put in force or established on a new basis, and the institution of joint contributions, many of which kept being levied on the land and on the servants, displeased people moderately, it can not be denied.  But to have those who were in the slightest degree still prosperous, not only of the senators or knights but even among the freedmen, and men and women alike, bulletined on the tablets and another tenth of their wealth confiscated disturbed all beyond measure.  For it was only nominally that a tenth of his property was exacted from each one:  in reality not so much as a tenth was left.  They were not ordered to contribute a stated amount according to the value of their possessions, but they had the duty of estimating their own goods and then, being accused of not having made a fair estimate, they lost the rest besides.

[-17-] If any still escaped this somehow, yet they were brought into straits by the assessments, and as they were terribly destitute of money they too were in a way deprived of everything.  Moreover, the following device, distressing to hear but most distressing in practice, was put into operation.  Whoever of them wished was allowed by abandoning his property afterward to make a requisition for one-third of it, which meant getting nothing and also having trouble.  For when they were being openly and violently despoiled of two-thirds, how should they get back one-third, especially since goods were being sold for an infinitesimal price?  In the first place, since many wares were being advertised for sale at once and the majority of men were without gold or silver, and the rest did not dare to buy because it would look as if they had something and they would place in jeopardy the remnant of their wealth, the prices were relaxed:  in the second place, everything was sold to the soldiers far below its value.  Hence no one of the private citizens saved anything worth mentioning.  In addition to other drains they surrendered servants for the fleet, buying them if they had none, and the senators repaired the roads at their individual expense.  Only those who wielded arms enjoyed superlative wealth. They, to be sure, were not satisfied with their pay, though it was in full, nor with their outside perquisites, though of vast extent, nor with the very large prizes bestowed for the murders, nor with the acquisition of lands, which was made almost without cost to them.  But in addition some would ask for and receive all the property of the dying, and others still forced their way into the families of such as were old and childless.  To such an extent were they filled with greed and shamelessness that one man asked from Caesar himself the property of Attia, Caesar’s mother, who had died at the time and had been honored by a public burial.