My dear brother:
During Tiberius’ rule, something unique happened: Two people occupied jointly,
during one year, the position of the praetorian prefect. The praetorians, as I
have already mentioned, were the emperor's bodyguards, and in later times
frequently murdered the emperor himself and enthroned another, and as in the
case of Nero, which we will see later, they exercised so much influence over the
regent that they manipulated him like a puppet on a string.
The two praetorian prefects were Lucius Sejus Strabo and his adopted son Lucius
Aelius Sejanus. Sejanus was born in Volsinii in Etruria. In the year 15,
Tiberius rewarded Strabo with the position of prefect of Egypt, one of the most
important and richest provinces in the empire. That meant, as everybody knew,
that Strabo could accumulate vast riches.
When the legions in Panonia mutinied against Tiberius, the emperor sent Sejanus
together with Drusus, the son of Agrippina and Germanicus, the declared heir to
the throne, to repress the rebellion. Drusus considered that as a lack of
confidence in his person, and developed a strong aversion against the chief of
the praetorians. When his father, Germanicus, died, the tension between both
characters grew even worse.
But Sejanus proved his administrative ability and his loyalty to the emperor in
many occasions. First, he ordered to build barracks for the praetorians, who
until then had lived dispersed in the city, to be able to mobilize them more
quickly. Then, during a fire in a theater of Pompeii that threatened to destroy
the whole town, Sejanus took charge of the rescue works, and the town really was
saved. In gratefulness, Tiberius erected a statue in Sejanus’ honor in front
of the rebuilt theater. On one occasion, on the island of Capri, Sejanus
protected the emperor with his own body, when a cave collapsed that they were
visiting. In short, Tiberius’ trust in his prefect was unconditional.
His stepfather Strabo's death conferred some wealth on Sejanus. However, as we
will see, that money did not last very long, he had to look for other income
sources.
One day, Sejanus risked a dangerous adventure. He started a relation with the
wife of Drusus, the heir who hated him from the bottom of his heart. Lavilla,
the unfaithful wife, together with Sejanus forged a plot to murder her husband.
Drusus was poisoned, and he died after a short "disease." Many people
suspected of Sejanus, but nobody dared to denounce him. With Drusus, the last of
the inner circle of heirs to the throne had died. And this led Sejanus to think,
if it could not be he who would inherit the power.
The problem he faced in his aspiration was that he did not belong to the high
nobility, and so he would not find any support among the noblemen. He was only
an "eques", a knight, from lower nobility.
Drusus’ death put Tiberius in an uncomfortable situation. We have already seen
how he hated to be the emperor, but his oldest male family members were the
children of Drusus, all of them too young. Tiberius was under obligation to
continue as the emperor, without being able to abdicate in favor of one of his
possible successors. However, he wanted to retire from Rome, to abandon
everything and to live his capriccios on the island of Capri, which he loved so
much. He needed a strong man, a capable administrator: And he had such a man, in
the person of Sejanus! Finally, in the year 26, Tiberius retired, leaving
Sejanus with almost dictatorial powers in Rome.
From that moment on, Sejanus used all his power and influence to take little by
little control of everything. Even the correspondence for Tiberius passed
through his hands, and the emperor on the distant island in the future would
only read what Sejanus deemed appropriate.
Sejanus immediately began to conspire against the imperial family, accusing
Agrippina, Drusus’ mother, of betrayal, and on the other hand advised her flee
from the city with her son Nero, because her life was in danger. But Agrippina
did not leave the city, and Tiberius did not pay attention to Sejanus’
accusation.
Sejanus knew that he had to improve his social position, that is to say, to
ascend in the scale of nobility’s hierarchy, and he asked Tiberius for his
permission to marry Lavilla, Drusus’ widow. However, the emperor refused. He
began already to suspect something, but he was not sure. At any rate, he did not
want to open Sejanus the doors to high nobility.
Then, Sejanus began to change the commanding generals of the army, replacing
them with men of his trust, and spent enormous amounts of money in bribes, to
win favors. So his considerable inheritance dripped away. He needed money, and
urgently!
It was then, when Sejanus remembered that the place in the empire, where more
money accumulated and circulated than in any other place, was the Temple of
Jerusalem. And just a little time before retiring to Capri, Tiberius had called
back the prefect of Judea, Valerius Gratus, to Rome, and Sejanus took advantage
of that opportunity to name his personal friend, Publius Pontius Pilatus, as his
successor in the vacant position. Pilate’s work would be, among others, to
guarantee a continuous flow of money into the arks of Sejanus.
The period of service for a prefect or provincial governor was usually three
years, as in the cases of Coponius, Marcus Ambivulus and Annius Rufus, the first
three prefects from Judea, from the year 6, after Archelaus’ destitution, to
the year 15. Valerius Gratus, however, served eleven years, up to the year 26,
because Tiberius tried to maintain more continuity in provincial administration.
Pilate would serve until the year 36 in Palestine. But of him, we will speak in
a separate message.
