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Cornificia asked impatiently. "He forced himself on Pertinax, who should have had him murdered, only Pertinax is too indifferent to his own " "Too philosophical!" corrected Galen. Then Caia Poppeia spoke up, in a young, hard voice that had none of Marcia's honeyed charm. No doubt of her was possible; she could be cruel for the sake of cruelty and loyal for the sake of pride.
His emissaries, dispersed in the capital, assured the guards, that provided they would abandon their worthless prince, and the perpetrators of the murder of Pertinax, to the justice of the conqueror, he would no longer consider that melancholy event as the act of the whole body.
At the instigation of Lætus, his Prætorian prefect, a robust youth was admitted into his chamber, and strangled him without resistance. With secrecy and celerity the conspirators sought out Pertinax, the prefect of the city, an ancient senator of consular rank, and persuaded him to accept the purple.
And since the words were Cornificia's, and stirred the chords of many memories, they produced a sort of half-way resolution. "It is now or never," Marcia said, goading him. But Pertinax shook his head. "I am not convinced, though I would do my best to save Rome from Severus. Dioscuri! do you realize, this plot to make me emperor is known to not more than a dozen "
Public revenges are for the most part fortunate; as that for the death of Caesar; for the death of Pertinax; for the death of Henry the Third of France; and many more. But in private revenges, it is not so. Nay rather, vindictive persons live the life of witches; who, as they are mischievous, so end they infortunate. Of Adversity Bona rerum secundarum optabilia; adversarum mirabilia.
He might have liked her well enough if she had been a hypocrite, complaisant to himself. She understood him perfectly better, in fact, than she understood Marcia, whose visits usually led to intricate entanglements for Pertinax.
To justify her infidelities, which were a byword, Pertinax' lawful wife went to ingenious lengths to blacken Cornificia's reputation, regaling all society with her invented tales about the lewd attractions Cornificia staged to keep Pertinax held in her toils. That Cornificia did exercise a sway over the governor of Rome was undeniable. He worshiped her and made no secret of it.
Sextus' plan is to keep all three rival factions by the ears, so that if anything should happen " he nodded toward the curtain, from behind which came the sounds of childish laughter and the crashing voice of Commodus encouraging in some piece of mischief "they would be all at odds and Pertinax could seize the throne." "I wonder whether I was mad that I protected Sextus!" exclaimed Marcia.
But let us returne to our matter; whosoever shall consider our discourse before, shall perceive that either hatred, or contempt have caus'd the ruine of the afore-named Emperors; and shall know also, from it came that part of them proceeding one way, and part a contrary; yet in any of them the one had a happy success, and the others unhappy: for it was of no availe, but rather hurtful for Pertinax and Alexander, because they were new Princes, to desire to imitate Marcus, who by inheritance came to the Principality: and in like manner it was a wrong to Caracalla, Commodus, and Maximus, to imitate Severus, because none of them were endued with so great valor as to follow his steps therein.
To the second floor on which the window was situated, he ascended, much pre-occupied in mind by the uncertainties besetting the Roman Empire, and much regretting the death of the amiable Pertinax: who only last night had left the Imperial affairs in a state of great confusion, by falling a victim to the fury of the praetorian guards.
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