Enter SEJANUS, LIVIA, and EUDEMUS.
Sej .
Physician, thou art worthy of a province. For the great favours done unto our loves; And, but that greatest Livia bears a part In the requital of thy services,
I should alone despair of aught, like means, To give them worthy satisfaction.
Liv.
Eudemus, I will see it, shall receive
A fit and full reward for his large merit.--- But for this potion we intend to Drusus,
No more our husband now, whom shall we choose As the most apt and able instrument,
To minister it to him?
Sej. Lygdus what's he?
Liv. An eunuch Drusus loves.
Eud. Ay, and his cup-bearer.
Sej.
Name not a second.
If Drusus love him, and he have that place, We cannot think a fitter.
Eud.
True, my lord.
For free access and trust are two main aids.
Liv.
But he must be wrought
To the undertaking, with some labour'd art.
Sej. Or covetous?
Liv. Neither.
Eud. Yet, gold is a good general charm.
Sej. What is he, then?
Liv. Faith, only wanton, light.
Sej. How! is he young and fair?
Eud. A delicate youth.
Sej.
Send him to me, I'll work him.---Royal lady,
Though I have loved you long, and with that height Of zeal and duty, like the fire, which more
It mounts it trembles, thinking nought could add Unto the fervour which your eye had kindled; Yet, now I see your wisdom, judgment, strength, Quickness, and will, to apprehend the means
To your own good and greatness, I protest
Myself through rarified, and turn'd all flame
In your affection: such a spirit as yours,
Was not created for the idle second
To a poor flash, as Drusus; but to shine
Bright as the moon among the lesser lights,
And share the sov'reignty of all the world.
Then Livia triumphs in her proper sphere,
When she and her Sejanus shall divide
The name of Caesar, and Augusta' s star
Be dimm'd with glory of a brighter beam:
When Agrippina's fires are quite extinct,
And the scarce-soon Tiberius borrows all
His little light from us, whose folded arms
Shall make one perfect orb. [Knocking within.] Who's that! Eudemus, Look. [Exit Eudemus.] 'Tis not Drusus, lady, do not fear.
Liv.
Not I, my lord: my fear and love of him Left me at once.
Sej. Illustrious lady, stay---
Sej. Who is it, Eudemus?
Eud.
One of your lordship's servants brings you word The emperor hath sent for you.
Sej.
O! where is he?
With your fair leave, dear princess, I'll but ask A question and return. [Exit.
Eud.
Fortunate princess!
How are you blest in the fruition
Of this unequall'd man, the soul of Rome, The empire's life, and voice of Caesar's world!
Liv.
So blessed, my Eudemus, as to know
The bliss I have, with what I ought to owe The means that wrought it. How do I look to-day?
Eud.
Excellent clear, believe it. This same fucus Was well laid on.
Eud.
Lend me your scarlet, lady. 'Tis the sun,
Hath giv'n some little taint unto the ceruse;
You should have used of the white oil I gave you.
Sejanus, for your love! his very name
Commandeth above Cupid or his shafts--- [Paints her cheeks.
Eud.
I'll help it straight---
And but pronounced, is a sufficient charm Against all rumour; and of absolute power To satisfy for any lady's honour.
Liv. What do you now, Eudemus?
Eud.
Make a light fucus,
To touch you o'er withal.---Honour'd Sejanus! What act, though ne'er so strange and insolent, But that addition will at least bear out, If't do not expiate?
Eud.
I like this study to preserve the love
Of such a man, that comes not every hour To greet the world.-'Tis now well, lady, you should Use of the dentifrice I prescribed you too, To clear your teeth, and the prepared pomatum, To smooth the skin:---A lady cannot be
Too curious of her form, that still would hold The heart of such a person, made her captive, As you have his: who, to endear him more In your clear eye, hath put away his wife, The trouble of his bed, and your delights, Fair Apicata, and made spacious room
To your new pleasures.
Liv.
Have not we return'd
That with our hate to Drusus, and discovery Of all his counsels?
Eud.
Yes, and wisely, lady.
The ages that succeed, and stand far off
To gaze at your high prudence, shall admire, And reckon it an act without your sex:
It hath that rare appearance. Some will think Your fortune could not yield a deeper sound, Than mix'd with Drusus; but, when they shall hear That, and the thunder of Sejanus meet,
Sejanus, whose high name doth strike the stars, And rings about the concave; great Sejanus, Whose glories, style, and titles are himself, The often iterating of Sejanus:
They then will lose their thoughts, and be ashamed To take acquaintance of them.
Be-enter SEJANUS.
Sej.
