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to obey her, as if she needed him for something else; and when Claudius told him to do whatever was ordered by Messalina, he was with her, as if commanded to do this also by him. And this she did with many others. For she committed adultery as if her husband knew what was happening and allowed her to be wanton. But Vinicius, because he was not willing to be corrupted with her, was destroyed by her with poison. But the Romans were vexed seeing him enslaved to his wife and his freedmen. In the following year, being the eight hundredth year for Rome, Claudius was consul for the fourth time. At that time he hastily summoned a certain Gallus, a man of senatorial rank, who had emigrated to Carthage, saying, "I will bind you with golden fetters." And so, fettered by the honor, he remained in his place. When a certain plot against Claudius was revealed, he scorned the informant and took no account of him, saying, "One must not 3.30 defend oneself against a flea and a wild beast in the same way." But he killed many others who had been slandered by Messalina, including Asiaticus and his son-in-law Magnus; Asiaticus on account of his wealth, and Magnus on account of his family and connection by marriage. They were convicted, however, as if on some other charges. And since masters deemed many sick slaves worthy of no medical care, but even cast them out of their houses, he enacted a law that all who survived such treatment should be free. When a grandson was born to him from his daughter Antonia, whom he had married to Cornelius Faustus Sulla, Messalina's brother, after the death of Magnus, he, being modest, allowed nothing to be decreed. But Messalina and his freedmen were puffed up. And there were three who especially held the power: Callistus, who was in charge of the books of petitions; and Narcissus, who was in charge of the correspondence, for which reason he also wore a dagger at his side; and Pallas, to whom the administration of the finances had been entrusted. But Messalina, not content that she was committing adultery, desired also to have many men; and she would have married all those who had relations with her, with marriage contracts, if she had not been caught in the first instance and destroyed. For as long as all the Caesarini were in agreement with her, there was nothing they did not do by common consent; but when she slandered and 3.31 killed Polybius, although she was intimate with him too, they no longer trusted her, and being deprived of their goodwill, she was destroyed. For she registered Gaius Silius, the son of the Silius who was slain by Tiberius, as her husband, and she