouchsafe us after death,
An honourable mention, and fair praise,
T' accompany our Actions and our Name:
The rest of greatness Princes may Command,
And (therefore) may neglect; only, a long,
A lasting, high, and happy Memory
They should, without being satisfied, pursue.
Contempt of Fame begets contempt of Vertue.
   Nat. Rare! Sat. Most divine: Sej. The Oracles are ceas'd,
That only Cæsar, with their Tongue might speak.
   Arr. Let me be gone, most felt, and open this!
   Cor. Stay.   Arr. What, to hear more cunning, and fine
      words,
VVith their sound flatter'd, e're their Sense be meant?
   Tib.Their choise of Antium, there to place the Gift
Vow'd to the Goddess for our Mothers health,
Fortuna e-
questris.
VVe will the Senate know, we fairly like;
As also of their grant to Lepidus,
For his repairing the Æmilian Place,
And restauration of those Monuments:
Their grace too in confining of Silanus,
To th' other Isle Cithera; and the sute
Of his Religious Sister, much commends
Their Policy, so temp'red with their Mercy.
But for the Honours which they have decreed
To our Sejanus, to advance his Statue
In Pompey's Theatre (whose ruining Fire
His vigilance, and labour kept restrain'd
In that one loss) they have, therein out-gone
Their own great Wisdoms, by their skilful choice,
And placing of their Bounties on a Man,
Whose merit more adorns the Dignity,
Than that can him: and gives a benefit,
In taking, greater than it can receive.
Blush not, Sejanus, thou great aid of Rome,
Associate of our labours, our chief helper;
Let us not force thy simple modesty
With offering at thy Praise, for more we cannot,
Since there's no Voice can take it. No Man here,
Receive our Speeches as Hyperboles:
For we are far from flattering our Friend,
(Let Envy know) as from the need to flatter.
Nor let them ask the Causes of our Praise;
Princes have still their grounds rear'd with themselves,
Above the poor low flats of common Men;
And, who will search the Reasons of their Acts,
Must stand on equal bases. Lead away.
Our loves unto the Senate.   Arr. Cæsar.   Sab. Peace.
   Cor. Great Pompey's Theatre was never ruin'd
Till


             Sejanus. 131

Till now, that proud Sejanus hath a Statue
Rear'd on his Ashes.   Arr. Place the shame of Soldiers,
Above the best of Generals? crack the World!
And bruise the name of Romans into Dust,
E're we behold it!   Sil. Check your Passion;
Lord Drusus tarries.   Dru. Is my Father mad?
Weary of Life, and Rule, Lords? thus to heave
An Idol up with praise! make him his Mate!
His rival in the Empire!   Arr. O, good Prince.
   Dru. Allow him Statues, Titles, Honours, such,
As he himself refuseth?   Arr. Brave, brave Drusus!
   Dru. The first ascents to Soveraignty are hard;
But entred once there never wants or Means,
Or Ministers, to help th' Aspirer on.
   Arr. True, Gallant Drusus.   Dru. We must shortly pray
To Modesty, that he will rest contented ——
   Arr. I, where he is, and not write Emperor.

He enters, follow'd
   with Clients.
    Sejanus, Drusus, Arruntius, &c.

T
Here is your Bill, and yours; Bring you your Man:
 I have mov'd for you, too, Latiaris.   Dru. What?
Is your vast greatness grown so blindly bold,
That you will over us?   Sej. Why, then give way.
   Dru. Give way, Colossus? Do you list? Advance you?
Take that.   Arr. Good! brave! excellent brave Prince!
[Drusus strikes him.

   Dru. Nay, come, approach. What, stand you off? at gaze?
It looks too full of death for thy cold Spirits.
Avoid mine Eye, dull Camel, or my Sword
Shall make thy brav'ry fitter for a Grave,
Than for a triumph. I'll advance a Statue,
O' your own bulk; but't shall be on the Cross:
Where I will nail your Pride at bredth and length,
And crack those Sinews, which are yet but stretch'd
With your swoln Fortunes rage.   Arr. A noble Prince!
   All. A Castor, a Castor, a Castor, a Castor!

Sejanus.

H
E that, with such wrong mov'd, can bear it through
 With Patience, and an even Mind, knows how
To turn it back. Wrath cover'd carries fate:
Revenge is lost, if I profess my hate.
What was my practise late, I'll now pursue
As my fell Justice. This hath stil'd it new.
C H O R U S —— Of Musicians.

Act II.

Sejanus, Livia, Eudemus.

P
Hysician, thou art worthy of a Province,
 For the great favours done unto our loves;
And, but that greatest Livia bears a part
In the requital of thy Services,
I should alone despair of ought like means,
To give them worthy satisfaction.
   Liv. Eudemus (I will see it) shall receive
A fit and full Reward for his large Merit.
But for this Potion, we intend to Drusus,
(No more our Husband, now) whom shall we choose
As the most apt and ablest Instrument,
To Minister it to him?   Eud. I say, Lygdus.
   Sej. Lygdus? what's he?   Liv. An Eunuch Drusus loves.
   Eud. I, and his Cup-bearer.   Sej. Name not a second.
If Drusus love him, and he have that Place,
We cannot think a fitter.   Eud. True, my Lord.
For free access, and trust, are two main aids.
   Sej. Skilful Physician!   Liv. But he must be wrought
To th' undertaking, with some labour'd Art.
   Sej. Is he ambitious?   Liv. No.   Sej. Or covetous?
   Liv. Neither.   Eud. Yet, Gold is a good general Charm.

[column break]

   Sej. What is he then?   Liv. Faith only wanton light.
   Sej. How! Is he young, and fair?   Eud. A delicate youth.
   Sej. Send him to me, I'll work him. Royal Lady,
Though I have lov'd you long, and with that height
Of zeal, and duty, (like the Fire, which more
It mounts it trembles) thinking nought could add
Unto the fervour, which your Eye had kindled;
Yet, now I see your Wisdom, Judgment, Strength,
Quickness, and Will, to apprehend the means
To your own good and greatness, I protest
My self through rarified, and turn'd all Flame
In your affection: Such a Spirit as yours,
Was not created for the idle second,
To a poor flash, as Drusus; but to shine
Bright as the Moon among the lesser Lights,
And share the Sov'reignty of all the World.
Then Livia triumphs in her proper Sphear,
When she, and her Sejanus shall divide
The Name of Cæsar, and Augusta's Star
Be dimm'd with Glory of a brighter Beam:
When Agrippina's Fires are quite extinct,
And the scarce seen Tiberius borrows all
His little Light from us, whose folded Arms
Shall make one perfect Orb. Who's that? Eudemus,
Look, 'tis not Drusus? Lady, do not fear.
   Liv. Not I, my Lord. My fear and love of him
Left me at once.   Sej. Illustrious Lady! stay ——
   Eud. I'll tell his Lordship.   Sej. Who is't, Eudemus?
   Eud. One of your Lordships Servants brings you word
The Emp'ror hath sent for you.   Sej. O: where is he?
With your fair leave, dear Princess. I'll but ask
A Question, and return.   Eud. Fortunate Princess!
[He goes out.
How are you blest in the fruition
Of this unequal'd Man, this Soul of Rome,
The Empires Life, and Voice of Cæsar's World!
   Liv. So blessed, my Eudemus, as to know
The Bliss I have, with what I ought to owe
The means that wrought it. How do I look to day?
   Eud. Excellent clear, believe it. This same fucus
Was well laid on.   Liv. Methinks 'tis here not white.
   Eud. Lend me your Scarlet, Lady. 'Tis the Sun
Hath giv'n some little taint unto the Ceruse,
You should have us'd of the white Oyl I gave you.
Sejanus, for your love! his very Name
Commandeth above Cupid or his Shafts —
   (Liv. Nay, now yo' have made it worse.   Eud. I'll
      help it straight.)
And, but pronounc'd, is a sufficient Charm
Against all Rumour; and of absolute power
To satisfie for any Ladies Honour.
   (Liv. What do you now, Eudemus?   Eud. Make a
      light fucus,
To touch you o're withal.) Honour'd Sejanus!
What act (though ne're so strange and insolent)
But that addition will at least bear out,
If't do not expiate?   Liv. Here, good Physician.
   Eud. I like this Study to preserve the love
Of such a Man, that comes not every hour
To greet the World. ('Tis now well, Lady, you should
Use of the Dentifrice I prescrib'd you too,
To clear your Teeth, and the prepar'd Pomatum,
To smooth the Skin:) A Lady cannot be
Too curious of her form, that still would hold
The Heart of such a Person, made her Captive,
As you have his: who, to endear him more
In your clear Eye, hath put away his Wife,
The trouble of his Bed, and your Delights,
Fair Apicata, and made spacious room
To your new Pleasures.   Liv. How not we return'd
That with our hate of Drusus, and discovery
Of all his Counsels?   Eud. Yes, and wisely, Lady,
The ages that succeed, and stand far off
To gaze at your high Prudence, shall admire,
And reckon it an act, without your Sex:
S 2                                       It       


132 Sejanus.                     

It hath that rare appearance. Some will think
Your fortune could not yield a deeper sound,
Than mixt with Drusus: But, when they shall hear
That, and the Thunder of Sejanus meet,
Sejanus, whose high name doth strike the Stars,
And rings about the Concave, great Sejanus,
Whose Glories, Stile, and Titles are himself,
The often iterating of Sejanus:
They then will lose their thoughts, and be asham'd
To take acquaintance of them.   Sej. I must make
A rude departure, Lady. Cæsar sends
With all his haste both of Command and Prayer.
Be resolute in our Plot; you have my Soul,
As certain yours as it is my Bodies.
And, wise Physician, so prepare the Poyson,
As you may lay the subtil Operation
Upon some natural Disease of his.
Your Eunuch send to me. I kiss your Hands,
Glory of Ladies, and commend my Love
To your best Faith and Memory.   Liv. My Lord,
I shall but change your words. Farewel. Yet, this
Remember for your heed, he loves you not;
You know what I have told you: His designs
Are full of grudge and danger: we must use
More than a common speed.   Sej. Excellent Lady,
How you do fire my Blood!   Liv. Well, you must go?
The thoughts be best, are least set forth to shew.
   Eud. When will you take some Physick, Lady?
   Liv. When I shall, Eudemus: But let Drusus Drug
Be first prepar'd.   Eud. Were Lygdus made, that's done;
I have it ready. And to morrow Morning
I'll send you a Perfume, first to resolve
And procure Sweat, then prepare a Bath
To cleanse and clear the Cutis; against when
I'll have an excellent new Fucus made,
Resistive 'against'gainst the Sun, the Rain or Wind,
Which you shall lay on with a Breath or Oyl,
As you best like, and last some fourteen Hours.
This change came timely, Lady, for your Health,
And the restoring your Complexion,
Which Drusus Choler had almost burnt up:
Wherein your Fortune hath prescrib'd you better
Than Art could do.   Liv. Thanks, good Physician,
I'll use my Fortune (you shall see) with reverence.
Is my Coach ready?   Eud. It attends your Highness.

Sejanus.

I
F this be not Revenge, when I have done
 And made it perfect, let Ægyptian Slaves,
Parthians, and Bare-foot Hebrews brand my Face,
And print my Body full of Injuries.
Thou lost thy self, Child Drusus, when thou thought'st
Thou could'st out-skip my Vengeance: or out-stand
The Power I had to crush thee into Air.
Thy Follies now shall taste what kind of Man
They have provok'd, and this thy Fathers House
Crack in the Flame of my incensed Rage,
Whose fury shall admit no shame or mean.
Adultery? it is the lightest ill,
I will commit. A race of wicked Acts
Shall flow out of my Anger, and o're-spread
The Worlds wide Face, which no Posterity
Shall e're approve, nor yet keep silent: Things
That for their cunning, close, and cruel mark,
Thy Father would wish his; and shall (perhaps)
Carry the empty Name, but we the Prize.
On then my Soul, and start not in thy Course;
Though Heav'n drop Sulphur, and Hell belch out Fire,
Laugh at the idle Terrors: Tell proud Jove,
Between his Power and thine there is no odds:
'Twas only fear first in the World made Gods.

[column break]

Tiberius, Sejanus.

I
S yet Sejanus come?   Sej. He's here, dread Cæsar.
   Tib. Let all depart that Chamber, and the next:
Sit down, my Comfort. When the Master Prince
Of all the World, Sejanus, saith he fears;
Is it not fatal?   Sej. Yes, to those are fear'd.
   Tib. And not to him?   Sej. Not, if he wisely turn
That part of fate he holdeth, first on them.
   Tib. That Nature, Blood, and Laws of kind forbid.
   Sej. Do Policy and State forbid it?   Tib. No.
   Sej. The rest of poor respects, then, let go by:
State is enough to make th' act just, them guilty.
   Tib. Long hate pursues such Acts.
   Sej. Whom hatred frights,
Let him not dream of sov'raignty.   Tib. Are Rites
Of Faith, Love, Piety, to be trod down,
Forgotten, and made vain?   Sej. All for a Crown.
The Prince who shames a Tyrants name to bear,
Shall never dare do any thing, but fear;
All the Command of Scepters quite doth perish
If it begin Religious thoughts to cherish:
Whole Empires fall, swayd by those nice respects;
It is the License of dark Deeds protects
Ev'n States most hated: when no Laws resist
The Sword, but that it acteth what it list.
   Tib. Yet so, we may do all things cruelly,
Not safely:   Sej. Yes, and do them throughly.
   Tib. Knows yet Sejanus whom we point at?   Sej. I,
Or else my Thought, my Sense, or both do err:
'Tis Agrippina?   Tib. She, and her proud Race.
   Sej. Proud? dangerous, Cæsar. For in them apace
The Fathers Spirit shoots up. Germanicus
Lives in their Looks, their Gate, their Form, t' upbraid us
With this close Death, if not revenge the same.
   Tib. The Act's not known.
   Sej. Not prov'd: But whispering Fame
Knowledg and proof doth to the Jealous give,
Who, then to fail, would their own thought believe.
It is not safe, the Children draw long breath,
That are provoked by a Parents death.
   Tib. It is as dangerous to make them hence,
If nothing but their Birth be their offence.
   Sej. Stay, till they strike at Cæsar: then their Crime
Will be enough, but late and out of time
For him to punish.   Tib. Do they purpose it?
   Sej. You know, Sir, Thunder speaks not till it hit.
Be not secure: none swiftlyer are opprest,
Than they whom Confidence betrays to rest.
Let not your daring make your danger such:
All Power's to be fear'd, where 'tis too much.
The Youths are (of themselves) hot, violent,
Full of great thought; and that Male-spirited Dame
Their Mother, slacks no means to put them on.
By large Allowance, popular Presentings,
Increase of Train, and State, suing for Titles;
Hath them commended with like Prayers, like Vows,
To the same Gods, with Cæsar: days and nights
She spends in Banquets and ambitious Feasts
For the Nobility; where Caius Silius,
Titius, Sabinus, old Arruntius,
Asinius Gallus, Furnius, Regulus,
And others of that discontented List,
Are the prime Guests. There, and to these, she tells
Whose Niece she was, whose Daughter, and whose Wife;
And then must they compare her with Augusta;
I, and prefer her too; commend her Form,
Extol her Fruitfulness; at which a showr
Falls for the Memory of Germanicus,
Which they blow over strait with windy Praise,
And puffing hopes of her aspiring Sons,
Who, with these hourly ticklings grow so pleas'd,
And wantonly conceited of themselves,
As


