Roman History, 60.25

Cassius Dio  translated by Earnest Cary

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25The next year Marcus Vinicius and Statilius Corvinus became consuls, the former for a second time. Claudius himself took all the customary oaths, but prevented the rest from taking oath individually. 2Accordingly, as in earlier times, one of the praetors, one of the tribunes, and one from each of the other groups of officials recited the oaths for their colleagues. This practice was followed for several years. In view of the fact that the city was becoming filled with a great multitude of images (for any who wished were free to have their likenesses appear in public in a painting or in bronze or marble), 3Claudius removed most of them elsewhere and for the future forbade that any private citizen should be allowed to follow the practice, except by permission of the senate or unless he should have built or repaired some public work; for he permitted such persons and their relatives to have their images set up in the places in question. 4After banishing the governor of one of the provinces for venality, the emperor confiscated to public uses all the profits which the man had made while in office. 5And in order to prevent such officials from eluding those who wished to bring them to trial, he would not give anybody an office immediately after his retirement from another. This, in fact, had been the custom in earlier days also, in order that anybody might freely institute suit against such officials in the intervening period; indeed, after their terms had expired, they were not even permitted to make trips away from the city in immediate succession, since it was intended that if they were guilty of any irregularity, they should not gain the further benefit of escaping investigation either by holding new offices or by absence from the city. This custom, however, had fallen into disuse. 6So carefully, now, did Claudius guard against both possibilities that he would not even permit one who had acted as assessor to a governor to draw lots at once for the governorship of a province that would naturally fall to him; nevertheless, he allowed some of them to govern for two years, and in some cases he sent out men appointed by himself. Those who requested the privilege of leaving Italy were given permission by Claudius on his own responsibility without action on the part of the senate; yet, in order to appear to be doing this under some form of law, he ordered that a decree should be passed sanctioning this procedure; 7and a similar vote was passed the next year also. He now celebrated the festival of thanksgiving which he had vowed for the success of his campaign. To the populace supported by public dole he gave three hundred sesterces apiece, and in some instances more, so that a few received as much as twelve hundred and fifty sesterces. 8He did not, however, distribute it all in person, but his sons-in -law assisted him, because the distribution lasted several days and he desired to hold court during this time. In the case of the Saturnalia he restored the fifth day, which had been designated by Gaius but later abolished.

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