otherwise there could be no ground for their connection with him. In the meanwhile, until Caesar decided, he should not come to Octavius nor ask for anything that might be expected of a relative. Thus sensibly he answered and everyone there commended him; nevertheless the young fellow followed him all the way home. 15. When he arrived in Rome he lodged near the house of Philippus and his mother and passed his time with them, seldom leaving them, except at times when he wished to invite some of his young friends to dine with him; but that was not often. While he was in the city, he was declared a patrician by the senate.[52] Octavius lived soberly and in moderation; and his friends knew of something else about him that was remarkable. For an entire year at the very age at which youths, particularly those of wealth, are most wanton, he abstained from sexual gratification out of regard for both his voice and his strength. (End of the history of Nicolaus Damascenus and of the life of the young Caesar. Concerning virtue and vice.)[53] 16. Octavius spent three months in Rome and then came and sojourned here.[54] He was admired by his friends and companions, revered by everyone in the city, and praised by his instructors.[55] In the fourth month of his stay, a freedman came from home, in excitement and dismay, sent by his mother and carrying a letter which said that Caesar had been killed in the senate by Cassius and Brutus and their accomplices. She asked her son to return to her as she did not know what the outcome of affairs would be. She said he must show himself a man now and consider what he ought to do and put his plans in action, according to fortune and opportunity. His mother’s letter made all this clear, and the man who brought it gave a similar report. He said he had been sent immediately after Caesar’s murder, and he had wasted no time on the way, so that hearing the news as quickly as possible, Octavius would be able to make his plans accordingly. He added that the relatives of the murdered man were in great danger, and it was necessary to consider first of all how this was to be avoided. The group of murderers was not small, and they would drive out and murder Caesar’s relatives.