[13] A fatal incident decided his fluctuating character.
[Footnote 13: Manilius, the confidential secretary of Avidius Cassius, was discovered after he had lain concealed several years.

The emperor nobly relieved the public anxiety by refusing to see him, and burning his papers without opening them.

Dion Cassius, l.lxxii.p.

1209.] One evening, as the emperor was returning to the palace, through a dark and narrow portico in the amphitheatre, [14] an assassin, who waited his passage, rushed upon him with a drawn sword, loudly exclaiming, "The senate sends you this." The menace prevented the deed; the assassin was seized by the guards, and immediately revealed the authors of the conspiracy.

It had been formed, not in the state, but within the walls of the palace.