he would have had no protection against such as had come to know him; they would have taken everything by contraries and would have deemed his saying that he did not wish something to be equivalent to his ardently desiring it, and that he was eager for something equivalent to his not being concerned about it.  It happened, however, that he became angry if any one gave evidence of understanding him.  Many were those he put to death for no other offence than having comprehended him.  It was a dangerous matter, then, to fail to understand him—­for many were ruined by approving what he said instead of what he wished,—­but still more dangerous to understand him.  Such persons were suspected of discovering his practice and being consequently displeased with it.  Practically the only sort of man that could maintain himself,—­and such a person is rarely found,—­was one who did not misunderstand his nature yet did not subject it to uncomfortable exposure.  Under these conditions men would not be deceived by believing him nor be hated for revealing their comprehension of his policy.  For he gave plenty of trouble both to any one who opposed what he said and to any one who favored it.  As he was really anxious for one thing to be done but wanted to appear to desire something different, he invariably regarded those who took either side as his opponents and therefore was hostile to the one class because of his real feelings, and to the other for the sake of appearances.

[-2-] It was due to this characteristic that, as emperor, he sent a dispatch straight from Nola to the legions and provinces declaring that he was emperor.  This name, which was voted him along with the rest, he would not accept, and though taking the portion of Augustus he would not adopt this title of his.  At a time when he was already surrounded by the body-guards he asked the senate to help him escape suffering any violence at the burial of the emperor’s body.  He was afraid some men might snatch it up and burn it in the Forum, as they had that of Caesar.  When somebody thereupon as a compliment voted that he be given a guard, as if he had none, he saw through the man’s flattery and answered:  “The soldiers are not mine but the public’s.”  Besides doing this he administered in fact all the business of the empire, meanwhile declaring that he wanted none of it.  At first he said he should give it all up on account of his age,—­fifty-six,—­and his near-sightedness (although he saw extremely well in the dark, his eyes in the daylight were very weak).  Later he asked for some associates and colleagues, though not to take charge of the whole domain at once, as in an oligarchy, but he divided it into three parts, one of which he should retain himself and yield the remaining two to others.  One of these portions consisted of Rome and the rest of Italy, the second of the legions, the third of the subject peoples outside.  Though he became very urgent, most of the senators still opposed him and begged him to govern the entire