BOOK XI. Liv. 143-146 



angry if people watched his eyes too closely ; Claudius 

 Caesar's eyes were frequently bloodshot and had a 

 fleshy gleam at the corners ; the Emperor Gaius 

 had staring eyes ; Nero's eyes were dull of sight 

 except when he screwed them up to look at objects 

 brought close to them. In the training-school of 

 the Emperor Gaius there were 20,000 gladiators, 

 among whom there were only two that did not 

 bUnk when faced by some threat of danger and were 

 consequently unconquerable : so difficult it is for a 

 human being to stare steadily, whereas for most 

 people it is natural to keep on bUnking, and these are 

 traditionally supposed to be more cowardly. No- 

 body has eyes of only one colour : with everyone the 

 general surface is white but there is a different 

 colour in the middle. No other part of the body rheeyeoi 

 suppHes greater indications of the mind — this is so ^.f^''^-^^^ 

 with all animals alike, but specially with man — 

 that is, indications of self-restraint, mercy, pity, 

 hatred, love, sorrow, joy. The eyes are also very 

 varied in their look — fierce, stern, sparkUng, sedate, 

 leering, askance, downcast, kindly : in fact the 

 eyes are the abode of the mind. They glow, 

 stare, moisten, wink; from them flows the tear of 

 compassion, when we kiss them we seem to reach 

 the mind itself, they are the source of tears and 

 of the stream that bedews the cheek. What is the 

 nature of this moisture that at a moment of sorrow 

 flows so copiously and so promptly ? Or where is it 

 in the remaining time ? In point of fact it is the 

 mind that is the real instrument of sight and of 

 observation ; the eyes act as a sort of vessel re- 

 ceiving and transmitting the visible portion of the 

 consciousness. This explains why deep thought 



523 



