1. Cicero, Philippicae, 2.109, 13.11 (2nd cent. BCE - 1st cent. BCE)
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2. Juvenal, Satires, 4.15, 4.20, 5.4 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
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3. Martial, Epigrams, 10.96 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
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4. Martial, Epigrams, 10.96 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
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5. Pliny The Elder, Natural History, 6.8, 7.74-7.75, 34.6, 34.48, 34.62, 37.82 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
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6. Suetonius, Augustus, 70.2 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
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7. Suetonius, Caligula, 57.1 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
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8. Suetonius, Iulius, 79.1, 80.3 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
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9. Suetonius, Nero, 45 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
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10. Suetonius, Tiberius, 37.4, 44.2 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
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11. Tacitus, Annals, 2.37, 2.42.2, 6.41, 15.34 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
| 2.37. In addition, he gave monetary help to several senators; so that it was the more surprising when he treated the application of the young noble, Marcus Hortalus, with a superciliousness uncalled for in view of his clearly straitened circumstances. He was a grandson of the orator Hortensius; and the late Augustus, by the grant of a million sesterces, had induced him to marry and raise a family, in order to save his famous house from extinction. With his four sons, then, standing before the threshold of the Curia, he awaited his turn to speak; then, directing his gaze now to the portrait of Hortensius among the orators (the senate was meeting in the Palace), now to that of Augustus, he opened in the following manner:â "Conscript Fathers, these children whose number and tender age you see for yourselves, became mine not from any wish of my own, but because the emperor so advised, and because, at the same time, my ancestors had earned the right to a posterity. For to me, who in this changed world had been able to inherit nothing and acquire nothing, â not money, nor popularity, nor eloquence, that general birthright of our house, â to me it seemed enough if my slender means were neither a disgrace to myself nor a burden to my neighbour. At the command of the sovereign, I took a wife; and here you behold the stock of so many consuls, the offspring of so many dictators! I say it, not to awaken odium, but to woo compassion. Some day, Caesar, under your happy sway, they will wear whatever honours you have chosen to bestow: in the meantime, rescue from beggary the great-grandsons of Quintus Hortensius, the fosterlings of the deified Augustus! 6.41. About this date, the Cietae, a tribe subject to Archelaus of Cappadocia, pressed to conform with Roman usage by making a return of their property and submitting to a tribute, migrated to the heights of the Tauric range, and, favoured by the nature of the country, held their own against the unwarlike forces of the king; until the legate Marcus Trebellius, despatched by Vitellius from his province of Syria with four thousand legionaries and a picked force of auxiliaries, drew his lines round the two hills which the barbarians had occupied (the smaller is known as Cadra, the other as Davara) and reduced them to surrender â those who ventured to make a sally, by the sword, the others by thirst. Meanwhile, with the acquiescence of the Parthians, Tiridates took over Nicephorium, Anthemusias, and the other cities of Macedonian foundation, carrying Greek names, together with the Parthic towns of Halus and Artemita; enthusiasm running high, as Artabanus, with his Scythian training, had been execrated for his cruelty and it was hoped that Roman culture had mellowed the character of Tiridates. 15.34. There an incident took place, sinister in the eyes of many, providential and a mark of divine favour in those of the sovereign; for, after the audience had left, the theatre, now empty, collapsed without injury to anyone. Therefore, celebrating in a set of verses his gratitude to Heaven, Nero â now bent on crossing the Adriatic â came to rest for the moment at Beneventum; where a largely attended gladiatorial spectacle was being exhibited by Vatinius. Vatinius ranked among the foulest prodigies of that court; the product of a shoemaker's shop, endowed with a misshapen body and a scurrile wit, he had been adopted at the outset as a target for buffoonery; then, by calumniating every man of decency, he acquired a power which made him in influence, in wealth, and in capacity for harm, pre-eminent even among villains. |
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12. Cassius Dio, Roman History, 55.9.6, 55.10, 57.17, 57.17.7 (2nd cent. CE - 3rd cent. CE)
