Of these charges or slanders (whichever we may call them) he easily refuted that for unnatural vice by the purity of his life at the time and afterwards; so too the odium of extravagance by the fact that when he took Alexandria, he kept none of the furniture of the palace for himself? except a single agate cup, and presently melted down all the golden vessels intended for everyday use. He could not dispose of the charge of lustfulness and they say that even in his later years he was fond of deflowering maidens, who were brought together for him from all quarters, even by his own wife. He did not in the least nt) shrink from a reputation for gaming, and played frankly and openly for recreation, even when he was well on in years, not only in the month of December,* but on other holidays as well, and on working days too. There is no this, for in a letter in his own question about handwriting he says: with “I company; dined, dear we besides had Tiberius, the same as guests Vinicius and the elder Silius. We gambled like old men during the meal both yesterday and to-day; for when the dice were thrown, whoever turned up the ‘dog’? or the six, put a denarius in the pool for each one of the dice, and the whole was taken by anyone who threw the ‘ Venus.’”’ Again in another letter: «We spent the Quinquatria® very merrily, my dear Tiberius, for we played all day long and kept the gaming-board warm. Your brother made a great outcry about his luck, but after all did not come out far behind in the long run; for after losing heavily, he unexpectedly and little by little got back a good deal. For my part, I lost twenty thousand sesterces, but because I was extravagantly generous in my play, as usual. If I had demanded of everyone the stakes which I let go, or had kept all that I gave away, I should have won fully fifty thousand. But I like that better, for generosity will exalt me to immortal glory.” To his daughter he writes: “I send you two hundred and fifty denarii, the sum which I gave each of my guests, in case they wished to play at dice or at odd and even during the dinner.”