"
The mob cheered.
CHAPTER XXIV
THE MASSACRE
Retrospectively, Cleander is talked of, if at all, chiefly as having been
brutish, dull, stupid, venal, avaricious and cruel. Cruel and avaricious
he certainly became; venal and brutish he certainly seemed; but dull or
stupid I cannot admit that he ever was. Indubitably, at the time of his
appointment to be Prefect of the Praetorium, he possessed some qualities
fitting him, as he later was, to be entrusted by his self-indulgent master
with the administration of the whole Empire. Certainly he was quick-
thinking, prompt, ingenious, incredibly persuasive, resolute and ruthless,
which qualities go far towards equipping a ruler. Without these
characteristics he could not have conceived or adopted the plan which he
successfully executed.
Commodus caught Cleander's eye, nodded to him and sat down. Confident and
smiling, Oleander stepped forward to the platform's railing and addressed
us.
"As Prefect of the Praetorium, I am charged with the care of the personal
safety of our Prince in his Palace, in the City and wherever he may be.
Among measures for his personal safety I rate high the maintenance of
discipline and loyalty among his frontier garrisons or their
reestablishment if impaired.
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