g, they were
allowed to perform once, were honored with citizenship for it, and were
then dismissed. Others, in turn, chosen from among the retinue, then gave
exhibitions.--This was what took place in theatrical circles.

In the hippodrome twelve camels and horses had one contest, and three
hundred bears together with an equal number of Libyan beasts were
slaughtered. Previous to this time the different classes in attendance
had watched the spectacle each from its own special location,--senators,
knights, and populace; thus it had come to be a regular practice, yet no
definite positions had been assigned to them. [-8-] It was at this time
that Claudius marked off the space which still belongs to the senate,
and furthermore he allowed those senators who chose to view the sights
somewhere else and even in citizen's dress. After this he banqueted the
senators and their wives, the knights, and likewise the tribes.

Next he restored Commagene to Antiochus, for Gaius, though he had himself
given him the district, had taken it away again; and Mithridates the
Iberian, whom Gaius had summoned only to imprison, he sent home again to
resume his sovereignty. To another Mithridates, a lineal descendant of
Mithridates the Great, he granted Bosporus, giving to Polemon some land
in Cilicia in place of it. He enlarged the domain of Agrippa of Palestine
(who, happening to be in Rome, had helped him become emperor), and
bestowed on him consular honors. To the latter's brother Herod he gave
pretorial dignities and some authority. They were allowed to enter the
senate and to express their thanks to him in Greek.--Now these were the
acts of Claudius himself, and they were lauded by all.

But certain other deeds were done at this time of an entirely different
nature by his freedmen and by his wife, Valeria Messalina. She became
enraged at her niece Julia because the latter neither paid her honor nor
flattered her; and she was also jealous because the girl was extremely
beautiful and had been the only one to enjoy the favor of Claudius
several times. Accordingly, she had her banished by bringing against her
among other complaints that of adultery (for which Annius Seneca was also
exiled) and after a while she succeeded in procuring Julia's death. As
for the freedmen, it was they who persuaded Claudius to accept triumphal
honors for his deeds in Mauretania, though he had not been successful and
had not yet attained imperial power when the end