He so loathed flattery that he would not allow any senator to approach his litter, either to pay his respects or on business, and when an ex-consul in apologizing to him attempted to embrace his knees, he drew back in such haste that he fell over backward. In fact, if anyone in conversation or in a set speech spoke of him in too flattering terms, he did not hesitate to interrupt him, to take him to task, and to correct his language on the spot. Being once called “Lord,’’® he warned the speaker not to address him again in an insulting fashion. When another spoke of his “sacred duties,’ and still another said that he appeared before the senate “by the emperor’s authority,” he forced them to change their language, substituting “advice” for authority ” and “ laborious ’’ for ‘‘ sacred.”