big pack of foolishness.”  Yet the man met no dire fate, for he was a shoemaker.  Persons of such rank as Gaius can bear the frankness of the common herd more easily than that of those who hold high position.—­Now this was the attire he would assume whenever he pretended to be some god; and there were suitable supplications, prayers, and sacrifices offered to it. [-27-] Otherwise, he usually appeared in public in silk and triumphal dress.  Very few were those whom he would kiss.  To most of the senators even he extended his hand or foot for homage.  Consequently the men who were kissed by him thanked him for it even in the senate, though all might see him kissing dancers every day. [And these divine honors paid him came not only from the many, accustomed at all times to flatter, but from those who really pretended to be something.]

Take the case of Lucius Vitellius, not of low birth nor without sense, a man who, on the contrary, had become famous by his governorship of Syria.  In addition to his other brilliant exploits as an official he spoiled a plot of Artabanus in that region.  He encountered the latter, who had suffered no punishment for Armenia, already close to the Euphrates and terrified him by his sudden appearance.  He then induced him to come to a conference and finally compelled him to sacrifice to the images of Augustus and Gaius.  Furthermore he made a peace with him that was advantageous for the Romans and secured his children as hostages.  This Vitellius, then, was summoned by Gaius to be put to death.  The complaint against him was the same as the Parthians had against their king whom they expelled.  Jealousy made him the object of hatred, and fear the object of plots. [For every power stronger than himself Gaius entertained hatred, and he was suspicious of whatever was successful, feeling sure that it would ultimately attack him.] But Vitellius saved his life by somehow presenting himself in such a way as to appear of less importance than his reputation would lead one to expect.  He fell at the emperor’s feet shedding tears of lamentation, all the time saluting him frequently as divine and paying him worship; at last he vowed that should he survive he would sacrifice to Gaius.  By this behavior he so mollified the offended monarch and won his good-will that he not only managed to survive but came to be regarded as one of his lord’s most intimate friends.  On one occasion Gaius declared he was enjoying converse with the Moon Goddess, and when he asked Vitellius if he could see the goddess with him, the other kept his eyes fixed on the ground, as if overcome by amazement.  In a half whisper he answered:  “Only you gods, master, may behold one another.”—­So Vitellius from these beginnings, later came to surpass all others in adulation.