| 55.9.6. He made the journey as a private citizen, though he exercised his authority by compelling the Parians to sell him the statue of Vesta, in order that it might be placed in the temple of Concord; and when he reached Rhodes, he refrained from haughty conduct in both word and deed. 55.10. 1. Augustus limited the number of people to be supplied with grain, a number not previously fixed, to two hundred thousand; and, as some say, he distributed largess of sixty denarii to each man.,1a. How the Forum of Augustus was dedicated.,1b. How the Temple of Mars therein was dedicated.,2. . . . to Mars, and that he himself and his grandsons should go there as often as they wished, while those who were passing from the class of boys and were being enrolled among the youths of military age should invariably do so; that those who were sent out to commands abroad should make that their starting-point;,3. that the senate should take its votes there in regard to the granting of triumphs, and that the victors after celebrating them should dedicate to this Mars their sceptre and their crown; that such victors and all others who receive triumphal honours should have their statues in bronze erected in the Forum;,4. that in case military standards captured by the enemy were ever recovered they should be placed in the temple; that a festival should be celebrated besides the steps of the temple by the cavalry commanders of each year; that a nail should be driven into it by the censors at the close of their terms;,5. and that even senators should have the right of contracting to supply the horses that were to compete in the Circensian games, and also to take general charge of the temple, just as had been provided by law in the case of the temples of Apollo and of Jupiter Capitolinus.,6. These matters settled, Augustus dedicated this temple of Mars, although he had granted to Gaius and Lucius once for all the right to consecrate all such buildings by virtue of a kind of consular authority that they exercised in the time-honoured manner. And they did, in fact, have the management of the Circensian games on this occasion, while their brother Agrippa took part along with the boys of the first families in the equestrian exercise called "Troy.",7. Two hundred and sixty lions were slaughtered in the Circus. There was a gladiatorial combat in the Saepta, and a naval battle between the "Persians" and the "Athenians" was given on the spot where even toâday some relics of it are still pointed out.,8. These, it will be understood, were the names given to the contestants; and the "Athenians" prevailed as of old. Afterwards water was let into the Circus Flaminius and thirty-six crocodiles were there slaughtered. Augustus, however, did not serve as consul during all these days, but after holding office for a short time, gave the title of the consulship to another.,9. These were the celebrations in honour of Mars. To Augustus himself a sacred contest was voted in Neapolis, the Campanian city, nominally because he had restored it when it was prostrated by earthquake and fire, but in reality because its inhabitants, alone of the Campanians, tried in a manner to imitate the customs of the Greeks.,10. He also was given the strict right to the title of "Father"; for hitherto he had merely been addressed by that title without the formality of a decree. Moreover, he now for the first time appointed two prefects over the Praetorians, Quintus Ostorius Scapula and Publius Salvius Aper, â for I, too, apply this name "prefect" solely to them, of all who exercise a similar office, inasmuch as it has won its way into general use.,11. Pylades, the dancer, gave a festival, though he did not perform any of the work himself, since he was very old, but merely wore the insignia of office and provided the cost of the entertainment; and the praetor Quintus Crispinus also gave one. I mention this only because it was on this occasion that knights and women of distinction were brought upon the stage.,12. of this, however, Augustus took no account; but when he at length discovered that his daughter Julia was so dissolute in her conduct as actually to take part in revels and drinking bouts at night in the Forum and on the very rostra, he became exceedingly angry.,13. He had surmised even before this time that she was not leading a straight life, but refused to believe it. For those who hold positions of command, it appears, are acquainted with everything else better than with their own affairs; and although their own deeds do not escape the knowledge of their associates, they have no precise information regarding what their associates do.,14. In the present instance, when Augustus learned what was going on, he gave way to a rage so violent that he could not keep the matter to himself, but went so far as to communicate it to senate. As a result Julia was banished to the island of Pandateria, lying off Campania, and her mother Scribonia voluntarily accompanied her.,15. of the men who had enjoyed her favours, Iullus Antonius, on the ground that his conduct had been prompted by designs upon the monarchy, was put to death along with other prominent persons, while the remainder were banished to islands. And since there was a tribune among them, he was not tried until he had completed his term of office.,16. As a result of this affair many other women, too, were accused of similar behaviour, but the emperor would not entertain all the suits; instead, he set a definite date as a limit and forbade all prying into what had occurred previous to that time. For although in the case of his daughter he would show no mercy, remarking that he would rather have been Phoebe's father than hers, he nevertheless was disposed to spare the rest. This Phoebe had been a freedwoman of Julia's and her accomplice, and had voluntarily taken her own life before she could be punished. It was for this that Augustus praised her.,17. Gaius assumed