these the cause of many persons' downfall. Though according to his own
account he dismissed the anger that he felt toward those who had united
against his father and his mother and his brothers (and burned their
letters), he yet put to death great numbers of them on the basis of
evidence contained in such documents. He did, to be sure, really destroy
some papers, but not those which held definite incontrovertible proof; of
these he made copies. Besides, though he at first forbade any one to set
up his images, he went on to manufacture the statues himself. Whereas
once he requested the annulment of a decree that sacrifice should be
offered to his Fortune, and had this action of his inscribed on a tablet,
he afterward ordered temples and sacrifices to be prepared for him as for
some god. He delighted by turns in vast throngs of men and in solitude;
he grew angry if requests were preferred, or if they were not preferred.
He would start out on enterprises with the greatest amount of dash, and
then carry them through in the most sluggish manner. He both spent money
most unsparingly and showed a thoroughly sordid spirit in exacting it. He
was alike irritated and pleased both at those who flattered him and at
those who spoke their own minds. Many who were guilty of great crimes
he neglected to punish and many who had done no wrong he ruthlessly
slaughtered. Among his associates he made some the recipients of
excessive adulation and others of excessive insult. Consequently, no one
knew either what to say or how to act toward him, but all who met with
success obtained it as the result of chance rather than of rational
calculation.
[-5-] That was the kind of emperor into whose hands the Romans had now
fallen. Hence the deeds of Tiberius, though they were felt to have been
most grievous, were still as far superior to those of Gaius as the deeds
of Augustus were to those of his successor. For Tiberius always held the
power in his own hands and used other people to help him carry out
his wishes: Gaius, on the other hand, was ruled by charioteers and by
gladiators; he was the slave of dancers and other theatrical performers.
Indeed, he always kept Apelles, the most famous of the tragedians of that
day, with him even in public. Thus he by himself and they by themselves
did without let or hindrance all that such persons when given power would
naturally dare to do. Everything that could help theatrical productions
he arranged and settled on the slightest pretext in the most expensive
manner, and compelled prætors and consuls to do the same, so that almost
every day some performance of the kind was sure to be given. Originally
he was but a spectator and listener at these and would take sides for and
against various performers like one of the mob; and sometimes, if he were
irritated at his opponents, he would not visit the spectacle. But as time
went on he came to imitate and contend in many events, driving chariots,
fighting duels, giving exhibitions of dancing, and acting in tragedy.
This became his regular practice. And one night he urgently summoned
the leaders of the senate as if to some important deliberation and then
danced before them.
[-6-] Now in that year that Tiberius died and Gaius entered upon office
in his stead he first began to show great deference to the senators on an
occasion when knights were present at the meeting and also some of the
populace. He promised to share his power with them and do whatever would
please them, calling himself meanwhile their son and nursling. He was
then twenty-five years old, lacking five months, four days. After this he
freed those who were in prison, among whom was Quintus Pomponius, who for
seven whole years after his consulship had been kept in a cell suffering
abuse. Gaius did away with the complaints for maiestas, on account of
which he saw that most of the prisoners were suffering, and heaped up (or
so he pretended) and burned the documents pertaining to their cases that
Tiberius had left behind. He also declared: "I have done this, that
no matter how much I might wish to bear malice toward any one; for my
mother's and my brothers' sake, I might still be unable to punish him."
For this he was commended because it was expected that _he_ at all events
would speak the truth; by reason of his youth it was not thought possible
that he could be guilty of duplicity in thought or speech. And he still
further increased their hopes by ordering that the celebration of the
Saturnalia extend over five days, and by taking from each of those
enjoying an allowance of grain only an as instead of the denarius which
they were wont to give an emperor for the manufacture of images.
