"So, my shepherd," said Marcus, "thou hast recognized thy villainous rascals. Surely, though, thy fear was larger than thine eyeballs; for thou didst multiply both the followers and the harm done to thee. Thou hast asked for justice, and justice thou shalt have! Forasmuch as I and my companions did frighten thee, though but in sport, it is wise to do well what doth seem but just. I, then, as prefect of the city, do fine Marcus Annius Verus, Aufidius Victorianus, and Sejus Fruscianus, each, one hundred _sestertii_ (about twenty shillings), for interfering with travellers on the public highway; and I do command the lictors to mark the offenders unless they do straightway pay the fine here laid upon them." Aufidius and Sejus looked troubled. They had barely a hundred _sestertii_ between them; but Marcus drew forth an amount equal to the three fines, and, handing the money to an _accensus_, bade him pay the shepherd. With many a bow, Lydus accepted the money, and with the words, "O noble young Prefect! O wise beyond thy years!" he would have withdrawn again. "Hold!" said Marcus, ascending the tribunal, "hear the rest! Because thou hast placed a false charge before this tribunal, and hast sought to profit by thy lying tongue, I, the Prefect, do command that thou dost pay over to the _scriba_ (clerk of the court) the sum of three hundred _sestertii_, to be devoted to the service of the poor; and that thou dost wear the wooden collar until thy fine is paid." Very soberly and ruefully, Lydus paid over as the price of his big stories exactly the sum which he had received from the _scriba_, and departed from the _basilica_ of the boy prefect, if not a poorer, at least a sadder and a wiser man. The days of Marcus' magistracy were soon over, and when the great festival of Jove was ended, and the magistrates had returned to the city, the lad gave up the curule chair and the dress and duties of his office, and retired to his mother's house, bearing with him the thanks of the magistrates, the approval of the Emperor, and the applause of the people.