13He was constantly giving gladiatorial contests; for he took great pleasure in them, so that he even aroused criticism on this score. Very few wild beasts perished, but a great many human beings did, some of them fighting with one another and others being devoured by the animals. 2For the emperor cordially detested the slaves and freedmen who in the reigns of Tiberius and Gaius had conspired against their masters, as well as those who had laid information against others without cause or had borne false witness against them, and he accordingly got rid of most of them in the manner related, though he punished some in another way, and handed many over to their masters themselves for punishment. 3So great, indeed, was the number becoming of those who were publicly executed, that the statue of Augustus which stood on the spot was taken elsewhere, so that it should not either seem to be witnessing the bloodshed or else be always covered up. By this action Claudius brought ridicule upon himself, as he was gorging himself upon the very sights that he did not think it fitting for even the inanimate bronze to seem to behold. 4He used to delight especially in watching those who were cut down during the intermission in the spectacle at lunch time; and yet he had put to death a lion that had been trained to eat men and therefore greatly pleased the crowd, claiming that it was not fitting for Romans to gaze on such a sight. 5But for certain acts he was loudly praised—for mingling freely with the people at the spectacles, for providing them with all they wanted, and also because he made very little use of heralds but instead announced most events by means of notices written on boards.