ld, or the instrument, of those miseries to men, which seemed
worthy of consolation to Caius himself; on which account he said to
Clement and to Papinius, [of whom Clement was general of the army, and
Papinius was a tribune,] "To be sure, O Clement, we have no way failed
in our guarding the emperor; for as to those that have made conspiracies
against his government, some have been slain by our care and pains, and
some have been by us tortured, and this to such a degree, that he hath
himself pitied them. How great then is our virtue in submitting to
conduct his armies!" Clement held his peace, but showed the shame he
was under in obeying Caius's orders, both by his eyes and his blushing
countenance, while he thought it by no means right to accuse the emperor
in express words, lest their own safety should be endangered thereby.
Upon which Cherea took courage, and spake to him without fear of
the dangers that were before him, and discoursed largely of the sore
calamities under which the city and the government then labored, and
said, "We may indeed pretend in words that Caius is the person unto whom
the cause of such miseries ought to be imputed; but, in the opinion
of such as are able to judge uprightly, it is I, O Clement! and this
Papinius, and before us thou thyself, who bring these tortures upon the
Romans, and upon all mankind. It is not done by our being subservient to
the commands of Caius, but it is done by our own consent; for whereas
it is in our power to put an end to the life of this man, who hath so
terribly injured the citizens and his subjects, we are his guard in
mischief, and his executioners instead of his soldiers, and are the
instruments of his cruelty. We bear these weapons, not for our liberty,
not for the Roman government, but only for his preservation, who
hath enslaved both their bodies and their minds; and we are every day
polluted with the blood that we shed, and the torments we inflict upon
others; and this we do, till somebody becomes Caius's instrument in
bringing the like miseries upon ourselves. Nor does he thus employ
us because he hath a kindness for us, but rather because he hath a
suspicion of us, as also because when abundance more have been killed,
[for Caius will set no bounds to his wrath, since he aims to do all,
not out of regard to justice, but to his own pleasure,] we shall also
ourselves be exposed to his cruelty; whereas we ought to be the means
of confirming the security and li