             Sejanus. 133

As now, they stick not to believe they're such,
As these do give 'em out: and would be thought
(More than Competitors) immediate Heirs.
Whilst to their thirst of Rule they win the rout
(That's still the Friend of Novelty) with hope
Of future Freedom, which on every change,
That greedily, though emptily, expects.
Cæsar, 'tis age in all things breeds neglects,
And Princes that will keep old Dignity,
Must not admit too youthful Heirs stand by;
Not their own issue; but so darkly set
As shadows are in Picture, to give height,
And lustre to themselves.   Tib. We will command
Their rank thoughts down, and with a stricter hand
Than we have yet put forth, their trains must bate,
Their titles, feasts and factions.   Sej. Or your state.
But how, Sir, will you work?
   Tib. Confine 'em.   Sej. No.
They are too great, and that too faint a blow,
To give them now: it would have serv'd at first,
When, with the weakest touch, their knot had burst.
But, now, your care must be, not to detect
The smallest Cord, or Line of your suspect;
For such, who know the weight of Princes Fear,
Will, when they find themselves discover'd, rear
Their Forces, like seen Snakes, that else would lie
Roul'd in their Circles, close; Nought is more high,
Daring, or desperate, than Offenders found;
Where Guilt is, Rage and courage doth abound.
The course must be to let 'em still swell up,
Riot, and surfeit on blind Fortunes Cup;
Give 'em more Place, more Dignities, more Stile,
Call 'em to Court, to Senate: in the while,
Take from their strength some one, or twain, or more
Of the main Fautors; (It will fright the store)
And, by some by-occasion. Thus, with slight
You shall disarm first; and they (in Night
Of their Ambition) not perceive the train,
Till, in the Ingine, they are caught and slain.
   Tib. We would not kill, if we knew how to save;
Yet, than a Throne, 'tis cheaper give a Grave.
Is there no way to bind them by Deserts?
   Sej. Sir, Wolves do change their Hair, but not their hearts.
While thus your thought unto a mean is tied,
You neither dare enough, nor do provide.
All Modesty is fond; and chiefly where
The Subject is no less compell'd to bear,
Than praise his Sov'raign's Acts.
   Tib. We can no longer
Keep on our Mask to thee, our dear Sejanus;
Thy thoughts are ours, in all, and we but prov'd
Their voice, in our designs, which by assenting
Hath more confirm'd us, than if heartning Jove
Had, from his hundred Statues, bid us strike,
And at the stroke clickt all his Marble Thumbs.
But who shall first be struck?   Sej. First, Caius Silius;
He is the most of Mark, and most of Danger:
In Power and Reputation equal strong,
Having commanded an Imperial Army
Seven years together, vanquish'd Sacrovir
In Germany, and thence obtain'd to wear
The Ornaments triumphal. His steep fall,
By how much it doth give the weightier crack,
Will send more wounding terror to the rest,
Command them stand a-loof, and give more way
To our surprising of the principal.
   Tib. But what, Sabinus?   Sej. Let him grow a while,
His Fate is not yet ripe: We must not pluck
At all together, lest we catch our selves.
And there's Arruntius too, he only talks.
But Sosia, Silius's Wife, would be wound in
Now, for she hath a fury in her Breast,
More, than Hell ever knew; and would be sent
Thither in time. Then, is there on Cremutius

[column break]

Cordius, a writing Fellow, they have got
To gather Notes of the precedent times,
And make them into Annals; a most tart
And bitter Spirit (I hear): who, under colour
Of praising those, doth tax the present State,
Censures the Men, the Actions, leaves no trick,
No practice un-examin'd, parallels
The Times, the Governments; a profest Champion
For the old Liberty —   Tib. A perishing wretch.
As if there were that Chaos bred in things,
That Laws and Liberty would not rather chuse
To be quite broken, and ta'ne hence by us,
Than have the stain to be preserv'd by such.
Have we the means, to make these guilty, first?
   Sej. Trust that to me: let Cæsar, by his power,
But cause a formal meeting of the Senate,
I will have Matter, and Accusers ready.
   Tib. But how? let us consult.   Sej. We shall mispend
The time of Action. Counsels are unfit
In business, where all rest is more pernicious
Than rashness can be. Acts of those close kind
Thrive more by execution than advice.
There is no lingring in that work begun,
Which cannot praised be, until through done.
   Tib. Our Edict shall, forthwith, command a Court.
While I can live, I will prevent Earths Fury:
'Emou qanontoV gaia micqhtw puri.

Posthumus, Sejanus.

M
Y Lord Sejanus —— Sej. Julius Posthumus,
 Come with my wish! what news from Agrippina's?
   Pos. Faith none. Thay all lock up themselves a-late;
Or talk in Character; I have not seen
A Company so chang'd. Except they had
Intelligence by Augury of our practice.
   Sej. When were you there?
   Pos. Last night.   Sej. And what Guests found you?
   Pos. Sabinus, Silius, (the old List) Arruntius,
Furnius and Gallus.   Sej. Would not these talk?   Pos. Little.
And yet we offer'd choice of Argument.
Satrius was with me.   Sej. Well: 'tis guilt enough
Their often meeting. You forgot t' extoll
The hospitable Lady?   Pos. No, that trick
Was well put home, and had succeeded too,
But that Sabinus caught a caution out;
For she began to swell:   Sej. And may she burst.
Julius, I would have you go instantly,
Mutilia
Prisca.
Unto the Palace of the great Augusta,
And (by your kindest friend) get swift access;
Acquaint her with these meetings: Tell the words
You brought me, (th' other day) of Silius,
And somewhat to 'em. Make her understand
The danger of Sabinus, and the times,
Out of his closeness. Give Arruntius words
Of Malice against Cæsar; so, to Gallus:
But (above all) to Agrippina. Say,
(As you may truly) that her infinite pride,
Propt with the hopes of her too fruitful Womb,
With popular Studies gapes for Soveraignty,
And threatens Cæsar. Pray Augusta then,
That for her own, great Cæsars, and the pub-
lick safety, she be pleas'd to urge these dangers.
Cæsar is too secure (he must be told,
And best he'll take it from a Mothers Tongue.)
Alas! what is't for us to sound, t' explore,
To watch, oppose, plot, practice, or prevent,
If he, for whom it is so strongly labour'd,
Shall, out of greatness, and free Spirit, be
Supinely negligent? Our City's now
Divided as in time o' th' Civil War,
And Men forbear not to declare themselves
Of Agrippina's party. Every day,
The Faction multiplies; and will do more,
If               


134 Sejanus.                     

If not resisted: you can best inlarge it,
As you find audience. Noble Posthumus,
Commend me to your Prisca: and pray her,
She will solicit this great business,
To earnest and most present Execution,
With all her utmost Credit with Augusta.
   Pos. I shall not fail in my Instructions.
   Sej. This second (from his Mother) will well urge
Our late design, and spur on Cæsar's rage:
Which else might grow remiss. The way to put
A Prince in blood, is to present the shapes
Of dangers, greater than they are (like late,
Or early shadows), and, sometimes, to fain
Where there are none, only, to make him fear;
His fear will make him cruel: And once entred,
He doth not easily learn to stop, or spare
Where he may doubt. This have I made my rule,
To thrust Tiberius into Tyranny,
And make him toil, to turn aside those blocks,
Which I alone, could not remove with safety.
Drusus once gone, Germanicus three Sons
Would clog my way; whose Guards have too much faith
To be corrupted: and their Mother known
Of too-too unreprov'd a Chastity,
To be attempted, as light Livia was.
Work then, my art, on Cæsar's fears, as they
On those they fear, till all my bets be clear'd:
And he in Ruines of his House, and hate
Of all his Subjects, bury his own State.
When, with my peace, and safety, I will rise,
By making him the publick Sacrifice.

Satrius, Natta.

T
Hey'areThey're grown exceeding circumspect, and wary.
   Nat. They have us in the wind: And yet Arruntius
Cannot contain himself.   Sat. Tut, he's not yet
Look'd after, there are others more desir'd,
That are more silent.   Nat. Here he comes. Away.

Sabinus, Arruntius, Cordus.

H
Ow is it, that these Beagles haunt the house
 Of Agrippina?   Arr. O, they hunt, they hunt.
There is some Game here lodg'd, which they must rouse,
To make the great ones sport.   Cor. Did you observe
How they inveigh'd 'gainst Cæsar?   Arr. I, baits, baits,
For us to bite at: would I have my flesh
Torn by the publick hook, these qualified Hang-men
Should be my Company.   Cor. Here comes another.
   Arr. I, there's a Man, Afer the Orator!
One that hath Phrases, Figures, and fine Flowers,
To strew his Rhetorick with, and doth make haste
To get him note, or name, by any offer
Where Blood, or Gain be Objects; steeps his words,
VVhen he would kill, in artificial tears:
The Crocodile of Tyber! him I love,
That Man is mine; He hath my Heart and Voice,
VVhen I would curse; he, he.   Seb.Sab. Contemn the Slaves,
Their present Lives will be their future Graves.

Silius, Agrippina, Nero, Sosia.

M
Ay't please your Highness not forget your self,
 I dare not, with my Manners, to attempt
Your trouble farther.   Agr. Farewell, noble Silius.
   Sil. Most Royal Princess.   Agr. Sosia stays with us?
   Sil. She is your servant, and doth owe your Grace
An honest, but unprofitable Love.
   Agr. How can that be, when there's no gain, but vertuous?
   Sil. You take the Moral, not the Politick Sense.
I meant, as she is bold, and free of speech,
Earnest to utter what her zealous thought
Travails withal, in honour of your house;

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VVhich act, as it is simply born in her,
Partakes of Love and Honesty; but may,
By th' over often, and unseason'd use,
Turn to your loss and danger: For your State
Is waited on by Envies, as by Eyes;
And every second Guest your tables take,
Is a fee'd Spy, t' observe who goes, who comes,
VVhat conference you have, with whom, where, when,
VVhat the discourse is, what the looks, the thoughts
Of ev'ry person there, they do extract,
And make into a substance.   Agr. Hear me, Silius.
VVere all Tiberius body stuck with Eyes,
And ev'ry VVall and Hanging in my House
Transparent, as this Lawn I wear, or air;
Yea, had Sejanus both his Ears as long
As to my in-most Closet, I would hate
To whisper any thought, or change an act,
To be made Juno's Rival. Vertues forces
Shew ever noblest in conspicuous courses.
   Sil. 'Tis great, and bravely spoken, like the Spirit
Of Agrippina: yet, your Highness knows,
There is nor loss, nor shame in providence:
Few can, what all should do, beware enough.
You may perceive with what officious face,
Satrius, and Natta, Afer, and the rest
Visit your house, of late, t' enquire the secrets;
And with that bold, and priviledg'd Art, they rail
Against Augusta: yea, and at Tiberius;
Tell tricks of Livia, and Sejanus; all
T' excite, and call your indignation on,
That they might hear it at more liberty.
   Agr. Yo' are too suspicious, Silius.   Sil. Pray the Gods,
I be so Agrippina: But I fear
Some subtile practice. They, that durst to strike
At so examp-less, and unblam'd a Life,
As, that of the renown'd Germanicus,
Will not sit down, with that Exploit alone:
"He threatens many, that hath injur'd one.
   Ner. 'Twere best rip forth their tongues, sear out their eyes,
When next they come.   Sos. A fit reward for Spies.

Drusus ju. Agrippina, Nero, Silius.

H
Ear you the rumour?
   Agr. What?   Dru. Drusus is dying.
   Agr. Dying!   Ner. That's strange!
   Agr. Yo' were with him yesternight.
   Dru. One met Eudemus, the Physician,
Sent for, but now: who thinks he cannot live.
   Sil. Thinks! if't be arriv'd at that, he knows,
Or none.   Agr. This's quick! what should be his disease?
   Sil. Poyson, Poyson ——
   Agr. How, Silius!   Ner. What's that?
   Sil. Nay, nothing. There was (late) a certain blow
Giv'n o' the face.   Ner. I, to Sejanus?   Sil. True.
   Dru. And what of that?   Sil. I'm glad I gave it not.
   Ner. But, there is somewhat else?
   Sil. Yes, private meetings,
With a Wife turn'd away —— Ner. Ha!
   Sil. Toys, meer toys:
What wisdom's now i' th' streets, i' th' common mouth?
   Dru. Fears, whisp'rings, tumults, noise, I know not what:
They say the Senate sits.
   Sil. I'le thither straight;
And see what's in the Forge.   Agr. Good Silius, do;
Sosia, and I will in.   Sil. Haste you, my Lords,
To visit the sick Prince; tender your loves,
And sorrows to the people. This Sejanus
(Trust my divining soul) hath plots on all!
No tree, that stops his prospect, but must fall.

C H O R U S —— Of Musicians.

Act.


             Sejanus. 135

Act III.

The S E N A T E.

Sejanus, Varro, Latiaris. Cotta, Afer.

Gallus, Lepidus, Arruntius. Præcones, Lictores.

'T
Is only you must urge against him, Varro;
 Nor I, nor Cæsar may appear therein,
Except in your defence, who are the Consul:
And, under colour of late Enmity
Between your Father, and his, may better do it,
As free from all suspicion of a practice.
Here be your Notes, what Points to touch at; read:
Be cunning in them. Afer has them too.
   Var. But is he summon'd?   Sej. No. It was debated
By Cæsar, and concluded as most fit
To take him unprepar'd.   Afer. And prosecute
All under name of treason.   Var. I conceive.
   Sab. Drusus being dead, Cæsar will not be here.
   Gal. What should the business of this Senate be?
   Arr. That can my subtil whisperers tell you: We,
That are the good-dull-noble lookers on,
Are only call'd to keep the Marble warm.
What should we do with those deep Mysteries,
Proper to these fine heads? let them alone.
Our Ignorance may, perchance, help us be sav'd
From Whips and Furies.   Gal. See, see, see their action!
   Arr. I, now their heads do travel, now they work;
Their Faces run like Shittles, they are weaving
Some curious Cobweb to catch flies.   Sab. Observe,
They take their places.
   Arr. What, so low?   Gal. O yes,
They must be seen to flatter Cæsar's grief,
Though but in sitting.   Var. Bid us silence.   Præ. Silence.
   Var. Fathers Conscript, may this our present meeting
Turn fair, and fortunate to the Common-wealth.

Silius, Senate.

S
Ee, Silius enters.   Sil. Hail grave Fathers.   Lic. Stand.
 Silius, forbear thy place. Sen. How! Præ. Silius stand forth,
The Consul hath to charge thee.   Lic. Room for Cæsar.
   Arr. Is he come too? nay then expect a trick.
   Sab. Silius accus'd? sure he will answer nobly.

Tiberius, Senate.

W
E stand amazed, Fathers, to behold
 This general dejection. Wherefore sit
Rome's Consuls thus dissolv'd, as they had lost
All the remembrance both of stile and place?
It not becomes. No woes are of fit weight,
To make the Honour of the Empire stoop:
Though I, in my peculiar self, may meet
Just reprehension, that so suddenly,
And, in so fresh a grief, would greet the Senate,
When private tongues, of Kinsmen and Allies,
(Inspir'd with comforts) lothly are endur'd,
The Face of men not seen, and scarce the day,
To thousands, that communicate our loss.
Nor can I argue these of weakness; since
They take but natural ways; yet I must seek
For stronger aids, and those fair helps draw out
From warm Embraces of the Common-wealth.
Our Mother, great Augusta, 'is struck with time,
Our self imprest with aged Characters,
Drusus is gone, his Children young and Babes;
Our aims must now reflect on those thay may
Give timely succour to these present ills,
And are our only glad-surviving hopes,
The Noble Issue of Germanicus,

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Nero and Drusus: Might it please the Consul
Honour them in, (they both attend without.)
I would present them to the Senates care,
And raise those Sums of joy that should drink up
These floods of sorrow in your drowned Eyes.
   Arr. By Jove, I am not Oedipus enough,
To understand this Sphynx.   Sab. The Princes come.

Tiberius, Nero, Drusus junior.

A
Pproach you Noble Nero, Noble Drusus.
 These Princes, Fathers, when their Parent died,                         
I gave unto their Uncle, with this prayer,
That, though h' had proper Issue of his own,
He would no less bring up, and foster these,
Than that self-blood; and by that act confirm
Their worths to him, and to posterity:
Drusus ta'ne hence, I turn my prayers to you,
And, 'fore our Country, and our Gods, beseech
You take, and rule Augustus Nephews Sons,
Sprung of the Noblest Ancestors; and so
Accomplish both my Duty, and your own.
Nero, and Drusus, these shall be to you
In place of Parents, these your Fathers, these;
And not unfitly: For you are so born,
As all your good, or ill's the Commonwealths.
Receive them, you strong Guardians; and blest Gods,
Make all their actions answer to their bloods:
Let their great titles find increase by them,
Not they by titles. Set them, as in place,
So in Example, above all the Romans:
And may they know no Rivals but themselves.
Let Fortune give them nothing; but attend
Upon their Vertue: and that still come forth
Greater than hope, and better than their fame.
Relieve me, Fathers, with your general Voice.
A form of speak-
   ing they had.
   Sen. May all the Gods consent to Cæsar's wish,
And add to any Honours, they may crown
The hopeful Issue of Germanicus.
   Tib. We thank you, reverend Fathers, in their right.
   Arr. If this were true now! but the space, the space
Between the Breast and Lips —— Tiberius Heart
Lies a thought farther than another Man's.
   Tib. My comforts are so flowing in my Joys,
As, in them, all my Streams of Grief are lost,
No less than are Land-waters in the Sea,
Or Showers in Rivers; though their Cause was such,
As might have sprinkled ev'n the Gods with tears:
Yet since the greater doth embrace the less,
We covetously obey.   (Arr. Well acted, Cæsar.)
   Tib. And now I am the happy witness made
Of your so much desir'd affections,
To this great Issue, I could wish, the Fates
Would have set' peaceful period to my days;
However, to my Labours, I intreat
(And beg it of this Senate) some fit ease.
   (Arr. Laugh, Fathers, laugh: Ha' you no spleens about you?)
   Tib. The burden is too heavy I sustain
On my unwilling shoulders; and I pray
It may be taken off, and re-confer'd
Upon the Consuls, or some other Roman,
More able, and more worthy.   (Arr. Laugh on still.)
   Sab. Why, this doth render all the rest suspected!
   Gal. It poysons all.   Arr. O, do you taste it then?
   Sab. It takes away my faith to any thing
He shall hereafter speak.   Arr. I, to pray that,
Which would be to his head as hot as thunder,
A Wreath
of Laurel.
('Gainst which he wears that Charm) should
   but the Court
Receive him at his word.
   Gal. Hear.   Tib. For my self,
I know my weakness, and so little covet
(Like some gone past) the weight that will oppress me,
As my ambition is the Counter-point.
(Arr.               


