Piso and Julia, and therefore
he was mine. If now you ask how I love you so, I can only say, I do not
know. We are riddles to ourselves. When I first saw thee, Piso, I
fancied thee, and the fancy hath held till now. Now, where love is,
there is power--high as heaven, deep as hell. Where there is the will,
the arm is strong and the wits clear. Mountains of difficulty and seas
of danger sink into mole-hills and shallow pools. Besides, Piso, there
is no virtue in Rome but gold will buy it, and, as thou knowest, in that
I am not wanting. Any slave like Curio, or he of the Flavian, may be had
for a basket-full of oboli. With these two clues, thou canst thread the
labyrinth.'

Though our affairs, Fausta, now put on so smiling a face, we do not
relinquish the thought of visiting you; and with the earliest relenting
of the winter, so that a Mediterranean voyage will be both safe and
pleasant, shall we turn our steps toward Palmyra.

Demetrius greatly misses his brother, But what he has lost, you have
gained.

What at this moment is the great wonder in Rome is this--a letter has
come from the Legions in Thrace in terms most dutiful and respectful
toward the Senate, deploring the death of Aurelian, and desiring that
they will place him in the number of the gods, and appoint his
successor. This is all that was wanted to confirm us in our peace. Now
we may indeed hail Tacitus as Augustus and Emperor. Farewell.

* * * * *

Piso has mentioned with brevity the death of Aurelian, and the manner of
it as first received at Rome. I will here add to it the account which
soon became current in the capital, and which to this time remains
without contradiction.

Already has the name of Menestheus occurred in these memoirs. He was one
of the secretaries of the Emperor, always near him and much in his
confidence. This seemed strange to those who knew both, for Menestheus
did not possess those qualities which Aurelian esteemed. He was selfish,
covetous, and fawning; his spirit and manner those of a slave to such as
were above him--those of a tyrant to such as were below him. His
affection for the Emperor, of which he made great display, was only for
what it would bring to him; and his fidelity to his duties which was
exemplary, grew out of no principle of integrity, but was merely a part
of that self-seeking policy that was the rule of his life. His office
put him in the way to amass riches, and for that re