As a consequence of his cruelty the emperor was
suspicious of all mankind and ceased now to put hopes
of safety in either the freedmen or the prefects, whom
he usually caused to be tried during their very term
of office. Moreover, Epaphroditus, who belonged to
Nero, he first drove out and then slew, censuring him
for not having defended Nero; his object was by the
vengeance that he took in this person's case to terrify
his own freedmen long enough in advance to prevent
their ever attempting a similar deed.
A.D. 96 (a.u. 849)
It did him no good, however, for he became the object of a conspiracy
in the following year and perished in the consulship of
Gaius
[
]
Valens (who died after holding the consular
office in his ninetieth year) and of Gaius Antistius.
15
Those who attacked him and prepared the undertaking
were Parthenius his cubicularius (though he was the
recipient of such marks of imperial favor as to be
allowed to wear a sword) and Sigerus,
[
]
who was also
a member of the excubiae, as well as Entellus, the person
entrusted with the care of the state documents, and
Stephanus, a freedman. The plot was not unknown to
Domitia, the emperor's wife, nor to the prefect Norbanus,
nor to the latter's partner in office, Petronius
Secundus: at least, this is the tradition. Domitia was
ever an object of the imperial hatred and consequently
stood in terror of her life; the rest no longer loved their
sovereign, some of them because complaints had been
lodged against them and others because they were expecting
them to be lodged. For my part, I have heard
also the following account,--that Domitian, having
become suspicious of all these persons, conceived a
desire to kill them, and wrote their names on a two-leaved
tablet of linden wood, and put it under his
pillow on the couch where he was wont to repose; and
one of the naked prattling
[
]
boys, while the emperor was
asleep in the daytime, filched it away and kept it without
knowing what it contained. Domitia then chanced
upon it and reading what was written gave information
of the matter to those involved. As a result,
they changed their plans somewhat and hastened the
plot; yet they did not proceed to action until they had
determined who was to succeed to the office. Having
conversed with various persons, when they found that
no one would accept it (everybody was afraid of them,
thinking that they were simply testing people's loyalty)
they betook themselves to Nerva. He was of
most noble birth and most suitable character and had,
besides, encountered danger through being slandered
by astrologers
[who declared that he should be sovereign.]
Thus they the more easily persuaded him to
be the next to receive the power. In truth, Domitian,
who conducted an investigation of the days and the
hours when the foremost men had been born, had consequently
ere this despatched not a few even of those
who entertained no hopes of gaining any power.
[
]
And
he would have slain Nerva, had not one of the astrologers
who favored the latter declared that he would die
within a few days.
[Believing that this would really
prove true, he did not desire to be guilty of this additional
murder, inasmuch as Nerva in any event was
to meet death so very soon.]
16
Since no occurrence of such magnitude is without
previous indications, various unfavorable tokens appeared
in his case, too. In a vision he himself beheld
Rusticus approaching him with a sword; and he
thought that Minerva, whose statue he kept in his bedchamber,
had thrown away her weapons and, mounted
upon a chariot drawn by black horses, was being swallowed
up in an abyss. But the feature which of all
claims our wonder is connected with the name of Larginus
Proculus. He had publicly foretold in Germany
that the emperor should die on the day when he actually
did die, and was, therefore, sent on to Rome by the
governor. Brought before Domitian he declared once
more that this should be so. A death sentence was
postponed in order that he might be put to death after
the emperor had escaped the danger. Meanwhile
Domitian was slain, his life was saved, and he received
a hundred thousand denarii from Nerva. Some one
else had on a previous occasion told the ruler both
when and how he should perish, and then being asked
what manner of death he, the prophet, should meet, he
answered that he would be despatched by dogs. Thereupon
command was given that the fellow should be
burned alive, and the fire was applied to him. But
just then there was a great downpour of rain, the pyre
was extinguished, and later dogs found him lying upon
it with his hands bound behind him and tore him to
pieces.
17
I have one more astonishing fact to record, which I
shall touch on after I have given the account of Domitian's
end. As soon as he rose to leave the courthouse
and was ready to take his afternoon nap, as was
his custom, first Parthenius took the blade out of the
sword, which always lay under his pillow, so that he
should not have the use of that. Next he sent in
Stephanus, who was stronger then the rest. The latter
smote Domitian, and though it was not an opportune
blow the emperor was knocked to the ground, where
he lay. Then, fearing an escape, Parthenius leaped in,
or, as some believe, he sent in Maximus, a freedman.
