But the danger came from the praetorians
themselves; as they had the power they believed they had free rein,
and their chief, the praetorian prefect, was sometimes stronger than
the emperor.
=The Freedmen of the Emperor.=--Ever since the monarchy had superseded
the republic, there was no other magistrate than the emperor. All the
business of the empire of 80,000,000 people originated with him. For
this crushing task he required assistants. He found them, not among
the men of great family whom he mistrusted, but among the slaves of
whom he felt sure. The secretaries, the men of trust, the ministers of
the emperor were his freedmen, the majority of them foreigners from
Greece or the Orient, pliant people, adepts in flattery,
inventiveness, and loquacity. Often the emperor, wearied with serious
matters, gave the government into their hands, and, as occurs in
absolute monarchies, instead of aiding their master, they supplemented
him. Pallas and Narcissus, the freedmen of Claudius, distributed
offices and pronounced judgments; Helius, Nero's freedman, had
knights and senators executed without even consulting his master.
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