He thought there was no other use of riches and money than to squander them away
profusely; regarding all those as sordid wretches who kept their expenses within
due boundsLjand extolling those as truly noble and generous souls, who lavished
away and wasted all they possessed. He praised and admired his uncle CaiusThe emperor Caligula, who was the brother of Nero's mother, Agrippina. upon no
account more, than for squandering in a short time the vast treasure left him by
Tiberius. Accordingly, he was himself extravagant and profuse, beyond all
bounds. He spent upon Tiridates eight hundred thousand sesterces a day, a sum
almost incredible; and at his departure, presented him with upwards of a
million. See before, c. xiii. Tiridates was nine months in
Rome or the neighbourhood, and
was entertained the whole time at the emperor's expense. He likewise
bestowed upon Menecrates the harper, and Spicillus a gladiator, the estates and
houses of men who had received the honour of a triumph. He enriched the usurer
Cercopithecus Panerotes with estates both in town and country; and gave him a
funeral, in pomp and magnificence little inferior to that of princes. He never
wore the same garment twice. He has been known to stake four hundred thousand
sesterces on a throw of the dice. It was his custom to fish with a golden net,
drawn by silken cords of purple and scarlet. It is said, that he never travelled
with less than a thousand baggage-carts; the mules being all shod with silver,
and the drivers dressed in scarlet jackets of the finest Canusian cloth,Canusium, now
Canosa, was a town in
Apulia, near the mouth of the
river Aufidus, celebrated for its
fine wool. It is mentioned by Pliny, and retained its reputation for the
manufacture in the middle ages, as we find in Ordericus Vitalis.
with a numerous train of footmen, and troops of Mazacans,The Mazacans were an African tribe from the deserts in the interior, famous
for their spirited barbs, their powers of endurance, and their skill in
throwing the dart. with bracelets on their arms, and mounted upon
horses in splendid trappings.