43. He was a native of Caesarea, in Numidia, and began his
fortune by serving in the household of Plautian, from whose
ruin he narrowly escaped. His enemies asserted that he was
born a slave, and had exercised, among other infamous
professions that of gladiator. The fashion of aspersing the
birth and condition of an adversary, seems to have lasted
from the time of the Greek orators to the learned
grammarians of the last age.