Claudius (Suetonius)

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	Claudius Author: Suetonius	Translator: Alexander Thomson
23	Rerum actum diuisum antea in hibernos aestiuosque menses coniunxit . iuris dictionem de fidei commissis quotannis et tantum in urbe delegari magistratibus solitam in perpetuum atque etiam per prouincias potestatibus demandauit . capiti Papiae Poppaeae legis a Tiberio Caesare , quasi sexagenarii generare non possent , addito obrogauit . sanxit ut pupillis extra ordinem tutores a consulibus darentur , utque ii , quibus a magistratibus prouinciae interdicerentur , urbe quoque et Italia summouerentur . ipse quosdam nouo exemplo relegauit , ut ultra lapidem tertium uetaret egredi ab urbe . De maiore negotio acturus in curia medius inter consulum sellas tribunicio subsellio sedebat . commeatus a senatu peti solitos benefici sui fecit .	The courts of judicature, whose sittings had been formerly divided between the summer and winter months, he ordered, for the dispatch of business, to sit the whole year round. The jurisdiction in matters of trust, which used to be granted annually by special commission to certain magistrates, and in the city only, he made permanent, and extended to the provincial judges likewise. He altered a clause added by Tiberius to the Papia-Poppaean law, which inferred that men of sixty years of age were incapable of begetting children. He ordered that, out of the ordinary course of proceeding, orphans might have guardians appointed them by the consuls; and that those who were banished from any province by the chief magistrate, should be debarred from coming into the City, or any part of Italy. He inflicted on certain persons a new sort of banishment, by forbidding them to depart further than three miles from Rome. When any affair of importance came before the senate, he used to sit between the two consuls upon the seats of the tribunes. He reserved to himself the power of granting license to travel out of Italy, which before had belonged to the senate.
24	ornamenta consularia etiam procuratoribus ducenariis indulsit . senatoriam dignitatem recusantibus equestrem quoque ademit . latum clauum , quamuis initio affirmasset non lecturum se senatorem nisi ciuis R . abnepotem , etiam libertini filio tribuit , sed sub condicione si prius ab equite R . adoptatus esset ; ac sic quoque reprehensionem uerens , et Appium Caecum censorem , generis sui proauctorem , libertinorum filios in senatum adlegisse docuit , ignarus temporibus Appi et deinceps aliquamdiu libertinos dictos non ipsos , qui manu emitterentur , sed ingenuos ex his procreatos . collegio quaestorum pro stratura uiarum gladiatorium munus iniunxit detractaque Ostiensi et Gallica prouincia curam aerari Saturni reddidit , quam medio tempore praetores aut , uti nunc , praetura functi sustinuerant . Triumphalia ornamenta Silano , filiae suae sponso , nondum puberi dedit , maioribus uero natu tam multis tamque facile , ut epistula communi legionum nomine extiterit petentium , ut legatis consularibus simul cum exercitu et triumphalia darentur , ne causam belli quoquo modo quaererent . Aulo Plautio etiam ouationem decreuit ingressoque urbem obuiam progressus et in Capitolium eunti et inde rursus reuertenti latus texit . Gabinio Secundo Cauchis gente Germanica superatis cognomen Cauchius usurpare concessit .	He likewise granted the consular ornaments to his Ducenarian procurators. From those who declined the senatorian dignity, he took away the equestrian. Although he had in the beginning of his reign declared, that he would admit no man into the senate who was not the great-grandson of a Roman citizen, yet he gave the "broad hem" to the son of a freedman, on condition that he should be adopted by a Roman knight. Being afraid, however, of incurring censure by such an act, he informed the public, that his ancestor Appius Caecus, the censor, had elected the sons of freedmen into the senate; for he was ignorant, it seems, that in the times of Appius, and a long while afterwards, persons manumitted were not called freedmen, but only their sons who were free-born. Instead of the expense which the college of quaestors was obliged to incur in paving the high-ways, he ordered them to give the people an exhibition of gladiators; and relieving them of the provinces of Ostia and [Cisalpine] Gaul, he reinstated them in the charge of the treasury, which, since it was taken from them, had been managed by the praetors, or those who had formerly filled that office. He gave the triumphal ornaments to Silanus, who was betrothed to his daughter, though he was under age; and in other cases, he bestowed them on so many, and with so little reserve, that there is extant a letter unanimously addressed to him by all the legions, begging him "to grant his consular lieutenants the triumphal ornaments at the time of their appointment to commands, in order to prevent their seeking occasion to engage in unnecessary wars." He decreed to Aulus Plautius the honour of an ovation, going to meet him at his entering the city, and walking with him in the procession to the Capitol, and back, in which he took the left side, giving him the post of honour. He allowed Gabinius Secundus, upon his conquest of the Chauci, a German tribe, to assume the cognomen of Chaucius.
