accordingly,
although he promised so to do; but when he was settled in the
government, he took off this Tiberius, as was predicted by the other
Tiberius; as he was also himself, in no long time afterward, slain by a
secret plot laid against him.

10. So when Tiberius had at this time appointed Caius to be his
successor, he outlived but a few days, and then died, after he had held
the government twenty-two years five months and three days. Now Caius
was the fourth emperor. But when the Romans understood that Tiberius was
dead, they rejoiced at the good news, but had not courage to believe it;
not because they were unwilling it should be true, for they would have
given huge sums of money that it might be so, but because they were
afraid, that if they had showed their joy when the news proved false,
their joy should be openly known, and they should be accused for it,
and be thereby undone. For this Tiberius had brought a vast number
of miseries on the best families of the Romans, since he was easily
inflamed with passion in all cases, and was of such a temper as rendered
his anger irrevocable, till he had executed the same, although he had
taken a hatred against men without reason; for he was by nature fierce
in all the sentences he gave, and made death the penalty for the
lightest offenses; insomuch that when the Romans heard the rumor about
his death gladly, they were restrained from the enjoyment of that
pleasure by the dread of such miseries as they foresaw would follow, if
their hopes proved ill-grounded. Now Marsyas, Agrippa's freed-man, as
soon as he heard of Tiberius's death, came running to tell Agrippa the
news; and finding him going out to the bath, he gave him a nod, and
said, in the Hebrew tongue, "The lion [26] is dead;" who, understanding
his meaning, and being overjoyed at the news, "Nay," said he, "but all
sorts of thanks and happiness attend thee for this news of thine; only
I wish that what thou sayest may prove true." Now the centurion who was
set to keep Agrippa, when he saw with what haste Marsyas came, and what
joy Agrippa had from what he said, he had a suspicion that his words
implied some great innovation of affairs, and he asked them about what
was said. They at first diverted the discourse; but upon his further
pressing, Agrippa, without more ado, told him, for he was already become
his friend; so he joined with him in that pleasure which this news
occasioned, because it would be fortunate to A