Then followed Galba's speech in the Senate, which was as plain and brief as his speech to the soldiery. Piso delivered a gracefuloration and was supported by the feeling of the Senate. Many who wished him well, spoke with enthusiasm; those who had opposed him, in moderate terms; the majority met him with an officious homage, having aims of their own and no thought for the state. Piso neither said nor did anything else in public in the following four days which intervened between his adoption and his death. As tidings of the mutiny in Germany were arriving with daily increasing frequency, while the country was ready to receive and to credit all intelligence that had an unfavourable character, the Senate came to a resolution to send deputies to the German armies. It was privately discussed whether Piso should go with them to give them a more imposing appearance; they, it was said, would bring with them the authority of the Senate, he the majesty of the Cæsar. It was thought expedient to send with them Cornelius Laco, prefect of the Prætorian Guard, but he thwarted the design. In nominating, excusing, and changing the deputies, the Senate having entrusted the selection to Galba, the Emperor shewed a disgraceful want of firmness, yielding to individuals, who made interest to stay or to go, as their fears or their hopes prompted.
The Greek stands ready in the workroom; the English is served. Both faces will read together.
The Histories, Tacitus — translated by Alfred John Church & William Jackson Brodribb, 1864
Perseus Digital Library — Tacitus, The Histories (Church & Brodribb translation) · Alfred John Church & William Jackson Brodribb (Macmillan, 1864, per the TEI header's own imprint); Perseus Project digital edition
license: public-domain (the Church & Brodribb translation, 1864); Perseus digital edition CC BY-SA, attribution recorded per ops/corpus-staging/SOURCES.md pattern