Caligula builds a bridge

Gaius, however, did not care at all for that kind of triumph, as he did not consider it any great achievement to drive a chariot on dry land; on the other hand, he was eager to drive his chariot through the sea, as it were, by bridging the waters between Puteoli and Bauli. (The latter place lies directly across the bay from the city of Puteoli, at a distance of twenty-six stades.) Of the ships for the bridge some were brought together there from other stations, but others were built on the spot, since the number that could be assembled there in a very brief space of time was insufficient, even though all the vessels possible were got together - with the result that a very severe famine occurred in Italy, and particularly in Rome. In building the bridge not merely a passageway was constructed, but also resting-places and lodging-rooms were built along its course, and these had running water suitable for drinking. When all was ready, he put on the breastplate of Alexander (or so he claimed), and over it a purple silk chlamys, adorned with much gold and many precious stones from India; moreover he girt on a sword, took a shield, and donned a garland of oak leaves. Then he offered sacrifice to Neptune and some other gods and to Envy (in order, as he put it, that no jealousy should attend him), and entered the bridge from the end at Bauli, taking with him a multitude of armed horsemen and foot-soldiers; and he dashed fiercely into Puteoli as if he were in pursuit of an enemy. There he remained during the following day, as if resting from battle; then, wearing a gold-embroidered tunic, he returned in a chariot over the same bridge, being drawn by race-horses accustomed to win the most victories. A long train of what purported to be spoils followed him, including Darius, a member of the Arsacid family, who was one of the Parthians then living in Rome as hostages. His friends and associates in flowered robes followed in vehicles, and then came the army and the rest of the throng, each man dressed according to his individual taste. Of course, while on such a campaign and after so magnificent a victory he had to deliver a harangue; so he ascended a platform which had likewise been erected on the ships near the centre of the bridge. First he extolled himself as an undertaker of great enterprises, and then he praised the soldiers as men who had undergone great hardships and perils, mentioning in particular this achievement of theirs in crossing through the sea on foot. For this he gave them money, and after that they feasted for the rest of the day and all through the night, he on the bridge, as though on an island, and they on other boats anchored round about. Light in abundance shone down upon them from the place itself, and abundant light besides from the mountains. For since the place was crescent-shaped, fires were lighted on all sides, as in a theatre, so that the darkness was not noticed at all; indeed, it was his wish to make the night day, as he had made the sea land. When he had become sated and glutted with food and strong drink, he hurled many of his companions off the bridge into the sea and sank many of the others by sailing about and attacking them in boats equipped with beaks. Some perished, but the majority, though drunk, managed to save themselves. This was due to the fact that the sea was extremely smooth and tranquil both while the bridge was being put together and while the other events were taking place. This, too, caused the emperor some elation, and he declared that even Neptune was afraid of him; as for Darius and Xerxes, he made all manner of fun of them, claiming that he had bridged a far greater expanse of sea than they had done.

Cassius Dio, Roman History LIX,17. Translation E. Cary.

He devised a novel and unheard of kind of pageant; for he bridged the gap between Baiae and the mole at Puteoli, a distance of about thirty-six hundred paces, by bringing together merchant ships from all sides and anchoring them in a double line, after which a mound of earth was heaped upon them and fashioned in the manner of the Appian Way. Over this bridge he rode back and forth for two successive days, the first day on a caparisoned horse, himself resplendent in a crown of oak leaves, a buckler, a sword, and a cloak of cloth of gold; on the second, in the dress of a charioteer in a car drawn by a pair of famous horses, carrying before him a boy named Dareus, one of the hostages from Parthia, and attended by the entire praetorian guard and a company of his friends in Gallic chariots. I know that many have supposed that Gaius devised this kind of bridge in rivalry of Xerxes, who excited no little admiration by bridging the much narrower Hellespont; others, that it was to inspire fear in Germany and Britain, on which he had designs, by the fame of some stupendous work. But when I was a boy, I used to hear my grandfather say that the reason for the work, as revealed by the emperor's confidential courtiers, was that Thrasyllus the astrologer had declared to Tiberius, when he was worried about his successor and inclined towards his natural grandson, that Gaius had no more chance of becoming emperor than of riding about over the gulf of Baiae with horses. At Puteoli, at the dedication of the bridge that he contrived, as has been said, after inviting a number to come to him from the shore, on a sudden he had them all thrown overboard; and when some caught hold of the rudders of the ships, he pushed them off into the sea with boathooks and oars.

Suetonius, Caligula 19 and 32. Translation J.C. Rolfe.

An 18th century etching of Caligula on the bridge.

