A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology. By various writers. Ed. by William Smith. Illustrated by numerous engravings on wood.

DRUSUS.
fortunate competitors. The Roman populace hated
the foreigners who were striving to obtain equal
franchise with themselves. The great body of the
equites, who were very numerous, felt all the invidiousness of raising a select few to the rank of
senators, while the rest would not only suffer the
mortification of exclusion, but be practically deprived of that profitable share which they had previously enjoyed in the administration of justice.
But worse than all was the apprehended inquisition into their past misdeeds. The senators viewed
with dislike the proposed elevation to their own
level of nearly 300 equites, now far below them in
rank, and dreaded the addition of a heterogeneous
mass, which was likely to harmonize badly with
the ancient body. Moreover, they now suspected
the ambition of Drusus, and did not choose to
accept the transfer of the judicia at his hands.
The Latins and socii demanded of him with stern
importunity the price of their recent assistance;
and their murmurs at delay were deepened when
they saw the Roman populace dividing the ager
publicus, and depriving them of those possessions
which they had hitherto occupied by stealth or
force. They even began to tremble for their private property. (Appian, 1. c.; Auct. de Vir. i. 111. 66.)
In this state of affairs, the united dissatisfaction
of all parties enabled the senate, upon the proposition of Philippus, who was augur as well as consul,
to undo, by a few short lines, what had lately
been done. (Cic. de Leg. ii. 6, 12.) The senate
now, in pursuance of that anomalous constitution
which practically allowed a plurality of supreme
legislative powers, voted that all the laws of Drusus, being carried against the auspices, were null
and void from the beginning. " Senatui videtur,
M. Drusi legibus populuum nona teneri." (Cic. proe
Cornel. fr. ii. vol. iv. P. ii. p. p. 449; Asconius, ine
Cic. pro Cornel. p. 68, ed. Orelli.) The lex Caecilia Didia required that a law, before being put to
the vote in the comitia, should be promulgated for
three nundinae (17 days), and directed that several
distinct clauses should not be put to the vote in a
lump. If w\e may trust tlhe suspected oration prc
Doamo (c. 16 and c. 20), the senate resolved that,
in the passing of the laws of Drusus, the provisions
of the lex Caecilia Didia had not been observed.
It is difficult to suppose that the largesses oa
corn and land, so far as they had been carried inato
effect, were revoked; but probably the establishmentt of colonies was stopped in its progress, and
undoubtedly the lex judiciaria was completely defeated. From the expressions of some ancien
authors, it might be imagined that the lex judiciaria liad never been carried; but this is to be ex
plained by considering that, during its short apparent existence, it never came into actual operation
and that, according to the resolution of the senate
it was null ab initio for 'want of essential pre-requii
sites of validity. From the narrative of Velleiu
Paterculus (ii. 13, 14) and Asconias (I. c.), i
auight be inferred (contrary to the opinion of seve
ral modern scholars), that it was in ithe lifetie o
Drusus that the senate declared his laws null, ana
the fact is now establisihed by a fragment of Dio
dorus Siculus brought to light by -Mai (Script. Ves
Nova Collectio, ii. p. 116); from which \ve leare
that Drusus told the senate, that hle could hav
prevented them from passing their resolutions, ha
ie chosen to exert his power, and that the hou
would come when they would rue their suiicid

DRUSUS.

1081

act. As to the-precise order of these events, which
took place within the period of a few minths,
we are in want of detailed information. The 70th
and 71st books of Livy are unfortunately lost, and
the abbreviated accounts of minor historians are
not always easily reconcilable with each other
and with the incidental notices contained in other
classical authors.
Drusus, who had been sincere in his promises,
felt grievously the difficulty of performing them.
Weariness and vexation of spirit overtook him.
He found that, with all his followers, he had not
one true friend. He repented himi of his unquiet
life, and longed for repose; but it was too late to
retreat. The monstrous powers that he had brought
into life urged him onward, and he became giddy
with the prospect of danger and confusion that lay
before him. (Senec. de Brev. Vit. 6.) Then came
the news of strange portents and fearful auguries
from all parts of Italy to perplex and confound his
superstitious soul. (Oros. v. 18; Obsequ. 114. He
was himself an augcour and pontifex; pro Domao. 46.
Hence the expression sodalis meus in the mouth of
Cotta, Cic de PNat. Deor. iii. 32.) Then came the
exasperating thought of the ingratitude of the senate, and the determination to make them feel the
energy which they had slighted. Thus agitated
by uneasy passions, he scrupled not to meddle
with the two-edged weapons of intrigue, sedition,
and conspiracy, which he had neither force nor skill
to wield. HIe was like the Gracchi with their lustre
faded. (Gcraccborum obsoletus nitor, Auct. ad Hieren,
iv. 34.) He adopted the factious practice (of which
the example was first set by C. Gracchus), of holding separate mieetings of his followers, and he
made distinctions among them according to their
supposed fidelity. One he would admit to a private interview, another he would invite to a conference where several were present, and there were
some whom he did not ask to attend except on
those occasions vwhean all his adherents were summoned in a body. In furtherance of a common
object, the secret conclave plotted, and the more
-general association worked and organized, while
the crowded meeting and thie armed mob intimidated by the demonstration and exercise of physical force. (Senec. de Besnf, vi. 34; Liv. Epit.
f Ixxxi.) In Mai's extracts from Diodorus (1. c.) is
preserved a remarkable oathl (unaccountably headed
- Ipecos <anI r.ov), by which members of the associaI tion bound themniselves together. After calling by
name on thie Roman gods, demrigods, and heroes,
t the oath proceeds: " I swear that I will have the
- same friinds andl foes with Drusus; that I will
- spare neitler substance, nor parent, nor child, nor
- life of any, so it be not for thle good of Drusus and, of those who have taken this oath; that if I become a citizen by the law of Drusus, I will hold
- Rome my country, and Drusus my greatest benes factor; and that I will administer this oath to as
t many more as I be able. So may weal or woe be
-mine as I keep this oath or not." The ferment
If soon became so great, thlat the public peace was
d more than threatened. Standards and eagles were
- seen in the streets, and Rome was like a battlet. field, in which the contending armies were enn camped. (Florus, 1. c.)
e The end could not much longer be postponed.
d At -a public assembly of the tribes, when the impa-.r tienco and disappointment of the multitude were
dl loudly expressed, Drusus was seized with a faint