Vita Romanorum


Foreseeing the Future


Ego ne utilem quidem arbitror esse nobis futurarum rerum scientiam. quae enim vita fuisset Priamo, si ab adulescentia scisset quos eventus senectutis esset habiturus? abeamus a fabulis, propiora videamus. clarissimorum hominum nostrae civitatis gravissimos exitus in Consolatione collegimus. quid igitur? ut omittamus superiores, Marcone Crasso putas utile fuisse tum, cum maximis opibus fortunisque florebat, scire sibi interfecto Publio filio exercituque deleto trans Euphratem cum ignominia et dedecore esse pereundum? an Cn. Pompeium censes tribus suis consulatibus, tribus triumphis, maximarum rerum gloria laetaturum fuisse, si sciret se in solitudine Aegyptiorum trucidatum iri amisso exercitu, post mortem vero ea consecutura, quae sine lacrimis non possumus dicere? quid vero Caesarem putamus, si divinasset fore ut in eo senatu quem maiore ex parte ipse cooptasset, in curia Pompeia, ante ipsius Pompei simulacrum, tot centurionibus suis inspectantibus, a nobilissumis civibus, partim etiam a se omnibus rebus ornatis, trucidatus ita iaceret, ut ad eius corpus non modo amicorum, sed ne servorum quidem quisquam accederet, quo cruciatu animi vitam acturum fuisse?

Cicero, De Divinatione 2.22-23

Marcus Crassus [the Triumvir] used to say that a man was not rich unless he could maintain a legion with his annual income. [In Crassus’ time, a legion was made up of 4,800 men (= 10 cohorts, each consisting of 6 centuries of 80 men).] He owned estates worth two hundred million sesterces, and only Sulla was richer. He would not have been content till he took over all the gold of the Parthians. Even though he was famous for his wealth, there have been many freedmen since then who have been richer, including three at the same time during the rule of Claudius, namely Callistus, Pallas and Narcissus (Pliny, Historia Naturalis 33.134).

Pallas had phenomenal personal wealth, estimated at four hundred million sesterces, acquired through the corrupt influence he exerted at court. No one in ancient Rome is known to have been richer than he was. “He was amazingly arrogant, communicating with his slaves through nods and gestures or, if more precise explanation was needed, through written instructions, so as not to have to speak to such people” (Tacitus, Annals 13.23).

Pallas was not the only owner to treat his slaves this way:

Not wishing to be distracted by their presence, the ex-consul and triumphant general Pupius Piso told his slaves to speak only when spoken to and answer his questions as briefly as possible. He once laid on an elaborate dinner in honor of Clodius Pulcher. When Clodius failed to show up, Piso repeatedly sent his slave to see if he was on his way. Eventually he asked the slave “Did you deliver the invitation?” The slave said he had. “Then why isn’t he here?” “Because he declined to come”. “Why didn’t you tell me straightaway?” “Because you didn’t ask me that” (Plutarch, On Talkativeness 511d).

Editions of Cicero have for centuries used one or other of two quite different numbering systems, or sometimes both simultaneously, in a rather cumbersome and confusing manner; this passage is sometimes referred to as Div. 2.9, sometimes as Div. 2.9.22-23, or, as here, in the style found with increasing consistency in modern scholarship, with the higher numbering only, as Div. 2.22-23.