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This he lamented in a proclamation as a most cruel butch- ery, and cui sed ali those Who were able to endure thesight of it. XXXI. He ii sed likewise to complain openly of the
condition of the times, hecause they were not rendered re- mari able by anu public calamittes : that the rei gn of Augustus had been made memorabie to posteri ty by the dis asteros Varus : and that of Tiberius by the fali of the theatre at Fidenae; but that his was like to be Unknown to future ages, from an unitaterrupted series of prosperi ty. And he would no and 'then wissa for sonae terribie saughter of histro Ops, a famine, a pestilence, conflagratiotis, or that the earth would Open.
Gladiator vere distinguis laed by their armor and man-ner of fighting. Some were called Secutores, whose arm Surere a helmet, a sitield, a sinord, or a leaden bullet. Others, the usual antagonists of the former, utere named Reliarii. A combatant of this classe Was dressed in a sta ori tunic, butwore nothing on his head. He carried in his test hand athree-po in ted lance, called Tridens or Fia sinu, and in his right, a net, With which he attempted to entangle his adver
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XXXII. Even in the midst of his diversions, in his gam ing or se asi in g, this savage seroci ty both in his lan
guage and actions never fors ok him. Persons were Oiaten put to the torture in his prelance, whilst lie was dining or Carou sing. A soldier, Who was an adept in the art A
vered him immedia tely to an exectitioner, mitti ordeps tocut off his haniis, and to te ad him round the severat companies with them hanging irona his necti bes ore his breasst, and a labet, signis' ing the cause of his punishment. Agladiator that was praelisng with him, and voluntari lythrew himself at his seet, he si abbed with a pontarii, and then rari abo ut With a branch of palm in his haud, after
the manner of thos e who are victorious in the games. When a victim was to be osse red upon an altar, he, Cladin the habit of the Popae and holding the axe alost sonae time, at lust, inste ad of the animal, stati tered an
Popae were thoi e who, at public sacrifices, ted the victim to the altar. They had their cloaths tucked up, and were Dahed to the waist. The victim was led with a sack-rope, that it might not seem to be brought by force, which was rechoned a bad omen. For the sanae reason, it was allowedio stand loose before the altar; and it Was thought a very bad omen is it i ed aWay. ossi cer
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CAIUS CAESAR CALIGULA. 3 9 ossicer Who attended to cui up the sacrifice. And at a sumptuous enteria inment, falling suddenly into a violent fit os laughter, and the Consuls, who were neXt him, very respect&lly asscing him the occasion ; Nothing,' replied he, but that, upon a single nod of mine, ye may both of you have your thronis Cul. V
XXXIII. Amongst many other jests, this was one. Ashe stood by the statue of Jupiter, he asked Apelles theiragedian, whicli of them he thought the bigger i Upontiis de murring about it, he las hed hi in most severely, no and then commending his voice, whilst he begged pardon, as very Meet in the in id si os groans. As osten ashe kissed the neck of his wi se or mistress, he would say, So fine a necla must be destroyed when I plea se and Do a d then he would threaten to put his Caesonia tothe torture, for the pui posse of finding out the rea n whytie loved her se much. XXXIV. In his bellavisur to Nards men of almost: alloges, he dis overed a degree of envy and malignity, equalto that of his crueity and pride. He so demolis hed and dispersed the statues of severat illustri Rus persons, thathad been removed by Augustus for want of room, fomthe colari of the Capitol into the Field of Mars, that itwas imp'Tble to set them up again with their inscriptiorisentire. And for the future, he forbid any statue what-ever to be erected without his knowledge and leave. Heliad thoughis too of suppressing Homer's poenas : Forwhy,V said he, may not I do what Plato has done he- fore me, who has turne i him out of his common wealth i He was likewise very near banishing the tings of Virgil and Titus Livius, with their eiugies, o ut os ali libraries ; censuring one of them as a man of no usit, and