It was voted that he should at once become consul by the removal of
Proculus and Nigrinus, who were holding office at the time, and that he
should thereafter be consul annually. However, he did not accept the
offer, but instead waited until the two officials completed the six
months' term for which they had been appointed, and then became consul
himself, taking his uncle Claudius as a colleague. The latter, who had
previously been ranked among the knights and after the death of Tiberius
had been sent as an envoy to Gaius in behalf of that order, now for the
first time after living forty-six years became both consul and senator at
once. The behavior of Gaius in these matters appeared satisfactory and
to his actions corresponded the speech which he delivered in the
senate-house on entering upon his consulship. In it he denounced Tiberius
for each of the crimes of which he was commonly accused and made many
announcements about his own line of conduct; and the senate, fearing
that he might change, issued a decree that his statements should be read
annually.
[-7-] Soon after, clad in the triumphal garb, he dedicated the heroüm of
Augustus. Boys of the noblest families, both of whose parents had to be
living, together with maidens similarly circumstanced, sang the hymn,
and the senators with their wives as well as the people were banqueted.
Entertainments of all sorts were given. There were exhibitions involving
music, and horseraces took place on two days,--twenty heats the first
day and forty [1] more the second, because the former was the emperor's
birthday and the latter that of Augustus. He had a similar number of
events on many other occasions, as seemed good to him. Hitherto not more
than ten[2] events had been usual, but this time he finished four hundred
bears together with an equal number of beasts from Libya. The boys of
noble birth performed "Troy" on horseback, and six horses drew the
triumphal car on which he was borne. This was an innovation.
In the races he did not give the signals to the charioteers in person,
but viewed the spectacle from a front seat with his brothers and his
fellow-priests of the Augustan order. He was always greatly displeased
if any one was absent from the theatre or left in the middle of the
performance, and so, in order that no one might have an excuse for
not attending, he postponed all lawsuits and suspended all periods of
mourning. Thus, women bereft of their husbands were allowed to marry even
before the appointed time, unless, indeed, they were pregnant. In order
to enable people to come without formality and to save them the trouble
of greeting him (for previously those who met the emperor on the streets
always saluted him), he forbade any one's doing this again. Those who
chose might come barefoot to the spectacles. It had been from very
ancient times the custom for persons to do this who held court in the
summer; the practice had been frequently followed by Augustus at the
summer festivals but had been abandoned by Tiberius.
It was at this period that the senators first began sitting upon cushions
instead of the bare boards, and that they were allowed to wear caps to
the theatre, Thessalian fashion, to avoid distress from the sun's rays.
And whenever the sun was particularly severe, they used instead of the
theatre the Diribitorium, which was furnished with benches.--This was
what Gaius did in his consulship, which he held two months and twelve
days. The remainder of the six months' term he surrendered to the men
previously appointed for it. [-8-] It was after this that he fell sick,
but instead of dying himself he managed to cause the death of Tiberius,
who had been registered among the iuvenes, had been given the title of
Princeps Iuventutis, and finally had been adopted into his family.[3] The
complaint brought against the lad was that he had prayed and expected
that Gaius might die. This charge proved the destruction of many others,
too. The same ruler who gave to Antiochus son of Antiochus the district
of Commagene, which his father had held, and likewise the coast districts
of Cilicia, and had freed Agrippa (grandson of Herod, who had been
imprisoned by Tiberius), and had put him in charge of his grandfather's
domain, not only deprived Agrippa's brother (or else his son) of his
paternal fortune but furthermore had him murdered, without making any
communication about him to the senate. Later he took similar action in a
number of other cases.
