ing waves. He ran out stone breakwaters from the beach
far into the water to divert the currents of the ocean, and, as it
were, to match his wealth against the power of the sea.

As for the private fortunes of individual Romans, he confiscated them
for his own use in all parts of the empire, either by accusing their
possessors of some crime of which they were innocent, or by distorting
their words into a free gift of their property to him. Many were
convicted on these charges of murder and other crimes, and in order to
escape paying the penalty for them, gave him all that they had. Some
who were engaged in making frivolous claims to land belonging to their
neighbours, when they found that they had no chance of winning their
cause, as the law was against them, would make him a present of the
land in dispute, and so get out of the difficulty. Thus they gained
his favour by a gift that cost them nothing, and got the better of
their adversaries by the most illegal means.

It will not be out of place, I think, to describe his personal
appearance. He was neither tall nor too short, but of a medium height,
not thin, but inclined to be fat. His face was round and not
ill-favoured, and showed colour, even after a two days' fast. In a
word, he greatly resembled Domitian, Vespasian's son, more than
anybody else. This was the Emperor whom the Romans detested so much
that they could not slake their hatred for him, even when they had
torn him to pieces, but a decree of the Senate was passed to remove
his name from all documents, and that all statues of him should be
destroyed; wherefore his name has been erased from every inscription
at Rome and everywhere else, except where it occurs in a list together
with other emperors, and no statue of him is to be found in the Roman
Empire, save one only, the history of which is as follows: Domitian
had married a lady of noble birth and admirable conduct, who never
harmed anyone, and always disapproved of her husband's evil deeds. As
she was so much beloved, the Senate sent for her, after the death of
Domitian, and bade her ask whatever favour she pleased. All that she
asked was to receive Domitian's body for burial, and permission to
erect a bronze statue to him in whatever place she might choose. The
Senate consented, and Domitian's wife, not wishing to leave to
posterity a memorial of the brutality of those who had butchered her
husband, adopted the following plan. She collected the pieces