power,—­that would make them stronger than he,—­nor again that they should have the right to grant such a thing to him, as if they had power and he was inferior to them.  For this reason he ofttimes found fault with various gifts, on the ground that they did not increase his splendor but rather diminished his power.  Being of this mind he used to become angry at those who did him honor if in any case it seemed that they had voted him less than he deserved.  So capricious was he that no one could easily suit him.

Accordingly, for the reasons mentioned he would not receive all of those ambassadors, affecting to mistrust that they were spies, but chose out a few and sent the rest back before they reached Gaul.  Those that he admitted to his presence were not accorded any august reception; indeed, he would have killed Claudius, had he not entertained a contempt for him, since the latter partly by nature and partly with intention gave the impression of great stupidity.  Others were again sent, more in number (for he had complained among other points of the smallness of the first embassy), and they made the announcement that many marks of distinction had been voted to him:  these he received gladly, even going out to meet them, for which action he received fresh honors at their hands.  This, however, was somewhat later.

At the time under discussion Gaius divorced Paulina on the pretext that she was barren, but really because he had had enough of her, and married Milonia Caesonia.  She had formerly been his mistress, but now as she was pregnant he chose to make her his wife and have her bear him a child a month later.  The people of Rome were disturbed by this behavior and were still further disturbed because a number of trials were hanging over their heads as a result of the friendship they had shown for his sisters and for the men who had been murdered:  even some aediles and praetors were compelled to resign their offices and stand trial.—­Meantime they also suffered from the excessive heat.  This grew so extremely severe that curtains were stretched across the Forum.—­Among the men exiled at this time Ofonius Tigillinus was banished on the charge of having had a liaison with Agrippina.

[-24-] All this, however, did not distress the people so much as their expectation that the cruelty and licentiousness of Gaius would go to still greater lengths.  They were particularly troubled on ascertaining that King Agrippa and King Antiochus were with him, like two tyrant-trainers.

[A.D. 40 (a. u. 793)]

As a consequence, while he was consul for the third time no tribune nor praetor dared to convene the senate.  For he had no colleague; though this, as some think, was not intentional, but the regular appointee died and no one else in so short a period of time as was available could be brought forward in the comitia to fill his place.  Moreover, the praetors who attend to the affairs of the consuls, whenever the