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To such an emperor were the Romans then handed over; so that the deeds of Tiberius, although they seemed to have been very harsh, were surpassed by those of Gaius as much as those of Augustus were by his. For Tiberius himself ruled, and used his other servants according to his own will; but Gaius was ruled even by charioteers and gladiators and actors and tragic poets, often performing himself, and summoning the senate under compulsion. For in his twenty-fifth year, having cast out his former wife, he seized the daughter of Cornelius Orestes at her very wedding, she having been betrothed to Calpurnius. And he brought false accusations against many because of these things and put them to death; but the truth was because of their property. For the treasuries were being exhausted, and nothing was enough for him. Again, having gotten rid of this one, he married Lollia, forcing her own husband, Memmius Regulus, to betroth his wife to him, so that he might not take her unbetrothed, contrary to the laws. And from his adulteries, as if he had conquered all of Gaul and Britain, he was many times called emperor Germanicus and Britannicus. And puffed up by these things, he was called Zeus, and he remodeled the statues of that one into his own likeness. For he would thunder back at the thunder with some machine, and flash back at the lightning; and wherever a thunderbolt fell, he would hurl back a stone. 83 Exc. Salm.: Gaius deflowered his two sisters. And seeing mud in a narrow street, he ordered Vespasian, who was then aedile, to be brought, and the mud to be thrown into his toga. This man, once when he was gambling in Gaul and learned that he had no money, stood up and ordered many wealthy men to be killed; and coming to his fellow gamblers he said, “While you are quarreling over a trifle, I have collected a great amount of money.” He was called Caligula, because from a young age he was raised for the most part in the military camp and used the soldiers' footwear; from the caligae, therefore, he was called Caligula. 84 Exc. De ins.: That once, when the people had gathered in the hippodrome and were reproaching him, he had them destroyed by the soldiers; from which time all were silent, until Cassius Chaerea and Cornelius Sabinus, although they had been entrusted with commands of a thousand men by him, conspired, and nearly all those around him were moved on behalf of themselves and the common good; and watching for him as he was coming from the theater, at the very time when he was summoning the boys from Greece for his own hymn, falling upon him in a certain narrow place, they wound him, and others even tasted of his flesh. And such were the affairs of Gaius, who had reigned for three years and 9 months, and 28 days. And he himself learned from his deeds that he was not a god. By those by whom he was worshipped even when not present, he was then spat upon; and by those by whom he was named and written of as Zeus and a god, he was made a sacrificial victim; and his statues and images were dragged down, the people especially remembering the terrible things they had suffered. The soldiers, as many as were from the German contingent, were causing a disturbance and a sedition, so as even to commit murders; but as many as in any other way sided with the senate, being persuaded by oaths, kept quiet. While these things were being done concerning Gaius, Sentius and Secundus the consuls immediately transferred the money from the treasuries to the Capitol, and they set up most of the senate as guards, and a sufficient number of soldiers, so that there might be no plunder by the multitude. And these men, together with the prefects and those with Sabinus and Chaerea, were considering what was to be done.

