e, olives, and fruits. The people devoured, talked, and shouted in
honor of Caesar, to incline him to greater bounteousness. When hunger and
thirst had been satisfied, hundreds of slaves bore around baskets full
of gifts, from which boys, dressed as Cupids, took various objects and
threw them with both hands among the seats. When lottery tickets
were distributed, a battle began. People crowded, threw, trampled
one another; cried for rescue, sprang over rows of seats, stifled one
another in the terrible crush, since whoever got a lucky number might
win possibly a house with a garden, a slave, a splendid dress, or a wild
beast which he could sell to the amphitheatre afterward. For this
reason there were such disorders that frequently the pretorians had to
interfere; and after every distribution they carried out people with
broken arms or legs, and some were even trampled to death in the throng.

But the more wealthy took no part in the fight for tesserae. The
Augustians amused themselves now with the spectacle of Chilo, and with
making sport of his vain efforts to show that he could look at fighting
and blood-spilling as well as any man. But in vain did the unfortunate
Greek wrinkle his brow, gnaw his lips, and squeeze his fists till the
nails entered his palms. His Greek nature and his personal cowardice
were unable to endure such sights. His face grew pale, his forehead was
dotted with drops of sweat, his lips were blue, his eyes turned in, his
teeth began to chatter, and a trembling seized his body. At the end
of the battle he recovered somewhat; but when they attacked him with
tongues, sudden anger seized him, and he defended himself desperately.

"Ha, Greek! the sight of torn skin on a man is beyond thy strength!"
said Vatinius, taking him by the beard.

Chilo bared his last two yellow teeth at him and answered,--

"My father was not a cobbler, so I cannot mend it."

"Macte! habet (Good! he has caught it!)" called a number of voices; but
others jeered on.

"He is not to blame that instead of a heart he has a piece of cheese in
his breast," said Senecio.

"Thou art not to blame that instead of a head thou hast a bladder,"
retorted Chilo.

"Maybe thou wilt become a gladiator! thou wouldst look well with a net
on the arena."

"If I should catch thee in it, I should catch a stinking hoopoe."

"And how will it be with the Christians?" asked Festus, from Liguria.
"Wouldst thou not like to be a dog and bite them?