He made a number of laws, most of which I have no need to mention; but here are some of the regulations that he introduced. He had the governors who were chosen by lot set out before the first day of April; for it was their habit to delay a long time in the City. And he would not permit those chosen by election to express any thanks to him in the senate,—this had been a kind of custom with them,—but he said: "These persons ought not to thank me, as if they were so eager for office, but I them, because they cheerfully help me bear the burden of government: and if they acquit themselves well in office, I shall praise them still more." Such men as by reason of insufficient means were not able to be senators he allowed to ask permission to retire, and he admitted some of the knights to tribuneships: the rest of them, without exception, he forced to attend the senate as often as notice was sent them. He was so severe upon those who were remiss in this matter that some killed themselves.

[-12-] In other respects he was sociable and considerate in his dealings with them. He would visit them when sick and be a partner in their merrymakings. A certain tribune beat a slave of his in public, but Claudius did the offender himself no harm, only depriving him of his assistants, and these he restored not long afterward. Another of his slaves was sent to the Forum and severely scourged, because he had insulted a prominent man. In the senate the emperor would himself regularly rise in case the rest had been standing for a long time. On account of his ill health, as I related, he frequently remained seated and read his advice, if asked for it. He allowed Lucius Sulla to sit on the prætors' bench because this man, being unable by reason of age to hear anything from his own seat, had stood up. The day on which a year previous he had been declared emperor he did nothing unusual, except to give the Pretorians twenty-five denarii, and this he continued to do every year thereafter. Some of the prætors, however, of their own free will and not by any decree publicly celebrated that day and also the birthday of Messalina. Not all of them did this, but as many as chose. This shows what freedom they had. You may see how really moderate Claudius was in all such matters from the fact that when a son was born to him,—called at that time Claudius Tiberius Germanicus but later also Britannicus,—he did not make the occasion in any way conspicuous and would not allow him to be named Augustus nor Messalina Augusta.

[-13-]He was constantly arranging gladiatorial games, taking a degree of pleasure in them that aroused criticism. Very few beasts were destroyed, but a great many human beings, some of whom fought with one another whereas others were devoured by animals. The emperor hated vehemently the freed slaves who in the reigns of Tiberius and Gaius had conspired against their masters, as well as those who extorted blackmail from people or had borne false witness against any persons. The majority of these he got rid of in the manner mentioned, though some of them he punished by other methods. A great many he delivered up to the vengeance of their masters. So great did the number become of those who died a public death that the statue of Augustus, erected on the scene, was turned to face in another direction, both to prevent its being thought that he was viewing the slaughter and to avoid having the statue always covered up. For this act Claudius was well laughed at when people reflected how he sated himself with the sights that he did not think proper for even the inanimate bronze to behold. It might be noted particularly that he used to delight greatly even at lunch time in watching those who were incidentally cut down in the middle of the spectacle. Yet a lion that had been trained to eat men and on this account greatly pleased the crowd he ordered killed on the principle that it was not fitting for Romans to gaze on such a sight. He received abundant praise, however, for appearing in the people's midst at the spectacle, for giving them all they wanted, and for his employing a herald so very little and announcing most events by notices written on boards.

[-14-] After he had become accustomed, then, to feast his fill on blood and slaughter, he had recourse more readily to other kinds of killings. The Cæsarians and Messalina were really responsible for this. Whenever they desired to obtain any one's death, they would terrify him, with the result that they would be allowed to do everything they chose. Often, when in a moment of sudden alarm his momentary terror had led him to order some one's death, afterward, when he recovered and came to his senses, he would search for the man and on learning what had happened would be grieved and repent. He began this series of slaughters with Gaius Appius Silanus. This man, who was of very noble family and at the time was governor of Spain, he had sent for, pretending that he wanted to see him about something, had married him to Messalina's mother, and had for some time held him in honor among his dearest and closest friends. Then he suddenly killed him. The reason was that Silanus had offended Messalina, the most abandoned and lustful of women, in refusing to lie with her, and by the slight shown the empress had alienated Narcissus, the emperor's freedman. As they had no true charge to bring against him, nor even one that would be believed, Narcissus invented a dream in which he declared he had seen Claudius murdered by the hand of Silanus. So just before dawn, while the emperor was still in bed, he came all of a tremble to tell him the dream, and Messalina by expatiating on it made it worse. Thus Silanus perished just because of a vision.

