The night before he
crucified the comptroller of his household, he treated him with the
most flattering marks of friendship, and ordered him a dish of meat
from his own table. He carried Areti'nus Cle'mens with him in his own
litter the day he resolved upon his death. 14. He was particularly
terrible to the senate and nobility, the whole body of whom he
frequently threatened to extirpate entirely. At one time he surrounded
the senate-house with his troops, to the great consternation of the
senators. At another, he resolved to amuse himself with their terrors
in a different manner. 15. Having invited them to a public
entertainment, he received them all very formally at the entrance of
his palace, and conducted them into a spacious hall, hung round with
black, and illuminated by a few melancholy lamps, that diffused no
more light than was just sufficient to show the horrors of the place.
All around were to be seen coffins, with the names of each of the
senators written upon them, together with other objects of terror, and
instruments of execution.
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