“And you, Clodianus,” he whispered, almost inaudibly. “Do not you know of any reprobate wretch, who deserves to die?” He fixed his eye on the soldier’s face. “No, my lord,” said the adjutant. “It seems to me, that you have not overlooked one.” “It is well. You will copy out the list--at once. The tablet I myself will keep. When Rome is saved, I will hang it up in the temple of Jupiter.” Clodianus took his writing implements out of the folds of his tunic. “Perhaps,” the Emperor added with a meaning smile.--“Perhaps another name or two may occur to me.” And he hid the strip of lime-wood in his bosom. “And now,” he continued, “make your plans. I will not listen to anything till you can say to me: all is over; the deed is done. You know how cautiously, how warily you must proceed. Remember, your existence too is endangered; when a tree falls, the branches fall with it.--Go, my friends. If you triumph, I will endow you with power above all other mortals, and in splendor and honors you shall be equal with myself. I will name you my brothers.” He sank exhausted on to a chair; Parthenius and Clodianus left the room. “Yes, yes!” muttered Domitian between his teeth, as the door closed behind the two men; “one is yet wanting on the list of the elect!” He drew forth the tablet, and, with an indescribable grimace of hatred, wrote at the end of the long list of names: “Clodianus.” "Wait awhile, my friend! This task you shall be allowed to finish--but then--it is not well, when a sapling grows too proudly skywards." FOOTNOTES: [1] “ENOUGH!” WAS ATTACHED TO THE BASE OF A PORTRAIT BUST. See Suet. _Dom._ 13, where it is true, the “enough” refers to the excessive quantity of triumphal arches and statues, the emperor ordered to be erected everywhere. Inscriptions similar to those quoted in our chapter were, however, by no means rare in all times. [2] A CENTURION HAD RAISED THE STANDARD OF REVOLT ON THE GERMANIC FRONTIER. See Dio Cass. LXVII, 11: About this time Antonius, governor of Germany, rebelled against Domitian, but was defeated and slain by Lucius Maximus. [3] AN ASTROLOGER, ASCLETARIO BY NAME. See Suet. _Dom._ 15. [4] LATINUS THE ACTOR. See Mart. _Ep._ I, 4; II, 71; III, 86; V, 61: IX, 28. The manner in which Martial, in this last-named passage, flatters Latinus, proves how high the actor stood in the emperor’s favor. Concerning the matter, see Suet. _Dom._ 15. [5] A STRANGER CAME BY WITH THREE HUGE DOGS. Faith in the sudden appearance and disappearance of mysterious, demoniac creatures was very wide-spread under the reigns of the later emperors. A striking instance of this is found in Dio Cass. LXXIX, 18. [6] AN INTOLERABLE DREAD ALMOST DEPRIVED HIM OF BREATH. See Suet. _Dom._ 16: “At midnight he was seized with such terror, that he sprang out of bed.”