THE REPUBLIC IN DANGER This page intentionally left blank The Republic in Danger Drusus Libo and the Succession of Tiberius ANDREW PETTINGER 1 3 Great Clarendon Street, Oxford, OX2 6DP United Kingdom Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide. Oxford is a registered trade mark of Oxford University Press in the UK and in certain other countries # Andrew Pettinger 2012 The moral rights of the author have been asserted First Edition published in 2012 Impression: 1 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permitted by law, by licence or under terms agreed with the appropriate reprographics rights organization. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the above should be sent to the Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the address above You must not circulate this work in any other form and you must impose this same condition on any acquirer British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Data available Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Data available ISBN 978–0–19–960174–5 Printed in Great Britain on acid-free paper by MPG Books Group, Bodmin and King’s Lynn To Hayley, Sue, and Graham Preface In 2003, while reading modern works on treason trials in Rome, I came across the prosecution of M. Scribonius Drusus Libo, an aristocrat destroyed in AD 16 for seeking out the opinions of a necromancer. The case made little sense, and upon reading every relevant book and article I could find, it became clear that most scholars dismiss the episode as the trapping of a harmless fool by greedy prosecutors. A minority treat Drusus Libo more seriously, but these treatments are relatively short, indeed, the more recent discus- sions span a few pages only. Since the Government appeared to handle Drusus Libo with extreme caution, a more detailed investiga- tion seemed to me worthwhile. This book, a revised version of a PhD thesis submitted to the University of Sydney in 2008, is the result of my investigation. Though much of the thesis was re-written, very little additional research was undertaken. Except where I was made aware of a new and important piece of research, relevant works published since 2008 have not been included. The book is intended for scholars, but it is hoped that students and those with a general interest in the period will find the work acces- sible. To aid the reader, and allow for critical engagement with many of the conclusions, I have supplied, where possible, texts and transla- tions vital to the argument. I consider this to be an important feature. Nonetheless, a reconstruction of the past is more than the sum of available evidence. The writing of history requires imagination; emp- athic in origin, creative in spirit: the glue by which fragments of knowledge are held together. The book includes many instances of comments and motives imagined, and where evidence for something is wholly lacking, such as what the conspirators of AD 16 hoped to achieve, an interpretation has been offered which is hypothetical in nature, but fits, nonetheless, with wider evidence, i.e., it is both possible and logical. Thus, the book serves also as a statement on method. My work has benefitted from much criticism and learning received since the submission of the PhD. The corrections and opinions of my three examiners inspired much thought. In particular, discussion with Dr Yakobson led to a sharpening of my views on the nature of Preface vii the Principate, while the anonymous readers of the Oxford University Press identified various mistakes and redundancies, and offered alter- native interpretations on a number of points. The assistance of Atticus Cox with the translations of Dio and Plutarch, Peta Greenfield with checking the Latin texts, and Fiona Tweedie with reading and correcting the final draft, was invaluable, as were the patience and much appreciated abilities of the editing staff of the Oxford Univer- sity Press. In addition, I must acknowledge the profound debt owed to my four mentors: my two supervisors Martin Stone, Peter Brennan, and also Kathryn Welch, and Keith McAllister. Without their sup- port, belief and advice this book would not have existed. Indeed, I owe Martin individual thanks for countless hours spent talking about various aspects of the book and history in general. He went beyond the call of the supervisor, for which the author will remain forever thankful. Those listed above have each, in some way, improved this work; any remaining faults are of course my own. Finally I thank my family. My parents, Sue and Graham, have been tremendously supportive, and deserve more than a book sincerely dedicated, while no form of praise could ever adequately recognise the indefatigable patience, fortitude, and love with which my wife Hayley has supported this long endeavour. Contents Introduction 1 1. An Urgent Summons and a Terrible Charge 5 The narrative 5 An emergency sitting of the senate 9 A terrible charge 17 2. The Treatment of an Enemy 29 Inability to obtain defence counsel 29 Drusus Libo in custodia 35 Damnatio memoriae and public offerings of thanks 37 3. The Adoption of Agrippa Postumus and the Friends of Gaius Caesar 47 The adoption of Agrippa 47 The wrong friends 53 4. Growing Pains 61 Agrippa and the toga virilis 61 Abdicatio and Agrippa 67 5. The Buck Stops Where? 