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very litile learning and the other as a verbose finacaretest historian.' ' He osten talhed of the lawyers as is he intended to abolisti their profession. By Hercules, 'he would say, I mali put it out of their power to an-swer any questions in laW, other ise ili an by reseri ing
XXXV. Me took sto in the nobtest persons In the citythe ancient marks of distinction, used by their families ias froni Torquatus the chain, froin Cincinnatus tholock of hair l, and Dona Cn. Ρompey, of an ancient fami ly, the surriame of Great. Ptolemy, mentioned above, whom he sent for out of his hing loli 1, and received very honorably, he suddenly took of for no other reason, buthecause he observed that upon entering the theatre, at a public divers1on os gladiators, he attradi cd the eyes of allthe spectators, by the splendor of his fine scarlet robe. As osten as he met with hand me men, that had fine hea is of hair, he would order the back of their heads tobe maved, to mali e them appear ridiculous. There Wasone Esius Proculus, the son os a Centurion of the fit si The goiden chain, taken olf the gigantic Saul, whowas killed in single conabat by Titus Manlius, called after-Wards Torquatus, was woria by the lineat male descendents of the Manlian family. But that illustrious race becomisag extincto, the hadge of honor, as weli as the cognomen of
rorquatus, Was revived by Augustus, in the person os C. Nonius Asprenas, Who perhaps claimed descent by the fe- male line frona the fami ly of Manlius.' Ι have met with no account of the lock of hair in Livy,
nor in any other ivriter Whom I have consulted. It is there-
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CΑ1t s CAESAR CALIGULA.rank, who, being a lusty comely person, ment by the nam eos Colosseros. Him he ordei ed to be dragged o ut of his stat in to the middie of the theatre, and malched with a gladiator in light armor, and another completely armed ;arid, upon his worsting them both, commanded him forti, with to be bound , to be led clothed in rags up and down the streets of the city, to be smown in that siluation to
in any kind he did not enuy. The ReX Nemorensis havia ing many years ei oyed the honor of the pries hood, heprocured an able bodied antagonis f to opposse him. One Pori us an Essedari an having, at a public show of gladiators, manumised a fave of his for his successe in figlit ing, and being clapped extremely for it, he arose in sucha hut ry frona his seat, that, trea ling upon the lap of his toga, he tum bted down the steps, fuit os indignation, and
crying oui, A peopte Who are mas fers of the woridpay greater respect to a gladiator for a tricte, ilian topi inces received amongs: the Gods, or to myself here
XXXVI. He never had the least regarit ei ther to thrchasti ty of his own person, or that os others. He is sa idto have been in flamed with an uianatural passion for M. Lepidus Mnester the pantomimic, and s me hos ages ;and to have en gaged mitti them in a practice of mutuat pollution. Valerius Catullus, a young man Os a Consi
lar fami ly, ba vied o ut publicly that he had been jaded by
him in that abominable adt. Besides his incest with his
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sisters, and his notorious passion sor the prostitute Pytala
gistered in the public adis. XXXVII. In the contrivance of profuse eXperaces hesurpassed ait the prodigals that ever lived ; inventing aneis kind of hath, with strange dis laes and suppers; sothat he would bathe in precious unguenis, both warin and colit, drink 1 caris of immense value dissolved in vinegar, and serve up for his guelis bre ad and other victuals of gold; osten saying, that a maia ought either to be a good eConomist: or an emperor.V Nay, he scattered moneylikewis e to a prodigio us amount amongst the people, frona the top of the Julian coliri, during severat days successively. He bullt two si ips with ten banks of Oars, after me Liburni an fas hion, the steriis of which wcre dechedmitti je eis, and the satis were parti-Colored, with large ballis, porticos, and rooms of entertain ment, and wit great varie ty likewi se of vines, and other fruit-trees. In these he would sali along the coas of Campania, feas ing in the day-time a m id si dancing and conceris of mus1C.