Thus both Domitian was murdered, and Stephanus
perished likewise in a rush that those who had not
shared in the conspiracy made upon him.
18
The matter of which I spoke, saying that it surprises
me more than anything else, is this. A certain Apollonius
of Tyana on the very day and at that very hour
when Domitian was being murdered (this was later
confirmed by other events that happened in both
places) climbed a lofty stone at Ephesus (or possibly
some other town) and having gathered the populace,
uttered these words: "Bravo, Stephanus! Good,
Stephanus! Smite the wretch! You have struck, you
have wounded, you have killed him!!" This is what
really took place, though there should be ten thousand
doubters. Domitian had lived forty-four years, ten
months, and twenty-six days. His reign had lasted
fifteen years and five days. His body was stolen away
and buried by his nurse, Phyllis.
DURATION OF TIME
C. Manlius Valens, C. Antistius Vetus.
(A.D. 96 = a.u.
849 = First of Nerva, from Sept. 18th).
Nerva Caes. Aug. (III), L. Verginius Rufus (III).
(A.D.
97 = a.u. 850 = Second of Nerva).
Nerva Caes. Aug. (IV), Nerva Traianus Caes. (II).
(A.D.
98 = a.u. 851 = Third of Nerva, to January 27th).
C. Sosius Senecio (II), A. Cornelius Palma.
(A.D. 99 = a.u.
852 = Second of Trajan).
Nerva Traianus Aug. (III), Sex. Iul. Frontinus (III).
(A.D.
100 = a.u. 853 = Third of Trajan).
Nerva Traianus Aug. (IV), Sex. Articuleius Paetus.
(A.D.
101 = a.u. 854 = Fourth of Trajan).
C. Sosius Senecio (III), L. Licinius Sura (II).
(A.D. 102 =
a.u. 855 = Fifth of Trajan).
Nerva Traianus Aug. (V), Q. Messius Maximus (II).
(A.D.
103 = a.u. 856 = Sixth of Trajan).
Suburanus (II), P. Neratius Marcellus.
(A.D. 104 = a.u.
857 = Seventh of Trajan).
Ti. Iulius Candidus (II), A. Iulius Quadratus (II).
(A.D.
105 = a.u. 858 = Eighth of Trajan).
L. Ceionius Commodus Verus, L. Cerealis.
(A.D. 106 = a.u.
859 = Ninth of Trajan).
C. Sosius Senecio (IV), L. Licinius Sura (III).
(A.D. 107 =
a.u. 860 = Tenth of Trajan).
Ap. Trebonius Gallus, M. Atilius Bradua.
(A.D. 108 = a.u.
861 = Eleventh of Trajan).
A. Cornelius Palma (II), C. Calvisius Tullus (II).
(A.D.
109 = a.u. 862 = Twelfth of Trajan).
Clodius Priscinus, Solenus Orfitus.
(A.D. 110 = a.u. 863 =
Thirteenth of Trajan).
C. Calpurnius Piso, M. Vettius Bolanus.
(A.D. 111 = a.u.
864 = Fourteenth of Trajan).
Nerva Traianus Aug. (VI), C. Iulius Africanus.
(A.D. 112 = a.u. 865=Fifteenth of Trajan).
L. Celsus (II), Clodius Crispinus.
(A.D. 113 = a.u. 866=Sixteenth
of Trajan).
Q. Ninnius Hasta, P. Manilius Vopiscus.
(A.D. 114 = a.u. 867=Seventeenth of Trajan).
L. Vipsanius Messala, M. Pedo Virgilianus.
(A.D. 115 = a.u. 868=Eighteenth of Trajan).
L. Aelius Lamia, Aelianus Vetus.
(A.D. 116 = a.u. 869=Nineteenth
of Trajan).
Quinctius Niger, C. Vipsanius Apronianus.
(A.D. 117 = a.u. 870=Twentieth of Trajan, to Aug. 11th).
A.D. 96 (a.u. 849)
1
After Domitian, the Romans appointed Nerva Cocceius
emperor. The hatred felt for Domitian caused
his images, many of which were of silver and many of
gold to be melted down; and from this source large
amounts of money were obtained. The arches, too,
of which more had been erected to the late emperor
than previously to any one man, were torn down.
Nerva also released such as were on trial for maiestas
and restored the exiles. All the slaves and freedmen
that had conspired against their masters he put to
death, and allowed that class of persons to lodge no
complaint whatever against their masters. Others
were not permitted to accuse anybody for maiestas or
for "Jewish living." Many who had been sycophants
were condemned to death, among whom was Seras
[Lacuna]
[
]
the philosopher. Now, as a quite extraordinary
disturbance arose from the fact that everybody
was accusing everybody else, Fronto, the consul, is said
to have remarked that it was bad to have an emperor
under whom no one could do anything, but worse to
have one under whom any one could do everything.
