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And procure sweat, and then prepare a bath
To cleanse and clear the cutis; against when
I'll have an excellent new fucus made
Resistive 'gainst the sun, the rain or wind,
Which you shall lay on with a breath or oil,
As you best like, and last some fourteen hours.
This change came timely, lady, for your health.” 1

He ends by congratulating her on her approaching change of husbands; Drusus was injuring her complexion; Sejanus is far preferable; a physiological and practical conclusion. The Roman apothecary kept on the same shelf his medicine-chest, his chest of cosmetics, and his box of poisons.2

After this we find one after another all the scenes of Roman life unfolded, the bargain of murder, the comedy of justice, the shamelessness of flattery, the anguish and vacillation of the senate. When Sejanus wishes to buy a conscience, he questions, jokes, plays round the offer he is about to make, throws it out as if in pleasantry, so as to be able to withdraw it, if need be; then, when the intelligent look of the rascal, whom he is trafficking with, shows that he is understood:

"Protest not,

Thy looks are vows to me.

Thou art a man, made to make consuls. Go." 3

Elsewhere, the senator Latiaris in his own house storms before his friend Sabinus, against tyranny, openly expresses a desire for liberty, provoking him to speak.

1 The Fall of Sejanus, ii.

2 See Catiline, Act ii.; a very fine scene, no less plain spoken and animated, on the dissipation of the higher ranks in Rome.

3 The Fall of Sejanus, i.

VOL. II.

C

"1

Then two spies who were hid "between the roof and ceiling," cast themselves on Sabinus, crying, "Treason to Cæsar!" and drag him, with his face covered, before the tribunal, thence to "be thrown upon the Gemonies." So, when the senate is assembled, Tiberius has chosen beforehand the accusers of Silius, and their parts distributed to them. They mumble in a corner, whilst aloud is heard, in the emperor's presence:

"Cæsar,

Live long and happy, great and royal Cæsar;
The gods preserve thee and thy modesty,
Thy wisdom and thy innocence.

Guard

His meekness, Jove, his piety, his care,
His bounty." 2

Then the herald cites the accused; Varro, the consul, pronounces the indictment; Afer hurls upon them his bloodthirsty eloquence: the senators get excited; we see laid bare, as in Tacitus and Juvenal, the depths of Roman servility, hypocrisy, insensibility, the venomous craft of Tiberius. At last, after so many others, the turn of Sejanus comes. The fathers anxiously assemble in the temple of Apollo; for some days past Tiberius has seemed to be trying to contradict himself; one day he appoints the friends of his favourite to high places, and the next day sets his enemies in eminent positions. The senators mark the face of Sejanus, and know not what to anticipate; Sejanus is troubled, then after a moment's cringing is more arrogant than ever. The plots are confused, the rumours contradictory. Macro alone is in the confidence of Tiberius, and soldiers are 2 Ibid. iii.

1 The Fall of Sejanus, iv.

seen, drawn up at the porch of the temple, ready to enter at the slightest commotion. The formula of con

vocation is read, and the council marks the names of those who do not respond to the summons; then Regulus addresses them, and announces that Cæsar

"Propounds to this grave senate, the bestowing

Upon the man he loves, honour'd Sejanus,
The tribunitial dignity and power:

Here are his letters, signed with his signet.

What pleaseth now the Fathers to be done?"

"Senators. Read, read them, open, publicly read them. Cotta. Cæsar hath honour'd his own greatness much In thinking of this act.

Trio.

It was a thought

And the lord

Happy, and worthy Cæsar.

Latiaris.

As worthy it, on whom it is directed!

Haterius. Most worthy!

Sanquinius. Rome did never boast the virtue

That could give envy bounds, but his

1st Sen. Honour'd and noble !

2d Sen. Good and great Sejanus !
Præcones. Silence!" 1

Sejanus

Tiberius' letter is read. First, long obscure and vague phrases, mingled with indirect protestations and accusations, foreboding something and revealing nothing. Suddenly comes an insinuation against Sejanus. The fathers are alarmed, but the next line reassures them. A word or two further on, the same insinuation is repeated with greater exactness. Some there be that would interpret this his public severity to be particular ambition; and that, under a pretext of service to

1 The Fall of Sejanus, v.

us, he doth but remove his own lets: alleging the strengths he hath made to himself, by the prætorian soldiers, by his faction in court and senate, by the offices he holds himself, and confers on others, his popularity and dependents, his urging (and almost driving) us to this our unwilling retirement, and lastly, his aspiring to be our son-in-law." The fathers rise: "This is strange!" Their eager eyes are fixed on the letter, on Sejanus, who perspires and grows pale; their thoughts are busy with conjectures, and the words of the letter fall one by one, amidst a sepulchral silence, caught up as they fall with all devouring and attentive eagerness. The senators anxiously weigh the value of these shifty expressions, fearing to compromise themselves with the favourite or with the prince, all feeling that they must understand, if they value their lives.

"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 malicious.'

Senator. O, he has restor❜d all; list.

Præco. 'Yet are they offered to be averr'd, and on the lives of the informers.'

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At this word the letter becomes menacing. Those next Sejanus forsake him. "Sit farther. . . . Let's remove!" The heavy Sanquinius leaps panting over the benches. The soldiers come in; then Macro. And now, at last, the letter orders the arrest of Sejanus.

"Regulus. Take him hence; And all the gods guard Cæsar! Trio. Take him hence.

Haterius. Hence.

1 The Fall of Sejanus, v.

Cotta. To the dungeon with him.

Sanquinius. He deserves it.

Senator. Crown all our doors with bays.

San.

And let an ox,

With gilded horns and garlands, straight be led
Unto the Capitol.

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Cot. Let all the traitor's titles be defac'd.

Tri. His images and statues be pull'd down.
Sen. Liberty, liberty, liberty! Lead on,

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And praise to Macro that hath saved Rome !" 1

It is the baying of a furious pack of hounds, let loose at last on him, under whose hand they had crouched, and who had for a long time beaten and bruised them. Jonson discovered in his own energetic soul the energy of these Roman passions; and the clearness of his mind, added to his profound knowledge, powerless to construct characters, furnished him with general ideas and striking incidents, which suffice to depict manners.

IV.

Moreover, it was to this that he turned his talent. Nearly all his work consists of comedies, not sentimental and fanciful as Shakspeare's, but imitative and satirical, written to represent and correct follies and vices. He introduced a new model; he had a doctrine; his masters were Terence and Plautus. He observes the unity of time and place, almost exactly. He ridicules the authors who, in the same play,

1 The Fall of Sejanus, v.

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