136 Sejanus.                     

   (Arr. Finely maintain'd; good still.)
   Sej. But Rome, whose Blood,
Whose Nerves, whose Life, whose very Frame relies                 
On Cæsar's strength, no less than Heav'n on Atlas,
Cannot admit it but with general ruine.
   (Arr. Ah! are you there, to bring him off?)
   Sej. Let Cæsar
No more than urge a Point so contrary
To Cæsar's Greatness, the griev'd Senates Vows,
Or Rome's Necessity.   (Gal. He comes about.
   Arr. More nimbly than Vertumnus.)
   Tib. For the publick,
I may be drawn, to shew, I can neglect
All private aims; though I affect my rest:
But, if the Senate still command me serve,
I must be glad to practise my obedience.
   (Arr. You must and will, Sir. We do know it.
   Sen. Cæsar,
Another form.
Live long and happy, Great and Royal Cæsar;
The Gods preserve thee, and thy Modesty,
Thy Wisdom, and thy Innocence.   (Arr. Where is't?
The Prayer's made before the Subject.)   Sen. Guard
His Meekness, Jove, his Piety, his Care,
His Bounty —   Arr. And his Subtilty, I'le put in:
Yet he'll keep that himself, without the Gods.
All Prayers are vain for him.   Tib. We will not hold
Your Patience, Fathers, with long answer; but
Shall still contend to be what you desire,
And work to satisfie so great a hope:
Proceed to your affairs.   Arr. Now, Silius, guard thee;
The Curtain's drawing. Afer advanceth.   Præ. Silence.
   Afe. Cite Caius Silius.    Præ. Caius Silius.   Sil. Here.
   Afe. The triumph that thou hadst in Germany
For thy late Victory on Sacrovir,
Thou hast enjoy'd so freely, Caius Silius,
As no man it envy'd thee; nor would Cæsar,
Or Rome admit, that thou were then defrauded
Of any Honours thy Deserts could claim,
In the fair Service of the Commonwealth:
But now, if, after all their Loves and Graces,
(Thy Actions, and their Courses being discover'd)
It shall appear to Cæsar, and this Senate,
Thou hast defil'd those Glories with thy Crimes ——
   Sil. Crimes?   Afe. Patience, Silius.
   Sil. Tell thy Moil of Patience
I' am a Roman. What are my Crimes? Proclaim them.
Am I too rich? too honest for the times?
Have I or Treasure, Jewels, Land, or Houses
That some Informer gapes for? Is my strength
Too much to be admitted? Or my knowledge?
These now are Crimes.   Afe. Nay, Silius, if the Name
Of Crime so touch thee, with what impotence
Wilt thou endure the matter to be search'd?
   Sil. I tell thee, Afer, with more scorn than fear:
Employ your mercenary tongue and art.
Where's my accuser?   Var. Here.
   Arr. Varro, the Consul,
Is he thrust in?   Varr. 'Tis I accuse thee, Silius.
Against the Majesty of Rome, and Cæsar,
I do pronounce thee here a guilty Cause,
First, of beginning and occasioning,
Next, drawing out the War in Gallia,
For which thou late triumph'st; dissembling long
That Sacrovir to be an Enemy,
Only to make thy Entertainment more,
Whilst thou, and thy Wife Sosia poll'd the Province;
Wherein, with sordid-base desire of Gain,
Thou hast discredited thy Actions worth,
And been a Traitor to the State.   Sil. Thou liest.
   Arr. I thank thee, Silius, speak so still and often.
   Var. If I not prove it, Cæsar, but unjustly
Have call'd him into trial; here I bind
My self to suffer, what I claim 'gainst him;
And yield to have what I have spoke, confirm'd

[column break]

By Judgment of the Court, and all good Men.
   Sil. Cæsar, I crave to have my Cause deferr'd,
Till this Man's Consulship be out.   Tib. We cannot,
Nor may we grant it.   Sil. Why? shall he design
My day of trial? Is he my accuser?
And must he be my Judge?   Tib. It hath been usual,
And is a Right that Custom hath allow'd
The Magistrate, to call forth private men;
And to appoint their day: Which priviledge
We may not in the Consul see infring'd,
By whose deep watches, and industrious care
It is so labour'd, as the Commonwealth
Receive no loss, by any oblique course.
   Sil. Cæsar, thy Fraud is worse than Violence.
   Tib. Silius, mistake us not, we dare not use
The Credit of the Consul, to thy wrong;
But only do preserve his Place and Power,
So far as it concerns the Dignity
And Honour of the State.   Arr. Believe him, Silius.
   Cot. Why, so he may, Arruntius.   Arr. I say so.
And he may chuse too.   Tib. By the Capitoll,
And all our Gods, but that the dear Republick,
Our sacred Laws, and just Authority
Are interess'd therein, I should be silent.
   Afe. Please' Cæsar to give way unto his trial.
He shall have Justice.   Sil. Nay, I shall have Law;
Shall I not Afer? Speak.   Afe. Would you have more?
   Sil. No, my well-spoken man, I would no more;
Nor less: might I enjoy it natural,
Not taught to speak unto your present ends,
Free from thine, his, and all your unkind handling,
Furious enforcing, most unjust presuming,
Malicious, and manifold applying,
Foul wresting, and impossible construction.
   Afe. He raves, he raves.
   Sil. Thou durst not tell me so,
Had'st thou not Cæsar's warrant. I can see
Whose Power condemns me.
   Var. This betrays his Spirit.
This doth enough declare him what he is.
   Sil. What am I? speak.
   Var. An Enemy to the State.
   Sil. Because I am an Enemy to thee,
And such corrupted Ministers o' the State,
That here art made a present Instrument
To gratifie it with thine own disgrace.
   Sej. This, to the Consul, is most insolent?
And impious!   Sil. I, take part. Reveal your selves,
Alas! I scent not your Confed'racies,
Your Plots and Combinations! I not know
Minion Sejanus hates me; and that all
This boast of Law, and Law, is but a form,
A Net of Vulcan's filing, a meer Ingine,
To take that Life by a Pretext of Justice,
Which you pursue in malice? I want Brain,
Or Nostril to perswade me, that your ends,
And purposes are made to what they are,
Before my answer? O, you equal Gods,
Whose Justice not a world of wolf-turn'd men
Shall make me to accuse (how e're provoke;)
Have I for this so oft engag'd my self?
Stood in the heat and fervour of a fight,
When Phœbus sooner hath forsook the day
Than I the Field, against the blew-ey'd Gauls,
And crisped Germans? When our Roman Eagles
Have fann'd the fire, with their labouring wings,
And no blow dealt, that left not death behind it?
When I have charg'd, alone, into the Troops
Of curl'd Sicambrians, routed them, and came
Not off, with backward Ensigns of a Slave;
But forward marks, wounds on my Breast and Face,
Were meant to thee, O Cæsar, and thy Rome?
And have I this return'd? Did I, for this,
Perform so noble, and so brave' defeat,
On


             Sejanus. 137

On Sacrovir? (O Jove, let it become me
To boast my Deeds, when he, whom they concern,
Shall thus forget them.)   Afe. Silius, Silius,
These are the common Customs of thy Blood,
When it is high with Wine, as now with Rage:
This well agrees with that intemperate Vaunt,
Thou lately mad'st at Agrippina's table,
That when all other of the Troops were prone
To fall into Rebellion, only yours
Remain'd in their obedience. You were he,
That sav'd the Empire, which had then been lost,
Had but your Legions, there, rebell'd, or mutin'd,
Your Vertue met, and fronted every Peril.
You gave to Cæsar, and to Rome their Surety,
Their Name, their Strength, their Spirit, and their State,
Their being was a Donative from you.
   Arr. Well worded, and most like an Orator.
   Tib. Is this true, Silius?
   Sil. Save thy Question, Cæsar,
Thy Spy, of famous Credit, hath affirm'd it.
   Arr. Excellent Roman!   Sab. He doth answer stoutly.
   Sej. If this be so, there needs no farther Cause
Of Crime against him.   Var. What can more impeach
The Royal Dignity, and State of Cæsar,
Than to be urged with a benefit
He cannot pay?   Cot. In this, all Cæsar's fortune
Is made unequal to the Courtesie.
   Lat. His means are clean destroy'd that should requite.
   Gal. Nothing is great enough for Silius's Merit.
   Arr. Gallus on that side to?
   Sil. Come, do not hunt,
And labour so about for Circumstance,
To make him guilty, whom you have fore-doom'd:
Take shorter ways, I'le meet your purposes.
The words were mine, and more I now will say:
Since I have done thee that great Service, Cæsar,
Thou still hast fear'd me; and, in place of Grace,
Return'd me Hatred: so soon all best turns,
With doubtful Princes, turn deep injuries
In estimation, when they greater rise,
Than can be answer'd. Benefits, with you,
Are of no longer pleasure, than you can
With ease restore them; that transcended once,
Your Studies are not how to thank, but kill.
It is your Nature, to have all Men Slaves
To you, but you acknowledging to none.
The means that makes your Greatness, must not come
In mention of it; if it do, it takes
So much away, you think: and that which help'd,
Shall soonest perish, if it stand in Eye,
Where it may front, or but upbraid the High.
   Cot. Suffer him speak no more.
   Var. Note but his Spirit.
   Afe. This shews him in the rest.
   Lat. Let him be censur'd.
   Sej. He hath spoke enough to prove him Cæsar's Foe.
   Cot. His thoughts look through his words.
   Sej. A Censure.   Sil. Stay,
Stay, most officious Senate, I shall straight
Delude thy Fury. Silius hath not plac'd
His Guards within him, against Fortunes Spight,
So weakly, but he can escape your gripe
That are but Hands of Fortune: She her self
When Vertue doth oppose, must lose her threats.
All that can happen in Humanity,
The Frown of Cæsar, proud Sejanus's Hatred,
Base Varro's spleen, and Afer's bloodying tongue,
The Senates servile flattery, and these
Mustred to kill, I'am fortified against;
And can look down upon: they are beneath me.
It is not Life whereof I stand enamour'd:
Nor shall my end make me accuse my Fate.
The Coward, and the Valiant Man must fall,
Only the Cause, and Manner how, discerns them:

[column break]

Which then are gladdest, when they cost us dearest.
Romans, if any here be in this Senate,
Would know to mock Tiberius tyranny,
Stabs himself.
Look upon Silius, and so learn to die.
   Var. O, desperate act!
   Arr. An honourable hand!
   Tib. Look, is he dead?
   Sab. 'Twas nobly struck, and home.
   Arr. My thought did prompt him to it. Farewell, Silius.
Be famous ever for thy great Example.
   Tib. We are not pleas'd, in this sad accident,
That thus hath stalled, and abus'd our Mercy,
Intended to preserve thee, Noble Roman:
And to prevent thy hopes.   Arr. Excellent Wolf!
Now he is full he howls.   Sej. Cæsar doth wrong
His Dignity and Safety, thus to mourn
The deserv'd End of so profest a Traitor,
And doth, by this his Lenity, instruct
Others as factious, to the like Offence.
   Tib. The Confiscation meerly of his State
Had been enough.   Arr. O, that was gap'd for then?
   Var. Remove the body.   Sej. Let Citation
Go out for Sosia.   Gal. Let her be proscrib'd.
And for the Goods, I think it fit that half
Go to the Treasure, half unto the Children.
   Lep. With leave of Cæsar, I would think, that fourth
Part, which the Law doth cast on the Informers,
Should be enough; the rest go to the Children:
Wherein the Prince shall shew Humanity,
And Bounty, not to force them by their want
(Which in their Parents trespass they deserv'd)
To take ill courses.   Tib. It shall please us.   Arr. I,
Out of necessity. This Lepidus
Is grave and honest, and I have observ'd
A Moderation still in all his Censures.
   Sab. And bending to the better — Stay, who's this?
Cremutius Cordus? What! is he brought in?
   Arr. More Blood unto the Banquet? Noble Cordus,
I wish thee good: Be, as thy Writings, free,
And honest.   Tib. What is he?   Sej. For th' Annals, Cæsar.

Præco, Cordus, Satrius, Natta.

C
Remutius Cordus.   Cor. Here.   Præ. Satrius Secundus,
 Pinnarius Natta, you are his accusers.
   Arr. Two of Sejanus's Blood-hounds, whom he breeds
With humane flesh, to bay at Citizens.
   Afe. Stand forth before the Senate, and confront him.
   Sat. I do accuse thee here, CremutinsCremutius Cordus,
To be a Man factious and dangerous,
A Sower of Sedition in the State,
A turbulent, and discontented Spirit,
Which I will prove from thine own Writings, here,
The Annals thou hast publish'd; where thou bit'st
The present Age, and with a Vipers tooth,
Being a Member of it, dar'st that ill
Which never yet degenerous Bastard did
Upon his Parent.   Nat. To this, I subscribe;
And, forth a World of more Particulars,
Instance in only one: Comparing men,
And times, thou praisest Brutus, and affirm'st
That Cassius was the last of all the Romans.
   Cot. How! what are we then?
   Var. What is Cæsar, nothing?
   Afe. My Lords, this stikes at every Roman's private,
In whom reigns Gentry, and Estate of Spirit,
To have a Brutus brought in parallel,
A Parricide, an Enemy of his Countrey,
Rank'd, and preferr'd to any real worth
That Rome now holds. This is most strangely invective,
Most full of Spight, and insolent upbraiding.
Nor is't the time alone is here dispris'd,
But the whole man of time, yea, Cæsar's self
Brought in disvalue; and he aim'd at most
T                                       By            


138 Sejanus.                     

By this oblique glance of his licentious Pen.
Cæsar, if Cassius were the last of Romans,
Thou hast no Name.   Tib. Let's hear him answer. Silence.        
   Cor. So innocent I am of Fact, my Lords,
As but my words are argu'd; yet those words
Not reaching either Prince, or Princes Parent:
The which your Law of Treason comprehends.
Brutus and Cassius, I am charg'd t' have prais'd:
Whose deeds, when many more, besides my self,
Have writ, not one hath mention'd without honour.
Great Titus Livius, great for Eloquence,
And Faith, amongst us, in his History,
With so great Praises Pompey did extoll,
As oft Augustus call'd him a Pompeian:
Yet this not hurt their Friendship. In his Book
He often names Scipio, Afranius,
Yea, the same Cassius, and this Brutus too,
As worthi'st Men; not Thieves and Parricides,
Which Notes, upon their Fames, are now impos'd.
Asinius Pollio's writings quite throughout
Give them a Noble Memory; So Messalla
Renown'd his general Cassius: yet both these
Liv'd with Augustus, full of wealth and honours.
To Cicero's Book, where Cato was heav'd up
Equal with Heav'n, what else did Cæsar answer,
Being then Dictator, but with a penn'd Oration,
As if before the Judges? Do but see
Antonius's Letters; read but Brutus's pleadings:
VVhat vile reproach they hold against Augustus,
False I confess, but with much bitterness.
The Epigrams of Bibaculus, and Catullus,
Are read, full stuft with Spight of both the Cæsars;
Yet Deified Julius, and no less Augustus:
Both bore them, and contemn'd them: (I not know
Promptly to speak it, whether done with more
Temper, or wisdom) for such Obloquies
If they despised be, they die supprest;
But, if with Rage acknowledg'd, they are confest.
The Greeks I slip, whose Licence not alone,
But also Lust did scape unpunished:
Or where some one (by chance) Exception took,
He words with words reveng'd. But, in my work,
VVhat could be aim'd more free, or farther off
From the times Scandal, than to write of those,
VVhom Death from Grace, or Hatred had exempted?
Did I, with Brutus, and with Cassius,
Arm'd, and possess'd of the Philippi Fields,
Incense the People in the Civil Cause,
VVith dangerous Speeches? Or do they, being slain
Sev'nty years since, as by their Images
(VVhich not the Conquerour hath defac'd) appears,
Retain that guilty Memory with writers?
Posterity pays every Man his Honour.
Nor shall there want, though I condemned am,
That will not only Cassius well approve,
And of great Brutus's Honour mindful be,
But that will, also, mention make of me.
   Arr. Freely, and nobly spoken.
   Sab. With good temper,
I like him, that he is not mov'd with passion.
   Arr. He puts 'em to their whisper.
   Tib. Take him hence,
We shall determine of him at next sitting.
   Cot. Mean time, give order, that his Books be burnt,
To the Ædiles.   Sej. You have well advis'd.
   Afe. It fits not such licentious things should live
T' upbraid the age.
   Arr. If th' age were good, they might.
   Lat. Let 'em be burnt.
   Gal. All sought, and burnt to day.
   Præ. The Court is up; Lictors, resume the Fasces.

