Life of Tiberius
praedictionibus ab initio aetatis conceperat. Praegnans eo Liuia cum an marem editura esset,
uariis captaret ominibus, ouum incubanti gallinae subductum nunc sua nunc ministrarum manu
per uices usque fouit, quoad pullus insigniter cristatus exclusus est. Ac de infante Scribonius
mathematicus praeclara spopondit, etiam regnaturum quandoque, sed sine regio insigni, ignota
scilicet tunc adhuc Caesarum potestate. Et ingresso primam expeditionem ac per Macedoniam
ducente exercitum in Syriam, accidit ut apud Philippos sacratae olim uictricium legionum arae
sponte subitis conlucerent ignibus; et mox, cum Illyricum petens iuxta Patauium adisset
Geryonis oraculum, sorte tracta, qua monebatur ut de consultationibus in Aponi fontem talos
aureos iaceret, euenit ut summum numerum iacti ab eo ostenderent; hodieque sub aqua uisuntur
hi tali. Ante paucos uero quam reuocaretur dies aquila numquam antea Rhodi conspecta in
culmine domus eius assedit; et pridie quam de reditu certior fieret, uestimenta mutanti tunica
ardere uisa est. Thrasyllum quoque mathematicum, quem ut sapientiae professorem
contubernio admouerat, tum maxime expertus est affirmantem naue prouisa gaudium afferri;
cum quidem illum durius et contra praedicta cadentibus rebus ut falsum et secretorum temere
conscium, eo ipso momento, dum spatiatur una, praecipitare in mare destinasset.
hopes of his future elevation, which he had entertained from his youth, in consequence of
various prodigies and predictions. For Livia, when pregnant with him, being anxious to
discover, by different modes of divination, whether her offspring would be a son, amongst
others, took an egg from a hen that was sitting, and kept it warm with her own hands, and those
of her maids, by turns, until a fine cock-chicken, with a large comb, was hatched. Scribonius
the astrologer, predicted great things of him when he was a mere child. 'He will come in time,'
said the prophet, 'to be even a king, but without the usual badge of royal dignity' the rule of
the Caesars being as yet unknown. When he was making his first expedition, and leading his
army through Macedonia into Syria, the altars which had been formerly consecrated at Philippi
by the victorious legions, blazed suddenly with spontaneous fires. Soon after, as he was
marching to Illyricum, he stopped to consult the oracle of Geryon, near Padua; and having
drawn a lot by which he was desired to throw golden tali into the fountain of Aponus, for an
answer to his inquiries, he did so, and the highest numbers came up. And those very tali are still
to be seen at the bottom of the fountain. A few days before his leaving Rhodes, an eagle, a bird
never before seen in that island, perched on the top of his house. And the day before he received
intelligence of the permission granted him to return, as he was changing his dress, his tunic
appeared to be all on fire. He then likewise had a remarkable proof of the skill of Thrasyllus,
the astrologer, whom, for his proficiency in philosophical researches, he had taken into his
family. For, upon sight of the ship which brought the intelligence, he said, good news was
coming: whereas every thing going wrong before, and quite contrary to his predictions, Tiberius
had intended that very moment, when they were walking together, to throw him into the sea,
as an impostor, and one to whom he had too hastily entrusted his secrets.