I must make
A rude departure, lady: Caesar sends
With all his haste both of command and prayer. Be resolute in our plot; you have my soul, As certain yours as it is my body's.
And, wise physician, so prepare the poison, As you may lay the subtile operation
Upon some natural disease of his:
Your eunuch send to me. I kiss your hands, Glory of ladies, and commend my love To your best faith and memory.
Liv.
My lord,
I shall but change your words. Farewell.
Yet, this Remember for your heed, he loves you not; You know what I have told you: his designs Are full of grudge and danger; we must use More than a common speed.
Sej.
Excellent lady,
How you do fire my blood!
Liv.
Well, you must go?
The thoughts be best, are least set forth to shew.
Eud. When will you take some physic, lady?
Liv.
When
I shall, Eudemus: but let Drusus' drug Be first prepared.
Eud.
Were Lygdus made, that's done;
I have it ready. And to-morrow morning I'll send you a perfume, first to resolve And procure sweat, and then prepare a bath To cleanse and clear the cutis; against when I'll have an excellent new fucus made, Resistive 'gainst the sun, the rain, or wind, Which you shall lay on with a breath, or oil, As you best like, and last some fourteen hours. This change came timely, lady, for your health, And the restoring your complexion,
Which Drusus' choler had almost burnt up! Wherein your fortune hath prescribed you better Than art could do.
Liv.
Thanks, good physician,
I'll use my fortune, you shall see, with reverence. Is my coach ready?
SCENE II.---An Apartment in the Palace. Enter SEJANUS.
Sej.
If this be not revenge, when I have done
And made it perfect, let Egyptian slaves,
Parthians, and bare-foot Hebrews brand my face, And print my body full of injuries.
Thou lost thyself, child Drusus, when thou thoughtst Thou couldst outskip my vengeance; or outstand The power I had to crush thee into air.
Thy follies now shall taste what kind of man They have provoked, and this thy father's house Crack in the flame of my incensed rage,
Whose fury shall admit no shame or mean.--- Adultery! it is the lightest ill
I will commit A race of wicked acts
Shall flow out of my anger, and o'erspread The world's wide face, which no posterity Shall e'er approve, nor yet keep silent: things That for their cunning, close, and cruel mark, Thy father would wish his: and shall, perhaps, Carry the empty name, but we the prize.
On, then, my soul, and start not in thy course; Though heaven drop sulphur, and hell belch out fire, Laugh at the idle terrors; tell proud Jove,
Between his power and thine there is no odds: 'Twas only fear first in the world made gods!
Sej. He's here, dread Caesar.
Tib.
Let all depart that chamber, and the next.
[Exeunt Attendants.
Sit down, my comfort. When the master prince Of all the world, Sejanus, saith he fears, Is it not fatal?
Tib. And not to him?
Sej.
Not, if he wisely turn
That part of fate he holdeth, first on them.
Sej. Do policy and state forbid it?
Tib. No.
Sej.
The rest of poor respects, then, let go by; State is enough to make the act just, them guilty.
Sej.
Whom hatred frights,
Let him not dream of sovereignty.
Tib.
Are rites
Of faith, love, piety, to be trod down, Forgotten, and made vain?
Sej.
All for a crown.
The prince who shames a tyrant's name to bear, Shall never dare do any thing, but fear; All the command of sceptres quite doth perish, If it begin religious thoughts to cherish: Whole empires fall, sway'd by those nice respects; It is the license of dark deeds protects
Ev'n states most hated, when no laws resist The sword. but that it acteth what it list.
Tib.
Yet so, we may do all things cruelly, Not safely.
Tib. Knows yet Sejanus whom we point at?
Sej.
Ay,
Or else my thought, my sense, or both do err: 'Tis Agrippina.
Sej.
Proud! dangerous, Caesar: for in them apace The father's spirit shoots up. Germanicus
Lives in their looks, their gait, their form, t' upbraid us With his close death, if not revenge the same.
Sej.
Not proved: but whispering Fame
Knowledge and proof doth to the jealous give, Who, than to fail, would their own thought believe. It is not safe, the children draw long breath, That are provoked by a parent's death.
Tib.
It is as dangerous to make them hence, If nothing but their birth be their offence.
Sej.
Stay, till they strike at Caesar; then their crime Will be enough; but late and out of time For him to punish.
Sej.
You know, sir, thunder speaks not till it hit.
Be not secure; none swiftlier are opprest,
Than they whom confidence betrays to rest.
