He held four consulships in addition to his original one. Of these the first two were in successive years, while the other two followed at intervals of four years each, the last for six months, the others for two ; and in his third he was substituted for one of the consuls who had died, a thing which without precedent in the case of an emperor. administered justice most was He conscientiously both as consul and when out of office, even on his own anniversaries and those of his family, and sometimes even on festivals of ancient date and days of illomen. He did not always follow the letter of the laws, but modified their severity or lenity in many cases according to his own notions of equity and justice ; for he allowed a new trial to those who had lost their cases before private judges by demanding more than the law prescribed, while, overstepping the lawful penalty, he condemned to the wild beasts those who were convicted of especially heinous crimes.