d by treading upon that
member, and the other one, who was blind, by spitting upon his eyes. His
divine power herein shown gave him great repute, yet the Alexandrians, far
from enjoying his society, detested him heartily; not only in private but
in public they were forever making fun of and abusing him. They had
expected to receive some great reward from him because they had taken the
first steps in making him emperor, but instead of securing anything they
had additional contributions levied upon them. Large were the sums he
gathered from them, for he omitted not a single source of revenue, no, not
even the first that might offer itself, though its character were
reprehensible, but he sought money from everybody alike, of secular or
religious profession. As for taxes, he renewed many that had been
abolished and increased those that were usual [and introduced still other
new ones]. And he adopted this same course later in the rest of the
subject territory, [in Italy] and in Rome itself. Hence the Alexandrians
[both for the reasons mentioned and because most of the royal possessions
had been sold were vexed and] threw out various derogatory remarks about
him, one of them being: "You want six obols more." Vespasian,
consequently, although the most affable of men, became indignant and gave
orders that the six obols per man should be levied, and thought seriously
about taking vengeance upon them. [The words themselves contained an
insult, and of their many undignified and anapaestic rhythms there was not
a single one but aroused his anger.] Titus, however, begged them off and
Vespasian accordingly spared them. Yet they would not let him alone, and
in some assembly they all together shouted at Titus these very words: "We
forgive him. He doesn't understand being Caesar."

So they continued to be foolhardy, took their thorough fill of that
license which is always working to their detriment, and abused the good
nature of the emperor. [Sidenote:--9--] Vespasian soon ceased to notice
them. He sent a despatch to Rome rescinding the disfranchisement of such
persons as had been condemned for so-called acts of maiestas by Nero and
succeeding rulers. His action included living and dead alike, and he
moreover stopped the indictments made upon such complaints.--The
astrologers he banished from Rome, yet he consulted all of them who were
distinguished, and through the influence of Barbillus, a man of that
profession, allowed the Ephesians