Dio's Rome, Volume 4: An Historical Narrative Originally Composed in Greek During the Reigns of Septimius Severus, Geta and Caracalla, Macrinus, Elagabalus and Alexander Severus: and Now Presented in English FormCassius Dio Cocceianus
History
Dio's Rome, Volume 4: An Historical Narrative Originally Composed in Greek During the Reigns of Septimius Severus, Geta and Caracalla, Macrinus, Elagabalus and Alexander Severus: and Now Presented in English Form
Cassius Dio Cocceianus
Rome -- History
[-28-] [Gaius gave orders that in Miletus of the province of Asia a
certain tract of land should be set apart for his worship. His avowed
reason for choosing this city was that Diana had preempted Ephesus,
Augustus Pergamum, and Tiberius Smyrna. The truth of the matter, however,
was that he had conceived a desire to appropriate to his own use the
large and extremely beautiful temple which the Milesians were building to
Apollo. Thereupon he went to still greater lengths and built actually in
Rome itself one temple of his own that was accorded him by vote of the
senate, and another at his private expense on the Capitoline.] He also
planned a kind of dwelling on the Capitol, in order, as he said, that he
might live in the same house with Jupiter. However, he disdained taking
second place in this union of households and found fault with the god for
occupying the Capitol before him: accordingly, he hastened to construct
another temple on the Palatine and by way of a statue for it thought he
should like to change that of Olympian Jove so as to resemble himself.
This he found impossible, for the boat built to bring it was shattered by
thunderbolts, and loud laughter was plainly heard as often as any persons
approached the pedestal to take hold of it. So after hurling threats at
the obdurate image he set up a new one of himself.--The temple of the
Dioscuri in the Roman Forum he cut in two and made through it an approach
to the Palatine running right between the statues, to the end (these
were at all events his words) that he might have the Dioscuri for
gate-keepers. Assuming the name of Dialius [15] he attached Cæsonia his
wife, Claudius, and other persons who were very wealthy to his service as
priests, receiving from each one two hundred and fifty myriads for this
honor. He also consecrated himself to his own service and appointed his
horse a fellow-priest. Dainty and expensive birds were daily sacrificed
to him; he had a contrivance by which he defied the thunder with
answering peals and could send return flashes when it lightened. Likewise
whenever a bolt fell, he would in turn hurl a javelin at a rock,
repeating each time the words of Homer: "Either lift me or I will thee."
[16] [When thirty days after her marriage Cæsonia brought forth a
little daughter, he pretended that this, too, had come about through
supernatural means and gave himself airs on the fact that in so few days
after becoming a husband he was a father. He gave the child the name of
Drusilla, and taking her up to the Capitol placed her on the knees of
Jupiter, with the implication that she was his child, and put her in
charge of Minerva to be suckled.] This god, then, this Jupiter,--[he
was called by the latter name so much that it even found its way into
documents,--at the same time that all this took place was collecting
money in most shameful and most frightful ways.] One may, to be sure,
[leave out of account the wares and the taverns, the brothels [17] and
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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