Nerva, on hearing this, prohibited the future recurrence
of such scenes. But Nerva, as a result of old
age and sickness (which was always making him vomit
his food), was rather weak.
2
He also forbade gold statues being made in his
honor. He paid back to such as under Domitian had
been causelessly deprived of their property all that
was still found in the imperial treasury. To the very
poor Romans he granted allotments of land worth in
the aggregate fifteen hundred myriads, and put certain
senators in charge of their purchase and distribution.
When he ran short of funds he sold many robes and
plate, both silver and gold, besides furniture, both his
own and what belonged to the imperial residence, many
fields and houses,--in fact, everything save what was
quite necessary. He did not, however, haggle over the
prices of them, and in this very point benefited many
persons. He abolished many sacrifices, many horse-races,
and some other spectacles, in an attempt to reduce
expenses as far as possible. In the senate he
took oath that he would not cause the death of any of
the senators and he kept his pledge in spite of plots.
And he did nothing without the advice of prominent
men. Among his various laws were those prohibiting
any one from being made a eunuch and from marrying
one's niece. When consul he did not hesitate to take as
his colleague Verginius Rufus, though the latter had
been frequently saluted as emperor.
[
]
A.D. 97 (a.u. 850)
Upon his monument
was inscribed when he died: "Having conquered
Vindex he ascribed the credit of victory not to himself
but to his country."
[
]
3
Nerva ruled so well that he once remarked: "I have
done nothing that could prevent me from laying down
the imperial office and returning to private life in
safety." When Crassus Calpurnius, a grandson of
the famous Crassi, formed a plot with some others
against him, he made them sit beside him at a spectacle--they
were still ignorant of the fact that they had
been informed upon--and gave them some swords,
nominally to look at and see if they were sharp (as was
often done), but really by way of showing that he did
not care if he died that moment where he was.
Aelianus Casperius, who was governor under him as
he had been under Domitian, and had become one of
the Pretorians, incited the soldiers to mutiny against
him; his plan was to have them demand some persons
for execution. Nerva resisted them stoutly, even to
the point of baring his collar-bone and offering them
his throat: but he accomplished nothing and those
whom Aelianus wished were put out of the way.
Wherefore Nerva, subjected to such profound humiliation
because of his old age, ascended the Capitol and
cried aloud: "To the good fortune of the Roman
people and senate and myself I adopt Marcus Ulpius
Nerva Trajan."
Subsequently in the senate he designated him Caesar
and sent a message to him, written with his own hand
(Trajan was governor of Germany):
"The Danaans by thy weapons shall requite my tears."
[
63]
4
Thus did Trajan become Caesar and afterwards emperor, although there were relatives of Nerva. But
the man did not esteem family relationship above
the safety of the State, nor was he less inclined to
adopt Trajan because the latter was a Spaniard instead
of an Italian or Italiot,
[
]
or because no foreigner had
previously held the Roman sovereignty. It was a person's
virtue and not his country that he thought needed
examination.
A.D. 98 (a.u. 851)
Soon after this act he passed away, having ruled
during the period of one year, four months and nine
days. His life prior to that time
[
]
had comprised
sixty-five years, ten months, and ten days.
5
Trajan, before he became emperor, had had a dream
of the following nature. He thought that an old man
in purple robe and vesture, moreover adorned with a
crown, as the senate is represented in pictures, impressed
a seal upon him with a finger ring, first on the
left side of his throat and then on the right. When he
had been made emperor, he sent a despatch to the
senate written with his own hand, which stated, among
other things, that he would not slay nor dishonor any
man of worth. This he confirmed by oaths not merely
at that time but also later.
He sent for Aelianus and the Pretorians who had
mutinied against Nerva, pretending that he was going
to employ them in some way, and relieved the world of
their presence.
A.D. 99 (a.u. 852)
When he had entered Rome he did
much toward the administration of state affairs and to
please the excellent. To the former business he gave
unusual attention, making many grants even to Italian
cities for the support of their children, and to good citizens
he did continual favors. Plotina, his wife, on first
going into the palace turned around so as to face the
Scalae and the populace, and said: "My wish is to issue
hence the same sort of person as I am now when I
enter." And she so conducted herself during the
entire sovereignty as to incur no censure.
