had been under Commodus, put to death on the pretext of this sort of
guilt. Before the end of the day on which this decree was promulgated I
received a letter from Agathemer in which he wrote:

"Beware! Keep close. Already it is rumored that exceptions to this
decree have been made. Marcia is still alive, is married to Eclectus,
and Eclectus is confirmed as Palace Chamberlain. With Marcia close to
the Emperor you are not safe, no matter who is Emperor. Keep close!"

I followed his advice, which was easy for me to do, as I was very
comfortable and well habituated to my life. Moreover I was buoyed up with
hope of early rehabilitation and of then marrying Vedia, who sent me one
cautiously worded note, congratulating me on the disappearance of my most
dangerous foeman, warning me that I still had formidable enemies alive and
in high places, and begging me to be prudent. She reiterated her
expressions of love, devotion and fidelity.

From Tanno also I received a letter warning me to be on guard and to
efface myself as much as possible.

Falco, who had loathed Commodus, but had been careful to keep a still
tongue on all matters except horse-racing, sword-play, social pleasures
and gem-collecting, was much relieved at his death, and heartily delighted
with his successor. He took pains to be present among the auditors of
Pertinax whenever nobles were admitted along with the senators to listen
to his addresses, which was almost always. He took to heart the new
Emperor's adjurations as to economy and his invectives against the evils
of speculative enterprises of all kinds. Over our wine after dinner, when
we two dined alone together, much as Agathemer and I had when I was my
former self, he unbosomed himself to me.

"Pertinax is right," he averred, "there is a real difference between
enterprises which enrich only the participants and those which, while
profiting their promoters, also add to the wealth of the Republic. I
applaud his distinction between the two. I agree with him that wealthy men
like me should invest their capital in nothing which does not benefit
mankind as well as themselves. I have realized with a shock of shame that
my greed for cash to spend on jewels has led me to embark in ventures
which merely divert into my coffers the proceeds of other men's efforts,
without adding anything to the sum-total of usable wealth. I mean to
withdraw from all such monetary acrobatics and utilize my surplus in