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 NORTH CAROLINA STATE UNIVERSITY 
 
 S02954454 X 
 
THIS BOOK IS DUE ON THE DATE 
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 JECT TO AN OVERDUE FINE AS 
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Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 
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 NCSU Libraries 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/nerohistoryOOabbo 
 
ilDafters of fbtetorg 
 
 Nero 
 
 By JACOB ABBOTT 
 
 WITH ENGRAVINGS 
 
 JIWEm UBKART 
 "■ C, Statt College 
 
 NEW YORK AND LONDON 
 
 HARPER & BROTHERS PUBLISHERS 
 
 1903 
 
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year one thousano 
 eight hundred and fifty-three, by 
 
 Harper <fe Brothers, 
 
 in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the Southern Districi 
 of New York. 
 
 Copyright, 1881, by Besjamtn VArGHAN Abbott, Acsti* 
 Abbott. Lymas Abbott, and Edward Abbott, 
 

 te 
 
 PREFACE 
 
 I» writing the series of historical narratives to 
 which the present work pertains, it has been the 
 object of the author to furnish to the reading com- 
 munity of this country an accurate and faithful 
 account of the lives and actions of the several per- 
 sonages that are made successively the subjects of 
 the volumes, following precisely the story which has 
 come down to us from ancient times. The writer 
 has spared no pains to gain access in all cases to the 
 original sources of information, and has confined 
 himself strictly to them. The reader may, therefore, 
 feel assured in perusing any one of these works, that 
 the interest of it is in no degree indebted to the inven- 
 tion of the author. No incident, however trivial, is 
 ever added to the original account, nor are any word* 
 even, in any case, attributed to a speaker without 
 express authority. "Whatever of interest, therefore, 
 these stories may possess, is due solely to the facts 
 themselves which are recorded in them, and to their 
 being brought together in a plain, simple, and con- 
 nected narrative. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 «Arr«a tAo» 
 
 I. NERO S MOTHER It 
 
 II. THE ASSASSINATION OF CALIGULA. 84 
 
 III. THE ACCESSION OF CLAUDIUS 65 
 
 IV. THE FATE OF MESSALINA 7f 
 
 T. THE CHILDHOOD OF NERO 105 
 
 VI. NERO AN EMPEROR 124 
 
 VIL BRITANNI0U8 148 
 
 Vffl. THE FATE OP AGRIPFINA 172 
 
 IX. EXTREME DEPRAVITY 208 
 
 X. PISO'S CONSPIRACY 228 
 
 XI. THE FATE OF THE CONSPIRATORS 260 
 
 XIL THB EXPEDITION INTO GREECE 272 
 
 DTI NSRO's END 29t 
 
ENGRAVINGS. 
 
 pa em 
 
 ■UP ENVIRONS OF ROME FrOnUipi*. 
 
 ENCAMPMENT OF A ROMAN LEGION 3 
 
 OSSONIA 58 
 
 DISCOVERT OF CLAUDIUS 64 
 
 ME88ALINA IN THE GARDEN 89 
 
 THE POI80NING OF CLAUDIUS 182 
 
 THE JEWELRY 166 
 
 THE ATTEMPT OF ANICETUS 197 
 
 BURNING OF ROME 225 
 
 THE KNIFE 244 
 
 BRIhQPSG XFIOHARIS TO THE TORTURE. 258 
 
 PHAOH AT THE WALL. 816 
 
-PROPERTY LIBRARY 
 
 N. C. Stat* College 
 
 NERO 
 
 Ohapteb I. 
 
 Nebo'8 Motheb. 
 
 Roman country seats. Antium, 
 
 IN ancient times, when the city of Rome 
 was at the height of its power and splen- 
 dor, it was the custom, as it is in fact now 
 with the inhabitants of wealthy capitals, for 
 the principal families to possess, in addition 
 to their city residences, rural villas for sum- 
 mer retreats, which they built in picturesque 
 situations, at a little distance from the city, 
 sometimes in the interior of the country, and 
 sometimes upon the sea-shore. There were 
 many attractive places of resort of this nature 
 in the neighborhood of Rome. Among them 
 was Antrum. 
 
 Antium was situated on the sea-coast about 
 thirty miles south of the Tiber. A bold prom- 
 ontory here projects into the sea, affording 
 
14 Neeo. [A.D. 37 
 
 Bttuuloa of the promontory of Antium. 
 
 from its declivities the most extended and 
 magnificent views on every side. On the 
 north, looking from the promontory of Antium, 
 the eye follows the line of the coast away to 
 the mouth of the Tiber ; while, on the south, 
 the view is terminated, at about the same dis- 
 tance, by the promontory of Circe, which is 
 the second cape, or promontory, that marks 
 the shore of Italy in going southward from 
 Rome. Toward the interior, from Antium, 
 there extends a broad and beautiful plain, 
 bounded by wooded hills toward the shore, 
 and by ranges of mountains in the distance 
 beyond. On the southern side of the cape, 
 and sheltered by it, was a small harbor where 
 vessels from all the neighboring seas had been 
 accustomed to bring in their cargoes, or to 
 seek shelter in storms, from time immemorial. 
 In fact, Antium, in point of antiquity, takes 
 precedence, probably, even of Rome. 
 
 The beauty and the salubrity of Antium 
 made it a very attractive place of summer 
 resort for the people of Rome ; and in process 
 of time, when the city attained to an advanced 
 stage of opulence and luxury, the Roman 
 noblemen built villas there, choosing situa- 
 tions, in some instances, upon the natural ter 
 
A.D. 37.] Neko's Motheb. IS 
 
 Account of Nero's parentage. BruenbeanL 
 
 races and esplanades of the promontory, 
 which looked oft* over the sea, and in others 
 cool and secluded retreats in the valleys, on 
 the land. It was in one of these villas that 
 Nero was born. 
 
 Nero's father belonged to a family which 
 had enjoyed for several generations a consid- 
 erable degree of distinction among the Roman 
 nobility, though known by a somewhat whim- 
 sical name. The, H omily name was IBrazen- 
 beai'd, or, to speak more exactly, it was Ahe- 
 nobarbus, which is the Latin equivalent for 
 that word. It is a question somewhat difficult 
 to decide', whether in speaking of Nero's fa- 
 ther at the present time, and in the English 
 tongue, we should make use of the actual Lat- 
 in name, or translate the word and employ the 
 English representative of it ; that is, whether 
 we shall call him Ahenobarbus or Brazen- 
 beard. The former seems to be more in har- 
 mony with our ideas of the dignity of Roman 
 history ; while the latter, though less elegant, 
 conveys probably to our minds a more exact 
 idea of the import and expression of the name 
 as it sounded in the ears of the Roman com- 
 munity. The name certainly was not an at- 
 tractive one, though the family Had contriv 
 
16 Neko. [AD. 37 
 
 If ero'c father. Agrippina his mother. 
 
 ed to dignify it some degree by assigning to 
 it a preternatural origin. There was a tradi- 
 tion that in ancient times a prophet appeared 
 to one of the ancestors of the line, and aftei 
 foretelling certain extraordinary events which 
 were to occur at some future period, strok- 
 ed down the beard of his auditor with his 
 hand, and changed it to the color of brass, 
 in miraculous attestation of the divine author- 
 ity of the message. The man received the 
 name of Brazenbeard in consequence, and he 
 and his descendants ever afterward retained 
 it. 
 
 The family of the Brazenbeards was one of \ 
 high rank and distinction, though at the time 
 of Nero's birth it was, like most of the other 
 prominent Roman families, extremely profli- 
 gate and corrupt. Nero's father, especially, 
 was a very bad man. He was accused of the 
 very worst of crimes, and he led a life of con- \ 
 stant remorse and terror. His wife, Agrip- 
 pina, Nero's mother, was as wicked as he ; 
 and it is said that when the messenger came 
 to him to announce the birth of his child, thtj 
 hero of this narrative, he uttered some excla- 
 mation of ill-humor and contempt, and said 
 that whatever came from him and Agrip 
 
 / 
 
AD. 37.] !Neko'8 Mothee. 17 
 
 Agrtpptna's brother Caligula. Roman emperor*. 
 
 pina could not but be fraught with ruin to 
 Rome. 
 
 The rank and station of Agrippina in Ro-'i, l * 
 man society was even higher than that of her 
 basband. She was the sister of the emperor 
 The name of the emperor, her brother, was 
 Caligula. lie was the third in the series of *, " 
 Roman emperors, Augustus Caesar, the suc- 
 cessor of Julius Caesar, having been the first." 
 The terra emperyj-, however, had a very dif- 
 ferent meaning in those days, from its present 
 import. It seems to denote now a sovereign 
 ruler, who exercises officially a general juris- 
 diction which extends over the whole govern- 
 ment of the state. In the days of the Kb 
 mans it inciudecf, in theory at least, onlv 
 military command. The word was imperat&r, 
 which meant comma/nder / and the station 
 which it denoted was simply that of general- 
 in-chief over the military forces of the re- 
 public. 
 
 In the early periods of the Roman history, 
 every possible precaution was taken to keep 
 the military power in a condition of very strict 
 subordination to the authority of the civil 
 magistrate and of law. Very stringent regu- 
 lations were adopted to secure this end. No 
 15—2 
 
18 Nkko. [A.D. 37. 
 
 K^rolaHons in raepect to the Roman armlet. 
 
 portion of the army, except such small de- 
 tachments as were required for preserving 
 order within the walls, was allowed to ap- 
 proach the city. Great commanders, in re- 
 turning from their victorious campaigns, were 
 obliged to halt and encamp at some distance 
 from the gates, and there await the orders of 
 Lhe Roman Senate. The Senate was, in the- 
 ory, the great repository of political power. 
 This Senate was not, however, as the word 
 might seem in modern times to denote, a well- 
 defined and compact body of legislators, des- 
 ignated individually to the office, but rather a 
 class of hereditary nobles, very numerous, and 
 deriving their power from immemorial usage, 
 and from that strange and unaccountable 
 feeling of deference and awe with which the 
 mass of mankind always look up to an estab- 
 lished, and especially an ancient, aristocracy. 
 The Senate were accustomed to convene at 
 stated times, in assemblages which were, 
 sometimes, conducted with a proper degree 
 of formality and order, and sometimes en the 
 other hand, exhibited scenes of great tumult 
 and confusion. Their power, however, whether 
 regularly or irregularly exercised, was su- 
 preme. They issued edicts, they enacted laws. 
 
A.D. 37.] Neko's Mother. 19 
 
 Description of the Roman armies. 
 
 they alloted provinces, they made peace, and 
 trey declared war. The armies, and the gen- 
 erals who commanded them, were the agentt 
 employed to do their bidding. 
 
 The Roman armies consisted of vast bodies 
 of men which, when not in actual service, 
 were established in permanent encampments 
 in various parts of the empire, wherever it 
 was deemed necessary that troops should be 
 stationed. These great bodies of troops were 
 the celebrated Roman legions, and they were 
 renowned throughout the world for their dis- 
 cipline, their admirable organization, the 
 celerity of their movements, and for the in 
 domitable courage and energy of the men. 
 Each legion constituted, in fact, a separate 
 and independent community. Its camp was 
 its city. Its general was its king. In time 
 of war it moved, of course, from place to 
 place, as the exigencies of the service re- 
 quired ; but in time of peace it established 
 itself with great formality in a spacious ana 
 permanent encampment, which was laid out 
 with great regularity, and fortified with ram- 
 parts and fosses. Within the confines of thi 
 camp the tents were arranged in rows, with 
 broad spaces for streets between their ; &> \ 
 
20 Nero. [A.D. 37 
 
 Encampment* of the legions. Their si&uoni. 
 
 in a central position, before a space which 
 served the purpose of a public square, the 
 rich and ornamented pavilions of the com- 
 mander and chief, and of the other generals, 
 rose above the rest, like the public edifices of 
 a city. The encampment of a Roman legion 
 was, in fact, an extended and populous city, 
 only that the dwellings consisted of tents in- 
 stead of being formed of solid and permanent 
 structures of wood or stone. 
 
 Roman legions were encamped in this way 
 in various places throughout the empire, 
 wherever the Senate thought proper to station 
 them. There were some in Syria and the 
 East ; some in Italy ; some on the banks of 
 the Rhine; and it was through the instru- 
 mentality of the vast force thus organized, 
 that the Romans held the whole European 
 world under their sway. The troops were 
 satisfied to yield submission to the orders of 
 their commanders, since they received through 
 them in return, an abundant supply of food 
 and clothing, and lived, ordinarily, lives of 
 sase and indulgence. In consideration oi 
 this, they were willing to march from place 
 to place wherever they were ordered, and tc 
 fight any enemy when brought into the field 
 
A.D. 37.] Neko's Motheb. 23 
 
 Useful function* of the Roman armies. 
 
 The commanders obtained food and clothing 
 for them by means of the tribute which thej 
 exacted from conquered provinces, and from 
 the plunder of sacked cities, in times of actual 
 war. These armies were naturally interested 
 in preserving order and maintaining in gen 
 eral the authority of law, throughout the 
 communities which they controlled ; for with- 
 out law and order the industrial pursuits of 
 men could not go on, and of course they were 
 well aware that if in any country production 
 were to cease, tribute must soon cease too. 
 In reading history we find, indeed, it must be 
 confessed, that a fearful proportion of the 
 narrative which describes the achievements 
 qf ancient armies, is occupied with detailing 
 deeds of violence, rapine, and crime ; but we 
 must not infer from this that the influence of 
 these vast organizations was wholly evil. 
 Such extended and heterogeneous masses of 
 population as those which were spread over 
 Europe and Asia, in the days of the Romans, 
 could be kept subject to the necessary re 
 Btraints of social order only by some verv 
 powerful instrumentality. The legions or- 
 ganized by the Roman Senate, and stationed 
 here and there throughout the extended ter- 
 
24 Nero. [A.D. 37. 
 
 Eflbcti prodomd. Mode of producing them. 
 
 ritory, constituted this instrumentality. But 
 still, during far the greater portion of the 
 time the power which a legion wielded was 
 power in repose. It accomplished its end by 
 its simple presence, and by the sentiment of 
 awe which its presence inspired ; and the na- 
 tions and tribes within the circle of its influ- 
 ence lived in peace, and pursued their indus- 
 trial occupations without molestation, protect- 
 ed by the consciousness which everywhere 
 pervaded the minds of men, that the Roman 
 power was at hand. The legion hovered, as 
 it were, like a dark cloud in their horizon, si- 
 lent and in repose; but containing, as they 
 well knew, the latent elements of thunder, 
 which might at any time burst upon their 
 heads. Thus, in its ordinary operation, its 
 influence was good. Occasionally and inci- 
 dentally periods of commotion would occur, 
 when its action was violent, cruel, and merci- 
 lessly evil. Unfortunately, however, for the 
 credit of the system in the opinion of man- 
 kind in subsequent ages, there was in the 
 good which it effected nothing to narrate ; 
 while every deed of violence and crime which 
 was perpetrated by its agency, furnished ma- 
 terials for an entertaining and exciting story 
 
A.D. 37.] Neko'8 Mother. 25 
 
 Ancient narratives. The cItII aoihomta*. 
 
 The good which waa accomplished extended 
 perhaps through a long, but monotonous pe- 
 riod of quiescence and repose. The evil waa 
 brief, but was attended with a rapid succes- 
 lion of events, and varied by innumerable in- 
 cidents ; so that the historian was accustomed 
 to pass lightly over the one, with a few indif- 
 ferent words of cold description, while he em- 
 ployed all the force of his genius in amplify- 
 ing and adorning the narratives which com- 
 memorated the other. Thus, violent and op- 
 pressive as the military rulers were, by whom 
 in ancient times the world was governed, they 
 were less essentially and continuously violent 
 and oppressive than the general tenor of his- 
 tory makes them seem ; and their crimes were, 
 in some degree at least, compensated for and 
 redeemed, by the really useful function which 
 they generally fulfilled, of restraining and 
 repressing all disorder and violence except 
 their own. 
 
 The Roman legions, in particular, were for 
 many centuries kept in tolerable subjection 
 to the civil authorities of the capitol ; but 
 they were growing stronger and stronger all 
 the time, and becoming more and more con- 
 scious of their strength. Every new com- 
 
26 Nkxo. [A.D. 37 
 
 Tbe progress of the military power. 
 
 mander who acquired renown by his victories 
 added greatly to the importance and influ 
 e of the arniy in its political relatione. 
 Ili^ great Julius Caesar, in the course of his 
 foreign conquests, and of his protracted and 
 terrible wars with Pompey, and with his 
 »ther rivals, made enormous strides in this 
 direction. Every rime that he returned to 
 Rome at the head of his victorious legions, 
 he overawed the capitol more and more. Oc- 
 tavins Caesar, the successor of Julius, known 
 generally in history by the name of Augustus, 
 completed what his uncle had begun. He 
 made the military authority, though - 
 nominally and in form subordinate, in reality 
 paramount and supreme. The Senate, indeed, 
 continued to assemble, and to exercise its 
 usual functions. Consuls and other civil mag- 
 istrates were chosen, and invested with the 
 insignia of supreme command ; and the cus • 
 toniary forms and usages of civil administra 
 tion, in which the subordination of the mili 
 tary to the civil power was fully recognized, 
 were all continued. Still, the actual author- 
 ity of the civil government was wholly over- 
 awed and overpowered ; and the haughty 
 
A.D. 37.] Nebo's Mother. 27 
 
 Disposition of men to submit to established power. 
 
 imperator dictated to the Senate, and directed 
 the administration, just as he pleased. 
 
 It required great genius in the commanders 
 to bring up the army to this position of as- 
 cendency and power ; but once up, it sus- 
 tained itself there, without the necessity of 
 ability of any kind, or of any lofty qualities 
 whatever, in those subsequently placed at the 
 head. In fact, the reader of history has often 
 occasion to be perfectly amazed at the lengths 
 to which human endurance will go, when a 
 governmental power of any kind is once es- 
 tablished, in tolerating imbecility and folly 
 in the individual representatives of it. It 
 seems to be immaterial whether the dominant 
 power assumes the form of a dynasty of kings 
 a class of hereditary nobles, or a line of mili- 
 tary generals. It requires genius and states- 
 manship to instate it, but, once instated, no 
 degree of stupidity, folly or crime in those 
 who wield it, seems sufficient to exhaust the 
 spirit of submission with which man always 
 bows to established power — a spirit of submis- 
 sion which is so universal, and so patient and 
 enduring, and which so transcends all the 
 bounds of expediency and of reason, as to 
 seem like a blind instinct implanted in the 
 
28 Nero. [A.D. 37 
 
 Great capacity of the early emperors. 
 
 very soul of man by the Author of his being — 
 a constituent and essential part of his nature 
 as a gregarious animal. In fact, without some 
 uch instinct, it would seem impossible that 
 hose extended communities could be formed 
 and sustained, without which man, if he could 
 exist at all, could certainly never fully de 
 velop his capacities and powers. 
 
 However this may be in theory, it is cer 
 tain in fact, that the work of bringing up the 
 military power of ancient Rome to its condi- 
 tion of supremacy over all the civil functions 
 of government, was the work of men of the 
 most exalted capacities and powers. Marius 
 and Sylla, Pornpey and Caesar, Antony and 
 Augustus, evinced, in all their deeds, a high 
 degree of sagacity, energy, and greatness of 
 soul. Mankind, though they may condemn 
 their vices and crimes, will never cease to 
 admire the grandeur of their ambition, and 
 the magnificence, comprehensiveness, and ef- 
 ficiency of their plans of action. The whole 
 known world was the theater of their con- 
 gests, and the armies which they organized 
 and disciplined, and which they succeeded at 
 length in bringing under the control of one 
 central and consolidated command, formed 
 
A.D. 37.J ^'eko's Motiiek. 29 
 
 Roman armies. Character of Caligula. 
 
 the most extended and imposing military 
 puwer that the world had ever seen. It wag 
 not only vast in extent, but permanent and 
 *eii-sustaining in character. A wide and 
 complicated, but most effectual system was 
 adopted for maintaining it. Its discipline 
 was perfect. Its organization was complete. 
 It was equally trained to remain quietly at 
 home in its city-like encampments, in time of 
 peace, or to march, or bivouac, or fight, in 
 time of war. Such a system could be formed 
 only by men possessed of mental powers of 
 the highest character; but, once formed, it 
 could afterward sustain itself; and not only 
 so, but it was found capable of holding up, 
 by its own inherent power, the most imbecile 
 and incompetent men, as the nominal rulers 
 ; of it. 
 yr <?-* Caligula, for example, the brother of Agrip- 
 pina, and the reigning emperor at the time 
 of Nero's birth, was a man wholly unfit to 
 exercise any high command. He was ele 
 vated to the post by the influence of the army, 
 simply because he was the most prominent 
 man among those whojn^jierj^itej^eia^fns 
 to the succession, and waslhus tho man whom 
 the army could most easily place in the office 
 
30 Nero. [A.D. 37. 
 
 FBs desperate malignity. Examples of his cruelty. 
 
 of chieftain, and retain most securely there 
 His life, however, in the lofty station to which 
 accident thus raised him, was one of continual 
 folly, vice and crime. He lived generally at' 7 
 Home, where he expended the immense reve- \ r 
 nues that were 'at his command in the most I 
 wanton and senseless extravagance. In tho/ 
 earlier part of his career the object of much c^u 
 of his extravagance was the gratification of 
 the people ; but after a time he began to seek 
 only gratifications for himself, and at length 
 he evinced the most wanton spirit of malig- 
 nity and cruelty toward others. He seemed 
 at last actually to hate the whole human spe- 
 cies, and to take pleasure in teasing and tor- 
 menting men, whenever an occasion of any 
 kind occurred to afford him the opportunity. 
 They were accustomed in those days to have 
 spectacles and shows in vast amphitheaters 
 which were covered, when the sun was hot, 
 with awnings. Sometimes when an amphi- 
 theater was crowded with spectators, and the 
 heat of the sun was unusually powerful, Ca- 
 ligula would order the awnings to be removed 
 and the doors to be kept closed so as to pre- 
 vent the egress of the people; and then he 
 would amuse himself with the indications of 
 
A..D. 37.] Nsbo'b Mothxs. 31 
 
 Feeding wQd boaits with men. Branding. 
 
 discomfort and suffering which so crowded a 
 conconrse in such an exposure would necessa- 
 rily exhibit. He kept wild animals for the 
 combats which took place in these amphithe- 
 aters, and when it was difficult to procure the 
 flesh of sheep and oxen for them, he would 
 feed them with men, throwing into their dens 
 + or this purpose criminals and captives. 
 Some persons who offended him, he ordered to 
 be branded in the face with hot irons, by 
 which means they were not only subjected to 
 cruel torture at the time, but were frightfully 
 disfigured for life. Sometimes when the sons 
 of noble or distinguished men displeased him, 
 or when under the influence of his caprice or 
 malignity he conceived some feeling of ha- 
 tred toward them, he would order them to be 
 publicly executed, and he would require their 
 parents to be present and witness the scene. 
 At one time after such an execution he re- 
 quired the wretched father of his victim to 
 come and sup with him at his palace ; and 
 while at supper he talked with his guest all 
 Lhe time, in a light, and jocular, and mirthful 
 manner, in order to trifle with and insult the 
 mental anguish of the sufferer. At another 
 time when he had commanded a distinguished 
 
32 Xero. [AJD. 37 
 
 Agrippina is Implicated in a conspiracy. 
 
 senator to be present at the execution of hia 
 son, the senator said that he wuuld go, in obe- 
 dience to the emperor's orders, but humbly 
 isked permission to shut his eyes at the mo- 
 ment of the execution, that he might be spared 
 the dreadful anguish of witnessing the dying 
 struggles of his son. The emperor in reply 
 immediately condemned the father to death 
 for daring to make so audacious a proposal. 
 
