illness as a
cloak for your machinations. Then it was represented, circumstantially,
that, after the detection and foiling of Capito's conspiracy, you had
taken ship for Spain, made your way to the camp of the rebel, Maternus,
won his confidence, suggested to him the idea of a secret march on Rome,
of the assassination of Commodus during the Festival of Cybele, planned
for him the details of that secret march, managed it for him and come all
the way from Spain to Rome with him.

"When his attempt failed, you, alone among his henchmen, escaped. You
then, according to the reports, went straight to Britain, visited every
important camp, infused into the garrisons the spirit of discontent,
engineered their mutiny, suggested to them the sending of a dangerously
large deputation to Rome, led that deputation and were its controlling
spirit all the way to Rome, vanishing successfully when the mutineers were
induced by Oleander to return to Britain and their associates, by his
device, were massacred or consigned to _ergastula_.

"With such reports in my hands, with additions declaring that while
neither your presence nor your influence could be proved, you were
probably the guiding spirit in the assassination of Pertinax, it is no
wonder that I, crediting these apparently sincere and trustworthy
statements, considered you the most dangerous among all the survivors of
conspiracies against my predecessors, which conspirators, on principle, I
meant to exterminate as an obvious measure of mere sensible precaution.

"No one seems to have recognized you as Andivius Hedulio while you were in
the service of Pompeianus Falco under the name of Phorbas, except only
Galen, who has explained and justified to me his reasons for protecting
you, of which I entirely approve. He did well. As Phorbas I heard of you
first, when it was represented to me that you had murdered your late
master and been cleared by that indulgent humanitarian, Lollius Corbulo;
that the case was a most flagrant miscarriage of justice and that such
slackness would breed a crop of such murders unless temptation was
counteracted by severity. I then directed Cassius Ravillanus to deal with
you, for I trusted him.

"When, in the arena of the Colosseum, I saw the savage, ravening beasts
not only spare you but fawn on you, I felt sure that you had been falsely
convicted, that you were innocent and that the gods had intervened to save
you. Later, when I heard the cries of 'Fe