command of the legions on the Ister with peaceful intent. Indeed, he fought no war, not because no war broke out, but because he was learning to rule in quiet and safety, while the dangerous undertakings were regularly assigned to others.,18. When the Armenians revolted and the Parthians joined with them, Augustus was distressed and at a loss what to do. For he himself was not fit for campaigning by reason of age, while Tiberius, as has been stated, had already withdrawn, and he did not dare send any other influential man; as for Gaius and Lucius, they were young and inexperienced in affairs. Nevertheless, under the stress of necessity, he chose Gaius, gave him the proconsular authority and a wife, â in order that he might also have the increased dignity that attached to a married man, â and appointed advisers to him.,19. Gaius accordingly set out and was everywhere received with marks of distinction, as befitted one who was the emperor's grandson and was even looked upon as his son. Even Tiberius went to Chios and paid court to him, thus endeavouring to clear himself of suspicion; indeed, he humiliated himself and grovelled at the feet, not only of Gaius, but also of all the associates of Gaius. And Gaius, after going to Syria and meeting with no great success, was wounded.,20. When the barbarians heard of Gaius' expedition, Phrataces sent men to Augustus to explain what had occurred and to demand the return of his brothers on condition of his accepting peace. The emperor sent him a letter in reply, addressed simply to "Phrataces," without the appellation of "king," in which he directed him to lay aside the royal name and to withdraw from Armenia. Thereupon the Parthian, so far from being cowed, wrote back in a generally haughty tone, styling himself "King of Kings" and addressing Augustus simply as "Caesar." Tigranes did not at once send any envoys, but when Artabazus somewhat later fell ill and died, he sent gifts to Augustus, in view of the fact that his rival had been removed,,21. and though he did not mention the name "king" in his letter, he really did petition Augustus for the kingship. Influenced by these considerations and at the same time fearing the war with the Parthians, the emperor accepted the gifts and bade him go with good hopes to Gaius in Syria. . . . others who marched against them from Egypt, and did not yield until a tribune from the pretorian guard was sent against them. This man in the course of time checked their incursions, with the result that for a long period no senator governed the cities in this region. 57.17. 1. The following year Gaius Caecilius and Lucius Flaccus received the title of consuls. And when some brought Tiberius money at the beginning of the year, he would not accept it and published an edict regarding this very practice, in which he used a word that was not Latin.,2. After thinking it over at night he sent for all who were experts in such matters, for he was extremely anxious to have his diction irreproachable. Thereupon one Ateius Capito declared: "Even if no one has previously used this expression, yet now because of you we shall all cite it as an example of classical usage." But a certain Marcellus replied: "You, Caesar, can confer Roman citizenship upon men, but not upon words.",3. And the emperor did this man no harm for his remark, in spite of its extreme frankness. His anger was aroused, however, against Archelaus, the king of Cappadocia, because this prince, after having once grovelled before him in order to gain his assistance as advocate when accused by his subjects in the time of Augustus,,4. had afterwards slighted him on the occasion of his visit to Rhodes, yet had paid court to Gaius when the latter went to Asia. Therefore Tiberius now summoned him on the charge of rebellious conduct and left his fate to the decision of the senate, although the man was not only stricken in years, but also a great sufferer from gout, and was furthermore believed to be demented.,5. As a matter of fact, he had once lost his mind to such an extent that a guardian was appointed over his domain by Augustus; nevertheless, at the time in question he was no longer weak-witted, but was merely feigning, in the hope of saving himself by this expedient. And he would now have been put to death, had not someone in testifying against him stated that he had once said: "When I get back home, I will show him what sort of sinews I possess." So great a shout of laughter went up at this â for the man was not only unable to stand, but could not even sit up â that Tiberius gave up his purpose of putting him to death.,6. In fact, the prince's condition was so serious that he was carried into the senate in a covered litter (for it was customary even for men, whenever one of them came there feeling ill, to be carried in reclining, and even Tiberius sometimes did so), and he spoke a few words leaning out of the litter.,7. So it was that the life of Archelaus was spared for the time being; but he died shortly afterward from some other cause. After this Cappadocia fell to the Romans and was put in charge of a knight as governor. The cities in Asia which had been damaged by the earthquake were assigned to an ex-praetor with five lictors; and large sums of money were remitted from taxes and large sums were also given them by Tiberius.,8. For not only did he refrain scrupulously from the possessions of others â so long, that is, as he practised any virtue at all â and would not even accept the inheritances that were left to him by testators who had relatives, but he actually contributed vast sums both to cities and to private individuals, and would not accept any honour or praise for these acts.,9. When embassies came from cities or provinces, he never dealt with them alone, but caused a number of others to participate in the deliberations, especially men who had once governed these peoples. 57.17.7. So it was that the life of Archelaus was spared for the time being; but he died shortly afterward from some other cause. After this Cappadocia fell to the Romans and was put in charge of a knight as governor. The cities in Asia which had been damaged by the earthquake were assigned to an ex-praetor with five lictors; and large sums of money were remitted from taxes and large sums were also given them by Tiberius. |