both celebrated the wedding lavishly and presented him with an imperial house, having brought into it all the most valuable of Claudius's treasures; and finally, she designated him consul. These things, while clear to others, were unknown to Claudius. But once when he was away from home and left alone, Narcissus revealed everything that was happening through the concubines. Therefore he both returned to Rome and killed many others, including the dancer Mnester, and after this he also had Messalina herself slain. When she had been thus destroyed, he married his niece Agrippina at the urging of the freedmen, because she had a son, Domitius, who was already reaching adolescence, so that by raising him as a successor to the throne they might suffer no harm from Britannicus, as ones who had caused his mother Messalina to be killed. But when the marriage had already been decided, fearing Silanus, who was honored by Claudius as a good man, and at the same time seeking in marriage his daughter Octavia, who was betrothed to Silanus, for Agrippina's son Domitius, they persuaded Claudius to kill Silanus as one who was plotting against him. When this was done, Vitellius made a speech in the senate that it was advantageous to the state for Claudius to marry. And he declared Agrippina suitable for this, and advised that they should compel him to the marriage. 3.32 Starting from this, the senators went to Claudius and supposedly forced him to marry, and they made a decree allowing Romans to marry their nieces; for previously it had been forbidden. And when the

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αὐτῷ πειθαρχεῖν αὐτῇ, ὡς ἐπ' αλλο τι δεομένη αὐτοῦ· καὶ εἰπόντος αὐτῷ τοῦ Κλαυδίου οσα προστάττεται παρὰ τῆς Μεσσαλίνης ποιεῖν, συνῆν αὐτῇ, ὡς καὶ τοῦτο ὑπ' ἐκείνου κεκελευσμένος. τοῦτο δὲ καὶ πρὸς συχνοὺς ἑτέρους ἐποίει. ὡς γὰρ εἰδότος τοῦ ἀνδρὸς αὐτῆς τὰ γινόμενα καὶ συγχωροῦντος ἀκολασταίνειν αὐτῇ ἐμοιχεύετο. Βινίκιος δὲ οτι μὴ ἠθέλησεν αὐτῇ συμφθαρῆναι, φαρμάκῳ ὑπ' αὐτῆς διεφθάρη. ησχαλλον δὲ οἱ ̔Ρωμαῖοι δουλεύοντα αὐτὸν τῇ γυναικὶ καὶ τοῖς ἀπελευθέροις ὁρῶντες. Τῷ δ' ἑξῆς ἐνιαυτῷ ὀκτακοσιοστῷ ετει τῇ ̔Ρώμῃ οντι τὸ τέταρτον ὑπάτευσε Κλαύδιος. οτε Γάλλον τινά, βουλεῦσαι δυνάμενον, εἰς δὲ τὴν Καρχηδόνα ἐξοικήσαντα, σπουδῇ μετεπέμψατο, εἰπὼν οτι "χρυσαῖς σε πέδαις δήσω." καὶ ουτω τῷ ἀξιώματι πεδηθεὶς κατὰ χώραν εμεινεν. ἐπιβουλῆς δέ τινος τῷ Κλαυδίῳ μηνυθείσης κατεφρόνησε τοῦ μηνυθέντος καὶ ἐν οὐδενὶ λόγῳ αὐτὸν ἐποιήσατο, εἰπὼν οτι "οὐχ 3.30 ὁμοίως δεῖ ψύλλαν καὶ θηρίον ἀμύνεσθαι." αλλους δὲ πολλοὺς διαβληθέντας ὑπὸ τῆς Μεσσαλίνης καὶ τὸν ̓Ασιατικὸν καὶ τὸν γαμβρὸν τὸν Μάγνον ἀπέκτεινε· τὸν μὲν ̓Ασιατικὸν διὰ τὴν οὐσίαν, τὸν δὲ Μάγνον διὰ τὸ γένος καὶ τὸ κῆδος. ἑάλωσαν μέντοι ὡς ἐπ' αλλοις τισίν. ἐπεὶ δὲ πολλοὺς δούλους νοσοῦντας οὐδεμιᾶς θεραπείας οἱ δεσπόται ἠξίουν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῶν οἰκιῶν ἐξώθουν, ἐνομοθέτησε πάντας τοὺς ἐκ τοῦ τοιούτου περιγενομένους ἐλευθέρους ειναι. γεννηθέντος δέ οἱ ἐγγόνου ἐκ τῆς ̓Αντωνίας τῆς θυγατρός, ην Κορνηλίῳ Φαύστῳ Σύλλᾳ ἀδελφῷ τῆς Μεσσαλίνης οντι μετὰ τὸν τοῦ Μάγνου συνῴκισε θάνατον, οὐδὲν ἀφῆκε ψηφισθῆναι, μετριοφρονῶν. ἡ δὲ Μεσσαλῖνα καὶ οἱ ἐξελεύθεροι αὐτοῦ ἐξώγκωντο. ησαν δὲ τρεῖς οἱ μάλιστα τὸ κράτος διειληφότες· ο τε Κάλλιστος, ος ἐπὶ ταῖς βίβλοις τῶν ἀξιώσεων ἐτέτακτο· καὶ ὁ Νάρκισσος, ος τῶν ἐπιστολῶν ἐπεστάτει, διὸ καὶ ἐγχειρίδιον παρεζώννυτο· καὶ ὁ Πάλλας, ῳ ἡ τῶν χρημάτων διοίκησις ἐμπεπίστευτο. ̔Η δὲ Μεσσαλῖνα μὴ ἀρκουμένη οτι ἐμοιχεύετο, ἐπεθύμησε καὶ ανδρας πολλοὺς εχειν· καὶ συνῴκησεν αν πᾶσι τοῖς αὐτῇ χρωμένοις μετὰ συμβολαίων, εἰ μὴ ἐν τῷ πρώτῳ φωραθεῖσα ἀπώλετο. εως μὲν γὰρ οἱ Καισάρειοι πάντες ὡμονόουν αὐτῇ, οὐδὲν ην ο οὐκ ἀπὸ κοινῆς γνώμης ἐποίουν· ἐπεὶ δὲ τὸν Πολύβιον, καίτοι κἀκείνῳ πλησιάζουσα, διέβαλε καὶ 3.31 ἀπέκτεινεν, οὐκέτ' αὐτῇ ἐπίστευον, καὶ ἐρημωθεῖσα τῆς παρ' αὐτῶν εὐνοίας ἐφθάρη. τὸν γὰρ Σίλιον τὸν Γάιον τὸν τοῦ Σιλίου τοῦ ὑπὸ Τιβερίου σφαγέντος υἱὸν ανδρα ἐπεγράψατο, καὶ τούς τε γάμους πολυτελῶς εἱστίασε καὶ οἰκίαν αὐτῷ βασιλικὴν ἐχαρίσατο, πάντα τὰ τιμιώτατα τῶν τοῦ Κλαυδίου κειμηλίων συμφορήσασα εἰς αὐτήν· καὶ τέλος υπατον αὐτὸν ἀπέφηνε. ταῦτα δῆλα τοῖς αλλοις οντα τὸν Κλαύδιον ἐλάνθανεν. ἀποδημήσαντι δέ ποτε αὐτῷ καὶ μονωθέντι ὁ Νάρκισσος μηνύει πάντα διὰ τῶν παλλακῶν τὰ γινόμενα. οθεν εἰς τὴν ̔Ρώμην τε ἐπανῆλθε καὶ αλλους τε πολλοὺς καὶ τὸν ὀρχηστὴν τὸν Μνηστῆρα ἐφόνευσε, καὶ μετὰ τοῦτο καὶ αὐτὴν τὴν Μεσσαλῖναν ἀπέσφαξεν. ̓Εκείνης δ' ουτω διαφθαρείσης τὴν ̓Αγριππῖναν τὴν ἀδελφιδῆν εγημε σπουδῇ τῶν ἀπελευθέρων, οτι τὸν ∆ομίτιον ἐς προσήβους ηδη τελοῦντα ειχεν υἱόν, οπως εφεδρον αὐτὸν ἐπὶ τῇ ἀρχῇ τρέφοντες μηδὲν ὑπὸ τοῦ Βρεττανικοῦ δεινὸν πάθωσιν, ὡς τὴν αὐτοῦ μητέρα τὴν Μεσσαλῖναν ἀναιρεθῆναι ποιήσαντες. δεδογμένου δὲ ηδη τοῦ γάμου, δείσαντες τὸν Σιλανὸν ὑπὸ τοῦ Κλαυδίου τιμώμενον ὡς ανδρα ἀγαθόν, αμα δὲ καὶ τὴν ̓Οκταουίαν τὴν θυγατέρα αὐτοῦ τῷ τῆς ̓Αγριππίνης υἱῷ τῷ ∆ομιτίῳ προμνώμενοι, ἐγγεγυημένην τῷ Σιλανῷ, πείθουσι τὸν Κλαύδιον ὡς ἐπιβουλεύοντά οἱ τὸν Σιλανὸν ἀποκτεῖναι. γενομένου δὲ τούτου λόγους ἐν τῇ βουλῇ ὁ Οὐιτέλλιος ἐποιήσατο οτι συμφέρει τῷ κοινῷ γῆμαι τὸν Κλαύδιον. καὶ τὴν ̓Αγριππῖναν ἐπιτηδείαν εἰς τοῦτο ἀπέφαινε, καὶ βιάσασθαι σφίσιν αὐτὸν ἐπὶ τὸν γάμον συνεβού3.32 λευεν. ἐντεῦθεν ὁρμηθέντες οἱ βουλευταὶ πρὸς τὸν Κλαύδιον ηλθον καὶ ἠνάγκασαν δῆθεν αὐτὸν γῆμαι, καὶ ψήφισμα ἐποιήσαντο ἐξεῖναι ̔Ρωμαίοις ἀδελφιδᾶς αγεσθαι· πρότερον γὰρ ἐκεκώλυτο. ̔Ως δ' ὁ