this series of slaughters with Gaius Appius Silanus.  This man, who was of very noble family and at the time was governor of Spain, he had sent for, pretending that he wanted to see him about something, had married him to Messalina’s mother, and had for some time held him in honor among his dearest and closest friends.  Then he suddenly killed him.  The reason was that Silanus had offended Messalina, the most abandoned and lustful of women, in refusing to lie with her, and by the slight shown the empress had alienated Narcissus, the emperor’s freedman.  As they had no true charge to bring against him, nor even one that would be believed, Narcissus invented a dream in which he declared he had seen Claudius murdered by the hand of Silanus.  So just before dawn, while the emperor was still in bed, he came all of a tremble to tell him the dream, and Messalina by expatiating on it made it worse.  Thus Silanus perished just because of a vision.

[-15-] After the latter’s death the Romans at once lost confidence in Claudius, and Annius Vinicianus with some others formed a plot against him.  The chief conspirator had been one of those proposed at the death of Gaius for the imperial office, and it was partly fear inspired by this fact that caused him to rebel.  As he possessed no considerable force, however, he sent to Furius Camillus Scribonianus, governor of Dalmatia, who had a large body of native and foreign troops.  Camillus, who was inclined to the project of his own accord, was induced to revolt at the same time, particularly because he had been spoken of for emperor.  When so much had been accomplished, many senators and knights joined the ranks of Annius.  They did him no good, however,[5] for the soldiers, because Camillus proffered them the name of populus and promised that he would restore to them their ancient freedom, suspected that they should have troubles and changes of government again and would therefore no longer obey him.  Then in terror he fled from them, and coming to the island Issa he there met a voluntary death.  Claudius for a time was quite cowed with fear and was ready at a demand from Camillus to withdraw from his sovereignty voluntarily.  Later he recovered courage and rewarded his soldiers among other methods by having the citizen legions (the seventh and the eleventh) named the Claudian, and the Faithful, and the Pious, by the senate itself.  Then he made reprisals upon those who had plotted against him and on this charge put many to death, among them a praetor, who first had to resign his office.  Numbers, of whom Vinicianus was one, committed suicide, for Messalina and Narcissus and all the latter’s fellow freedmen seized this opportunity to wreak their direst vengeance.  They employed slaves and liberti, for instance, and informers against their own masters.  These masters and others of undoubted nobility, foreigners and citizens alike, not only plebeians, but some of the knights and senators, were put to the torture in spite of the fact that Claudius at the very beginning of his reign had sworn not to torture any free citizen.