On the other hand Lucius Annæus Seneca, who was superior in wisdom to all the Romans of his day and to many other great men, came very near being ruined, though he had done no wrong and there was no suspicion of such a thing, but just because he pled a case well in the senate while his sovereign was present. Gaius ordered him to be put to death, but let him go because he believed what one of his female associates said, that Seneca had a bad case of consumption and would die before a great while.
[-20-] Directly he appointed Domitius consul and removed those who held the office at the time: this he did because they had not proclaimed a thanksgiving on the occasion of his birthday (the prætors had held a horse-race and had slaughtered some beasts, but that happened every year) whereas they had celebrated a festival to commemorate the victory of Augustus over Antony. In order to find an accusation against them he chose to figure as a descendant of Antony rather than of Augustus. He had beforehand told those who shared his secrets that whichever the consuls did they would certainly get into trouble, whether they offered sacrifice as a mark of joy over Antony's disaster or whether they went without sacrificing on such an occasion as the victory of Augustus. It was for these reasons, then, that he summarily dismissed these officials and broke to pieces their fasces. One of them took it so much to heart that he killed himself.
Domitius was chosen as the emperor's colleague nominally by the people but actually by Gaius himself. The latter had, to be sure, restored the elections to the populace, but they had become rather lax in the performance of their duties because for a long time now they had enjoyed none of the privileges of freemen; and as a rule no more office-seekers presented themselves than were needed to fill vacant places, or if ever there was an excessive number the outcome had been all arranged among themselves. Thus the appearance of a democracy was preserved but none of the proper results was secured; and this led Gaius himself to abolish the elections again. After this things went on precisely as in the reign of Tiberius. Sometimes fifteen prætors were chosen and again one more or less, as it might happen.