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Arruntius, Sabinus, Lepidus.

L
Et 'em be burnt! O, how ridiculous
 Appears the Senate's brainless diligence,
Who think they can, with present power, extinguish
The Memory of all succeeding times!
   Sab. 'Tis true, when (contrary) the punishment
Of wit, doth make th' authority increase.
Nor do they ought, that use this Cruelty
Of interdiction, and this rage of burning;
But purchase to themselves rebuke, and shame,
And to the writers an eternal Name.
   Lep. It is an argument the times are sore,
When Vertue cannot safely be advanc'd;
Nor Vice reprov'd.   Arr. I, Noble Lepidus,
Augustus well foresaw, what we should suffer,
Under Tiberius, when he did pronounce
The Roman Race most wretched, that should live
Between so slow jaws, and so long a bruising.

Tiberius, Sejanus.

T
His business hath succeeded well, Sejanus:
 And quite remov'd all jealousie of practice
'Gainst Agrippina, and our Nephews. Now,
We must bethink us how to plant our Ingines
For th' other pair, Sabinus, and Arruntius,
And Gallus too (how e're he flatter us,)
His heart we know.   Sej. Give it some respite, Cæsar.
Time shall mature, and bring to perfect Crown,
What we, with so good Vultures, have begun:
Sabinus shall be next.   Tib. Rather Arruntius.
   Sej. By any means, preserve him. His frank tongue
Being lent the Reins, will take away all thought
Of Malice, in your course against the rest.
We must keep him to stalk with.   Tib. Dearest head,
To thy most fortunate design I yield it.
   Sej. Sir — I have been so long train'd up in Grace,
First with your Father, great Augustus, since,
With your most happy Bounties so familiar,
As I not sooner would commit my hopes
Or wishes to the Gods, than to your Ears.
Nor have I ever, yet, been covetous
Of over-bright and dazling Honours: rather
To watch, and travail in great Cæsar's Safety,
With the most common Soldier.   Tib. 'Tis confest.
   Sej. The only gain, and which I count most fair
His daughter was
betroth'd to
Claudius, his
Son.
Of all my Fortunes, is, that mighty Cæsar,
Hath thought me worthy his alliance. Hence
Begin my hopes.   Tib. H'mh?
   Sej. I have heard, Augustus
In the bestowing of his Daughter, thought
But even of Gentlemen of Rome: If so,
(I know not how to hope so great a favour)
But if a Husband should be sought for Livia,
And I be had in Mind, as Cæsar's Friend,
I would but use the Glory of the Kindred.
It should not make me slothful, or less caring
For Cæsar's State; it were enough to me
It did confirm, and strengthen my weak House,
Against the-now-unequal opposition
Of Agrippina; and for dear regard
Unto my Children, this I wish: my self
Have no ambition farther than to end
My Days in service of so dear a Master.
   Tib. We cannot but commend thy Piety,
Most-lov'd Sejanus, in acknowledging
Those Bounties; which we, faintly, such remember.
But to thy suit. The rest of Mortal Men,
In all their Drifts, and Counsels, pursue profit:
Princes, alone, are of a different sort,
Directing their main Actions still to Fame.

We


             Sejanus. 139

We therefore will take time to think, and answer.
For Livia, she can best, her self, resolve
If she will marry, after Drusus, or
Continue in the Family; besides,
She hath a Mother, and a Grandame yet,
Whose nearer Counsels she may guide her by:
But I will simply deal. That Enmity
Thou fear'st in Agrippina, would burn more,
If Livia's Marriage should (as 'twere in parts)
Divide th' Imperial House; an Emulation
Between the women might break forth: and discord
Ruine the Sons, and Nephews on both Hands.
What if it cause some present difference?
Thou art not safe, Sejanus, if thou prove it.
Canst thou believe, that Livia, first the Wife
To Caius Cæsar, then my Drusus, now
Will be contented to grow Old with thee,
Born but a private Gentleman of Rome?
And raise thee with her loss, if not her shame?
Or say, that I should wish it, canst thou think
The Senate, or the People (who have seen
Her Brother, Father, and our Ancestors,
In highest place of Empire) will endure it?
The State thou hold'st already, is in talk;
Men murmure at thy Greatness; and the Nobles
Stick not, in publick, to upbraid thy climbing
Above our Fathers Favours, or thy Scale:
And dare accuse me, from their hate to thee.
Be wise, dear Friend. We would not hide these things
For Friendships dear respect. Nor will we stand
Adverse to thine, or Livia's designments.
What we had purpos'd to thee, in our thought,
And with what near degrees of love to bind thee,
And make thee equal to us; for the present,
We will forbear to speak. Only, thus much
Believe, our lov'd Sejanus, we not know
That height in Blood, or Honour, which thy Vertue,
And Mind to us, may not aspire with Merit.
And this we'll publish, on all watcht occasion
The Senate, or the People shall present.
   Sej. I am restor'd, and to my Sense again,
Which I had lost in this so blinding Suit.
Cæsar hath taught me better to refuse,
Than I knew how to ask. How pleaseth Cæsar
T' imbrace my late Advice, for leaving Rome?
   Tib. We are resolv'd.
   Sej. Here are some Motives more
Which I have thought on since, may more confirm.
   Tib. Careful Sejanus! we will straight peruse them:
Go forward in our main design and prosper.

Sejanus.

I
F those but take, I shall: dull, heavy Cæsar!
 VVouldst thou tell me, thy favours were made Crimes?
And that my Fortunes were esteem'd thy Faults?
That thou for me wert hated? and not think
I would with winged haste prevent that change,
VVhen thou mightst win all to thy self again,
By forfeiture of me? Did those fond words
Fly swifter from thy Lips, than this my Brain,
This sparkling Forge, created me an Armour
T' encounter chance and thee? VVell, read my Charms,
And may they lay that hold upon thy Senses,
As thou hadst snuft up Hemlock, or tane down
The Juyce of Poppy and of Mandrakes. Sleep,
Voluptuous Cæsar, and security
Seize on thy stupid Powers, and leave them dead
To publick Cares; awake but to thy Lusts,
The strength of which makes thy libidinous Soul
Itch to leave Rome; and I have thrust it on:
VVith blameing of the City Business,
The multitude of Suits, the confluence
Of Suitors, then their Importunacies,

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The manifold Distractions he must suffer,
Besides ill Rumours, Envies, and Reproaches,
All which a quiet and retired Life,
(Larded with ease and pleasure) did avoid;
And yet, for my weighty and great Affair,
The fittest Place to give the soundest Counsels.
By this shall I remove him both from thought
And knowledge of his most dear Affairs;
Draw all dispatches through my private Hands;
Know his designments, and pursue mine own;
Make mine own strengths, by giving Suits and Places;
Conferring Dignities and Offices:
And these, that hate me now, wanting access
To him, will make their envy none or less;
For when they see me Arbiter of all,
They must observe: or else with Cæsar fall.

Tiberius, Servus.

T
O marry Livia? will no less, Sejanus,
 Content thy aims? no lower Object? well!
Thou know'st how thou art wrought into our Trust:
Woven in our design; and think'st we must
Now use thee, whatsoere thy Projects are:
'Tis true. But yet with caution and fit care.
And, now we better think — who's there, within?
   Ser. Cæsar?   Tib. To leave our Journey off, were Sin
'Gainst our decreed delights; and would appear
Doubt: or (what less becomes a Prince) low fear.
Yet doubt hath Law, and fears have their excuse,
Where Princes States plead necessary use;
As ours doth now: more in Sejanus Pride,
Than in all Agrippina's hates beside.
Those are the dreadful Enemies, we raise
With favours, and make dangerous with praise;
The injur'd by us may have will alike,
But 'tis the Favourite hath the power to strike:
And fury ever boils more high and strong,
Heat with ambition, than revenge of wrong.
'Tis then a part of supreme skill, to grace
No Man too much; but hold a certain space
Between th' ascenders rise, and thine own flat,
Lest, when all rounds be reach'd, his aim be that.
'Tis thought — Is Macro in the Palace? See:
If not, go, seek him, to come to us — He
Must be the Organ we must work by now;
Though none less apt for trust: Need doth allow
What choise would not. I have heard, that Aconite
Being timely taken, hath a healing might
Against the scorpions stroke; the Proof we'll give:
That, while two Poisons wrastle we may live.
He hath a Spirit too working to be us'd
But to th' encounter of his like; excus'd
Are wiser Sov'raigns then, that raise one ill
Against another, and both safely kill:
The Prince that feeds great Natures they will sway him;
Who nourisheth a Lyon must obey him.

Tiberius, Macro.

M
Acro, we sent for you.   Mac. I heard so, Cæsar.
   Tib. (Leave us a while!) when you shall know,
      good Macro,
The causes of your sending, and the ends;
You then will harken nearer: and be pleas'd
You stand so high both in our choise, and trust.
   Mac. The humblest Place in Cæsar's choise or trust
May make glad Macro proud; without Ambition,
Save to do Cæsar service.   Tib. Leave your courtings.
We are in purpose, Macro, to depart
The City for a time, and see Campania;
Not for our Pleasures, but to dedicate
A pair of Temples, one to Jupiter

T 2                                  At            


140 Sejanus.                     

At Capua; th' other at Nola, to Augustus:
In which great work, perhaps our stay will be
Beyond our will produc'd. Now, since we are
Not ignorant what danger may be born
Out of our shortest absence in a State
So subject unto Envy, and embroild
With hate and faction; we have thought on thee,
(Amongst a Field of Romans,) worthiest Macro,
To be our Eye and Ear: to keep strict watch
On Agrippina, Nero, Drusus; I,
And on Sejanus: Not, that we distrust
His Loyalty, or do repent one grace,
Of all that heap, we have confer'd on him:
(For that were to disparage our Election,
And call that judgment now in doubt, which then
Seem'd as unquestion'd as an Oracle,)
But, greatness hath his Cankers. Worms and Moths
Breed out of too much humour, in the things
Which after they consume, transferring quite
The substance of their Makers int' themselves.
Macro is sharp, and apprehends: besides,
I know him subtil, close, wise, and well-read
In Man, and his large Nature: He hath studied
Affections Passions, knows their springs, their ends,
Which way, and whether they will work: 'tis proof
Enough of his great Merit, that we trust him.
Then, to a point; (because our conference
Cannot be long without suspition)
Here, Macro, we assign thee, both to spy,
Inform, and chastise; Think, and use thy means,
Thy Ministers, what, where, on whom thou wilt;
Explore, plot, practise: All thou dost in this,
Shall be, as if the Senate, or the Laws
Had giv'n it priviledg, and thou thence stil'd
The Saviour both of Cæsar and of Rome.
We will not take thy answer but in act:
Whereto, as thou proceed'st, we hope to hear
By trusted Messengers. If't be enquir'd,
Wherefore we call'd you, say you have in charge
To see our Chariots ready, and our Horse.
Be still our lov'd and (shortly) honour'd Macro.

Macro.

I
 Will not ask, why Cæsar bids do this:
 But joy, that he bids me. It is the bliss
Of Courts, to be imploy'd, no matter, how;
A Princes power makes all his Actions Vertue.
We, whom he works by, are dumb Instruments,
To do, but not enquire: His great intents
Are to be serv'd not search'd. Yet, as that Bow
Is most in hand, whose owner best doth know
T' affect his aims; so let that States-man hope
Most use, most price, can hit his Princes scope.
Nor must he look at what, or whom to strike,
But lose at all; each mark must be alike.
Were it to plot against the Fame, the Life
Of one, with whom I twin'd: remove a Wife
From my warm side, as lov'd, as is the Air;
Practise away each Parent; draw mine Heir
In compass, though but one; work all my kin
To swift perdition; leave no untrain'd Engin,
For Friendship, or for Innocence; nay, make
The Gods all guilty: I would undertake
This, being impos'd me, both with gain and ease.
The way to rise is to obey and please.
He that will thrive in State, he must neglect
The trodden Paths that truth and right respect;
And prove new, wilder ways: for Vertue there
Is not that narrow thing, she is elsewhere;
Mens Fortune there is Vertue; reason their will:
Their Licence, Law; and their observance skill.
Occasion is their foil; Conscience their stain;
Profit their lustre: and what else is vain.

[column break]

If then it be the Lust of Cæsars Power,
T' have rais'd Sejanus up, and in an hour
O'return him, tumbling down, from height of all;
We are his ready Engin: and his fall
May be our rise. It is no uncouth thing
To see fresh buildings from old ruins spring.

C H O R U S —— Of Musicians.


Act IV.

Gallus, Agrippina, Nero, Drusus, Caligula.

Y
Ou must have patience, Royal Agrippina.
   Agr. I must have vengeance, first: and that were
      Nectar
Unto my famish'd Spirits. O, my Fortune,
Let it be sudden thou prepar'st against me;
Strike all my powers of Understanding blind,
And ignorant of destiny to come:
Let me not fear, that cannot hope.   Gal. Dear Princess,
These Tyrannies on your self, are worse than Cæsar's.
   Agr. Is this the happiness of being born great?
Still to be aim'd at? still to be suspected?
To live the subject of all Jealousies?
At least the colour made, if not the ground
To every painted danger? who would not
Choose once to fall, than thus to hang for ever?
   Gal. You might be safe if you would —
   Agr. What, my Gallus?
Be lewd Sejanus Strumpet? Or the Baud
To Cæsar's Lusts, he now is gone to practise?
Not these are safe, where nothing is. Your self
While thus you stand but by me are not safe.
Was Silius safe? or the good Sosia safe?
Or was my Niece dear Claudia Pulchra safe?
Or innocent Furius? They that latest have
(By being made guilty) added Reputation
To Afers Eloquence? O, foolish Friends,
Could not so fresh example warn your loves,
But you must buy my favours with that loss
Unto your selves: and when you might perceive
That Cæsar's Cause of raging must forsake him,
Before his will: Away, good Gallus leave me.
Here to be seen, is danger; to speak, Treason:
To do me least observance, is call'd Faction.
You are unhappy in me, and I in all.
Where are my Sons, Nero and Drusus? We
Are they be shot at; Let us fall apart:
Not in our ruins, sepulchre our Friends.
Or shall we do some action like offence,
To mock their Studies that would make us faulty?
And frustrate practice by preventing it?
The danger's like: For what they can contrive,
They will make good. No innocence is safe,
When Power contests. Nor can they trespass more,
Whose only being was all Crime before.
   Ner. You hear Sejanus is come back from Cæsar?
   Gal. No. How? Disgrac'd?
   Dru. More grac'd now than ever.
   Gal. By what mischance?
   Cal. A Fortune like enough
Once to be bad.   Dru. But turn'd too good, to both.
   Gal. What was't?   Ner. Tiberius sitting at his Meat,
In a Farm-house, they call Spelunca, sited
By the Sea-side, among the Fundane Hills,
Within a natural Cave, part of the Grot
(About the entry) fell and overwhelm'd
Some of the Waiters; others ran away:
Only Sejanus with his Knees, Hands, Face,
O're-hanging Cæsar, did oppose himself
To the remaining Ruins, and was found
In


             Sejanus. 141

In that so labouring Posture by the Soldiers
That came to succour him. With which adventure,
He hath so fixt himself in Cæsar's trust,
As thunder cannot move him, and is come
With all the height of Cæsar's praise to Rome.
   Agr. And power, to turn those Ruines all on us;
And bury whole Posterities beneath them.
Nero, and Drusus, and Caligula,
Your places are the next, and therefore most
In their offence. Think on your Birth and Blood,
Awake your Spirits, meet their violence,
'Tis Princely when a Tyrant doth oppose;
And is a Fortune sent to exercise
Your Vertue, as the Wind doth try strong Trees:
Who by vexation grow more sound and firm,
After your Fathers fall, and Uncles fate,
What can you hope, but all the change of stroke
That force or slight can give? then stand upright;
And though you do not act, yet suffer nobly:
Be worthy of my Womb, and take strong chear;
What we do know will come, we should not fear.

Macro.

R
Eturn'd so soon? renew'd in trust and grace?
 Is Cæsar then so weak? or hath the Place
But wrought this alteration with the Air;
And he, on next remove, will all repair?
Macro, thou art ingag'd: and what before
Was publick; now, must be thy private, more.
The weal of Cæsar, fitness did imply;
But thine own fate confers necessity
On thy employment: and the thoughts born nearest
Unto our selves, move swiftest still, and dearest.
If he recover, thou art lost: yea, all
The weight of preparation to his fall
Will turn on thee, and crush thee. Therefore, strike
Before he settle, to prevent the like
Upon thy self. He doth his vantage know,
That makes it home, and gives the foremost blow.

