[181] TRAJAN, THAT NOBLE, MODERATE AND JUST MAN. See Dio Cass. LXVIII, 5: "His character had not the slightest trace of falsity, malice or cruelty; he loved good citizens, treated them with respect and distinguished them: about the bad ones he did not ask."--LXVIII, 6: "He was eminent for his love of justice, courage, and simplicity of manners.... He envied no one, barred no one’s path to fame; he rather honored and exalted all merit. Hence he had no cause to fear any man. Slanderers he did not trust. He neither meddled with the property of others, nor allowed the innocent to be put to death"--LXVIII, 16: "When he gave the sword to the commander of the Praetorian guard, he drew it from the sheath and held it up, saying: 'Take this sword and use it, if I reign well, for me, if I reign ill, against me.'" Even the eulogy of the younger Pliny, who was a friend of the new emperor, spite of many exaggerated expressions, shows that it is the utterance of sincere conviction; certain facts especially speak for themselves; for instance the total change in the ceremonies of the court. "Formerly"--so says Pliny--“the imperial palace was a fortress; under Nerva and Trajan it has become a public building. There are no bolts, no degrees of humiliation, and when a thousand thresholds have been crossed, we do not constantly encounter fresh forms and obstacles. We do not come to Trajan, as was the case with former emperors, in confusion and haste, that we may not endanger our lives by delay, but with a feeling of security, gladly, and just as it suits our convenience. If some pressing business detains us, Trajan does not even require a word of apology. When we have saluted him, we do not rush hurriedly away. We linger, stroll comfortably about, as if the palace belonged to us--the very palace, which but a short time ago that abandoned monster (Domitian) surrounded with so many horrors; the very palace where the wild-beast shut himself up as if in a den, sometimes drinking the blood of his nearest relatives, sometimes rushing out to slay the noblest citizens.... But vengeance burst the wall of his guards and pressed victoriously through the locked doors.... How much safer and more free from anxiety is this palace, now that it is _not_ protected by the guards of tyranny, but of love, not protected by seclusion and bolts, but by the citizens passing in and out. You have shown us by experience, that a prince’s virtue is his best defence,” Pliny _Paneg._ 65: “Trajan convinced us that the sovereign is not above the law--but the law above the sovereign,” Pliny _Paneg._ 67, and “Usually we have taken vows of fealty simply