kened very
deep feelings of resentment, and very earnest desires for revenge in
the hearts of those who suffered by it; but yet so absolute and
terrible was his power, that none dared to murmur or complain. The
resentment, however, which the cruelty of the emperor awakened,
burned the more fiercely for being thus restrained and suppressed,
and many covert threats were made, and many secret plots were
formed, from time to time, against the tyrant's life.

Among others who cherished such designs, there was a man named
Cassius Chaerea, an officer of the army, who, though not of high
rank, was nevertheless a man of considerable distinction. He was a
captain, or, as it was styled in those days, a centurion. His
command, therefore, was small, but it was in the praetorian cohort,
as it was called, a sort of body-guard of the commander-in-chief,
and consequently a very honorable corps. Chaerea was thus a man of
considerable distinction on account of the post which he occupied,
and his duties, as captain in the life-guards, brought him very
frequently into communication with the emperor. He was a man of
great personal bravery, too, and was on this account held in high
consideration by the army. He had performed an exploit at one time,
some years before, in Germany, which had gained him great fame. It
was at the time of the death of Augustus, the first emperor. Some of
the German legions, and among them one in which Chaerea was serving,
had seized upon the occasion to revolt. They alledged many and
grievous acts of oppression as the grounds of their revolt, and
demanded redress for what they had suffered, and security for the
future. One of the first measures which they resorted to in the
frenzy of the first outbreak of the rebellion, was to seize all the
centurions in the camp, and to beat them almost to death. They gave
them sixty blows each, one for each of their number, and then turned
them, bruised, wounded, and dying, out of the camp. Some they threw
into the Rhine. They revenged themselves thus on all the centurions
but one. That one was Chaerea. Chaerea would not suffer himself to be
taken by them, but seizing his sword he fought his way through the
midst of them, slaying some and driving others before him, and thus
made his escape from the camp. This feat gained him great renown.

One might imagine from this account that Chaerea was a man of great
personal superiority in respect to size and strength, inasmuch as
extra