25	Equestris militias ita ordinauit , ut post cohortem alam , post alam tribunatum legionis daret ; stipendiaque instituit et imaginariae militiae genus , quod uocatur ' supra numerum ,' quo absentes et titulo tenus fungerentur . milites domus senatorias salutandi causa ingredi etiam patrum decreto prohibuit . libertinos , qui se pro equitibus R . agerent , publicauit , ingratos et de quibus patroni quererentur reuocauit in seruitutem aduocatisque eorum negauit se aduersus libertos ipsorum ius dicturum . cum quidam aegra et adfecta mancipia in insulam Aesculapi taedio medendi exponerent , omnes qui exponerentur liberos esse sanxit , nec redire in dicionem domini , si conualuissent ; quod si quis necare quem mallet quam exponere , caedis crimine teneri . uiatores ne per Italiae oppida nisi aut pedibus aut sella aut lectica transirent , monuit edicto . Puteolis et Ostiae singulas cohortes ad arcendos incendiorum casus collocauit . Peregrinae condicionis homines uetuit usurpare Romana nomina dum taxat gentilicia . ciuitatem R . usurpantes in campo Esquilino securi percussit . prouincias Achaiam et Macedoniam , quas Tiberius ad curam suam transtulerat , senatui reddidit . Lyciis ob exitiabiles inter se discordias libertatem ademit , Rhodiis ob paenitentiam ueterum delictorum reddidit . Iliensibus quasi Romanae gentis auctoribus tributa in perpetuum remisit recitata uetere epistula Graeca senatus populique R . Seleuco regi amicitiam et societatem ita demum pollicentis , si consanguineos suos Ilienses ab omni onere immunes praestitisset . Iudaeos impulsore Chresto assidue tumultuantis Roma expulit . Germanorum legatis in orchestra sedere permisit , simplicitate eorum et fiducia commotus , quod in popularia deducti , cum animaduertissent Parthos et Armenios sedentis in senatu , ad eadem loca sponte transierant , nihilo deteriorem uirtutem aut condicionem suam praedicantes . Druidarum religionem apud Gallos dirae immanitatis et tantum ciuibus sub Augusto interdictam penitus aboleuit ; contra sacra Eleusinia etiam transferre ex Attica Romam conatus est , templumque in Sicilia Veneris Erycinae uetustate conlapsum ut ex aerario pop . R . reficeretur , auctor fuit . cum regibus foedus in foro icit porca caesa ac uetere fetialium praefatione adhibita . sed et haec et cetera totumque adeo ex parte magna principatum non tam suo quam uxorum libertorumque arbitrio administrauit , talis ubique plerumque , qualem esse eum aut expediret illis aut liberet .	His military organization of the equestrian order was this. After having the command of a cohort, they were promoted to a wing of auxiliary horse, and subsequently received the commission of tribune of a legion. He raised a body of militia, who were called Supernumeraries, who, though they were a sort of soldiers, and kept in reserve, yet received pay. He procured an act of the senate to prohibit all soldiers from attending senators at their houses, in the way of respect and compliment. He confiscated the estates of all freedmen who presumed to take upon themselves the equestrian rank. Such of them as were ungrateful to their patrons, and were complained of by them, he reduced to their former condition of slavery; and declared to their advocates, that he would always give judgment against the freedmen, in any suit at law which the masters might happen to have with them. Some persons having exposed their sick slaves, in a languishing condition, on the island of Aesculapius, because of the tediousness of their cure; he declared all who were so exposed perfectly free, never more to return, if they should recover, to their former servitude; and that if any one chose to kill at once, rather than expose, a slave, he should be liable for murder. He published a proclamation, forbidding all travellers to pass through the towns of Italy any otherwise than on foot, or in a litter or chair. He quartered a cohort of soldiers at Puteoli, and another at Ostia, to be in readiness against any accidents from fire. He prohibited foreigners from adopting Roman names, especially those which belonged to families. Those who falsely pretended to the freedom of Rome, he heheaded on the Esquiline. He gave up to the senate the provinces of Achaia and Macedonia, which Tiberius had transferred to his own administration. He deprived the Lycians of their liberties, as a punishment for their fatal dissensions; but restored to the Rhodians their freedom, upon their repenting of their former misdemeanors. He exonerated for ever the people of Ilium from the payment of taxes, as being the founders of the Roman race; reciting upon the occasion a letter in Greek, from the senate and people of Rome to king Seleucus, on which they promised him their friendship and alliance, provided that he would grant their kinsmen the Iliensians immunity from all burdens. He banished from Rome all the Jews, who were continually making disturbances at the instigation of one Chrestus. He allowed the ambassadors of the Germans to sit at the public spectacles in the seats assigned to the senators, being induced