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Tiresias: The Ancient Mediterranean Religions Source Database



10588
Tacitus, Annals, 4.22


Per idem tempus Plautius Silvanus praetor incertis causis Aproniam coniugem in praeceps iecit, tractusque ad Caesarem ab L. Apronio socero turbata mente respondit, tamquam ipse somno gravis atque eo ignarus, et uxor sponte mortem sumpsisset. non cunctanter Tiberius pergit in domum, visit cubiculum, in quo reluctantis et impulsae vestigia cernebantur. refert ad senatum, datisque iudici- bus Vrgulania Silvani avia pugionem nepoti misit. quod perinde creditum quasi principis monitu ob amicitiam Augustae cum Vrgulania. reus frustra temptato ferro venas praebuit exolvendas. mox Numantina, prior uxor eius, accusata iniecisse carminibus et veneficiis vaecordiam marito, insons iudicatur.About this time, the praetor Plautius Silvanus, for reasons not ascertained, flung his wife Apronia out of the window, and, when brought before the emperor by his father-in‑law, Lucius Apronius, gave an incoherent reply to the effect that he had himself been fast asleep and was therefore ignorant of the facts; his wife, he thought, must have committed suicide. Without any hesitation, Tiberius went straight to the house and examined the bedroom, in which traces were visible of resistance offered and force employed. He referred the case to the senate, and a judicial committee had been formed, when Silvanus' grandmother Urgulania sent her descendant a dagger. In view of Augusta's friendship with Urgulania, the action was considered as equivalent to a hint from the emperor: the accused, after a fruitless attempt with the weapon, arranged for his arteries to be opened. Shortly afterwards, his first wife Numantina, charged with procuring the insanity of her husband by spells and philtres, was adjudged innocent.


Intertexts (texts cited often on the same page as the searched text):

6 results
1. Josephus Flavius, Jewish Antiquities, 18.65-18.80 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)

18.65. 4. About the same time also another sad calamity put the Jews into disorder, and certain shameful practices happened about the temple of Isis that was at Rome. I will now first take notice of the wicked attempt about the temple of Isis, and will then give an account of the Jewish affairs. 18.66. There was at Rome a woman whose name was Paulina; one who, on account of the dignity of her ancestors, and by the regular conduct of a virtuous life, had a great reputation: she was also very rich; and although she was of a beautiful countece, and in that flower of her age wherein women are the most gay, yet did she lead a life of great modesty. She was married to Saturninus, one that was every way answerable to her in an excellent character. 18.67. Decius Mundus fell in love with this woman, who was a man very high in the equestrian order; and as she was of too great dignity to be caught by presents, and had already rejected them, though they had been sent in great abundance, he was still more inflamed with love to her, insomuch that he promised to give her two hundred thousand Attic drachmae for one night’s lodging; 18.68. and when this would not prevail upon her, and he was not able to bear this misfortune in his amours, he thought it the best way to famish himself to death for want of food, on account of Paulina’s sad refusal; and he determined with himself to die after such a manner, and he went on with his purpose accordingly. 18.69. Now Mundus had a freed-woman, who had been made free by his father, whose name was Ide, one skillful in all sorts of mischief. This woman was very much grieved at the young man’s resolution to kill himself, (for he did not conceal his intentions to destroy himself from others,) and came to him, and encouraged him by her discourse, and made him to hope, by some promises she gave him, that he might obtain a night’s lodging with Paulina; 18.71. She went to some of Isis’s priests, and upon the strongest assurances [of concealment], she persuaded them by words, but chiefly by the offer of money, of twenty-five thousand drachmae in hand, and as much more when the thing had taken effect; and told them the passion of the young man, and persuaded them to use all means possible to beguile the woman. 18.72. So they were drawn in to promise so to do, by that large sum of gold they were to have. Accordingly, the oldest of them went immediately to Paulina; and upon his admittance, he desired to speak with her by herself. When that was granted him, he told her that he was sent by the god Anubis, who was fallen in love with her, and enjoined her to come to him. 18.73. Upon this she took the message very kindly, and valued herself greatly upon this condescension of Anubis, and told her husband that she had a message sent her, and was to sup and lie with Anubis; so he agreed to her acceptance of the offer, as fully satisfied with the chastity of his wife. 18.74. Accordingly, she went to the temple, and after she had supped there, and it was the hour to go to sleep, the priest shut the doors of the temple, when, in the holy part of it, the lights were also put out. Then did Mundus leap out, (for he was hidden therein,) and did not fail of enjoying her, who was at his service all the night long, as supposing he was the god; 18.75. and when he was gone away, which was before those priests who knew nothing of this stratagem were stirring, Paulina came early to her husband, and told him how the god Anubis had appeared to her. Among her friends, also, she declared how great a value she put upon this favor 18.76. who partly disbelieved the thing, when they reflected on its nature, and partly were amazed at it, as having no pretense for not believing it, when they considered the modesty and the dignity of the person. 18.77. But now, on the third day after what had been done, Mundus met Paulina, and said, “Nay, Paulina, thou hast saved me two hundred thousand drachmae, which sum thou sightest have added to thy own family; yet hast thou not failed to be at my service in the manner I invited thee. As for the reproaches thou hast laid upon Mundus, I value not the business of names; but I rejoice in the pleasure I reaped by what I did, while I took to myself the name of Anubis.” 18.78. When he had said this, he went his way. But now she began to come to the sense of the grossness of what she had done, and rent her garments, and told her husband of the horrid nature of this wicked contrivance, and prayed him not to neglect to assist her in this case. So he discovered the fact to the emperor; 18.79. whereupon Tiberius inquired into the matter thoroughly by examining the priests about it, and ordered them to be crucified, as well as Ide, who was the occasion of their perdition, and who had contrived the whole matter, which was so injurious to the woman. He also demolished the temple of Isis, and gave order that her statue should be thrown into the river Tiber;
2. Pliny The Elder, Natural History, 8.165 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)

