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27At the close of that year Valerius Asiaticus and Marcus Silanus became consuls, the former for a second time. Silanus held office for the period for which he had been elected; but Asiaticus, though chosen to serve for the whole year (as happened in the case of others, too) failed to finish his term, but resigned the office voluntarily. 2Some others, indeed, had done this also, but only by reason of poverty; for the expenses connected with the Circensian games had greatly increased, since there were usually twenty-four races. Asiaticus, however, resigned because of his very wealth, which also proved his destruction. 3For inasmuch as he was extremely well-to -do and by being consul a second time had aroused the dislike and jealousy of many, he desired to overthrow himself, so to speak, feeling that by so doing he would incur less danger; but in this he was deceived. 4Vinicius, on the other hand, though he suffered no harm from Claudius (for though a distinguished man, he was contriving to save his life by keeping quiet and minding his own business), did perish at the hands of Messalina, who suspected that he had killed his wife Julia and was angry because he refused to have intercourse with her, and therefore poisoned him. And yet even so he was held to deserve a public funeral and eulogies; for these honours were granted to many. 5Asinius Gallus, half-brother of Drusus by the same mother, conspired against Claudius, but instead of being put to death was banished. One reason for this, perhaps, was the fact that he had not got ready an army or collected any funds beforehand but was emboldened merely by his extreme folly, which led him to think that the Romans would submit to his ruling them on account of his family; but the chief reason was that he was a very small and ugly man and so, being held in contempt, incurred ridicule rather than peril.
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