§33Paulatim principem exeruit praestititque etsi uarium diu, commodiorem tamen saepius et ad utilitates publicas proniorem.
Gradually he revealed and proved himself a prince, and though he was changeable for a long time, he was nevertheless more often accommodating and more inclined toward public usefulness.
ac primo eatenus interueniebat, ne quid perperam fieret.
And at first he intervened only so far, lest anything should be done wrongly.
itaque et constitutiones senatus quasdam rescidit et magistratibus pro tribunali cognoscentibus plerumque se offerebat consiliarium assidebatque iuxtim uel exaduersum in parte primori; et si quem reorum elabi gratia rumor esset, subitus aderat iudices que aut e plano aut e quaesitoris tribunali legum et religionis et noxae, de qua cognoscerent, admonebat; atque etiam, si qua in publicis moribus desidia aut mala consuetudine labarent, corrigenda suscepit.
Therefore he both rescinded certain decrees of the senate, and when magistrates were holding trials from the tribunal, he would frequently offer himself as an adviser and sit next to them, or opposite them in the front part; and if there was a rumor that any of the accused was escaping through influence, he was suddenly present and, either from the floor or from the inquirer's tribunal, reminded the judges of the laws, of their oath, and of the crime about which they were investigating; and also, if any things in public morals were failing through neglect or evil custom, he undertook to correct them.
§34ludorum ac munerum impensas corripuit mercedibus scaenicorum recisis paribusque gladiatorum ad certum numerum redactis.
He curtailed the expenses of games and shows by cutting down the pay of actors and reducing the pairs of gladiators to a fixed number.
Corinthiorum uasorum pretia in immensum exarsisse tresque mullos triginta milibus nummum uenisse grauiter conquestus, adhibendum supellectili modum censuit annonamque macelli senatus arbitratu quotannis temperandam, dato aedilibus negotio popinas ganeasque usque eo inhibendi, ut ne opera quidem pistoria proponi uenalia sinerent.
Complaining bitterly that the prices of Corinthian vessels had flared up beyond measure, and that three mullets had been sold for thirty thousand sesterces, he proposed that a limit should be set on furniture, and that the prices of the provisions market should be regulated annually at the discretion of the senate, having given the aediles the task of restraining cookshops and taverns to such an extent that they would not even allow bakery goods to be exposed for sale.
et ut parsimoniam publicam exemplo quoque iuuaret, sollemnibus ipse cenis pridiana saepe ac semesa obsonia apposuit dimidiatumque aprum, affirmans omnia eadem habere, quae totum.
And in order to aid public parsimony by his own example also, he himself at solemn dinners often served up dishes from the day before that were half-eaten, and a half wild boar, declaring that a half had all the same qualities as the whole.
Cotidiana oscula edicto prohibuit, item strenarum commercium ne ultra Kal. Ian. exerceretur.
He prohibited daily kisses by an edict, and likewise the exchange of New Year's gifts, so that it should not be practiced beyond the Kalends of January.
consuerat quadriplam strenam, et de manu, reddere; sed offensus interpellari se toto mense ab iis qui potestatem sui die festo non habuissent, ultra non tulit.
He had been accustomed to return a fourfold gift, and from his own hand; but being annoyed at being interrupted during the whole month by those who had not had access to him on the holiday, he bore it no longer.
§35matronas prostratae pudicitiae, quibus accusator publicus deesset, ut propinqui more maiorum de communi sententia coercerent auctor fuit.
He advised that matrons of ruined chastity, for whom a public accuser was lacking, should be punished by their relatives according to ancestral custom, by common consent.
eq(uiti) R(omano) iuris iurandi gratiam fecit, uxorem in stupro generi compertam dimitteret, quam se numquam repudiaturum ante iurauerat.
He released a Roman knight from his oath, so that he might divorce his wife who had been detected in adultery with her son-in-law, whom he had previously sworn he would never repudiate.
feminae famosae, ut ad euitandas legum poenas iure ac dignitate matronali exoluerentur, lenocinium profiteri coeperant, et ex iuuentute utriusque ordinis profligatissimus quisque, quominus in opera scaenae harenaeque edenda senatus consulto teneretur, famosi iudicii notam sponte subibant; eos easque omnes, ne quod refugium in tali fraude cuiquam esset, exilio adfecit.
Infamous women, in order to escape the penalties of the laws by being released from the rights and dignity of a matron, had begun to profess prostitution; and all the most profligate of the youth of both orders, so that they might not be bound by the decree of the senate regarding exhibiting themselves on the stage or in the arena, voluntarily underwent the brand of an infamous judgment; all of these men and women, so that there might be no refuge for anyone in such fraud, he punished with exile.
senatori latum clauum ademit, cum cognosset sub Kal. Iul. demigrasse in hortos, quo uilius post diem aedes in urbe conduceret.
