The wrong which
he promoted did but the more forcibly proclaim the warmth and fidelity of
his friendships. So much the more generally was the uprightness of the
emperor appreciated, who would neither tamper with justice himself, nor
countenance any motion in that direction, though it were to serve his very
dearest friend, either by his personal presence, or by the use of his
name. And, as if it had been a trifle merely to forbear, and to show his
regard to justice in this negative way, he even allowed himself to be
summoned as a witness on trials, and showed no anger when his own evidence
was overborne by stronger on the other side. This disinterested love of
justice, and an integrity, so rare in the great men of Rome, could not but
command the reverence of the people. But their affection, doubtless, was
more conciliated by the freedom with which the emperor accepted
invitations from all quarters, and shared continually in the festal
pleasures of his subjects. This practice, however, he discontinued, or
narrowed, as he advanced in years. Suetonius, who, as a true anecdote-
monger, would solve every thing, and account for every change by some
definite incident, charges this alteration in the emperor's condescensions
upon one particular party at a wedding feast, where the crowd incommoded
him much by their pressure and heat.
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