Latiaris, Rufus, Opsius.

I
T is a Service, great Sejanus will
 See will requited, and accept of nobly.
Here place your selves, between the Roof and Seiling,
And when I bring him to his words of danger,
Reveal your selves, and take him.   Ruf. Is he come?
   Lat. I'll now go fetch him.   Ops. With good speed. I
      long
To merit from the State in such an Action.
   Ruf. I hope, it will obtain the Consulship
For one of us.   Ops. We cannot think of less,
To bring in one, so dangerous as Sabinus.
   Ruf. He was a follower of Germanicus,
And still is an observer of his Wife
And Children, though they be declin'd in grace;
A daily visitant keeps them company
In private and in publick; and is noted
To be the only Client of the House:
Pray Jove, he will be free to Latiaris.
   Ops. H' is ally'd to him, and doth trust him well.
   Ruf. And he'll requite his trust?   Ops. To do an Office
So grateful to the State, I know no Man
But would strain nearer Bands, than kindred — Ruf. List,
I hear them come.   Ops. Shift to our holes with silence.

Latiaris, Sabinus.

I
T is a noble constancy you shew
 To this afflicted House: that not like others,
(The Friends of season) you do follow Fortune,
And in the Winter of their fate, forsake
The Place, whose Glories warm'd you. You are just,

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And worthy such a Princely Patrons love,
As was the Worlds renown'd Germanicus:
Whose ample Merit when I call to thought,
And see his Wife, and Issue, Objects made
To so much envy, jealousie, and hate;
It makes me ready to accuse the Gods
Of negligence, as Men of tyranny.
   Sab. They must be patient, so must we.   Lat. O Jove,
What will become of us, or of the Times,
When, to be high or noble are made Crimes?
When Land and Treasure are most dangerous faults?
   Sab. Nay, when our Table, yea our Bed assaults
Our peace and safety? when our Writings are,
By any envious Instruments (that dare
Apply them to the guilty) made to speak
What they will have to fit their tyrannous wreak?
When Ignorance is scarcely Innocence;
And Knowledge made a capital Offence?
When not so much, but the bare empty shade
Of Liberty is reft us? and we made,
The prey to greedy Vultures and vile Spies,
That first transfix us with their murdering Eyes?
   Lat. Methinks the Genius of the Roman Race
Should not be so extinct, but that bright Flame
Of Liberty might be reviv'd again,
(Which no good Man but with his Life should lose)
And we not sit like spent and patient Fools,
Still puffing in the dark at one poor Coal,
Held on by hope till the last spark is out.
The Cause is publick, and the Honour, Name,
The immortality of every Soul
That is not Bastard or a Slave in Rome,
Therein concern'd: whereto, if Men would change
The wearied Arm, and for the weighty Shield
So long sustaind, employ the ready Sword,
VVe might have soon assurance of our Vows.
This Asses fortitude doth tyre us all.
It must be active Valour must redeem
Our loss, or none. The Rock and our hard Steel
Should meet, t'enforce those Glorious Fires again,
VVhose splendor cheer'd the world, and heat gave Life
No less than doth the Sun's.   Sab. 'Twere better stay
In lasting darkness and despair of day.
No ill should force the subject undertake
Against the Soveraign, more than Hell should make
The Gods do wrong. A good Man should and must
Sit rather down with loss than rise unjust.
Though, when the Romans first did yield themselves
To one Mans power, they did not mean their Lives,
Their Fortunes and their Liberties should be
His absolute Spoil as purchas'd by the Sword.
   Lat. VVhy we are worse, if to be Slaves, and bond
To Cæsar's Slave be such, the proud Sejanus!
He that is all, does all, gives Cæsar leave
To hide his ulcerous and anointed Face
VVith his bald Crown at Rhodes, while he here stalks
Upon the heads of Romans, and their Princes,
Familiarly to Empire.   Sab. Now you touch
A Point indeed, wherein he shews his Art,
As well as power.   Lat. And villany in both.
Do you observe where Livia lodges? How
Drusus came dead? what Men have been cut off?
   Sab. Yes, those are things remov'd: I never lookt',
Into his later practice, where he stands
Declar'd a Master in his Mystery.
First, e're Tiberius went, he wrought his fear
To think that Agrippina sought his death.
Then put those doubts in her; sent her oft word,
Under the show of Friendship, to beware
Of Cæsar, for he laid to Poyson her:
Drave them to frowns, to mutual jealousies,
Which, now, in visible hatred are burst out.
Since, he hath had his hired Instruments
To work on Nero; and to heave him up;
To


142 Sejanus.                     

To tell him Cæsar's old; that all the People,
Yea, all the Army have their Eyes on him;
That both do long to have him undertake
Something of worth, to give the world a hope;
Bids him to court their grace: The easie youth,
Perhaps gives ear, which strait he writes to Cæsar;
And with this Comment; see yond dangerous Boy;
Note but the practice of the Mother, there;
She's tying him for purposes at hand,
With Men of Sword. Here's Cæsar put in fright
'Gainst Son and Mother. Yet, he leaves not thus.
The second Brother, Drusus, (a fierce Nature,
And fitter for his Snares, because ambitious
And full of envy) him he clasps and hugs,
Poysons with praise, tells him what Hearts he wears,
How bright he stands in popular expectance;
That Rome doth suffer with him in the wrong
His Mother does him, by preferring Nero:
Thus set he them asunder, each 'gainst other,
Projects the course, that serves him to condemn,
Keeps in opinion of a Friend to all,
And all drives on to ruin.   Lat. Cæsar sleeps,
And nods at this?   Sab. Would he might ever sleep,
Bogg'd in his filthy Lusts.   Ops. Teason to Cæsar.
   Ruf. Lay hands upon the Traitor, Latiaris,
Or take the name thy self.   Lat. I am for Cæsar.
   Sab. Am I then catcht?   Ruf. How think you, Sir? you are.
   Sab. Spies of this Head! so white! so full of years!
Well, my most reverend Monsters, you may live
To see your selves thus snar'd.   Ops. Away with him.
   Lat. Hale him away.   Ruf. To be a Spy for Traitors,
Is honourable vigilance.   Sab. You do well,
My most officious Instruments of State;
Men of all uses: Drag me hence, away.
The year is well begun, and I fall fit
To be an Offering to Sejanus. Go.
   Ops. Cover him with his Garments, hide his Face.
   Sab. It shall not need. Forbear your rude assault,
The fault's not shameful; villany makes a fault.

Macro, Caligula.

S
Ir, but observe how thick your dangers meet
 In his clear drifts! Your Mother, and your Brothers,
Now cited to the Senate! Their Friend Gallus,
Feasted to day by Cæsar, since committed!
Sabinus, here we met, hurryed to Fetters!
The Senators all strook with fear and silence,
Save those whose hopes depend not on good means,
But force their private Prey from publick Spoil!
And you must know, if here you stay, your State
Is sure to be the Subject of his hate,
As now the Object.   Cal. What would you advise me?
   Mac. To go for Capreæ presently: and there
Give up your self entirely to your Uncle.
Tell Cæsar (since your Mother is accus'd
To fly for succours to Augustus Statue,
And to the Army, with your Brethren) you
Have rather chose, to place your aids in him,
Than live suspected; or in hourly fear
To be thrust out, by bold Sejanus's Plots:
Which, you shall confidently urge to be
Most full of peril to the State, and Cæsar,
As being laid to his peculiar ends,
And not to be let run with common safety.
All which (upon the second) I'll make plain,
So both shall love and trust with Cæsar gain.
   Cal. Away then, let's prepare us for our Journey.

Arruntius.

S
Till, dost thou suffer Heav'n? will no Flame,
 No heat of Sin, make thy just wrath to boil
In thy distemp'red Bosom, and o'reflow

[column break]

The Pitchy blazes of Impiety,
Kindled beneath thy Throne? Still canst thou sleep,
Patient, while Vice doth make an antick Face
At thy dread power, and blow Dust and Smoke
Into thy Nostrils? Jove, will nothing wake thee?
Must vile Sejanus pull thee by the Beard,
Ere thou wilt open thy Black-lidded Eye,
And look him dead? Well! Snore on dreaming Gods.
And let this last of that proud Giant-race,
Heave Mountain upon Mountain, 'gainst your State —
Be good unto me, Fortune and you Powers,
Whom I, expostulating, have prophan'd;
I see (what's equal with a Prodigy)
A great, a noble Roman, and an honest,
Live an old Man! O, Marcus Lepidus,
When is our turn to bleed? Thy self and I
(Without our boast) are a'most all the few
Left to be honest in these impious times.

Lepidus, Arruntius.

W
Hat we are left to be, we will be, Lucius,
 Though Tyranny did stare as wide as Death;
To fright us from it.   Arr. 'T hath so on Sabinus.
   Lep. I saw him now drawn from the Gemonies,
And (what increas'd the direness of the Fact)
His faithful Dog (upbraiding all us Romans)
Never forsook the Corps, but, seeing it thrown
Into the Stream, leap'd in, and drownd with it.
   Arr. O act! to be envi'd him of us Men!
We are the next, the Hook lays hold on, Marcus:
What are thy Arts)First bracket reversed good Patriot, teach them me)
That have preserv'd thy Hairs to this white dye,
And kept so reverend and so dear a Head,
Safe, on his comely Shoulders?   Lep. Arts, Arruntius?
None, but the plain and passive fortitude,
To suffer and be silent; never stretch
These Arms against the Torrent; live at home,
With my own thoughts, and innocence about me,
Not tempting the Wolves Jaws: these are my Arts.
   Arr. I would begin to study 'em, if I thought
They would secure me. May I pray to Jove,
In secret, and be safe? I, or aloud?
With open wishes? so I do not mention
Tiberius or Sejanus? yes I must,
If I speak out. 'Tis hard, that. May I think,
And not be rackt? What danger is't to dream?
Talk in ones sleep? or cough? who knows the Law?
May I shake my Head without a Comment? say
It rains, or it holds up, and not be thrown
Upon the Gemonies? These now are things,
Whereon Mens fortune, yea their fate depends.
Nothing hath priviledg 'gainst the violent ear.
No place, no day, no hour (we see) is free
(Not our religious and most sacred times)
From some one kind of cruelty: all matter,
Nay all occasion pleaseth. Mad-mens rage,
The idleness of Drunkards, Womens nothing,
Jesters simplicity, all, all is good
That can be catcht at. Nor is now th' event
Of any Person, or for any Crime,
To be expected; for, 'tis always one:
Death, with some little difference of place
Or time — what's this? Prince Nero, guarded?

Laco, Nero, Lepidus, Arruntius.

O
N, Lictors, keep your way: My Lords, forbear.
 On pain of Cæsar's wrath, no Man attempt
Speech with the Prisoner.   Ner. Noble Friends be safe:
To lose your selves for words, were as vain hazard,
As unto me small comfort: Fare you well.
Would all Rome's sufferings in my fate did dwell.

Lac. Lictors,


             Sejanus. 143

   Lac. Lictors, away.   Lep. Where goes he, Laco?   Lac. Sir,
He's banish'd into Pontia by the Senate.
   Arr. Do' I see, and hear, and feell? May I trust Sense?
Or doth my Phant'sie form it?   Lep. Where's his Brother?
Lac. Drusus is Prisoner in the Palace.   Arr. Ha?
I smell it now: 'tis rank. Where's Agrippina?
   Lac. The Princess is confin'd to Pandataria.
   Arr. Bolts, Vulcan; bolts, for Jove! Phœbus, thy Bow;
Stern Mars, thy Sword; and blue-ey'd Maid, thy Spear;
Thy Club, Alcides: all the Armory
Of Heaven is too little! — Ha? to guard
The Gods, I meant. Fine, rare dispatch! This same
Was swiftly born! confin'd, imprision'd, banish'd?
Most tripartite! The cause, Sir?   Lac. Treason.   Arr. O!
The Complement of all accusings? that
Will hit, when all else fails.   Lep. This turn is strange!
But yesterday, the People would not hear
Far less objected, but cry'd Cæsar's Letters
Were false and forg'd; that all these Plots were malice:
And that the ruin of the Princes House
Was practis'd 'gainst his knowledge. Where are now
Their Voices? now, that they behold his Heirs
Lock'd up, disgrac'd, led into exile?   Arr. Hush'd.
Drown'd in their Bellies. Wild Sejanus breath
Hath, like a Whirl-wind, scatter'd that poor Dust,
With this rude blast. We'll talk no Treason, Sir,
[He turns to Laco and the rest.

If that be it you stand for. Fare you well.
We have no need of Horse-leeches. Good Spy,
Now you are spy'd, be gone.   Lep. I fear you wrong him.
He has the Voyce to be an honest Roman.
   Arr. And trusted to this Office? Lepidus,
I'll sooner trust Greek Sinon, than a Man
Our State employs. He's gone: and being gone,
I dare tell you (whom I dare better trust)
That our night-ey'd Tiberius doth not see
His Minions drifts; or, if he do, he's not
So errant subtil, as we Fools do take him:
To breed a Mungrel up, in his own House,
With his own Blood, and (if the good Gods please)
At his own Throat, flesh him, to take a leap.
I do not beg it, Heav'n: but, if the Fates
Grant it these Eyes, they must not wink.   Lep. They must
Not see it, Lucius.   Arr. Who should let 'em?   Lep. Zeal,
And Duty; with the thought he is our Prince.
   Arr. He is our Monster: forfeited to Vice
So far, as no rackt Vertue can redeem him.
His lothed Person fouler than all Crimes:
An Emp'ror, only in his Lusts. Retir'd
(From all regard of his own Fame, or Rome's)
Into an obscure Island; where he lives
(Acting his Tragedies with a Comick Face)
Amidst his rout of Chaldees: spending Hours,
Days, Weeks, and Months, in the unkind abuse
Of grave Astrology, to the bane of Men,
Casting the scope of Mens Nativities,
And having found ought worthy in their Fortune,
Kill, or precipitate them in the Sea,
And boast, he can mock Fate. Nay, muse not: these
Are far from ends of Evil, scarce degrees.
He hath his Slaughter-house, at Capreæ;
Where he doth study murder, as an Art:
And they are dearest in his grace, that can
Devise the deepest Tortures. Thither, too,
He hath his Boys, and beauteous Girls tane up,
Out of our noblest Houses, the best form'd,
Best nurtur'd, and most modest: what's their good,
Serves to provoke his bad. Some are allur'd,
Some threatned; others (by their Friends detaind)
Are ravish'd hence, like Captives, and, in sight
Of their most grieved Parents, dealt away
Unto his Spintries, Sellaries, and Slaves,
Masters of strange and new-commented Lusts,
For which wise Nature hath not left a Name.

[column break]

To this (what most strikes us, and bleeding Rome,)
He is, with all his Craft, become the Ward
To his own Vassal, a stale Catamite:
Whom he (upon our low and suffering Necks)
Hath rais'd, from Excrement, to side the Gods,
And have his proper Sacrifice in Rome:
Which Jove beholds, and yet will sooner rive
A sensless Oak with Thunder than his Trunck.

[To them.
Laco, Pomponius, Minutius, Terentius.

T
Hese Letters make Men doubtful what t' expect,
 Whether his coming, or his death.   Pom. Troth, both:
And which comes soonest, thank the Gods for.   (Arr. List,
Their talk is Cæsar; I would hear all Voyces.)
   Min. One day, he's well; and will return to Rome:
The next day, sick; and knows not when to hope it.
   Lac. True, and to day, one of Sejanus's Friends
Honour'd by special Writ; and on the morrow
Another punish'd — Pom. By more special writ.
   Min. This Man receives his Praises of Sejanus;
A second but slight mention; a third none.
A fourth rebukes. And thus he leaves the Senate
Divided, and suspended, all uncertain.
   Lac. These forked tricks, I understand 'em not,
Would he would tell us whom he loves or hates,
That we might follow, without fear or doubt.
   (Arr. Good Heliotrope! Is this your honest Man?
Let him be yours so still. He is my Knave.)
   Pom. I cannot tell, Sejanus still goes on,
And mounts we see: New Statues are advanc'd,
Fresh leaves of Titles, large Inscriptions read,
His Fortune sworn by, himself new gone out
Cæsar's Colleague, in the fifth Consulship,
More Altars smoke to him than all the Gods:
What would we more?   (Arr. That the dear Smoke
      would choak him,
That would I more.   Lep. Peace, good Arruntius.)
   Lac. But there are Letters come (they say) ev'n now,
VVhich do forbid that last.   Min. Do you hear so?
   Lac. Yes.
   Pom. By Pollux, that's the worst.   (Arr. By Hercules,
      best)
   Min. I did not like the sign when Regulus,
(VVhom all we know no Friend unto Sejanus)
Did by Tiberius so precise command,
Succeed a Fellow in the Consulship:
It boded somewhat.   Pom. Not a mote. His Partner,
Fulcinius Trio, is his own, and sure.
Here comes Terentius. He can give us more.
[They whisper with Terentius.