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arice of ali reason, he destred to essest nothing so muchas what was accounted impossibie. Accordingly moles Mere sol med in a deep and bois erous fea, roclis of tholi ardest stone cui a way, plains raised to the height of mountains with a vasi masse of earth, and the tops os mouia talias levelled by digging ; and ali these were to beexecuted with incredibie specii; for the least remisi nesswaS Capitat. Not to mention particulars, he lavi meda way a mosi prodigious estate, and ali the treas ures whichhad been amassed by Tiberius Caesar, amounting to twothous and seven hundred millioris of sesterces, with in tess
XXXVIII. Being theres ore qui te exhausted and in want os money, he seli to ptundering his subjects, by
out os date. He charged likewise ali thos e with giving a false account os their es ales, who, aster the taking of the Census, had by any means whatever improved them. Hecancelled the wilis of ali those who had been Centurions of the first rank in the ariny, as testimontes of their baseingratitude, is froin the beginning of Tiberius's reign theyhad not lest either that prince or himself their heir. Heacted in the fame maniter with respect to the wilis os allothers, is any person only pretended to say, that they designed at their death to leave Caesar their heir. The public being terrified at this procee ling, he was noW, by per- A a sona
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sons imknown to him, joined heir with their friends, and by parents with their Children. Those who lived any considerable time after mahing such a wili, he suid, cx- posed him to ridicule ; and accordingly he sent many of them pol ned cakes. He used to sit for the triat os suci, causes himself; determining previousty the sum for theraissing of which he proposed to sit, and, after he had secured ii, quitiing the benCh. He was upon ali those occasions impatient of deliberation, condemning by one single sentence forty persons, charged with different accusations ; and boasting to Caesonia when site awahed, how much businest he had dispalched while me wastahing her mi l-day fleep. V Ηe eXposed to sale, in theway of auction, ali that was test of the furniture of his public mows for the diversion of the people, and obliged the Company to purchase his commodities at so high aprice, that me were ruined in their fortunes by it, and bled themselves to death. It is a well known story that istold of Aponius Saturninus, who happening to fati asseepas he sat by at the sale, Caius called out to the auctionCer,nOt to overtook the Praetorian personage that nodded tollim se osten ; and accordingly the salesnaan went on with his business, pretending to take the nods for totiens ofassent, untii thirteen gladiators were knocked Osf to himat the sum os nine millions os sesterces.
XXXIX. Having likewise sold o T in Gaul ait the
Cloaths, furniture, flaves, and even freedmen belonging to his sisters, at prodigio us prices, he was much pleased withille prosit, that he sent for ali the old furniture of the courti rom the city; taking up for the conveyance of it to hi mali the hackney carri ages, with the horses and mules be- longing to the bakers every where tipon the road, so that
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11 ta at law in progrest, because they could not mahethcir appea rance in due time according to their hail-bond, lost their causes. In selling osf this furniture, e very artifice of fraud and impolition was employed. Sometimes he would rati at the bidders for their tenaci ousnest os money, and beCause they were uot astam ed to he richer man he was a nother while he would asse Et to be sol rysor having alienated to private persons what belonged tothe cotiri. He had discovered, that an opulent man os that province had gi ven two hundred thousand sesterces tothos e who were employed by him to invite companu tollis table, to be admitted to that honor ; and he was much
hecause the money thetice arising was prodigious, by Centurions and Tribunes of the guariis ; no Lind ei ther of things or persons being exempted si om the payment of so me duty or other. For uis eatabies sold in the city, a Certain excise Was exacted for ali law-suits or trials in Whatever couri, the fortieth part of the sum in dispute; and such as were convidi ed os compromising litigations, mere made liable to a penalty. Out of the day-wages of POrters, ite received an eighth pari, and of the gains ofCOmmon prostitutes, as much as they received ser orae actos criminal comunerce. A clause was in the la , that all
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they were levied iacver submitted to public inspection, great grievances were eXperienced frona the want of sufficient knowledge of the la . At tength, upon the urgent re litest of the people, he hung up the adl , but written in avery smali character, and in a narrow place, that nobOdymight transcribe it. To leave no fori os eXtortion un- trieti, he opened a public stew in the Palatium, mitti agreat variety of aparimenis, furnissaed in a manner sui table to the dignity of the place ; in which married women and boys Dee-born were ready for the reception os allvisitanis. He sent likewise his nomenclators abolit thes OrUnas and Couris, to invite peopte os ali ages to hishrothel; and to lacti as came, he lent money upon interesi ; clerks attending to tahe down their names, as of
Another method of raising money, which he thought notbelo his notice, was gaining ; whicli, by the heis oflying and pe Dry, he turned to considerable account. Leaving once the management of his play to a fellowgamester that sat nexi him, he sthpped to the do or, and observing two ricli Roman Enigliis passing by , he ordered them immediately to be seiZed, and their estates confisca ted. Then returning ovesoyed to his company, heboasted that he had never beller luch at play in his life . XLII. Aster the. hirth of his davgliter, complaining of
his p overtu, and the burdens to which he was subjected, not Cnly as an emperor but a fallier, he publicly received Contributions for her maintena iace and fortune. He like-Wise gave notice by proclamation, that he would receive new-year's gis is the fis of January folio ing, and ac- cor lingly stood at the door of liis house, to tal e possessionos the presents which peopte os ali ranks threw doram be-8 fore