3. Quintilian, Institutes of Oratory, 8.5.31 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)

8.5.31.  " killed your wife, though you were an adulterer yourself. I should loathe you even if you had only divorced her." Here we have a division. "Do you wish me to prove that a love-philtre is a poison? The man would still be living, if he had not drunk it." This is an argument. There are, moreover, a number of speakers who the merely deliver many such epigrams, but utter everything as if it were an epigram.
4. Tacitus, Annals, 2.29, 2.34, 3.38, 3.70 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)

2.29.  Meanwhile, Libo changed into mourning, and with an escort of ladies of quality made a circuit from house to house, pleading with his wife's relatives, and conjuring them to speak in mitigation of his danger, — only to be everywhere refused on different pretexts and identical grounds of alarm. On the day the senate met, he was so exhausted by fear and distress — unless, as some accounts have it, he counterfeited illness — that he was borne to the doors of the Curia in a litter, and, leaning on his brother, extended his hands and his appeals to Tiberius, by whom he was received without the least change of countece. The emperor then read over the indictment and the names of the sponsors, with a self-restraint that avoided the appearance of either palliating or aggravating the charges. 2.34.  During the debate, Lucius Piso, in a diatribe against the intrigues of the Forum, the corruption of the judges, and the tyranny of the advocates with their perpetual threats of prosecution, announced his retirement — he was migrating from the capital, and would live his life in some sequestered, far-away country nook. At the same time, he started to leave the Curia. Tiberius was perturbed; and, not content with having mollified him by a gentle remonstrance, induced his relatives also to withhold him from departure by their influence or their prayers. — It was not long before the same Piso gave an equally striking proof of the independence of his temper by obtaining a summons against Urgulania, whose friendship with the ex-empress had raised her above the law. Urgulania declined to obey, and, ignoring Piso, drove to the imperial residence: her antagonist, likewise, stood his ground, in spite of Livia's complaint that his act was an outrage and humiliation to herself. Tiberius, who reflected that it would be no abuse of his position to indulge his mother up to the point of promising to appear at the praetorian court and lend his support to Urgulania, set out from the palace, ordering his guards to follow at a distance. The people, flocking to the sight, watched him while with great composure of countece he protracted the time and the journey by talking on a variety of topics, until, as his relatives failed to control Piso, Livia gave orders for the sum in demand to be paid. This closed an incident of which Piso had some reason to be proud, while at the same time it added to the emperor's reputation. For the rest, the influence of Urgulania lay so heavy on the state that, in one case on trial before the senate, she disdained to appear as a witness, and a praetor was sent to examine her at home, although the established custom has always been for the Vestal Virgins, when giving evidence, to be heard in the Forum and courts of justice. 3.38.  For Tiberius and the informers showed no fatigue. Ancharius Priscus had accused Caesius Cordus, proconsul of Crete, of malversation: a charge of treason, the complement now of all arraignments, was appended. Antistius Vetus, a grandee of Macedonia, had been acquitted of adultery: the Caesar reprimanded the judges and recalled him to stand his trial for treason, as a disaffected person, involved in the schemes of Rhescuporis during that period after the murder of Cotys when he had meditated war against ourselves. The defendant was condemned accordingly to interdiction from fire and water, with a proviso that his place of detention should be an island not too conveniently situated either for Macedonia or for Thrace. For since the partition of the monarchy between Rhoemetalces and the children of Cotys, who during their minority were under the tutelage of Trebellenus Rufus, Thrace — unaccustomed to Roman methods — was divided against herself; and the accusations against Trebellenus were no more violent than those against Rhoemetalces for leaving the injuries of his countrymen unavenged. Three powerful tribes, the Coelaletae, Odrysae, and Dii, took up arms, but under separate leaders of precisely equal obscurity: a fact which saved us from a coalition involving a serious war. One division embroiled the districts at hand; another crossed the Haemus range to bring out the remote clans; the most numerous, and least disorderly, besieged the king in Philippopolis, a city founded by Philip of Macedon. 3.70.  Later, an audience was given to the Cyrenaeans, and Caesius Cordus was convicted of extortion on the arraignment of Ancharius Priscus. Lucius Ennius, a Roman knight, found himself indicted for treason on the ground that he had turned a statuette of the emperor to the promiscuous uses of household silver. The Caesar forbade the entry of the case for trial, though Ateius Capito protested openly and with a display of freedom: for "the right of decision ought not to be snatched from the senate, nor should so grave an offence pass without punishment. By all means let the sovereign be easy-tempered in a grievance of his own; but injuries to the state he must not condone!" Tiberius understood this for what it was, rather than for what it purported to be, and persisted in his veto. The degradation of Capito was unusually marked, since, authority as he was on secular and religious law, he was held to have dishonoured not only the fair fame of the state but his personal good qualities.
5. Pliny The Younger, Letters, None (2nd cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)

6. Pliny The Younger, Letters, None (2nd cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)



Subjects of this text:

