I remember to have heard from ancient men, that in the hands of Piso was
frequently seen a bundle of writings, which he did not expose, but which,
as his friends constantly averred, "contained the letters of Tiberius and
his cruel orders towards Germanicus: that he resolved to lay them before
the Fathers and to charge the Emperor, but was deluded by the hollow
promises of Sejanus: and that neither did Piso die by his own hands, but
by those of an express and private executioner." I dare affirm neither;
nor yet ought I to conceal the relations of such as still lived when I was
a youth. Tiberius, with an assumed air of sadness, complained to the
Senate, that Piso, by that sort of death, had aimed to load him with
obloquy; and asked many questions how he had passed his last day, how his
last night? The freedman answered to most with prudence, to some in
confusion. The Emperor then recited the letter sent him by Piso. It was
conceived almost in these words: "Oppressed by a combination of my enemies
and the imputation of false crimes; since no place is left here to truth
and my innocence; to the Immortal Gods I appeal, that towards you, Caesar,
I have lived with sincere faith, nor towards your mother with less
reverence.
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