Let not your daring make your danger such:
All power is to be fear'd, where 'tis too much. The youths are of themselves hot, violent,
Full of great thought; and that male-spirited dame, Their mother, slacks no means to put them on, By large allowance, popular presentings,
Increase of train and state, suing for titles;
Hath them commended with like prayers, like vows, To the same gods, with Caesar: days and nights She spends in banquets and ambitious feasts For the nobility; where Caius Silius,
Titius Sabinus, old Arruntius,
Asinius Gallus, Furnius, Regulus,
And others of that discontented list,
Are the prime guests. There, and to these, she tells Whose niece she was, whose daughter, and whose wife. And then must they compare her with Augusta, Ay, and prefer her too; commend her form,
Extol her fruitfulness; at which a shower
Falls for the memory of Germanicus,
Which they blow over straight with windy praise, And puffing hopes of her aspiring sons;
Who, with these hourly ticklings, grow so pleased, And wantonly conceited of themselves,
As now, they stick not to believe they're such As these do give them out; and would be thought More than competitors, immediate heirs.
Whilst to their thirst of rule, they win the rout (That's still the friend of novelty) with hope
Of future freedom, which on every change
That greedily, though emptily expects.
Caesar, 'tis age in all things breeds neglects, And princes that will keep old dignity
Must not admit too youthful heirs stand by;
Not their own issue; but so darkly set
As shadows are in picture, to give height
And lustre to themselves.
Tib.
We will command
Their rank thoughts down, and with a stricter hand Than we have yet put forth; their trains must bate, Their titles, feasts, and factions.
Sej.
Or your state.
But how, sir, will you work!
Sej.
No.
They are too great, and that too faint a blow To give them now; it would have serv'd at first, When with the weakest touch their knot had burst. But, now, your care must be, not to detect
The smallest cord, or line of your suspect; For such, who know the weight of prince's fear, Will, when they find themselves discover'd, rear Their forces, like seen snakes, that else would lie Roll'd in their circles, close: nought is more high, Daring, or desperate, than offenders found; Where guilt is, rage and courage both abound. The course must be, to let them still swell up, Riot, and surfeit on blind fortune's cup;
Give them more place, more dignities, more style, Call them to court, to senate; in the while, Take from their strength some one or twain, or more, Of the main factors, (it will fright the store,) And, by some by-occasion. Thus, with slight You shall disarm them first; and they, in night Of their ambition, not perceive the train,
Till in the engine they are caught and slain.
Tib.
We would not kill, if we knew how to save; Yet, than a throne, 'tis cheaper give a grave. Is there no way to bind them by deserts?
Sej.
Sir, wolves do change their hair, but not their hearts. While thus your thought unto a mean is tied, You neither dare enough, nor do provide.
All modesty is fond: and chiefly where
The subject is no less compell'd to bear,
Than praise his sovereign's acts.
Tib.
We can no longer
Keep on our mask to thee, our dear Sejanus; Thy thoughts are ours, in all, and we but proved Their voice, in our designs, which by assenting Hath more confirm'd us, than if beart'ning Jove Had, from his hundred statues, bid us strike, And at the stroke click'd all his marble thumbs. But who shall first be struck?
Sej.
First Caius Silius;
He is the most of mark, and most of danger: In power and reputation equal strong,
Having commanded an imperial army
Seven years together, vanquish'd Sacrovir In Germany, and thence obtain'd to wear The ornaments triumphal. His steep fall, By how much it doth give the weightier crack, Will send more wounding terror to the rest, Command them stand aloof, and give more way To our surprising of the principal.
Sej.
Let him grow a while,
His fate is not yet ripe: we must not pluck At all together, lest we catch ourselves. And there's Arruntius too, he only talks. But Sosia, Silius' wife, would be wound in Now, for she hath a fury in her breast, More than hell ever knew; and would be sent Thither in time. Then is there one Cremutius Cordus, a writing fellow, they have got To gather notes of the precedent times, And make them into Annals; a most tart And bitter spirit, I hear; who, under colour Of praising those, doth tax the present state, Censures the men, the actions, leaves no trick, No practice unexamined, parallels
The times, the governments; a profest champion For the old liberty-
Tib.
A perishing wretch! As if there were that chaos bred in things, That laws and liberty would not rather choose To be quite broken, and ta'en hence by us, Than have the stain to be preserved by such. Have we the means to make these guilty first?
Sej.
Trust that to me: let Caesar, by his power But cause a formal meeting of the senate, I will have matter and accusers ready.
Sej.
We shall misspend
The time of action. Counsels are unfit In business, where all rest is more pernicious Than rashness can be. Acts of this close kind Thrive more by execution than advice. There is no lingering in that work begun, Which cannot praised be, until through done.
Tib.
Our edicts shall forthwith command a court. While I can live, I will prevent earth's fury:
Enter JULIUS POSTHUMUS.
Pos. My lord Sejanus---
Sej.
