consent of gods and men to be an emperor. Your distinguished
qualities and your patriotism have persuaded me to offer to you
peacefully and quietly the throne for which our ancestors fought on
the field of battle,[41] and which I too won by war. In so doing I am
following the precedent set by the sainted Augustus, who raised to the
rank next himself first his nephew Marcellus, then his son-in-law
Agrippa, then his daughter's sons,[42] and finally his stepson
Tiberius Nero. However, while Augustus looked for a successor in his
own family, I have searched throughout the country. Not that I lack
either kinsmen or supporters, but it was by no favour of birth that I
myself came to the throne, and, to prove my policy in this matter,
consider how I have passed over not only my own relatives but yours.
You have an elder brother,[43] as noble as yourself. He would have
been worthy of this position, but you are worthier. You are old enough
to have outlived youthful passions. Your life has been such that you
have nothing in your past to excuse. So far you have only experienced
misfortune. Prosperity probes the heart with a keener touch; misery
only calls for patience, but there is corruption in success. Honesty,
candour, and affection are the best of human qualities, and doubtless
you yourself have enough character to retain them. But the
complaisance of others will weaken your character. Flattery and
servile compliments will break down its defences and self-interest
too, the bane of all sincerity. What though you and I can talk plainly
with each other to-day? Others will address themselves not to us but
to our fortunes. To persuade an emperor what he ought to do is a
laborious task: any one can flatter him without a spark of sincerity.

'If the vast bulk of this empire could stand and keep its balance 16
without a guiding hand, the Republic might well have dated its birth
from me. As it is, things have long ago come to such a pass that
neither I in my old age can give the Roman people any better gift than
a good successor, nor you in your prime anything better than a good
emperor. Under Tiberius, Caligula, and Claudius, Rome was the heirloom
of a single family. There is a kind of liberty in the free choice we
have begun to exercise. Now that the Julian and Claudian houses are
extinct, by the plan of adoption the best man will always be
discovered. Royal birth is the gift of fortune, and is but valued as
such. In adoption w