[The ambassadors who came from the kings were
given seats by Trajan in the senatorial row at
spectacles.]
A.D. 100 (a.u. 853)
6
After spending some time in Rome he instituted a
campaign against the Dacians; for he made their deeds
the object of thought and was irritated at the amount
of money they were annually getting. He likewise
saw that their power and their pride were increasing.
Decebalus, learning of his advance, was frightened,
since he well knew that formerly he had conquered
not the Romans but Domitian, whereas now
he would be fighting against both Romans and Trajan
as emperor.
And Trajan had a great reputation for justice, for
bravery, and for simple living. He was strong in body
(being in his forty-second year when he began to rule)
[so that in every enterprise he toiled almost as much
as the rest;]
and his intellectual powers were at their
highest, so that he had neither the recklessness of
youth nor the sluggishness of old age. He did not
envy nor kill any one, but honored and exalted all without
exception that were men of worth, and hence he
neither feared nor hated one of them. To slanders
he paid very little heed and was no slave of anger. He
refrained equally from the money of others and from
unjust murders.
7
He expended vast sums on wars and
vast sums on works of peace; and while making very
many most necessary repairs on roads and harbors and
public buildings, he drained no one's blood for these
undertakings. His nature was so noble and magnanimous
that even upon the hippodrome he merely inscribed
the statement that he had made it suitable for
the Roman people when it had crumbled away in spots,
and had rendered it larger and more beautiful. For
these deeds he was better satisfied to be loved than
honored. His meetings with the people were marked
by affability and his intercourse with the senate by
dignity. He was loved by all and dreaded by none save
the enemy. He joined people in hunting and banquets,
and in work and plans and jokes. Often he would
make a fourth in somebody's litter, and sometimes he
would enter persons' houses even without a guard and
make himself at home. He lacked education in the
exact sense,--book-learning, at least,--but he both
understood and carried out its spirit, and there was
no quality of his that was not
excellent
. I know well
enough that he was given to wine and boys, but if he
had ever committed or endured any base or wicked
deed as a result of this, he would have incurred censure.
As the case stood, he drank all the wine he
wanted, yet remained sober, and his pursuit of pederasty
harmed no one. And even if he did delight in
war, still he was satisfied with success in it,--with
overthrowing a most hostile element and bettering his
own side. Nor did the usual thing under such circumstances,--conceit
and arrogance on the part of the
soldiers,--ever manifest itself during his reign; with
such a firm hand did he rule them. For these reasons
Decebalus was somewhat justified in fearing him.
8
When Trajan, in the course of his campaign against
the Dacians had come near Tapai, where the barbarians
were encamping, a large mushroom was brought
to him, on which it said in Latin characters that the
Buri and other allies advised Trajan to turn back and
make peace. At Trajan's first encounter with the foe
he visited many of the wounded on his own side and
killed many of the enemy. And when the bandages
gave out, he is said not to have spared even his own
clothing, but to have cut it up into strips. In honor
of the soldiers that had died in battle he ordered an
altar erected and the performance of funeral rites
annually.
9
[Decebalus had sent envoys also before the defeat,
and no longer the long-haired men, as before, but the
chief among the cap-wearers.
[
]
These threw down their
arms and casting themselves upon the earth begged
Trajan that if possible Decebalus himself be allowed to
meet and confer with him, promising that he would do
everything that might be commanded; or, if not, that at
least some one should be despatched to agree upon
terms with him. Those sent were Sura and Claudius
Livianus, the prefect; but nothing was accomplished,
for Decebalus did not dare even to come near them.
He sent representatives also on this occasion.
Trajan had now seized some fortified mountains and
on them found the arms and the captured engines, as
well as the standard which had been taken in the time
Fuscus.
A.D. 101 (a.u. 854)
Undertaking to ascend the heights themselves,
he secured one crest after another amid dangers
and approached the capital of the Dacians. Lusius,
attacking in another quarter, slaughtered numbers
and captured still more alive. Then Decebalus sent
envoys.
Decebalus, for this reason, and particularly because
Maximus at the same time had possession of his sister
and a strong position, was ready to agree without exception
to every demand made. It was not that he
intended to abide by his agreement, but he wanted to
secure a respite from his temporary reverses.]
