place on the elevated platform; and we took his proceeding as an omen.  Later he ascended his customary seat and from that point viewed the remainder of the spectacle with us.  Nothing more was done that resembled child’s play, but great numbers of men were killed.  At one place somebody delayed about slaying and he fastened the various opponents together and bade them all fight at once.  At that the men so bound struggled one against another and some killed those who did not belong to their group, since the numbers and the limited space had brought them into proximity.

[Sidenote:—­20—­] That spectacle as here described lasted fourteen days.  While the contests were going on we senators invariably attended, along with the knights, save that Claudius Pompeianus the elder never appeared, but sent his sons, remaining away himself.  He chose rather to be put to death for this than to behold the child of Marcus as emperor conducting himself so.—­Besides all the rest that we did, we shouted whatever we were bidden and this sentence continuously:  “Thou art lord, and thou art foremost, of all most fortunate:  thou dost conquer, thou shalt conquer; from everlasting, Amazonian, thou dost conquer!”

Of the rest of the people many did not even enter the theatre and some managed to steal out quietly, for they were partly ashamed of what was being done and partly afraid.  A story was current that he would like to shoot a few of them as Hercules had the Stymphalian birds.  This story was believed, too, because once he had gathered all the men in the city who by disease or some other calamity had lost their feet, had fastened some dragon’s extremities about their knees, and after giving them sponges to throw instead of stones had killed them with blows of a club, on the pretence that they were giants.

[Sidenote:—­21—­] This fear was shared by all, both us and the rest.  Here is another way in which he menaced us senators,—­an act which he certainly expected would be the death of us.  He had killed an ostrich, and cutting off its head he came toward where we were sitting.  In his left hand he held the spoils and in the right stretched aloft his bloody sword.  He spoke not a word, but with a grin wagged his head to and fro, intimating that he would subject us to this same treatment.  And many on the spot would have perished by the sword for laughing at him (for it was laughter and not grief that overcame us), had I not myself chewed a laurel leaf, which I got from my garland, and brought the rest who were sitting near me to munch similar sprigs, so that in the constant motion of our jaws we might conceal the fact that we were laughing.  After this occurrence he raised our spirits, since before fighting again as a gladiator he bade us enter the theatre in the equestrian garb and with woolen cloaks. (This was something we never do when going into the theatre unless some emperor has passed away).  And on the last day his helmet was carried out by the gates through which the dead are taken out.  That made us all without exception think that he was surely about to meet his end in some way.