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24He was blamed, indeed, for the great number of those slain, on the ground that he himself had not become sated with bloodshed and was further exhibiting to the populace symbols of their own miseries; but much more fault was found because he had expended countless sums on all that array. In consequence a clamour was raised against him for two reasons—first, that he had collected most of the funds unjustly, and, again, that he had squandered them for such purposes. 2If I mention one feature of his extravagance at that time, I shall thereby give an idea of all the rest. In order that the sun might not annoy any of the spectators, he had curtains stretched over them made of silk, according to some accounts. Now this fabric is a device of barbarian luxury, and has come down from them even to us to gratify the fastidious taste of fine ladies. 3The citizens perforce held their peace at such acts, but the soldiers raised a disturbance, not because they cared about the reckless squandering of the money, but because they themselves did not receive the citizens’ wealth too. In fact they did not cease their rioting until Caesar suddenly came upon them, and seizing one man with his own hands, delivered him up to punishment. 4So this man was executed for the reason given, and two others were slain as a sort of ritual observance. The true cause I am unable to state, inasmuch as the Sibyl made no utterance and there was no other similar oracle, but at any rate they were sacrificed in the Campus Martius by the pontifices and the priest of Mars, and their heads were set up near the Regia.
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