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16Most of the estates of those who failed to die in this manner were confiscated, only a little or even nothing at all being given to their accusers; for Tiberius was now inclined to be far more strict in the matter of money. 2For this reason he increased to one per cent. a certain tax which had been only one-half of one per cent. and was accepting every inheritance that was left to him; and for that matter, nearly everybody left him something, even those who made away with themselves, as they had also done to Sejanus while he was alive.
3Furthermore, with the same purpose that had prompted him not to take away the wealth of those who perished voluntarily, Tiberius caused all accusations to be lodged with the senate, so that he should be free from blame himself (as he imagined) and the senate should pass sentence upon itself as guilty of wrong-doing. 4Hence people learned only too clearly, now that they were perishing at one another’s hands, that their former woes were the work of Tiberius quite as much as the work of Sejanus. For it happened not only that those who had accused others were brought to trial and those who had testified against others now found others testifying against them, but also that those who had condemned others were convicted in their turn. 5So it was that neither Tiberius spared anyone, but employed all the citizens without exception against one another, nor, for that matter, could anybody rely upon the loyalty of any friend; but the guilty and the innocent, the timorous and the fearless, stood on the same footing when face to face with the inquiry into the charges involving the acts of Sejanus. 6For, although he decided after a long time to propose a sort of amnesty for these offences, in that he permitted all those who so desired to go into mourning for Sejanus (forbidding all interference with such acts in the case of any other person also, though decrees to this effect were frequently passed), yet he did not live up to this edict in fact, but after a brief interval punished a good many for so honouring Sejanus and on sundry lawless charges, the accusation generally being that they had outraged and murdered their nearest kinswomen.
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