Now the young Tiberius perished on suspicion of having utilized the
emperor's illness as an occasion for conspiracy. On the other hand, there
were Publius Afranius Potitus, a plebeian, who in a burst of foolish
servility had promised not only of his own free will but under oath that
he would give his life to have Gaius recover, and a certain Atanius
Secundus, a knight, who announced that in the event of a favorable
outcome he would fight as a gladiator. These, instead of the money which
they hoped to receive from him in return for offering to die in exchange
for his life, were compelled to keep their promises so as not to
perjure themselves. That was the cause of these men's death. Again, his
father-in-law Marcus Silanus, though he had made no promise and taken
no oath, nevertheless, because his virtue and his relationship made him
displeasing to the emperor and subjected him to extreme insults, for
this reason committed suicide. Tiberius had held him in such honor as to
refuse always to try a case that was appealed from his jurisdiction and
to refer all such disputes back to him again. But Gaius abused him in
every way and had such a high opinion of him that he called him "the
golden sheep." Now Silanus on account of his age and his reputation was
accorded by all the consuls the honor of casting his vote first; and to
prevent his doing so any longer Gaius had abolished the custom of having
some of the ex-consuls vote first or second according to the pleasure of
those who put the vote. He arranged that such persons should cast their
votes on the same footing as the rest and in the same order as they had
held the office. Moreover, he put aside his victim's daughter to marry
Cornelia Orestilla, whom he had actually seized during the marriage
festival which she was celebrating with her betrothed, Gaius Calpurnius
Piso. Before two months had elapsed he banished both of them on the
ground that they had carnal knowledge of each other. He allowed Piso to
take with him ten slaves, and then when the latter asked for more he
let him employ as many as he liked, saying: "You will have just so many
soldiers."
[A.D. 38 (_a. u._ 791)]
[-9-] The next year Marcus Julianus and Publius Nonius, regularly
appointed, became consuls. Oaths pertaining to the acts of Tiberius were
not introduced and for this reason are not used nowadays either. No
one numbers Tiberius among the emperors in the list of members of his
house.[4] But in regard to Augustus and Gaius they took the oaths which
had regularly been the custom and others to the effect that they would
hold Gaius and his sisters in greater respect than themselves and their
children, and they offered prayers for all of them alike.
On the very first day of the new year one Machaon, a slave, climbed upon
the couch of Jupiter Capitolinus and after uttering from that place many
dire prophecies killed a little dog which he had brought in with him and
slew himself.
The following good deeds must be set down to the credit of Gaius. He
published, as Augustus had done, all the accounts of public funds, which
had not been made known during the time Tiberius was out of the city. He
helped the soldiers extinguish a conflagration and assisted those who
suffered loss by it. As the equestrian order pined from lack of men he
summoned the foremost men from every office, even abroad, and enrolled
them with due regard to their relatives and their wealth. Some of them he
allowed to wear the senatorial costume occasionally even before they had
held any office through which we enter the senate, on the strength of
their hopes to secure admission to that body. Previously it would seem
that only those who had been born in the senatorial order were allowed to
do this. These deeds caused pleasure to all. But this action in restoring
the elections to the populus and the plebs, rescinding the decisions of
Tiberius about these matters, and in abolishing the one per cent.
tax, and again in scattering at some gymnastic contest tickets and
distributing very large gifts to such as secured them,--these actions,
though they delighted the lower classes, grieved the sensible, who
reflected that even if the offices fell once more into the hands of the
general public, still, in case the existing funds should be exhausted and
private sources of income fail, many dreadful disasters would result.
[-10-] The performances of his next to be enumerated elicited the censure
of all without distinction. He caused very great numbers of men to fight
as gladiators, forcing them to contend both separately and in groups,
drawn up in a kind of military formation: he requested permission from
the senate to do this, and again,--something quite contrary to the spirit
of the enacted law that he might do whatsoever he pleased,--he asked
leave to put to death a number of persons, among them twenty-six knights,
some of whom had already devoured their living, while others had merely
practiced gladiatorial combat. It was not the number of those who
perished that was so bad (though it was bad enough) but his frenzied
delight in their slaughter and his never satisfied gazing at the scene of
blood. The same trait of cruelty led him once, when there was a shortage
of condemned criminals to be given to the beasts, to order some of the
mob that stood near the benches to be seized and thrown to them. And to
prevent the possibility of their making an outcry or attacking him orally
he had their tongues cut out first of all. One of the prominent knights,
too, he compelled to fight in single combat on the charge of insult
offered to his mother Agrippina, and when the man proved victorious
handed him over to the accusers and had him slain. The same person's
father, though guilty of no wrong, he confined in a cage (as he had
confined numerous others), and there put an end to him.--These contests
he at first conducted in the Sæpta, after excavating [5] the entire site
and filling it with water, to enable him to bring in one ship. Later he
transferred his operations to another place, where he tore down a large
number of massive buildings and set up benches. The theatre of Taurus
he held in contempt. All this behavior, expenditures and murders alike,
subjected him to criticism.
