An Apartment in the Palace.
Enter SEJANUS.
Sej.
If this be not revenge, when I have done
And made it perfect, let Egyptian slaves,
Parthians, and bare-foot Hebrews brand my face,
And print my body full of injuries.
Thou lost thyself, child Drusus, when thou thoughtst
Thou couldst outskip my vengeance; or outstand
The power I had to crush thee into air.
Thy follies now shall taste what kind of man
They have provoked, and this thy father's 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'erspread
The world's wide face, which no posterity
Shall e'er 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 heaven 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!
Enter TIBERIUS, attended.
Tib.
Is yet Sejanus come?
Sej.
He's here, dread Caesar.
Tib.
Let all depart that chamber, and the next.
[Exeunt Attendants.
Sit down, my comfort. When the master prince
Of all the world, Sejanus, saith he fears, Is it not fatal?
Sewj.
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 the act just, them guilty.
Tib.
Long hate pursues such acts.
Sej.
Whom hatred frights,
Let him not dream of sovereignty.
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 tyrant's name to bear,
Shall never dare do any thing, but fear;
All the command of sceptres quite doth perish,
If it begin religious thoughts to cherish:
Whole empires fall, sway'd 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 thoroughly.
Tib.
Knows yet Sejanus whom we point at?
Sej.
Ay,
Or else my thought, my sense, or both do err:
'Tis Agrippina.
Tib.
She, and her proud race.
Sej.
Proud! dangerous, Caesar: for in them apace
The father's spirit shoots up. Germanicus
Lives in their looks, their gait, their form, t' upbraid us
With his close death, if not revenge the same.
Tib.
The act's not known.
Sej.
Not proved: but whispering Fame
Knowledge and proof doth to the jealous give,
Who, than to fail, would their own thought believe.
It is not safe, the children draw long breath,
That are provoked by a parent's death.
Tib.
It is as dangerous to make them hence,
If nothing but their birth be their offence.
Sej.
Stay, till they strike at Caesar; 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 swiftlier are opprest,
Than they whom confidence betrays to rest.
Let not your daring make your danger such:
All power is 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 Caesar: 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,
Ay, and prefer her too; commend her form,
Extol her fruitfulness; at which a shower
Falls for the memory of Germanicus,
Which they blow over straight with windy praise,
And puffing hopes of her aspiring sons;
Who, with these hourly ticklings, grow so pleased,
And wantonly conceited of themselves,
As now, they stick not to believe they're such
As these do give them 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.
Caesar, '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 them.
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 prince's fear,
Will, when they find themselves discover'd, rear
Their forces, like seen snakes, that else would lie
Roll'd in their circles, close: nought is more high,
Daring, or desperate, than offenders found;
Where guilt is, rage and courage both abound.
The course must be, to let them still swell up,
Riot, and surfeit on blind fortune's cup;
Give them more place, more dignities, more style,
Call them to court, to senate; in the while,
Take from their strength some one or twain, or more,
Of the main factors, (it will fright the store,)
And, by some by-occasion. Thus, with slight
You shall disarm them first; and they, in night
Of their ambition, not perceive the train,
Till in the engine 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 sovereign'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 proved
Their voice, in our designs, which by assenting
Hath more confirm'd us, than if beart'ning Jove
Had, from his hundred statues, bid us strike,
And at the stroke click'd 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 aloof, 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 ourselves.
And there's Arruntius too, he only talks.
But Sosia, Silius' 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 one Cremutius
Cordus, 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 unexamined, 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 choose
To be quite broken, and ta'en hence by us,
Than have the stain to be preserved by such.
Have we the means to make these guilty first?
Sej.
Trust that to me: let Caesar, 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 misspend
The time of action. Counsels are unfit
In business, where all rest is more pernicious
Than rashness can be. Acts of this close kind
Thrive more by execution than advice.
There is no lingering in that work begun,
Which cannot praised be, until through done.
Tib.
Our edicts shall forthwith command a court.
While I can live, I will prevent earth's fury:
[Exit
Enter JULIUS POSTHUMUS.
Pos.
My lord Sejanus——
Sej.
Julius Posthumus!
Come with my wish! What news from Agrippina's?
Pos.
Faith, none. They all lock up themselves a' late,
Or talk in character; I have not seen
A company so changed. 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, Furmus, 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 to extol
The hospitable lady?
Pas.
No; that trick
Was well put home, and had succeeded too,
But that Sabinus cough'd a caution out;
For she began to swell.
Sej.
And may she burst!
Julius, I would have you go instantly
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 the other day, of Silius,
Add somewhat to them. Make her understand
The danger of Sabinus, and the times,
Out of his closeness. Give Arruntius' words
Of malice against Caesar; 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 sovereignty,
And threatens Caesar. Pray Augusta then,
That for her own, great Caesar's, and the public
safety, she be pleased to urge these dangers.
Caesar is too secure, he must be told,
And best he'll take it from a mother's tongue.
Alas! what is't for us to sound, to explore,
To watch, oppose, plot, practise, 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' the civil war,
And men forbear not to declare themselves
Of Agrippina's party. Every day
The faction multiplies; and will do more,
If not resisted: you can best enlarge 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. [Exit.
Sej.
This second, from his mother, will well urge
Our late design, and spur on Caesar'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 feign
Where there are none, only to make him fear?
His fear will make him cruel: and once enter'd,
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 unreproved a chastity,
To be attempted, as light Livia was.
Work then, my art, on Caesar's fears, as they
On those they fear 'till all my lets be clear'd,
And he in ruins 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 public sacrifice.
[Exit.