“O spiteful son! O villanous man! Whilst thou didst sleep off the effects of wine, I ran into the Forum and exhorted the men to extinguish the flames in the house of the Vestal Virgins.” “Ay, ’tis not a creditable deed for _the wife and the mother of an emperor_ to run through the streets crying for help. I care not if it were for the cause of extinguishing flames in the Vestals’ house. ’Tis not becoming thy sex. But thou art forever interfering in affairs that do not belong to thee. Ah, it tires me,” said Tiberius, with bitter disgust. “Such words to me!--to one who fostered thee, and labored so diligently for thy welfare!” said Livia, astounded at the air he was assuming. “Insolence, shameless effrontery, are, then, the reward for my tireless struggles for thee. But what more should I expect from a hateful child? I gave birth to a thing that has become a monstrosity,--a vile creature, void of all human instinct,--a brazen-faced serpent that now stings me. Ah, ingrate that thou art! Well did the Divine Augustus understand thy malignant disposition. Here, here, are the letters which he wrote and which I have cherished. Read what he says of thee. He calls thee ‘a canker feeding on his happiness,’ ‘a thorn in his flesh.’ He says, ‘Thy looks are bitter, thy words gall.’ He says, ‘Thy exile at Rhodes is a relief from thy revolting and disgusting manners.’ He also says, ‘Thy friends are the dregs of the slums, thy filth a stain on his household.’ Read, O wicked Tiberius, what he says of thee, and then ponder over thine infernal life.” Her deliberate and commanding manner and the reproachful and sarcastic tone in which she delivered the last few lines of invective so stung Tiberius that he ground his teeth in rage. She was magnificent in her self-control. He recoiled at her words, which, being sharpened by truth, pierced his very soul. He took up the letters which she had thrown near his feet, and began to destroy them, one by one. His face was purple, and the veins on his forehead were swollen to an abnormal size. Quelling the blasphemy that mounted to his lips, and drawling his words with a repulsive twang, he said: “Thou revilest me with letters written by a jealous man? Thou--” “Have a care, O Tiberius!” she interrupted. “Revile not the gods. The Romans will not permit the name of the Divine Augustus to be vilified by thee. _I_ will not permit thee!” “Then leave me! I cannot listen to thee and remain calm. I may strike thee. ’Tis the first time thou hast dared to thus defy me. ’Twill be the last. Leave me, O Livia!”