A history of all nations from the earliest times; being a universal historical library . ory, which brought outthe dangerous deficiencies and the fatalpowers in the fabric that had been rearedby the first two emperors. The enthusiasm with which Rome greetedthe new emperor seemed justified by the wayin which Caius first employed the power thathad fallen to him. His pleasure at thegreeting Avith which the Romans receivedhim aroused in him the best determinations ; he intended to make the Romans happy. His first acts were intelligentand moderate, especially toward the senate. His generosity towar
A history of all nations from the earliest times; being a universal historical library . ory, which brought outthe dangerous deficiencies and the fatalpowers in the fabric that had been rearedby the first two emperors. The enthusiasm with which Rome greetedthe new emperor seemed justified by the wayin which Caius first employed the power thathad fallen to him. His pleasure at thegreeting Avith which the Romans receivedhim aroused in him the best determinations ; he intended to make the Romans happy. His first acts were intelligentand moderate, especially toward the senate. His generosity toward thepeople and the soldiers, his piety toward the dead and living members ofhis house, the putting aside of complaints for maiestas, made everywherea favorable impression. But most of all did he carry all classes withhim in his immoderate delight in games of all kinds, — a marked con-trast to the frugal parsimony of Tiberius. For eight months he con-tinued thus, when his boundless excesses brought on a dangeroussickness, from which he recovered ft)r the misfortune of the state and. Fig. 22. —Caius, bust m the Vati-can. (From a photo-graph.) 88 TEE JULIAN-CLAUDIAN DYNASTY. his own reputation. He had lived in a constant mental sickness probably affected his mind, but the mental disturbancethat now showed itself was that peculiar form known as the madnessof supreme power. A man of moderate gifts, of inferior education,morally and mentally without self-control, he came suddenly into thepossession of a power that seemed boundless. The temptation mustcome at every moment to try in all directions the effect of his absolutepower, and it depended solely upon accident whether it was directedto intelligent designs or to acts of cruelty and madness. In 38 the change appeared. Caius, whose favorite companionswere drivers of chariots and actors, began openly to display his caprices,with no restraint of dignity, and no sense of shame or of common
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