women?" The writings of Tiberius have all perished; and in these days, we
have only too much cause to regret, that nothing of his "precision" has
come down to us. The battles of Tiberius are celebrated in the Odes of
Horace: one of the Epistles is addressed to him; and in another, written
to Julius Florus, an officer with Tiberius, Horace enquires about the
learned occupations of the Imperial cohort.

_Quid studiosa Cohors operum struit? Hoc quoque curo._

It was from his commerce with the Ancients, as I always think, that George
Buchanan derived his opinion, strange to modern ears, that "a great
commander must of necessity have all the talents of an author." Velleius
Paterculus, who served with Tiberius in his campaigns, tells us of his
firm discipline, and of his kindness to the soldiers.

The Caesars Caius and Lucius, grandsons of Augustus, Marcellus his nephew,
and Drusus the brother of Tiberius, all died: they died young, rich in
promise, the darlings of the Roman People; "Breves et infaustos Populi
Romani amores;" and thus, in the procession of events, Tiberius became the
heir. "The Annals" open with his accession, and Tacitus has narrated the
vicissitudes of his reign. Velleius Paterculus has written its happier
aspects: he describes how the "Pax Augusta," the "Roman Peace," delivered
every quarter of the world from violence. He celebrates the return of
Justice and prosperity, of order, of mild and equable taxation, of
military discipline and magisterial authority. It is like the Saturnian
Reign, which Virgil sings in the Eclogue "Pollio." The first action of
Tiberius was to canonise his father, and Augustus was translated to the
banquet of the Gods:

_Quos inter Augustus recumbens,