subject book bibliographic info
adjudication,adjudicating Tuori (2016), The Emperor of Law: The Emergence of Roman Imperial Adjudication<, 143
amatorium Ando and Ruepke (2006), Religion and Law in Classical and Christian Rome, 51
appeal Tuori (2016), The Emperor of Law: The Emergence of Roman Imperial Adjudication<, 179
augustus Tuori (2016), The Emperor of Law: The Emergence of Roman Imperial Adjudication<, 143
baebius massa Talbert (1984), The Senate of Imperial Rome, 465, 481
caecilius classicus Talbert (1984), The Senate of Imperial Rome, 481
caesius cordus Talbert (1984), The Senate of Imperial Rome, 481
caligula Tuori (2016), The Emperor of Law: The Emergence of Roman Imperial Adjudication<, 179
carmenmna Ando and Ruepke (2006), Religion and Law in Classical and Christian Rome, 51
case Tuori (2016), The Emperor of Law: The Emergence of Roman Imperial Adjudication<, 143, 179
claudius Tuori (2016), The Emperor of Law: The Emergence of Roman Imperial Adjudication<, 179
crime Tuori (2016), The Emperor of Law: The Emergence of Roman Imperial Adjudication<, 179
criminal case Tuori (2016), The Emperor of Law: The Emergence of Roman Imperial Adjudication<, 143, 179
criminal jurisdiction Tuori (2016), The Emperor of Law: The Emergence of Roman Imperial Adjudication<, 143
domitian Tuori (2016), The Emperor of Law: The Emergence of Roman Imperial Adjudication<, 179
emperor,,jurisdiction Talbert (1984), The Senate of Imperial Rome, 481
father Tuori (2016), The Emperor of Law: The Emergence of Roman Imperial Adjudication<, 179
friend,friendship Tuori (2016), The Emperor of Law: The Emergence of Roman Imperial Adjudication<, 179
granius marcellus,m. Talbert (1984), The Senate of Imperial Rome, 465
house Tuori (2016), The Emperor of Law: The Emergence of Roman Imperial Adjudication<, 179
image Tuori (2016), The Emperor of Law: The Emergence of Roman Imperial Adjudication<, 143
imperial adjudication Tuori (2016), The Emperor of Law: The Emergence of Roman Imperial Adjudication<, 143
inquisito Talbert (1984), The Senate of Imperial Rome, 481
insane,insanity Tuori (2016), The Emperor of Law: The Emergence of Roman Imperial Adjudication<, 143
iulius bassus,c,trials of under vespasian,,verdict Talbert (1984), The Senate of Imperial Rome, 465
jurisdiction Tuori (2016), The Emperor of Law: The Emergence of Roman Imperial Adjudication<, 143, 179
justice Tuori (2016), The Emperor of Law: The Emergence of Roman Imperial Adjudication<, 143
law Tuori (2016), The Emperor of Law: The Emergence of Roman Imperial Adjudication<, 143, 179
livia Tuori (2016), The Emperor of Law: The Emergence of Roman Imperial Adjudication<, 179
magic,magicians Ando and Ruepke (2006), Religion and Law in Classical and Christian Rome, 51
magistrate Tuori (2016), The Emperor of Law: The Emergence of Roman Imperial Adjudication<, 179