   Lep. I'll ne're believe, but Cæsar hath some scent
Of bold Sejanus footing. These cross Points
Of varying Letters, and opposing Consuls,
Mingling his Honours and his Punishments,
Fayning now ill, now well, raysing Sejanus,
And then depressing him, (as now of late
In all reports we have it) cannot be
Empty of Practice: 'Tis Tiberius's Art.
For (having found his Favourite grown too great,
And with his greatness strong; that all the Soldiers
Are, with their Leaders, made at his devotion;
That almost all the Senate are his Creatures,
Or hold on him their main dependances,
Either for benefit, or hope, or fear;
And that himself hath lost much of his own,
By parting unto him; and by th' increase
Of his rank Lusts and Rages quite disarm'd
Himself of love, or rather publick means,
To dare an open Contestation)
His subtilty hath chose this doubling Line,
To hold him even in: not so to fear him,
As wholly put him out, and yet give check
Unto his farther boldness. In mean time,
By


144 Sejanus.                     

By his Employments, makes him odious
Unto the staggering rout, whose aid (in fine)
He hopes to use, as sure, who (when they sway)
Bear down, o're-turn all Objects in their way.
   Arr. You may be a Linceus, Lepidus: yet, I
See no such cause, but that a politick Tyran
(Who can so well disguise it) should have tane
A nearer way: fain'd honest, and come home
To cut his Throat, by Law.   Lep. I, but his fear
Would ne're be masqu'd, all-be his Vices were.
   Pom. His Lordship then is still in grace?   Ter. Assure you,
Never in more, either of Grace or Power.
   Pom. The Gods are wise and just.   (Arr. The Fiends they are.
To suffer thee bely 'em?)   Ter. I have here
His last and present Letters, where he writes him
The Partner of his cares, and his Sejanus ——
   Lac. But is that true, it is prohibited
To sacrifice unto him?   Ter. Some such thing
Cæsar makes scruple of, but forbids it not;
No more than to himself: says, he could wish
It were forborn to all.   Lac. Is it no other?
   Ter. No other, on my trust. For your more surety,
Here is that Letter too.   (Arr. How easily,
Do wretched Men believe, what they would have!
Looks this like a Plot?   Lep. Noble Arruntius stay.)
   Lac. He names him here without his Titles.   (Lep. Note.
   Arr. Yes, and come off your notable Fool. I will.)
   Lac. No other than Sejanus.   Pom. That's but haste
In him that writes. Here he gives large amends.
   Mar. And with his own hand written?   Pom. Yes.   Lac.
      Indeed?
   Ter. Believe it, Gentlemen, Sejanus's Breast
Never receiv'd more full contentments in,
Than at this present.   Pom. Takes he well th' escape
Of young Caligula, with Macro?   Ter. Faith,
At the first Air it somewhat troubled him.
   (Lep. Observe you?   Arr. Nothing, Riddles. Till I see
Sejanus struck, no sound thereof strikes me.)
   Pom. I like it not. I muse h' would not attempt
Somewhat against him in the Consulship,
Seeing the People 'gin to favour him.
   Ter. He doth repent it, now; but h' has employ'd
Pagonianus after him: and he holds
That correspondence there, with all that are
Neer about Cæsar, as no thought can pass
Without his knowledge, thence in act to front him.
   Pom. I gratulate the news.   Lac. But how comes Macro
So in trust and favour with Caligula?
   Pom. O Sir, he has a Wife; and the young Prince
An Appetite: he can look up and spy
Flies in the Roof, when there are Fleas i' Bed:
And hath a learned Nose to assure his sleeps.
Who to be favour'd of the rising Sun,
Would not lend little of his waning Moon?
'Tis the safest Ambition. Noble Terentius.
   Ter. The night grows fast upon us. At your Service.

C H O R U S —— Of Musicians.


Act V.

Sejanus.

S
Well, swell, my joys: and faint not to declare
 Your selves as ample as your Causes are.
I did not live till now; this my first hower:
Wherein I see my thoughts reach'd by my power.
But this, and gripe my wishes. Great and high,
The World knows only two, that's Rome and I.
My Roof receives me not; 'tis Air I tread:
And, at each step, I feel my advanced Head
Knock out a Star in Heav'n! Reard to this height,
All my desires seem modest, poor and sleight,

[column break]

That did before sound impudent: 'Tis Place,
Not Blood, discerns the noble and the base.
Is there not something more than to be Cæsar?
Must we rest there? it irks t' have come so far,
To be so neer a stay. Caligula,
Would thou stoodst stiff, and many in our way.
Winds lose their strength, when they do empty fly,
Unmet of Woods or Buildings; great Fires dye,
That want their matter to withstand them: so,
It is our grief and will be our loss, to know
Our Power shall want Opposites; unless
The Gods by mixing in the Cause would bless
Our Fortune with their Conquest. That were worth
Sejanus strife; durst fates but bring it forth.

Terentius, Sejanus.

S
Afety, to great Sejanus.   Sej. Now, Terentius?
   Ter. Hears not my Lord the wonder?   Sej. Speak it, no.
   Ter. I meet it violent in the Peoples Mouths,
Who run in routs to Pompey's Theatre,
To view your Statue: which they say sends forth
A Smoke as from a Furnace black and dreadful.
   Sej. Some Traitor hath put Fire in: (you, go see)
And let the Head be taken off, to look
What 'tis — Some Slave hath practis'd an imposture,
To stir the People. How now? why return you?

[To them
Satrius, Natta.

T
He Head, my Lord, already is tane off,
 I saw it: and at op'ning there leapt out
A great and monstrous Serpent!   Sej. Monstrous! why,
Had it a Beard, and Horns? no Heart? a Tongue
Forked as Flattery? lookt it of the hue,
To such as live in great Mens Bosoms? was
The Spirit of it Macro's?   Nat. May it please
The most Divine Sejanus, in my days,
(And by his sacred Fortune, I affirm it)
I have not seen a more extended, grown,
Foul, spotted, venemous, ugly — Sej. O, the Fates!
What a wild muster's here of Attributes,
T' express a Worm a Snake?   Ter. But how that should
Come there, my Lord!   Sej. VVhat! and you too,
      Terentius?
I think you mean to mak't a Prodigy
In your reporting?   Ter. Can the wise Sejanus
Think Heav'n hath meant it less?   Sej. O, superstition!
VVhy, then the falling of our Bed, that brake
This Morning, burd'ned with the populous weight
Of our expecting Clients, to salute us;
Or running of the Cat, betwixt our Legs,
As we set forth unto the Capitol,
VVere Prodigies.   Ter. I think them ominous!
And, would they had not hapned. As, to day,
The fate of some your Servants! who, declining
Their way, not able, for the throng, to follow,
Slipt down the Gemonies, and brake their Necks!
Besides, in taking your last augury,
No prosperous Bird appear'd, but croking Ravens
Flag'd up and down: and from the Sacrifice
Flew to the Prison, where they sate all night,
Beating the Air with their obstreperous Beaks!
I dare not counsel, but I could entreat,
That great Sejanus would attempt the Gods,
Once more with Sacrifice.   Sej. VVhat excellent Fools
Religion makes of Men? Believes Terentius,
(If these were dangers, as I shame to think them)
The Gods could change the certain course of Fate?
Or, if they could they would (now in a Moment)
For a Beeves Fat, or less, be brib'd t' invert
Those long Decrees? Then think the Gods like Flies,
Are to be taken with the steam of Flesh,
Or Blood, diffus'd about their Altars: think
Their


             Sejanus. 145

Their power as cheap as I esteem it small.
Of all the throng that fill th' Olympian Hall,
And (without pity) lade poor Atlas back,
I know not that one Deity, but Fortune;
To whom I would throw up in begging smoke,
One Grane of Incense: or whose Ear I'ld buy
With thus much Oyl. Her, I, indeed, adore;
And keep her grateful Image in my House,
Sometimes belonging to a Roman King,
But now call'd mine, as by the better stile:
To her I care not, if (for satisfying
Your scrupulous Phant'sies) I go offer. Bid
Our Priest prepare us Honey, Milk, and Poppy,
His masculine Odours, and Night-vestments: say,
Our Rites are instant, which perform'd, you'll see
How vain and worthy laughter your fears be.

Cotta, Pomponius.

P
Omponius! whither in such speed?   Pom. I go
 To give my Lord Sejanus notice — Cot. What?
   Pom. Of Macro.   Cot. Is he come?   Pom. Entred
      but now
The House of Regulus,   Cot. The opposite Consul?
   Pom. Some half hour since.
   Cot. And, by night too! stay, Sir;
I'll bear you company.   Pom. Along then —

Macro, Regulus, Laco.

T
Is Cæsar's will to have a frequent Senate;
 And therefore must your Edict lay deep mulct
On such as shall be absent.   Reg. So it doth.
Bear it my fellow Consul to adscribe.
   Mac. And tell him it must early be proclaim'd;
The place Apollo's Temple.   Reg. That's remembred.
   Mac. And at what hour?   Reg. Yes.   Mac. You do forget
To send one for the Provost of the Watch?
   Reg. I have not: here he comes.   Mac. Gracinus Laco,
You're a Friend most welcom: by and by,
I'll speak with you. (You must procure this List
Of the Prætorian Cohorts, with the names
Of the Centurions and their Tribunes.   Reg. I.)
   Mac. I bring you Letters and a Health from Cæsar —
   Lac. Sir, both come well.   (Mac. And hear you with
      your note,
Which are the Eminent Men, and most of Action.
   Reg. That shall be done you too.)   Mac. Most worthy
      Laco,
Cæsar salutes you. (Consul! Death and Furies!
[The Consul goes out.

Gone now? the Argument will please you, Sir.
(Hough! Regulus? The anger of the Gods
Follow his diligent Legs, and overtake 'em,
[Returns.
In likeness of the Gout.) O, good my Lord,
We lackt you present; I would pray you send
Another to Fulcinius Trio, straight,
To tell him you will come, and speak with him:
(The matter we'll devise) to stay him there,
While, I, with Laco do survey the Watch.
What are your strengths, Gracinus?   Lac. Seven Cohorts.
[Goes out again.

   Mac. You see, what Cæsar writes: and (——
      gone again?
H' has sure a Vein of Mercury in his Feet)
Knew you what store of the Prætorian Soldiers
Sejanus holds, about him, for his Guard?
   Lac. I cannot the just number: but, I think,
Three Centurions.   Mac. Three? good.   Lac. At most not
      four.
   Mac. And who be those Centurions?   Lac. That the
      Consul
Can best deliver you.   Mac. (When he's away:
Spight on his nimble Industry.) Gracinus,

[column break]

You find what place you hold, there, in the trust
Of Royal Cæsar?   Lac. I, and I am — Mac. Sir,
The Honours there propos'd are but beginnings
Of his great favours.   Lac. They are more —— Mac.
      I heard him
When he did study what to add — Lac. My Life,
And all I hold — Mac. You were his own first choice;
Which doth confirm as much as you can speak:
And will (if we succeed) make more — Your Guards
Are seven Cohorts, you say?   Lac. Yes.   Mac. Those we must
Hold still in readiness and undischarg'd.
   Lac. I understand so much. But how it can —
   Mac. Be done without suspicion, you'll object?
   Reg. What's that?   Lac. The keeping of the Watch
[Return.
      in Arms,
When Morning comes.   Mac. The Senate shall be met,
      and set
So early in the Temple, as all mark
Of that will be avoided.   Reg. If we need,
We have Commission, to possess the Palace,
Enlarge Prince Drusus, and make him our chief.
   Mac. (That secret would have burnt his reverend mouth,
Had he not spit it out, now:) by the Gods,
You carry things too — Let me borrow' a Man,
Or two, to bear these — That of freeing Drusus,
Cæsar projected as the last and utmost;
Not else to be remembred.   Reg. Here are Servants.
   Mac. These to Arruntius, these to Lepidus.
This bear to Cotta, this to Latiaris.
If they demand yo' of me: say, I have tane
Fresh Horse, and am departed. You (my Lord)
To your Colleague, and be you sure, to hold him
With long narration of the new fresh Favours,
Meant to Sejanus, his great patron; I,
With trusted Laco, here, are for the Guards:
Then, to divide. For, night hath many Eyes,
VVhereof, though most do sleep, yet some are Spies.

Præcones, Flamen, Ministri, Sejanus, Terentius, Sa-
   trius, &c.

B
E all profane far hence; Fly, fly far off:
 Be absent far; far hence be all profane
   Fla. We have been faulty, but repent us now,
And bring pure Hands, pure Vestments and pure Minds.
[Tub. Tib. These sound while the Flamen washeth.

   Min. Pure Vessels. Min. And pure Offerings. Min. Gar-
      lands pure.
   Fla. Bestow your Garlands: and (with reverence) place
The Vervin on the Altar.   Præ. Favour your tongues.
   Fla. Great Mother Fortune, Queen of human State,
Rectress of Action, Arbitress of Fate,
To whom all sway, all Power, all Empire bowes,
Be present, and propitious to our Vows.
   Præ. Favour it with your Tongues.
   Min. Be present, and propitionspropitious to our Vows.
Accept our Offering, and be pleas'd great Goddess.
   Ter. See, see, the Image stirs!   Sat. And turns away!
[While they sound again, the Flamen takes off the Ho-
   ney with his Finger, and tastes, then ministers to all
   rest: so of the Milk in an Earthen Vessel, he deals
   about, which done, he sprinkleth upon the Altar, Milk;
   then imposeth the Honey, and kindleth his Gums, and
   after censing about the Altar, placeth his Censer there-
   on, into which they put several Branches of Poppy, and
   the Musick ceasing, proceeds.








   Nat. Fortune averts her Face!   Fla. Avert, you Gods,
The Prodigy. Still! still! Some pious Rite
We have neglected. Yet! Heav'n, be appeas'd.
And be all Tokens false or void, that speak
Thy present Wrath.   Sej. Be thou dumb, scrupulous Priest:
And gather up thy self, with these thy VVares,
VVhich I, in spight of thy blind Mistress, or
Thy juggling Mystery, Religion, throw
V                                  Thus,            


146 Sejanus.                     

Thus scorned on the Earth. Nay, hold thy look
Averted, till I woe thee, turn again;
And thou shalt stand to all Posterity,
Th' eternal game and laughter with thy Neck
Writh'd to thy Tail, like a ridiculous Cat,
Avoid these Fumes, these superstitious Lights,
And all these cos'ning Ceremonies: you,
Your pure and spiced Conscience. I, the Slave,
And mock of Fools, (scorn on my worthy Head)
That have been titled and ador'd a God,
Yea sacrific'd unto my self, in Rome,
No less than Jove: and I be brought to do
A peevish Gigglot, Rites: Perhaps the thought
And shame of that, made Fortune turn her Face,
Knowing her self the lesser Deity,
And but my Servant. Bashful Queen, if so,
Sejanus thanks thy modesty. Who's that?

Pomponius, Sejanus, Minutius, &c.

H
Is Fortune suffers, till he hears my news:
 I have waited here too long. Macro, my Lord —
   Sej. Speak lower and withdraw.
   Ter. Are these things true?
   Min. Thousands are gazing at it in the Streets.
   Sej. What's that?   Ter. Minutius tells us here, my Lord,
That, a new Head being set upon your Statue,
A Rope is since found wreath'd about it! and,
But now a fiery Meteor in the Form
Of a great Ball was seen to rowl along
The troubled Air, where yet it hangs unperfect,
The amazing wonder of the Multitude!
   Sej. No more. That Macro's come, is more than all!
   Ter. Is Macro come?   Pom, I saw him.   Ter. Where?
      with whom?
   Pom. With Regulus.   Sej. Terentius — Ter. My Lord?
   Sej. Send for the Tribunes, we will straight have up
More of the Soldiers for our Guard. Minutius,
We pray you, go for Cotta, Latiaris,
Trio the Consul, or what Senators
You know are sure, and ours. You, my good Natta,
For Laco, Provost of the Watch. Now Satrius,
The time of Proof comes on. Arm all our Servants,
And without tumult. You, Pomponius,
Hold some good correspondence with the Consul,
Attempt him noble Friend. These things begin
To look like dangers, now, worthy my fates.
Fortune I see thy worst: Let doubtful States,
And things uncertain hang upon thy will:
Me surest death shall render certain still.
Yet, why is now my thought turn'd toward death,
Whom fates have let go on, so far in breath,
Uncheckt or unreprov'd? I, that did help
To sell the lofty Cedar of the World,
Germanicus; that at one stroke cut down
Drusus that upright Elm; witherd his Vine;
Laid Silius and Sabinus, two strong Oaks,
Flat on the Earth; besides those other shrubs,
Cordus and Sosia, Claudia, Pulchra,
Furnius and Gallus, which I have grub'd up;
And since, have set my Ax so strong and deep
Into the Root of spreading Agrippina;
Lopt off, and scatter'd her proud Branches, Nero,
Drusus and Caius too, although re-planted;
If you will, Destinies that after all,
I faint now ere I touch my Period;
You are but cruel; and I already have done
Things great enough. All Rome hath been my Slave;
The Senate sate an idle looker on,
And witness of my power; when I have blush'd
More to command than it to suffer; all
The Fathers have sate ready and prepar'd,
To give me Empire, Temples, or their Throats,
When I would ask 'em; and (what Crowns the top)

[column break]

Rome, Senate, People, all the World have seen
Jove, but my equal: Cæsar, but my second.
'Tis then your malice, Fates, who (but your own)
Envy and fear t' have any power long known.

