Upon the consuls, or some other Roman,

More able, and more worthy.

Arr. Laugh on still.

[Aside.

Sab. Why this doth render all the rest suspected!

Gal. It poisons all.

Arr. O, do you taste it then?

Sab. It takes away my faith to any thing He shall hereafter speak.

Arr. Ay, to pray that,

Which would be to his head as hot as thunder, 'Gainst which he wears that charm,' should but

the court

Receive him at his word.

Gal. Hear!

Tib. For my self

I know my weakness, and so little covet,
Like some gone past, the weight that will oppress

me,

As my ambition is the counter-point.

Arr. Finely maintained; good still!
Sej. But Rome, whose blood,

Whose nerves, whose life, whose very frame relies

On Cæsar's strength, no less than heaven on Atlas, Cannot admit it but with general ruin.

Arr. Ah! are you there to bring him off?

Sej. Let Cæsar

[Aside.

No more then urge a point so contrary
To Cæsar's greatness, the grieved senate's vows,
Or Rome's necessity.

i 'Gainst which he wears that charm.] Tonitrua præter modum expavescebat; et turbatiore cœlo nunquam non coronam lauream capite gestavit, quod fulmine afflari negetur id genus frondis. Suet. Tib. c. 69. Plin. Nat. Hist. Lib. xv. c. 20.

Gal. He comes about

Arr. More nimbly than Vertumnus.
Tib. For the publick,

I may be drawn to shew I can neglect
All private aims, though I affect my rest;
But if the senate still command me serve,
I must be glad to practise my obedience.i

Arr. You must and will, sir. We do know it.

Senators. Cæsar,

Live long and happy, great and royal Cæsar;
The gods preserve thee and thy modesty,
Thy wisdom and thy innocence!

Arr. Where is't?

[Aside.

The prayer is made before the subject. [Aside. Senators. Guard

His meekness, Jove, his piety, his care,

His bounty

Arr. And his subtilty, I'll put in :

Yet he'll keep that himself, without the gods. All prayers are vain for him.

Tib. We will not hold

[Aside.

Your patience, fathers, with long answer; but

Shall still contend to be what you desire,

And work to satisfy so great a hope.

Proceed to your affairs.

Arr. Now, Silius, guard thee;

The curtain's drawing. Afer advanceth. [Aside.

Pra. Silence!

Afer. Cite Caius Silius.

Pra. Caius Silius!

Sil. Here.

Afer. The triumph that thou hadst in Germany

i Semper perplexa et obscura orat. Tib. vid. Tacit. Ann. Lib. i̟

p. 5.

k Citabatur reus è tribunali voce præconis. vid. Bar. Brisson. Lib. 5, de form.

For thy late victory on Sacrovir,
Thou hast enjoy'd so freely, Caius Silius,

As no man it envied thee; nor would Cæsar,
Or Rome admit, that thou wert then defrauded
Of any honours thy deserts could claim,
In the fair service of the common-wealth:
But now, if, after all their loves and graces,
(Thy actions, and their courses being discover'd)
It shall appear to Cæsar and this senate,

Thou hast defiled those glories with thy crimes-
Sil. Crimes!

Afer. Patience, Silius,

Sil. Tell thy mule of patience;

I am a Roman. What are my crimes? proclaim them.

Am I too rich, too honest for the times?
Have I or treasure, jewels, land, or houses
That some informer gapes for? is my strength
Too much to be admitted, or my knowledge?
These now are crimes.'

Afer. Nay, Silius, if the name

Of crime so touch thee, with what impotence
Wilt thou endure the matter to be search'd?
Sil. I tell thee, Afer, with more scorn than
fear:

Employ your mercenary tongue and art.

Where's my accuser?

Var. Here.

Arr. Varro, the consul!

Is he thrust in?

Var. 'Tis I accuse thee, Silius.

Against the majesty of Rome, and Cæsar,
I do pronounce thee here a guilty cause,
First of beginning and occasioning,,

m

1 Vid. Suet. Tib. Tacit. Dio. Senec.

[Aside.

m Tacit. Lib. iv. p. 79. Conscientiá belli, Sacrovir diu dissimulatus, victoria per avaritiam fædata, et uxor Sosia arguebantur.

n

Next, drawing out the war in Gallia,
For which thou late triumph'st; dissembling long
That Sacrovir to be an enemy,

Only to make thy entertainment more.

Whilst thou, and thy wife Sosia, poll'd the pro

vince:

Wherein, with sordid, base desire of gain,
Thou hast discredited thy actions' worth,
And been a traitor to the state.

Sil. Thou liest.

Arr. I thank thee, Silius, speak so still and often.

Var. If I not prove it, Cæsar, but unjustly Have called him into trial; here I bind Myself to suffer, what I claim against him; And yield to have what I have spoke, confirm'd By judgment of the court, and all good men. Sil. Cæsar, I crave to have my cause deferr'd, Till this man's consulship be out.

Tib. We cannot,

Nor may we grant it.

Sil. Why? shall he design

My day of trial? Is he my accuser,
And must he be my judge?

Tib. It hath been usual,

And is a right that custom hath allow'd
The magistrate, to call forth private men ;
And to appoint their day which privilege
We may not in the consul see infringed,
By whose deep watches, and industrious care

n Bellum Sacrovirianum in Gall. erat. Triumph. in Germ. vid. Tacit. Ann. Lib. iii. p. 63.

• Vid. accusandi formulam apud Brisson. Lib. v. de form. P Tacit. Ann. Lib. iv. p. 79. Adversatus est Cæsar, solitum quippe magistratibus diem privatis dicere, nec infringendum Consulis jus, cujus vigiliis, &c.

It is so labour'd, as the common-wealth
Receive no loss, by any oblique course.

Sil. Cæsar, thy fraud is worse than violence. Tib. Silius, mistake us not, we dare not use The credit of the consul to thy wrong; But only do preserve his place and power, So far as it concerns the dignity

And honour of the state.

Arr. Believe him, Silius.
Cot. Why, so he may,

Arr. I say so.

And he may choose too.

Tib. By the Capitol,

Arruntius.

And all our gods, but that the dear republic,
Our sacred laws, and just authority

Are interess'd therein,' I should be silent.
Afer. 'Please Cæsar to give way unto his trial,

He shall have justice.

Sil. Nay, I shall have law; Shall I not, Afer? speak.

Afer. Would you have more?

Sil. No, my well-spoken man, I would no more; Nor less might I enjoy it natural,

Not taught to speak unto your present ends, Free from thine, his, and all your unkind handling,

Furious enforcing, most unjust presuming,
Malicious, and manifold applying,

Foul wresting, and impossible construction.
Afer. He raves, he raves.

Sil. Thou durst not tell me so,
Had'st thou not Cæsar's warrant.
Whose power condemns me.

Var. This betrays his spirit:

I can see

This doth enough declare him what he is.
Sil. What am I? speak.

' Are interess'd therein,] i. e. deeply implicated. See Mas. singer Vol. I. p. 239.