on the friends of Sejanus. Tiberius now began to show signs of
insanity, and his life henceforth was that of a miserable tyrant. His
career began to draw to a close, and he found himself, in his fits of
despair and wretchedness, supported by only three surviving members of the
lineage of Caesar: Tiberius Claudius Drusus, the last of the sons of
Drusus, and nephew of the emperor, infirm in health and weak in mind, and
had been excluded from public affairs; Caius, the younger son of
Germanicus, and Tiberius, the son of the second Drusus,--the one,
grand-nephew, and the other, grandson, of the emperor. Both were young;
one twenty-five, the other eighteen. The failing old man failed to
designate either as his successor, but the voice of the public pointed out
the son of Germanicus, nicknamed Caligula. At the age of seventy-eight,
the tyrant died, unable in his last sickness to restrain his appetite. He
died at Misenum, on his way to Capreae, which he had quitted for a time, to
the joy of the whole empire; for his reign, in his latter years, was one
of terror, which caused a deep gloom to settle upon the face of the higher
society at Rome, A.D. 37. The body was carried to Rome with great pomp,
and its ashes were deposited in the mausoleum of the Caesars. Caius was
recognized as his successor without opposition, and he commenced his reign
by issuing a general pardon to all State prisoners, and scattering, with
promiscuous munificence, the vast treasures which Tiberius had
accumulated. He assumed the collective honors of the empire with modesty,
and great expectations were formed of a peaceful and honorable reign.

Caligula was the heir of the Drusi, grandson of Julia and Agrippa,
great-grandson of Octavius, of Livia, and of Antony. In him the lines of
Julia and Livia were united. His defects and vices were unknown to the
people, and he made grand promises to the Senate. He commenced his reign
by assiduous labors, and equitable measures, and professed to restore the
golden age of Augustus. His popularity with the people was unbounded, from
his lavish expenditure for shows and festivals, by the consecration of
temples, and the distribution of corn and wine.

(M1066) But it was not long before he abandoned himself to the most
extravagant debauchery. His brain reeled on the giddy eminence to which he
had been elevated without previous training and experience. Augustus
fought his own way to power, and Tiberius had spent the best y