§34Saeuum et sanguinarium natura fuisse, magnis minimisque apparuit rebus.
That he was by nature cruel and bloodthirsty appeared from matters both great and small.
tormenta quaestionum poenasque parricidarum repraesentabat exigebatque coram.
He would have the tortures of examinations and the punishments of parricides executed without delay, and demanded them in his own presence.
cum spectare antiqui moris supplicium Tiburi concupisset et deligatis ad palum noxiis carnifex deesset, accitum ab urbe uesperam usque opperiri perseuerauit.
When he had desired to witness a punishment according to ancient custom at Tibur, and the executioner was missing after the criminals had been bound to the stake, he persisted in waiting until evening for one who had been summoned from the city.
quocumque gladiatorio munere, uel suo uel alieno, etiam forte prolapsos iugulari iubebat, maxime retiarios, ut expirantium facies uideret.
At any gladiatorial show, whether his own or another's, he would order even those who had fallen by chance to be slit in the throat, especially the net-fighters, so that he might watch the faces of the dying.
cum par quoddam mutuis ictibus concidisset, cultellos sibi paruulos ex utroque ferro in usum fieri sine mora iussit.
When a certain pair of gladiators had fallen by mutual blows, he ordered little pocket-knives to be made for his own use from both of their blades without delay.
bestiaris meridianisque adeo delectabatur, ut et prima luce ad spectaculum descenderet et meridie dimisso ad prandium populo persederet praeterque destinatos etiam leui subitaque de causa quosdam committeret, de fabrorum quoque ac ministrorum atque id genus numero, si automatum uel pegma uel quid tale aliud parum cessisset.
He was so delighted with wild-beast hunts and the midday spectacles that he would go down to the show at dawn, and at midday, when the people were dismissed for luncheon, he would remain seated; and besides those scheduled, he would match others for some slight and sudden reason, even from the number of carpenters, attendants, and that class of people, if an automatic device, a movable platform, or any other such thing had failed to work properly.
induxit et unum ex nomenculatoribus suis, sic ut erat togatus.
He even brought in one of his nomenclators, just as he was, in his toga.
§35Sed nihil aeque quam timidus ac diffidens fuit.
But he was nothing so much as timid and suspicious.
primis imperii diebus quanquam, ut diximus, iactator ciuilitatis, neque conuiuia inire ausus est nisi ut speculatores cum lanceis circumstarent militesque uice ministrorum fungerentur, neque aegrum quemquam uisitauit nisi explorato prius cubiculo culcitisque et stragulis praetemptatis et excussis.
In the first days of his reign, although, as we have said, he made a display of civic equality, he did not dare to attend banquets unless bodyguards with lances stood around him and soldiers performed the duty of attendants, nor did he visit any sick person unless the bedroom had first been searched, and the mattresses and blankets felt and shaken out.
reliquo autem tempore salutatoribus scrutatores semper apposuit, et quidem omnibus et acerbissimos.
In the remaining time, moreover, he always assigned searchers to those who came to pay their respects, and indeed to all of them, and most severe ones.
sero enim ac uix remisit, ne feminae praetextatique pueri et puellae contrectarentur et ne cuius comiti aut librario calamariae et graphiariae thecae adimerentur.
For it was late and only with difficulty that he relaxed the rule so that women and young boys and girls wearing the toga praetexta should not be pawed over, and that inkhorns and pen-cases should not be taken away from anyone's companion or scribe.
motu ciuili cum eum Camillus, non dubitans etiam citra bellum posse terreri, contumeliosa et minaci et contumaci epistula cedere imperio iuberet uitamque otiosam in priuata re agere, dubitauit adhibitis principibus uiris an optemperaret.
During a civil outbreak, when Camillus, not doubting that he could be terrified even without a war, ordered him in an insulting, threatening, and insolent letter to resign the empire and lead an idle life in retirement, Claudius, having summoned the leading men, deliberated whether he should comply.
§36quasdam insidias temere delatas adeo expauit, ut deponere imperium temptauerit.
He was so terrified by certain conspiracies which were reported without foundation, that he attempted to resign the empire.
quodam, ut supra rettuli, cum ferro circa sacrificantem se deprehenso, senatum per praecones propere conuocauit lacrimisque et uociferatione miseratus est condicionem suam, cui nihil tuti usquam esset, ac diu publico abstinuit.
When a certain man, as I related above, was caught with a dagger near him as he was sacrificing, he hastily summoned the senate by heralds, and with tears and outcries bewailed his condition, for whom nothing was safe anywhere, and for a long time abstained from public life.
Messalinae quoque amorem flagrantissimum non tam indignitate contumeliarum quam periculi metu abiecit, cum adultero Silio adquiri imperium credidisset; quo tempore foedum in modum trepidus ad castra confugit, nihil tota uia quam essetne sibi saluum imperium requirens.
He cast off even his most burning love for Messalina not so much through the indignity of her insults as through fear of danger, since he believed that the empire was being acquired by her adulterous lover Silius; at which time, trembling in a shameful manner, he fled to the camp, asking nothing along the whole way except whether the empire was still safe for him.
§37nulla adeo suspicio, nullus auctor tam leuis extitit, a quo non mediocri scrupulo iniecto ad cauendum ulciscendumque compelleretur.
No suspicion was so slight, no informant so trivial, that it did not inject a considerable anxiety into him and compel him to take precautions and seek vengeance.
unus ex litigatoribus seducto in salutatione affirmauit, uidisse se per quietem occidi eum a quodam; dein paulo post, quasi percussorem agnosceret, libellum tradentem aduersarium suum demonstrauit: confestimque is pro deprenso ad poenam raptus est.
One of the litigants, having drawn him aside during the morning salutatio, declared that he had seen in his sleep that the emperor was being killed by someone; then shortly after, as if recognizing the assassin, he pointed out his own legal opponent who was handing in a petition; and immediately the man, as if caught in the act, was dragged off to punishment.
pari modo oppressum ferunt Appium Silanum: quem cum Messalina et Narcissus con spirassent perdere, diuisis partibus alter ante lucem similis attonito patroni cubiculum inrupit, affirmans somniasse se uim ei ab Appio inlatam; altera in admirationem formata sibi quoque eandem speciem aliquot iam noctibus obuersari rettulit; nec multo post ex composito inrumpere Appius nuntiatus, cui pridie ad id temporis ut adesset praeceptum erat, quasi plane repraesentaretur somnii fides, arcessi statim ac mori iussus est.
In like manner they say Appius Silanus was ruined; when Messalina and Narcissus had conspired to destroy him, they divided the parts between them, and the one, before dawn, broke into his patron's bedroom, feigning astonishment, asserting that he had dreamed that violence was offered to him by Appius; the other, shaping her features to express wonder, reported that the same vision had appeared to her too for several nights now; and not long after, Appius was announced to be breaking in, according to the plot (having been ordered the day before to be present at that very time), and as if the truth of the dream were clearly being realized, he was ordered to be summoned immediately and put to death.
nec dubitauit postero die Claudius ordinem rei gestae perferre ad senatum ac liberto gratias agere, quod pro salute sua etiam dormiens excubaret.
Nor did Claudius hesitate on the following day to report the sequence of events to the senate and to express his thanks to the freedman for keeping watch over his safety even while asleep.