Nero welcomes the Parthian king Tiridates

In the consulship of Gaius Telesinus and Suetonius Paulinus one event of great glory and another of deep disgrace took place. For one thing, Nero contended among the lyre-players, and after Menecrates, the teacher of this art, had celebrated a triumph for him in the Circus, he appeared as a charioteer. On the other hand, Tiridates presented himself in Rome, bringing with him not only his own sons but also those of Vologaesus, of Pacorus, and of Monobazus. Their progress all the way from the Euphrates was like a triumphal procession. Tiridates himself was at the height of his reputation by reason of his age, beauty, family, and intelligence; and his whole retinue of servants together with all his royal paraphernalia accompanied him. Three thousand Parthian horsemen and numerous Romans besides followed in his train. They were received by gaily decorated cities and by peoples who shouted many compliments. Provisions were furnished them free of cost, a daily expenditure of 800,000 sesterces for their support being thus charged to the public treasury. This went on without change for the nine months occupied in their journey. The prince covered the whole distance to the confines of Italy on horseback, and beside him rode his wife, wearing a golden helmet in place of a veil, so as not to defy the traditions of her country by letting her face be seen. In Italy he was conveyed in a two-horse carriage sent by Nero, and met the emperor at Neapolis, which he reached by way of Picenum. He refused, however, to obey the order to lay aside his dagger when he approached the emperor, but fastened it to the scabbard with nails. Yet he knelt upon the ground, and with arms crossed called him master and did obeisance. Nero admired him for this action and entertained him in many ways, especially by giving a gladiatorial exhibition at Puteoli. It was under the direction of Patrobius, one of his freedmen, who managed to make it a most brilliant and costly affair, as may be seen from the fact that on one of the days not a person but Ethiopians - men, women, and children - appeared in the theatre. By way of showing Patrobius some fitting honour Tiridates shot at wild beasts from his elevated seat, and - if one can believe it - transfixed and killed two bulls with a single arrow.

Cassius Dio, Roman History LXIII,1-3. Translation E. Cary.

Vitellius and Asiaticus

Beginning in this way, he regulated the greater part of his rule wholly according to the advice and whims of the commonest of actors and chariot-drivers, and in particular of his freedman Asiaticus. This fellow had immoral relations with Vitellius in his youth, but later grew weary of him and ran away. When Vitellius came upon him selling posca at Puteoli, he put him in irons, but at once freed him again and made him his favourite. [Posca is a drink made of sour wine or vinegar mixed with water.]

Suetonius, Vitellius 12. Translation J.C. Rolfe.

Titus jumps on a cargo ship

This aroused the suspicion that he had tried to revolt from his father and make himself king of the East; and he strengthened this suspicion on his way to Alexandria by wearing a diadem at the consecration of the bull Apis in Memphis, an act quite in accord with the usual ceremonial of that ancient religion, but unfavourably interpreted by some. Because of this he hastened to Italy, and putting in at Regium and then at Puteoli in a transport ship (navis oneraria), he went with all speed from there to Rome, where as if to show that the reports about him were groundless, he surprised his father with the greeting, "I am here, father; I am here."

Suetonius, Titus 5. Translation J.C. Rolfe.

Hadrian is buried in Puteoli

After this Hadrian departed for Baiae, leaving Antoninus at Rome to carry on the government. But he received no benefit there, and he thereupon sent for Antoninus, and in his presence he died there at Baiae on the sixth day before the Ides of July. Hated by all, he was buried at Puteoli on an estate that had belonged to Cicero. Just before his death, he compelled Servianus, then ninety years old, to kill himself, as has been said before, in order that Servianus might not outlive him, and, as he thought, become emperor. He likewise gave orders that very many others who were guilty of slight offences should be put to death; these, however, were spared by Antoninus. And he is said, as he lay dying, to have composed the following lines: O blithe little soul, thou, flitting away, Guest and comrade of this my clay, Whither now goest thou, to what place Bare and ghastly and without grace? Nor, as thy wont was, joke and play. Animula vagula blandula hospes comesque corporis, quae nunc abibis in loca pallidula rigida nudula? nec ut soles dabis iocos. Such verses as these did he compose, and not many that were better, and also some in Greek. He lived 62 years, 5 months, 17 days. He ruled 20 years, 11 months. Antoninus, moreover, finally built a temple for him at Puteoli to take the place of a tomb, and he also established a quinquennial contest and flamens and sodales and many other institutions which appertain to the honour of one regarded as a god. It is for this reason, as has been said before, that many think that Antoninus received the surname Pius.

Historia Augusta, Hadrianus 25,5-11 and 27,3-4. Translation D. Magie and A. O'Brien-Moore.

Hadrian died on 10 July 138. He was buried in Puteoli, because the Senate opposed his solemn burial in Rome and his deification. Antoninus Pius overcame the resistance, and in 139 Hadrian was buried in the mausoleum he had erected for himself in Rome, Castel Sant'Angelo. The villa of Cicero in which Hadrian was temporarily buried is mentioned by Cicero a few times in his letters to Atticus. These horti Cluviani, "gardens of Cluvius", were after Cicero's death used by his freedman Tiro, but had by the time of Hadrian become Imperial property. They were located to the west of town, near the beach. They are also mentioned by Philostratus in his Life of Apollonius.

Castel Sant'Angelo, the mausoleum of Hadrian. Photo: Wikimedia, Dennis Jarvis.