ears of his
life in the public service before his elevation. Yet even he, with all his
experience and ability, could not resist the blandishments of power. How,
then, could a giddy and weak young man, without redeeming qualities? He
fell into the vortex of pleasures, and reeling in the madness which
excesses caused, was soon guilty of the wildest caprices, and the most
cruel atrocities. He was corrupted by flattery as well as pleasure. He
even descended into the arena of the circus as a charioteer, and the races
became a State institution. In a few months he squandered the savings of
the previous reign, swept away the wholesome restraints which Augustus and
Tiberius had imposed upon gladiators, and carried on the sports of the
amphitheatre with utter disregard of human life. His extravagance and his
necessities led to the most wanton murders of senators and nobles whose
crime was their wealth. The most redeeming features of the first year of
his reign were his grief at the death of his sister, his friendship with
Herod Agrippa, to whom he gave a sovereignty in Palestine, and the
activity he displayed in the management of his vast inheritance. He had a
great passion for building, and completed the temple of Augustus,
projected the grandest of the Roman aqueducts, enlarged the imperial
palace, and carried a viaduct from the Palatine to the Capitoline over the
lofty houses of the Velabrum. But his prodigalities led to a most
oppressive taxation, which soon alienated the people, while his senseless
debaucheries, especially his costly banquets, disgusted the more
contemplative of the nobles. He was also disgraced by needless cruelties,
and it was his exclamation: "Would that the people of Rome had but one
neck!" His vanity was preposterous. He fancied himself divine, and
insisted on divine honors being rendered to him. He systematically
persecuted the nobles, and exacted contributions. He fancied himself, at
one time an orator, and at another a general; and absolutely led an army
to the Rhine, when there was no enemy to attack. He married several wives,
but divorced them with the most fickle inconstancy.

(M1067) It is needless to repeat the wanton follies of this young man who
so outrageously disgraced the imperial station. The most charitable
construction to be placed upon acts which made his name infamous among the
ancients is that his brain was turned by his elevation to a dignity for
which he was not trained or disciplin