Julius Caesar's public shows were of great variety... Wild-beast hunts took place five days running, and the entertainment ended with a battle between two armies, each consisting of 500 infantry, twenty elephants, and thirty cavalry... Such huge numbers of visitors flocked to these shows from all directions that many of them had to sleep in tents pitched along the streets or roads, or on roof tops; and often the pressure of the crowd crushed people to death.

Caesar was a most skillful swordsman and horseman, and showed surprising powers of endurance. He always led his army, more often on foot than in the saddle, went bareheaded in sun and rain alike, and could travel for long distances at incredible speed... If Caesar's troops gave ground he would often rally them in person, catching individual fugitives by the throat and forcing them round to face the enemy again... He always addressed his soldiers not with "My men", but with "Comrades" ... which put them into a better humour. He fixed the daily pay of the regular soldiers at double what it had been... and occasionally gave each man a slave.

Augustus' eyes were clear and bright... his teeth were widely separated, small and dirty. His hair was slightly curly and yellowish. His ears were small. His nose protruded somewhat at the top and bent rather inwards at the bottom. He was short (although his freedman Julius Marathus, who kept his records, informs us that he was over five feet six inches in height), but this was disguised by the good proportions of his figure and only apparent if someone taller stood beside him.

There are also letters of his to Cicero, as well as to his intimates on private affairs, and in the latter, if he had anything confidential to say, he wrote it in cipher, that is, by so changing the order of the letters of the alphabet, that not a word could be made out. If anyone wishes to decipher these, and get at their meaning, he must substitute the
fourth letter of the alphabet, namely D, for A, and so with the others.