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Since the times of the ancients, Murænæ have been prized very highly on account of their savory flesh. The Romans were great experts at feeding these fish, Vidius Pollio being the master of them all, as he made a practice of feeding his Murænæ with the flesh of slaves sentenced to death. Pliny states that at Cæsar's triumphal entry Hirius furnished six thousand Murænæ.
He was also on familiar terms with Marcus Cicero, who thus speaks of him in his epistle to Dolabella : "I have more need of receiving letters from you, than you have of desiring them from me. For there is nothing going on at Rome in which I think you would take any interest, except, perhaps, that you may like to know that I am appointed umpire between our friends Nicias and Vidius.
When Vidius Pollio, in the presence of Augustus, ordered one of his slaves, who had committed a slight fault, to be cut into pieces and thrown into his fish-pond, in order to feed his fishes, the emperor commanded him, with indignation, to emancipate immediately, not only that slave, but all the others that belonged to him.
A despotic monarch can follow the impulses of humanity without scruple. When Vidius Pollio ordered one of his slaves to be cut to pieces and thrown into his fish-pond, the Emperor Augustus commanded him to emancipate immediately, not only that slave, but all his slaves.
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