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14Thus perished Sejanus, after attaining to greater power than any of those who held this position either before or after him, with the exception of Plautianus. Moreover, his relatives, his associates, and all the rest who had paid court to him and had proposed the granting of honours to him were brought to trial. 2The majority of them were convicted for the acts that had previously made them objects of envy; and their fellow-citizens condemned them for the measures which they themselves had previously voted. Many men who had been tried on various charges and acquitted were again accused and now convicted, on the ground that they had been saved before as a favour to the man now fallen. 3Accordingly, if no other complaint could be brought against a person, the very fact that he had been a friend of Sejanus sufficed to bring punishment upon him—as if, forsooth, Tiberius himself had not been fond of him and thereby caused others to display such zeal in his behalf. 4Among those who gave information of this sort were the very men who had been foremost in paying court to Sejanus; for, inasmuch as they had accurate knowledge of those who were in the same position as themselves, they had no difficulty either in seeking them out or in securing their conviction. So these men, expecting to save themselves by this procedure and to obtain money and honours besides, were accusing others or bearing witness against them; but, as it turned out, they realized none of their hopes. 5For, as they were liable themselves to the same charges on which they were prosecuting the others, they perished also, partly for this very reason and partly as betrayers of their friends.
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