From the shade of these pillars one could command a sweeping view of the Forum, packed with a turbulent multitude.

Drusus stood on the Temple steps and looked out and in.
Without, confusion; within, order; without, a leaderless mob; within, an assembly almost every member of which had been invested with some high command.

For a moment the young man revived courage; after all, the Roman Senate was left as a bulwark against passion and popular wrath; and for the time being, as he looked on those motionless, venerable faces, his confidence in this court of final appeal was restored.

Then he began to scan the features of the consulars, and his heart sank.

There was Lucius Calpurnius Piso, with the visage of a philosopher, but within mere moral turpitude.