Monologue

Afer Monologue from Sejanus His Fall

From Sejanus His Fall by Ben Jonson

male · defiant · 54 sec

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Silius, Silius, These are the common customs of thy blood, When it is high with wine, as now with rage: This well agrees with that intemperate vaunt, Thou lately mad’st at Agrippina’s table, That, when all other of the troops were prone To fall into rebellion, only thine Remain’d in their obedience. Thou wert he That saved the empire, which had then been lost Had but thy legions, there, rebell’d, or mutined; Thy virtue met, and fronted every peril. Thou gav’st to Cæsar, and to Rome their surety; Their name, their strength, their spirit, and their state, Their being was a donative from thee.

About this piece

Afer confronts Silius about his boastful claims of loyalty and valor, highlighting the tension between personal pride and the larger political stakes at play.

30s · anger · power · betrayal · honor · ambition

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