85 CLAUDIUS.

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Τοιούτῳ τότε αὐτοκράτορι οἱ Ῥωμαῖοι παρεδόθησαν· ὥστε τὰ τοῦ Τιβερίου ἔργα, καίπερ χαλεπώτατα δόξαντα γεγονέναι, τοσοῦτον τὰ τοῦ Γαΐου, ὅσον τὰ τοῦ Αὐγούστου παρ' ἐκεῖνα παρενεγκεῖν. Τιβέριος μὲν γὰρ αὐτός τε ἦρχε, καὶ ὑπηρέταις τοῖς ἄλλοις πρὸς τὸ ἑαυτοῦ βούλημα ἐχρῆτο· Γάϊος δὲ ἤρχετο μὲν καὶ ὑπὸ τῶν ἁρματηλατούντων καὶ ὁπλομαχούντων καὶ σκηνικῶν καὶ τραγῳδῶν πολλάκις καὶ αὐτὸς ἐνδεικνύμενος, καὶ τὴν βουλὴν πρὸς ἀνάγκας μετακαλούμενος. Εἰκοστὸν γὰρ δὴ καὶ πέμπτον ἄγων ἔτος τὴν προτέραν γαμετὴν ἐκβαλὼν τὴν Κορνηλίου Ὀρέστου ἥρπασε θυγατέρα ἐν αὐτοῖς τοῖς γάμοις, ἐγγεγυημένην Καλπουρνίῳ. Πολλούς τε διὰ ταῦτα συκοφαντῶν ἀνῄρει· τὸ δὲ ἀληθὲς διὰ τὰς οὐσίας. Οἵ τε γὰρ θησαυροὶ ἐξανάλωντο, καὶ οὐδὲν αὐτῷ ἐξήρκει. Αὖθις δὲ ταύτην ἐκποδὼν ποιησάμενος, Λολίαν ἠγάγετο, αὐτὸν τὸν ἄνδρα αὐτῆς Μέμμιον Ῥηγοῦλον ἐγγυῆσαί οἱ τὴν γυναῖκα ἀναγκάσας, ἵνα μὴ καὶ ἀνέγγυον αὐτὴν παρὰ τοὺς νόμους λάβῃ. Ἐκ δὲ τῶν μοιχειῶν, ὡς καὶ τὴν πᾶσαν Κελτικὴν καὶ Βρεττανικὴν κεχειρωμένος, αὐτοκράτωρ τε πολλάκις Γερμανικὸς καὶ Βρεττανικὸς ἐπεκλήθη. Ἐπαρθείς τε ἐπὶ τούτοις Ζεύς τε ἐλέγετο, καὶ τὰς ἐκείνου στήλας εἰς αὐτὸν μετερρύθμιζε. Ταῖς τε γὰρ βρονταῖς ἐκ μηχανῆς τινος ἀντεβρόντα, καὶ ταῖς ἀστραπαῖς ἀντήστραπτεν· ὅπου δὲ κεραυνὸς κατέπεσε λίθον ἀντηκόντιζεν. 83 Exc. Salm.: Γάϊος τὰς δύο ἀδελφὰς αὐτοῦ διεπαρθένευσεν. Ἰδὼν δὲ πηλὸν ἐν στενωπῷ, ἐκέλευσεν ἀχθῆναι Οὐεσπασιανὸν, τότε ἀγορανόμον ὄντα, καὶ ἐμβληθῆναι τὸν πηλὸν εἰς τὸν κόλπον αὐτοῦ. Οὗτος κυβεύων ποτὲ ἐν Γαλλίαις, καὶ μαθὼν ὡς οὐκ ἔστιν αὐτῷ ἀργύριον, ἀναστὰς ἐκέλευσε πολλοὺς πλουσίους ἀναιρεθῆναι· καὶ ἐλθὼν πρὸς τοὺς συγκυβευτὰς εἶπεν, «Ἐν ᾧ ὑμεῖς περὶ ὀλίγου φιλονεικεῖτε, ἐγὼ πλῆθος χρημάτων συνήγαγον.» Ἐλέγετο δὲ Καλλιγόλας, ὅτι ἐκ μικρᾶς ἡλικίας ἐν τῷ στρατοπέδῳ τὰ πολλὰ ἐτρέφετο, καὶ τοῖς στρατιωτικοῖς ἐχρῆτο ὑποδήμασιν· ἐκ τῶν καλλίγων οὖν Καλλιγόλας ἐλέγετο. 84 Exc. De ins.: Ὅτι ποτὲ τὸν δῆμον συνελθόντα ἐν ἱπποδρομίῳ, καὶ τοῦτον ἐλέγχοντα ὑπὸ τῶν στρατιωτῶν διέφθειρεν· ἐξ οὗπερ πάντες ἐσιώπησαν, ἄχρις οὗ Κάσσιός τε Χαιρέας καὶ Κορνήλιος Σαβῖνος, καίτοι χιλιαρχίας παρ' αὐτοῦ πεπιστευμένοι, συνωμόσαντο, πάντες τε ὡς εἰπεῖν οἱ περὶ αὐτὸν ὑπέρ τε σφῶν καὶ τῶν κοινῶν ἐκινήθησαν· καὶ τηρήσαντες αὐτὸν ἐκ τοῦ θεάτρου ἐρχόμενον, ὅτε δὴ τοὺς ἐκ τῆς Ἑλλάδος παῖδας ἐπὶ τὸν ἴδιον ὕμνον μετεπέμπετο, ἐν στενωπῷ τινι τόπῳ προσπεσόντες τιτρώσκουσιν, ἄλλοι τε ἐκ τῶν σαρκῶν αὐτοῦ ἐγεύσαντο. Καὶ τὰ μὲν Γαΐου τοιαῦτα, τρισὶν ἔτεσι καὶ μησὶ θʹ, ἡμέρας τε ηʹ καὶ κʹ βασιλεύσαντος. Καὶ αὐτὸς τοῖς ἔργοις, ὡς οὐκ ἦν θεὸς, ἐξέμαθεν. Ὑφ' ὧν τε καὶ μὴ παρὼν προσεκυνεῖτο, τότε κατεπτύετο· καὶ ὑφ' ὧν τε Ζεὺς καὶ θεὸς ὠνομάζετό τε καὶ ἐγράφετο, σφάγιον ἐγίνετο· ἀνδριάντες τε αὐτοῦ καὶ εἰκόνες ἐσύροντο, μεμνημένου μάλιστα τοῦ δήμου ὧν ἐπεπόνθει δεινῶν. Οἱ δὲ στρατιῶται ὅσοι μὲν ἐκ τοῦ Γερμανικοῦ μέρους ἦσαν, ἐθορύβουν τε καὶ ἐστασίαζον, ὥστε καὶ σφαγὰς ποιεῖν· ὅσοι δὲ ἄλλως πως ἐπὶ τῇ βουλῇ ἐποιήσαντο, πεισθέντες τοῖς ὅρκοις ἡσύχασαν. Τούτων δὲ περὶ τὸν Γάϊον πραττομένων, Σέντιός τε καὶ Σεκοῦνδος οἱ ὕπατοι εὐθὺς ἐκ τῶν θησαυρῶν τὰ χρήματα εἰς τὸ Καπιτώλιον μετεκόμισαν, φυλακάς τε τοὺς πλείους τῆς γερουσίας ἐπέστησαν, καὶ στρατιώτας ἱκανοὺς, ἵνα μὴ διαρπαγὴ ὑπὸ τοῦ πλήθους γένηται. Οὗτοί τε ἅμα τοῖς ἐπάρχοις καὶ τοῖς περὶ Σαβῖνον καὶ Χαιρέαν τὸ πρακτέον ἐσκοποῦντο.

85 CLAUDIUS.