During
the same consulship a high price of corn almost brought on an insurrection.
For several days there were many clamorous demands made in the theatre with
an
unusual freedom of language
towards the emperor. This provoked him to censure the magistrates and the
Senate for not having used the authority of the State to put down the
people. He named too the corn-supplying provinces, and dwelt on the far
larger amount of grain imported by himself than by Augustus. So the Senate
drew up a decree in the severe spirit of antiquity, and the consuls issued a
not less stringent proclamation. The emperor's silence was not, as he had
hoped, taken as a proof of patriotism, but of pride.