of Nicomedes, ruler of Bithynia, inasmuch as he
had once been at his court when a lad; indeed, they even declared that
Caesar had enslaved[90] the Gauls, but Nicomedes Caesar. Finally, on the
top of all the rest they all together with a shout declared that if you
do well, you will be punished, but if ill you shall rule.[91] This was
meant by them to signify that if Caesar should restore self-government to
the people--which they regarded as just--and stand trial for the acts he
had committed outside the laws, he would even undergo punishment;
whereas, if he should cleave to his power,--which they deemed the course
of an unjust person,--he would continue sole ruler. As for him, however,
he was not displeased at their saying this: on the contrary he was quite
delighted that by such frankness toward him they showed a belief that he
would never be angry at it,--except in so far as their abuse concerned
his association with Nicomedes. At this he was decidedly irritated and
evidently pained: he attempted to defend himself, denying with an oath
that the case was such, and after that he incurred the further penalty
of laughter.

[-21-] Now on the first day of the festival of victory a portent far
from good fell to his lot. The axle of the triumphal chariot was crushed
just opposite the very temple of Fortune built by Lucullus, so that he
had to complete the rest of the course in another. On this occasion,
too, he climbed up the stairs of the Capitol on his knees, without
noticing at all either the chariot which he had dedicated to Jupiter, or
the image of the inhabited world lying beneath his feet, or the
inscription upon it: later on, however, he erased from that inscription
the name demi-god.

After this triumphal celebration he entertained the populace splendidly,
giving them grain beyond the regular measure and olive oil. Also, to the
multitude which received the present of grain he assigned the
seventy-five denarii which he had promised in advance, and twenty-five
more, but to the soldiers five hundred in one sum. Yet he was not merely
ostentatious: in most respects he was very exact; for instance, since
the throng receiving doles of grain had for a very long period been
growing not by lawful methods of increase but in such ways as are common
in popular tumults, he investigated the matter and erased half of their
names at one time.

[-22-] The first days of the fete he passed as was customary: on the
last day, after they