t present in my presence thou mayest enjoy my benefits. For
what neither thy father left thee nor thy brothers gave and preserved for
thee, this do I grant thee. King of Armenia I now declare thee, that both
thou and they may understand that I have power to take away kingdoms and
to bestow them." At the end of these words he bade him come up the
inclined plane built for this very purpose in front of the rostra, and
Tiridates having been made to sit beneath his feet he placed the diadem
upon his head. At this there was no end of shouts of all sorts.
[Sidenote:--6--] According to decree there also took place a celebration
in the theatre. Not merely the stage but the whole interior of the theatre
round about had been gilded, and all properties brought in had been
adorned with gold, so that people came to refer to the very day as
"golden." The curtains stretched across the sky-opening to keep off the
sun were of purple and in the centre of them was an embroidered figure of
Nero driving a chariot, with golden stars gleaming all about him. So much
for the setting: and of course they had a costly banquet.

Afterward Nero sang publicly with zither accompaniment and drove a
chariot, clad in the costume of the Greens and wearing a charioteer's
helmet. This made Tiridates disgusted with him; but for Corbulo the
visitor had only praise and deemed the one thing against him to be that he
would put up with such a master. Indeed, he made no concealment of his
views to Nero's face, but one day said to him: "Master, you have in
Corbulo a good slave." The person addressed, however, did not comprehend
his speech.--In all other matters he flattered the emperor and ingratiated
himself most skillfully, with the result that he received all kinds of
gifts, said to have possessed in the aggregate a value of five thousand
myriads, and obtained permission to rebuild Artaxata. Moreover, he took
with him from Rome many artisans, some of whom he got from Nero, and some
whom he persuaded by offers of high wages. Corbulo, however, would not let
them all cross into Armenia, but only the ones whom Nero had given him.
That caused Tiridates to admire him all the more and to despise his chief.

[Sidenote:--7--] The return was made not by the same route as he followed
in coming,--through Illyricum and north of the Ionian Gulf,--but instead
he sailed from Brundusium to Dyrrachium. He viewed also the cities of
Asia, which helped to increase his amazement at the