 Of course the connection of Agrippina, the 
 mother of Xero, with such a sovereign as this, 
 while it gave her a very high social position 
 in the Roman community, could not contrib- 
 ute much to her happiness. In fact all who 
 were connected with Caligula in any way 
 lived in continual terror, for so wanton and 
 capricious was his cruelty, that all who were 
 liable to come under his notice at all were 
 in constant danger. Agrippina herself at 
 one time incurred her brother's displeasure, 
 though she was fortunate enough to escape 
 with her life. Caligula discovered, < r pre- 
 tended to discover, a conspiracy against him, 
 and he accused Agrippina and another of hia 
 Bisters named Livilla of being implicated in 
 it. Caligula sent a soldier to the leader of 
 the conspiracy to cut off his head, and then 
 
AD. 37.J Nero's Mother. 33 
 
 She is haDislie.1 with her sister to Pontia. 
 
 he banished his sisters from Rome and shut 
 them up in the island of Pontia, telling them 
 when they went away, to beware, for he had 
 swords for them as well as islands, in case of 
 need. 
 
 At leEgth Caligula's terrible tyranny was 
 brought to a sudden end by his assassination ; 
 and Agrippina, in consequence of this event 
 was not only released from her thraldom but 
 raised to a still higher eminence than she had 
 enjoyed before. The circumstances connected 
 with these events will be related in the ner.t 
 chapter. 
 
 15—3 
 
34 JSero. [A.D. 40 
 
 Plou 5,-kLv- ; Caligula. Cassias Chserea. 
 
 Chapter IL 
 Tub Assassination of Caligula 
 
 THE emperor Caligula came to Lis death 
 in the following manner : 
 
 Of course his wanton and remorseless tyr- 
 anny often awakened very deep feelings of 
 resentment, and very earnest desires for re- 
 venge in the hearts of those who suffered by 
 it ; but yet so absolute and terrible was his 
 power, that none dared to murmur or com- 
 plain. The resentment, however, which the 
 cruelty of the emperor awakened, burned the 
 more fiercely for being thus restrained and 
 suppressed, and many covert threats were 
 made, and many secret plots were formed, 
 from time to time, against the tyrant's life. 
 
 Among others who cherished such designs, 
 there was a man named Cassius Chaerea, an 
 officei rf the army, who, though not of high 
 rank, was nevertheless a man of considerable 
 distinction. He was a captain, or, as it was 
 styled in those days, a centurion. His com- 
 mand, therefore, was small, but it was in the 
 
A.D. 40.] Death of Caligula. 35 
 
 Ch*rea'g bravery. His legion mutiniee. 
 
 praetorian cohort, as it was called, a sort of 
 body-guard of the coininander-m-chief, aud 
 consequently a very honorable corps. Chserea 
 was thus a man of considerable distinction on 
 account of the post which he occupied, and 
 his duties, as captain in the life guards, 
 brought him very frequently into communica 
 tion with the emperor. He was a man of 
 great personal bravery, too, and was on this 
 account held in high consideration by the 
 army. He had performed an exploit at one 
 time, some years before, in Germany, which 
 had gained him great fame. It war. at the 
 time of the death of Augustus, the first em- 
 peror. Some of the German legions, and 
 among them one in which Chrerea was serv- 
 ing, had seized upon the occasion to revolt 
 They alledged many and grievous acts of op 
 pression as the grounds of their revolt, and 
 demanded redress for what they had suffered, 
 and security for the future. One of the first 
 measures which they resorted to in the frenzy 
 of the first outbreak of the rebellion, was to 
 seize all the centurions in the camp, and to 
 beat them almost to death. They gave them 
 sixty blows each, one for each of their num 
 ber, and then turned them, bruised, woundod 
 
56 Neko. [A J). 4-0 
 
 itiaerea escapee tie mutineers. HiB appearance. 
 
 and dying, out of the camp. Some they 
 threw into the Rhine. They revenged them- 
 selves thus on all the centurions hut on8 
 That one was Cluerea. Cbaerea would not 
 suffer himself to he taken by them, but seizing 
 his sword he fought hie way through the 
 midst of them, slaying some and driving 
 others before him, and thus made his escape 
 from the camp. Tlus feat gained him great 
 renown. 
 
 One might imagme from this account that 
 Chaerea was a man of great personal superior- 
 ity in respect to size and strength, inasmuch 
 as extraordinary muscular power, as well as 
 undaunted courage, would seem to be re- 
 quired to enable a man to make his way 
 against so many enemies. But this was not 
 the fact. Chaerea was of small stature and 
 of a slender and delicate form. He was 
 modest and unassuming in his manners, too, 
 *nd cf a very kind and gentle spirit. lie 
 *-as thus not only honored and admired for 
 his courage, but he was generally beloved for 
 the amiable and excellent qualities of hia 
 heart. 
 
 The possession of such qualities, however, 
 could not be expected to recommend him par 
 
A.JD. 40 J Death of Caligula. 37 
 
 His just dealings displease the emperor. 
 
 ticularly to the favor of the emperor. In fact, 
 in one instance it had the contrary effect. 
 Caligula assigned to the centurions of his 
 guard, at one period, some duties connected 
 with the collection of taxes. Chserea, instead 
 of practicing the extortion and cruelty com- 
 mon on such occasions, was merciful and con- 
 siderate, and governed himself strictly by 
 the rules of law and of justice in his collec- 
 tions. The consequence necessarily was that 
 the amount of money received was somewhat 
 diminished, and the emperor was displeased. 
 The occasion was, however, not one of suffi- 
 cient importance to awaken in the monarch's 
 mind any very serious anger, and so, instead 
 of inflicting any heavy punishment upon the 
 offender, he contented himself with attempt- 
 ing to tease and torment him with sundry 
 vexatious indignities and annoyances. 
 
 It is the custom sometimes, in camps, and 
 at other military stations, for the commander 
 to give every evening, what is called the jpa, 
 role or password, which consists usually of 
 some word or phrase that is to be communi- 
 cated to all the officers, and as occasion may 
 require to all the soldiers, whom for any rea- 
 son it may be necessary to send to and fro 
 3 
 
Nero. [A.D. 40. 
 
 Paas- words piven by Nero vo Chare*. 
 
 about the precincts of the camp during the 
 night. The sentinels, also, all have the j 
 word, and accordingly, whenever any man 
 approaches the post of a seDtinel, he is 
 stopped and the parole is demanded. If the 
 stranger gives it correctly, it is presumed that 
 all is right, and he is allowed to pass on, — 
 since an enemy or a spy would have no means 
 of knowing ir. 
 
 .Now, whenever it came to Chaerea'& turn to 
 communicate the parole, the emperor was ac- 
 customed to give him soine ridiculous or inde- 
 cent phrase, intended not only to be offensive 
 to the purity of Chserea's mind, but designed, 
 also, to exhibit him in a ridiculous light to 
 the subordinate officers and soldiers to whom 
 he would have to communicate it. Sometimes 
 the password thus given was some word or 
 phrase wholly unfit to be spoken, and some- 
 times it was the name of some notorious and 
 infamous woman ; but whatever it was, Chaer- 
 ea was compelled by his duty as a soldier to 
 deliver it to all the corps, and patiently to 
 submit to the laughter and derision which hi* 
 3omnmnication awakened among the vile and 
 kicked soldiery. 
 
 If there was any dreadful punishment to be 
 
A.D. 40.] Death of Caligula. 
 
 Accusation of Propediu*. Quintilia's testimony. 
 
 inflicted, or cruel deed of any kind to be per- 
 formed, Caligula took great pleasure in as- 
 signing the duty to Chaerea, knowing how ab 
 horrent to his nature it must be. At one time 
 a senator of great distinction named Prope- 
 dius, was accused of treason by one of hia 
 enemies. Ilis treason consisted, as the ac- 
 cuser alledged, of having spoken injurious 
 words against the emperor. Propedius de- 
 nied that he had ever spoken such words. 
 The accuser, whose name was Timidius, cited 
 a certain Quintilia, an actress, as his witness. 
 Propedius was accordingly brought to trial, 
 and Quintilia was called upon before the 
 judges to give her testimony. She denied 
 that she had ever heard Propedius utter any 
 such sentiment as Timidius attributed to him. 
 Timidius then said that Quintilia was testify- 
 ing falsely : he declared that she had heard 
 Propedius utter such words, and demanded 
 that she should be put to the torture to com- 
 pel her to acknowledge it. The emperor 
 acceded to this demand, and commanded 
 Chasrea to put the actress to the torture. 
 
 It is, of course, always difficult to ascertain 
 the precise truth in respect to such transac 
 tions as those that are connected with plots 
 
10 Neso. [A.D. 40 
 
 Chares alarmed. Quintilia't private EignaL 
 
 and conspiracies against tyrants, since every 
 possible precaution is, of course, taken by all 
 concerned to conceal what is done. It is prob- 
 able, however, in this case, that Propedius had 
 cherished some hostile designs against Cali- 
 gula, if he had not uttered injurious words, 
 and that Quintilia was in some measure in 
 his confidence. It is even possible that Chaer- 
 ea may have been connected with them in 
 some secret design, for it is said that when he 
 received the orders of Caligula to put Quin- 
 tilia to the torture he was greatly agitated and 
 alarmed. If he should apply the torture se- 
 verely, he feared that the unhappy sufferer 
 might be induced to make confessions or 
 statements at least, which would bring de- 
 struction on the men whom he most relied 
 u\»m for the overthrow of Caligula. On the 
 other hand, if he should attelnpt to spare her, 
 the effect would be only to provoke the anger 
 of Caligula against himself, without at all 
 thielding 01 saving her. As, however, he waa 
 proceeding to the place of torture, in charge 
 of his victim, with his mind in this state of 
 anxiety and indecision, his fears were some- 
 what relieved by a private signal given to 
 him by Quintilia, by which she intimated tc 
 
A..D. 40.] Death of Caligula. 41 
 
 Quintilia 1b pat to the torture in rain. 
 
 him that he need feel no concern, — that she 
 would be faithful and true, and would re 'eal 
 nothing, whatever might be done to her. 
 
 This assurance, while it allayed in come 
 degree Chaerea's anxieties and fears, must 
 have greatly increased the mental distress 
 which he endured at the idea of leading such 
 a woman to the awful suffering which awaited 
 her. He could not, however, do otherwise 
 than to proceed. Having arrived at the j Lace 
 of execution, the wretched Quintilia was put 
 to the rack. She bore the agony which she 
 endured while her limbs were stretched on 
 the torturing engine, and her bones broken, 
 with patient submission, to the end. She was 
 then carried, fainting, helpless, and almost 
 dead, to Caligula, who seemed now satisfied. 
 He ordered the unhappy victim of the torture 
 to be taken away, and directed that Prope- 
 dius should be acquitted and discharged. 
 
 Of course while passing through this scene 
 the mind of Chserea was in a tumult of agita- 
 tion and excitement, — the anguish of mind 
 which he must have felt in his compassion for 
 the sufferer, mingling and contending with 
 the desperate indignation which burned in 
 nis bosom against the author of all these mis- 
 
42 Nbbo. [A.D.40 
 
 Awrer of Cherae. Hi* determinatk n to destroy Caligula. 
 
 eries. He was wrought up, in fact, to 6uch a 
 state of frenzy by this transaction, that as soon 
 as it was over he determined immediately u 
 take measures to put Caligula to death. This 
 was a very bold and desperate resolution. 
 Caligula was the greatest and most powerful 
 potentate on earth. Cha?rea was only a cap- 
 tain of his guard, without any political influ- 
 ence or power, and with nu means whatever 
 of screening himself from the terrible conse- 
 quences which might be expected to follow 
 from his attempt, whether it should succeed 
 or fail. 
 
 So thoroughly, however, was he now arous- 
 ed . that he determined to brave every danger 
 in the attainment of his end. He immediately 
 began to seek out among the officers of the 
 army such men as he supposed would be most 
 likely to join him, — men of courage, resolu- 
 tion, and faithfulness, and those who, from 
 their general character or from the wrongs 
 which they had individually endured fiom 
 the government, were to be supposed specially 
 hostile to Caligula's dominion. From among 
 these men he selected a few, and to them he 
 cautiously unfolded his designs. All approved 
 of them. Some, it is true, declined taking 
 
A D. 40.] Death of Caligula. 43 
 
 Conspiracy formed. The confederates. Various opinions. 
 
 any active part in the conspiracy, but they 
 assured Cha?rea of their good wishes, and 
 promised solemnly not to betray him. 
 
 The number of the conspirators daily in- 
 creased. There was, however, at their meet- 
 Jigs for consultation, some difference of opin- 
 ion in respect to the course to be pursued. 
 Some were in favor of acting promptly and at 
 once. The greatest danger which was to be 
 apprehended, they thought, was in delay. As 
 the conspiracy became extended, some one 
 would at length come to the knowledge of it, 
 they said, who would betray them. Others, 
 on the other hand, were for proceeding cau- 
 tiously and slowly. What they most feared 
 was rash and inconsiderate action. It would 
 be ruinous to the enterprise, as they main- 
 tained, for them to attempt to act before their 
 plans were fully matured. 
 
 Chaerea was of the former opinion. He was 
 very impatient to have the deed performed. 
 He was ready himself, he said, to perform it, 
 at any time ; his personal duties as an officer 
 jf the guard, gave him frequent occasions of 
 access to the emperor, and he was ready to 
 avail himself of any of them to kill the mon- 
 ster. The emperor went often, he said, to the 
 
4A Nero. |A.D. 40. 
 
 Various plans proposed for destroying Caligula. 
 
 capitol, to offer sacrifices, and he could easily 
 kill him there. Or, if they thought that that 
 was too public an occasion, he could have an 
 opportunity in the palace, at certain religious 
 ceremonies which the emperor was accustom- 
 ed to perform there, and at which Chaerea 
 himself was usually present. Or, he was 
 ready to throw him down from a tower where 
 he was accustomed to go sometimes for the 
 purpose of scattering money among the popu 
 lace below. Chaerea said that he could easily 
 come up behind him on such an occasion, and 
 hurl him suddenly over the parapet down to 
 the pavement below. All these plans, how- 
 ever, seemed to the conspirators too im certain 
 and dangerous, and Chaerea's proposals were 
 accordingly not agreed to. 
 
 At length, the time drew lear when Calig- 
 ula was to leave Rome to proceed to Alexan- 
 dria in Egypt, and the conspirators perceived 
 that they must prepare to act, or else aban- 
 don their design altogether. It had been 
 arranged that there was to be a grand cele- 
 bration at Rome previous to the emperor's 
 departure. This celebration, which was to 
 consist of games, and sports, and dramatio 
 performances of various kinds, was to con 
 
A.D. 41.] Death of Caligula. 45 
 
 Final dotermiDation. The three days festiYaL 
 
 tinue for three days, and the conspiratore 
 determined, after much consultation and de- 
 bate, that Caligula should be assassinated on 
 one of those days. 
 
 After coming to this conclusion, however, 
 in general, their hearts seemed to fail them 
 in fixing the precise time for the perpetration 
 ol the deed, and two of the three days passed 
 away accordingly without any attempt being 
 made. At length, on the morning of the 
 third day, Chaerea called the chief conspira 
 tors together, and urged them very earnestly 
 not to let the present opportunity pass away. 
 He represented to them how greatly they in- 
 creased the danger of their attempts by such 
 delays, and he seemed himself so full of de- 
 termination and courage, and addressed them 
 with so much eloquence and power, that he 
 inspired them with his own resolution, and 
 they decided unanimously to proceed. 
 
 The emperor came to the theater that day 
 at an unusually early hour, and seemed to be 
 in excellent spirits and in an excellent humor. 
 He was very complaisant to all around him, 
 and very lively, affable, and gay. After per- 
 forming certain ceremonies, by wiiich it de- 
 volved upon him to open the festivities of the 
 
46 JSkko. [A.D. 41 
 
 Brief conversation- The recess. Cherea't duty. 
 
 day, he proceeded to bis place, with bis 
 friends and favorites about - hiin, and Chaerea, 
 with the other officers that day on guard, i.t a 
 little distance behind him. 
 
 The performances were commenced, and 
 every thing went on as usual until toward 
 noon. The conspirators kept their plans pro- 
 foundly secret, except that one of them, when 
 he had taken his seat by the side of a distin- 
 guished senator, asked him whether he had 
 heard any thing new. The senator replied 
 that he had not. " I can then tell you some- 
 thing," said he, "which perhaps you have 
 not heard, and that is, that in the piece which 
 is to be acted to-day, there is to be repre- 
 sented the death of a tyrant." " Hush !" said 
 the senator, and he quoted a verse from Ho- 
 mer, which meant, " Be silent, lest some Greek 
 should overhear." 
 
 It had been the usual custom of the emperor, 
 at such entertainments, to take a little recess 
 about noon, for rest and refreshments. It 
 devolved upon Chaerea to wait upon him at 
 this time, and to conduct him from his place 
 in the theater to an adjoining apartment in 
 his palace which was connected with the 
 theater, where there was provided a bath and 
 
A..D. 41.] Death of Caligula. 47 
 
 The plan seems likely to fall. 
 
 various refreshments. When the time ar- 
 rived, and Chaerea perceived, as he thought, 
 that the emperor was about to go, he himself 
 went out, and stationed himself in a passage- 
 way leading to the bath, intending to inter 
 cept and assassinate the emperor when he 
 should come along. The emperor, however, 
 delayed his departure, having fallen into 
 conversation with his courtiers and friends, 
 and finally he said that, on the whole, as it 
 was the last day of the festival, he would not 
 go out to the bath, but would remain in the 
 theater; and then ordering refreshments to 
 be brought to him there, he proceeded to dis- 
 tribute them with great urbanity to the offi- 
 cers around him. 
 
 In the mean time, Chaerea was patiently 
 waiting in the passage-way, with his sword 
 by his side, all ready for striking the blow 
 the moment that his victim should appear. 
 Of course the conspirators who remained be 
 hind were in a state of great suspense and 
 anxiety, and one of them, named Minucianus, 
 determined to go out and inform Chaerea of 
 the change in Caligula's plans. He accord- 
 ingly attempted to rise, but Caligula put his 
 band upon his robe, saying, " Sit still, my 
 
48 Nero. [A.D. 41 
 
 Cheerea's ambuscade. Mimicianua. 
 
 friend. You shall go with me presently.- ' 
 Minucianus accordingly dissembled his anxi- 
 ety and agitation of mind still a little longer, 
 but presently, watching an opportunity when 
 the emperor's attention was otherwise en- 
 gaged, he rose, and, assuming an unconcerned 
 and careless air, he walked out of the theater. 
 
 He found Chserea in his ambuscade in the 
 passage-way, and he immediately informed 
 him that the emperor had concluded not to 
 come out. Chserea and Minucianus were 
 then greatly at a loss what to do. Some of 
 the other conspirators, who had followed 
 Minucianus out, now joined them, and a brief 
 but very earnest and solemn consultation en- 
 sued. After a moment's hesitation, Chaerea 
 declared that they must now go through with 
 their work at all hazards, and he professed 
 himself ready, if his comrades would sustain 
 him in it, to go back to the theater, and stab 
 the tyrant there in his seat, in the midst of 
 his friends. Minucianus and the others con- 
 curred in this design, and it was resolved 
 immediately to execute it. 
 
