As soon, therefore, as Gordianus was satisfied that his case was hopeless he declared to his relatives that, “He would starve himself to death.” They pleaded with him faithfully and caused most tempting food to be always within his reach, but later they took pride in telling of his iron will which rejected all their efforts. At last the end came, and all his circle remarked that Gordianus died as became a Roman senator and a true philosopher. Suicides for more trivial reasons than the above are, of course, reported every day.[87] =147. Execution of Wills. Numerous Legacies Customary.=--Before Gordianus became too weak, he called in a group of friends to witness the revision of his will. The right to execute a will is a precious privilege for Roman citizens,[88] and the law allows wide options in disposing of one’s property. A Roman gentleman makes his will many times and is constantly revising or adding codicils to the same. Slaves are not supposed to make testaments--their small _peculia_ must legally revert to their masters; but the more decent owners allow even slaves to bequeath their belongings to fellow-slaves. A will implies much more than merely distributing one’s property among near kin. Gordianus’s widow and son were in fact well content when they found not more than two-fifths of the large estate was to pass outside the family. It is a deadly insult--all the more deadly because the departed are beyond retaliation--to fail to remember a familiar acquaintance with a sizable legacy.[89] “When the tablets are opened” all Rome knows how a man has paid his social debts, usually to people who have no blood connection. Was the ex-ædile Numerius angry because he only received 10,000 sesterces ($400)? And why was that ill-mannered old eques Albinus left 20,000? And why was the banker Velocius, once such a confidant, left nothing at all? Did Gordianus wish to brand the last-named as a scoundrel? The list of slaves enfranchised, and also of those specifically refused enfranchisement is carefully scanned; as well as various legacies to certain great advocates who have evidently rendered Gordianus service in tight lawsuits, and above all a sum of 100,000 sesterces ($4000) to “Our Lord Hadrianus Augustus Cæsar.” Gordianus had been by no means a great intimate at the palace, but it would have been most untactful to fail to remember the Emperor. Under bad rulers such a slight would probably involve the actual setting aside of the will, posthumous charges of treason, and the ruin of the heirs by the confiscation of the entire property. Under a good Emperor such an insertion puts the donor’s son in good odor with the government, and insures that the imperial procurators (who guard their master’s property) will assist in defending the will if disgruntled kinsmen should try to break it.