secrets were not many, but very
few and very rare, and these only about public matters; and he showed
prudence and economy in the exhibition of the public spectacles and the
construction of public buildings, his donations to the people, and in
such things, for he was a man who looked to what ought to be done, not
to the reputation which is got by a man's acts. He did not take the bath
at unseasonable hours; he was not fond of building houses, nor curious
about what he ate, nor about the texture and color of his clothes, nor
about the beauty of his slaves.[C] His dress came from Lorium, his villa
on the coast, and from Lanuvium generally.[D] We know how he behaved to
the toll-collector at Tusculum who asked his pardon; and such was all
his behavior. There was in him nothing harsh, nor implacable, nor
violent, nor, as one may say, anything carried to the sweating point;
but he examined all things severally, as if he had abundance of time,
and without confusion, in an orderly way, vigorously and consistently.
And that might be applied to him which is recorded of Socrates,[E] that
he was able both to abstain from, and to enjoy, those things which many
are too weak to abstain from, and cannot enjoy without excess. But to be
strong enough both to bear the one and to be sober in the other is the
mark of a man who has a perfect and invincible soul, such as he showed
in the illness of Maximus.

[A] He means his adoptive father, his predecessor, the Emperor
Antoninus Pius. Compare vi. 30.

[B] He uses the word [Greek: koinonoemosune]. See Gataker's
note.

[C] This passage is corrupt, and the exact meaning is
uncertain.

[D] Lorium was a villa on the coast north of Rome, and there
Antoninus was brought up, and he died there. This also is
corrupt.

[E] Xenophon, Memorab. i. 3, 15.

17. To the gods I am indebted for having good grandfathers, good
parents, a good sister, good teachers, good associates, good kinsmen and
friends, nearly everything good. Further, I owe it to the gods that I
was not hurried into any offence against any of them, though I had a
disposition which, if opportunity had offered, might have led me to do
something of this kind; but, through their favor, there never was such a
concurrence of circumstances as put me to the trial. Further, I am
thankful to the gods that I was not longer brought up with my
grandfather's concubine, and that I preserved the flower of my y