 The execution of the plan, however, in the 
 precise form in which it had been resolved 
 upon was prevented by a new turn which af 
 
A.D. 41. J Death of Caligula. 49 
 
 Adroit management of the conspirators. 
 
 fairs bad taken in the theater. For while 
 Minucianus and the two or three conspirators 
 who had accompanied him were debating in 
 the passage-way, the others who remained^ 
 knowing that Chserea was expecting Caligula 
 to go out, conceived the idea of attempting to 
 persuade him to go, and thus to lead him into 
 the snare which had been set for him. They 
 accordingly gathered around, and without 
 any appearance of concert or of eagerness, 
 began to recommend him to go and take his 
 bath as usual. He seemed at length disposed 
 to yield to these persuasions, and rose from 
 his seat; and then, the whole company at- 
 tending and following him, he proceeded to- 
 ward the doors which conducted to the pal- 
 ace. The conspirators went before him, and 
 under pretense of clearing the way for him 
 they contrived to remove to a little distance 
 all whom they thought would be most dispcso .1 
 to render him any assistance. The consulta- 
 tions of Chaerea and those who were with him 
 in the inner passage-way were interrupted by 
 the coming of this company. 
 
 Among those who walked with the emperor 
 at this time were his uncle Claudius and other 
 distinguished relatives. Caligula advanced 
 15—4 
 
50 IN EKO. [^-^- 41 
 
 The Asiatic boy*. Chaerea strikes Caligula down. 
 
 along the passage, walking in company with 
 these friends, and wholly unconscious of the 
 fate that awaited him, but instead of going 
 immediately toward the bath he turned aside 
 first into a gallery or corridor which led into 
 another apartment, where there were assem- 
 bled a company of boys and girls, that had 
 been sent to him from Asia to act and dance 
 upon the stage, and who had just arrived. 
 The emperor took great interest in looking at 
 these performers, and seemed desirous of hav- 
 ing them go immediately into the theater and 
 let him see them perform. While talking on 
 this subject Chaerea and the other conspirators 
 came into the apartment, determined now to 
 strike the blow. 
 
 Chaerea advanced to the emperor, and 
 asked him in the usual manner what should 
 be the parole for that night. The emperor 
 gave him in reply such an one as he had often 
 chosen before, to insult and degrade him. 
 Chaerea instead of receiving the insult meekly 
 and patiently in his usual manner, uttered 
 words of anger and defiance in reply ; and 
 drawing his sword at the same instant he 
 struck the emperor across the neck and felled 
 him to the floor. Caligula filled the apart 
 
A.D. 41.J Death of Caligula 5i 
 
 End of a despot. General joy In the palace. 
 
 uient -with his cries of pain and terror ; the 
 other conspirators rushed in and attacked him 
 on all sides; his friends, — so far as the adhe- 
 rents of such a man can be called friends. — 
 fled in dismay. As for Caligula's uncle Clau- 
 dius, it was not to have been expected that he 
 would have rendered his nephew any aid, for 
 he "was a man of such extraordinary mental 
 imbecility that he was usually considered as 
 not possessed even of common sense ; and all 
 the others "who might have been expected to 
 defend him, either fled from the scene, or 
 stood by in consternation and amazement, 
 leaving the conspirators to wreak their ven 
 geance on their wretched victim, to the full. 
 
 In fact though while a despot lives and re- 
 tains his power, thousands are ready to de- 
 fend him and to execute his will, however 
 much in heart they may hate and detest him, 
 yet when he is dead, or when it is once cer- 
 tain that he is about to die, an instantaneous 
 change takes place and every one turns 
 against him. The multitudes in and around 
 the theater and the palace who had an hour 
 before trembled before this mighty potentate, 
 and seemed to live only to do his bidding, 
 were filled with joy to see him brought to tht 
 
52 Nero. [A.T>. 41. 
 
 Savage exultation of the conspirators. 
 
 dust. The conspirators, when the success of 
 their plans and the death of their oppressor 
 was once certain, abandoned themselves to 
 the most extravagant joy. They cut and 
 staLbed the fallen body again and again, as 
 if they could never enough wreak their ven 
 geance upon it. They cut off pieces of the 
 body and bit them with their teeth in their 
 savage exultation and triumph. At length 
 they left the body where it lay, and went forth 
 into the city where all was now of course tu- 
 mult and confusion. 
 
 The body remained where it had fallen un- 
 til late at night. Then some attendants ot 
 the palace came and conveyed it away. They 
 were sent, it was said, by Caesonia, the wife 
 of the murdered man. Caesoniahad an infant 
 daughter at this time, and she remained her- 
 self with the child, in a retired apartment of 
 the palace while these things were transpir- 
 ing. Distracted with grief and terror at the 
 tidings that she heard, she clung to her babe, 
 and made the arrangements for the interment 
 ;>f the body of her husband without leaving 
 its cradle. She imagined perhaps that there 
 was no reason for supposing that she or the 
 child were in any immediate danger, and ac 
 
A.D. 41.] Death of Caligula. 5t> 
 
 C«sonia and her child. 
 
 They are murdered. 
 
 cordingly she took no measures toward ef- 
 fecting an escape. If so, she did not under- 
 stand the terrible frenzy to which the con- 
 spirators had been aroused, and for which the 
 long series of cruelties and indignities which 
 they had endured from her husband had pre- 
 pared them. For at midnight one of them 
 broke into her apartment, stabbed the mother 
 in her chair, and taking the innocent infant 
 from its cradle, killed it by beating its head 
 against the wall. 
 
 A 
 
54 Nkko. [A.D.41. 
 
 ^opposed necessity for destroying the chUd. 
 
 Atrocious as this deed may seem, it was not 
 altogether wanton and malignant cruelty 
 which prompted it. The conspirators in- 
 tended by the assassination of Calignla not 
 merely to wreak their vengeance on a single 
 man, but to bring to an end a hated race of 
 tyrants ; and- they justified the murder of the 
 wife and child by the plea that stern political 
 necessity required them to exterminate the 
 line, in order that no successor might subse- 
 quently arise to re-establish the power and re- 
 new the tyranny which they had brought to 
 au end. The history of monarchies is contin 
 ually presenting us with instances of innocent 
 and helpless children sacrificed to such a 
 supposed necessity as this. 
 
A.D. 41.] Accession jf Claudius. 55 
 
 Ultimate design of the conspirators. 
 
 Chapter III. 
 The Accession of Claudius. 
 
 IN the assassination of Caligula, the con 
 spirators who combined to perpetrate 
 the deed, had a much deeper design than that 
 of merely gratifying their personal resent- 
 ment and rage against an individual tyrant. 
 They "wished to effect a permanent change in 
 the government, by putting down the army 
 from the position of supreme and despotic 
 authority which it had assumed, and restor- 
 ing the dominion to the Roman Senate, and 
 to the other civil authorities of the city, as it 
 had been exercised by them in former years. 
 Of course, the death of Caligula was the com- 
 mencement, not the end, of the great struggle. 
 The whole country was immediately divided 
 into two parties. There was the party of the 
 Senate, and the party of the army ; and a 
 long and bitter conflict ensued. It was for 
 some time doubtful which would win the 
 day. 
 
 In fact, immediately after Caliguls. was 
 
5t> Nkbo. [A.D. 41. 
 
 Effect produced by the tidings of Caligula's death. 
 
 killed, and the tidings of his death began to 
 spread about the palace and into the streets 
 di the city, a considerable tumult arose, the 
 precursor and earnest of the dissensions that 
 were to follow. Upon the first alarm, a body 
 of the emperor's guards that had been accus- 
 tomed to attend upon his person, and whom 
 he had strongly attached to himself by his 
 lavish generosity in bestowing presents and 
 rewards upon them, rushed forward to defend 
 him, or if it should prove too late to defend 
 him, to avenge his death. These soldiers ran 
 toward the palace, and when they found that 
 the emperor had been killed, they were furi 
 ous with rage, and fell upon all whom they 
 met, and actually slew several men. Tid 
 ings came to the theater, and the word was 
 spread from rank to rank among the people 
 that the emperor was slain. The people did 
 not, however, at first, believe the story. They 
 supposed that the report was a cunning con- 
 trivance of the emperor himself, intended U 
 entrap them into some expression of pleasure 
 and gratification, on their part, at his death, 
 in order to give him an excuse for inflicting 
 some cruel punishment upon them. The noise 
 and tumult in the streets soon convinced them. 
 
A.D. 41.] Accession of Claudius. 57 
 
 Chaer«a and the conspirators secrete themselves. 
 
 however, that something extraordinary had 
 occurred ; they learned that the news of the 
 emperor's death was really true, and almost 
 immediately afterward they found, to their 
 consternation, that the furious guards were 
 hundering at the gates of the theater, and 
 endeavoring to force their way in, in order to 
 wreak their vengeance on the assembly, as if 
 the spectators at the show were accomplices 
 of the crime. 
 
 In the mean time Chaerea and the other 
 chief conspirators had fled to a secret place 
 of retreat, where they now lay concealed. As 
 suon ae they had found that the object of their 
 vengeance was really dead, and when they 
 had satisfied themselves with the pleasure of 
 cutting and stabbing the lifeless body, they 
 stole away to the house of one of their friends 
 in the neighborhood, where they could lie for 
 a time secreted in safety. The life-guards 
 sought for them everywhere, but could not 
 find them. The streets were filled with tu- 
 mult and confusion. Rumors of every kind, 
 false and true, spread in all directions, and 
 increased the excitement. At length, how- 
 ever, the consuls, who were the chief magis- 
 trates of the republic, succeeded in organiz- 
 
68 Nero. [A.D. -1 '. 
 
 The senate is convened. Two parties formed. 
 
 ing a force and in restoring order. They took 
 possession of the forum and of the capitol 
 and posted sentinels and guards along t 1 ie 
 streets. They compelled the emperor's guard? 
 to desist from their violence, and retire. They 
 sent a herald clothed in mourning into the 
 theater, to announce officially to the people 
 the event which had occurred, and to direct 
 them to repair quietly to their homes. Hav- 
 ing taken these preliminary measures they 
 immediately called the Senate together, to 
 deliberate on the emergency which had oc- 
 curred, and to decide what should next be 
 done. In the mean time the emperor's guards, 
 having withdrawn from the streets of the city, 
 retired to their camp and joined their com- 
 rades. Thus there were two vast powers 
 organized — that of the army in the camp, and 
 that of the Senate in the city — each jealous 
 of the other, and resolute in its determination 
 not to yield, in the approaching conflict. 
 
 In times of sudden and violent revolution 
 like that which attended the death of Caligula, 
 the course which public affairs are to take, 
 and the question who is to rise and who is to 
 fall, seem often to be decided by utter acci- 
 dent. It was strikingly so in thi3 instance, in 
 
A D. 41 .J Accession of Claudius. 59 
 
 Amount of Claudius. His apparent imbecility. 
 
 respect to the selection, on the part of the 
 army, of the man who was to take the post of 
 supreme command in the place of the mar- 
 iered emperor. The choice fell on Claudius, 
 A grippina's uncle. It fell upon him, too, as 
 It would seem, by the merest chance, in the 
 following very extraordinary manner. 
 
 Claudius, as has already been said, was 
 Caligula's uncle ; and as Caligula and Agrip- 
 pina were brother and sister, he was, of course, 
 Agrippina's uncle too. He was at this time 
 about fifty years of age, and he was univer- 
 sally ridiculed and contemned on account of 
 his great mental and personal inferiority. He 
 was weak and ill-formed at his birth, so that 
 even his mother despised him. She called 
 him " an unfinished little monster," and when- 
 ever she wished to express her contempt for 
 any one in respect to his understanding, she 
 used to say, " You are as stupid as my son 
 Claudius." In a word, Claudius was extreme- 
 ly unfortunate in every respect, so far as 
 natural endowments are concerned. His 
 countenance was very repulsive, his figure was 
 ungainly, his manners were awkward, his 
 voice was disagreeable, and he had an impedi- 
 ment in his sueech. In fact, he was consii- 
 
60 Nero. [A.D. 41 
 
 ETery one against htm. Mode of teasing him. 
 
 ered in his youth as almost an idiot. lie was 
 not allowed to associate with the other Hornan 
 boys of his age, but was kept apart, in some 
 secluded portion of the palace, with women 
 and slaves, where he was treated with so much 
 cruelty and neglect that what little spirit na- 
 ture had given him was crushed and destroy- 
 ed. In fact, by common consent all seemed 
 to take pleasure in teasing and tormenting 
 him. Sometimes, when he was coming to the 
 table at an entertainment, the other guests 
 would combine to exclude him from the seats, 
 in order to enjoy his distress as he ran about 
 from one part of the table to another, endeav 
 oring to find a place. If they found him 
 asleep they would pelt him with olives and 
 dates, or awaken him with the blow of a rod 
 or a whip ; and sometimes they would stealth- 
 ily put his sandals upon his hands while he 
 was asleep, in order that when he awoke sud- 
 denly they might amuse themselves with see- 
 ing him rub his face and eyes with them. 
 
 After all, however, the inferiority of Clau 
 dius was not really so great as it seemed. He 
 was awkward and ungainly, no doubt, to the 
 last degree ; but he possessed some consider- 
 able capacity for intellectual pursuits and at 
 
A.D. 41.J Accession of Claudius. 6] 
 
 His situation and position at court. 
 
 tainments, and as lie was pretty effectually 
 driven away from society by the jests and 
 ridicule to which he was subjected, he devo- 
 ted a great deal of time in his retirement to 
 Ttudy, and to other useful pursuits. He made 
 considerable progress in the efforts which he 
 thus made to cultivate his mind. He, how- 
 ever, failed to acquire the respect of those 
 around him ; and as he grew up he seemed to 
 be considered utterly incapable of performing 
 any useful function ; and during the time 
 when his nephew Caligula was emperor, he 
 remained at court, among the other nobles, 
 but still neglected and despised by all of 
 them. It is said that he probably owed the 
 preservation of his life to his insignificance, 
 as Caligula would probably have found some 
 pretext for destroying him, if he had not 
 thought him too spiritless and imbecile to 
 form any ambitious plans. In fact, Claudius 
 said himself afterward, when he became em- 
 peror, that a great part of his apparent sim- 
 plicity was feigned, as a measure of prudence, 
 .o protect himself from injury. When Clau- 
 dius grew up he was married several times. 
 The wife who was living with him at the time 
 of Caligula's death was his third wife : hei 
 
62 Nkro. [A.D. 4L 
 
 The wive* of Claudius. His son strangled by a pear. 
 
 name was Valeria Messalina. She was his 
 cousin. Claudius and Messalina had one 
 child — a daughter, named Octavia. Claudius 
 l.ad been extremely unhappy in his connec- 
 tion with the wives preceding Messalina. He 
 had quarreled with them and been divorced 
 from them both. He had had a daughter by 
 one of these wives and a son by the other. 
 The son was suddenly killed by getting choked 
 with a small pear. He had been throwing it 
 into the air and attempting to catch it in his 
 mouth as it came down, when at last it slipped 
 down into his throat and strangled him. As 
 for the daughter, Claudius was so exasperated 
 with her mother at the time of his divorce 
 from her, that he determined to disown and 
 reject the child; so he ordered the terrific', 
 girl to be stripped naked, and to be sent and 
 laid down in that condition at her wretched 
 mother's door. 
 
 Claudius, as has already been stated, was 
 present with Caligula at the theater, on the 
 last day <A' the spectacle, and followed him 
 into the palace when he went to look at the 
 Asiatic captives ; su that he was present, or at 
 least very near, at the time of his nephew's 
 assassination. As might have been expected 
 
A.D. 41.] Accession of Claudius. 63 
 
 Claudlua terrified. His hiding place 
 
 from what has been said of his character, he 
 was overwhelmed with consternation and ter 
 ror a' the scene, and was utterly incapacitated 
 from taking any part, either for or against th< 
 conspirators. He stole away, in great fright 
 and hid himself behind the hangings in a darfr. 
 recess in the palace. Here he remained for 
 some time, listening in an agony of anxiety 
 and suspense *o the sounds which he heard 
 around him. He could hear the cries and the 
 tumult in the streets, and in the passages of 
 the palace. Parties of the guards, in going 
 to and fro, passed by the place of his retreat 
 from time to time, alarming him with the 
 clangor of their weapons, and their furious 
 exclamations and outcries. At one time peep- 
 ing stealthily out, he saw a group of soldiers 
 hurrying along with a bleeding head on the 
 point of a pike. It was the head of a promi- 
 uent citizen of Rome whom the guards had 
 intercepted and killed, supposing him to be 
 one of the conspirators. This spectacle greatly 
 increased Claudius's terror. He was wholly 
 in the dark in respect to the motives and the 
 designs of the men who had thus revolted 
 against his nephew, and it was of course im 
 ix>ssible for him to know how he himself 
 
64 
 
 Xer o. 
 
 [A.D.41 
 
 He is discovered bv a soldier. 
 
 would be regarded by either party. He did 
 not dare, therefore, to surrender himself to 
 either, hut remained in his concealment, suf- 
 fering great anxiety, and utterly unable to de- 
 cide what to do. 
 
 At length, while he was in this situation of 
 uncertainty and terror, a common soldier of 
 the guards, named Epirius, who happened to 
 pass that way. accidentally saw his feet be- 
 neath the hangings, and immediately, pulling 
 
 Discovery of ("lav: 
 
A..D.41.] Accession of Claudius. 6£ 
 
 CJaudius proclaimed emperor. His surprise. 
 
 the hangings aside, dragged him out to view. 
 Claudius supposed now, of course, that his 
 hour was come. He fell on his knees in an 
 agony of terror, and begged the soldier to 
 spare his life. The soldier, when he found 
 that his prisoner was Claudius, the uncle of 
 Caligula, raised him from the ground and sa- 
 luted him emperor. As Caligula left no son, 
 Epirins considered Claudius as his nearest 
 relative, and consequently as the heir. Epir- 
 ius immediately summoned others of the 
 guard to the place, saying that he had found 
 the new emperor, and calling upon them to 
 assist in conveying him to the camp. The 
 soldiers thus summoned procured a chair, and 
 having placed the astonished Claudius in it, 
 they raised the chair upon their shoulders, and 
 began to convey it away. As they bore him 
 thus along the streets, the people who saw 
 them supposed that they were taking him to 
 execution, and they lamented his unhappy 
 fate. Claudius himself knew not what to be- 
 lieve. He could not but hope that his lire 
 *vas to be saved, but then he could not wholly 
 dispel his fears. 
 
 In the mean time, the 6oldiers went steadily 
 forward with their burden. When one set of 
 15—5 
 
66 Nero. [A.D. 41 
 
 He 1« borne to the camp and proclaimed emperor. 
 
 bearers became fatigued, they set down the 
 chair, and others relieved them. No one mo- 
 lested them, or attempted to intercept them in 
 their progress, and at length they reached the 
 camp. Claudius was well received by the 
 whole body of the army. The officers held a 
 consultation that night, and determined to 
 make him emperor. At first he was extremely 
 unwilling to accept the proffered honor, but 
 they urged it upon him, and he was at length 
 induced to accept it. Thus the army was once 
 more provided with a head, and prepared tc 
 engage anew in its conflict with the civil au- 
 thorities of the city. 
 
 The particulars of the conflict that ensued 
 we can not here describe. It is sufficient to 
 say that the army prevailed, and that Clau- 
 dius soon found himself in full possession of 
 the power from which his nephew had been 
 so suddenly deposed. 
 
 One of the first measures which the new 
 emperor adopted, was to recall Agrippina 
 from her banishment at Pontia, where Ca- 
 ligula had confined her, and restore her to her 
 former position in Rome. Her husband, 
 Brazenbeard, died about this time, and young 
 Brazenbeard, her son, afterward called Nero, 
 
A.D. 41.J Accession of Claudius. 6 7 
 
 Agrippina recalled. 
 
 the subject of this history, was three years 
 old. Octavia, the daughter of Claudius and 
 Messalina, was a little younger. 
 
 Messalina, the wife of Claudius, hated 
 Agrippina, considering her, as she did, hoi 
 rival and euemy. The favor which Claudiut 
 showed to Agrippina, in recalling her from 
 her banishment, and treating her with con- 
 sideration and favor at Rome, only inflamed 
 still more Messalina's hatred. She could not, 
 however, succeed in inducing Claudius to 
 withdraw his protection from his niece ; for 
 Claudius, though almost entirely subject to 
 the influence and control of his wife in most 
 things, seemed fully determined not to yield 
 to her wishes in this. Agrippina continued , 
 therefore, to live at Koine, in high favor with 
 the court, for several years, — her little son 
 advancing all the time in age and in matur- 
 ity, until at length he became twelve years 
 old. At this time, another great change took 
 place in his own and his mother's condition. 
 Messalina became herself, by her wickedness 
 and infatuation, the means of raising her rival 
 into her own place as wife of the emperor. 
 The result was accomplished in the following 
 manner. 
 
68 Nero. [A.D. 47 
 
 Meesalina's intrigues. Uer hatred of Pilau urn. 
 