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13. Festus Sextus Pompeius, De Verborum Significatione, None (2nd cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
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14. Pliny The Younger, Letters, 2.3.8 (2nd cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
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15. Pliny The Younger, Letters, 2.3.8 (2nd cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
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16. Augustine, The City of God, 15.23 (4th cent. CE - 5th cent. CE)
| 15.23. In the third book of this work (c. 5) we made a passing reference to this question, but did not decide whether angels, inasmuch as they are spirits, could have bodily intercourse with women. For it is written, Who makes His angels spirits, that is, He makes those who are by nature spirits His angels by appointing them to the duty of bearing His messages. For the Greek word ἄγγελος, which in Latin appears as angelus, means a messenger. But whether the Psalmist speaks of their bodies when he adds, and His ministers a flaming fire, or means that God's ministers ought to blaze with love as with a spiritual fire, is doubtful. However, the same trustworthy Scripture testifies that angels have appeared to men in such bodies as could not only be seen, but also touched. There is, too, a very general rumor, which many have verified by their own experience, or which trustworthy persons who have heard the experience of others corroborate, that sylvans and fauns, who are commonly called incubi, had often made wicked assaults upon women, and satisfied their lust upon them; and that certain devils, called Duses by the Gauls, are constantly attempting and effecting this impurity is so generally affirmed, that it were impudent to deny it. From these assertions, indeed, I dare not determine whether there be some spirits embodied in an aerial substance (for this element, even when agitated by a fan, is sensibly felt by the body), and who are capable of lust and of mingling sensibly with women; but certainly I could by no means believe that God's holy angels could at that time have so fallen, nor can I think that it is of them the Apostle Peter said, For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment. 2 Peter 2:4 I think he rather speaks of these who first apostatized from God, along with their chief the devil, who enviously deceived the first man under the form of a serpent. But the same holy Scripture affords the most ample testimony that even godly men have been called angels; for of John it is written: Behold, I send my messenger (angel) before Your face, who shall prepare Your way. Mark 1:2 And the prophet Malachi, by a peculiar grace specially communicated to him, was called an angel. Malachi 2:7 But some are moved by the fact that we have read that the fruit of the connection between those who are called angels of God and the women they loved were not men like our own breed, but giants; just as if there were not born even in our own time (as I have mentioned above) men of much greater size than the ordinary stature. Was there not at Rome a few years ago, when the destruction of the city now accomplished by the Goths was drawing near, a woman, with her father and mother, who by her gigantic size over-topped all others? Surprising crowds from all quarters came to see her, and that which struck them most was the circumstance that neither of her parents were quite up to the tallest ordinary stature. Giants therefore might well be born, even before the sons of God, who are also called angels of God, formed a connection with the daughters of men, or of those living according to men, that is to say, before the sons of Seth formed a connection with the daughters of Cain. For thus speaks even the canonical Scripture itself in the book in which we read of this; its words are: And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, that the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair [good]; and they took them wives of all which they chose. And the Lord God said, My Spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years. There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became the giants, men of renown. These words of the divine book sufficiently indicate that already there were giants in the earth in those days, in which the sons of God took wives of the children of men, when they loved them because they were good, that is, fair. For it is the custom of this Scripture to call those who are beautiful in appearance good. But after this connection had been formed, then too were giants born. For the words are: There were giants in the earth in those days, and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men. Therefore there were giants both before, in those days, and also