§21Congiaria populo saepius distribuit.
He distributed doles of money to the people very frequently.
spectacula quoque complura et magnifica edidit, non usitata modo ac solitis locis, sed et commenticia et ex antiquitate repetita, et ubi praeterea nemo ante eum.
He also gave many magnificent spectacles, not only of the usual kind and in the accustomed places, but also some that were newly invented or revived from antiquity, and in places where no one had ever done so before him.
ludos dedicationis Pompeiani theatri, quod ambustum restituerat, e tribunali posito in orchestra commisit, cum prius apud superiores aedes supplicasset perque mediam caueam sedentibus ac silentibus cunctis descendisset.
He opened the games for the dedication of Pompey's theater, which he had restored after it was burned, from a tribunal erected in the orchestra, after he had first offered worship in the temple above and had descended through the middle of the auditorium while everyone sat in silence.
fecit et saeculares, quasi anticipatos ab Augusto nec legitimo tempori reseruatos, quamuis ipse in historiis suis prodat, intermissos eos Augustum multo post diligentissime annorum ratione subducta in ordinem redegisse.
He also celebrated the Secular Games, on the ground that they had been anticipated by Augustus and not reserved for their proper time, although he himself admits in his own historical works that Augustus, after they had been long interrupted, restored them to their regular order after a very careful calculation of the years.
quare uox praeconis irrisa est inuitantis more sollemni ad ludos, quos nec spectasset quisquam nec spectaturus esset, cum superessent adhuc qui spectauerant, et quidam histrionum producti olim tunc quoque producerentur.
Therefore, the voice of the herald was laughed at when, according to the solemn formula, he invited the people to games "which no one had ever seen or would ever see again," since there were still people alive who had seen them, and some of the actors who had been produced on the former occasion were produced then as well.
circenses frequenter etiam in Vaticano commisit, nonnumquam interiecta per quinos missus uenatione.
He frequently held chariot races in the Vatican as well, sometimes introducing a wild beast hunt after every five heats.
circo uero maximo marmoreis carceribus auratisque metis, quae utraque et tofina ac lignea antea fuerant, exculto propria senatoribus constituit loca promiscue spectare solitis;
Moreover, having adorned the Circus Maximus with marble starting gates and gilded turning posts—both of which had previously been of tufa and wood—he assigned special seats to the senators, who had been accustomed to view the games promiscuously with the rest of the people.
ac super quadrigarum certamina Troiae lusum exhibuit et Africanas, conficiente turma equitum praetorianorum, ducibus tribunis ipsoque praefecto; praeterea Thessalos equites, qui feros tauros per spatia circi agunt insiliuntque defessos et ad terram cornibus detrahunt.
In addition to the chariot races, he exhibited the Trojan game and African beasts, which were dispatched by a troop of Praetorian cavalry under the leadership of their tribunes and the prefect himself; besides these, there were Thessalian horsemen, who drive wild bulls through the space of the circus, leap upon them when they are tired out, and drag them to the ground by their horns.
Gladiatoria munera plurifariam ac multiplicia exhibuit: anniuersarium in castris praetorianis sine uenatione apparatuque, iustum atque legitimum in Saeptis; ibidem extraordinarium et breue dierumque paucorum, quodque appellare coepit 'sportulam,' quia primum daturus edixerat, uelut ad subitam condictamque cenulam inuitare se populum.
He gave gladiatorial shows in many places and of various kinds: an annual one in the Praetorian camp, without wild beast hunts and elaborate apparatus; a regular and formal one in the Saepta; and in the same place an extraordinary one, which was short and lasted only a few days, and which he began to call "sportula," because when he was about to give it for the first time, he proclaimed that he was inviting the people as it were to a sudden and informal little dinner.
nec ullo spectaculi genere communior aut remissior erat, adeo ut oblatos uictoribus aureos prolata sinistra pariter cum uulgo uoce digitisque numeraret ac saepe hortando rogandoque ad hilaritatem homines prouocaret, dominos identidem appellans, immixtis interdum frigidis et arcessitis iocis; qualis est ut cum Palumbum postulantibus daturum se promisit, si captus esset.
Nor was he more affable or relaxed in any kind of spectacle, so much so that he would stretch out his left hand and, together with the common people, count with his voice and fingers the gold pieces offered to the victors, and by frequently encouraging and requesting them, he would provoke the people to merriment, repeatedly calling them "masters," occasionally mixing in cold and far-fetched jokes; such as when, on their demanding "Palumbus," he promised that he would give him to them, if he could be caught.
illud plane quantumuis salubriter et in tempore: cum essedario, pro quo quattuor fili deprecabantur, magno omnium fauore indulsisset rudem, tabulam ilico misit admonens populum, quanto opere liberos suscipere deberet, quos uideret et gladiatori praesidio gratiaeque esse.