He deprived a senator of the broad stripe, when he found out that he had moved into his gardens just before the Kalends of July, in order to rent a house in the city more cheaply after that date.
alium e quaestura remouit, quod uxorem pridie sortitionem ductam postridie repudiasset.
He removed another from the quaestorship, because he had divorced his wife, whom he had married the day before the casting of lots, on the day after.
§36externas caerimonias, Aegyptios Iudaicosque ritus compescuit, coactis qui superstitione ea tenebantur religiosas uestes cum instrumento omni comburere.
He suppressed foreign ceremonies, Egyptian and Jewish rites, having compelled those who were held by that superstition to burn their religious vestments together with all their apparatus.
Iudaeorum iuuentutem per speciem sacramenti in prouincias grauioris caeli distribuit, reliquos gentis eiusdem uel similia sectantes urbe summouit, sub poena perpetuae seruitutis nisi obtemperassent.
He distributed the youth of the Jews under the guise of a military oath into provinces of a harsher climate, and removed the rest of that nation or those following similar practices from the city, under pain of perpetual slavery if they did not obey.
expulit et mathematicos, sed deprecantibus ac se artem desituros promittentibus ueniam dedit.
He also expelled the astrologers, but gave pardon to those who begged for it and promised that they would abandon their art.
§37In primis tuendae pacis a grassaturis ac latrociniis seditionumque licentia curam habuit.
Above all, he took care to maintain peace against bandits and robberies, and the license of seditions.
stationes militum per Italiam solito frequentiores disposuit.
He distributed military stations throughout Italy more frequently than usual.
Romae castra constituit, quibus praetorianae cohortes uagae ante id tempus et per hospitia dispersae continerentur.
At Rome he established a camp in which the praetorian cohorts, which before that time were wandering and dispersed through lodgings, might be kept together.
Populares tumultus et ortos grauissime coercuit et ne orerentur sedulo cauit.
Popular tumults both already arisen he suppressed most severely, and was carefully on his guard lest they should arise.
caede in theatro per discordiam admissa capita factionum et histriones, propter quos dissidebatur, relegauit, nec ut reuocaret umquam ullis populi precibus potuit euinci.
When a slaughter was committed in the theater through discord, he banished the heads of the factions and the actors on whose account the dispute was held, nor could he ever be prevailed upon by any entreaties of the people to recall them.
cum Pollentina plebs funus cuiusdam primipilaris non prius ex foro misisset quam extorta pecunia per uim heredibus ad gladiatorium munus, cohortem ab urbe et aliam a Cotti regno dissimulata itineris causa detectis repente armis concinentibusque signis per diuersas portas in oppidum immisit ac partem maiorem plebei ac decurionum in perpetua uincula coiecit.
When the populace of Pollentia would not allow the funeral of a certain chief centurion to leave the forum until money had been extorted by force from the heirs for a gladiatorial show, he dispatched a cohort from the city and another from the kingdom of Cottius, having concealed the reason for their march; then, suddenly revealing their arms and blowing their trumpets, they rushed into the town through different gates, and he threw the greater part of the plebeians and decurions into perpetual chains.
aboleuit et ius moremque asylorum, quae usquam erant.
He also abolished the right and custom of sanctuaries, wherever they existed.
Cyzicenis in ciues R. uiolentius quaedam ausis publice libertatem ademit, quam Mithridatico bello meruerant.
He publicly deprived the Cyzicenes of their liberty, which they had earned in the Mithridatic war, because they had dared to commit certain violent acts against Roman citizens.
Hostiles motus nulla postea expeditione suscepta per legatos compescuit, ne per eos quidem nisi cunctanter et necessario.
Hostile movements he suppressed thereafter without undertaking any expedition, but through his legates, and not even through them except hesitatingly and by necessity.
reges infestos suspectosque comminationibus magis et querelis quam ui repressit; quosdam per blanditias atque promissa extractos ad se non remisit, ut Marobodum Germanum, Rhascuporim Thracem, Archelaum Cappadocem, cuius etiam regnum in formam prouinciae redegit.
Hostile and suspected kings he repressed more by threats and complaints than by force; some, having been drawn to him by flatteries and promises, he did not send back, such as Maroboduus the German, Rhascuporis the Thracian, and Archelaus the Cappadocian, whose kingdom he even reduced to the form of a province.