by fire in the City, he declared that nobody should
be a loser but himself. Accordingly, he applied all the ornaments of his
palaces to the decoration of the temples, and purposes of public utility,
and appointed several men of the equestrian order to superintend the
work. For the relief of the people during the plague, he employed, in
the way of sacrifice and medicine, all means both human and divine.
Amongst the calamities of the times, were informers and their agents; a
tribe of miscreants who had grown up under the licence of former reigns.
These he frequently ordered to be scourged or beaten with sticks in the
Forum, and then, after he had obliged them to pass through the
amphitheatre as a public spectacle, commanded them to be sold for slaves,
or else banished them to some rocky islands. And to discourage such
practices for the future, amongst other things, he prohibited actions to
be successively brought under different laws for the same cause, or the
state of affairs of deceased persons to be inquired into after a certain
number of years.

IX. Having declared that he accepted the office of Pontifex Maximus for
the purpose of preserving his hands undefiled, he faithfully adhered to
his promise. For after that time he was neither directly nor indirectly
concerned in the death of any person, though he sometimes was justly
irritated. He swore "that he would perish himself, rather than prove the
destruction of any man." Two men of patrician rank being convicted of
aspiring to the empire, he only advised them to desist, saying, "that the
sovereign power was disposed of by fate," and promised them, that if
there was any thing else they desired of him, he would grant it. He also
immediately sent messengers to the mother of one of them, who was at a
great distance, and in deep anxiety about her son, to assure her of his
safety. Nay, he not only invited them to sup with (473) him, but next
day, at a show of gladiators, purposely placed them close by him; and
handed to them the arms of the combatants for his inspection. It is said
likewise, that having had their nativities cast, he assured them, "that a
great calamity was impending on both of them, but from another hand, and
not from his." Though his brother was continually plotting against him,
almost openly stirring up the armies to rebellion, and contriving to get
away, yet he could not endure to put him to death, or to banish him from
his presence; nor did he