t to death. The complaint
against him was the same as the Parthians had against their king whom
they expelled. Jealousy made him the object of hatred, and fear the
object of plots. [For every power stronger than himself Gaius entertained
hatred, and he was suspicious of whatever was successful, feeling sure
that it would ultimately attack him.] But Vitellius saved his life by
somehow presenting himself in such a way as to appear of less importance
than his reputation would lead one to expect. He fell at the emperor's
feet shedding tears of lamentation, all the time saluting him frequently
as divine and paying him worship; at last he vowed that should he survive
he would sacrifice to Gaius. By this behavior he so mollified the
offended monarch and won his good-will that he not only managed to
survive but came to be regarded as one of his lord's most intimate
friends. On one occasion Gaius declared he was enjoying converse with the
Moon Goddess, and when he asked Vitellius if he could see the goddess
with him, the other kept his eyes fixed on the ground, as if overcome by
amazement. In a half whisper he answered: "Only you gods, master, may
behold one another."--So Vitellius from these beginnings, later came to
surpass all others in adulation.

[-28-] [Gaius gave orders that in Miletus of the province of Asia a
certain tract of land should be set apart for his worship. His avowed
reason for choosing this city was that Diana had preempted Ephesus,
Augustus Pergamum, and Tiberius Smyrna. The truth of the matter, however,
was that he had conceived a desire to appropriate to his own use the
large and extremely beautiful temple which the Milesians were building to
Apollo. Thereupon he went to still greater lengths and built actually in
Rome itself one temple of his own that was accorded him by vote of the
senate, and another at his private expense on the Capitoline.] He also
planned a kind of dwelling on the Capitol, in order, as he said, that he
might live in the same house with Jupiter. However, he disdained taking
second place in this union of households and found fault with the god for
occupying the Capitol before him: accordingly, he hastened to construct
another temple on the Palatine and by way of a statue for it thought he
should like to change that of Olympian Jove so as to resemble himself.
This he found impossible, for the boat built to bring it was shattered by
thunderbolts, and loud laughter was plainly heard as of