Life of Augustus
filiam et neptem, omnibus probris contaminatas relegavit; G. et L. in duodeviginti mensium
spatio amisit ambos, Gaio in Lycia, Lucio Massiliae defunctis. Tertium nepotem Agrippam
simulque privignum Tiberium adoptavit in foro lege curiata; ex quibus Agrippam brevi ob
ingenium sordidum ac ferox abdicavit seposuitque Surrentum. Aliquanto autem patientius
mortem quam dedecora suorum tulit. Nam C. Lucique casu non adeo fractus, de filia absens
ac libello per quaestorem recitato notum senatui fecit abstinuitque congressu hominum diu
prae pudore, etiam de necanda deliberavit. Certe cum sub idem tempus una ex consciis
liberta Phoebe suspendio vitam finisset, maluisse se ait Phoebes patrem fuisse. Relegatae
usum vini omnemque delicatiorem cultum ademit neque adiri a quoquam libero servove nisi
se consulto permisit, et ita ut certior fieret, qua is aetate, qua statura, quo colore esset, etiam
quibus corporis notis vel cicatricibus. Post quinquennium demum ex insula in continentem
lenioribusque paulo condicionibus transtulit eam. Nam ut omnino revocaret, exorari nullo
modo potuit, deprecanti saepe p. R. et pertinacius instanti tales filias talesque coniuges pro
contione inprecatus. Ex nepte Iulia post damnationem editum infantem adgnosci alique
vetuit. Agrippam nihilo tractabiliorem, immo in dies amentiorem, in insulam transportavit
saepsitque insuper custodia militum. Cavit etiam s. c. ut eodem loci in perpetullm
contineretur. Atque ad omnem et eius et Iuliarum mentionem ingemiscens proclamare etiam
solebat: aith ophelon agamos t'emeni agonos t'apolesthai. nec aliter eos appellare quam tris
vomicas ac tria carcinomata sua.
fortune failed him. The two Julias, his daughter and grand-daughter, abandoned
themselves to such courses of lewdness and debauchery, that he banished them both.
Gaius and Lucius he lost within the space of eighteen months; the former dying in Lycia,
and the latter at Marseilles. His third grandson Agrippa, with his step-son Tiberius, he
adopted in the forum, by a law passed for the purpose by the curiae; but he soon
afterwards discarded Agrippa for his coarse and unruly temper, and confined him at
Surrentum. He bore the death of his relations with more patience than he did their disgrace;
for he was not overwhelmed by the loss of Gaius and Lucius; but in the case of his
daughter, he stated the facts to the senate in a message read to them by the quaestor, not
having the heart to be present himself; indeed, he was so much ashamed of her infamous
conduct, that for some time he avoided all company, and had thoughts of putting her to
death. It is certain that when one Phoebe, a freedwoman and confidante of hers, hanged
herself about the same time, he said, I had rather be the father of Phoebe than of Julia. In
her banishment he would not allow her the use of wine, nor any luxury in dress; nor would
he suffer her to be waited upon by any male servant, either freeman or slave, without his
permission, and having received an exact account of his age, stature, complexion, and
what marks or scars he had about him. At the end of five years he removed her from the
island [where she was confined] to the mainland, and treated her with less severity, but
could never be prevailed upon to recall her. When the Roman people interposed on her
behalf several times with much importunity, all the reply he gave was: I wish you had all
such daughters and wives as she is. He likewise forbade a child, of which his
granddaughter Julia was delivered after sentence had passed against her, to be either owned
as a relation, or brought up. Agrippa, who was equally intractable, and whose folly
increased every day, he transported to an island, and placed a guard of soldiers about him;
procuring at the same time an act of the senate for his confinement there during life. Upon
any mention of him and the two Julias, he would say, with a heavy sigh,
Would I were wifeless, or had childless died! [from the Iliad]
nor did he usually call them by any other name than that of his three imposthumes or cancers.