He was further blamed for compelling Macro together with Ennia to cause
their own death, remembering neither the latter's affection nor the
former's benefits, which had gained for him among other advantages the
sole possession of the empire. The fact that he had appointed Macro to
govern Egypt had not the slightest influence. He even involved him in
a scandal (of which the greatest share belonged to Gaius himself), by
bringing against him besides all the rest a complaint that he had played
the pander. Before long many others were condemned and executed, and
some were executed prior to their conviction. Nominally they suffered on
account of some wrong done to his parents or his brothers or the rest who
had perished with those relatives as an excuse, but really on account
of their property. For the treasury had been exhausted and he had no
resources. Such persons were convicted by witnesses against them and by
the documents which he once declared he had burned. Again, the disease
which had attacked him the previous year and the death of his sister
Drusilla brought about the ruin of others, since,--to omit graver
cases,--whoever had entertained or had greeted any one or had bathed on
the days in question incurred punishment.
[-11-] The nominal spouse of Drusilla was Marcus Lepidus, at once the
favorite and lover of the emperor, but Gaius also treated her as a
concubine. When her death occurred at this time, her husband delivered
the eulogy but it was her brother who accorded her a public funeral. The
Pretorians with their commander and the equestrian order by itself
ran about the pyre [6] and the boys of noble birth performed the Troy
exercise about her tomb; all the honors that had been given to Livia were
voted to her, and it was further decreed that she should be declared
immortal, that a figure in gold representing her be set up in the
senate-house, and that in the temple of Venus in the Forum there should
be dedicated with equal honors a statue of her as large as that of the
goddess. Moreover, a separate shrine should be built for her and twenty
priests [7] not only men but also women should do her honor. Women, as
often as they gave testimony, should swear by her and on her birthday a
festival equal to the Megalensia should be celebrated and the senate and
the knights should hold a banquet. She straightway received the name
Panthea and was declared worthy of divine honors in all the cities. A
certain Livius Geminus, a senator, stated on oath, invoking destruction
upon himself and his children if he spoke falsely, that he had seen her
ascending into heaven and holding converse with the gods; and he called
all the other gods and Panthea herself to witness. For his declaration he
received twenty-five myriads. Besides all this Gaius showed her honor in
not having the festivals which were then due to take place celebrated
either at their appointed time (except as mere formalities) or at any
later date. All persons incurred equal censure whether they showed
pleasure at anything, as being grieved, or behaved as if they were
glad.[9] They were charged with malice either in failing to mourn her
(this was disrespect to her as a mortal) or in bewailing her (this was
disrespect to her as a goddess). One single occurrence gives the key to
all the transactions of that time. The emperor charged with impiety and
put to death a man who had sold warm water. [-12-] Having allowed a few
days to elapse he married Lollia Paulina and he compelled no less a
person than her husband, Memmius Regulus, to betroth her to him so that
he might not break the law in taking her without a betrothal. But almost
in a trice he had driven her away, too.
