LIVIA having married Augustus when she
					was pregnant was, within three months afterwards, delivered. of Drusus, the
					father of Claudius Caesar, who had at first the praenomen of Decimus, but
					afterwards that of Nero; and it was
					suspected that he was begotten in adultery by his father-in-law. The following
					verse, however, was immediately in every one's mouth: τοῖσ εὐτυχοῦσι καὶ τρὶμηνα παιδία. 
					 Nine months for common births the fates decree; But, for the great, reduce the term to three. This Drusus,
					during the time of his being quaestor and praetor, commanded in the Rhaetian and
					German wars, and was the first of all the Roman generals who navigated the
					Northern Ocean. Pliny describes Drusus as having in this voyage
						circumnavigated Germany , and
						reached the Cimbrian Chersonese and the Scythian shores, reeking with
						constant fogs. He made likewise some prodigious trenches beyond the
						 Rhine , Tacitus, Ann. xi. 8. 1, mentions this fosse, and says that Drusus sailed up
						the Meuse and the Waal . Cluverius places it between the
						village of Iselvort and the town of Doesborg. which to this day are
					called by his name. He overthrew the enemy in several battles and drove them far
					back into the depths of the desert. Nor did he desist from pursuing them, until
					an apparition, in the form of a barbarian woman, of more than human size,
					appeared to him, and, in the Latin tongue, forbad him to proceed any further.
					For these achievements he had the honour of an ovation and the triumphal
					ornaments. After his praetorship, he immediately entered on the office of
					consul, and returning to Germany , died
					of disease, in the summer encampment, which thence obtained the name of "The
					Unlucky Camp." His corpse was carried to Rome by the principal persons of the several municipalities and
					colonies upon the road, being met and received by the recorders of each place,
					and buried in the Campus Martius . In
					honour of his memory, the army erected a monument, round which the soldiers
					used, annually, upon a certain day, to march in solemn procession, and persons
					deputed from the several cities of Gaul 
					performed religious rites. The senate likewise, among various other honours,
					decreed for him a triumphal arch of marble, with trophies, in the Appian Way , and gave the cognomen of
					Germanicus to him and his posterity. In him the civil and military virtues were
					equally displayed; for, besides his victories, he gained from the enemy the
					Spolia Opima, The Spolia
							Opima were the spoils taken from the enemy's king, or chief,
						when slain in single combat by a Roman general. They were always hung up in
						the Temple of Jupiter Feretrius. Those spoils had been obtained only thrice
						since the foundation of Rome : the
						first by Romulus, who slew Acron, king of the Caeninenses; the next by A.
						Cornelius Cossus, who slew Tolumnius, king of the Veientes, A.U.C. 318; and
						the third by M. Claudius Marcelluls, who sles Viridomarus, king of the
						Gauls, A.U.C. 330. and frequently marked out the German chiefs in the
					midst of their army, and encountered them in single combat at the utmost hazard
					of his life. He likewise often declared that he would, some time or other, if
					possible, restore the ancient government, On this account, I suppose, some have
					ventured to affirm that Augustus was jealous of him and recalled him; and
					because he made no haste to com ply with the order, took him off by poison. This
					I mention, that I may not be guilty of any omission, more than because I think
					it either true or probable, since AugustuS loved him so much when living that he
					always, in his wills made him joint-heir with his sons, as he once declared in
					the senate; and upon his decease extolled him in a speech to the people, to that
					degree, that he prayed the gods "to make his Caesars like him, and to grant
					himself as honourable an exit out of this world as they had given him." And not
					satisfied with inscribing upon his tomb an epitaph in verse composed by himself,
					he wrote likewise the history of his life in prose. He had by the younger
					Antonia several children, but left behind him only three, namely, Germanicus,
					Livilla and Claudius. Claudius was born at Lyons , in the
					consulship of Julius Antonius and Fabius Africanus, upon the first of
						August, A.U.C. 744 the very day upon which an
					altar was first dedicated there to Augustus. He was named Tiberius Claudius
					Drusus, but soon afterwards, upon the adoption of his elder brother into the
						Julian family, he assumed the
					cognomen of Germanicus. He was left an infant by his father, and during almost
					the whole of his minority, and for some time after he attained the age of
					manhood, was afflicted with a variety of obstinate disorders, insomuch that his
					mind and body being greatly impaired, he was, even after his arrival at years of
					maturity, never thought sufficiently qualified for any public or private
					employment. He was, therefore, during a long time, and even after the expiration
					of his minority, under the direction of a pedagogue, who, he complains in a
					certain memoir, " was a barbarous wretch, and formerly superintendent of the
					mule-drivers, who was selected for his governor on purpose to correct him
					severely on every trifling occasion. On account of this crazy constitution of
					body and mind, at the spectacle of gladiators, which he gave the people, jointly
					with his brother, in honour of his father's memory, he presided, muffled up in a
					pallium-a new fashion. When he assumed the manly habit, he was carried in a
					litter, at midnight, to the Capitol, without the usual ceremony. He applied himself, however, from an early age, with great assiduity to the study
					of the liberal sciences, and frequently published specimens of his skill in each
					of them. But never, with all his endeavours, could he attain to any public post
					in the government, or afford any hope of arriving at distinction thereafter. His
					mother, Antonia, frequently called him
					"an abortion of a man, that had been only begun, but never finished, by nature."
