embraced it, all bloody as it was, and carried it tenderly in his own arms into the Palace, where he laid it on the Imperial bed. He even sent out for surgeons, as though Caligula was not really dead and had a chance of recovery.
He then left the Palace by another door and hurried round to the theatre again, where he prompted Mnester, the actor; to make his famous speech, the one which reassured the excited Germans and prevented them from massacring the audience in vengeance for their master’s death. Then back he darted to the Palace. When he heard there what had happened to me he came boldly into the court to see whether he could be of any service. I must admit that the sight of Herod’s crooked smile - one corner of the mouth turned up, the other down - heartened me considerably.
His first words were: ‘Congratulations, Caesar, on your election: may you long enjoy the great honours that these brave soldiers have bestowed on you, and may I have the glory of being your first ally!’ The soldiers cheered lustily. Then, coming close to me and clasping my hand tightly in his, he began talking earnestly in Phoenician, a language with which he knew I was acquainted because of my researches into the history of Carthage, but which none of the soldiers would understand. He gave me no opportunity of interrupting him. ‘Listen to me, Claudius. I know what you are feeling. I know that you don’t really want to be Emperor, but for all our sakes,. as well as your own, don’t be a fool. Don’t let slip what the Gods, have given you of their own accord. I can guess what you are thinking. You have some crazy idea of yielding up your power to the Senate as soon as the soldiers let you go. That would be madness; it would be the signal for civil war. The Senate are a flock of sheep, but there are three or four wolves among them who are ready, the moment you lay down your power, to fight for it among, themselves. There’s Asiaticus for a start, not to mention Vinicius. They were both in the conspiracy, so: they are likely to do something desperate for fear of being executed. Vinicius thinks himself a Caesar already because of his marriage with your niece Lesbia. He’ll recall her from banishment and they’ll make a very strong combination. If it’s not Asiaticus or Vinicius it will be someone else, probably Vinicianus. You are the only obvious Emperor for Rome and you’ll have the armies solidly behind you. If you won’t take on the responsibility because of some absurd prejudice it will be the ruin of everything. That’s all I’ll say. Think it over and keep up your spirits!’ Then he turned and shouted to the soldiers, ‘Romans, I congratulate you too. You could not have made a wiser choice. Your new Emperor is courageous, generous, learned, and just. You can trust him as completely as you trusted his glorious brother Germanicus. Don’t let yourselves be fooled with the Senate or by any of your Colonels. Stick by the Emperor Claudius and he’ll stick by you. The safest place for him is in your camp. I have just been advising him to pay you well for your loyalty.’ With these words he disappeared.
They carried me in my sedan towards their camp, going at a jog trot. As soon as one chairman showed any signs of flagging his place was taken by another. The Germans ran shouting ahead. I sat quite numb, self-possessed but never so blankly miserable in all my life before. With Herod gone the outlook seemed hopeless again. We had just reached the Sacred Way at the foot of the Palatine Hill when messengers came hurrying along it to intercept us and protest against my usurpation of the monarchy. The messengers were two ‘Protectors of the People’. (This office was a survival from the middle days of the Republic, when the Protectors maintained the rights of the common people against the tyrannous encroachments of the nobility: their persons were inviolate and, though they claimed no legislative power, they had forced from the
He then left the Palace by another door and hurried round to the theatre again, where he prompted Mnester, the actor; to make his famous speech, the one which reassured the excited Germans and prevented them from massacring the audience in vengeance for their master’s death. Then back he darted to the Palace. When he heard there what had happened to me he came boldly into the court to see whether he could be of any service. I must admit that the sight of Herod’s crooked smile - one corner of the mouth turned up, the other down - heartened me considerably.
His first words were: ‘Congratulations, Caesar, on your election: may you long enjoy the great honours that these brave soldiers have bestowed on you, and may I have the glory of being your first ally!’ The soldiers cheered lustily. Then, coming close to me and clasping my hand tightly in his, he began talking earnestly in Phoenician, a language with which he knew I was acquainted because of my researches into the history of Carthage, but which none of the soldiers would understand. He gave me no opportunity of interrupting him. ‘Listen to me, Claudius. I know what you are feeling. I know that you don’t really want to be Emperor, but for all our sakes,. as well as your own, don’t be a fool. Don’t let slip what the Gods, have given you of their own accord. I can guess what you are thinking. You have some crazy idea of yielding up your power to the Senate as soon as the soldiers let you go. That would be madness; it would be the signal for civil war. The Senate are a flock of sheep, but there are three or four wolves among them who are ready, the moment you lay down your power, to fight for it among, themselves. There’s Asiaticus for a start, not to mention Vinicius. They were both in the conspiracy, so: they are likely to do something desperate for fear of being executed. Vinicius thinks himself a Caesar already because of his marriage with your niece Lesbia. He’ll recall her from banishment and they’ll make a very strong combination. If it’s not Asiaticus or Vinicius it will be someone else, probably Vinicianus. You are the only obvious Emperor for Rome and you’ll have the armies solidly behind you. If you won’t take on the responsibility because of some absurd prejudice it will be the ruin of everything. That’s all I’ll say. Think it over and keep up your spirits!’ Then he turned and shouted to the soldiers, ‘Romans, I congratulate you too. You could not have made a wiser choice. Your new Emperor is courageous, generous, learned, and just. You can trust him as completely as you trusted his glorious brother Germanicus. Don’t let yourselves be fooled with the Senate or by any of your Colonels. Stick by the Emperor Claudius and he’ll stick by you. The safest place for him is in your camp. I have just been advising him to pay you well for your loyalty.’ With these words he disappeared.
They carried me in my sedan towards their camp, going at a jog trot. As soon as one chairman showed any signs of flagging his place was taken by another. The Germans ran shouting ahead. I sat quite numb, self-possessed but never so blankly miserable in all my life before. With Herod gone the outlook seemed hopeless again. We had just reached the Sacred Way at the foot of the Palatine Hill when messengers came hurrying along it to intercept us and protest against my usurpation of the monarchy. The messengers were two ‘Protectors of the People’. (This office was a survival from the middle days of the Republic, when the Protectors maintained the rights of the common people against the tyrannous encroachments of the nobility: their persons were inviolate and, though they claimed no legislative power, they had forced from the
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