Dios Rome, Vol. 6 | Page 4

was another man who had no connection with Macedonia, but had committed many dreadful crimes, and for this reason was tried before him in an appealed case. His name proved to be Alexander, and when the orator accusing him said repeatedly "the bloodthirsty Alexander, the god-detested Alexander," the emperor became angry, as if he were personally slandered, and spoke out: "If Alexander doesn't suit you, you may regard yourself as dismissed."
[Sidenote:--9--] Now this great Alexandrophile, Antoninus, [kept many men about him, alleging reasons after reasons, all fictitious, and wars upon wars. He had also this most frightful characteristic, that he was fond of spending money not only upon the soldiers but for all other projects with one sole end in view,--to] strip, despoil and grind down all mankind, and the senators by no means least. [In the first place, there were gold crowns that he kept demanding, on the constant pretext that he had conquered some enemy or other (I am not speaking about the actual manufacture of the crowns,--for what does that amount to?--but the great sums of money constantly being given under that name by the cities, for the "crowning" (as it is called) of their emperors). Then there was the provisions which we were all the time levying in great abundance from all quarters, sometimes seizing them without compensation and sometimes spending a little something on them: all this supply he presented or else peddled to the soldiers. And the gifts, which he demanded from wealthy individuals and from states. And the taxes, both the new ones which he published and the ten per cent. tax that he instituted in place of the twenty per cent. to apply to the emancipation of slaves, to bequests left to any one, and to all gifts; for he abolished in such cases the right of succession and exemption from taxes which had been accorded to those closely related to persons deceased. This accounts for his giving the title of Romans to all the men in his empire. Nominally it was to honor them, but his real purpose was to get an increased income by such means, since foreigners did not have to pay most of those taxes. But aside from all these] we were also compelled to build at our own expense all sorts of dwellings for him whenever he took a trip from Rome, and costly lodgings in the middle of even the very shortest journeys. Yet not only did he never live in them but he had no idea of so much as looking at a single one. Moreover, without receiving any appropriation from him we constructed hunting-theatres and race-courses at every point where he wintered or expected to winter. They were all torn down without delay and apparently the sole purpose of their being called into existence was to impoverish us.
[Sidenote:--10--] The emperor himself kept spending the money upon the soldiers (as we said) and upon beasts and horses. He was forever killing great collections of wild beasts, of horses, and also of domestic animals, forcing us to contribute the majority of them, though now and then he bought a few. One day he slew a hundred boars at once with his own hands. He raced also in chariots, and then he would wear the Blue costume. In all undertakings he was exceedingly hot-headed and exceedingly fickle, and besides this he possessed the rascality of his mother and of the Syrians, to which race she belonged. He would put up some kind of freedman or other wealthy person as director of games merely that in this occupation, too, the man might spend money. From below he would make gestures of subservience to the audience with his whip and would beg for gold pieces like one of the lowliest citizens. He said that he used the same methods of chariot-driving as the Sun god, and he took pride in the fact. Accordingly, during the whole extent of his reign the whole earth, so far as it yielded obedience to him, was plundered. Hence the Romans once at a horse-race uttered this among other cries: "We are destroying the living in order to bury the dead." The emperor would often say: "No man need have money but me, and I want it to bestow it on the soldiers." Once when Julia chided him for his great outlays upon them and said: "No longer is any resource, either just or unjust, left to us," he replied, exhibiting his sword: "Cheer up, mother: for, as long as we have this, money is not going to fail us."
[Sidenote:--11--] To those who flattered him, however, he distributed possessions and money.
?Julius Paulus [Footnote: Undoubtedly a mistake for the Julius Paulinus subsequently mentioned.] was a man of consular rank, who was a great chatterer and