 Messalina had long been a very dissolute 
 and wicked woman, having been accustomed 
 to give herself up to criminal indulgences and 
 pleasures of every kind, in company with fa- 
 vorites whom she selected from time to time 
 among the courtiers around her. For a time 
 
 she managed these intrigues with some de- 
 cs c> 
 
 gree of caution and secrecy, in order to con- 
 ceal her conduct from her husband. SLe 
 gradually, however, became more and more 
 open and bold. She possessed a great ascen- 
 dency over the mind of her husband, and 
 could easily deceive him, or induce him to 
 do whatever she pleased. She persuaded 
 him to confer honors and rewards in a very 
 liberal manner upon those whom she favored, 
 and to degrade, and sometimes even to de- 
 stroy, those who displeased her. She would 
 occasionally resort to very cunning artifices 
 to accomplish her ends. For example, she 
 conceived at one time a violent hatred against 
 the husband of her mother. His name was 
 Silanus. He was not the father of Messalina, 
 but a second husband of Messalina's mother ; 
 and, being young and attractive in person, 
 Messalina at first loved him, and intended to 
 make him one of her favorites and com pan- 
 
A.J). iT.] Accession of Claudius. 69 
 
 Plan for destroying Silanus. Narcissus's pretended dream. 
 
 ions. Silanus, however, would not accede to 
 her wishes, and her love for him was then 
 changed into hatred and thirst for revenge. 
 She accordingly determined on his destruc- 
 tion ; but as she knew that it would be diffi- 
 cult to induce Claudius to proceed to extremi- 
 ties against him, on account of his intimate 
 relationship to the family, she contrived a 
 very artful plot to accomplish her ends It 
 was this : 
 
 She sent word to Silanus, on a certair eve- 
 ning, that the emperor wished him to come 
 to the palace, to his private apartmei.t, the 
 next morning, at a very early hour. The em- 
 peror wished to see him, the messenger said, 
 on business of importance. 
 
 Just before the time which had been ap- 
 pointed for Silanus to appear, a certain officer 
 of the household, named Narcissus, whom 
 Messalina had engaged to assist her in her 
 plot, came into the emperor's apartment, with 
 an anxious countenance, and in a very hur- 
 ried manner, and said to Claudius, whom he 
 waked out of sleep by his coming, that he 
 had had a very frightful dream — one which 
 he deemed it his duty to make known to his 
 master without any delay. He dreamed, he 
 
70 Nero. [A.D. 47 
 
 Maasalins's confirmation of it Claudius alarmed. 
 
 said, that a plot had been formed for assassi- 
 nating the emperor ; that Silanus was the 
 contriver of it, and that he was coming early 
 that morning to carry his design into effect. 
 Messalina, who was present with her hnsband 
 at the time, listened to this story with well- 
 feigned anxiety and agitation, and then de 
 dared, with a countenance of great mysteri- 
 ousness and solemnity, that she had had 
 precisely the same dream for two or three 
 nights in succession, but that, not being will- 
 ing to do Silanus an injury, or to raise any 
 unjust suspicions against him, she had thus 
 far forborne to speak of the subject to her 
 husband. She was, however, now convinced, 
 she said, that Silanus was really entertaining 
 some treasonable designs, and that the dreams 
 were tokens sent from heaven to warn the 
 emperor of his danger. 
 
 Claudius, who was of an extremely timid 
 and nervous temperament, was very much 
 alarmed by these communications ; and hit 
 terrors were greatly increased by the appear 
 ance of a servant who announced to him at 
 that moment that Silanus was then coming in. 
 The coming of Silanus to the palace at that 
 unseasonable hour was considered by the em 
 
A.D. 47.] Accession of Claudius. 7i 
 
 Sil&noa is executed. Unbounded Influence of Measalina 
 
 peror as full confirmation of the dreams which 
 had been related to him, and as proof of the 
 guilt of the accused ; and under the impulse 
 of the sudden passion and fear which this con- 
 viction awakened in his mind, he ordered 
 Silanus to be seized and led away to im- 
 mediate execution. These commands were 
 obeyed. Silanus was hurried away and dis- 
 patched by the swords of the soldiers, without 
 ever knowing what the accusation was that 
 Uad been made against him. 
 
 Thus Messalina succeeded by artifice and 
 cunning in accomplishing her ends, in cases 
 where she could not rely on her direct influ- 
 ence upon the mind of the emperor. In one 
 way or the other she almost always effected 
 whatever she undertook, and gradually came 
 to exercise almost supreme control. Whom 
 she would she raised up, and whom she would 
 she put down. In the mean time she lived 
 herself, a life of the most guilty indulgence 
 and pleasure. For a long time she concealed 
 her wickedness from the emperor. He vas 
 very easily deceived, and though Messalina's 
 character was perfectly well known to others, 
 he himself continued blind to her guilt. At 
 length, however, she began to grow more and 
 
:■-' Nebo. [A.D. 47. 
 
 Caius SUiu*. Messalina's attachment to hfan. 
 
 more bold. She became satiated, as one of hei 
 historians says of her, with the common and 
 ordinary forms of vice, and wished for some- 
 thing new and unnsnal to give piquancy and 
 life to her sensations. At length, however, she 
 went one step too far, and brought upon her- 
 self in consequence of it a terrible destruction. 
 It was about seven years after the accession 
 of Claudius that the event occurred. The fa- 
 vorite of Messalina at this time was a young 
 Roman senator named Caius Silius. Siliua 
 was a very distinguished young nobleman, 
 and a man of handsome person and of very 
 graceful and accomplished manners and ad- 
 dress. He was in fact a very general favor- 
 ite, and Messalina, when she first «aw him, 
 conceived a very strong affection for him. 
 He was, however, already married to a beau- 
 tiful Roman lady named Junia Silara. Sila- 
 na had been, and was still at this time, an in- 
 timate friend of Agrippina, Nero's mother; 
 though in subsequent times they became bit- 
 ter enemies. Messalina made no secret of 
 her love for Silius. She visited him trcely at 
 his house, and received his visits in retarn ; 
 •he accompanied him to public places, evin- 
 cing everywhere her strong regard for him ip 
 
A.D. 47.] Accession of Claudius. 73 
 
 Hesitation of Sillu*. His decision. Claudius 
 
 the most undisguised and open manner. At 
 length she proposed to him to divorce his wife, 
 in order that she herself might enjoy his soci- 
 ety without any limitation or restraint. Silius 
 hesitated for a time about complying with 
 these proposals. He was well aware that he 
 must necessarily incur great danger, either by 
 complying or by refusing to comply with 
 them. To accede to the empress's proposals, 
 would be of course to place himself in a posi- 
 tion of extreme peril ; and the fate of Silanus 
 was a warning to him of what he had to fear 
 from her wrath, in case of a refusal. He 
 concluded that the former danger was on the 
 whole the least to be apprehended, and he 
 accordingly divorced his wife, and gave him- 
 self up wholly to Messalina's will. 
 
 This arrangement being made, all things 
 for a time went on smoothly and well. Clau- 
 dius himself lived a veiy secluded life, and 
 paid very little attention to his wife's pursuits 
 or pleasures. He lived sometimes in retirement 
 in his palace, devoting his time to his studies, 
 dt to the plans and measures of government. 
 He seems to have honestly desired to promote 
 the welfare and prosperity of the republic, 
 aud he made many useful regulations and 
 
7i Nnot [A.D. 47 
 
 Public works at Ostfa. The obelisk. Immense ship. 
 
 laws which promised to be conducive to this 
 end. Sometimes he was absent for a season 
 from the city. — visiting fortresses and en- 
 jainpments, or inspecting the public works, 
 such as aqueducts and canals, which were in 
 progress of construction. He was particularly 
 interested in certain operations which he 
 planned and conducted at the mouths of the 
 Tiber for forming a harbor there. The place 
 was called Ostia. that word in the Latin 
 tongue denoting mouths. To form a port 
 there he built two long piers, extending them 
 in a curvilinear form into the sea, so as to in- 
 close a large area of water between them, 
 where ships could lie at anchor in safety. 
 Iight-huuses were built at the extremities of 
 these piers. It is a curious circumstance that 
 in forming the foundation of one of these 
 piers, the engineers whom Claudius employed 
 sunk an immense ship which Caligula had 
 formerly caused to be built for the purpose of 
 transporting an obelisk from Egypt to Rome. 
 — the obelisk which now stands in front of 
 St. Peters Church, and is the admiration and 
 wonder of all visitors to Rome. As the obelisk- 
 was formed of a single stone, a vessel of a very 
 large size and of an unusual construction war 
 
AD. 47.] Accession of Claudius. 75 
 
 Messalina continues her wicked career. 
 
 necessary for the conveyance of it ; and when 
 this ship had once delivered its monstrous 
 burden, it had no longer any useful function 
 to perform on the surface of the sea, and the 
 engineers accordingly filled it with stones and 
 gravel, and sunk it at the mouth of the Tiber, 
 to form part of the foundation of one of Clau- 
 dius's piers. As it is found that there is no 
 perceptible decay, even for centuries, in tim- 
 ber that is kept constantly submerged in the 
 water of the sea, it is not impossible that the 
 vast hulk, unless marine insects have devoured 
 it and carried it away, lies imbedded where 
 Claudius placed it, still. 
 
 While the emperor was engaged in these 
 and similar pursuits and occupations, Messa- 
 lina went on in her career of dissipation and 
 indulgence from bad to worse, growing more 
 and more bold and open every day. She 
 "ived in a constant round of entertainments 
 and of gayety — sometimes receiving com- 
 panies of guests at her own palace, and some- 
 times making visits with a large retinue of 
 attendants and friends, at the house of Silius. 
 Of course, every one paid court to Silius, and 
 assumed, in their intercourse with him, every 
 appearance that they entertained for him the 
 
76 Xeeo. [A.D. 47 
 
 SUius intoxicated with his elevation. 
 
 moBt friendly regard. It is always so with 
 the favorites of the great. "While in heart 
 they are hated and despised, in form and ap- 
 pearance they are caressed and applauded. 
 Silius was intoxicated with the emotions that 
 the giddy elevation to which he had arrived 
 so naturally inspired. He was not, however, 
 wholly at his ease. He could not but be aware 
 that lofty as his position was. it was the brink 
 of a precipice that he stood upon. Still he 
 6hut his eyes in a great measure to his danger 
 and went blindly on. The catastrophe, which 
 came very suddenly at last, will form the 
 subject of the next chapter. 
 
A.D. 48.] Fate of Messalina. 77 
 
 Siltue forms a scheme for making himself emperor. 
 
 Chapter IV. 
 The Fate of Messalina. 
 
 \ S might naturally have been expected, 
 -£*- there were two very different emotions 
 awakened in the mind of Silius by the situ- 
 ation in which he found himself placed with 
 Messalina, — one was ambition, arid the other 
 was fear. Finding himself suddenly raised 
 to the possession of so high a degree of con- 
 sideration and influence, it was natural that 
 he should look still higher, and begin to wish 
 for actual and official power. And then, on 
 the other hand, his uneasiness at the dangers 
 that he was exposed to by remaining as he 
 was, increased every day. At length a plan 
 occurred to him which both these consider- 
 ations urged him to adopt. The plan was to 
 murder Claudius, and then to marry Messa- 
 lina, and make himself emperor in Claudius's 
 place. By the accomplishment of this design 
 he would effect, he thought, a double object. 
 He would at once raise himself to a post of 
 real and substantial power, and also, at the 
 
7? Nkj [A.D 4s. 
 
 He proposes his plan to Messaliab. 
 
 6ame time place himself in a position of se 
 eurity. He resolved to propose this scheme 
 to Messalina. 
 
 Accordingly, on the first favorable jppor 
 tanity, he addressed the empress on the snb 
 ject, and cautiously made known his design 
 "I wish to have you wholly mine," said he 
 M and although the emperor is growing old. 
 we can not safely wait for his death. We are. 
 in fact, continually exposed to danger. We 
 have gone quite too far to be safe where we 
 are. and by taking the remaining steps neces- 
 sary to accomplish fully our ends we shall 
 only be completing what we have begun, and 
 by so doing, far from incurring any new pen- 
 alties, we shall be taking the only effectual 
 method to protect ourselves from the dangers 
 which impend over us and threaten us now 
 Let us. therefore, devise some means to re- 
 move the emperor out of our way. 1 will 
 then be proclaimed emperor in his place, and 
 be married to you. The power which you 
 now enjoy will then come back ro you again, 
 nndiminished. and under such circumstances 
 as will render it permanently secure to you. 
 Tc accomplish this will be very easy ; for the 
 emperor, superannuated, infirm, and 6tupid 
 
A.D.48.] Fate of Messalina. 79 
 
 Messalina's reply. Her motirse. Her proposal 
 
 as he is, can not protect himself against any 
 well-planned and vigorous attempt which we 
 may make to remove him ; though, if we re- 
 main as we are, and any accidental cause 
 should arouse him from his lethargy, we may 
 expect to find him vindictive and furious 
 against us to the last degree." 
 
 Messalina listened to this proposal with 
 great attention and interest, but so far as re 
 lated to the proposed assassination of the em- 
 peror she did not seem inclined to assent to it. 
 Her historian says that she was not influ- 
 enced in this decision by any remaining senti- 
 ments of conjugal affection, or by conscientious 
 principle of any kind, but by her distrust of 
 Silius, and her unwillingness to commit her- 
 self so entirely into his power. She preferred 
 to keep him dependent upon her, rather than 
 to make herself dependent upon him. She 
 liked the plan, however, of being married to 
 him, she said, and would consent to that, even 
 while the emperor remained alive. And so if 
 Silius would agree to it, she was ready, she 
 added, the next time that the emperor went 
 to Ostia, to have the ceremony performed. 
 
 That a wife and a mother, however unprin- 
 cipled and corrupt, should make, under sucb 
 
80 Xero. [A.D. 48 
 
 Audacity of Meaaalina in *his proposal. 
 
 circumstances, a proposal like this of Me^sa- 
 Una's, is certainly very extraordinary; and to 
 those who do not know to what extremes of 
 recklessness and infatuation, the irresponsible 
 despots that have arisen from time to time to 
 rule mankind, have often pushed their wicked- 
 ness and crime, it must seem wholly incred- 
 ible. The Roman historian who has recorded 
 this narrative, assures us, that it was the very 
 audacity of this guilt that constituted its 
 charm in Messalina's eyes. She had become 
 weary of, and satiated with, all the ordinary 
 forms of criminal indulgence and pleasure. 
 The work of deceiving and imposing upon her 
 husband, in order to secure for herself the 
 gratifications which she sought, was for a 
 time sufficient to give zest and piquancy to 
 her pleasures. But he was so easily de 
 ceived, and she had been accustomed to de- 
 ceive him so long, that it now no longer 
 afforded to her mind any stimulus or excite- 
 ment to do it in any common way. But the 
 •dea of being actually married to another man 
 while he was absent at a short distance from 
 the city, would be something striking and 
 new, which would vary, she thought, the dull 
 raonotonv of the common course of sin. 
 
A.D. 48.] Fate of Messaliha. 81 
 
 The false marriage 1b celebrated. 
 
 The proposed marriage was finally deter- 
 mined upon, and the mock ceremony, for such 
 a ceremony could, of course, have no legal 
 force, was duly performed at a time when 
 Claudius was absent at Ostia, inspecting the 
 works which were in progress there. How far 
 the pretended marriage was open and public 
 in the actual celebration of it, is not very cer- 
 tain ; but the historians say that it was con- 
 ducted with all the usual ceremonies, and 
 was attended by the usual witnesses. The 
 service was performed by the augur, a sort 
 of sacerdotal officer, on whom the duty of 
 conducting such solemnities properly de- 
 volved. Messalina and Silius, each in their 
 turn, repeated the words pertaining respec- 
 tively to the bridegroom and the bride. The 
 usual sacrifice to the gods was then made, 
 and a nuptial banquet followed, at which 
 there passed between the new married pair 
 the caresses and endearments usual on such 
 occasions. All things in a word were con- 
 ducted, from the beginning to the end, as in 
 a real and honest wedding, and whether the 
 ecene thus enacted was performed in public 
 as a serious transaction, or at some private 
 
 entertainment as a species of sport, it created 
 15—6 
 
82 Nero. [A.D. 48. 
 
 Indignation of the emperor's friend*. 
 
 a strong sensation among all who witnessed 
 it, and the news of it soon spread abroad and 
 became very generally known. 
 
 The more immediate friends of Clandius 
 urere very indignant at such a proceeding. 
 They conferred together, uttering to each 
 uther many lnurrnurings and complaints, and 
 anticipating the worst results and conse- 
 quences from what had occurred. SiKus 
 they said, was an ambitious and dangerous 
 man, and the audacious deed which he had 
 performed was the prelude, they believed, to 
 some deep ulterior design. They feared for 
 the safety of Claudius ; and as they knew very 
 well that the downfall of the emperor would 
 involve them too in ruin, they were naturalh 
 much alarmed. It was, however, very diffi- 
 cult for them to decide what to do. 
 
 If they were to inform the emperor of Mes- 
 eaiina's proceedings, they considered it wholly 
 uncertain what effect the communication woulu* 
 nave upon him. Like almost all weak-minded 
 men, he was impulsive and capricious in the 
 extreme ; and whether, on a communication 
 oein£ made to him, he would receive it with 
 indifference and unconcern, or, in case his 
 anger should be aroused, whether it would 
 
A.D.4S.] Fate of Messalika. 83 
 
 Plot formed for Messalina's destruction. 
 
 expend itself upon Messalina or upon those 
 who informed him against her, it was wholly 
 impossible to foresee. 
 
 At length, after various consultations and 
 debates, a small number of the courtiers who 
 were most determined in their detestation of 
 Messalina and her practices, leagued them- 
 selves together, and resolved upon a course of 
 procedure by which they hoped, if possible, to 
 effect her destruction. The leader of this 
 company was Callistus, one of the officers of 
 Claudius's household. He was one of the 
 men who had been engaged with Chaerea in 
 the assassination of Caligula. Narcissus was 
 another. This was the same Narcissus that is 
 mentioned in the last chapter, as the artful 
 contriver, with Messalina, of the death of Si- 
 lanus. Pallas was the name of a third con- 
 spirator. He was a confidential friend and 
 favorite of Claudius, and was very jealous, 
 like the rest, of the influence which Silius, 
 through Messalina, exercised over his master. 
 These were the principal confederates, thougt 
 there were some others joined with them. 
 
 The great object of the hostility of these 
 men, seems to have been Silius, rather than 
 Messalina. This, in fact, would naturally be 
 
84 JN'kro. [A.D. 48. 
 
 Plans and arrangements of the conspirators. 
 
 supposed to be the case, since it was Siliua 
 rather than Messalina who was their rival. 
 Some of them appear to have hated Messalina 
 on her own account, but with the others there 
 was apparently no wish to harm the empress, 
 if any other way could be found of reaching 
 Silius. In fact, in the consultations which 
 were held, one plan which was proposed was 
 to go to Messalina, and without evincing any 
 feelings of unkindness or hostility toward her, 
 to endeavor to persuade her to break oft' her 
 connection with her favorite. This plan was, 
 however, soon overruled. The plotters thought 
 that it would be extremely improbable that 
 Messalina would listen to any such proposition, 
 and in case of her rejection of it, if it were 
 made, her anger would be aroused strongly 
 against them for making it : and then, even 
 if she should not attempt to take vengeance 
 upon them for their presumption, she would 
 at any rate put herself effectually upon hei 
 guard against any thing else which tbej 
 should attempt to do. The plan of separating 
 Messalina and Silius was, therefore, abandon- 
 ed, and the determination resolved upon to 
 take measures for destroying them both to- 
 gether. 
 
A.D. 48.J Fate of Messalina. 85 
 
 Their hesitation. Calpurnia. Motives addressed to bar. 
 
 The course which the confederates decided 
 to pursue in order to effect their object, was 
 to proceed to Ostia, where Claudius still re- 
 mained, and there make known to him what 
 Messalina and Silius had done, and endeavor 
 to convince him tit at this audacious conduct 
 on their part was only the prelude to open 
 violence against the life of the emperor. It 
 would seem, however, that no one of them 
 was quite willing to take upon himself the of- 
 fice of making such a communication as this, 
 in the first instance, to such a man. They did 
 not know how he would receive it, — or against 
 whom the first weight of his resentment and 
 rage would fall. Finally, after much hesita- 
 tion and debate, they concluded to employ a 
 certain female for the purpose, — a courtesan 
 named Calpurnia. Calpurnia was a favorite 
 and companion of Claudius, and as such they 
 thought she might perhaps have an opportu- 
 nity to approach him with the subject under 
 such circumstances as to diminish the danger. 
 A.t any rate, Calpurnia was easily led by such 
 nducements as the conspirators laid before 
 aer, to undertake the commission. They not 
 only promised her suitable rewards, but they 
 appealed also to the jealousy and hatred which 
 
86 Kebu. [A.D. 48 
 
 Calpurnia and Cleopatra undertake their task. 
 
 each a woman would naturally feel toward 
 Ilessalina, who, being a wife, while Calpurnia 
 was only a companion and favorite, would 
 of course be regarded as a rival and enemy 
 They represented to Calpurnia how entirel} 
 changed for the better her situation would be, 
 if Messalina could once be put out of the way. 
 There would then, they said, be none to inter- 
 fere with her ; but her influence and ascend- 
 ency over the emperor's mind would be estab- 
 lished on a permanent and lasting footing. 
 
 Calpurnia was very easily led by these in- 
 ducements to undertake the commission. 
 There was another courtesan named Cleo- 
 patra, who, it was arranged, should be at hand 
 when Calpurnia made her communication, 
 to confirm the truth of it, should any confir- 
 mation seem to be required. The other con- 
 spirators, also, were to be near, ready to be 
 called in and to act as occasion might require, 
 in case Calpurnia and Cleopatra should find 
 thaft their statement was making the right im- 
 pression. Things being all thus arranged the 
 party proceeded to Ostia to carry their plant 
 into execution. 
 
