Like a flabby, living tumor, with slimy, infernal eyes and terrific sucking tentacles that draw like death, that most repulsive and revolting of all animals, the octopus, folds itself in the shadowy recesses of a rock. It floats on the waters. It hides amidst the foliage of the sea. With the quintessence of cunning it watches and waits for its prey. The sucking arms dart out like a flash at the approach of a victim, which, after a short struggle, is ground to pieces in the rapacious jaws of the monster. After the meal the swelling paunch palpitates with satisfaction. The octopus then retreats, and awaits the appearance of another victim. When another one of its own ilk draws near, it makes of that other a companion, but in the companionship the stronger rules the weaker. A compact is formed. They repose, watch, and work together. Such a nefarious compact existed between Tiberius and Sejanus. They skilfully watched, cunningly deceived, and malignantly intrigued together. Both were fearless, yet they worked their designs in a cowardly manner. With evil instinct Tiberius divined the true nature of Sejanus. The true pulsations of the inner heart of Sejanus, in spite of his different moods and actions, were known and felt by Tiberius. No gentle testing was needed between two such natures. They met and immediately recognized each other. No circumlocution was necessary; they spoke directly and plainly. As two equally pitched sounds of a discordant note vibrate in unison and assimilate, so did these two natures. Malignity, violence, and cruelty were the sounds they made and heard with equal zest and intelligence. But day by day the emperor and the minister became more dependent the one upon the other. Their plans grew more intricate and complicated. They became as necessary to each other as the two syllables are to form the words _e-vil_, _en-vy_, and _mur-der_. Although these men belonged to the same vicious class, yet they were different in kind. Tiberius could be rash; Sejanus must be cautious. Of noble descent, Tiberius was base and mean; of low origin, Sejanus assumed an air of nobility. The one was slow, rough, and plain; the other, quick, smooth, and pompous. When they were together, Tiberius seemed inferior. There was more vigor in the wickedness of Sejanus. He was more elegant, more precise, and more ornate in the forming and working out of his plans. Tiberius was uncouth, diffuse, and ordinary. In their infernal deeds Tiberius was barbarous; Sejanus, artistic. If they had been sculptors, Tiberius would have carved a brutal and screaming Fury; Sejanus, a sly and deriding Satyr.