theatre, and
was absorbed in the cares of office, as Augustus had been before him.
Augustus, however, was a man of genius, while he was only a man of
ability, and his great defect was jealousy of the family of Germanicus,
and the favor he lavished on Sejanus, who even demanded the hand of
Livilla, the widow of Drusus,--a suit which Tiberius rejected.

(M1063) Weariness of the cares of State, and the desire of repose, at last
induced Tiberius to retire from the city. He had neither happiness nor
rest. He quarreled with Agrippina, the widow of Germanicus, and his temper
was exasperated by the imputations and slanders from which no monarch can
escape. His enemies, however, declared that he had no higher wish than to
exercise in secret the cruelty and libidinousness to which he was
abandoned. For eleven years he ruled in the retirement of his guarded
fortress, and never again re-entered the city he had left in disgust. But
in this retirement, he did not relax his vigilance in the administration
of affairs, although his government was exceedingly unpopular, and was
doubtless stained by many acts of cruelty. At Capreae, a small island near
Naples, barren and desolate, but beautiful in climate and scenery, the
master of the world spent his latter years, surrounded with literary men
and soothsayers. I do not believe the calumnies which have been heaped on
this imperial misanthrope. And yet, the eleven years he spent in his
retreat were marked by great complaints against him, and by many revolting
crimes and needless cruelties. He persecuted the family of Germanicus,
banished Agrippina, and imprisoned her son, Drusus. Sejanus, however,
instigated these proceedings, and worked upon the jealousy of the emperor.
This favorite was affianced to Livilla, the widow of Drusus, and was made
consul conjointly with Tiberius.

(M1064) Tiberius penetrated, at last, the character of this ambitious
officer, and circumvented his ruin with that profound dissimulation which
was one of his most marked traits. Sejanus conspired against his life, but
the emperor shrank from openly denouncing him to the Senate. He used
consummate craft in securing his arrest and execution, the instrument of
which was Macro, an officer of his bodyguard, and his death was followed
by the ruin of his accomplices and friends.

(M1065) Shortly after the execution of Sejanus, Drusus, the son of
Agrippina, was starved to death in prison, and many cruelties were
inflicted