So,
though against his will, he made a compact to surrender
his arms, engines, and manufacturers of engines,
to give back the deserters, to demolish his
forts, to withdraw from captured territory, and furthermore
to consider the same persons enemies and friends
as the Romans did
[besides neither giving shelter to
any of the deserters,
[
]
nor employing any soldiers from
the Roman empire, for he had acquired the largest and
best part of his force by persuading them to come from
that quarter]
. When he came into Trajan's presence,
he fell upon the earth and did obeisance
[and cast away
his arms. He also sent envoys to the senate to secure
these terms, in order that he might have the further
ratification of the peace by that body. At the conclusion
of this compact the emperor left a camp in Sarmizegethusa,
and, having placed garrisons at intervals
through the remainder of the territory, returned to
Italy.]
A.D. 103 (a.u. 856)
10
The envoys from Decebalus were introduced in the
senate. They laid down their arms, clasped their hands
in the posture of captives, and spoke some words of
supplication; thus they obtained peace and received
back their arms. Trajan celebrated a triumph and was
given the title of Dacicus; in the theatre he had contests
of gladiators, in whom he delighted, and he brought
back dancers once more to the theatre, being in love
with one of them, Pylades. However, he did not pay
less attention to general administration, as might have
been expected of a warlike personage, nor did he hold
court the less: on the contrary, he conducted trials now
in the forum of Augustus, now in the porch named the
Porch of Livia, and often elsewhere on a platform.
And since Decebalus was reported to him to be acting
in many ways contrary to the treaty, since he was
gathering arms, receiving such as deserted, repairing
the forts, sending ambassadors to the neighbors, and
injuring those who had previously differed with him,
since also he was devastating some land of the Iazygae
(which Trajan later would not give back to them when
they asked for it), therefore, the senate voted that he
was again an enemy. And Trajan again conducted the
war against him, commanding in person and not represented
by others.
A.D. 104 (a.u. 857)
11
[As numerous Dacians kept transferring their allegiance
to Trajan, and for certain other reasons, Decebalus
again requested peace. But since he could not
be persuaded to surrender both his arms and himself,
he proceeded openly to collect troops and called the
surrounding nations to his aid, saying that if they
deserted him they themselves would come into danger
and that it was safer and easier by fighting on his side
to preserve their freedom, before suffering any harm,
than if they should allow his people to be destroyed
and then later be subjugated when bereft of allies.]
And Decebalus in the open field came off poorly, but by
craft and deceit he almost compassed the death of
Trajan. He sent into Moesia some deserters to see
whether they could make away with him, inasmuch as
the emperor was generally accessible, and now, on account
of the needs of warfare, admitted to conference
absolutely every one who desired it. But this plan they
were unable to carry out, since one of them was arrested
on suspicion and, under torture, revealed the
entire plot.
12
Longinus was the commandant of the Roman camp
who had made himself a terror to the Dacian leader
in warfare. The latter, therefore, sent him an invitation
and persuaded him to meet him, on the pretext
that he would perform whatever should be enjoined.
He then arrested him and questioned him publicly
about Trajan's plans. As the Roman would not yield
at all, he took him about with him under guard, though
not in bonds. And
[Decebalus sending an envoy to
Trajan, asked that he might get back the territory as
far as the Ister and receive indemnity for all the money
he had spent on the war,]
in recompense for restoring
Longinus to him. An ambiguous answer was returned,
of a kind that would not make Decebalus think that the
emperor regarded Longinus as of either great value or
small, the object being to prevent his being destroyed
on the one hand, or being preserved on excessive
terms, on the other. So Decebalus delayed, still considering
what he should do.
Meanwhile Longinus, having
[through his freedman]
secured a poison
[--he had promised Decebalus that he
would reconcile Trajan to the proposition, in order that
the Dacian should be as far as possible from suspecting
what was to happen, and so not keep an especially
careful watch over him. Also, to enable his servant to
attain safety, he wrote a letter containing a supplication,
and gave it to the freedman to carry to Trajan.
Then, when he had gone, at night he took the poison,]
drank it and died.
[After this event Decebalus asked
Trajan to give him back his freedman, promising to
give him in return the body of Longinus and ten captives.
He sent at once the centurion who had been captured
with the dead general, assuming that this man
would arrange the matter for him; and it was from the
centurion that the whole story of Longinus was learned.
However, Trajan neither sent him back, nor surrendered
the freedman, deeming his safety more valuable
for establishing the dignity of the empire than the
of Longinus.]
13
Now, Trajan constructed over the Ister a stone
bridge, for which I cannot sufficiently admire him. His
other works are most brilliant, but this surpasses them.
