and banished all their children at once by one decree.  Not even this satisfied him, but he destroyed not a few of the exiles.] For no one could begin to enumerate all the confiscated possessions of men allowed to live and all the votive offerings that he stole from the very temples in Rome. [The despatch-bearers hurried hither and thither with no piece of news other than “kill this man!” or that that man was dead.  No private messages, only state documents, were delivered; for Nero had taken many of the foremost men to Greece under pretence of needing some assistance from them merely in order that they might perish there. [Sidenote:—­12—­] The whole population of Rome and Italy he surrendered like captives to a certain Helius, a Caesarian.  The latter had been given absolutely complete authority, so that he might confiscate, banish, and put to death (even before notifying Nero) ordinary persons, knights, and senators alike.]

Thus the Roman domain was at that time a slave to two emperors at once,—­Nero and Helius; and I do not feel able to say which was the worse.  In most respects they behaved entirely alike, and the one point of difference was that the descendant of Augustus was emulating zither-players, whereas the freedman of Claudius was emulating Caesars.  I consider the acts of Tigillinus as a part of Nero’s career because he was constantly with him:  but Polyclitus and Calvia Crispinilla by themselves plundered, sacked, despoiled all the places they could get at.  The former was associated with Helius at Rome, and the latter with Sabina, born Sporus.  Calvia had been entrusted with the care of the boy and with the oversight of the wardrobe, though a woman and of high rank; and she saw to it that all were stripped of their possessions.

[Sidenote:—­13—­] Now Nero called Sporus Sabina not merely on account of the fact that by reason of resemblance to her he had been made a eunuch, but because the boy like the mistress had been solemnly contracted to him in Greece, with Tigillinus to give the bride away, as the law ordained.  All the Greeks held a festal celebration of their marriage, uttering all the customary good wishes (as they could not well help) even to the extent of praying that legitimate children might be born to them.  After that Nero took to himself two bedfellows, Pythagoras to treat as a man and Sporus as a woman.  The latter, in addition to other forms of address, was termed lady, queen, and mistress.

Yet why should one wonder at this, seeing that this monarch would fasten naked boys and girls to poles, and then putting on the hide of a wild beast would approach them and satisfy his brutal lust under the appearance of devouring parts of their bodies?  Such were the indecencies of Nero.

When he received the senators he wore a short flowered tunic with muslin collar, for he had already begun to transgress precedent in wearing ungirt tunics in public.  It is stated also that knights belonging to the army used in his reign for the first time saddle-cloths during their public review.