[-15-] After the latter's death the Romans at once lost confidence in Claudius, and Annius Vinicianus with some others formed a plot against him. The chief conspirator had been one of those proposed at the death of Gaius for the imperial office, and it was partly fear inspired by this fact that caused him to rebel. As he possessed no considerable force, however, he sent to Furius Camillus Scribonianus, governor of Dalmatia, who had a large body of native and foreign troops. Camillus, who was inclined to the project of his own accord, was induced to revolt at the same time, particularly because he had been spoken of for emperor. When so much had been accomplished, many senators and knights joined the ranks of Annius. They did him no good, however,[5] for the soldiers, because Camillus proffered them the name of populus and promised that he would restore to them their ancient freedom, suspected that they should have troubles and changes of government again and would therefore no longer obey him. Then in terror he fled from them, and coming to the island Issa he there met a voluntary death. Claudius for a time was quite cowed with fear and was ready at a demand from Camillus to withdraw from his sovereignty voluntarily. Later he recovered courage and rewarded his soldiers among other methods by having the citizen legions (the seventh and the eleventh) named the Claudian, and the Faithful, and the Pious, by the senate itself. Then he made reprisals upon those who had plotted against him and on this charge put many to death, among them a prætor, who first had to resign his office. Numbers, of whom Vinicianus was one, committed suicide, for Messalina and Narcissus and all the latter's fellow freedmen seized this opportunity to wreak their direst vengeance. They employed slaves and liberti, for instance, and informers against their own masters. These masters and others of undoubted nobility, foreigners and citizens alike, not only plebeians, but some of the knights and senators, were put to the torture in spite of the fact that Claudius at the very beginning of his reign had sworn not to torture any free citizen.

[-16-] Many men therefore at this time and many women incurred punishment. Some of the latter met their fate right in the prison, and when they were to die were actually led in chains upon a scaffold, like captives, and their bodies like those of others were thrown down the Scalæ Gemoniæ. Of those who were executed outside the prison only the heads were exhibited in that place. Some of the most guilty, nevertheless, either through favoritism or by the use of money saved their necks with the help of Messalina and of the Cæsarians following Narcissus. All the children of those who perished were granted immunity and some received money. Trials were held in the senate-house in the presence of Claudius, his prefects, and his freedmen. With a consul on each side he made his report to the senators while seated upon a chair of state or on a bench. Next he himself went to his accustomed seat and chairs were set for his escort. This same program was followed also at the other most important functions.

It was at this time that a certain Galæsus, a freedman of Camillus, was brought into the senate and talked with the utmost frankness on a variety of subjects. The following remark of his is worth instancing. Narcissus had taken the floor and said to him: "What would you have done, Galæsus, if Camillus had become monarch?" He replied: "I should have stood behind him and said nothing." So he became famous for this speech, and Arria for something quite different. The latter, who was wife of Cæcina Pætus, refused to live after he had been put to death, although, being on very intimate terms with Messalina, she might have occupied a position of some honor. Moreover, when her husband showed cowardice, she strengthened his resolution. She took the sword and gave herself a wound, then handed it to him, saying: "See, Pætus, I feel no pain."—These two persons, then, were accorded praise, for by reason of the long succession of woes matters had now come to such a pass that excellence no longer meant anything else than dying nobly.

The attitude of Claudius in bringing destruction upon them and others is indicated by his forever giving to the soldiers as a watchword this verse about its being necessary "In one's first anger to ward off the foe." [6] He kept throwing out many other hints of that sort in Greek both to them and to the senate, with the result that those who could understand any of them laughed at him. These were some of the happenings of that period.—And the tribunes at the death of one of their number themselves convened the senate for the purpose of appointing a tribune to succeed him,—this in spite of the fact that the consuls were accessible.

[A.D. 43 (a. u. 796)]

[-17-] When Claudius now became consul again,—it was the third time,—he put an end to many sacrifices and many feast days. For, as the greater part of the year was given up to them, no small damage was done to public business. Beside curtailing the number of these he retrenched in all the other ways that he could. What had been given away by Gaius without any justice or reason he demanded back from the recipients; but he gave back to the road commissioners all that his predecessor had exacted in fines on account of Corbulo. Moreover, he gave notice to magistrates chosen by lot, since they were even now slow about leaving the City, that they must commence their journey before the middle of April came. He reduced to servitude the Lycians, who rising in revolt had slain some Romans, and merged them in the prefecture of Pamphylia. During the investigation, which was conducted in the senate-house, he put a question in the Latin tongue to one of the envoys who had originally been a Lycian but had been made a Roman. As the man did not understand what was said, he took away his citizenship, saying that it was not proper for a person to be a Roman who had no knowledge of Roman speech. A great many other persons unworthy of citizenship were excluded from its privileges, whereas he granted it to some quite without restrictions, either individuals or large bodies of men. And inasmuch as practically everywhere Romans were esteemed above foreigners, many sought the franchise by personal application to the emperor and many bought it from Messalina and the Cæsarians. For this reason, though the right was at first bartered only for great sums, it later was so cheapened by the facility with which it could be obtained that it came to be said that if a person only gave a man some broken glassware he might become a citizen.