 In the mean time Messalina and Silius, 
 wholly unconscious of the danger, gave them 
 
A J). 48.] Fate of Messaiina. 87 
 
 Measalina'a festival iu the palace gardens. 
 
 selves up with greater and greater boldness 
 and unconcern to their guilty pleasures. On 
 the day when Callistus and his party went te 
 Ostia she was celebrating a festival at her 
 palace with great gayety and splendor. It 
 was in the autumn of the year, and the fes- 
 tival was in honor of the season. In the 
 countries on the Mediterranean the gathering 
 of grapes and the pressing of the juice for 
 wine, is the great subject of autumnal rejoic- 
 ings ; and Messalina had arranged a festival 
 in accordance with the usual customs, in the 
 gardens of the palace. A wine-press had 
 been erected, and grapes were gathered and 
 brought to it. The guests whom Messalina 
 had invited were assembled around ; some 
 were dancing about the wine-press, some were 
 walking in the alleys, and some were seated 
 in the neighboring bowers. They were dress- 
 ed in fancy costumes, and their heads were 
 adorned with garlands of flowers. There was 
 a group of dancing girls who were engaged 
 as performers on the occasion, to dance for 
 the amusement of the company, in honor of 
 Bacchus, the god of wine. These girls were 
 dressed, so far as they were clothed at all, in 
 robes made of the skins of tigers, and their 
 
88 JS'eeo. [A.D.48 
 
 Omlpurnia'i lntenriew with Claudius at Ostia. 
 
 heada were crowned with flowers. Messalina 
 herself, however, was the most conspicuous 
 object among the gay throng. She was robed 
 in a manner to display most fully the graces 
 >f her person ; her long hair waving loosely 
 m the wind. She had in her hand a symbol, 
 or badge, called the thyrsus, which was an 
 ornamented staff, or pole, surmounted with a 
 carved representation of a bunch of grapes, 
 and with other ornaments and emblems. The 
 thyrsus was always used in the rites and fes- 
 tivities celebrated in honor of Bacchus. Silius 
 himself, dressed like the rest in a fantastic 
 and theatrical costume, danced by the side of 
 Messalina, in the center of a ring of dancing 
 girls which was formed around them. 
 
 In the mean time, while this gay party 
 were thus enjoying themselves in the palace 
 gardens at Rome, a veiy different scene was 
 enacting at Ostia. Calpurnia, in her secret 
 interview with Claudius, seizing upon a mo- 
 ment which seemed to her favorable for her 
 purpose, kneeled down before him and made 
 the communication with which she had been 
 charged. She told him of Messalina's con- 
 duct, and informed him particularly how she 
 '•ad at last crowned the dishonor of her hu» 
 
A.D. 48.] Fate of Messalina. 9i 
 
 Claudius is exceedingly terrified. 
 
 oand by openly marrying Silius, or at least 
 pretending to do so. " Tour friends believe," 
 she added, " that she and Silius entertain still 
 more criminal designs, and that your life will 
 be sacrificed unless you immediately adopt 
 vigorous and decided measures to avert the 
 danger." 
 
 Claudius was very much amazed, and wan 
 also exceedingly terrified at this communica- 
 tion. He trembled and turned pale, then looked 
 wild and excited, and began to make inqui- 
 ries in an incoherent and distracted manner. 
 Calpurnia called in Cleopatra to confirm her 
 story. Cleopatra did confirm it, of course, in 
 the fullest and most unqualified manner. 
 The effect which was produced upon the mind 
 of the emperor seemed to be exactly what the 
 conspirators had desired. He evinced no dis- 
 position to justify or to defend Messalina, or 
 to be angry with Calpurnia and Cleopatra for 
 making such charges against her. His mind 
 seemed to be wholly absorbed with a sense 
 of the dangers of his situation, and Narcissus 
 was accordingly sent for to come in. 
 
 Narcissus, when appealed to, acknowledged, 
 though with well-feigned reluctance and hesi- 
 tation, the truth of what Calpurnia had 4e- 
 
92 Nero. [A.D. 48. 
 
 The statement of Narcissus. Council called. 
 
 clared, and he immediately began to apolo- 
 gize f<»r his own remissness in not having 
 before made the case known. He spoke witli 
 great moderation of Messalina, and also of 
 Si bus, as if his object were to appease rather 
 than tj inflame the anger of the emperor. 
 He however admitted, he said, that it was 
 absolutely necessary that something decisive 
 should be done. " Tour wife is taken from 
 you," said he, " and Silius is master of her. 
 The next thing will be that he will be master 
 of the republic. He may even already have 
 gained the Praetorian guards over to his side, 
 in which case all is lost. It is absolutely ne- 
 cessary that some immediate and decisive ac- 
 tion should be taken." 
 
 Claudius, in great trepidation, immediately 
 called together such of his prominent council- 
 lors and friends as were at hand at Ostia, to 
 consult on what was to be done. Of course, 
 it was principally the conspirators themselves 
 that appeared at this council. They crowded 
 around the emperor and urged him immedi- 
 ately to take the most decisive measures to 
 save himself from the impending danger, and 
 they succeeded so well in working upon hia 
 fears that he stood before them in stupid 
 
A.l». 48.] Fate of Messahna. 93 
 
 Measures adopted by Claudius and the conspirators. 
 
 amazement, wholly incapable of deciding 
 what to say or do. The conspirators urged 
 upon the emperor the necessity of first secur- 
 ing the guard. This body was commanded 
 by an officer named Geta, on whom Narcissus 
 said no reliance could be placed, and he begged 
 that Claudius would immediately authorize 
 him, Narcissus, to take the command. The 
 object of the confederates in thus wishing to 
 get command of the guard was, perhaps, to 
 make sure of the prompt and immediate exe 
 cution of any sentence which they might sue 
 ceed in inducing the emperor to pronounce 
 upon Silius or Messalina, before he should 
 have the opportunity of changing his mind. 
 The emperor turned from one adviser to an 
 other, listening to their various suggestions 
 and plans, but he seemed bewildered and un- 
 decided, as if he knew not what to do. It 
 was, however, at length, determined to pro- 
 ceed immediately to Rome The whole party 
 accordingly mounted into their carriages, 
 Narcissus taking his seat by the side of the 
 emperor in the imperial chariot, in order that 
 he might keep up the excitement and agita- 
 tion in his master's mind by his conversatioc 
 Dn the wav. 
 
94 Nbko. [A.D. 48. 
 
 M""Hm receives warning. Scene in the gardrm. 
 
 In the mean time there were among those 
 who witnessed these proceedings at Ostia, 
 some who were disposed to take sides with 
 Mt-ssalina and Silins, in the approaching 
 struggle : and they immediately dispatched a 
 special messenger to Rome to warn the em- 
 press •:<! the impending danger. This messen- 
 ger rode up along the banks of the Tiber with 
 all speed, and in advance of the emperor's 
 party. On his arrival in the city he immedi- 
 ately repaired to the palace gardens and com- 
 municated his errand to Messalina and her 
 company in the midst of their festivities. 
 Claudius had been informed, he said, against 
 her and Silius. and was almost beside him- 
 self with resentment and anger. He was al 
 ready on his way to Rome, the messenger 
 added, coming to wreak vengeance upon 
 them, and he warned them to escape for their 
 lives. This communication was made, of 
 course, in the first instance, somewhat pri- 
 vately to the parties principally concerned. 
 [:. however, put a sudden stop to all the hilar- 
 ty and joy. and the tidings were rapidly cir 
 culated around the gardens. One man 
 climbed into a tree and looked off in the di- 
 rection of Ostia. The others asked him what 
 
&..D. 48.] Fate of Messalina 95 
 
 SUiua withdraws. Meesalina'e anx)e;j-. 
 
 he saw. " I see a great storm arising from the 
 sea at Ostia," said he, " and coming hither, and 
 it is time for us to save ourselves." In a word 
 the bacchanalian games and sports were all 
 soon broken up in confusion, and the com- 
 pany made their escape from the scene, each 
 by a different way. 
 
 Silius immediately resumed his ordinary 
 dress, and went forth into the city, where, 
 under an assumed appearance of indifference 
 and unconcern, he walked about in the forum, 
 as if nothing unusual had occurred. Messa- 
 lina herself tied to the house of a friend, 
 named Lucullus, and, passing immediately 
 through the house, sought a hiding-place in 
 the gardens. Here her mind began to be 
 overwhelmed with anguish, remorse, and ter- 
 ror. Her sins, now that a terrible retribution 
 for them seemed to be impending, rose before 
 her in all their enormity, and she knew not 
 what to do. She soon reflected that there 
 could be no permanent safety for her where 
 she was, for the advanced guards of Claudius, 
 which were even then entering the city and 
 commencing their arrests, would be sure soon 
 to discover the place of her retreat, and bring 
 her before her exasperated husband. She 
 
96 Nero. [A.D. 48 
 
 Messallna'i course of action. Her two children. 
 
 concluded that, rather than wait for this, it 
 would be better for her to go before him her- 
 self voluntarily ; and, by throwing herself 
 upon his mercy, endeavor to soften and ap- 
 pease him. She accordingly, in her distrac- 
 tion, determined to pursue this course. She 
 came forth from her hiding-place in Lucullus's 
 gardens, and went to seek her children, in- 
 tending to take them with her, that the sight 
 of them might help to move the heart of their 
 father. Her children were two in number. 
 Octavia, who has already been mentioned, 
 was the eldest, being now about ten or twelve 
 years of age. The other was a boy severa. 
 years younger ; his name was Britannicus. 
 
 In the mean time, the city was thrown quite 
 into a state of commotion, by the approach 
 of Claudius, and by the tidings which had 
 spread rapidly through the streets, of what 
 had occurred. The soldiers whom Claudius 
 had sent forward, were making arrests in the 
 streets, and searching the houses. In the 
 midst of this excitement, Messalina, with her 
 children, attended by one of the vestal vir- 
 gins, named Yibidia, whom she had prevailed 
 upon to accompany her and plead her ct use, 
 came forth from her palace on fool, and pro- 
 
A..D. 48.J Fate of Messalina. 97 
 
 She proceeds to meet the emperor. Her entreaties. 
 
 ceeded through the streets, her hair dishev- 
 eled, her dress in disorder, and her whole 
 appearance marked by every characteristic of 
 humiliation, abasement, and woe. When she 
 reached the gate of the city, she mounted 
 into a common cart which she found there, 
 and in that manner proceeded to meet her 
 angry husband, leaving her children with Yi 
 bidia, the vestal, to follow behind. 
 
 She had not proceeded very far, before she 
 met the emperor's train approaching. As 
 soon as she came near enough to the carriage 
 of Claudius to be heard, she began to utter 
 loud entreaties and lamentations, begging her 
 husband to hear before he condemned her. 
 "Hear your unhappy wife," said she, "hear 
 the mother of Britannicus and Octavia." 
 Narcissus and the others who were near, in- 
 terposed to prevent her from being heard. 
 They talked continually to the emperor, and 
 produced a written memorial and other papers 
 for him to read, which contained, they said, 
 a full account of the whole transaction. Clau- 
 dius, taking very little notice of his wife, 
 pursued his way toward the city. Site fol- 
 lowed in his train. When they drew near to 
 the gates, they met Vibidia and the children 
 
98 Neec. [A.D.4S 
 
 Claudius will not hear her. Vibidia repulsed. 
 
 Vibidia attempted to speak, but Claudius 
 would not listen. She complained, in a 
 mournful tone, that for him to condemn his 
 wife unheard, would be unjust and cruel; but 
 Claudius was unmoved. He told Vibidia 
 that Messalina would in due time have a 
 suitable opportunity to make her defense, 
 and that, in the mean time, the proper duty 
 of a vestal virgin was to confine herself to 
 the functions of her sacred office. Thus he 
 Bent both her and the children away. 
 
 As soon as the party arrived in the city 
 Karcissus conducted the emperor to the house 
 of Silius, and entering it he showed to the 
 emperor there a great number of proofs of the 
 guilty favoritism which the owner of it had 
 enjoyed with Messalina. The house was 
 filled with valuable presents, the tokens of 
 Messalaina's love, consisting, many of them, 
 of costly household treasures which had de- 
 scended to Claudius in the imperial line, and 
 which were of such a character that the alier 
 ation of them by Messalina, in such a way, 
 K-as calculated to till the heart of Claudius 
 with indignation and anger. The emperor 
 then proceeded to the camp. Silius and sev- 
 eral of his leading friends were arrested and 
 
A.D. 48.] Fate of Messalina. 99 
 
 Executions. Claudius at supper. 
 
 brought together before a sort of military tri- 
 bunal summoned on the spot to try them. 
 The trial was of course very brief and very 
 summary. They were all condemned to death 
 and were led out to instant execution. 
 
 This being done the emperor returned with 
 his friends to the city and repaired to his pal- 
 ace. His mind seemed greatly relieved. He 
 felt that the crisis of danger was past. He 
 ordered supper to be prepared, and when it 
 was ready he seated himself at table. He 
 congratulated himself and his friends on the 
 escape from the perils that had surrounded 
 them, which they had so happily accom- 
 plished. Narcissus and the others began to 
 tremble lest after all Messalina should be 
 spared ; and they knew full well that if she 
 should be allowed to live, she would soon, by 
 her artful management, regain her ascend- 
 ency over the emperor's mind, and that in 
 that case she would give herself no rest until 
 she had destroyed all those who had taken 
 any part in effecting the destruction of Silius. 
 They began to be greatly alarmed therefore 
 for their own safety. In the mean time mes- 
 sages came in from Messalina, who, when the 
 emperor entered the city, had returned to her 
 
100 Nebo. [A.D. 48 
 
 Mectalina't letter. Claudia* relents. Alarm of Narcisros. 
 
 fanner place of refuge in the gardens of Lu- 
 cuilns. At length a letter, or memorial, 
 came. On reading what was written it was 
 found that Messalina was assuming a bolder 
 tone. Her letter was a remonstrance rather 
 than a petition, as if she were designing to try 
 the effect of bravery and assnrance, and to 
 6ee if she could not openly reassume the as- 
 cendency and control which she had long ex- 
 ercised over the mind of her husband. Clau- 
 dius seemed inclined to hesitate and waver. 
 His anger appeared to be subsiding with his 
 fears, and the wine which he drank freely at 
 the table seemed to conspire with the other 
 influences of the occasion to restore his wonted 
 good-humor. He ordered that in reply 'to 
 Messalina's letter a messenger should go and 
 inform her that she should be admitted the 
 next day to see him and to make her defense. 
 Narcissus and hi? confederates were greatlv 
 alarmed, and determined immediately that 
 this must not be. Narcissus had been placed 
 t would seem, according to the wish ot the 
 conspirators at the outset, in command of the 
 guard ; and he accordingly had power to pre- 
 vent the emperor's determination from being 
 carried into effect, provided that he shoidd 
 
A.D. 48.J Fate of Messalin a. 10] 
 
 Narcissus orders Messalina to be slain. 
 
 dare to take the responsibility of acting. Il 
 «~as a moment of great anxiety and suspense 
 He soon, however, came strongly to the con- 
 elusion that though it would be very danger 
 ous for him to act, yet that not to act would b< 
 certain destruction ; since if Messalina were 
 allowed to live it would be absolutely certain 
 that they all must die. Accordingly, sum- 
 moning all his resolution he hurried out oi 
 the banqueting room, and gave orders to the 
 officers on duty there, in the emperor's name, 
 to proceed to the gardens of Lucullus and ex- 
 ecute sentence of death on Messalina without 
 any delay. 
 
 Messalina was with her mother Lepida, in 
 the gardens, awaiting her answer from the 
 emperor, when the band of soldiers came 
 Messalina and her mother had never been 
 agreed, and now for a long time had had no 
 intercourse with each other. The daughter'8 
 danger had, however, reawakened the instinct 
 of maternal love in the mother's heart, ana 
 Lepida had come to see her child in this the 
 hour }f her extremity. She came, however, 
 not to console or comfort her child, or to aid 
 her in her efforts to save her life, but to pro- 
 vide her with the means of putting an end to 
 
102 .Nero. [A.l>. 4S 
 
 Interriew between Messalina and her mother la the garden. 
 
 her own existence as the only way now left 
 to her, of escape from the greater disgrace of 
 public execution. 
 
 She accordingly offered a poniard to Mes- 
 salina in the gardens, and nrged her to take 
 it. " Death by your own hand," said she, " is 
 now your only refuge. You must die ; it is 
 impossible that this tragedy can have any 
 other termination ; and to wait quietly here 
 for the stroke of the executioner is base and 
 ignoble. You must die / — and all that now 
 remains to you is the power to close the scene 
 with dignity and with becoming spirit." 
 
 Messalina manifested the greatest agitation 
 and distress, but she could not summon reso- 
 lution to receive the poniard. In the midst 
 >f this scene the band of soldiers appeared, 
 entering the garden. The mother pressed 
 the poniard upon her daughter, saying, " Now 
 is the time." Messalina took the weapon, 
 and pointed it toward her breast, but had not 
 firmness enough to strike it home. The offi- 
 cer approached her at the head of his men, 
 with his sword drawn in his hand. Messa- 
 lina, still irresolute, made a feeble and inef- 
 fectual effort to give herself a wound, but 
 failed of inflicting it; and then the officer. 
 
A.D.48.] Fate of Messalina. 103 
 
 Indifference of Claudius in respect to Meesallna's tale. 
 
 who had by this time advanced to the spot 
 where she was standing, put an end to her 
 dreadful mental struggles by cutting her 
 :bwn and killing her at a single blow. 
 
 AYTien tidings were brought back to Nar- 
 cissus that his commands had been obeyed, 
 he went again to the presence of Claudius, 
 and reported to him simply that Messalina 
 was no more. He made no explanations, and 
 the emperor asked for none ; but went on with 
 his supper as if nothing had occurred, and 
 never afterward expressed any curiosity or in- 
 terest in respect to Messalina's fate. 
 
 As soon as the excitement produced by 
 these transactions had in some degree sub- 
 sided, various plans and intrigues were com- 
 menced for providing the emperor with an- 
 other wife. There were many competitors for 
 the station, all of whom were eager to occupy 
 it ; for, though Claudius was old, imbecile, 
 and ugly, still he was the emperor ; and all 
 those ladies of his court who thought that they 
 had any prospect of success, aspired to the 
 possession of his hand, as the summit of earth- 
 ly ambition. Among the rest, Agrippina 
 appeared. She was Claudius's n:ece. This 
 relationship was in one respect a bar to her 
 
104 Nero. [A.D. 41 
 
 Claudius marries Agrippina. Adoption of her son. 
 
 euccess, since the laws prohibited marriage 
 within that degree of consanguinity. In an- 
 other respect, however, the relationship was 
 greatly in Agrippina's favor, for under the 
 plea of it she had constant access to the em- 
 peror, and was extremely assiduous in her at- 
 tentions to him. She succeeded, at length, in 
 inspiring him with some sentiment of love, and 
 he determined to make her his wife. The 
 Senate were easily induced to alter the laws 
 in order to enable him to do this, and Claudius 
 and Agrippina were married. 
 
 Claudius not only thus made the mother of 
 our hero his wife, but he adopted her son as 
 his son and heir — changing, at the same time, 
 the name of the boy. In place of his former 
 plebeian appellation of Ahenobarbus, he gave 
 him now the imposing title of Nero Claudius 
 Cassar Drusus Germanicus. He has since gen- 
 erally been known in history, however, by the 
 simple prenomen, Nero. 
 
A.D. 39.J Childhood of Nero. 105 
 
 Early history of Nero. Character of his father. 
 
 Chapter V. 
 The Childhood of Nero. 
 
 DURING the time that Agrippina Lad 
 been j>assing through the strange and 
 eventful vicissitudes of her history, described 
 in the preceding chapters, young Nero him- 
 self, as we shall henceforth call him, had 
 been growing up an active and intelligent, 
 but an indulged and ungoverned boy. His 
 own father died when he was about three 
 years old. This, however, was an advantage 
 probably, rather than a loss to the boy, as 
 Brazen oeard was an extremely coarse, cruel, 
 and unprincipled man. He once killed one 
 of his slaves for not drinking as much as he 
 ordered him. Riding one day in his cbarit.it 
 through a village, he drove wantonly and 
 purposely over a boy, and killed him on the 
 spot. He defrauded all who dealt with him, 
 and was repeatedly prosecuted for the worst 
 of crimes. He treated his wife with great 
 brutality. As has already been said, he re- 
 ceived the announcement of the birth of his 
 
W6 JS t ero. [A.D. 39. 
 
 Brutal character of Brazenbeard. Nero neglected. 
 
 boa with derision, saying that nothing but 
 what was detestable could come from him and 
 Agrippina ; and when they asked him what 
 name they should give the child, he recom- 
 mended to them to name him Claudius. This 
 was said in contempt, for Claudius was at that 
 time despised by every one, as a deformed 
 and stupid idiot, though he was subsequently 
 made emperor in the manner that has been 
 already explained. The manifestation of such 
 a spirit, at such a time, on the part of her 
 husband, pained Agrippina exceedingly, — 
 but the more it pained her, the more Brazen- 
 beard was gratified and amused. The death 
 of such a father could, of course, be no ca- 
 lamity. 
 
 "When Agrippina, Nero's mother, was ban 
 ished from Rome by the order of Caligula, 
 Nero himself did not accompany her, but re- 
 mained behind under the care of his aunt 
 Lepida, with whom he lived for a time ir. 
 comparative neglect and obscurity. Though 
 he belonged to one of the most aristocratic 
 families of Rome, his mother being a descen- 
 dant and heir of the Caesars, he spent some 
 years in a situation of poverty and disgrace. 
 llis education was neglected, as he received 
 
A.D. 41.] Childhood of Neeo. i"7 
 
 Nero reappears at court. BrtUnnlc-i*. 
 
 no instruction at this time except from a 
 dancing-master and a barber, who were his 
 jnly tutors. Of course, the formation of his 
 mcral character was wholly neglected, — nor, 
 m fact, considering the character of those by 
 whom he was surrounded, would it have been 
 possible that any favorable influence should 
 have been exerted upon him, if the attempt 
 had been made. 
 
