20. _Lastly, having assumed the Roman gown instead of his royal robes, he used to go about the market-place, as lie had seen done by the candidates for office at Rome, saluting and embracing each of the plebeians; soliciting at one time for the ædileship, at another for the plebeian tribuneship, until at last he obtained the office by the suffrages of the people, and then, according to the Roman_ custom, he took his seat in an ivory chair, where he heard causes, and listened to debates on the most trivial matters. So far was his mind from adhering to any routine, for it wandered through every sort of life, that it was not ascertained either by himself or any one else what was his real character. He was accustomed not to speak to his friends, nor scarcely afford a smile, to his acquaintance. By an inconsistent kind of liberality, he made himself and others subjects of ridicule; for to some in the most elevated stations, and who thought highly of themselves, he would give childish presents of sweetmeats, cakes, or toys; others expecting nothing he enriched. Wherefore to many he appeared not to know what he was doing; some said that he acted from a silly, sportive temper; others, that he was evidently mad. In two great and honourable instances, however, he showed a spirit truly royal,—in the presents which he made to several cities, and the honour he paid to the gods. To the inhabitants of Megalopolis, in Arcadia, he made a promise to build a wall round their city, and he gave them the greater part of the money requisite for the purpose. At Tegea he began to erect a magnificent theatre of marble. At Cyzicum, he presented a set of golden utensils for the service of one table in the Prytaneum, the state-room of the city; where such as are entitled to that honour dine together. To the Rhodians he gave presents of every kind that their convenience required, but none very remarkable. Of the magnificence of his notions, in every thing respecting the gods, the temple of Jupiter Olympius at Athens can be a sufficient testimony: being the only one in the world, the plan of which was suitable to the greatness of the deity. He likewise ornamented Delos with altars of extraordinary beauty, and abundance of statues. A magnificent temple of Jupiter Capitolinus, which he promised to build at Antioch, of which not only the ceilings, but all the walls, were to be covered with plates of gold, and many other edifices which he intended in various places, he did not finish, as his reign was very short. He surpassed his predecessors, too, in the magnificence of the public games of every description; of which all the games but one were after their own custom, and celebrated by an immense number of Grecian actors. He gave a show of gladiators in the Roman manner, which at first, among & people unaccustomed to such sights, caused more terror than pleasure; but by frequently repeating them, and sometimes permitting the