to grant them favours by their frank and honourable conduct. For, having been seated in the rows of benches which were common to the people, on observing the Parthian and Armenian ambassadors sitting among the senators, they took upon themselves to cross over into the same seats, as being, they said, no way inferior to the others, in point either of merit or rank. The religious rites of the Druids, solemnized with such horrid cruelties, which had only been forbidden the citizens of Rome during the reign of Augustus, he utterly abolished among the Gauls. On the other hand, he attempted to transfer the Eleusinian mysteries from Attica to Rome. He likewise ordered the temple of Venus Erycina in Sicily, which was old and in a ruinous condition, to be repaired at the expense of the Roman people. He concluded treaties with foreign princes in the forum, with the sacrifice of a sow and the form of words used by the heralds in former times. But in these and other things, and indeed the greater part of his administration, he was directed not so much by his own judgment, as by the influence of his wives and freedmen; for the most part acting in conformity to what their interests or fancies dictated.
26	Sponsas admodum adulescens duas habuit : Aemiliam Lepidam Augusti proneptem , item Liuiam Medullinam , cui et cognomen Camillae erat , e genere antiquo dictatoris Camilli . priorem , quod parentes eius Augustum offenderant , uirginem adhuc repudiauit , posteriorem ipso die , qui erat nuptiis destinatus , ex ualitudine amisit . uxores deinde duxit Plautiam Vrgulanillam triumphali et mox Aeliam Paetinam consulari patre . cum utraque diuortium fecit , sed cum Paetina ex leuibus offensis , cum Vrgulanilla ob libidinum probra et homicidii suspicionem . post has Valeriam Messalinam , Barbati Messalae consobrini sui filiam , in matrimonium accepit . quam cum comperisset super cetera flagitia atque dedecora C . Silio etiam nupsisse dote inter auspices consignata , supplicio adfecit confirmauitque pro contione apud praetorianos , quatenus sibi matrimonia male cederent , permansurum se in caelibatu , ac nisi permansisset , non recusaturum confodi manibus ipsorum . nec durare ualuit quin de condicionibus continuo tractaret , etiam de Paetinae , quam olim exegerat , deque Lolliae Paulinae , quae C . Caesari nupta fuerat . uerum inlecebris Agrippinae , Germanici fratris sui filiae , per ius osculi et blanditiarum occasiones pellectus in amorem , subornauit proximo senatu qui censerent , cogendum se ad ducendum eam uxorem , quasi rei p . maxime interesset , dandamque ceteris ueniam talium coniugiorum , quae ad id tempus incesta habebantur . ac uix uno interposito die confecit nuptias , non repertis qui sequerentur exemplum , excepto libertino quodam et altero primipilari , cuius nuptiarum officium et ipse cum Agrippina celebrauit .	He was trice married at a very early age, first to Aemilia Lepida, the grand-daughter of Autustus, and afterwards to Livia Medullina, who had the cognomen of Camilla, and was descended from the old dictator Camillus. The former he divorced while still a virgin, because her parents had incurred the displeasure of Augustus; and he lost the latter by sickness on the day fixed for their nuptials. He next married Plautia Urgulanilla, whose father had enjoyed the honour of a triumph; and soon afterwards, Aelia Paetina, the daughter of a man of consular rank. But he divorced them both; Paetina, upon some trifling cause of disgust; and Urgulanilla, for scandalous lewdness, and the suspicion of murder. After them he took in marriage Valeria Messalina,the daughter of Barbatus Messala, his cousin. But finding that, besides her other shameful debaucheries, she had even gone so far as to marry in his own absence Caius Silius, the settlement of her dowry being formally signed, in the presence of the augurs, he put her to death. When summoning his pretorians to his presence, he made to them this declaration: "As I have been so unhappy in my unions, I am resolved to continue in future unmarried; and if I should not, I give you leave to stab me." He was, however, unable to persist in this resolution; for he began immediately to think of another wife; and even of taking back Paetina, whom he had formerly divorced: he thought also of Lollia Paulina, who had been married to Caius Caesar. But being ensnared by the arts of Agrippina, the daughter of his brother Germanicus, who took advantage of the kisses and endearments which their near relationship admitted, to inflame his desires, he got some one to propose at the next meeting of the senate, that they should oblige the emperor to marry Agrippina, as a measure highly conducive to the public interest; and that in future liberty should be given for such marriages, which until that time had been considered incestuous. In less than twenty-four hours after this, he married her. No person was found, however, to follow the example, excepting one freedman, and a centurion of the first rank, at the solemnization of whose nuptials both he and Agrippina attended.
