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10In the meantime the letter was read. It was a long one, and contained no wholesale denunciation of Sejanus, but first some other matter, then a slight censure of his conduct, then something else, and after that some further objection to him; and at the close it said that two senators who were among his intimate associates must be punished and that he himself must be kept under guard. 2For Tiberius refrained from giving orders outright to put him to death, not because he did not wish to give such orders, but because he feared that some disturbance might result from such a course. At any rate, he pretended that he could not with safety even make the journey to Rome, and therefore summoned one of the consuls to him. Now the letter disclosed no more than this; but one could observe both by sight and hearing many and various effects produced by it. 3At first, before it was read, they had been lauding Sejanus, thinking that he was about to receive the tribunician power, and had kept cheering him, anticipating the honours for which they had hoped and making it clear to him that they would concur in bestowing them. 4When, however, nothing of the sort appeared, but they heard again and again just the reverse of what they had expected, they were at first perplexed, and then thrown into deep dejection. Some of those seated near him actually rose up and left him; for they now no longer cared to share the same seat with the man whom previously they had prized having as their friend. 5Then praetors and tribunes surrounded him, to prevent his causing any disturbance by rushing out, as he certainly would have done, if he had been startled at the outset by hearing any general denunciation. As it was, he paid no great heed to the successive charges as they were read, thinking each one a slight matter which stood alone, and hoping that, at best, no further charge, or, in any event, none that could not be disposed of, was contained in the letter; so he let the time slip by and remained in his seat.
6Meanwhile Regulus summoned him to go forward, but he paid no heed, not out of contempt—for he had already been humbled—but because he was unaccustomed to having orders addressed to him. But when the consul, raising his voice and also pointing at him, called the second and the third time, “Sejanus, come here,” he merely asked him, “Me? you are calling me?” At last, however, he stood up, and Laco, who had now returned, took his stand beside him. 7When finally the reading of the letter was finished, all with one voice denounced and threatened him, some because they had been wronged, others through fear, some to conceal their friendship for him, and still others out of joy at his downfall. 8Regulus did not put the vote to all the senators nor propose to any the death penalty, fearing opposition from some quarter and a disturbance in consequence; for Sejanus had numerous relatives and friends. He merely asked a single senator if he should not be imprisoned, and when he got an affirmative answer, he led Sejanus out of the senate, and together with the other magistrates and Laco took him down to the prison.
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