Terentius, Tribunes.                        

S
Tay here: I'll give his Lordship, you are come.

[They confer their
 Letters.

Minutius, Cotta, Latiaris.

M
Arcus Terentius, 'pray you tell my Lord,
 Here's Cotta, and Latiaris,   Ter. Sir, I shall.
   Cot. My Letter is the very same with yours;
Only requires me to be present there,
And give my Voice to strengthen his design.
   Lat. Names he not what it is?   Cot. No, nor to you.
   Lat. 'Tis strange and singular and doubtful!   Cot. so it is.
It may be all is left to Lord Sejanus.

[To them.
Natta, Laco.

G
Entlemen, where's my Lord?   Tri. We wait him here.
   Cot. The Provost Laco? what's the news?   Lat. My
      Lord ——

[To them.
Sejanus.

N
Ow, my right, dear, noble, and trusted Friends;
 How much I am a captive to your kindness!
Most worthy Cotta, Latiaris, Laco,
Your valiant hand; and Gentlemen your loves.
I wish I could divide my self unto you;
Or that it lay within our narrow Powers,
To satisfie for so enlarged Bounty.
Gracinus, we must pray you, hold your Guards
Unquit when Morning comes. Saw you the Consul?
   Min. Trio will presently be here, my Lord.
   Cot. They are but giving order for the Edict,
To warn the Senate.   Sej. How! the Senate?   Lat. Yes.
This Morning in Appollo's Temple.   Cot. We
Are charg'd by Letter to be there, my Lord.
   Sej. By Letter? pray you let's see!   Lat. Knows not
      his Lordship!
   Cot. It seems so!   Sej. A Senate warn'd? without my
      knowledge?
And on this sudden? Senators by Letters
Required to be there! who brought these?   Cot. Macro.
   Sej. Mine Enemy! And when?
   Cot. This Mid-night.   Sej. Time,
With ev'ry other Circumstance, doth give.
It hath some strein of engin in't! How now?

Satrius, Sejanus, &c.                        

M
Y Lord, Sertorius Macro is without,
 Alone, and prays t' have private Conference
In business of high nature with your Lordship,
(He says to me) and which regards you much.
   Sej. Let him come here.   Sat. Better, my Lord, withdraw,
You will betray what store and strength of Friends
Are now about you; which he comes to spy.
   Sej. Is he not arm'd?   Sat. We'll search him.   Sej. No,
      but take,
And lead him to some room where you conceal'd,
May keep a Guard upon us. Noble Laco,
You are our trust: and, till our own Cohorts
Can be brought up, your strengths must be our Guard.
Now, good Minutius honour'd Latiaris,
[He salutes them humbly.

Most worthy and my most unwearied Friends:
I return instantly.   Lat. Most worthy Lord!
   Cot. His Lordship is turn'd instant kind, me thinks,
I' have


             Sejanus. 147

I have not observ'd it in him, heretofore.
   Tri. 1. 'Tis true, and it becomes him nobly.   Min. I
Am rapt withal.   Tri. 2. By Mars, he has my Lives,
(Were they a Million) for this only grace.
   Lac. I, and to name a Man!   Lat. As he did me!
   Min. And me!   Lat. Who would not spend his Life and
      Fortunes,
To purchase but the look of such a Lord?
   Lac. He, that would nor be Lords fool, nor the Worlds.

Sejanus, Macro.

M
Acro! most welcom, as most coveted Friend!
 Let me enjoy my longings. When arriv'd you?
   Mac. About the noon of night.   Sej. Satrius, give
      leave.
   Mac. I have been, since I came, with both the Consuls,
On a particular design from Cæsar.
   Sej. How fares it with our Great and Royal Master?
   Mac. Right plentifully well; as, with a Prince,
That still holds out the great proportion
Of his large Favours, where his Judgment hath
Made once divine Election: like the God
That wants not, nor is wearied to bestow
Where merit meets his Bounty, as it doth
In you, already the most happy, and ere
The Sun shall climb the South, most high Sejanus.
Let not my Lord be amus'd. For, to this end
Was I by Cæsar sent for to the Isle,
With special caution to conceal my Journey;
And, thence had my dispatch as privately
Again to Rome; charg'd to come here by night;
And only to the Consuls make naration
Of his great purpose; that the benefit
Might come more full, and striking by how much
It was less lookt for, or aspir'd by you,
Or least informed to the common Thought.
   Sej. What may this be? part of my self dear Macro,
If good speak out; and share with your Sejanus.
   Mac. If bad I should for ever loath my self
To be the Messenger to so good a Lord.
I do exceed m' Instructions to acquaint
Your Lordship with thus much; but 'tis my venture
On your retentive Wisdom: and because
I would no jealous scruple should molest
Or rack your peace of thought. For I assure
My noble Lord, no Senator yet knows
The business meant: though all by several Letters
Are warned to be there, and give their Voyces,
Only to add unto the State and Grace
Of what is purpos'd.   Sej. You take pleasure Macro,
Like a coy Wench, in torturing your Lover.
What can be worth this suffering?   Mac. That which follows,
The Tribunicial Dignity and Power:
Both which Sejanus is to have this day
Conferr'd upon him, and by publick Senate.
   Sej. Fortune be mine again; thou hast satisfied
For thy suspected Loyalty.   Mac. My Lord,
I have no longer time, the day approacheth,
And I must back to Cæsar.   Sej. Where's Caligula?
   Mac. That I forgot to tell your Lordship. Why,
He lingers yonder about Capreæ,
Disgrac'd; Tiberius hath not seen him yet:
He needs would thrust himself to go with me,
Against my wish or will, but I have quitted
His forward trouble, with as tardy note
As my neglect or silence could afford him.
Your Lordship cannot now command me ought,
Because I take no knowledge that I saw you,
But I shall boast to live to serve your Lordship;
And so take leave.   Sej. Honest and worthy Macro,
Your love and friendship. Who's there? Satrius,
Attend my honourable Friend forth. O!
How vain and vile a Passion is this fear?

[column break]

What base uncomly things it makes Men do?
Suspect their noblest Friends, (as I did this)
Flatter poor Enemies, intreat their Servants,
Stoop, court, and catch at the Benevolence
Of Creatures, unto whom (within this hour)
I would not have vouchsaf'd a quarter-look,
Or piece of Face? By you that Fools call Gods,
Hang all the Sky with your prodigious Signs,
Fill Earth with Monsters, drop the Scorpion down,
Out of the Zodiack, or the fiercer Lyon,
Shake off the loosned Glob from her long Hing,
Rowl all the World in darkness, and let loose
Th' inraged Winds to turn up Groves and Towns;
When I do fear again, let me be struck
With forked Fire, and unpittyed dye:
Who fears is worthy of Calamity.

[To the rest.
Pomponius, Regulus, Trio,

I
S not my Lord here?   Ter. Sir, he will be straight.
   Cot. What news, Fulcinius Trio?
   Tri. Good, good Tidings.
(But keep it to your self) my Lord Sejanus
Is to receive this day in open Senate
The Tribunicial Dignity.   Cot. Is't true?
   (Tri. No words; not to your thought: but, Sir, believe it.
   Lat. What says the Consul?   Cot. (Speak it not again,)
He tells me, that to day my Lord Sejanus —
   Tri. I must entreat you Cotta, on your honour
Not to reveal it.   Cot. On my Life, Sir.)   Lat. Say.
   Cot. Is to receive the Tribunicial Power.
But as you are an honourable Man,
Let me conjure you, not to utter it:
For it is trusted to me with that Bond.
   Lat. I am Harpocrates.   Ter. Can you assure it?
   Pom. The Consul told it me, but keep it close.
   Min. Lord Latiaris, what's the news?   Lat. I'll tell you,
But you must swear to keep it secret ——

[To them.
Sejanus.

I
 Knew the Fates had on their Distaff left
 More of our Thread, than so.   Reg. Hail great Sejanus.
   Tri. Hail the most honour'd.
   Cot. Happy.   Lat. High Sejanus.
   Sej. Do you bring Prodigies too?   Tri. May all presage
Turn to those fair Effects, whereof we bring
Your Lordship news.   Reg. May't please my Lord withdraw.
   Sej. Yes (I will speak with you anon.)   Ter. My Lord
[To some that stand by.

What is your pleasure for the Tribunes?   Sej. Why,
Let 'em be thankt and sent away.   Min. My Lord —
   Lac. Wil't please your Lordship to command me —
   Sej. No. You are troublesom.
   Min. The mood is chang'd.   Tri. Not speak?
   Tri. Nor look?   Lac. I. He is wise, will make him Friends
Of such who never love, but for their ends.

[Divers other Senators
 passing by them.
Arruntius, Lepidus.


I
, Go, make haste; take heed you be not last
  To tender your All hail in the wide Hall
Of huge Sejanus: run a Lictors pace:
Stay not to put your Robes on; but away,
With the pale troubled Ensigns of great Friendship
Stampt i' your Face! Now Marcus Lepidus,
You still believe your former augury?
Sejanus must go downward? you perceive
His wane approaching fast?   Lep. Believe me, Lucius,
I wonder at this rising!   Arr. I, and that we
Must give our suffrage to it? you will say,
It is to make his fall more steep and grievous?

V 2                                  It            


148 Sejanus.                     

It may be so. But think it, they that can
With idle wishes 'ssay to bring back time:
In cases desperate, all hope is Crime.
See, see! what Troops of his officious Friends
Flock to salute my Lord! and start before
My great proud Lord! to get a Lord-like nod!
Attend my Lord unto the Senate-house!
Bring back my Lord! like servile ushers, make
Way for my Lord! proclaim his Idol Lordship,
More than ten Cryers, or six noise of Trumpets!
Make Legs, kiss Hands, and take a scatter'd Hair
From my Lords eminent Shoulder! See, Sanquinius!
With his slow Belly, and his Dropsie! look,
What toyling haste he makes! yet, here's another
Retarded with the Gout, will be afore him!
Get thee Liburnian Porters, thou gross Fool,
To bear thy obsequious fatness, like thy Peers.
They are met! The Gout returns, and his great Carriage.

[Pass over the Stage.
Lictors, Consuls, Sejanus, &c.

G
Ive way, make place; room for the Consul.   San. Hail,
 Hail, great Sejanus.   Hat. Hail, my honour'd Lord.
   Arr. We shall be markt anon, for our not-Hail.
   Lep. That is already done.   Arr. It is a note
Of upstart greatness, to observe and watch
For these poor Trifles, which the noble Mind
Neglects and scorns.   Lep. I, and they think themselves
Deeply dishonour'd, where they are omitted,
As if they were Necessities that helpt
To the perfection of their Dignities:
And hate the Men, that but refrain 'em.   Arr. O!
There is a farther cause of hate. Their Breasts
Are guilty, that we know their obscure Springs,
And base beginnings: thence the anger grows. On. Follow.

Macro, Laco.

W
Hen all are entred, shut the Temple Doors;
 And bring your Guards up to the Gate.   Lac. I will.
   Mac. If you shall hear commotion in the Senate,
Present your self: and charge on any Man
Shall offer to come forth.   Lac. I am instructed.

The S E N A T E.

Haterius, Trio, Sanquinius, Cotta, Regulus, Sejanus,
   Pomponius, Latiaris, Lepidus, Arruntius, Præcones, Li-
   ctores.

H
Ow well his Lordship looks to day!   Tri. As if
 He had been born, or made for this hours state.
   Cot. Your fellow Consul's come about me-thinks?
   Tri. I, he is wise.   San. Sejanus trusts him well.
   Tri. Sejanus is a noble bounteous Lord.
   Hat. He is so, and most valiant.   Lat. And most wise.
   Sen. He's every thing.   Lat. Worthy of all, and more
Than bounty can bestow.   Tri. This Dignity
Will make him worthy.   Pom. Above Cæsar.   San. Tut,
Cæsar is but the Rector of an Isle,
He of the Empire.   Tri. Now he will have power
More to reward than ever.   Cot. Let us look
We be not slack in giving him our Voices.
   Lat. Not I.   San. Nor I.   Cot. The readier we seem
To propagate his Honours, will more bind
His Thoughts to ours.   Hat. I think right, with your Lordship.
It is the way to have us hold our Places.
   San. I, and get more.   Lat. More Office and more Titles.
   Pom. I will not lose the part, I hope to share
In these his Fortunes for my Patrimony.
   Lat. See, how Arruntius sits, and Lepidus.
   Tri. Let 'em alone, they will be markt anon.
   Sen. I'll do with others.   Sen. So will I.   Sen. And I.

[column break]

Men grow not in the State, but as they are planted
Warm in his Favours.   Cot. Noble Sejanus!
   Hat. Honour'd Sejanus!   Lat. Worthy and great Sejanus!
   Arr. Gods! how the Spunges open, and take in!
And shut again! look, look! is not he blest
That gets a seat in Eye-reach of him? more,
That comes in ear, or Tongue-reach? O, but most
Can claw his subtil Elbow, or with a buz
Fly-blow his Ears.   Præ. Proclaim the Senates peace,
And give last summons by the Edict.   Præ. Silence:
In the name of Cæsar, and the Senate. Silence.
   Memmius Regulus, and Fulcinius Trio, Consuls, these
present Kalends of June, with the first light, shall hold a
Senate, in the Temple of Apollo Palatine; all that are
Fathers, and are registred Fathers, that have right of en-
tring the Senate, we warn or command you be frequently
present, take knowledge the business is the Commonwealths;
whosoever is absent his fine or mulct will be taken, his excuse
will not be taken.
   Tri. Note, who are absent and record their names.
   Reg. Fathers Conscript, May, what I am to utter,
Turn good and happy for the Commonwealth.
And thou Apollo, in whose holy House
We here are met, inspire us all with Truth,
And liberty of censure to our Thought.
The Majesty of great Tiberius Cæsar
Propounds to this grave Senate, the bestowing
Upon the Man he loves, honour'd Sejanus,
The Tribunicial Dignity and Power;
Here are his Letters, signed with his Signet:
What pleaseth now the Fathers to be done?
   Sen. Read, read 'em, open, publickly, read 'em.
   Cot. Cæsar hath honour'd his own greatness much,
In thinking of this Act.   Tri. It was a thought
Happy and worthy Cæsar.   Lat. And the Lord
As worthy it on whom it is directed!
   Hat. Most worthy!   San. Rome did never boast the
      Vertue
That could give Envy bounds, but his: Sejanus —
   Sen. Honour'd and Noble!   Sen. Good, and great Se-
      janus!
   Arr. O, most tame Slavery and fierce Flattery!   Præ.
      Silence.

T I B E R I U S   C Æ S A R

To the S E N A T E Greeting.

The Epistle is read.