27	liberos ex tribus uxoribus tulit : ex Vrgulanilla Drusum et Claudiam , ex Paetina Antoniam , ex Messalina Octauiam et quem primo Germanicum , mox Britannicum cognominauit . Drusum † pompeium puberem amisit piro per lusum in sublime iactato et hiatu oris excepto strangulatum , cum ei ante paucos dies filiam Seiani despondisset . quo magis miror fuisse qui traderent fraude a Seiano necatum . Claudiam ex liberto suo Botere conceptam , quamuis ante quintum mensem diuortii natam alique coeptam , exponi tamen ad matris ianuam et nudam iussit abici . Antoniam Cn . Pompeio Magno , deinde Fausto Sullae , nobilissimis iuuenibus , Octauiam Neroni priuigno suo collocauit , Silano ante desponsam . Britannicum uicesimo imperii die inque secundo consulatu , natum sibi paruulum etiam tum , et militi pro contione manibus suis gestans et plebi per spectacula gremio aut ante se retinens assidue commendabat faustisque ominibus cum adclamantium turba prosequebatur . e generis Neronem adoptauit , Pompeium atque Silanum non recusauit modo , sed et interemit .	He had children by three of his wives; by Urgulanilla, Drusus and Claudia; by Petina, Antonia; and by Messalina, Octavia, and also a son, whom at first he called Germanicus, but afterwards Britannicus. He lost Drusus at Pompeii, when he was very young; he being choked with a pear, which in his play he tossed into the air, and caught in his mouth. Only a few days before, he had betrothed him to one of Sejanus's daughters; and I am therefore surprised that some authors should say he lost his life by the treachery of Sejanus. Claudia, who was, in truth, the daughter of Bbter his freedman, though she was born five months before his divorce, he ordered to be thrown naked at her mother's door. He married Antonia to Cneius Pompey the Great, and afterwards to Faustus Sylla, both youths of very noble parentage; Octavia to his step-son Nero, after she had been contracted to Silanus. Britannicus was born upon the twentieth day of his reign, and in his second consulship. He often earnestly commended him to the soldiers, holding him in his arms before their ranks; and would likewise show him to the people in the theatre, setting him upon his lap, or holding him out whilst he was still very young; and was sure to receive their acclamations, and good wishes on his behalf. Of his sons-in-law, he adopted Nero. He not only dismissed from his favour both Pompey and Silanus, but put them to death.