From the year 26 until the year 30, Tiberius eulogized Sejanus in all possible
ways, motivated by a mixture of uncertainty and fear, he even named him consul
of the Senate, he coined money bearing his name, he ordered to celebrate public
sacrifices in his honor, etc. However, in the year 30, Tiberius’
sister-in-law, Antonia, who had always stayed off intrigues and politics, sent
an accusation to the emperor, accusing Sejanus of conspiracy and treason. She
detailed the methods that this man used, and convinced Tiberius.
Tiberius feared. All Rome was under Sejanus’ control. He could not trust the
troops, whose commanders were installed by Sejanus. What could he do?
First, in his letters of commendation for Sejanus, which were read publicly in
the Senate, some slight critiques began to appear. Then he prohibited public
sacrifices for people still alive, that is to say, for Sejanus. And finally,
when the praetorian prefect wanted to arrest and execute an opposing leader of
the Senate, Tiberius impeded it.
Finally, in the month of October, Tiberius carried out his mortal blow against
the traitor.
Secretly, on the island of Capri, he named Quintus Sutorius Macro prefect of the
praetorians. Macro traveled to Rome with a letter from Tiberius, which would be
read publicly in the Senate. Macro told Sejanus that this letter contained the
order of conferring imperial powers onto Sejanus, naming him practically
Tiberius’ heir. Sejanus was pleased.
When they arrived at the Senate, Macro had first another letter read, his
appointment as the new praetorian prefect. Sejanus was confused. Macro sent the
praetorians to their barracks, and surrounded the Senate with his own loyal
soldiers. Then, when the second letter was read, a letter which was
intentionally endlessly long and boring, Macro moved to the barracks of the
praetorians and made sure their loyalty.
At the end of the letter, Tiberius had written an open accusation of betrayal
against Sejanus, who was taken prisoner immediately. When the senators saw
people cheering and the praetorians’ loyalty to the emperor, they condemned
Sejanus at once and had him executed in the same night, strangling him.
Well, my brother, this was the story of Sejanus. As you see, during the
Master’s entire public ministry, Sejanus was at the peak of his career and
power. He was the "strong man" of Rome, not Tiberius, and Pilate’s
loyalty was to him and not to the emperor. All that would have serious
consequences for the Master's destiny. But this, we will see later.
Next time, I wish to deliver a similar message on Pilate.
H.R.: May I ask a question? You said that Pilate’s name was Publius Pontius
Pilatus. In fact, all history books say that we do not know his first name. I it
true that his name was Publius? On a Web page, I read "Lucius Pontius
Pilatus."
His first name was Publius, yes, this is true. I remember very well how people
made fun of him, not openly, of course, as the "quadruple P", Publius
Pontius Pilatus Praefectus.
On that Web page, they possibly put Lucius in allusion to Sejanus, who had this
name.
By the way, there is one more thing I wish to tell you: Do you remember
yesterday's mail, on poverty?
H.R.: Yes, I remember.
(Yesterday somebody sent me the following story:
One day a father took to his little son to take a trip to the countryside, with
the purpose of showing him how poorly people live there.
That day, they spent visiting some rural friends, who formed a very poor family.
When they returned from the trip, the father asked his son, “How did you like
the trip?"
"Very well, dad."
"Did you see how poor people are?" the father asked him.
"What are you speaking of, dad?" his son replied. "I saw that
they have 4 dogs, on the other hand, we have just one.
We have a pool that scarcely stretches halfway into the garden, they have a
river that never ends.
We have lamps in the garden, they have stars.
Our patio ends with the neighbor's wall, theirs ends with the horizon, they have
time to sit down and converse, on the other hand, you and mom have to work the
whole day and I never see you."
When the small boy finished, his father looked in silence.
His son added, “Thank you, dad, for showing me so much wealth and to let me
know how poor we are."
Everything depends on how your see things.
If you have love, friends, family, health, good humor and a positive attitude
toward life — you have everything!
You cannot buy any of these things.
You may have all possessions that money can buy, but if you are poor of spirit,
you have nothing.
Author unknown)
Well, my friend, at the beginning you liked the story. But then you thought of
the poor people on the Ecuadorian coast, how they live now in the water up to
their waist and lose everything because of the floods. In fact, it is not so
romantic to be poor. Because if they had money, they could abandon these
shanties where they live, and move to their flats in the city, to wait until the
catastrophe passes, and then fix the damages. But they cannot. They don't have
any place where to go.
It is true, poverty it is not romantic, when one has to live it. However, this
small story also wants to teach you other things: Always try to see the positive
side of things. And when you really cannot find it, never forget that there is
somebody who is always willing to help. Ad in order for Him to do so, you have
to trust Him and to ask Him. He never lets you down. And as a last teaching,
stop trying to control your life. Give Him the control. He knows better to
manage things than we all do. Situations often are difficult. However, despair
makes them desperate. If you have faith, then you have hope, and if you have
hope, then you will overcome anything.
Well, it is enough for today. We will see us soon again.
God bless you.
Judas
| Year 2000 | Year 2001 | Year 2002 | Year 2003 | HOME |