Sejanus his Fall

Roles

• Sejanus - Young Adult (20-35), Adult (36-50), Male

About this piece

Sejanus mocks religion

Summary

Sejanus was an ambitious praetorian prefect and close advisor of emperor Tiberius. The play follows the rise and fall of this character as he plots his way to the top by murder and deceit. He plots to murder the emperor's son, Drusus, with his wife Livia. After having poisoned Drusus he tries to marry his widow and become Tiberius' heir. Tiberius, blind to Sejanus' schemes, strongly favors Sejanus, who becomes very powerful. Sejanus and his followers persecute and kill anybody who may threaten his rise to power. Eventually Tiberius realizes what is going on in his court, has Sejanus arrested and executed. This monologue is in the first scene of act V. Sejanus is encountering growing opposition from a group of senators, led by Agrippina, the widow of Roman general Germanicus. Sejanus is in his house with his followers, Terentius, Satrius and Natta. They inform him that somebody has set fire on one of Sejanus' statues and taken the head off. They tell him a big snake came out of an opening of his statue. They consider it a bad omen and also describe other happenings that they consider to be a sign that the gods are angry at him. In this monologue Sejanus mocks religion as being a superstition.

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