October 18: the letter from Capri

October 18, AD 31: the Senate listens to Tiberius’s letter from Capri, and Sejanus, the second man in the state, does not know what awaits him.

Transcript

The eighteenth of October, AD thirty-one.

At dawn Sejanus walks to Apollo’s temple.

He thinks he will receive tribunician power today.

Outside, Macro waits, secretly made commander of the Guard.

Macro whispers to him that he carries a letter from the emperor.

Then he sends the Praetorians back to camp, promising them rewards.

In the temple, says Dio, the Senate hears a long letter from Capri.

First praise for Sejanus, then ever sharper rebukes.

Last, he demands two senators punished, and Sejanus held.

The senators draw away from him, and the consul calls: Sejanus, come here.

And he asks: are you calling me?

In the morning he was the second man in the state.