Meantime he granted to Soaimus the land of the Arabian Ituræans, to Cotys
Lesser Armenia and later parts of Arabia, to Rhoemetalces the possessions
of Cotys, and to Polemon son of Polemon his ancestral domain,--all these
upon the vote of the senate. The ceremony took place in the Forum, where
he sat upon the rostra in a chair between the consuls; some say he used
silken awnings. Soon after he caught sight of a lot of mud in an alley
and ordered that it be cast into the toga of Flavius Vespasian, who was
ædile at the time and had charge of keeping alleys clean. This event was
regarded at the moment as of no particular importance, but later, when
Vespasian, who took charge of a state in confusion and turmoil, had
reduced the same to order, it seemed to have been due to some divine
prompting and to have signified that Gaius had entrusted the city to him
unconditionally for its amelioration.
[A.D. 39 (_a. u._ 792)]
[-13-] He now became consul again, and though he prevented the priest
of Jupiter from taking the oath in the senate (for at this time they
regularly did so privately, as in the days of Tiberius), he himself both
when he entered upon office and when he relinquished it took the oath
like the rest upon the rostra, which had been made larger than before.
Thirty days was the duration of his tenure (whereas he let his colleague
Lucius Apronius hold office for six months), and his successor was
Sanguinius Maximus, præfectus urbi. During this and the following period
numbers of the foremost men perished in fulfillment of a sentence of
condemnation (for many who had been released from prison were punished
for the very reasons that had led to their imprisonment by Tiberius),
and many others in gladiatorial combats. There was nothing happening but
slaughter. The emperor no longer made any concessions to the populace,
opposing instead absolutely everything it wished, and consequently the
people, too, resisted all his desires. The talk and actions usual at such
a juncture with an angry ruler on one side and a hostile folk on the
other were plainly in evidence. The contest between them, however, was
not an equal one. The people could do nothing outside of discussion and
showing their feelings by their demeanor, whereas Gaius dragged many of
his opponents away while they were witnessing performances at the theatre
and arrested many more after they had left the building. The chief causes
for his rage were first that they did not show enthusiasm in attending;
he made his appearance at a different hour on different occasions,
sometimes not till nightfall, and they were worn out waiting for him:
second, that they did not always applaud the performances that pleased
him and sometimes even showed favor to objects of his dislike. Again, it
vexed him mightily to have them cry out in their efforts to extol him:
"Young Augustus!" He felt that he was not being congratulated upon being
emperor while so young, but was being censured for holding at his age
so great a domain. His regular conduct was as described. Once he said
threateningly to the whole people: "How I wish you had one neck!" At
another time, when he was showing some of his usual irritation, the
populace in displeasure ceased to notice the spectacle, and turned
against the informers, and with loud shouts demanded their surrender.
Gaius, indignant, vouchsafed them no answer, but committing to others
the conduct of the games withdrew into Campania. Later he returned to
celebrate the birthday of Drusilla, brought into the hippodrome on a
wagon her statue drawn by[10] elephants and gave the people a free show
for two days. The first day, besides the equestrian contests, he had five
hundred bears slaughtered, and on the second a like number of Libyan
beasts was used up. Athletes struggled in the pancratium at many
different points in the city. The populace was feasted and presents were
given to the senators and their wives.
* * * * *
[-14-] At the same time that he authorized these murders, apparently
because he was so very poor, he devised another kind of transaction. He
took the surviving combatants and sold them at an excessive valuation to
the consuls, the prætors, and the rest, meeting with acquiescence from
some and compelling others, who objected strenuously, to carry out his
wishes at the horse-races; and most of all he imposed upon the ones
especially selected by lot for this purpose, for he had ordered that two
prætors, just as it might happen, should be allotted to take charge of
the gladiatorial games. He himself sat on the auctioneer's platform and
kept outbidding them. Many also came from outside to bid against
them, particularly because he allowed such as wished to employ a
greater number of gladiators than the law permitted and because he
often had recourse to them himself. So people bought them for large
sums, some through need of the men, others thinking they should
gratify him, and the largest number (in case they were reputed to be
property-holders) out of a wish to avail themselves of this pretext for
spending some of their substance and thus by becoming poorer save
their lives.