Tacitus is an author still
worth reading for his vividness of language and eye for details. In this chapter
he describes the murder on Lucius Piso, a praetor in Spain. He investigated
fraud amongst the Termistine tribe. Little is known about this tribe, but their
capital was the city of Termes, near Numantia. The fraud was the disappearance of tax
revenues - revenues under Roman control. My guess is that rather having these
revenues send to Rome or spend on Roman prestige projects, the Termistines
wanted to have it for their own purposes. From a Roman perspective, Tacitus of
course sees this as an act of rebellion and the murder as a terrible crime.
Tacitus, Annales, iv, 45
[45] Isdem
consulibus facinus atrox in citeriore Hispania admissum a quodam agresti
nationis Termestinae. is praetorem provinciae L. Pisonem, pace incuriosum, ex
improviso in itinere adortus uno vulnere in mortem adfecit; ac pernicitate equi
profugus, postquam saltuosos locos attigerat, dimisso equo per derupta et avia
sequentis frustratus est. neque diu fefellit: nam prenso ductoque per proximos
pagos equo cuius foret cognitum. et repertus cum tormentis edere conscios
adigeretur, voce magna sermone patrio frustra se interrogari clamitavit:
adsisterent socii ac spectarent; nullam vim tantam doloris fore ut veritatem
eliceret. idemque cum postero ad quaestionem retraheretur, eo nisu proripuit se
custodibus saxoque caput adflixit ut statim exanimaretur. sed Piso
Termestinorum dolo caesus habetur; quippe pecunias e publico interceptas acrius
quam ut tolerarent barbari cogebat.
Isdem consulibus: under the same consuls, i.e.
Lentulus Gaetulicus and C. Calvinus in 26 AD
facinus admitto:
to commit a crime
citer citra citrum: at this side (citeriore
Hispania: seen from Rome, so the
east)
agrestis –is
(m,): peasant
praetor: in
the provinces of Rome, a praetor was a governor,
incuriosus:
careless
ex improviso:
unexpectedly
adorior adortus:
to attack
in mortem adficio: to kill
pernicitas –atis (f.): swiftness
saltuosus:
covered with woods
attingo attigi
attactum: to reach
per derupta et avia: by precipices and wildernesses
frustror frustratus: to elude, deceive (sequentis
= sequentes)
fallo fefelli falsum: to deceive
prenso (prehenso) (-are): to grasp, seize
pagus:
district
cuius foret cognitum = cognitum (erat) cuius foret: it was found
out of whom (it) was.
reperio repperi repertum: to find, discover
edo edidi editum: to disclose
conscius:
partaker, accomplice
adigo adegi adactum: to compel
sermone patrio: in his own language (probably
Celtiberian)
frustra: in
vain
clamito: frequentative
of clamo `he kept screaming’
adisterent socii et spectarent: irrealis
elicio elicui (-ere): elicit, bring out
postero die
questio –onis (f.): interrogation
eo nisu…ut: with such an effort…that
proripio proripui proreptum: to rush out (but
here also the meaning eripio `to
break out’)
saxoque caput adflixit: and dashed his head to a stone
exanimor: to
die
Piso caesus
habetur:
Piso is thought to be killed
pecunias a publico
ereptas: money embezzled from the public
purse
quippe: because
acrius: more
zealously
cogebat:
tried to collect
Translation by Alfred John
Church and William Jackson Brodribb (1876, note that the translation is not
always accurate.)
While the same consuls
were in office, an atrocious crime was committed in Nearer Spain by a peasant
of the Termestine tribe. Suddenly attacking the prætor of the province, Lucius
Piso, as he was travelling in all the carelessness of peace, he killed him with
a single wound. He then fled on a swift horse, and reached a wooded country,
where he parted with his steed and eluded pursuit amid rocky and pathless
wilds. But he was soon discovered. The horse was caught and led through the
neighbouring villages, and its owner ascertained. Being found and put to the
torture that he might be forced to reveal his accomplices, he exclaimed in a
loud voice, in the language of his country, that it was in vain to question
him; his comrades might stand by and look on, but that the most intense agony
would not wring the truth from him. Next day, when he was dragged back to
torture, he broke loose from his guards and dashed his head against a stone
with such violence that he instantly fell dead. It was however believed that Piso
was treacherously murdered by the Termestini. Some public money had been
embezzled, and he was pressing for its payment too rigorously for the patience
of barbarians.
