nobles the right to veto any act of the Senate which displeased them. But Augustus and his two Imperial successors had also adopted the title of ‘Protector of the People’, with its prerogatives; so that the real ones, though they continued to be elected and to perform certain functions under Imperial direction, had lost their original importance.) It seemed clear that the Senate had chosen these messengers not only as an indication that all Rome was behind them in their protest, but also because their inviolateness of person would protect them from any hostility on the part of my men.
These Protectors, who were unknown to me personally, did not behave with conspicuous courage when we stopped to parley with them, or even dare to utter the stern message with which I afterwards learned that they had been entrusted. They called me ‘Caesar’ a title to which I then had no claim, not being a member of the Julian house; and said very humbly: ‘You will pardon us, Caesar, but the Senate would be much obliged by your immediate attendance at the House: they are anxious to learn your intentions:’
I was willing enough to go, but the Guards would not allow it. They felt only contempt for the Senate and, now that they had chosen an Emperor of their own, were resolved not to let him out of their sight, and to resist every attempt on the part of the Senate either to restore the Republic or to appoint a rival Emperor.
Angry shouts arose, ‘Clear off, d’ye hear?’
‘Tell the Senate to mind their own business and we’ll mind ours!’
‘We won’t allow our new Emperor to be murdered too.’ I leaned through the window of my sedan and said: ‘Pray give my respectful compliments to the Senate and inform them that for the present I am unable to comply with their gracious invitation. I have a prior one. I am being carried off by the sergeants, corporals, and private soldiers of the Palace Guard to enjoy their hospitality, at the Guards’ Camp. It is as much as my life is worth to insult this devoted soldiery.’
So away we went again. ‘What a wag our new Emperor is!’ they roared. When we reached the Camp I was greeted with greater enthusiasm, than ever. The Guards Division consisted of some 12,000 infantrymen besides the attached cavalry. It was not only the corporals and sergeants who now acclaimed me Emperor, but the captains and the colonels too. I discouraged them as much as I could while thanking them for their goodwill. I said that I could not consent, to be their Emperor until I had been so appointed by the Senate, in whose hands the election rested. I was conveyed to Headquarters, where I was treated with a deference to which I was wholly unaccustomed, but found myself virtually a prisoner.
As for the assassins, as soon as they had made sure of Caligula and escaped from the pursuing Germans and from Caligula’s chairmen and yeomen who also came hurrying up with cries of vengeance, they had run down to Vinicius’s house, which was not far from the Market Place. Here were waiting the colonels of the three City Battalions, who were the only regular troops stationed in Rome besides the Watchmen and the Imperial Guards. These colonels had not taken any active part in the conspiracy but had promised to put their forces at the disposal of the Senate as soon as Caligula was dead and the Republic restored. Cassius now insisted that someone must go at once and kill Caesonia and myself: we were too closely related to Caligula to be allowed to survive him.. A colonel called Lupus volunteered for the task; he was a brother-in-law of the Guards’ Commander. He came up to the Palace and, striding sword in hand through many deserted rooms, finally reached the Imperial bedchamber where Caligula’s body was lying, bloody and frightful, just as Herod had left it. But Caesonia was now sitting on the bed with the head on her lap, and little Drusilla, Caligula’s only child, was at her knees. As Lupus entered, Caesonia was
These Protectors, who were unknown to me personally, did not behave with conspicuous courage when we stopped to parley with them, or even dare to utter the stern message with which I afterwards learned that they had been entrusted. They called me ‘Caesar’ a title to which I then had no claim, not being a member of the Julian house; and said very humbly: ‘You will pardon us, Caesar, but the Senate would be much obliged by your immediate attendance at the House: they are anxious to learn your intentions:’
I was willing enough to go, but the Guards would not allow it. They felt only contempt for the Senate and, now that they had chosen an Emperor of their own, were resolved not to let him out of their sight, and to resist every attempt on the part of the Senate either to restore the Republic or to appoint a rival Emperor.
Angry shouts arose, ‘Clear off, d’ye hear?’
‘Tell the Senate to mind their own business and we’ll mind ours!’
‘We won’t allow our new Emperor to be murdered too.’ I leaned through the window of my sedan and said: ‘Pray give my respectful compliments to the Senate and inform them that for the present I am unable to comply with their gracious invitation. I have a prior one. I am being carried off by the sergeants, corporals, and private soldiers of the Palace Guard to enjoy their hospitality, at the Guards’ Camp. It is as much as my life is worth to insult this devoted soldiery.’
So away we went again. ‘What a wag our new Emperor is!’ they roared. When we reached the Camp I was greeted with greater enthusiasm, than ever. The Guards Division consisted of some 12,000 infantrymen besides the attached cavalry. It was not only the corporals and sergeants who now acclaimed me Emperor, but the captains and the colonels too. I discouraged them as much as I could while thanking them for their goodwill. I said that I could not consent, to be their Emperor until I had been so appointed by the Senate, in whose hands the election rested. I was conveyed to Headquarters, where I was treated with a deference to which I was wholly unaccustomed, but found myself virtually a prisoner.
As for the assassins, as soon as they had made sure of Caligula and escaped from the pursuing Germans and from Caligula’s chairmen and yeomen who also came hurrying up with cries of vengeance, they had run down to Vinicius’s house, which was not far from the Market Place. Here were waiting the colonels of the three City Battalions, who were the only regular troops stationed in Rome besides the Watchmen and the Imperial Guards. These colonels had not taken any active part in the conspiracy but had promised to put their forces at the disposal of the Senate as soon as Caligula was dead and the Republic restored. Cassius now insisted that someone must go at once and kill Caesonia and myself: we were too closely related to Caligula to be allowed to survive him.. A colonel called Lupus volunteered for the task; he was a brother-in-law of the Guards’ Commander. He came up to the Palace and, striding sword in hand through many deserted rooms, finally reached the Imperial bedchamber where Caligula’s body was lying, bloody and frightful, just as Herod had left it. But Caesonia was now sitting on the bed with the head on her lap, and little Drusilla, Caligula’s only child, was at her knees. As Lupus entered, Caesonia was
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