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26Now there was a certain Protogenes, who assisted the emperor in all his harshest measures, and was always carrying around two books, one of which he called his sword and the other his dagger. 2This Protogenes entered the senate one day as if on some other business, and when all the members, as was natural, saluted him, and were extending their greetings, he darted a sinister glance at Scribonius Proculus and said: “Do you, too, greet me, when you hate the emperor so?” On hearing this, all who were present surrounded their fellow-senator and tore him to pieces.
3When Gaius showed pleasure at this and declared that he had become reconciled with them, they voted various festivals and also decreed that the emperor should sit on a high platform even in the very senate-house, to prevent any one from approaching him, and should have a military guard even there; they likewise voted that his statues should be guarded. 4Because of these decrees Gaius put aside his anger against them, and with youthful impetuosity did a few excellent things. For instance, he released Pomponius, who was said to have plotted against him, inasmuch as he had been betrayed by a friend; and when the man’s mistress, upon being tortured, would not utter a word, he not only did her no harm but even honoured her with a gift of money. 5Gaius was praised for this, partly out of fear and partly with sincerity, and when some called him a demigod and others a god, he fairly lost his head. Indeed, even before this he had been demanding that he be regarded as more than a human being, and was wont to claim that he had intercourse with the Moon, that Victory put a crown upon him, and to pretend that he was Jupiter, and he made this a pretext for seducing numerous women, particularly his sisters; again, he would pose as Neptune, 6because he had bridged so great an expanse of sea; he also impersonated Hercules, Bacchus, Apollo, and all the other divinities, not merely males but also females, often taking the rôle of Juno, Diana, or Venus. Indeed, to match the change of name he would assume all the rest of the attributes that belonged to the various gods, so that he might seem really to resemble them. 7Now he would be seen as a woman, holding a wine-bowl and thyrsus, and again he would appear as a man equipped with a club and lion’s skin or perhaps a helmet and shield. He would be seen at one time with a smooth chin and later with a full beard. Sometimes he wielded a trident and again he brandished a thunderbolt. Now he would impersonate a maiden equipped for hunting or for war, and a little later would play the married woman. 8Thus by varying the style of his dress, and by the use of accessories and wigs, he achieved accuracy in many diverse parts; and he was eager to appear to be anything rather than a human being and an emperor. Once a Gaul, seeing him uttering oracles from a lofty platform in the guise of Jupiter, was moved to laughter, 9whereupon Gaius summoned him and inquired, “What do I seem to you to be?” And the other answered (I give his exact words): “A big humbug.” Yet the man met with no harm, for he was only a shoemaker. Thus it is, apparently, that persons of such rank as Gaius can bear the frankness of the common herd more easily than that of those who hold high position. 10The attire, now, that I have described was what he would assume whenever he pretended to be a god; and suitable supplications, prayers, and sacrifices would then be offered to him. At other times he usually appeared in public in silk or in triumphal dress.
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