I
F you, Conscript Fathers, with your Children, be in health,
 it is aboundanty well: we with our Friends here are
so. The care of the Commonwealth, howsoever we are re-
mov'd in Person, cannot be absent to our Thought;
although, oftentimes, even to Princes most present, the truth
of their own Affairs is hid; than which, nothing falls out
more miserable to a State, or makes the art of Governing
more difficult. But since it hath been our easeful happiness
to enjoy both the Aids and Industry of so vigilant a Senate,
we profess to have been the more indulgent to our Plea-
sures, not as being careless of our Office, but rather secure of
the necessity. Neither do these common Rumours of many,
and infamous Libels published against our Retirement, at all
afflict us; being born more out of Mens ignorance than their
malice: and will, neglected, find their own Grave quickly;
whereas too sensibly acknowledg'd, it would make their
obloqui ours. Nor do we desire their Authors (though
found) be censur'd, since in a free State (as ours) all Men
ought to enjoy both their Minds and Tongues free.
   (Arr. The Lapwing, the Lapwing.)
Yet in things which shall worthily and more neer concern the
Majesty of a Prince, we shall fear to be so unnaturally
cruel to our own fame, as to neglect them. True it
is, Conscript Fathers, that we have raised Sejanus
from


             Sejanus. 149

from obscure, and almost unknown Gentry, (Sen. How, how!)
to the highest and most conspicuous point of Greatness, and (we
hope) deservingly; yet not without danger: it being a most
bold hazard in that Soveraign, who by his particular love to
one, dares adventure the hatred of all his other Subjects.
   (Arr. This touches, the blood turns.)
But we affie in your Loves and Understandings, and do no way
suspect the Merit of our Sejanus to make our Favours offensive
to any.
   (Sen. O! good, good.)
Though we could have wished his Zeal had run a calmer course
against Agrippina, and our Nephews, howsoever the openness
of their Actions declared them Delinquents; and, that he
would have remembred, no Innocence is so safe, but it re-
joyceth to stand in the sight of Mercy: The use of which in
us, he hath so quite taken away, toward them, by his Loyal
Fury, as now our Clemency would be thought but wearied Cru-
elty, if we should offer to exercise it.
   (Arr. I thank him, there I look't for't. A good Fox!)
Some there be that would interpret this his publick severity to
be particular Ambition; and that, under a pretext of Ser-
vice to us, he doth but remove his own Lets: alledging the
strengths he hath made to himself, by the Prætorian Souldiers,
by his Faction in Court and Senate, by the Offices he holds him-
self, and confers on others, his Popularity and Dependents, his
urging (and almost driving) us to this our unwilling retirement,
and lastly his aspiriugaspiring to be our Son-in-Law.
   (Sen. This 's strange!
   Arr. I shall anon believe your Vultures, Marcus.)
Your Wisdoms, Conscript Fathers, are able to examine, and
censure these Suggestions. But, were they left to our absolving
Voice, we durst pronounce them, as we think them, most ma-
licious.
   (Sen. O, he has restor'd all, list)
Yet are they offer'd to be averr'd, and on the Lives of the In-
formers. What we should say, or rather what we should
not say, Lords of the Senate, if this be true, our Gods and
Goddesses confound us if we know! Only, we must think, we
have plac'd our Benefits ill; and conclude, that, in our choice,
either we were wanting to the Gods, or the Gods to us.
   (Arr. The place grows hot, they shift.)
[The Senators shift their places.

We have not been covetous, Honourable Fathers, to change;
neither is it now any new Lust that alters our Affection, or old
loathing; but those needful Jealousies of State, that warn wi-
ser Princes hourly to provide for their safety; and do teach
them how learned a thing it is to beware of the humblest Ene-
my; much more of those great ones, whom their own employ'd
Favours have made fit for their fears.
   (Sen. Away.   Sen. Sit farther.
   Cot. Let's remove ——
   Arr. Gods! how the Leaves drop off, this little wind!)
We therefore desire, that the Offices he holds be first seized by
the Senate; and himself suspended from all Exercise of Place
or Power ——
   (Sen. How!   San. By your leave.
   Arr. Come, Porcpisce, (where's Haterius?
His Gout keeps him most miserably constant.)
Your dancing shews a tempest.   Sej. Read no more.
   Reg. Lords of the Senate, hold your seats: Read on.
   Sej. These Letters they are forg'd.
[Laco enters with the Guards.
   Reg. A Guard: sit still.
   Arr. There's change.
   Reg. Bid silence, and read forward.
   Præ. Silence —— and himself suspended from all Exer-
cise of Place or Power, but till due and mature Trial be made
of his Innocency, which yet we can faintly apprehend the
Necessity to doubt. If, Conscript Fathers, to your more search-
ing Wisdoms, there shall appear farther Cause (or of farther
proceeding, either to Seizure of Lands, Goods, or more — )
it is not our power that shall limit your Authority, or our Fa-
vour, that must corrupt your Justice: either were dishonour-
able in you, and both uncharitable to our self. We would
willingly be present with your Counsels in this business, but the

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danger of so potent a Faction (if it should prove so) forbids
our attempting it: Except one of the Consuls would be intreat-
ed for our safety, to undertake the Guard of us home, than
we should most readily adventure. In the mean time, it shall
not be fit for us to importune so judicious a Senate, who know
how much they hurt the Innocent, that spare the guilty: and
how grateful a Sacrifice, to the Gods, is the Life of an in-
grateful Person. We reflect not, in this, on Sejanus (not-
withstanding, if you keep an Eye upon him — and there is
Latiaris a Senator, and Pinnarius Natta, Two of his most
trusted Ministers, and so profest, whom we desire not to have
apprehended) but as the necessity of the cause exacts it.
   Reg. A Guard on Latiaris.   Arr. O, the Spy!
The reverend Spy is caught, who pities him?
Reward, Sir, for your Service: Now, you ha' done.
Your property, you see what use is made?
Hang up the Instrument.
   Sej. Give leave.   Lac. Stand, stand,
He comes upon his death, that doth advance
An Inch toward my point.
   Sej. Have we no Friends here?
   Arr. Hush't. Where now are all the Hails and Acclamations?

Macro, Senate.

H
ail to the Consuls, and this noble Senate.
   Sej. Is Macro here? O, thou art lost, Sejanus.
   Mac. Sit still, and un-affrighted, Reverend Fathers.
Macro, by Cæsar's Grace, the New-made Provost,
And now possest of the Prætorian Bands,
An Honour late belong'd to that proud man,
Bids you be safe: and to your constant Doom
Of his deservings, offers you the Surety
Of all the Soldiers, Tribunes and Centurions,
Receiv'd in our command.   Reg. Sejanus, Sejanus,
Stand forth, Sejanus.   Sej. Am I call'd?   Mac. I, thou,
Thou insolent Monster, art bid stand.
   Sej. Why, Macro,
It hath been otherwise between, you and I;
This Court, that knows us both, hath seen a difference,
And can (if it be pleas'd to speak) confirm,
Whose Insolence is most.
   Mac. Come down, Typhœus;
If mine be most, loe, thus I make it more;
Kick up thy heels in air, tear off thy Robe,
Play with thy Beard and Nostrils. Thus 'tis fit,
(And no man take compassion of thy state)
To use th' ingrateful Viper, tread his Brains
Into the Earth.   Reg. Forbear.   Mac. If I could lose
All my Humanity now, 'twere well to torture
So meriting a Traitor. Wherefore, Fathers,
Sit you amaz'd and silent? and not censure
This wretch, who in the hour he first rebell'd
'Gainst Cæsar's Bounty, did condemn himself?
P'hlegra, the Field, where all the Sons of Earth,
Muster'd against the Gods, did ne'er acknowledge
So proud, and huge a Monster.
   Reg. Take him hence.
And all the Gods guard Cæsar.
   Tri. Take him hence.
   Hat. Hence.   Cot. To the Dungeon with him.
   San. He deserves it.
   Sen. Crown all our Doors with Bays.
   San. And let an Ox
With gilded Horns and Garlands, straight be led
Unto the Capitoll.   Hat. And sacrific'd
To Jove, for Cæsar's safety.   Tri. All our Gods
Be present still to Cæsar.   Cot. Phœbus.   San. Mars.
   Hat. Diana.   San. Pallas.   Sen. Juno, Mercury,
All guard him   Mac. Forth, thou Prodigy of Men.
   Cot. Let all the Traytors Titles be defac'd.
   Tri. His Images and Statues be pull'd down.
   Hat. His Chariot-Wheels be broken.
   Arr. And the Legs
Of


150 Sejanus.                     

Of the poor Horses, that deserved naught,
Let them be broken too.   Lep. O, violent change,
And whirl of Mens Affections!   Arr. Like, as both
Their Bulks and Souls were bound on Fortunes Wheel,
And must act only with her motion.

Lepidus, Arruntius.

W
Ho would depend upon the popular air,
 Or voice of Men, that have to day beheld
(That, which if all the Gods had fore-declar'd,
Would not have been believ'd) Sejanus Fall?
He, that this Morn rose proudly, as the Sun,
And breaking through a mist of Clients breath,
Came on as gaz'd at, and admir'd, as he
When Superstitious Moors salute his light!
That had our Servile Nobles waiting him
As common Grooms; and hanging on his look,
No less than Humane Life on Destiny!
That had Mens Knees as frequent as the Gods;
And Sacrifices more than Rome had Altars:
And this Man fall! fall! I, without a look,
That durst appear his Friend, or lend so much
Of vain relief, to his chang'd state, as pity!
   Arr. They that before like Gnats plaid in his Beams,
And throng'd to circumscribe him, now not seen,
Nor deign to hold a common seat with him!
Others that waited him unto the Senate,
Now inhumanely ravish him to Prison!
Whom (but this Morn) they follow'd as their Lord,
Guard through the Streets, bound like a Fugitive!
Instead of wreaths give fetters, strokes for stoops:
Blind shame for honours, and black taunts for titles!
Who would trust slippery Chance?
   Lep. They that would make
Themselves her Spoil; and foolishly forget,
When she doth flatter, that she comes to prey.
Fortune, thou hadst no Deity, if Men
Had wisdom: we have placed thee so high,
By fond belief in thy Felicity.
   Sen. The Gods guard Cæsar. All the Gods guard Cæsar.
[Shout within.


Macro, Regulus, Senators.

N
Ow great Sejanus, you that aw'd the State,
 And sought to bring the Nobles to your whip,
That would be Cæsar's Tutor, and dispose
Of Dignities and Offices! that had
The publick Head still bare to your Designs,
And made the general Voice to eccho yours!
That look'd for Salutations twelve score off,
And would have Pyramids, yea Temples rear'd
To your huge Greatness! Now you lie as flat,
As was your Pride advanc't.   Reg. Thanks to the Gods.
   Sen. And praise to Macro, that hath saved Rome.
Liberty, liberty, liberty. Lead on,
And praise to Macro that hath saved Rome.

Arruntius, Lepidus, Terentius.

I
 Prophesie, out of this Senates flattery,
 That this new fellow, Macro, will become
A greater Prodigy in Rome, than he
That now is fal'n.
   Ter. O you, whose Minds are good,
And have not forc'd all Mankind from your Breasts;
That yet have so much stock of Vertue left,
To pity guilty States, when they are wretched:
Lend your soft Ears to hear, and Eyes to weep
Deeds done by Men, beyond the acts of Furies.
The eager multitude, (who never yet
Knew why to love, or hate, but only pleas'd
T' express their rage of power) no sooner heard

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The murmur of Sejanus in decline,
But with that speed and heat of appetite,
With which they greedily devour the way
To some great Sports, or a new Theatre,
They fill'd the Capitoll and Pompey's Cirk,
Where, like so many Mastives biting Stones,
As if his Statues now were sensitive
Of their wild Fury: first, they tear them down;
Then fastning Ropes, drag them along the Streets,
Crying in scorn, this, this was that rich Head
Was crown'd with Garlands, and with Odors, this
That was in Rome so reverenced. Now
The Furnace and the Bellows shall to work,
The great Sejanus crack, and piece by piece,
Drop i' the Founders Pit.   Lep. O, Popular Rage!
   Ter. The whilst the Senate at the Temple of Concord,
Make haste to meet again, and thronging cry,
Let us condemn him, tread him down in water.
While he doth lie upon the Bank; away:
Where some, more tardy, cry unto their Bearers,
He will be censur'd ere we come, run Knaves,
And use that furious diligence, for fear
Their Bond-men should inform against their slackness,
And bring their quaking flesh unto the Hook:
The Rout they follow with consusedconfused Voice,
Crying, they're glad, say, they could ne'er abide him;
Enquire what Man he was, what kind of Face,
What Beard he had, what Nose, what Lips? Protest,
They ever did presage h' would come to this:
They never thought him wise, nor valiant: Ask
After his Garments, when he dies, what Death;
And not a Beast of all the Herd demands,
What was his Crime? Or who were his Accusers?
Under what Proof, or Testimony he fell?
There came (says one) a huge long worded Letter
From Capreæ against him. Did there so?
O, they are satisfied, no more.   Lep. Alas!
They follow Fortune, and hate Men condemn'd,
Guilty, or not.   Arr. But had Sejanus thriv'd
In his design, and prosperously opprest
The old Tiberius then in that same minute,
These very Raskals, that now rage like Furies,
Would have proclaim'd Sejanus Emperor.
   Lep. But what hath follow'd?
   Ter. Sentence by the Senate,
To lose his Head; which was no sooner off,
But that, and th' unfortunate Trunk were seiz'd
By the rude multitude; who not content
With what the forward Justice of the State,
Officiously had done, with violent rage
Have rent it limb from limb. A thousand Heads,
A thousand hands, ten thousand tongues and voices,
Employ'd at once in several acts of Malice!
Old Men not staid with Age, Virgins with Shame,
Late Wives with loss of Husbands, Mothers of Children,
Losing all grief in joy of his sad fall,
Run quite transported with their Cruelty!
These mounting at his Head, these at his Face,
These digging out his Eyes, those with his Brains
Sprinkling themselves, their houses and their friends;
Others are met, have ravish'd thence an Arm,
And deal small pieces of the flesh for favours;
These with a thigh, this hath cut off his hands,
And this his feet, these fingers, and these toes;
That hath his liver, he his heart: there wants
Nothing but room for wrath, and place for hatred!
What cannot oft be done, is now o're-done.
The whole, and all of what was great Sejanus,
And next to Cæsar, did possess the world,
Now torn and scatter'd, as he needs no Grave;
Each little dust covers a little part:
So lies he no where, and yet often buried!

Arruntius,


             Sejanus. 151

Arruntius, Nuntius, Lepidus, Terentius.

M
Ore of Sejanus?   Nun. Yes.
   Lep. What can be added?
We know him dead.
   Nun. Then there begin your pity.
There is enough behind to melt ev'n Rome,
And Cæsar into tears: (since never slave
Could yet so highly offend, but tyranny,
In torturing him, would make him worth lamenting.)
A Son and Daughter to the dead Sejanus,
(Of whom there is not now so much remaining
As would give fastning to the Hang-man's Hook)
Have they drawn forth for farther sacrifice;
Whose tenderness of knowledge, unripe years,
And childish silly Innocence was such,
As scarce would lend them feeling of their danger:
The Girl so simple, as she often askt,
Where they would lead her? for what cause they dragg'd her?
Cry'd, she would do no more. That she could take
Warning with beating. And because our Laws
Admit no Virgin immature to die,
The wittily, and strangely cruel Macro,
Deliver'd her to be deflowr'd and spoil'd,
By the rude Lust of the licentious Hangman,
Then to be strangled with her harmless Brother.
   Lep. O, Act most worthy Hell, and lasting Night,
To hide it from the world!   Nun. Their Bodies thrown
Into the Gemonies, (I know not how,
Or by what accident return'd) the Mother,
Th' expulsed Apicata, finds them there;
VVhom when she saw lie spread on the degrees,
After a world of Fury on her self,
Tearing her Hair, defacing of her Face,
Beating her Breasts and VVomb, kneeling amaz'd,
Crying to Heaven, then to them; at last,
Her drowned Voice gate up above her VVoes,
And with such black and bitter Execrations,

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(As might affright the Gods, and force the Sun
Run backward to the East; nay, make the old
Deformed Chaos rise again, t' ore-whelm
Them, us, and all the world) she fills the Air,
Upbraids the Heavens with their partial Dooms,
Defies their tyrannous Powers, and demands,
VVhat she, and those poor Innocents have transgress'd,
That they must suffer such a share in vengeance,
VVhilst Livia Lygdus, and Eudemus live,
VVho, (as she says, and firmly vows, to prove it
To Cæsar, and the Senate) poyson'd Drusus?
   Lep. Confederates with her Husband!
   Nun. I.   Lep. Strange act!
   Arr. And strangely open'd: what says now my Monster;
The multitude? they reel now; do they not?
   Nun. Their gall is gone, and now they 'gin to weep
The mischief they have done.
   Arr. I thank 'em Rogues.
   Nun. Part are so stupid, or so flexible,
As they believe him innocent; all grieve:
And some, whose hands yet reak with his warm blood,
And gripe the part which they did tear of him,
VVish him collected and created new.
   Lep. How Fortune plies her sports, when she begins
To practice 'em! pursues, continues, adds!
Confounds, with varying her empassion'd Moods!
   Arr. Dost thou hope fortune to redeem thy crimes?
To make amends for thy ill placed favours,
VVith these strange punishments? Forbear you things,
That stand upon the Pinnacles of State,
To boast your slippery height; when you do fall,
You dash your selves in pieces, ne'er to rise:
And he that lends you pity, is not wise.
   Ter. Let this Example move th' insolent man,
Not to grow proud, and careless of the Gods:
It is an odious wisdom to blaspheme,
Much more to slighten, or deny their Powers.
For, whom the Morning saw so great and high,
Thus low, and little, 'fore the 'Even doth lie.






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