28	Libertorum praecipue suspexit Posiden spadonem , quem etiam Britannico triumpho inter militares uiros hasta pura donauit ; nec minus Felicem , quem cohortibus et alis prouinciaeque Iudaeae praeposuit , trium reginarum maritum ; et Harpocran , cui lectica per urbem uehendi spectaculaque publice edendi ius tribuit ; ac super hos Polybium ab studiis , qui saepe inter duos consules ambulabat ; sed ante omnis Narcissum ab epistulis et Pallantem a rationibus , quos decreto quoque senatus non praemiis modo ingentibus , sed et quaestoriis praetoriisque ornamentis honorari libens passus est ; tantum praeterea adquirere et rapere , ut querente eo quondam de fisci exiguitate non absurde dictum sit , abundaturum , si a duobus libertis in consortium reciperetur .	Amongst his freedmen, the greatest favourite was the eunuch Posides, whom, in his British triumph, he presented with the pointless spear, classing him among the military men. Next to him, if not equal, in favour was Felix, whom he not only preferred to commands both of cohorts and troops, but to the government of the province of Judea; and he became, in consequence of his elevation, the husband of three queens. Another favourite was Harpocras, to whom he granted the privilege of being carried in a litter within the city, and of holding public spectacles for the entertainment of the people. In this class was likewise Polybius, who assisted him in his studies, and had often the honour of walking between the two consuls. But above all others, Narcissus, his secretary, and Pallas, the comptroller of his accounts, were in high favour with him. He not only allowed them to receive, by decree of the senate, immense presents, but also to be decorated with the questorian and praetorian ensigns of honour. So much did he indulge them in amassing wealth, and plundering the public, that, upon his complaining, once, of the lowness of his exchequer, some one said, with great reason, that "It would be full enough, if those two freedmen of his would but take him into partnership with them."
29	his , ut dixi , uxoribusque addictus , non principem , sed ministrum egit , compendio cuiusque horum uel etiam studio aut libidine honores exercitus impunitates supplicia largitus est , et quidem insciens plerumque et ignarus . ac ne singillatim minora quoque enumerem , reuocatas liberalitates eius , iudicia rescissa , suppositos aut etiam palam immutatos datorum officiorum codicillos : Appium Silanum consocerum suum Iuliasque , alteram Drusi , alteram Germanici filiam , crimine incerto nec defensione ulla data occidit , item Cn . Pompeium maioris filiae uirum et L . Silanum minoris sponsum . ex quibus Pompeius in concubitu dilecti adulescentuli confossus est , Silanus abdicare se praetura ante IIII . Kal . Ian . morique initio anni coactus die ipso Claudi et Agrippinae nuptiarum . in quinque et triginta senatores trecentosque amplius equites R . tanta facilitate animaduertit , ut , cum de nece consularis uiri renuntiante centurione factum esse quod imperasset , negaret quicquam se imperasse , nihilo minus rem comprobaret , affirmantibus libertis officio milites functos , quod ad ultionem imperatoris ultro procucurrissent . nam illud omnem fidem excesserit quod nuptiis , quas Messalina cum adultero Silio fecerat , tabellas dotis et ipse consignauerit , inductus , quasi de industria simularentur ad auertendum transferendumque periculum , quod imminere ipsi per quaedam ostenta portenderetur .	Being entirely governed by these freedmen, and, as I have already said, by his wives, he was a tool to others, rather than a prince. He distributed offices, or the command of armies, pardoned or punished, according as it suited their interests, their passions, or their caprice; and for the most part, without knowing, or being sensible of what he did. Not to enter into minute details relative to the revocation of grants, the reversal of judicial decisions, obtaining his signature to fictitious appointments, or the bare-faced alteration of them after signing; he put to death Appius Silanus, the father of his son-in-law, and the two Julias, the daughters of Drusus and Germanicus, without any positive proof of the crimes with which they were charged, or so much as permitting them to make any defence. He also cut of Cneius Pompey, the husband of his eldest daughter; and Lucius Silanus, who was betrothed to the younger Pompey, was stabbed in the act of unnatural lewdness with a favourite paramour. Silanus was obliged to quit the office of praetor upon the fourth of the calends of January [29th Dec.], and to kill himself on new year's day following, the very same on which Claudius and Agrippina were married. He condemned to death five and thirty senators, and above three hundred Roman knights, with so little attention to what he did, that when a centuon brought him word of the execution ofa man of consular rank, who was one of the number, and told him that he had executed his order, he declared, "he had ordered no such thing, but that he approved of it;" because his freedmen, it seems, had said, that the soldiers did nothing more than their duty, in dispatching the emperor's enemies without waiting for a warrant. But it is beyond all belief, that he himself, at the marriage of Messalina with the adulterous Silius, should actually sign the writings relative to her dowry; induced, as it is pretended, by the design of diverting from himself and transferring upon another the danger which some omens seemed to threaten him.
