Monologue

Silius Monologue from Sejanus His Fall

From Sejanus His Fall by Ben Jonson

male · defiant · 1:20 min

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Stay, Stay, most officious senate, I shall straight Delude thy fury. Silius hath not placed His guards within him, against fortune’s spite, So weakly, but he can escape your gripe That are but hands of fortune: she herself, When virtue doth oppose, must lose her threats! All that can happen in humanity, The frown of Cæsar, proud Sejanus’ hatred, Base Varro’s spleen, and Afer’s bloodying tongue, The senate’s servile flattery, and these Muster’d to kill, I’m fortified against; And can look down upon: they are beneath me. It is not life whereof I stand enamour’d; Nor shall my end make me accuse my fate. The coward and the valiant man must fall, Only the cause and manner how, discerns them: Which then are gladdest, when they cost us dearest. Romans, if any here be in this senate, Would know to mock Tiberius’ tyranny, Look upon Silius, and so learn to die. (Stabs himself.)

About this piece

Silius addresses the senate with confidence, asserting his ability to withstand the threats posed by political rivals and the tyranny of Tiberius, while challenging the notion of fate and the nature of courage.

30s · determination · power · fate · death · honor

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