 At length when Caligula died and Agrip- 
 pina was recalled from her banishment by 
 Claudius, and reinstated in her former position 
 at Rome, Xero emerged from his obscurity, 
 and thenceforth lived with his mother in lux- 
 ury and splendor in the capital. Nero was a 
 handsome boy, and he soon became an object 
 of great popular favor and regard. He often 
 appeared in public at entertainments and 
 celebrations, and when he did so he was 
 always specially noticed and caressed. His 
 companion, and in some respects his rival and 
 competitor, at such times, was Britannicus, 
 the son of Claudius and Messalina. Britau 
 oicus was two or three years younger than 
 Nero, and being the son of the emperor was 
 of course a very prominent and conspicuous 
 object of attention whenever he appeared 
 
108 Nero. [A.D. 45 
 
 The secular or centennial gamoa. 
 
 Bu* the rauk of Nero was scarcely less high, 
 since his mother was descended directly from 
 the imperial family, while in age and persona) 
 appearance and bearing ne was superior to 
 bis cousin. 
 
 One instance is specially noticed by the his- 
 torians of those days, in which young Nero 
 was honored with an extraordinary degree of 
 public attention and regard. It was on the oc- 
 casion of celebrating what might be called the 
 centennial games. These games were gene- 
 rally supposed to be celebrated at each recur- 
 rence of a certain astronomical period, of 
 about one hundred years' duration, called an 
 age ; but in reality it was at irregular though 
 very distant intervals that they were observed. 
 Claudius instituted a celebration of them early 
 in his reign. There had been a celebration 
 of them in the reign of Augustus, not many 
 years before, — but Claudius, wishing to sig 
 nalize his own reign by some great entertain 
 ment and display, pretended that Augustus 
 had made a miscalculation, and had observed 
 the festival at the wrong time ; and he ordain 
 ed, accordingly, that the celebration should 
 take place again. 
 
 The games and shows connected with this 
 
A.D.45.] Childhood of Neeo. 109 
 
 Mode of celebrating them. Nero and Britannicns. 
 
 festival extended through three successive 
 days. They consisted of sacrifices and other 
 religious rites, dramatic spectacles, athletic 
 games, and military and gladiatorial shows. 
 In the course of these diversions there was 
 celebrated on one of the days what was called 
 the Trojan game, in which young boys of lead- 
 ing and distinguished families appeared on 
 horseback in a circus or ring, where they per- 
 formed certain evolutions and feats of horse- 
 manship, and mock conflicts, in the midst of 
 the tens of thousands of spectators who throng- 
 ed t^ae seats around. Of course Britannicns 
 and Nero were the most prominent and con- 
 spicuous of the boys on this occasion. Nero, 
 however, in the estimation of the populace, 
 bore off the palm. He was received with the 
 loudest acclamations by the whole assembly, 
 while Britannicus attracted far less attention. 
 This triumph filled Agrippina's heart with 
 pride and pleasure, while it occasioned to 
 Messalina the greatest vexation and chagrin. 
 It made Agrippina more than ever before the 
 object of Messalina's hatred and hostility, and 
 the empress would very probably before long 
 have found some means of destroying her 
 rival had she not soon after this become in- 
 
110 Nero. [A.D. 45 
 
 Nero applauded. The story of the eerpenta. 
 
 volved herself in the difficulties arising out of 
 her connection with Silius, which resulted so 
 goon in her own destruction. 
 
 The people, however, were filled with ad- 
 miration of Nero, and they applauded Lis per- 
 formance with the utmost enthusiasm. He 
 was for a time a subject of conversation in 
 every circle throughout the city, and many 
 tales were told of his history and his doings- 
 Among other things which were related of 
 him, the story was circulated that Messalina 
 became so excited against him in her jealousy 
 and envy, that she sent two assassins to mur- 
 der him in his sleep ; and that the assassins, 
 coming to him in a garden where he was 
 lying asleep upon a pillow, were just putting 
 their cruel orders into executicn when they 
 were driven away by a serpent that appeared 
 miraculously at the moment to defend the 
 child — darting out at the assassins from be- 
 neath the pillow. Others said that it was in 
 his infancy that this occurrence took place, 
 and that there were two serpents instead of 
 one, and that they guarded the life of their 
 charge lying with him in his cradle. One of 
 the historians of the time states that neither 
 of these stories was really true, but that they 
 
A.D. 49.] Childhood of I^eko. Ill 
 
 Advancement of Nero after the death of Messalina. 
 
 both originated in the fact that Nero was ac- 
 customed to wear, when a boy, a bracelet 
 made of a serpent's skin, small and of beauti 
 ful colors, — and fastened, as they said, around 
 the wearer's wrist with a clasp of gold.*" 
 
 However the fact may be in respect to Mes- 
 salina's allowing her jealousy of Agrippina 
 to carry her so far as to make direct attempts 
 upon his life, there is no doubt that she lived 
 in continual fear of the influence both of Nero 
 and of his mother, on the mind of the em- 
 peror ) and Agrippina was consequently com- 
 pelled to submit to many indignities which 
 the position and the power of Messalina ena 
 bled her to impose upon her enemies and ri- 
 vals. At length, however, the fall of Messa- 
 lina, and the entire revolution in the situation 
 and prospects of Agrippina which was conse- 
 quent upon it, changed altogether the position 
 of Nero. It might have been expected, it id 
 true, even after the marriage of Claudius with 
 Agrippina, that Britannicus would have still 
 maintained altogether the highest place in 
 the emperor's regard, since Britannicus was 
 his own son, while Nero was only the son of 
 nis wife. But Agrippina was artful enough 
 to manage her indolent and stupid husband 
 
112 Xerj. [AD. 51 
 
 Agrippina's treatment of Britannicus. 
 
 just as she pleased ; and she soon found 
 means to displace Britannicus, and to raise 
 Nero in his stead, to the highest place, in 
 precedence and honor. She persuaded Clau- 
 dius to adopt Nero as his - own son, as was 
 itated in the last chapter. She obtained a 
 decree of the Senate, approving and confirm- 
 ing this act. She then removed Britannicus 
 from the court and shut him up in seclusion, 
 in a nursery, under pretense of tender regard 
 for his health and safety. In a word, she 
 treated Britannicus in all respects like a little 
 child, and kept him wholly in the back- 
 ground ; while she brought her own son, 
 though he was but little older than the other, 
 very prominently forward, as a young man. 
 
 In those ancient days as now, there was 
 an appropriate dress for youth, which was 
 changed for that of a man when the subject 
 arrived at maturity. The garment which was 
 most distinctively characteristic of adult age 
 among the Romans was called the toga ; and 
 it was assumed by the Roman youth, not as 
 the dress of a man is by young persons now, 
 in a private and informal manner, according 
 as the convenience or fancy of the individual 
 may dictate, — but publicly and with mucn 
 
A.D. 51.] Childhood of Xeeo. 113 
 
 Nero assumes the to^a. Britannicus secluded. 
 
 ceremony, and always at the time when the 
 part} arrived at the period of legal majority ; 
 eo that assuming the toga marked always a 
 fery important era of life. This distinction 
 Agrippina caused to be conferred upon Xero 
 by a special edict when he was only fourteen 
 years of age, which was at a very much ear- 
 lier period than usual. On the occasion of 
 thus advancing him to the dress and to the 
 legal capabilities of manhood, Agrippina 
 brought him out in a special manner before 
 the people of Rome at a great public celebra- 
 tion, and the more effectually to call public 
 attention to him as a young prince of the 
 highest distinction in the imperial family, she 
 induced Claudius to bestow a largess upon 
 the people, and a donative upon the army, 
 that is a public distribution of money, to the 
 citizens and to the soldiers, in Xero's name. 
 
 All this time Britannicus was kept shut up 
 in the private apartments of the palace with 
 nurses and children. The tutors and attend^ 
 ants whom Messalina his mother provided foi 
 him were one by one removed, and theii 
 places supplied by others whom Agrippina 
 selected for the purpose, and whom she could 
 rely upon to second her views. When in 
 
 15—8 
 
114 JSeeo. [A.D. 51 
 
 Agrippina'e treatment of the two boys. 
 
 quired of in respect to Britannicus by those 
 who had known him before, during his moth- 
 er's lifetime, she replied that he was a weak 
 and feeble child, subject to fits, and thus ne- 
 iessarily kept secluded from society. 
 
 Sometimes, indeed, on great public occa 
 sions, both Nero and Britannicus appeared 
 together, but even in these cases the arrange- 
 ments were so made as to impress the public 
 mind more forcibly than ever with an idea 
 of the vast superiority of Nero, in respect to 
 rank and position. On one such occasion, 
 while Britannicus was carried about clothed 
 in the dress of a child, and with attendants 
 characteristic of the nursery, Nero rode on 
 horseback, richly appareled in the triumphal 
 robes of a general returning from a foreign 
 campaign. 
 
 Agrippina was one day made very angry 
 with Britannicus, for what might seem a very 
 trifling cause. It seems that Britannicus. 
 though young, was a very intelligent boy, 
 and that he understood perfectly the policy 
 which his step-mother was pursuing toward 
 him, and was very unwilliDg to submit to be 
 thus supplanted. One day, when he and 
 Ner;> were both abroad, attending some pub 
 
A.D. 51.J Childhood of JSfEKO. 115 
 
 Britannicus offends Nero. Agrtpplna't anger. 
 
 lie spectacle or celebration, they met, and 
 Nero accosted his cousin, calling him Britan- 
 nicus. Britannicus, in returning the saluta- 
 tion, addressed Nero familiarly by the name Do- 
 mitius ; — Domitius Ahenobarbus having been 
 his name before he was adopted by Claudius. 
 Agrippina was very indignant when she heard 
 of this. She considered the using of this 
 name by Britannicus, as denoting, on his 
 part, a refusal to acknowledge his cousin as 
 the adopted son of his father. She imme- 
 diately went to Claudius with earnest and 
 angry complainings. "Your own edict," said 
 she, " sanctioned and confirmed by the Sen 
 ate, is disavowed and annulled, and my sou 
 is subjected to public insult by the imperii 
 nence of this child." Agrippina farther rep- 
 resented to Claudius, that Britannicus never 
 womd have thought of addressing her son in 
 such a manner, of his own accord. His doing 
 it must have arisen from the influence of 
 some of the persons around him who were 
 hostile to her ; and she made use of the occa- 
 sion to induce Claudius to give her authority 
 to remove all that remained of the child's 
 instructors and governors, who could be sus- 
 pected of a friendly interest in his cause, and 
 
116 Nkko. [A.D. 51 
 
 The Fueioe laka. Plan for draining it The canal 
 
 to subject kirn to new and more rigorous 
 restrictions than ever. 
 
 One of the most imposing of all the spec- 
 tacles and celebrations which Claudius insti 
 tuted during his reign, was the one which 
 signalized the opening of the canal by which 
 the Fucine lake was drained. The Fucine 
 take was a large but shallow body of water, 
 at the foot of the Appenines, near the sources 
 of the Tiber.* It was subject to periodic in- 
 undations, by which the surrounding lands 
 were submerged. An engineer had offered 
 to drain the lake, in consideration of receiv- 
 ing for his pay the lands which would be laid 
 dry by the operation. But Claudius, who 
 seemed to have quite a taste for such under- 
 takings, preferred to accomplish the work 
 himself. The canal by which the water 
 should be conveyed away, was to be formed 
 in part by a deep cut, and partly by a tunnel 
 through a mountai q ; and inasmuch as in 
 those days the power now chiefly relied up« n 
 "or making such excavations, namely, the ex 
 plosive force of gunpowder, was not known, 
 any extensile working in solid rock was an 
 operation of immense labor. "When the canaJ 
 
 * See Map. Frontispieae. 
 
&..D 52.J Childhood of Hero. 117 
 
 Grand celebration at the opening of the canal. 
 
 was finished, Claudius determined to institute 
 a grand celebration to signalize the opening 
 of it for drawing off the water ; and as he 
 could not safely rely on the hydraulic interest 
 of the spectacle for drawing such a concourse 
 fcc the spot as he wished to see there, he con 
 eluded to add to the entertainment a show 
 more suited to the taste and habits of the 
 times. He made arrangements accordingly 
 for having a naval battle fought upon the lake, 
 for the amusement of the spectators, just be- 
 fore the opening of the canal, which was to 
 draw off the water. Thus the battle was to be 
 the closing scene, in which the history and 
 existence of the lake were to be terminated 
 forever. 
 
 Ships were accordingly built, and an im- 
 mense number of men wore designated and 
 set apart for fighting the battle. These men 
 consisted of convicts and prisoners of war — 
 men whom it was, in those days, considered 
 perfectly just and right to employ in killing 
 one another for the amusement of the empe- 
 ror and his guests. A sort of bulwark was 
 built all around the shore, and the emperor's 
 guards were stationed upon it, to prevent the 
 96cape of the combatants, and to turn them 
 
118 Nebo. [A.D. 52 
 
 Naval conflict to take place on the lake. 
 
 back to their duty if any of them should at- 
 tempt, when pressed hard in the battle, to 
 escape to the land. The fleet of galleys was 
 divided into two antagonistic portions, and 
 the men in each were armed completely, as 
 in a case of actual war. At the appointed 
 time, hundreds of thousands of people assem- 
 bled from all the surrounding country to see 
 the sight. They lined the shores on every 
 side, and crowned all the neighboring heights. 
 The contest, of course, might be waged with 
 all the fury and fatal effect of a real battle 
 without endangering the spectators at all, as 
 there were in those days no flying bullets, or 
 other swift-winged missiles, like those which 
 in modern times take so wide a range beyond 
 the limits of the battle. The deadly effect of 
 all that was done in an ancient combat was 
 confined of course to those immediately en- 
 gaged. Then there was, besides, nothing to 
 intercept the vision. No smoke was raised to 
 obscure the view, but the atmosphere above 
 and around the combatants remained as pure 
 and transparent at the end of the combat as 
 at the beginning. 
 
 A real battle was accordingly regarded bv 
 the Romans as the most sublime and imposing 
 
A.D. 52.] Childhood of Nebo. 119 
 
 End of the naval battle. The water will not flow. 
 
 of spectacles, and hundreds of thousands of 
 spectators nocked to witness the one which 
 . Claudius arranged for them on the Fucine 
 lake. He himself presided, dressed in a coat 
 of mail ; and Agrippina sat by his side, cloth- 
 ed in a magnificent robe, which the historian 
 states was woven from threads of gold, with- 
 out the admixture of any other material. 
 The signal was given, and the battle was 
 commenced. There was some difficulty ex 
 perienced, as usual in such cases, in getting 
 the men to engage, but they became sufficient- 
 ly ferocious at last to satisfy all the spectators, 
 and thousands were slain. At length the em 
 peror gave orders that the battle should cease, 
 and the survivors were informed that their 
 lives were spared. 
 
 It was fortunate, on the whole, for Claudius, 
 that he did not rely wholly on the simple 
 drawing off of the water from the lake for the 
 amusement of the immense assemblage that 
 he had convened, for it was found, when, 
 after the close of the battle, the canal was 
 opened, that the water would not run. The 
 engineers had made some mistake in their 
 measurements or their calculations, and had 
 left the bed of the canal in some part of ita 
 
120 Nbko. [A.D 52 
 
 Deepening the canal. New celebrauoui. 
 
 course too high, so that the water, when the 
 sluices were opened, instead of flowing off into 
 the river to which the canal was intended to 
 conduct it, remained quietly in the lake aa 
 before. 
 
 The assembly dispersed, and the work on 
 the canal was resumed with a view of making 
 it deeper. In the course of a year the exca- 
 vation was completed, and all was made 
 ready for a new trial. Claudius summoned a 
 new assembly to witness the operation, and at 
 this time, instead of a naval conflict, he made 
 provision for a great combat of gladiators, to 
 be fought on immense floating platforms 
 which were built upon the lake near the out- 
 let which the engineers had made. In the 
 end, however, the second attempt to make the 
 water flow, proved more unfortunate than the 
 first. The channel had been made very deep 
 and wide, so that the water was inclined to 
 move, when once put in motion, with the ut- 
 most impetuosity and force ; and it so hap- 
 pened, that in some way or other, the meani 
 which the engineer had relied upon for con 
 trolling it were insufficient, and when the 
 gates were opened every thing suddenly gave 
 way. The water rushed out in an overwhelm 
 
A.D. 5l\] Childhood of Xeko. 12i 
 
 Influence* under which Nero's character was formed. 
 
 ing torrent, as in an innndation — and nnder 
 mined and carried away the platforms and 
 stagings which had been erected for the seats 
 of the spectators. A scene of indescribable 
 tumult and confusion ensued. The emperor 
 and empress, with the guests and spectators, 
 fled precipitously together, and all narrowly 
 escaped being carried down into the canal. 
 
 It is by no means difficult to imagine what 
 sort of a character a boy must necessarily 
 form, brought up under such influences and 
 surrounded by such scenes as those which 
 thus prevailed at the court of Claudius. It 
 proved in the end that Xero experienced the 
 full effect of them. lie became proud, vain, 
 self-willed, cruel, and accustomed to yield 
 himself without restraint to all those wicked 
 propensities and passions which, under such 
 circumstances, always gain dominion over the 
 human soul. 
 
 Besides Britannicus, it will be recollected 
 _nat Messalina had left another child, — a 
 daughter named Octavia, who was two or 
 three years younger than her brother, and of 
 course ab^ut five years younger than Xero. 
 A«rrippina did not pursue the same course of 
 
122 Neko. [A.D. 52 
 
 Agrippina's plan in respect to Octavia. 
 
 opposition and hostility toward her which she 
 had adopted in regard to Britannicus. She 
 determined, at the outset, upon a very differ- 
 ent plan. Britannicus was necessarily a rival 
 and competitor for Nero ; and every step in 
 advance which he should make, could not 
 operate otherwise than as an impediment and 
 obstacle to Nero's success. But Octavia, as 
 Agrippina thought, might be employed to 
 further and aid her designs, by being betroth 
 ed, and in due time married, to her son. 
 
 The advantages of such a scheme were very 
 obvious, — so obvious in fact that the design 
 was formed by Agrippina at the very begin- 
 ning, — even before her own marriage with 
 the emperor was fully effected. There was 
 one serious obstacle in the way, and that was 
 that Octavia was already betrothed to a very 
 distinguished young nobleman named Lucius 
 Silanus. Agrippina, after having, by various 
 skillful manceuvers, succeeded in enlisting the 
 public officers who would act as judges in his 
 case, caused Silanus to be accused of infa 
 mous crimes. The historians say that the 
 evidence which was adduced against him was 
 of the most trivial character. Still he was 
 condemned He seems to have understood 
 
A.D. 53.] Childhood of Meeo. Ltib 
 
 Tragical end of Silanus. Marriage of Nero. 
 
 the nature and the cause of the hostility which 
 had suddenly developed itself against him, 
 and to have felt at once all the hopelessness 
 of his condition. He killed himself in his 
 despair on the very night of the marriage of 
 Claudius with Agrippina. 
 
 The empress found afterward no serious 
 difficulty in accomplishing her design. She 
 obtained the emperor's consent to a betrothal 
 of Nero to Octavia ; but as they were yet too 
 young to be married, the ceremony was post- 
 poned for a short time. At length in about 
 five years after the marriage of Agrippina 
 herself, Nero and Octavia were married. 
 Nero was at that time about sixteen years of 
 age. His bride of course was only eleven. 
 
124 Nebo. (A.D. 54 
 
 Olsndtua i* sick. Agrlppina'B joy. Her scheme* 
 
 Chapter VI. 
 Neko an Empebob. 
 
 ABOUT one year after Nero's marriage tc 
 Octavia the emperor Claudius was sud- 
 denly taken sick. On learning this, Agrip- 
 pina was very much excited and very much 
 pleased. If the sickness should result in the 
 emperor's death, her son she thought would 
 immediately succeed him. Every thing had 
 been long since fully arranged for such a re- 
 sult, and all was now ready, she imagined, 
 for the change. 
 
 It is true that Nero was still very young, 
 but then he was uncommonly mature both in 
 mind and in person, for one of his years ; and 
 the people had been accustomed for some 
 time to look upon him as a man. Among 
 other means which Agrippina had resorted to 
 for giving an appearance of manliness and 
 maturity to the character of her son, she had 
 brought him forward in the Roman Forum aa 
 a public advocate, and he had made orations 
 there in several instances, with great success. 
 
A..D. M.] Nero an Empekok. T25 
 
 Estimation in which Nero was held. 
 
 £le had been well instructed in those studies 
 which were connected with the art of oratory, 
 and as his person and manners were agreea 
 ble, and his countenance intelligent and pre- 
 possessing, and especially as the confidence 
 which he felt in his powers gave him an air 
 of great self-possession and composure, the 
 Impression which he made was very favora- 
 ble. The people were in fact predisposed to 
 be pleased with and to applaud the efforts of 
 a young orator so illustrious in rank and sta- 
 tion — and the ability which he displayed, al- 
 though he was so young, was such as to jus- 
 tify, unquestionably, in some degree, the hon- 
 ors that they paid him. 
 
 Agrippina, therefore, supposing that her 
 8on was now far enough advanced in public 
 consideration to make it in some degree cer- 
 tain that he would be the emperor's successor, 
 was ready at any time for her husband to d : e. 
 His sickness therefore filled her mind with 
 excitement and hope. There was another 
 motive too, besides her ambitious desires foi 
 the advancement of her son, that made her 
 desirous that Claudius should not live. She 
 had been now for several months somewhat 
 solicitous and anxious about her own safety. 
 