30	Auctoritas dignitasque formae non defuit † et ueterum stanti uel sedenti ac praecipue quiescenti , nam et prolixo nec exili corpore erat et specie canitieque pulchra , opimis ceruicibus ; ceterum et ingredientem destituebant poplites minus firmi , et remisse quid uel serio agentem multa dehonestabant : risus indecens , ira turpior spumante rictu , umentibus naribus , praeterea linguae titubantia caputque cum semper tum in quantulocumque actu uel maxime tremulum .	Either standing or sitting, but especially when he lay asleep, he had a majestic and graceful apearance; for he was tall, but not slender. His grey locks became him well, and he had a full neck. But his knees were feeble, and failed him in walking, so that his gait was ungainly, both when he assumed state, and when he was taking diversion. He was outrageous in his laughter, and still more so in his wrath, for then he foamed at the mouth, and discharged from his nostrils. He also stammered in his speech, and had a tremulous motion of the head at all times, but particularly when he was engaged in any business, however trifling.
31	ualitudine sicut olim graui , ita princeps prospera usus est excepto stomachi dolore , quo se correptum etiam de consciscenda morte cogitasse dixit .	Though his health was very infirm during the former part of his life, yet, after he became emperor, he enjoyed a good state of health, except only that he was subject to a pain of the stomach. In a fit of this complaint, he said he had thoughts of killing himself.
32	Conuiuia agitauit et ampla et assidua ac fere patentissimis locis , ut plerumque sesceni simul discumberent . conuiuatus est et super emissarium Fucini lacus ac paene summersus , cum emissa impetu aqua redundasset . adhibebat omni cenae et liberos suos cum pueris puellisque nobilibus , qui more ueteri ad fulcra lectorum sedentes uescerentur . conuiuae , qui pridie scyphum aureum subripuisse existimabatur , reuocato in diem posterum calicem fictilem apposuit . dicitur etiam meditatus edictum , quo ueniam daret flatum crepitumque uentris in conuiuio emittendi , cum periclitatum quendam prae pudore ex continentia repperisset .	He gave entertainments as frequent as they were splendid, and generally when there was such ample room, that very often six hundred guests sat down together. At a feast he gave on the banks of the canal for draining the Fucine Lake, he narrowly escaped being drowned, the water at its discharge rushing out with such violence, that it overflowed the conduit. At supper he had always his own children, with those of several of the nobility, who, according to an ancient custom, sat at the feet of the couches. One of his guests having been suspected of purloining a golden cup, he invited him again the next day, but served him. with a porcelain jug. It is said, too, that he intended to publish an edict, "allowing to all people the liberty of giving vent at table to any distension occasioned by flatulence," upon hearing of a person whose modesty, when under restraint, had nearly cost him his life.
33	Cibi uinique quocumque et tempore et loco appetentissimus , cognoscens quondam in Augusti foro ictusque nidore prandii , quod in proxima Martis aede Saliis apparabatur , deserto tribunali ascendit ad sacerdotes unaque decubuit . nec temere umquam triclinio abscessit nisi distentus ac madens , et ut statim supino ac per somnum hianti pinna in os inderetur ad exonerandum stomachum . somni breuissimi erat . nam ante mediam noctem plerumque uigilabat , ut tamen interdiu nonnumquam in iure dicendo obdormisceret uixque ab aduocatis de industria uocem augentibus excitaretur . libidinis in feminas profusissimae , marum omnino expers . aleam studiosissime lusit , de cuius arte librum quoque emisit , solitus etiam in gestatione ludere , ita essedo alueoque adaptatis ne lusus confunderetur .	He was always ready to eat and drink at any time or in any place. One day, as he was hearing causes in the forum of Augustus, he smelt the dinner which was preparing for the Salii, in the temple of Mars adjoining, whereupon he quitted the tribunal, and went to partake of the feast with the priests. He scarcely ever left the table until he had thoroughly crammed himself and drank to intoxication; and then he would immediately fall asleep, lying upon his back with his'mouth open. While in this condition, a feather was put down his throat, to make him throw up the contents of his stomach. Upon composing himself to rest, his sleep was short, and he usually awoke before midnight; but he would sometimes sleep in the daytime, and that, even, when he was upon the tribunal; so that the advocates often found it difficult to wake him, though they raised their voices for that purpose. He set no bounds to his libidinous intercourse with women, but never betrayed any unnatural desires for the other sex. He was fond of gaming, and published a book upon the subject. He even used to play as he rode in his chariot, having the tables so fitted, that the game was not disturbed by the motion of the carriage.