The firſt Action of the New Reign, was the Murder of Agrippa Poſthumus; who unarm'd as he was, and wholly Ignorant of the deſign, was not without ſome difficulty ſlain, by a Centurion hardned in blood.Tiberius was ſilent of this matter in the Senate, feigning a Command from his Father Auguſtus, wherein he had order'd the Officer of the Guard to murther the Young Man, immediately after his own deceaſe.'Tis undoubted that Auguſtus had often, and that with bitterneſs, complain'd in the Senate, of his Manners; and had alſo exacted a Decree from them to authorize his Baniſhment. Yet he had never proceeded to ſo much cruelty, as to compaſs the Death of any of his Relations.Nor is it credible that he would command his Grandſon to be murder'd, to ſecure the ſafety of his Son-in-Law.The ſuſpicion fell more naturally on Tiberius and Livia, for haſtning the Death of a Young Man, obnoxious to the hatred of the firſt through fear of a Competitor, and the laſt, through the inbred malice of Step-mother. When the Centurion, according to Military Cuſtom, told Tiberius that he had perform'd his orders; his anſwer was, that he had given him no ſuch Commiſſion; that the Officer ſhould be anſwerable to the Senate for his offence, which coming to the knowledge of Salluſtius Criſpus, who was the confident of all his Secrets, and who had iſſued out thoſe orders to the Centurion, He fearing that the Murther would be charg'd on him, and knowing that it was equally dangerous in his caſe, either to confeſs the Truth, or divulge the Secret, to approve, himſelf, either Innocent or Guilty, advis'd Livia, that care ſhould be taken not to expoſe the Secrets of the Imperial Houſe, or the Counſels of Mi niſters, or the Names of the Soldiers, whom he privately employ'd to execute his orders. For Tiberius would certainly weaken his Government, if he permitted his actions to be ſcan'd in the Senate. Arbitrary Dominion being of that nature, that the Performance of a Command, from a ſingle Perſon, can be accountable but to him alone.