126 Nero. [A.D. 54. 
 
 Agrippina con tide's herself is danger. 
 
 Her influence over Claudius, which was at 
 first so absolute and supreme, had afterward 
 greatly declined, and within a few months she 
 had begun to fear that she might be losing it 
 entirely. In fact she had some reason for be- 
 lieving that Claudius regarded her with con- 
 cealed hostility and hate, and was secretly 
 revolving plans for deposing both her and her 
 son from the high ascendency to which they 
 had raised themselves, and for bringing back 
 his own son to his proper prominence, in 
 Xero's place. Agrippina, too, in the midst 
 of her ambitious projects and plans, led a life 
 of secret vice and crime, and feeling guilty 
 and self-condemned, every trivial indication 
 of danger excited her fears. Some one in- 
 formed her that Claudius one day when 
 speaking of a woman who had been convicted 
 of crime, said that it had always been his 
 misfortune to have profligate wives, but that 
 he always brought them in the end to the 
 punishment that they deserved. Agrippina 
 was greatly terrified at this report. She con 
 aidered it a warning that Claudius was medi 
 rating some fatal proceedings in respect to 
 her. 
 
 Agrippina observed, too, as she thought; 
 
A.D. 54.] Nebo an Emperor. 12? 
 
 Reasons for her fears. Claudius and Britannicus. 
 
 various indications that Claudius was begin- 
 ning to repent of having adopted Nero and 
 thus displaced his own son from the line of 
 inheritance ; and that he was secretly intend- 
 ing to restore Britannicus to his true position. 
 He treated the boy with greater and greater 
 attention every day, and at one time, after 
 having been conversing with him and express 
 ing an unusual interest in his health and 
 welfare, he ended by saying, " Go on improv- 
 ing, my son, and grow up as fast as you can 
 to be a man. I shall be able to give a good 
 account of all that I have ( done in regard to 
 you in due time. Trust to me, and you will 
 find that all will come out right in the end." 
 At another time he told Britannicus that 
 pretty soon he should give him the toga, and 
 bring him forward before the people as a 
 man, — "and then at last," said he, "the 
 Romans will have a pfince that is genuine.'''' 
 
 Agrippina was not present, it is true, when 
 these things were said and done, but every 
 thing was minutely reported to her, and she 
 was filled with anxiety and alarm. She be- 
 gan to be afraid that unless something should 
 speedily occur to enable her to realize her 
 hopes and expectations, they would end in 
 
L28 Nero. [A.£>. 54 
 
 She forms plans fur hastening her husband's death. 
 
 nothing but bitter and cruel disappointment 
 after all. 
 
 Such being the ecate of things, Agrippiss 
 was greatly pleased at the news, when sha 
 heard that her husband was sick. She most 
 earnestly hoped that he would die, and im- 
 mediately began to consider what she could 
 do to insure or to hasten such a result. She 
 thought of poison, and began to debate the 
 question in her mind whether she should dare 
 to administer it. Then if she were to decide 
 to give her husband poison, it was a very 
 serious question what kind of poison she 
 should employ. If she were to administer one 
 that was sudden and violent in its operation, 
 the effect which it would produce might 
 attract attention, and her crime be discovered. 
 On the other hand, if she were to choose one 
 that was more moderate and gradual in its 
 power, so as to produce a slow and lingering 
 death, time would be allowed for Claudius to 
 carry into effect any secret designs that ho 
 might be forming for disavowing Nero as hit 
 aon, and fixing the succession upon Britan- 
 mcus ; and Agrippina well knew that if Clau- 
 dius were to die, leaving things in such a state 
 that Britannicus should succeed him, the 
 
A.D. 54.] .Nebo an Empeboe. 129 
 
 Locusta. Agrippina determines to consult her 
 
 downfall and ruin both of herself and her son 
 would immediately and inevitably follow. 
 
 There was at that time in Eome a celebra- 
 ted mistress of the art of poisoning, named 
 Locusta. She was in prison, having been con 
 demned to death for her crimes. Thongr. 
 condemned she had been kept back from 
 execution by the influence of Agrippina, on 
 account of the skill which she possessed in her 
 art, and which Agrippina thought it possible 
 that she might have occasion at some time to 
 make use of. This Locusta she now deter- 
 mined to consult. She accordingly went to 
 her, and asked her if she did not know of any 
 poison which would immediately take effect 
 upon the brain and mind, so as to incapacitate 
 the patient at once from all mental action, 
 while yet it should be gradual and slow in its 
 operations on the vital functions of the body. 
 Locusta answered in the affirmative. Such 
 characters were always prepared to furnish 
 any species of medicaments that their custom- 
 ers might call for. She compounded a potion 
 .vhich she said possessed the properties which 
 Agrippina required, and Agrippina, receiving 
 it from her hands, went away. 
 
 Agrippina then went to Haiotus, the servant 
 15—9 
 
130 Keeo. [A.D. 54 
 
 L ocugta'i poison is administered to Claudius. 
 
 who waited upon the emperor and gave him his 
 food, — and contrived some means to induce him 
 to administer the dose. Halotus was the em- 
 ]>erors ; " taster," as it was termed : — that is, it 
 was his duty to taste first, himself, every ar- 
 ticle of food or drink which he offered to his 
 master, for the express purpose of making it 
 6ure that nothing was poisoned. It is obvious, 
 however, that many ways might be devised 
 for evading such a precaution as this, and 
 Halotus and Agrippina arranged it, that the 
 poison, in this case, should be put upon a dish 
 of mushrooms, and served to the emperor at 
 his supper. The taster was to avoid, by 
 means of some dextrous management, the 
 taking of any portion of the fatal ingredients 
 himself. The plan thus arranged was put 
 into execution. The emperor ate the mush- 
 rooms, and Agrippina tremblingly awaited 
 the result. 
 
 She was, however, disappointed in the effect 
 that was produced. Whether the mixture that 
 Locusta had prepared was not sufficiently 
 powerful, or whether Halotus in his extreme 
 anxiety not to get any of the poisonous ingre- 
 dients himself failed to administer them ef 
 factually to his intended victim, the emperor 
 
A.D. 54.J Neeo an Empesob. 131 
 
 The poison ineffectual. A new plan. The feathar. 
 
 seemed to continue afterward much as he had 
 been before, — still sick, but without any new 
 ^r more dangerous symptoms. Of course, 
 Agrippina was in a state of great solicitude 
 and apprehension. Having incurred the ter- 
 rible guilt and danger necessarily involved 
 in an attempt to poison her husband, she 
 could not draw back. The work that was 
 begun must be earned through now, she 
 thought, at all hazards, to its termination ; 
 and she immediately set herself at work to 
 devise some means of reaching her victim 
 with poison, which would avoid the taster al- 
 together, and thus not be liable to any inter- 
 ference on his part, dictated either by his 
 fidelity to his master or his fears for himself. 
 She went, accordingly, to the emperor's 
 physician and found means to enlist him in 
 her cause ; and a plan was formed between 
 them which proved effectual in accomplishing 
 tier designs. The manner in which they con- 
 trived it was this. The physician, at a time 
 when the emperor was lying sick and in dis- 
 tress upon his couch, came to him and pro- 
 posed that he should open his mouth and al- 
 low the physician to touch his throat with the 
 tip of a feather, to promote vomiting, which 
 
132 
 
 Nero. 
 
 Poison administered by the physician. 
 
 [A.D. 54. 
 
 Claudius dies. 
 
 The Poisoning of Claudius 
 
 he said he thought would relieve him. The 
 emperor yielded to this treatment, and the 
 feather was applied. It had previously heen 
 dipped in a very virulent and fatal poison. 
 Ths poison thus administered took effect, and 
 Claudius, after passing the night in agony, 
 died early in the morning. 
 
 Of course, Agrippina, when her husband's 
 dying struggles were over, and she was satis- 
 fied that life was extinct, experienced for the 
 
B.C. 54 .] JS'ero an Emperor. 138 
 
 Agrippina cccceals her husband's death. 
 
 moment a feeling of gratification and relief. 
 It might have been expected, however, that 
 the pangs of remorse, after the deed was per 
 petrated, would have followed very hard upon 
 tne termination of her suspense and anxiety. 
 But it was net so. Much still remained to he 
 done, and Agiippina was fully prepared to 
 meet all the responsibilities of the crisis. The 
 death of her husband took place very early in 
 the morning, the poisoning operations having 
 been performed i.i the night, and having ac- 
 complished their final effect about the break 
 of day. Agrippina immediately perceived 
 that the most effectual means of accomplish- 
 ing the end which she had in view, was not 
 to allow of any interval to elapse between the 
 announcement of the emperor's death and the 
 bringing forward of her son for induction into 
 office as his successor ; since during such an 
 interval, if one were allowed, the Roman peo- 
 ple would, of course, discuss the question, 
 whether Britannicus or Nero should succeed 
 .o power, and a strong party might possibly 
 organize itself to enforce the claims of the 
 former. She determined, therefore, to con 
 ceal the death of her husband until noon, the 
 hour most favorable for publicly proclaiming 
 
134: Neeo. [A.D. 54 
 
 Agrtppina's measures. Her dlaimulatlon. 
 
 any great event, and then to announce the 
 death of the father and the accession of the 
 idopted son together. 
 
 She accordingly took prompt and decisive 
 measures to prevent its being known that the 
 emperor was dead. The immediate attend- 
 ants at his bedside could not indeed be easily 
 deceived, but they were required to be silent 
 in respect to what had occurred, and to go on 
 with all their services and ministrations just 
 as if their patient were still alive. Visitors 
 were excluded from the room, and messengers 
 were kept coming to and fro with baths, 
 medicaments, and other appliances, such as 
 a desperate crisis in a sick chamber might be 
 supposed to require. The Senate was con- 
 vened, too, in the course of the morning, and 
 Agrippina, as if in great distress, sent a mes- 
 sage to them, informing them of her husband's 
 dangerous condition, and entreating them to 
 join with the ciuef civil and religious func- 
 liunaries of the city, in offering vows, suppii- 
 :ations, and sacrifices for his recovery. She 
 terself, in the mean time, went from room to 
 room about the palace, overwhelmed to all 
 appearance, with anxiety and grief. She 
 kept Britannicus and his sisters all the time 
 
A..D. 5-i.] Nero an Empeeok. 135 
 
 Agrippina's plans for proclaiming Nero. 
 
 with her, folding the boy in her arms with an 
 appearance of the fondest affection, and tell 
 ing him how heart -broken she was at the dan- 
 ger >us condition of his father. She kept, 
 Britannicns thns constantly near to her, in 
 •^rder to prevent the possibility of his being 
 seized and carried away to the camp by any 
 party that might be disposed to make him 
 emperor rather than Xero, when it should be 
 known that Claudius had ceased to reign. As 
 an additional defense against this danger, 
 Agrippina brought up a cohort of the life- 
 guards around the palace, and caused them 
 to be stationed in such a manner that every 
 avenue of approach to the. edifice was com- 
 pletely secured. The cohort which she se- 
 lected was one that she thought she could 
 most safely rely upon, not only for guarding 
 the palace while she remained within it, but 
 for proclaiming Nero as emperor when she 
 should at last be ready to come forth and an- 
 nounce the death of her husband. 
 
 At length, about noon, she deemed that the 
 nour had arrived, and after placing Britan- 
 nicus and his sisters in some safe custody 
 within the palace, she ordered the gates to bo 
 thrown open, and prepared to come forth to 
 
136 Neeo. [A.D. 54. 
 
 Beoeca and Burru*. History of Sonecv 
 
 announce the death of Claudius, and to pre- 
 sent Nero to the army and to the people of 
 Rome, as his rightful successor. She was 
 aided and supported in these preparations 
 by a number of officers and attendants, 
 imong whom were the two whom she had de- 
 termined upon as the two principal ministers 
 of her son's government. These were Seneca 
 and Burrus. Seneca was to be minister of 
 state, and Burrus the chief military com- 
 mander. 
 
 Both these men had long been in the ser- 
 vice of Agrippina and of Nero. Seneca was 
 now over fifty years of age. He was very 
 highly distinguished as a scholar and rheto- 
 rician while he lived, and his numerous writ- 
 ings have given him great celebrity since, in 
 every age. He commenced his career in 
 Rome as a public advocate in the Forum, 
 during the reign of Caligula. After Cali 
 gula's death he incurred the displeasure of 
 Claudius in the first year of that emperor's 
 reign, and he was banished to the island of 
 Corsica, where he remained in neglect and 
 obscurity for about eight years. When at 
 length Messalina was put to death, and the 
 emperor married Agrippina, Seneca was par 
 
A..D. 54.] Xero ax Emperor. 13" 
 
 4or»ont of Burros. Ills military rank. 
 
 doned and recalled through Agrippina's in- 
 fluence, and after that he devoted himself 
 rery faithfully to the service of the empress 
 aud of her son. Agrippina appointed him 
 Zero's preceptor, and gave him the direction 
 of all the studies •which her son pursued in 
 qualifying himself for the duties of a public 
 orator ; and now that she was about attempt- 
 ing to advance her son to the supreme com- 
 mand, she intended to make the philosopher 
 his principal secretary and minister of state. 
 Burrus was the commander of the life- 
 guards, or as the office was called in those 
 days, prefect of the praetorium. The life 
 guards, or body-guards, whose duty consisted 
 exclusively in attending upon, escorting and 
 protecting the emperor, consisted of ten co- 
 horts, each containing about a thousand men. 
 The soldiers designated for this service were 
 of course selected from the whole army, and 
 as no expense was spared in providing them 
 with arms, accoutrements and other appoint- 
 ments, they formed the finest body of troops 
 In the world. Thev received double pay, and 
 enjoyed special privileges ; and every ar- 
 rangement was made to secure their entire 
 subserviency to the will, and attachment tc 
 
i38 Xeeo. [A.D. 54. 
 
 "Hie Pratorian cohorts. Agrippina's plana 
 
 the person, of the reigning emperor. Of 
 course such a corps would be regarded by all 
 the other divisions of the army as entirely 
 iuperior in rank and consideration, to the or- 
 dinary service ; and the general who com- 
 manded them would take precedence of every 
 other military commander, being second only 
 to the emperor himself. Agrippina had con- 
 trived to raise Burrus to this post through her 
 influence with Claudius. He was a friend to 
 her interests before, and he became still more 
 devoted to her after receiving such an ap- 
 pointment through her instrumentality. — 
 Agrippina now depended upon Burrus to 
 carry the Praetorian cohorts in favor of her 
 
 Accordingly at noon of the day on whicL 
 Claudius died, when all things were ready, 
 the palace gates were thrown open and Agrip- 
 pina came forth with her son, accompanied 
 by Burrus and by other attendants. The co- 
 hort on duty was drawn up under arms at the 
 palace gates. Burrus presented Xero to them 
 as the successor of Claudius, and at a signal 
 from him they all responded with shouts and 
 acclamations. Some few of the soldiers did 
 not join in this cheering, but looked on in si 
 
A.D. 54.1 iS EEC AN EilPEEOB. 139 
 
 Nero brought forward. HI* promises to the snay . 
 
 lence, and then inquired of one another whal 
 had become of Britannicus. But there were 
 none to answer this question, and as no one 
 appeared to proclaim Britannicus or to speak 
 in his name, the whole cohort finally acqui- 
 esced in the decision to which the majority, at 
 the instigation of Burrus, seemed inclined. A 
 sort of chair or open palanquin was provided, 
 and Nero was mounted upon it. He wa- 
 borne in this way by the soldiers through the 
 streets of the city, escorted by the cohort on 
 the way, till he reached the camp. As the 
 procession moved along, the air was filled with 
 the shouts and acclamations of the soldiers 
 and of the people. 
 
 When the party arrived at the camp Nero 
 was presented to the army, and the officers 
 and soldiers being drawn up before him he 
 delivered a brief speech which Seneca had pre- 
 pared for the occasion. The principal point 
 in this speech, and the one on which its effect 
 was expected to depend, was a promise of a 
 large distribution of money. The soldiers al- 
 ways expected such a donative on the accession 
 of any new emperor, — but Nero, in order to 
 suppress any latent opposition which might be 
 felt against nis claims, made his proposed die- 
 
140 Nero. [A.D. 54 
 
 He Is proclaimed. General acquiescence in his elerarton. 
 
 tribution unusually large. The soldiers read- 
 ily yielded to the influence of this promise, 
 and with one accord proclaimed iS'ero erupe- 
 ror. The Senate was soon afterward con- 
 vened, and partly through the influence ot 
 certain prominent members whom Agrippina 
 had taken measures to secure in her interest, 
 and partly through the general conviction that 
 as things were the claims of Britannicus could 
 not be successfully maintained, the choice of 
 the army was confirmed. And as the tidings 
 of what had taken place at the capital gradu 
 allv spread through Italy and to the remoter 
 portions of the empire, the provinces, and the 
 various legions at their encampments, one 
 after another acquiesced in the result, both 
 because on the one hand they had no strong 
 motive for dissenting, and on the other, they 
 had individually no power to make any eifec- 
 tual resistance. Thus Nero, at the age o f 
 seventeen became emperor of Rome, and as 
 such th e almost absolu te monarch of near ly 
 half the world. - 
 
 It was, however, by no means the design 
 of Agrippina that her son should actually 
 wield, himself, all this power. Her motive, 
 in all her rnanoeuvers for bringing Xero tc 
 
A.D. 54.] Nero an Emperor. 141 
 
 Agrlpplna's real designs in the elevation of her son. 
 
 this lofty position, was a personal, not a ma- 
 ternal ambition. She was herself to reign, 
 not he ; and she had brought him forward 
 as the nominal sovereign only, in order that 
 she might herself exercise the power by act- 
 ing in his name. Her plan was to secure her 
 own ascendency, by so arranging and direct- 
 ing the course of affairs that the young em- 
 peror himself should have as little as possible 
 to do with the duties of his office ; and that 
 instead of direct action on his part, all the 
 functions of the government should be fulfilled 
 by officers of various grades, whom she was her- 
 self to appoint and to sustain, and who, since 
 they would know that they were dependent 
 on Agrippina's influence for their elevation, 
 would naturally be subservient to her will. 
 Nero being so young, she thought that he 
 could easily be led to acquiesce in such man- 
 agement as this, especially if he were indulged 
 in the full enjoyment of the luxuries and 
 pleasures, innocent or otherwise, which his 
 aigh station would enable him to command, 
 and which are usually so tempting to one of 
 his character and years. 
 
 The first of Agrippina's measures was to 
 •nake arrangement for a most imposing and 
 
142 Xebo. [A-^- 54 
 
 The funeral solemnitfe*. Nero's oration. The panegyric 
 
 ;nagnificent funeral, as the testimonial of the 
 deep conjugal affection which she entertained 
 for her husband, and the profound grief with 
 which she was affected by his death ! The 
 most extensive preparations were made for 
 this funeral ; and the pomp and parade which 
 were displayed in Rome on the day of the 
 ceremony, had never been surpassed, it v,slb 
 6aid, by any similar spectacle on any former 
 occasion. In the course of the services that 
 were performed, a funeral oration was deliv- 
 ered by Nero to the immense concourse of 
 people that were convened. The oration was 
 written by Seneca. It was a high panegyric 
 upon the virtues and the renown of the de- 
 ceased, and it represented in the brightest 
 colors, and with great magnificence of diction, 
 his illustrious birth, the high offices to which 
 he had attained, his taste for the liberal arts, 
 and the peace and tranquillity which had pre- 
 vailed throughout the empire during his reign. 
 To write a panegyric upon such a man as 
 Claudius had been, must surely have proved 
 a somewhat difficult task ; but Seneca accom- 
 plished it very adroitly, and the peopls, aided 
 by the solemnity of the occasion, listened with 
 proper gravity, until at length the orator be- 
 
A.D. 54.] Xeko an Kmfeboe. 142 
 
 The senate is conyened. Nero's inaugural address. 
 
 gan to speak of the judgment and the political 
 wisdom of Claudius, and then the listeners 
 found that they could preserve their decorum 
 no longer. The audience looked at each other, 
 and there was a general laugh. The young 
 orator, though for the moment somewhat dis- 
 concerted at this interruption, soon recovered 
 himself, and went on to the end of his dis- 
 course. 
 
 After these funeral ceremonies had been 
 performed, the Senate was convened, and 
 Nero appeared before them to make his in- 
 augural address. This address also, was of 
 course prepared for him by Seneca, under di- 
 rections from Agrippina, who, after revolving 
 the subject fully in her mind, had determined 
 what it would be most politic to say. She 
 knew very well that until the power of her 
 son became consolidated and settled, it became 
 him to be modest in his pretensions and claims, 
 and to profess great deference and respect foi 
 the powers and prerogatives of the Senate 
 In the speech, therefore, which Nero deliverec 
 in the senate-chamber, he said that in assum 
 ing the imperial dignity, which he had con 
 sented to do in obedience to the will of hi.- 
 father the late emperor, to the general voict 
 
IU Nero. [A.D. 5± 
 
 Nero's excellent promises. Satisfaction of the Senate. 
 
 of the army, and the universal suffrages of the 
 people, he did not intend to usurp the civii 
 powers of the state, but to leave to the Senate, 
 And to the various civil functionaries of the 
 '.•uy, their rightful and proper jurisdiction 
 He considered himself as merely the com- 
 mander-in-chief of the armies of the common- 
 wealth, and as such, his duty would be simply 
 to execute the national will. He promised, 
 moreover, a great variety of reforms in the 
 administration, all tending to diminish the 
 authority of the prince, and to protect the 
 people from danger of oppression by military 
 power. In a word, it was his settled purpose, 
 he said, to restore the government to its pris- 
 tine simplicity and purity, and to administer 
 it in strict accordance with the true principle* 
 of the Roman Constitution, as originally es- 
 tablished by the founders of the common- 
 wealth. The professions and promises whicb 
 Xero thus made to the Senate, or rather whicl 
 he recited to them at the dictation of hie 
 mother and of Seneca, gave great satisfaction 
 to all who heard them. All opposition to the 
 claims which he advanced, disappeared, and 
 the heart of Agrippina was filled with glad 
 
A..D. 54.] Nero an Emperor. 145 
 
 Agrtpplna assumes the real power. 
 
 ness and joy at finding that all her plans had 
 been so fully and successfully realized. 
 
