§30Diuitiarum et pecuniae fructum non alium putabat quam profusionem,
"sordidos ac deparcos esse quibus impensarum ratio constaret, praelautos uereque magnificos qui abuterentur ac perderent. "
laudabat mirabaturque auunculum Gaium nullo magis nomine, quam quod ingentis a Tiberio relictas opes in breui spatio prodegisset.
He thought that the only fruit of riches and money was profusion, "that those for whom the account of expenses balanced were sordid and stingy, but those who abused and squandered their means were truly elegant and magnificent." He praised and admired his uncle Gaius on no account more than because he had squandered in a short time the vast wealth left by Tiberius.
quare nec largiendi nec absumendi modum tenuit.
Therefore, he kept no measure in either giving or spending.
in Tiridatem, quod uix credibile uideatur, octingena nummum milia diurna erogauit abeuntique super sestertium milies contulit.
On Tiridates, which may seem scarcely credible, he bestowed eight hundred thousand sesterces daily, and at his departure presented him with over one hundred million sesterces.
Menecraten citharoedum et Spiculum murmillonem triumphalium uirorum patrimoniis aedibusque donauit.
He presented Menecrates the lyre-player and Spiculus the murmillo with the estates and houses of men who had enjoyed triumphs.
cercopithecum Panerotem faeneratorem et urbanis rusticisque praediis locupletatum prope regio extulit funere.
He enriched Panerotes the usurer with urban and rural estates, and buried him with an almost royal funeral.
nullam uestem bis induit.
He never wore the same garment twice.
quadringenis in punctum sestertiis aleam lusit.
He played at dice for four hundred thousand sesterces on a single throw.
piscatus est rete aurato et purpura coccoque funibus nexis.
He fished with a golden net and ropes woven of purple and scarlet thread.
numquam minus mille carrucis fecisse iter traditur, soleis mularum argenteis, canusinatis mulionibus, armillata phalerataque Mazacum turba atque cursorum.
He is said never to have made a journey with fewer than a thousand carriages, the mules being shod with silver, the muleteers dressed in Canusian wool, and the crowd of Mazaces and runners adorned with bracelets and medallions.
§31Non in alia re tamen damnosior quam in aedificando domum a Palatio Esquilias usque fecit, quam primo transitoriam, mox incendio absumptam restitutamque auream nominauit. de cuius spatio atque cultu suffecerit haec rettulisse.
Yet in nothing was he more ruinously expensive than in building a house stretching from the Palatine to the Esquiline, which he at first called the "Transitory House," but when it was later destroyed by fire and restored, he named it the "Golden House." Of its size and luxury, it will be sufficient to relate these facts.
uestibulum eius fuit, in quo colossus CXX pedum staret ipsius effigie; tanta laxitas, ut porticus triplices miliarias haberet; item stagnum maris instar, circumsaeptum aedificiis ad urbium speciem; rura insuper aruis atque uinetis et pascuis siluisque uaria, cum multitudine omnis generis pecudum ac ferarum.
Its vestibule was large enough to contain a colossal statue of himself, one hundred and twenty feet high; and its extent was so great that it had triple colonnades, each a mile long; likewise a lake like a sea, surrounded by buildings styled like cities; moreover, rural landscapes varied with tilled fields, vineyards, pastures, and woods, with a multitude of all kinds of domestic and wild animals.
in ceteris partibus cuncta auro lita, distincta gemmis unionumque conchis erant; cenationes laqueatae tabulis eburneis uersatilibus, ut flores, fistulatis, ut unguenta desuper spargerentur; praecipua cenationum rotunda, quae perpetuo diebus ac noctibus uice mundi circumageretur; balineae marinis et albulis fluentes aquis.
In the other parts, everything was overlaid with gold, and adorned with gems and mother-of-pearl; the dining rooms had coffered ceilings of ivory tablets that were movable, so that flowers, and piped, so that perfumes, could be scattered from above; the chief dining room was circular, which turned round continually day and night, like the heavens; the baths flowed with sea-water and sulfur-water.
eius modi domum cum absolutam dedicaret, hactenus comprobauit, ut se diceret
"quasi hominem tandem habitare coepisse. "
Praeterea incohabat piscinam a Miseno ad Auernum lacum contectam porticibusque conclusam, quo quidquid totis Bais calidarum aquarum esset conuerteretur; fossam ab Auerno Ostiam usque, ut nauibus nec tamen mari iretur, longitudinis per centum sexaginta milia, latitudinis, qua contrariae quinqueremes commearent.