75 The crisis 75 The sedition of Tiberius’ rival L. Aemilius Paullus 93 6. Augustus’ Final Arrangements 103 The relegatio of Agrippa 103 The Lex Valeria Cornelia 107 The elections of AD 7 114 7. The Exiles of the Younger Julia, D. Junius Silanus, and the poet Ovid 123 8. Novus Principatus: An Imperial Co-operative 135 9. The Hesitation of Tiberius 157 10. “Did You Hear About Agrippa?” 169 11. Germanicus: Successor to Tiberius or Augustus? 185 Contents ix 12. Alternative Government 195 An awkward alliance 195 A false dawn 207 Future directions 215 Appendix 1 A Prosopography of M. Scribonius Drusus Libo 219 Appendix 2 Family Trees 233 Appendix 3 Timeline 235 6 BC–AD 13 235 AD 14–AD 16 236 Bibliography 239 General Index 253 Index of Sources 258 This page intentionally left blank Introduction Modern scholars mostly treat the Principate established by Augustus as benign. Indeed, it is argued that Rome prospered on account of it. Romans supposedly agreed: senators, equestrians, plebeians, and Italians believed that under Augustus res publica was enhanced. Augustus himself called it the best state of affairs (optimus status). No serious opposition, they say, ever developed. The case of M. Scribonius Drusus Libo throws doubt on this view of things. In September AD 16 M. Scribonius Drusus Libo committed suicide while the senate considered evidence that he was plotting to murder Tiberius, his heirs, the younger Drusus and Germanicus, and several important senators. Relying on Tacitus, scholars treat Drusus Libo as a harmless fool, caught in the net of hungry prosecutors. They argue that the case did not involve the politics of power. In this book I shall argue that it did, and that he was destroyed not by predatory prose- cutors but by Tiberius’ regime. The conspiracy of Clemens in AD 16 is crucial. While the senate was considering Drusus Libo’s guilt, Rome was alive with news that Augustus’ exiled grandson, Agrippa Postu- mus, reportedly executed when Augustus died, was actually marching on Rome. The resurrected Agrippa was in fact an ex-slave but there were reports of significant support from senators, equestrians, and members of the imperial household itself. The historical sources talk of civil war looming.1 The present study places Drusus Libo among those secretly helping the slave Clemens. His family connections hold the key. Drusus Libo’s pedigree was impressive. He had a maternal con- nection with Pompey the Great, his father’s family were key players during and after the civil wars, and through his great aunt Scribonia he was connected with Augustus’ grandchildren, Gaius and Lucius 1 Suet. Tib. 25.1 f.; Tac. Ann. 2.39.1 f.; Dio 57.16.3 ff. 2 The Republic in Danger Caesar, their sisters, the younger Julia and Agrippina, and with Agrippa’s posthumous son. He was also attached, via adoption, to the Livii Drusi, the family to which Augustus’ widow Livia and her lineage, Tiberius, Germanicus, and the younger Drusus, belonged.2 These connections came with political clout, but with legitimacy they also brought trouble. Tiberius’ rise to supreme power was at the expense of Augustus’ grandsons, who were all dead by the time Augustus was laid to rest. Their supporters, however, remained unconvinced that life was possible under Tiberius. On hearing news that Agrippa had been put to death, a group of malcontents, unable to come to terms with Augustus’ successor, approached Drusus Libo. My subject is the struggle between Tiberius and the supporters of Augustus’ grandsons. It has serious implications for our understand- ing of the Principate. The Principate was not benign: it was in fact brutal and destructive. This observation is not new. Ronald Syme used the words ‘despotic and murderous’, but Syme’s view of the Principate no longer prevails.3 Nor is my view exactly Syme’s. For Syme, the Principate was a tragic affair, not because it was set up but because it was never seriously challenged. It was understood and accepted, he thinks, that Augustus had created a monarchy.