[Dbdom-devel] Nero once was of his "golde

[Myra G. <dig...@ml...>]

And I had risen from the charcoal- burning to be consul twice and a
grammarian and the friend of Marcus Aurelius; if you and I were as
handsome as he is, and had experienced a triumph after restoring
discipline in Britain and conducting two or three successful wars; and
if either of us had such a wife as Flavia Titiana, I believe we could
besmirch ourselves more constantly than Pertinax does! It is not that he
delights in women so much as that he thinks debauch is aristocratic.
Flavia Titiana is unfaithful to him. She is also a patrician and
unusually clever. He has never understood her, but she is witty, so he
thinks her wonderful and tries to imitate her immorality. But the only
woman who really sways him is the proudish Cornificia, who is almost as
incapable of treachery as Pertinax himself. He is the best governor the
City of Rome has had in our generation. Can you imagine what Rome would
be like without him? Call to mind what it was like when Fuscianus was
the governor!" "These are strange times, Sextus!" "Aye! And it is a
strange beast we have for emperor!" "Be careful!" Sextus glanced over
his shoulder to make sure that Scylax followed closely and prevented any
one from overhearing. There was an endless procession now, before and
behind, all bound for Daphne. As the riders passed under the city gate,
where the golden cherubim that Titus took from the Jews' temple in
Jerusalem gleamed in the westering sun, Sextus noticed a slave of the
municipium who wrote down the names of individuals who came and went.
"There are new proscriptions brewing," he remarked. "Some friends of
ours will not see sunrise. Well--I am in a mood to talk and I will not
be silenced." "Better laugh then!" Norbanus advised. "The deadliest
crime nowadays is to have the appearance of being serious. None suspects
a drunken or a gay man." Sextus, however, was at no pains to appear gay.
He inherited the moribund traditions that the older Cato had typified
some centuries ago. His young face had the sober, chiseled earnestne