magistrates (in senate) absence,,involvement in cases Talbert (1984), The Senate of Imperial Rome, 481
maiestas Talbert (1984), The Senate of Imperial Rome, 465; Tuori (2016), The Emperor of Law: The Emergence of Roman Imperial Adjudication<, 143
marcianus,aelius Ando and Ruepke (2006), Religion and Law in Classical and Christian Rome, 51
medicamenta Ando and Ruepke (2006), Religion and Law in Classical and Christian Rome, 51
narrative Tuori (2016), The Emperor of Law: The Emergence of Roman Imperial Adjudication<, 143, 179
nero Tuori (2016), The Emperor of Law: The Emergence of Roman Imperial Adjudication<, 179
numantina Ando and Ruepke (2006), Religion and Law in Classical and Christian Rome, 51
plautius silvanus,m. Talbert (1984), The Senate of Imperial Rome, 465
plautius silvanus Ando and Ruepke (2006), Religion and Law in Classical and Christian Rome, 51
pompeius silvanus staberius flavinus,m. Talbert (1984), The Senate of Imperial Rome, 465, 481
praetor Tuori (2016), The Emperor of Law: The Emergence of Roman Imperial Adjudication<, 179
principate Tuori (2016), The Emperor of Law: The Emergence of Roman Imperial Adjudication<, 179
quaestio Talbert (1984), The Senate of Imperial Rome, 465
quintilian Ando and Ruepke (2006), Religion and Law in Classical and Christian Rome, 51
repetundae (misgovernment),trials for Talbert (1984), The Senate of Imperial Rome, 465
republic,republican Tuori (2016), The Emperor of Law: The Emergence of Roman Imperial Adjudication<, 143, 179
ritual,deviant noxious Ando and Ruepke (2006), Religion and Law in Classical and Christian Rome, 51
senate,in latin and greek,,advocates Talbert (1984), The Senate of Imperial Rome, 481
senate,in latin and greek,,procedure Talbert (1984), The Senate of Imperial Rome, 481
senate,in latin and greek,,prosecutors Talbert (1984), The Senate of Imperial Rome, 481
senate,in latin and greek,,scope Talbert (1984), The Senate of Imperial Rome, 465
senate Tuori (2016), The Emperor of Law: The Emergence of Roman Imperial Adjudication<, 143, 179
tacitus Tuori (2016), The Emperor of Law: The Emergence of Roman Imperial Adjudication<, 143, 179
tiberius Ando and Ruepke (2006), Religion and Law in Classical and Christian Rome, 51; Tuori (2016), The Emperor of Law: The Emergence of Roman Imperial Adjudication<, 143, 179
trial Tuori (2016), The Emperor of Law: The Emergence of Roman Imperial Adjudication<, 179
trials,for magic and poisoning Ando and Ruepke (2006), Religion and Law in Classical and Christian Rome, 51
varenus rufus Talbert (1984), The Senate of Imperial Rome, 481
venenum Ando and Ruepke (2006), Religion and Law in Classical and Christian Rome, 51
violence' Tuori (2016), The Emperor of Law: The Emergence of Roman Imperial Adjudication<, 179