39 Of this series of events,
though not exaggerated in the despatches of Agricola by any boastfulness of
language, Domitian heard, as was his wont, with joy in his face but anxiety in
his heart. He felt conscious that all men laughed at his late mock triumph over
Germany,
for which there had been purchased from traders people whose dress and hair
might be made to resemble those of captives, whereas now a real and splendid
victory, with the destruction of thousands of the enemy, was being celebrated
with just applause. It was, he thought, a very alarming thing for him that the
name of a subject should be raised above that of the Emperor; it was to no
purpose that he had driven into obscurity the pursuit of forensic eloquence and
the graceful accomplishments of civic life, if another were to forestall the
distinctions of war. To other glories he could more easily shut his eyes, but
the greatness of a good general was a truly imperial quality. Harassed by these
anxieties, and absorbed in an incommunicable trouble, a sure prognostic of some
cruel purpose, he decided that it was best for the present to suspend his
hatred until the freshness of Agricola’s renown and his popularity with the
army should begin to pass away.
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