22 The Imperial Government
thisisinfactinaccurate,forTacituscommentsthatNeroonhisaccessionwas
thefirstemperortoneed‘‘borrowedeloquence’’(aliena facundia)—Seneca’s,
asDiostates.^130 (Suetonius,however,recordsthataspeechfordeliverytothe
populacewasfoundinNero’sscrinium[writingdesk]afterhisdeath;theim-
plicationseemstobethathehadwrittenithimself).^131 Senecaalsowrotethe
letterwhichNerosenttotheSenateafterthemurderofAgrippina.^132 Nero
wasclearlyanexceptionalcase,aswasMaximintheThracian,forwhomhis
friendswroteaspeech.^133 SowasDomitian,foritisinthechapterdevoted
todemonstratinghistotallackofliteraryculturethatSuetoniuswrites,‘‘he
composedletters,orations,andedicts,withtheaidofthetalentsofothers.’’^134
Inthecontextthismaymeannomorethanthatothersputhispronounce-
mentsintocorrectstyle(formare).Butevenifitmeansmorethanthat,this,
liketheotherevidencejustquoted,isspecificallyanexceptiontoarule—
anditistherulewhichissignificant.
- Tac.,Ann.13,3,3;Dio61,3,1.
- Suet.,Nero47: ‘‘Afterwards a speech composed for this purposewas found in his
writingdesk;butitwasthoughtthathedidnotdaretodeliveritforfearofbeingtornto
piecesbeforehecouldreachtheForum.’’ - Tac.,Ann.14,11,4;cf.Quint.,Inst.8,5,18:‘‘AsistheletterwrittenbySenecatobe
sentbyNerototheSenateontheoccasionofhismother’sdeath.’’ - Herodian7,8,3.
- Suet.,Dom.20.Cf.HA,Ael. Ver.4,7:‘‘andhadfinishedcomposing,eitherbyhis
owneffortsorwiththehelpoftherhetoricians,averyprettyspeech.’’