Julius Posthumus!
Come with my wish! What news from Agrippina's?
Pos.
Faith, none. They all lock up themselves a' late, Or talk in character; I have not seen
A company so changed. Except they had Intelligence by augury of our practice.---
Pos. Last night.
Sej. And what guests found you? Pos. Sabinus, Silius, the old list, Arruntius, Furmus, and Gallus.
Sej. Would not these talk?
Pos.
Little:
And yet we offer'd choice of argument. Satrius was with me.
Sej.
Well: 'tis guilt enough
Their often meeting. You forgot to extol The hospitable lady?
Pas.
No; that trick
Was well put home, and had succeeded too, But that Sabinus cough'd a caution out; For she began to swell.
Sej.
And may she burst!
Julius, I would have you go instantly
Unto the palace of the great Augusta,
And, by your kindest friend, get swift access; Acquaint her with these meetings: tell the words You brought me the other day, of Silius, Add somewhat to them. Make her understand The danger of Sabinus, and the times,
Out of his closeness. Give Arruntius' words Of malice against Caesar; so, to Gallus: But, above all, to Agrippina. Say,
As you may truly, that her infinite pride, Propt with the hopes of her too fruitful womb, With popular studies gapes for sovereignty, And threatens Caesar. Pray Augusta then, That for her own, great Caesar's, and the public safety, she be pleased to urge these dangers. Caesar is too secure, he must be told,
And best he'll take it from a mother's tongue. Alas! what is't for us to sound, to explore, To watch, oppose, plot, practise, or prevent, If he, for whom it is so strongly labour'd, Shall, out of greatness and free spirit, be Supinely negligent? our city's now
Divided as in time o' the civil war,
And men forbear not to declare themselves Of Agrippina's party. Every day
The faction multiplies; and will do more, If not resisted: you can best enlarge it, As you find audience. Noble Posthumus, Commend me to your Prisca: and pray her, She will solicit this great business,
To earnest and most present execution, With all her utmost credit with Augusta.
Sej.
This second, from his mother, will well urge Our late design, and spur on Caesar's rage;
Which else might grow remiss. The way to put A prince in blood, is to present the shapes
Of dangers, greater than they are, like late,
Or early shadows; and, sometimes, to feign
Where there are none, only to make him fear? His fear will make him cruel: and once enter'd, He doth not easily learn to stop, or spare
Where he may doubt. This have I made my rule, To thrust Tiberius into tyranny,
And make him toil, to turn aside those blocks, Which I alone could not remove with safety, Drusus once gone, Germanicus' three sons
Would clog my way; whose guards have too much faith To be corrupted: and their mother known
Of too, too unreproved a chastity,
To be attempted, as light Livia was.
Work then, my art, on Caesar's fears, as they On those they fear 'till all my lets be clear'd, And he in ruins of his house, and hate
Of all his subjects, bury his own state;
When with my peace and safety, I will rise,
By making him the public sacrifice. [Exit.
Sat. They're grown exceeding circumspect, and wary.
Nat.
They have us in the wind: and yet Arruntius Cannot contain himself.
Sat.
Tut, he's not yet
Look'd after; there are others more desired That are more silent.
Enter SABINUS, ARRUNTIUS, and CORDUS
Sab.
How is it, that these beagles haunt the house Of Agrippina?
Arr.
O, they hunt, they hunt!
There is some game here lodged, which they must rouse, To make the great ones sport.
Cor.
Did you observe
How they inveigh'd 'gainst Caesar?
Arr.
Ay, baits, baits,
For us to bite at: would I have my flesh Torn by the public hook, these qualified hangmen Should be my company.
Arr.
Ay, there's a man, Afer the orator!
One that hath phrases, figures, and fine flowers, To strew his rhetoric with, and doth make haste, To get him note, or name, by any offer
Where blood or gain be objects; steeps his words, When he would kill, in artificial tears:
The crocodile of Tyber! him I love,
That man is mine; he hath my heart and voice When I would curse! he, he.
Sub.
Contemn the slaves,
Their present lives will be their future graves. [Exeunt SCENE IV.-Another Apartment in the same.
Sil.
May't please your highness not forget yourself; I dare not, with my manners, to attempt Your trouble farther.
Sil. Most royal princess.
Agr. Sosia stays with us?
Sil.
She is your servant, and doth owe your grace An honest, but unprofitable love.
Sil:
You take the moral, not the politic sense.
I meant, as she is bold, and free of speech,
Earnest to utter what her zealous thought
Travails withal, in honour of your house;
Which act, as it is simply born in her,
Partakes of love and honesty; but may,
By the over-often, and unseason'd use,