ds and evens_.' On another occasion he wrote to
Tiberius:--'If I had exacted my winnings during the festival of Minerva;
if I had not lavished my money on all sides; instead of losing twenty
thousand sestercii (about L1000), I should have gained one hundred and
fifty thousand (L7500). I prefer it thus, however; for my bounty should
win me immense glory.'(26)

(25) Aleae rumorem nullo modo expavit. Suet. in Vita Augusti.

(26) Sed hoc malo: benignitas enim mea me ad coelestem gloriam efferet.
_Ubi supra_.

This gambling propensity subjected Augustus to the lash of popular
epigrams; among the rest, the following:

Postquam bis classe victus naves perdidit, Aliquando ut vincat, ludit
assidud aleam.

'He lost at sea; was beaten twice, And tries to win at least with dice.'

But although a satirist by profession, the sleek courtier Horace spared
the emperor's vice, contenting himself with only declaring that play was
forbidden.(27) The two following verses of his, usually applied to the
effects of gaming, really refer only to _RAILLERY._

(27) Carm. lib. III. Od. xxiv.

Ludus enim genuit trepidum certamen et iram; Ira truces inimicitias et
funebre bellum.(28)

(28) Epist. lib. I. xix.

He, however, has recorded the curious fact of an old Roman gambler, who
was always attended by a slave, to pick up his dice for him and put them
in the box.(29) Doubtless, Horace would have lashed the vice of gambling
had it not been the 'habitual sin' of his courtly patrons.

(29) Lib. II. Sat. vii. v. 15.

It seems that Augustus not only gambled to excess, but that he gloried
in the character of a gamester. Of himself he says, 'Between meals we
played like old crones both yesterday and today.'(30)

(30) Inter coenam lusimus (gr gerontikws) et heri et hodie.

When he had no regular players near him, he would play with children at
dice, at nuts, or bones. It has been suggested that this emperor gave
in to the indulgence of gambling in order to stifle his remorse. If
his object in encouraging this vice was to make people forget his
proscriptions and to create a diversion in his favour, the artifice may
be considered equal to any of the political ruses of this astute ruler,
whose false virtues were for a long time vaunted only through ignorance,
or in order to flatter his imitators.

The passion of gambling was transmitted, with the empire, to the family
of the Caesars. At the gaming table Caligula stooped