Tiberius, himself, approved my suit to bring
with me, to this province, Asinia my wife:
becuase, they say, for long years he suffered the sting
of his only Beloved's absence from his life.
His son, my old friend Drusus, kindly interceded
after I wore the old man out with all I pleaded.
I always like to offer more than might be needed.
Starward
[jlc]
Author's Notes/Comments:
If I may be permitted an enlongated explanation: this is an original hypothesis, that Pilate's wife, who is mentioned without being named in Matthew 27, was Asinia, the granddaugther of Vipsania (by her second husband) after she and TIberius, lovers since the adolescence, had been compelled by Tiberius' stepfather the Emperor, Augustus (at the behest of Tiberius' mother, Livia) to divorce in order to strengthen the dynasty. (Ironic that Augustus had once severely criticized the Egyptian royal family for inter-familial marriage; and he also wrote the strongest, severest laws against divorce in European history.) In the poem, however, I am allowing Pilate to believe he accomplished this feat, whereas I believe that Asinia actually persuaded Tiberius. The Emperor Tiberius interpreted Roman law and policy very narrowly, and made few, if any, exception.s Administrators of provinces with a military presence, like Judea, were not permitted to bring wives or children into the province. That PIlate's wife was there is, in itself, highly exceptional. Asinia is said to have looked just like her grandmother in adolescence, when she married TIberius; and, supposedly, at the funeral of Vipsania in 20 AD, Tiberius approached Asinia and made one remark---how much she resembled her grandmother when an adolescent. I am sure Tiberius could not have refused Asinia anything she might ask for; and sending her far away to the provinces might have relieved him of the temptation to reach out to her for a different purpose . . .
I ask the reader's indulgence of this enlongated explanation.
