373
after speaking, at last he said that "having received a Rome of clay, I leave to you one of stone," the saying showing the strength of his rule. However, Livia did not immediately announce his death, fearing lest some revolt should arise, while Tiberius was staying in Dalmatia, but she concealed it until he arrived. And when his body was brought back to Rome, Drusus, having taken his wills from the ever-virgin priestesses of Hestia, with whom they had been deposited, brought them into the senate, and those who had affixed the 2.455 seals inspected them, and they were read in the hearing of the senate. And his four books were also brought into the senate, of which the first prescribed the arrangements for his funeral, the second recounted the deeds he had accomplished, in the third he set out the state of the soldiers and the public revenues and expenditures and the amount of money in the treasuries, and the fourth contained instructions and injunctions for Tiberius and for the state. And when these had been read, the funeral procession took place and funeral orations were delivered by both Drusus and Tiberius; then his body was cremated. And at the time not many, but later all, mourned, remembering that he was accessible to all and assisted many with money, and that he greatly honored his friends and acknowledged his gratitude to those who corrected him on things in which he erred; as in the case of Athenodorus, a wise man, for the following reason. He was much inclined to sexual pleasures, and the women he wanted were brought in covered litters and thus were brought into his chamber, and he both led them out and made use of them. For he once desired a woman and sent to get her. At this time Athenodorus, being an acquaintance of that woman's husband, happened to have gone to see his friend, and finding both him and his wife distressed, for they were not able to resist, he inquired the cause of their grief. And having learned it, he told them to be calm; for he said he himself would go to Augustus and turn away his passion. And when the covered litter was brought as if the woman were about to enter it, Athenodorus entered, and taking a sword 2.456 and having ordered the litter to be closely covered, he was thus carried to the chamber of Augustus. And when he was uncovering the litter, he leaped out with sword in hand, saying "Are you not afraid then that someone entering in this way might kill you?" But Augustus not only was not angry nor did he harm Athenodorus, but he even felt gratitude toward him and became more