Gaius Plinius to his friend Acilius : Greetings

A letter is not enough about such a terrible event. Larcius Macedo , a man of praetorian rank, has been killed by his slavesÑthough it is fair to say that he was a somewhat arrogant and cruel master who was insufficiently mindful of the fact that his father had been a slave . (2) He was taking a bath in his Formian villa. His slaves suddenly surrounded him. One hit him in the throat, another struck him in the face, a third in the chest and stomach, a fourth (I am shocked to say) in the balls; and when they thought that he was dead, they through him onto a hot pavement so that they could check if he was still alive. He, either because he could not feel it, or be he faked not feeling it, lay immobile and convinced them that the murder had been achieved. (3) He was then carried out as if he had been overcome by the heat. His more faithful slaves took him up and his concubines ran to him with weeping and wailing. Aroused by the sound of the voices and revived by the colder temperature, he opened his eyes (and now that he was safe) showed by the movement of his body that he was still alive. (4) The slaves fled. Most of them were caught, the others are still being sought. Larcius remained alive, with difficulty, for a few more days, and he did not die without the comfort that, while living, he had been avenged as the dead are accustomed to be . (5) See how we are surrounded by danger, insult and ridicule. You cannot be safe if you are kind and forgiving since masters are not kind through reason but through the evil disposition of our slaves.

(6) Enough now of this. What news is there? None, or I would give it to you, for there is still some papyrus left, and its a holiday so that I can write moreÑso I will add something more that has fortunately come to mind about Macedo. He was bathing in the public bath at Rome, something notable, and, as it turned out, ominous happened as his demise shows us. (7) A Roman knight was lightly touched by one of Macedo's slaves as he was making way for his and he turned and slugged, not the slave who had touched him, but Macedo himself, hit him so hard that he almost fell. (8) So the bath house was, in his case, a sort of platform that was first the place of insult and then of death. Farewell