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78 by one of the most eminent lawyers of the day, Cocceius Nerva; by one other senator, by one knight; by an astrologer or two—Chaldæans, as they were then usually called; and by a few learned Greeks. Busy and curious Rome very likely asked what occasion the Cæsar had for the presence of an eminent jurist? The Greek companions they could easily account for, since Tiberius had always dabbled in literature; and the Chaldæans excited no surprise, for, ever since his long exile in Rhodes, he had been an anxious inquirer into his own future, as well as that of men whom he feared or hated. Tiberius had often expressed an intention of visiting the provinces: galleys had been kept in readiness to convey him to Gaul or to the east: but he never carried out his purpose, and his indecision had become a by-word in Rome. His lingering in Campania, accordingly, and his seclusion in Capri, perplexed the senate and the people with wonder and fear.

For the fear there was good cause. Although he withdrew from the publicity of Rome and its tedious ceremonies, at all times repugnant to him, Tiberius did not retire from the business of the State. Far from doing so, the decrees and letters issued by him from the island, so far as we are acquainted with them, appear to have been among the worst samples of his jealousy and hatred of the senate. Tacitus and other historians lead us to impute to Sejanus the suggestions which excited the Cæsar to a long and uniform series of cruelties. And now it is plain why he took an expert lawyer with him. Tiberius was in matters of form a pedant; and therefore to advise him in criminal prosecutions, and to draw up death-warrants or sen-