self-controlled. For these reasons, therefore, and for many others, they longed for him, and because when Tiberius reigned after him they did not experience a similar one. And in the forty-second year of the reign of Augustus our Lord and God Jesus Christ was born, having become man, according to Eusebius Pamphili, who in his Ecclesiastical History records that he reigned fifty-seven years, while others count the years of his reign as forty-four. And the disagreement arises from this, that the others reckoned the reign for Caesar from when he defeated Antony in the naval battle at Actium, when he also truly became sole ruler, having become sole master of Roman affairs, but Eusebius adds to the reign also the time he ruled jointly with Antony, since even then Augustus was doing whatever he wished, while the other was occupied with Egypt and was enslaved to his love for Cleopatra, on account of which he also perished. Thus, therefore, also in the forty-second year of the reign of Caesar Eusebius has recorded that Christ was born according to the flesh. For if we should say that the 2.457 years of the reign of Caesar were forty-four, the epiphany of our Lord and Savior did not happen in the forty-second year, but it happens that the Lord was born in the twenty-ninth year. For as the divine evangelist Luke records, in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar John baptized Christ;
373
διαλεχθεὶς τέλος εφη οτι "τὴν ̔Ρώμην πηλίνην παραλαβὼν λιθίνην ὑμῖν καταλείπω," τὸ τῆς ἀρχῆς ἰσχυρὸν τοῦ λόγου ἐνδεικνυμένου. οὐ μέντοι τὸν θάνατον αὐτοῦ αὐτίκα ἡ Λιβία ἐξέφηνε, φοβηθεῖσα μή τι νεωτερισθῇ, ἐν ∆αλματίᾳ τοῦ Τιβερίου διάγοντος, ἀλλὰ συνέκρυψεν αὐτὸν μέχρις ἐκεῖνος ἀφίκετο. ἀνακομισθέντος δὲ τοῦ σώματος αὐτοῦ εἰς τὴν ̔Ρώμην, τὰς διαθήκας αὐτοῦ ὁ ∆ροῦσος ἐκ τῶν ἀειπαρθένων τῶν τῆς ̔Εστίας ἱερειῶν, αις παρετέθειντο, εἰληφὼς εἰς τὸ συνέδριον εἰσήνεγκε, καὶ τὰς 2.455 σφραγῖδας οἱ κατασημηνάμενοι ἐπεσκέψαντο, καὶ ἀνεγνώσθησαν ἐν ἐπηκόῳ τοῦ συνεδρίου. ἐκομίσθη δ' εἰς τὸ συνέδριον καὶ βιβλία αὐτοῦ τέσσαρα, ων τὸ μὲν εν τὰ περὶ τῆς ταφῆς διετάττετο, τὸ δ' ετερον τὰς πράξεις ας ειργαστο διεξῄει, τῷ δὲ τρίτῳ τὰ τῶν στρατιωτῶν καὶ τὰ τῶν προσόδων καὶ τῶν ἀναλωμάτων τῶν δημοσίων συνέταξε καὶ τὸ πλῆθος τῶν ἐν τοῖς θησαυροῖς χρημάτων, τὸ δέ γε τέταρτον ἐντολὰς περιεῖχε τῷ Τιβερίῳ καὶ τῷ κοινῷ ἐπισκήψεις. τούτων δ' ἀναγνωσθέντων ἡ ἐκφορὰ γέγονε καὶ ἐπιτάφιοι ἐρρήθησαν παρά τε τοῦ ∆ρούσου καὶ παρὰ τοῦ Τιβερίου· ειτα ἐκαύθη τὸ σῶμα αὐτοῦ. καὶ πένθος τότε μὲν οὐ πολλοί, υστερον δὲ πάντες εσχον, μεμνημένοι οτι τε πᾶσιν εὐπρόσοδος ην καὶ πολλοῖς ἐπήρκει ἐς