There are twenty square pieces of stone, the height of
which is one hundred and fifty feet above the foundations
and the breadth sixty, and these, standing at a
distance of one hundred and seventy feet from one to
another, are connected by arches. How then could one
fail to be astonished at the expenditure made upon
them? Or the manner in which each of them was
placed in a river so deep, in water so full of eddies, on
ground so slimy? It was impossible, you note, to divert
the course of the river in any direction. I have spoken
of the breadth of the river; but the stream is not uniformly
so limited, since it covers in some places twice
and elsewhere thrice as much ground, but the narrowest
point, and the one in that region most adapted to
bridge-building, has just those dimensions. Yet the
very fact that the river here shrinks from a great flood
to such a narrow channel and is here confined, though
it again expands into a greater flood, makes it all the
more violent and deep; and this feature must be considered
in estimating the difficulty of preparing a
bridge. This achievement, then, shows the greatness
of Trajan's designs, though the bridge is of no
particular use to us. Merely the piers are standing,
affording no means of crossing, as if they were erected
for the sole purpose of demonstrating that there is
nothing which human energy can not accomplish. Trajan's
reason for constructing the bridge was his fear
that, some time when the Ister was frozen, war might
be made on the Romans across the water, and his desire
to enjoy the easy access to them that this work
would permit. Hadrian, on the contrary, was afraid
that the barbarians might overpower the guard at the
bridge and cross into Moesia, and so he removed the
surface work.
A.D. 105 (a.u. 858)
14
Trajan, having crossed the Ister on this bridge, conducted
the war with prudence, rather than with haste,
and eventually, after a hard struggle, vanquished the
Dacians. In the course of these encounters he personally
performed many deeds of good generalship and
bravery, and his soldiers ran many risks and displayed
great prowess on his behalf. It was here that a certain
horseman, dangerously wounded, was carried from the
battle on the supposition that he could be healed; but,
when he found that he could not recover, he rushed
from his quarters (since his hurt had not incapacitated
him) and stationing himself in the line again he perished,
after having displayed great valor.
A.D. 106 (a.u. 859)
Decebalus,
when his capital and all his territory had been occupied
and he was himself in danger of being captured, committed
suicide, and his head was brought to Rome.
In this way Dacia became subject to Rome and Trajan
founded cities there. The treasures of Decebalus
were also discovered, though hidden beneath the Sargetia
river, which ran past his palace. He had made
some captives divert the course of the river and had
then excavated its bed. There he had placed a large
amount of silver and of gold and other objects of great
value, that could endure some moisture, had heaped
stones over them and piled on earth. After that he had
let the river flow over them. The same captives were
compelled to deposit his robes and other similar objects
in neighboring caves; and when he had effected this,
he made away with them to prevent their talking. But
Bicilis, a comrade of his, who knew what had been
done, was seized and gave this information.--About
this same time, Palma, who was governor of Syria,
subdued the portion of Arabia, near Petra, and made it
subservient to the Romans.
A.D. 107 (a.u. 860)
15
Upon Trajan's return to Rome the greatest imaginable
number of embassies came to him from the barbarians,
even the Indi being represented. And he gave
spectacles on one hundred and twenty-three days.
At these affairs thousands, yes, possibly tens of thousands
of animals, both wild and tame, were slaughtered,
and fully ten thousand gladiators fought in
combat.
About the same period he made the Pontine
marshes traversable by means of a stone foundation,
and built roads alongside, which he furnished with
most magnificent bridges.--All the obsolete money he
had melted down.
[He had sworn not to commit bloodshed and he confirmed
his promise by his actions in spite of plots. He
was by nature not at all given to duplicity or guile or
harshness. He loved and greeted and honored the good,
and the rest he neglected. His age made him still more
inclined to mildness.]
When Licinius Sura died, he bestowed
upon him a public funeral and a statue. This
man had attained such a degree of wealth and pride
that he built a gymnasium for the Romans. So great
was the friendship and confidence
[which Sura showed
toward Trajan and Trajan toward him that although
the man was often slandered,--as naturally happens in
the case of all those who possess any influence with the
emperors,--Trajan never felt a moment's suspicion or
hatred. On the contrary, when those who envied him
became insistent, Trajan]
went
[uninvited to his house]
to dinner. And having dismissed his whole body-guard
he first called Sura's physician and had him anoint his
eyes and then his barber shave his chin. Anciently the
emperors themselves as well as all other people used
to do this. It was Hadrian who first set the fashion of
wearing a beard. When he had done this, he next took
a bath and had dinner. So the next day he said to his
friends who were always in the habit of making statements
detrimental to Sura: "If Sura had wanted to
kill me, he would have killed me yesterday."