When he dedicated this house after its completion, he approved of it only so far as to say "that he had at last begun to live like a human being." Besides, he began a pool stretching from Misenum to Lake Avernus, covered and enclosed by colonnades, into which all the hot waters of the whole of Baiae were to be directed; and a canal from Avernus to Ostia, so that people might go by ship, yet not by sea, of a length of one hundred and sixty miles, and of a width that would allow quinqueremes to pass each other.
quorum operum perficiendorum gratia quod ubique esset custodiae in Italiam deportari, etiam scelere conuictos non nisi ad opus damnari praeceperat.
For the completion of these works, he had ordered that all prisoners from everywhere should be brought to Italy, and that even those convicted of crimes should not be condemned except to this labor.
Ad hunc impendiorum furorem, super fiduciam imperii, etiam spe quadam repentina immensarum et reconditarum opum impulsus est ex indicio equitis R. pro comperto pollicentis thesauros antiquissimae gazae, quos Dido regina fugiens Tyro secum extulisset, esse in Africa uastissimis specubus abditos ac posse erui paruula molientium opera.
To this madness of expenditure, besides his confidence in his empire, he was also impelled by a sudden hope of immense and hidden wealth, from the information of a Roman knight who promised for certain that the treasures of ancient wealth, which Queen Dido on fleeing from Tyre had carried with her, were hidden in Africa in vast caves, and could be dug up with very little labor of workmen.
§32uerum ut spes fefellit, destitutus atque ita iam exhaustus et egens ut stipendia quoque militum et commoda ueteranorum protrahi ac differri necesse esset, calumniis rapinisque intendit animum.
But when this hope failed, being destitute and now so exhausted and needy that it was necessary to delay and defer even the pay of the soldiers and the rewards of the veterans, he turned his mind to false accusations and plunder.
Ante omnia instituit, ut e libertorum defunctorum bonis pro semisse dextans ei cogeretur, qui sine probabili causa eo nomine essent, quo fuissent ullae fa miliae quas ipse contingeret; deinde, ut ingratorum in principem testamenta ad fiscum pertinerent, ac ne impune esset studiosis iuris, qui scripsissent uel dictassent ea; tunc ut lege maiestatis facta dictaque omnia, quibus modo delator non deesset, tenerentur.
Above all, he decreed that from the property of deceased freedmen, five-sixths instead of the usual half should be collected for him, from those who without a probable cause bore the name of any family with which he himself was connected; next, that the wills of those ungrateful to the prince should belong to the treasury, and that the legal experts who had written or dictated them should not go unpunished; then, that under the law of treason, all deeds and words should be held punishable, provided only that an informer was not lacking.
reuocauit et praemia coronarum, quae umquam sibi ciuitates in certaminibus detulissent.
He also demanded back the prizes of crowns which the cities had ever awarded him in contests.
et cum interdixisset usum amethystini ac Tyrii coloris summisissetque qui nundinarum die pauculas uncias uenderet, praeclusit cunctos negotiatores.
And having forbidden the use of amethyst and Tyrian colors, and having secretly sent someone to sell a few ounces on a market day, he shut down the businesses of all the merchants.
quin etiam inter canendum animaduersam matronam in spectaculis uetita purpura cultam demonstrasse procuratoribus suis dicitur detractamque ilico non ueste modo sed et bonis exuit.
Nay, it is said that while singing, having noticed in the audience a matron dressed in the forbidden purple, he pointed her out to his procurators, and she was immediately dragged out and stripped not only of her garment but also of her property.
nulli delegauit officium ut non adiceret: 'scis quid mihi opus sit,' et: 'hoc agamus, ne quis quicquam habeat. ' ultimo templis compluribus dona detraxit simulacraque ex auro uel argento fabricata conflauit, in iis Penatium deorum, quae mox Galba restituit.
He never delegated any office to anyone without adding: "You know what I need," and "Let us see to it that no one has anything." Finally, he stripped many temples of their gifts and melted down statues made of gold or silver, among them those of the Penates, which Galba soon after restored.