In any case there was no other tribunal; and between the two evils, Tiberius could only choose the lesser. However, he realised so clearly the gravity of the dangers which surrounded the course of justice, in the midst of so many frenzied passions, in this trial which had been engineered by insensate hatreds and rancours, that when, as president of the Senate, he had to open the sessions, he made a speech, the gist of which Tacitus has preserved for us. Whoever reads it cannot help recognising the spirit of profound wisdom and equity which inspires it. Tiberius explained quite clearly to the Senate that the charge of poisoning levelled against Piso, if true, would be an extremely serious matter. He reminded them, however, that Piso was a prominent man, who had rendered eminent services to the Republic and belonged to one of the most ancient and noble families in Rome. They must, therefore, bring the most serene impartiality to bear on their judgment, forgetting who was the accused, if they found him guilty, forgetting who was the victim, if they found him innocent. However great his affection for Germanicus might be, nothing would induce him to wish for the sacrifice on the latter’s tomb, of an innocent man, for the satisfaction of the insensate mania for revenge which had taken possession of the public. The speech was a wise and humane one; but what could sober words, even from an Emperor’s mouth, avail when passions are aroused? The Senate allotted two days to the prosecution, three to the defence. There was to be an interval of six days between the two sections of the trial. For two whole days, the accusers talked, reconstructing, as Cicero had done in Verres’s case, the whole history of Piso’s life. They went so far as to accuse him of having misgoverned the previous provinces he had had; they went minutely into the history of his government in Syria, and repeated the fantastic story of the poisoning. Tacitus himself recognised that the charges were very weak, especially the accusation of poisoning, which was the only serious one. Accordingly, the first impression made by the trial was very uncertain. The public was prejudiced in favour of the prosecution; in the Senate there was a strong party hostile to Piso. After all, however, the Senate was a great political body, and many of its members could not but recognise that the charges were slender ones. Everybody felt that the issue depended on Tiberius, who could, according as he showed himself favourable or the reverse, weigh down the scales on the side of acquittal or of conviction. Everybody, therefore, looked towards him, with hope or with anxiety. But Tiberius listened to the prosecution without moving an eyelid, as impassive as a statue, without allowing a glimpse into his secret thoughts on the subject. Could he act otherwise? If he had shown himself favourable to Piso, he would have been accused of shielding the murderers of Germanicus, through hatred