χρήματα, καὶ οτι λίαν ἐτίμα τοὺς φίλους καὶ χάριτας ὡμολόγει τοῖς αὐτὸν διορθουμένοις ἐφ' οις ἐσφάλλετο· ωσπερ καὶ τῷ ̓Αθηνοδώρῳ ἀνδρὶ σοφῷ ἐπὶ τοιᾷδε αἰτίᾳ. Εὐκατάφορος πρὸς τὰ ἀφροδίσια ην, καί οἱ γυναῖκες ἐκομίζοντο ας ἐβούλετο ἐν καταστέγοις φορείοις καὶ ουτως εἰς τὸν αὐτοῦ εἰσήγοντο θάλαμον, ἐκεῖνος δὲ ταύτας ἐξῆγέ τε καὶ ἐκέχρητο. ἠράσθη γοῦν ποτε γυναικὸς καὶ επεμψε λαβεῖν αὐτήν. ἐν τούτῳ δὲ ὁ ̓Αθηνόδωρος, τῷ τῆς γυναικὸς ἐκείνης ἀνδρὶ συνήθης ων, ετυχεν ἀπελθὼν τὸν φίλον ὀψόμενος, καὶ ἀσχάλλοντα εὑρὼν κἀκεῖνον καὶ τὴν γυναῖκα, οὐ γὰρ ἠδύναντο ἀντιστῆναι, τὴν αἰτίαν τῆς λύπης ἐπύθετο. καὶ μαθὼν ἠρεμεῖν αὐτοὺς ἐκέλευσεν· αὐτὸς γὰρ ἀπελθεῖν εφη πρὸς τὸν Αυγουστον καὶ τὴν αὐτοῦ ἀποστρέψαι ὁρμήν. καὶ κομισθέντος τοῦ καταστέγου δίφρου ὡς τῆς γυναικὸς ἐν αὐτῷ εἰσελευσομένης, εἰσῆλθεν ὁ ̓Αθηνόδωρος, καὶ ξίφος 2.456 λαβὼν καὶ κατακαλυφθῆναι τὸν δίφρον ἀκριβῶς ἐπιτάξας ουτω πρὸς τὸν τοῦ Αὐγούστου κεκόμιστο θάλαμον. ἐκείνου δὲ τὸν δίφρον ἀποκαλύπτοντος ξιφήρης ἐκπεπήδηκεν εἰπών "ειτα οὐ φοβῇ μή τίς σε ουτως εἰσελθὼν ἀποκτείνῃ;" ὁ δ' Αυγουστος οὐ μόνον οὐκ ὠργίσθη οὐδ' ἐκάκισε τὸν ̓Αθηνόδωρον, ἀλλὰ καὶ χάριν εγνω αὐτῷ καὶ σωφρονέστερος γέγονε. διὰ ταῦτα τοίνυν καὶ αλλα δὲ πλείω ἐπόθουν αὐτόν, καὶ οτι τοῦ Τιβερίου μετ' αὐτὸν μοναρχήσαντος οὐχ ὁμοίου ἐπειράθησαν. ̓Εν δὲ τῷ τεσσαρακοστῷ δευτέρῳ ετει τῆς Αὐγούστου μοναρχίας ἐτέχθη ἐνανθρωπήσας ὁ κύριος ἡμῶν καὶ θεὸς ̓Ιησοῦς Χριστὸς κατὰ τὸν Παμφίλου Εὐσέβιον, ος ἐν τῇ ̓Εκκλησιαστικῇ ἱστορίᾳ καὶ πεντήκοντα καὶ ἑπτὰ ετη αὐτὸν ἱστορεῖ μοναρχῆσαι, τῶν αλλων τέσσαρα ἐπὶ τεσσαράκοντα τὰ τῆς μοναρχίας αὐτοῦ ἀριθμούντων ετη. γίνεται δὲ ἡ διαφωνία ἐντεῦθεν, οτι οἱ μὲν αλλοι τὴν μοναρχίαν ἐλογίζοντο Καίσαρι ἐξότου ναυμαχίᾳ ἐνίκησε τὸν ̓Αντώνιον ἐν ̓Ακτίῳ, οτε καὶ ὡς ἀληθῶς ἐμονάρχησε, μόνος τῶν ̔Ρωμαϊκῶν πραγμάτων γενόμενος κύριος, ὁ Εὐσέβιος δὲ καὶ τὸν χρόνον, ον συνῆρξε τῷ ̓Αντωνίῳ τῇ μοναρχίᾳ προστίθησιν, ὡς καὶ τότε τοῦ Αὐγούστου οσα ἐβούλετο πράττοντος, ἐκείνου τῇ Αἰγύπτῳ σχολάζοντος καὶ τῷ τῆς Κλεοπάτρας δουλεύοντος ερωτι, δι' ον καὶ ἀπώλετο. ουτως ουν καὶ ἐν τῷ τεσσαρακοστῷ δευτέρῳ ετει τῆς μοναρχίας τοῦ Καίσαρος ἱστόρησεν ὁ Εὐσέβιος τὸν Χριστὸν γεννηθῆναι τὸ κατὰ σάρκα. εἰ γὰρ τεσσαράκοντα καὶ τέσσαρας φαίημεν τοὺς τῆς 2.457 μοναρχίας ἐνιαυτοὺς γενέσθαι τοῦ Καίσαρος, οὐ κατὰ τὸ τεσσαρακοστὸν δεύτερον ετος ἡ ἐπιφάνεια γέγονε τοῦ κυρίου καὶ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν, ἀλλὰ κατὰ τὸ εἰκοστὸν ενατον ετος συμβαίνει τεχθῆναι τὸν κύριον. ὡς γὰρ ὁ θεσπέσιος εὐαγγελιστὴς Λουκᾶς ἱστορεῖ, ἐν ετει πεντεκαιδεκάτῳ τῆς ἡγεμονίας Τιβερίου Καίσαρος τὸν Χριστὸν ὁ ̓Ιωάννης ἐβάπτισε·