The following, however, was clearly salutary and well-timed: when he had granted the wooden sword to a chariot-fighter for whom four sons were pleading, amid the great favor of everyone, he immediately sent a tablet around, admonishing the people how greatly they ought to rear children, whom they saw serving as a protection and source of favor even for a gladiator.
edidit et in Martio campo expugnationem direptionemque oppidi ad imaginem bellicam et deditionem Britanniae regum praeseditque paludatus.
He also exhibited on the Campus Martius the assault and sacking of a town in a realistic warlike representation, and the surrender of the kings of Britain, and presided clad in a general's cloak.
quin et emissurus Fucinum lacum naumachiam ante commisit.
Nay, even when he was about to let out the water of Lake Fucinus, he first gave a mock sea-fight.
sed cum proclamantibus naumachiariis: 'haue imperator, morituri te salutant!' respondisset: 'aut non,' neque post hanc uocem quasi uenia data quisquam dimicare uellet, diu cunctatus an omnes igni ferroque absumeret, tandem e sede sua prosiluit ac per ambitum lacus non sine foeda uacillatione discurrens partim minando partim adhortando ad pugnam compulit.
But when the combatants cried out: "Hail, emperor, those who are about to die salute you!" and he replied: "Or not," and after this word, as if a pardon had been granted, no one wanted to fight, he hesitated for a long time whether to destroy them all with fire and sword, but at last he leaped from his seat and, running along the margin of the lake with a grotesque hobble, partly by threats and partly by encouragement forced them to fight.
hoc spectaculo classis Sicula et Rhodia concurrerunt, duodenarum triremium singulae, exciente bucina Tritone argenteo, qui e medio lacu per machinam emerserat.
In this spectacle, a Sicilian and a Rhodian fleet engaged, each of twelve triremes, a silver Triton, which rose from the middle of the lake by machinery, sounding the charge with a trumpet.
§22Quaedam circa caerimonias ciuilemque et militarem morem, item circa omnium ordinum statum domi forisque aut correxit aut exoleta reuocauit aut etiam noua instituit.
Certain things concerning religious ceremonies and civil and military customs, as well as the status of all orders at home and abroad, he either corrected, or revived when obsolete, or even instituted anew.
in cooptandis per collegia sacerdotibus neminem nisi iuratus nominauit; obseruauitque sedulo, ut quotiens terra in urbe mouisset, ferias aduocata contione praetor indiceret, utque dira aue in Capitolio uisa obsecratio haberetur, eamque ipse iure maximi pontificis pro rostris populo praeiret summotaque operariorum seruorumque turba.
In co-opting priests into the colleges, he nominated no one except under oath; and he carefully observed that, whenever an earthquake occurred in the city, the praetor should summon an assembly and proclaim a holiday, and that whenever an ill-omened bird was seen on the Capitol, a public supplication should be held, which he himself, by his right as pontifex maximus, would lead before the rostra for the people, after the crowd of laborers and slaves had been removed.
§23Rerum actum diuisum antea in hibernos aestiuosque menses coniunxit.
He combined the court terms, which had previously been divided into winter and summer months.
iuris dictionem de fidei commissis quotannis et tantum in urbe delegari magistratibus solitam in perpetuum atque etiam per prouincias potestatibus demandauit.
The jurisdiction over trust-bequests, which had been customarily delegated to magistrates annually and only in the city, he transferred permanently and even to the governors in the provinces.
capiti Papiae Poppaeae legis a Tiberio Caesare, quasi sexagenarii generare non possent, addito obrogauit.
He repealed a section added to the Lex Papia Poppaea by Tiberius Caesar, which implied that men of sixty years could not procreate.
sanxit ut pupillis extra ordinem tutores a consulibus darentur, utque ii, quibus a magistratibus prouinciae interdicerentur, urbe quoque et Italia summouerentur.
He enacted that guardians should be appointed for orphans extraordinarily by the consuls, and that those who were excluded from the provinces by the magistrates should also be removed from the city and from Italy.
ipse quosdam nouo exemplo relegauit, ut ultra lapidem tertium uetaret egredi ab urbe.
He himself, by a new precedent, banished certain persons, forbidding them to go beyond the third milestone from the city.
De maiore negotio acturus in curia medius inter consulum sellas tribunicio subsellio sedebat.
When about to conduct business of greater importance in the senate, he used to sit on a tribunician bench between the chairs of the consuls.
commeatus a senatu peti solitos benefici sui fecit.
The leaves of absence, which had been customarily petitioned from the senate, he made a matter of his own personal favor.