after that. And the words, they bare children to them, show plainly enough that before the sons of God fell in this fashion they begot children to God, not to themselves - that is to say, not moved by the lust of sexual intercourse, but discharging the duty of propagation, intending to produce not a family to gratify their own pride, but citizens to people the city of God; and to these they as God's angels would bear the message, that they should place their hope in God, like him who was born of Seth, the son of resurrection, and who hoped to call on the name of the Lord God, in which hope they and their offspring would be co-heirs of eternal blessings, and brethren in the family of which God is the Father. But that those angels were not angels in the sense of not being men, as some suppose, Scripture itself decides, which unambiguously declares that they were men. For when it had first been stated that the angels of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair, and they took them wives of all which they chose, it was immediately added, And the Lord God said, My Spirit shall not always strive with these men, for that they also are flesh. For by the Spirit of God they had been made angels of God, and sons of God; but declining towards lower things, they are called men, a name of nature, not of grace; and they are called flesh, as deserters of the Spirit, and by their desertion deserted [by Him]. The Septuagint indeed calls them both angels of God and sons of God, though all the copies do not show this, some having only the name sons of God. And Aquila, whom the Jews prefer to the other interpreters, has translated neither angels of God nor sons of God, but sons of gods. But both are correct. For they were both sons of God, and thus brothers of their own fathers, who were children of the same God; and they were sons of gods, because begotten by gods, together with whom they themselves also were gods, according to that expression of the psalm: I have said, You are gods, and all of you are children of the Most High. For the Septuagint translators are justly believed to have received the Spirit of prophecy; so that, if they made any alterations under His authority, and did not adhere to a strict translation, we could not doubt that this was divinely dictated. However, the Hebrew word may be said to be ambiguous, and to be susceptible of either translation, sons of God, or sons of gods. Let us omit, then, the fables of those scriptures which are called apocryphal, because their obscure origin was unknown to the fathers from whom the authority of the true Scriptures has been transmitted to us by a most certain and well-ascertained succession. For though there is some truth in these apocryphal writings, yet they contain so many false statements, that they have no canonical authority. We cannot deny that Enoch, the seventh from Adam, left some divine writings, for this is asserted by the Apostle Jude in his canonical epistle. But it is not without reason that these writings have no place in that canon of Scripture which was preserved in the temple of the Hebrew people by the diligence of successive priests; for their antiquity brought them under suspicion, and it was impossible to ascertain whether these were his genuine writings, and they were not brought forward as genuine by the persons who were found to have carefully preserved the canonical books by a successive transmission. So that the writings which are produced under his name, and which contain these fables about the giants, saying that their fathers were not men, are properly judged by prudent men to be not genuine; just as many writings are produced by heretics under the names both of other prophets, and more recently, under the names of the apostles, all of which, after careful examination, have been set apart from canonical authority under the title of Apocrypha. There is therefore no doubt that, according to the Hebrew and Christian canonical Scriptures, there were many giants before the deluge, and that these were citizens of the earthly society of men, and that the sons of God, who were according to the flesh the sons of Seth, sunk into this community when they forsook righteousness. Nor need we wonder that giants should be born even from these. For all of their children were not giants; but there were more then than in the remaining periods since the deluge. And it pleased the Creator to produce them, that it might thus be demonstrated that neither beauty, nor yet size and strength, are of much moment to the wise man, whose blessedness lies in spiritual and immortal blessings, in far better and more enduring gifts, in the good things that are the peculiar property of the good, and are not shared by good and bad alike. It is this which another prophet confirms when he says, These were the giants, famous from the beginning, that were of so great stature, and so expert in war. Those did not the Lord choose, neither gave He the way of knowledge unto them; but they were destroyed because they had no wisdom, and perished through their own foolishness. |
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17. Valerius Maximus, Memorable Deeds And Sayings, 2.10.2
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18. Vergil, Aeneis, 2.171-2.175
| 2.171. and hid himself, refusing to bring forth 2.172. His word of guile, and name what wretch should die. 2.173. At last, reluctant, and all loudly urged 2.174. By false Ulysses, he fulfils their plot 2.175. and, lifting up his voice oracular |
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