bloody riots in the theater have been suppressed, and all men have had either a desire
excited in them, or a necessity imposed on them, of acting with integrity. Virtuous acts
are honored, wicked deeds are punished. The humble respects the powerful, without
dreading him; the powerful takes precedence of the humble without condemning him.
When were provisions more moderate in price? When were the blessings of peace for
abundant? Augustan peace, diffused over all the regions of the east and the west, and all
that lies between the south and the north, preserves every corner of the world free from
all dread of predatory molestation. Fortuitous losses, not only of individuals, but also of
cities, the munificence of the prince is ready to relieve. The cities of Asia have been
repaired; the provinces have been secured from the oppression of their governors. Honor
promptly rewards the deserving, and the punishment of the guilty, if slow, is certain.
Interest gives place to justice, solicitation to merit. For the best of princes teaches his
countrymen to act rightly by his own practice; and while he is the greatest in power, he is
still greater in example.
Having exhibited a general view of the administration of Tiberius Caesar, let us now
enumerate a few particulars respecting it. [...] How formidable a war, excited by the
Gallic chief Sacrovir and Julius Florius, did he suppress, and with such amazing
expedition and energy, that the Roman people learned that they were conquerors, before
they knew that they were at war, and the news of the victory outstripped the news of the
danger! The African war too, perilous as it was, and daily increasing in strength, was
quickly terminated under his auspices and direction. [...] What structures has he erected
in his own name, and those of his family! With what dutiful munificence, even exceeding
belief, is he building a temple to his father! [...] With what perfect ease to the public does
he manage the raising of troops, a business of constant and extreme apprehension,
without the consternation attendant on a levy! [fn 11 ]
All of this was written in praise of the regime that crucified Jesus Christ, and one of the
worst genocidal tyrannies in the history of the world. Paterculus, we must sadly conclude,
was a sycophant of the Tiberius administration. Some of his themes are close parallels to
the propaganda of today's Bush machine.
In addition to feeding the personality cult of Tiberius, Paterculus also lavished praise on
Lucius Aelius Sejanus, the Prefect of the Pretorian Guard and for many years Tiberius's
number one favorite, second in command, and likely successor. In many respects Sejanus
was not unlike James Baker III under the Bush regime. While Tiberius spent all of his
time in seclusion on his island of Capri near Naples, Sejanus assumed day-to-day control
of the vast empire and its 100,000,000 subjects. Paterculus wrote of Sejanus that he was
"a most excellent coadjutor in all the toils of government...a man of pleasing gravity, and
of unaffected cheerfulness...assuming nothing to himself." That was the voice of the red
Studebaker school in about 30 AD. Paterculus should have limited his fawning to
Tiberius himself; somewhat later the emperor, suspecting a coup plot, condemned
Sejanus and had him torn limb from limb in gruesome retribution.
But why bring up Rome? Some readers, and not just registered Republicans, may be
scandalized by the things that truth obliges us to record about a sitting president of the