' Sejanus His Fall' by Ben Jonson

                               A Lost Classic or 400 Year Old Flop?                                            

            Readers of a certain age may remember Patrick Stewart's remarkable portrayal of Sejanus in the BBC television dramatisation of Robert Graves's I Claudius. Lucius Aelius Sejanus was a prefect of the Praetorian Guard during the reign of Tiberius. Famous for becoming the effective ruler of the Empire, whilst Tiberius sunk into a debauched old age and despondency, frequently absent from Rome.  Sejanus tumbled from power during one single day in AD 31 and was delivered up to the mob over a week later.  The whole affair became a subject for Ben Jonson's play Sejanus His Fall, a controversial and much neglected play, performed in 1603 or 1604, perhaps twice at the most. It is possibly that there was a co-writer involved. Jonson was most likely inspired by Tacitus's Annals, translated by Richard Greeneway, published  in 1598. HUTSON.The folio version of the Play appeared in 1616, with one William Shakespeare listed as an actor. 

However in the 21st century, Sejanus His Fall was revived. Included in a season of dramas to mark the 400th anniversary of the Gunpowder Plot . Stephen Alford named his work All His Spies-The Secret World of Robert Cecil (2024) from a line of the Play " Death! : I dare tell him so; and all his Spies" , and included a passage from the text in this book. 

The Play opens with Sejanus at the peak of his power. And he craves more.  A few brave individuals will mutter against him. Tiberius's son Drusus ( senior) resents Sejanus's boasting about a statute erected in his name, and ends up striking him with the immortal words :

"Avoid mine eye, dull camell, or my sword/
Shall make they bra'verie fitter for a grave."( ACT I : line 568-569).

 Sejanus doesn't immediately retaliate but begins an affair with Drusus' wife Livia, after bribing  her doctor. Sejanus has enlisted a eunuch servant,  Lygdus, from Drusus's household, and poisons Drusus.  Sejanus then persuades Tiberius to agree to destroy potential opposition. Members of the royal family are banished. A historian, Codmus, has the annals that he is writing burned . A noble general ,Cuis Silius,is accused of corruption in front of the Senate and driven to killing himself. Sabinus is lured into sharing confidences with a fellow senator who turns out to be one of Sejanus's toadies, who denounces him as a traitor, and arrested as a result. The bleakness of life under a totalitarian regime are wonderfully depicted by Sabinus

"Our peace, and safetie? when our writings are,
By any envious instruments (that dare
Apply them to the guiltie) made to speake
What they will have, to fit their tyranous wreake?
When ignorance is scarcely innocence;
And knowledge made a capitall offence?
When not so much, but the bare emptie shade
Of liberties, is reft us? and we made,
The prey to greedie vultures, and vile spies,
That first transfixe us with their murdering eyes? "(Act IV : lines 131-141)

At some point Ben Jonson was summoned to appear before the Privy Council on account of a charge of 'treason and popery' due to passages within Sejanus His Fall brought by Henry Howard; Earl of Northampton. Historians seem unsure of the exact date.May have been  any time from mid 1603- November 1605. Not known if any  penalty was imposed on the playwright. However the only known source for this claim is from  Sir William Drummond's Conversations ( with Ben Jonson in 1618) DUTTON .

Certainly a couple of passages stand out which could upset the authorities during the era of plots. 

"LACO      Treason
ARRUNTUS           O?
                      The complement of all accusings?that
                       Will hit when all else fails " (Act IV lines 343-346)

SILIUS

" Our looks are called to question,and our wordes
How innocent soever, are made crimes;
We shall not shortly dare to tell our dreames,
Or thinke, but will be treason" (ACT I lines 68-69)

Certainly the notion that a historical play could be a cover for subversion or even treasonous existed since the notorious performance of 'Richard II' on the eve of the Essex Rebellion in 1601. 

Sejanus inevitably makes a fatal error. As Lyvia is now a widow following the death of Drusus, Sejanus asks Tiberius for permission to marry her. As Sejanus has no blood connection to the Imperial Family, this is not possible. In fact the dull witted emperor realises that Sejanus is scheming to become his successor, hence the eradicating or banishing anyone who stands in his way. Tiberius decides to start some plotting of his own with Macro, one of Sejanus's few surviving foes. It is also plausible that Tiberius began to fear for his own life.

A special session of the Senate is convened, which Sejanus is invited to attend. He does so, expecting so further reward. A letter is read out from Tiberius, initially praising Sejanus's triumphs and achievements but the text suddenly denounces Sejanus and calls for his arrest: The Senate and the Praetorian Guard turn on Sejanus. Their revenge is horrific . His statue is demolished, his chariot wheels and his horses' legs are broken whilst he is in prison. His two children are killed, their mother goes insane with grief. After a few days Sejanus is thrown to the mob who tear him apart.  His carcass hurled down the Gemonium Stairs of Rome, and left to rot. 

Sejanus His Fall is a difficult read and could well be even more challenging to watch. It's brutal, with quite a sadistic undercurrent, shows little in the way of heroism or optimism. On one hand the royal house is defiled by Tiberius's vices and approval of Sejanus's brutal regime. On the other, lurks the Roman Mob, and its bestial instincts. 

Sejanus pays for his cruelty and tyranny, yet is supplanted by Macro, who appears just  as self-serving and vicious. Tiberius survives and is allowed to reign to wallow in his depravity. In the longer term the fall of Sejanus helped paved the way for the rule of Caligula. 

 A review in 'The Guardian' in 2005 emphasised "What truly exhilarates is the rediscovery of a play that shows Jonson's understanding of both the practical mechanics and the insane corruption of power." BILLINGTON   This is precisely why the Play deserves to be looked at again. 

A follow up post will look at Jonson's portrayal of Sejanus as a tragic character,  and how both Paganism and Atheism are featured in the Play. 

Picture Credit 

'Sejanus is arrested and condemned to death': Etching by G.Mochetti after drawing by Bartolomeo Pinelli (1781-1835). From a series -Istoria Romana (1810). In the Public Domain, courtesy of 'Wikipedia' 

Sources 

Books 

'The Myth of Rome in Shakespeare and his Contemporaries', Warren CHERNAIK, Cambridge University Press, 2011. 

'Ben Jonson-A Life', Ian DONALDSON , Oxford University Press, 2011/2013 

'Ben Jonson, Volpone & the Gunpowder Plot', Richard DUTTON, Cambridge University Press, 2008

'Whos's Who in the Roman World', John HAZEL, Routledge, 2001

'Ben Jonson, Volpone and Other Plays' ,edited with an Introduction & Notes by Lorna HUTSON, Penguin Books 1998. 

'Germanicus-The Magnificent Life and Mysterious Death of Rome's Most Popular General', Lindsay POWELL,Pen & Sword, 2013 

Online

Sejanus His Fall-Gutenberg On Line Text of Play 

'Sejanus His Fall'- Review in The Guardian 28/07/2005 by Michael BILLINGTON

The Butcher of Rome '-Review in 'The Guardian 18/07/2025 by Gary TAYLOR 

Ben Jonson, Volpone and the Gunpowder Treason  from this blog, written 2022. 

Any mistakes or schoolboy howlers within the above post are the responsibility of the blog  writer and  can not be attributed to any source cited. 

Other blogs by Michael Bully

World War 2 Poetry      

Bleak Chesney Wold  19th century 'dark' history

A warm welcome to all visitors to this blog from around the World. Your support and interest are very much appreciated. 

Wishing everyone who celebrates a wonderful Christmas, and a magnificent 2026.

Michael Bully

Worthing, West Sussex

England,  

5th December 2025 

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