					And when she would upbraid any one with dulness, she said, "He was a greater
					fool than her son, Claudius." His grandmother, Augusta, always treated him with the utmost contempt, very
					rarely spoke to him, and when she did admonish him upon any occasion, it was in
					writing, very briefly and severely, or by messengers. His sister, Livilla, upon
					hearing that he was about to be created emperor, openly and loudly expressed her
					indignation that the Roman people should experience a fate so severe and so much
					below their grandeur. To exhibit the opinion, both favourable and otherwise,
					entertained concerning him by Augustus, his great-uncle, I have here subjoined
					some extracts from the letters of that emperor. "I have had some conversation with Tiberius, according to your desire, my dear Livia, as to what must be done with your
					grandson, Tiberius, at the games of Mars. We are both agreed in this, that, once for all, we ought
					to determine what course to take with him. For if he be really sound and, so to
					speak, quite right in his intellects, This epistle, as it
						was the habit of Augustus, is interspersed with Greek phrases. why
					should we hesitate to promote him by the same steps and degrees we did his
					brother? But if we find him below par, and deficient both in body and mind, we
					must beware of giving occasion for him and ourselves to be laughed at by the
					world, which is ready enough to make such things the subject of mirth and
					derision. For we shall be never easy, if we are always to be debating upon every
					occasion of this kind, without settling, in the first instance, whether he be
					really capable of public offices or not. With regard to what you consult me
					about at the present moment, I am not against his superintending the feast of
					the priests, in the games of Mars, if
					he will suffer himself to be governed by his kinsman, Silanus's son, that he may
					do nothing to make the people stare and laugh at him. But I do not approve of
					his witnessing the Circensian games from the Pulvinar. He will be there exposed
					to view in the very front of the theatre. Nor do I like that he should go to the
					Alban Mount, The Alban Mount is the most interesting
						feature of the scenery of the Campagna about Rome , Monti Cavo, the summit, rising above an amphitheatre
						of magnificent woods, to an elevation of 2965 French feet. The view is very
						extensive: below is the lake of Albano , the finest of the volcanic lakes in Italy , and the modern town of the same
						name. Few traces remain of Alba
							Longa , the ancient capital of Latium . or be at Rome during the Latin festival. On the
						summit of the Alban Mount, on the site of the present convent, stood the
						temple of Jupiter Latialis, where the Latin tribes assembled annually, and
						renewed their league, during the Feriae Latinae, instituted by Tarquinus
						Superbus. It was here, also, that Roman generals, who were refused the
						honours of a full triumph, performed the ovation, and sacrificed to Jupiter
						Latialis. Part of the triumphal way by which the mountain was ascended,
						formed of vast blocks of lava, is still in good preservation, leading
						through groves of chestnut trees of vast size and age. Spanning them with
						extended arms-none of the shortest-the operation was repeated five times in
						compassing their girth. For if he be capable of attending his brother
					to the mount, why is he not made prefect of the city? Thus, my dear Livia, you have my thoughts upon the matter.
					In my opinion, we ought to settle this affair once for all, that we may not be
					always in suspense between hope and fear. You may, if you think proper, give
					your kinsman Antonia this part of my
					letter to read." In another letter, he writes as follows: "I shall invite the
					youth, Tiberius, every day during your
					absence, to supper, that he may not sup alone with his friends Sulpicius and
					Athenodorus. I wish the poor creature was more cautious and attentive in the
					choice of some one, whose manners, air, and gait might be proper for his
					imitation: ἀτυχεῖ πάνυ ἐν τοῖσ σπουδαίοις 
					 In things of consequence he sadly fails. 
					Where his mind does not run astray, he discovers a noble disposition." In a
					third letter, he says, " Let me die, my dear Livia, if I am not astonished, that the declamation of your
					grandson, Tiberius, should please me;
					for how he who talks so ill, should be able to declaim so clearly and properly,
					I cannot imagine." There is no doubt but Augustus, after this, came to a
					resolution upon the subject, and, accordingly, left him invested with no other
					honour than that of the Augural priesthood; naming him amongst the heirs of the
					third degree, who were but distantly allied to his family, for a sixth part of
					his estate only, with a legacy of no more than eight hundred thousand
					sesterces. Upon his requesting some office in the state, Tiberius granted him the honorary appendages of the consulship,
					and when he pressed for a legitimate appointment, the emperor wrote word back,
					that "he sent him forty gold pieces for his expenses, during the festivals of
					the Saturnalia and Sigillaria." Upon this, laying aside all hope of advancement,
					he resigned himself entirely to an indolent life; living in great privacy, one
					while in his gardens, or a villa which he had near the city; another while in
						 Campania , where he passed his time
					in the lowest society; by which means, besides his former character of a dull,
					heavy fellow, he acquired that of a drunkard and gamester.