 The official authority of Nero being thus 
 generally acknowledged, Agrippina began 
 immediately to pursue a system of policy de- 
 signed to secure the possession of all real 
 power for herself, leaving only the name and 
 semblance of it to her son. She appeared in 
 all public places with him, sharing with him 
 the pump, and parade, and insignia of office, 
 as if she were associated with him in official 
 power. She received and opened the dis- 
 patches and sent answers to them. She con- 
 sidered and decided questions of state, and 
 issued her orders. She caused several influ- 
 ential persons whom she supposed likely to 
 take part with Britannicus, or at least secretly 
 to favor his claims, to be put to death, either 
 by violence or by poison ; and she would have 
 caused the death of many others in this way, 
 if Bun-us and Seneca had not interposed their 
 influence to prevent it. She did all these 
 things in a somewhat covert and cautious 
 manner, acting generally in Nero's name, bo 
 as not to attract too much attention at first to 
 her measures. There was danger, she knew, 
 of awakening resistance and opposition, as 
 15—10 
 
146 Neeo. [A.D. 54 
 
 Discontent of the ministers. An Incident. 
 
 public sentiment among the Romans had 
 always been entirely averse to the idea of the 
 ubmissiun of men, in any form, to the govern- 
 ment of women. Agrippina accordingly did 
 not attempt openly to preside in the senate- 
 chamber, but she made arrangements tor 
 having the meetings of the Senate sometimes 
 held in an apartment of the palace where she 
 could attend, during the sitting, in an adjoin- 
 ing cabinet, concealed from view by a screen 
 or arras, and thus listen to the debate. Even 
 this, however, was strongly objected to by 
 some of the senators. They considered this 
 arrangement of Agrippina's to be present at 
 their debates as intended to intimidate them 
 into the support of such measures as she 
 might recommend, or be supposed to favor, 
 and thus as seriously interfering with the 
 freedom of their discussions. On one occasion 
 Agrippina made a bolder experiment still, by 
 coming into the hali where a company jf 
 foreign embassadors were to have audience, 
 as if it were a part of her official duty to join 
 in receiving them. Her son, the emperor, 
 and the government officers around him, were 
 confounded when they saw her coming, and 
 at first did not know what to do. Seneca 
 
A.D. 54.] Nero an Emperor. 14? 
 
 Reception of Agrippina in the hall of audience. 
 
 however, with great presence of mind, said to 
 Nero, " Your mother is entering, go and re- 
 ceive her." Hereupon, Nero left his chair of 
 etate, and accompanied bj his ministers, went 
 tc meet his mother, and received her with 
 great deference and respect ; and the attention 
 of all present was wholly devoted to Agrip- 
 pina while she remained, as to a very distin- 
 guished and highly honored guest, — the busi- 
 ness which had called them together being 
 suspended on her account until she withdrew. 
 Notwithstanding some occasional difficul- 
 ties and embarrassments of this kind, every 
 thing went on for a time very prosperously, 
 in accordance with Agrippina's wishes and 
 plans. Nero was very young, and little dis 
 posed at first to thwart or to resist his mother's 
 measures. He was, however, all the time 
 growing older, and he soon began to grow 
 restive under the domination which Agrip 
 pina exercised over him, and to form plane 
 and determinations of his own. There follow- 
 ed, as might have been expected, a terrible 
 conflict for the possession of power between 
 him and his mother. The history and the ter- 
 mination of this struggle will form the subject 
 of the two following chapters. 
 
148 Nebo. [A.D. 54 
 
 Brltannlcua and Acta Indignation of Agrippln*. 
 
 Chapter VII. 
 Britannious. 
 
 THE occasion which led to the first open 
 outbreak between Agrippina and her son 
 was the discovery on her part of a secret and 
 guilty attachment which had been formed be- 
 tween Nero and a young girl of the palace 
 whose name was Acte. Acte was originally a 
 slave from Asia Minor, having been purchas- 
 ed there and sent to Rome, very probably on 
 account of her personal beauty. She had 
 been subsequently enfranchised, but she re- 
 mained still in the palace, forming a part of 
 the household of Agrippina. Nero had never 
 felt any strong attachment for Octavia. His 
 marriage he had always regarded as merely 
 me of his mother's political manoeuvers, and 
 c e did not consider himself as really bound to 
 his wife by any tie. He was, besides, still 
 out a boy, though unusually precocious and 
 mature ; and he had always been accustomed 
 to the most unlimited indulgence of the pro- 
 pensities and passions of youth. 
 
 v 
 
A.D. 55.] Britannious. 149 
 
 Otho and Beneoio. Perplexity of Nero's ministers. 
 
 The young prince, as is usual in such cases, 
 was led on and encouraged in the vicious 
 course of life that he was now beginning tu 
 pursue, by certain dissolute companions whose 
 society he fell into about this time. There 
 were two young men in particular whose in- 
 fluence over him was of the worst character. 
 Their names were Otho and Senecio. Otho 
 was descended from a very distinguished 
 family, and his rank and social position in 
 Roman society were very high. Senecio, on 
 the other hand, was of a very humble extrac- 
 tion — his father being an emancipated slave. 
 The three young men were, however, nearly 
 of the same age, and being equally unprici- 
 pled and dissolute, they banded themselves to- 
 gether in the pursuit and enjoyment of vicious 
 indulgences. Nero made Otho and Senecio 
 his confidants in his connection with Acte 
 and it was in a great measure through theL 
 assistance and co-operation that he accom 
 plished his ends. 
 
 When Seneca and Burrus were informed of 
 Nero's attachment to Acte, and of the connec 
 tion which had been established between 
 them, they were at first much perplexed to 
 know what to do. They were men of strioi 
 10 
 
150 jNero. [A.D. 55. 
 
 They determine to connive at Nero's new connection. 
 
 moral principle themselves, and as Nero had 
 been their pnpil, and was still, while they 
 continued his ministers, in 6ome sense under 
 their charge, they thought it might be their 
 duty to remonstrate with him on the course 
 which he was pursuing, and endeavor to sep- 
 arate him from his vicious companions, and 
 bring him back, if possible, to his duty to 
 Octavia. But then, on the other hand, they 
 said to each other that any attempt on their 
 part really to control the ungovernable and 
 lawless propensities of such a soul as Nero's 
 must be utterly unavailing, and since he must 
 necessarily, as they thought, be expected to 
 addict himself to vicious indulgences in some 
 form, the connection with Acte might perhaps 
 be as little to be dreaded as any. On the 
 whole, they concluded not to interfere. 
 
 Not so, however, with Agrippina. When 
 she came to learn of this new attachment 
 which her son had formed, she was very much 
 disturbed and alarmed. Her distress, how- 
 ever, did not arise from any of those feelings 
 of solicitude which, as a mother, she migh 
 have been expected to feel for the mora, 
 purity of her boy, but from fears that, through 
 the influence and ascendency which such a 
 
AD. 55.] Beitanxicus. 151 
 
 Agrippina is greatly enraged. 
 
 favorite as Acte might acquire, she shculd 
 lose her own power. She knew very well 
 how absolute and complete the domination 
 of such a favorite sometimes became, and she 
 trembled at the danger which threatened her 
 of being supplanted by Acte, and thus losing 
 her control. 
 
 Agrippina was very violent and imperious 
 in her temper, and had long been accus- 
 tomed to rule those around her with a very 
 high hand ; and now, without properly con- 
 sidering that Nero had passed beyond the 
 age in which he could be treated as a mere 
 boy, she attacked him at once with the bit- 
 terest reproaches and invectives, and insisted 
 that his connection with Acte should be im- 
 mediately abandoned. Nero resisted her, 
 and stoutly refused to comply with her de- 
 mands. Agrippina was fired with indigna- 
 tion and rage. She filled the palace with her 
 complaints and criminations. She accused 
 Nero of the basest ingratitude toward her, 
 in repaying the long-continued and faithful 
 exertions and sacrifices which she had made 
 to promote his interests, by thus displacing 
 her from his confidence and regard, to make 
 room for this wretched favorite, and of false 
 
152 Nero. [A.D. 5J* 
 
 Her furious Invective*. She becomes calm again, 
 
 ness and faithlessness to Octavia, in a ban 
 doning her, his lawful wife, for the society 
 of an enfranchised slave. Agrippina was 
 extremely violent in these denunciations. She 
 scolded, she stormed, she raved — acting mani- 
 festly under the impulse of blind and uncon- 
 trollable passion. Her passion was obviously 
 blind, for the course to which it impelled her 
 was plainly very far from tending to accom 
 plish any object which she could be supposed 
 to have in view. 
 
 At length, when the first fury of her vexa- 
 tion and anger had spent itself, she began to 
 reflect, as people generally do when recover- 
 ing from a passion, that she was spending 
 her strength in working mischief to her own 
 cause. This reflection helped to promote the 
 subsiding of her anger. Her loud denuncia- 
 tions gradually died away, and were suc- 
 ceeded by mutterings and murmurings. At 
 length she became silent altogether, and after 
 an interval of reflection, she concluded no 
 longer to give way to her clamorous and use- 
 less anger, but calmly to consider what it was 
 best to do. 
 
 She soon determined that the wisest and 
 most politic plan after all, would be for he? 
 
A.D. 55.J Britannious. 153 
 
 Agripplna changes her policy. 
 
 to acquiesce in the fancy of her son, and en- 
 deavor to retain her ascendency over him by 
 aiding and countenancing him in his pleas- 
 iires. She accordingly changed by degrees 
 the tone which she had assumed toward him, 
 and began to address him in words of favor 
 and indulgence. She said that it was natural, 
 after all, at his time of life, to love, and that 
 bis superior rank and station entitled him to 
 some degree of immunity from the restric- 
 tions imposed upon ordinary men. Acte 
 was indeed a beautiful girl, and she was not 
 surprised, she said, that he had conceived an 
 affection for her. The indulgence of his love 
 was indeed attended with difficulty and dan- 
 ger, but, if he would submit the affair to her 
 care and management, she could take such 
 precautions that all would be well. She 
 apologized for the warmth with which she 
 had at first spoken, and attributed it to the 
 jealous and watchful interest which a mother 
 must always feel in all that relates to the 
 prosperity and happiness of her son. She 
 aaid, moreover, that she was now ready and 
 willing to enter into and promote his views, 
 and she offered him the use of certain private 
 apartments of her own in the palace, to meet 
 
154 Nero. [A.D. 55 
 
 Nero rejects his mother's advance*. Hla treatment of her. 
 
 Acte in, saying that, by such an arrangement, 
 anl with the precautions that she could use, 
 he could enjoy the society of his favorite 
 whenever he pleased, without interruption 
 and without danger. 
 
 Nero very naturally reported all this to his 
 companions. They of course advised him not 
 to believe any thing that his mother said, nor 
 to trust to her in any way. "It is all," said 
 they, " an artful device on her part to get you 
 into her power ; and no young man of pride 
 and spirit will submit to the disgrace of being 
 under his mother's management and control." 
 The young profligate listened to the counsels 
 of his associates, and rejected the overtures 
 which his mother had made him. He con- 
 tinued his attachment to Acte, but kept as 
 much as possible aloof from Agrippina. 
 
 He desired, however, if possible, to avoid 
 an open quarrel with his mother, and so he 
 made some effort to treat her with attention 
 and respect, in his general bearing toward 
 her, while he persisted in refusing to admit 
 her to his confidence in respect to Acte. 
 These general attentions were, however, by 
 no means sufficient to satisfy Agrippina. The 
 influence of Acte was what she feared, and 
 
A.D. 55.] Beitaxnicus. 155 
 
 He makes her a present of Jewelry. 
 
 she well knew that her own power was in 
 imminent danger of being nndermined and 
 overthrown, unless she could find some means 
 of bringing her son's connection with his fa- 
 vorite under her own control. Thus the calm 
 that seemed for a short time to reign between 
 Xero and his mother was an armistice rather 
 than a peace, and this armistice was brought 
 at length to a sudden termination by an act 
 of Keru's which he intended as an act of con- 
 ciliation and kindness, but which proved to be 
 in effect the means of awakening his mother's 
 anger anew, and of exciting her even to a 
 more violent exasperation than she had felt 
 before. 
 
 It seems that among the other treasures of 
 the imperial palace at Rome there was an 
 extensive wardrobe of very costly female 
 dresses and decorations, which was appropri- 
 ated to the use of the wives and mothers of 
 the emperors. Xero conceived the idea of 
 making a present to his mother, from this col- 
 lection. He accordimdv selected a macrmhV 
 cent dress, and a considerable quantity of 
 jewelry, and sent them to Agrippina. In- 
 stead of being gratified with this gift, how 
 ever, Agrippina received it as an affront 
 
156 
 
 Nero. 
 
 AgTippina is enraced. 
 
 [A.D. 55. 
 
 ' pPjplf 
 
 r~^ :z__: 
 
 The Jewelry. 
 
 She had been so long accustomed to consider 
 herself as the first personage in the imperial 
 household, that she regarded all such things 
 as rightfully her o-vra : and she consequently 
 looked upon the act of Nero in formally pre- 
 senting her with a small portion of these treas- 
 ures, as a simple impertinence, and as in- 
 tended to notify her that he considered all 
 that remained of the collection as his property, 
 and thenceforth as such subject to his exclu- 
 
A.D. 55.] BEiTAN^ricrs. 157 
 
 Nero resolve* to stibdae hi* molher. His pita. 
 
 sive control. Instead therefore of being ap- 
 peased by Xero's offering she was greatly 
 enraged by it. The angry invectives which 
 she uttered were duly reported to the empe- 
 ror, and his indignation and resentment were 
 aroused by them anew, and thus the breach 
 between the mother and the son became wider 
 than ever. 
 
 In fact Xero began to perceive very clearly 
 rhat if he intended to secure for himself any 
 thing more than the empty semblance of 
 power, he must at once do something effectual 
 to curb the domineering and ambitious spirit 
 of his mother. After revolving this subject 
 in his mind, he finally concluded that the 
 measure which promised to be must decisive 
 was to dismiss a certain public officer Darned 
 Pallas, who had been brought forward into 
 public life many years before by Agrippina, 
 and was now the chief instrument of her po- 
 litical power. Pallas was the public treasu 
 rer, and he had amassed such enormous 
 wealth by his management of the public 
 finances, that at one time when Claudius was 
 complaining of the impoverished condition 
 of his exchequer, some one replied that he 
 would soon be rich enough if he could out 
 
158 Keeo. [A.D. 55 
 
 Pallas dismissed. His withdrawal. 
 
 induce his treasurer to receive him into part 
 nership. 
 
 Pallas, as has already been said, had been 
 originally brought forward into public life by 
 the influence of Agrippina, and he had al- 
 ways been Agrippina's chief reliance in all 
 her political schemes. He had aided very 
 effectually in promoting her marriage with 
 Claudius ; and had co-operated with her in 
 all her subsequent measures ; and Nero con- 
 sidered him now as his mother's chief sup- 
 porter and ally. Nero resolved, accordingly, 
 to dismiss him from offipe ; and in order to 
 induce him to retire peaceably, it was agreed 
 that no inquiry or investigation should be 
 made into the state of his accounts, but every 
 thing should be considered as balanced and 
 settled. Pallas acceded to this proposal. 
 During the whole course of his official career, 
 he had lived in great magnificence and splen- 
 dor, and now in laying down his office, he 
 withdrew from the imperial palaces, at the 
 head of a long train of attendants, and with a 
 degree of pomp and parade which attracted 
 universal attention. The event was regarded 
 by the public as a declaration on the part of 
 Nero, that thenceforth he himself and not his 
 
A.D. 55.] Beitannicus. 159 
 
 Agrlppina's bitter reproaches. Her threat*. 
 
 mother was to rule ; and Agrippina, of course, 
 fell at once, many degrees, from the high 
 position which she had held in the public 
 estimation. 
 
 She was, of course, greatly enraged, and 
 though utterly helpless in respect to resist- 
 ance, she stormed about the palace, uttering 
 the loudest and most violent expressions of 
 resentment and anger. 
 
 During the continuance of this paroxysm 
 Agrippina bitterly reproached her son for 
 what she termed his cruel ingratitude. It 
 was altogether to her, she said, that he owed 
 his elevation. For a long course of years s^e 
 had been making ceaseless exertions, had sub- 
 mitted to the greatest sacrifices, and had even 
 committed the most atrocious crimes, to raise 
 him to the high position to which he had at- 
 tained ; and now, so soon as he bad attained 
 it, and had made himself sure, as he fancied, 
 of his foothold, his first act was to turn basely 
 and ungratefully against the hand that had 
 raised him. But notwithstanding his fancied 
 security, she would teach him, she said, that 
 her power was still to be feared. Britannicua 
 was still alive, and he was after all the right- 
 ful heir, and since her son had proved him- 
 
100 JSTeuo. [A.D. 55 
 
 Ptae declares that ehe will cause Nero to bs deposed. 
 
 Belf so unworthy of the efforts and sacrifices 
 that she had made for him, she would forth- 
 with take measures to restore to Britannicue 
 what she had so unjustly taken from him. 
 She would immediately divulge all the dread- 
 ful secrets which were connected with Nero's 
 elevation. She would make known the arts 
 by means of which her marriage with Clau- 
 dius had been effected, and the adoption of 
 Nero as Claudius's son and heir had been 
 secured. She would confess the murder of 
 Claudius, and the usurpation on her part of 
 the imperial power for Nero her son. Nero 
 would, in consequence, be deposed, and Bri- 
 tannicus would succeed him, and thus the base 
 ingratitude and treachery toward his mother 
 which Nero had displayed would be avenged. 
 This plan, she declared, she would immedi- 
 ately carry into effect. She would take Bri- 
 tannicus to the camp, and appeal to the army 
 in his name. Both Burrus and Seneca would 
 join h^r, and her undutiful and treacherous 
 son would be stripped forthwith of his ill- 
 gotten power. 
 
 These words of Agrippina were not, how- 
 ever, the expressions of 6ober purpose, really 
 and honestly entertained. They were the 
 
A..D. 55.] Bkitanniccs. 16] 
 
 Probable character and moaning of these threats. 
 
 wild and unthinking threats and denuncia- 
 tions which are prompted in such cases by 
 the frenzy of helpless and impotent rage. It 
 is not at all probable that she had any serious 
 intention of attempting such desperate meas- 
 ures as she threatened ; for if she had really 
 entertained such a design, she would have 
 carefully kept it secret while making her ar- 
 rangements for carrying it into execution. 
 
 Still these threats and denunciations, though 
 they were obviously prompted by a blind and 
 temporary rage, which it might be reasonably 
 supposed would soon subside, made a deep 
 impression upon Nero's mind. In the first 
 place, he was angry with his mother for dar- 
 ing to utter them. Then there was at least a 
 possibility that she might really undertake to 
 put them in execution, as no one could fore- 
 see what her desperate frenzy might lead 
 her to do. Then besides, even if Agrippina's 
 resentment were to subside, and she should 
 seem entirely to abandon all idea of ever exe- 
 cuting her threats, Nero was extremtJy an- 
 willing to remain thus in his mother's rower 
 — exposed continually to fresh outbreaks of 
 her hostility, whenever her anger or her ca- 
 price might arouse her again. The threats 
 15—11 
 
(62 Nero. [A.D. 55 
 
 The game of " who shall be king T" 
 
 which his mother uttered made him, there 
 f 3re, extremely restless and uneasy. 
 
 A circumstance occurred about this time 
 which, though very trifling in itself, had the 
 effect greatly to increase the jealousy and fear 
 in respect to Britannicus, which Nero was 
 inclined to feel. It seems that among the 
 pther amusements with which the company 
 were accustomed to entertain themselves in 
 the social gatherings that took p.ace, from 
 time to time, in the imperial palace, there was 
 a certain game which they used to play, 
 called, " Who shall be king ?" The game 
 consisted of choosing one of the party by lot 
 to be king, and then of requiring all the others 
 to obey the commands, whatever they might 
 be, which the king so chosen might issue. 
 Of course, the success of the game depended 
 upon the art and ingenuity of the king in 
 prescribing such things to be done by his 
 various subjects, as would most entertain and 
 amuse the company. What the forfeit or 
 penalty was, that the rules of the game re- 
 quired, in case of disobedience, is not stated ; 
 but every one was considered bound to obey 
 the commands that were laid upon him, — 
 
A..D. 55.1 Britannicus. 163 
 
 Nero's orders to Britannicog. 
 
 provided, of course, that the thing required 
 was within his power. 
 
 Nero himself, it appears, was accustomed 
 to jo'n in these sports, and one evening, when 
 a party were all playing it together in hia 
 palace, it fell to his lot to be king. When it 
 came to be the turn of Britannicus to receive 
 orders, Nero directed him to go out into the 
 middle of the room, and sing a song to the 
 company. This was a very severe require- 
 ment for one so young as Britannicus, and so 
 little accustomed to take an active part in the 
 festivities of so gay a company ; and the mo- 
 tive of Nero in making it, was supposed to be 
 a feeling of ill-will, and a desire to tease hia 
 brother, by placing him in an awkward and 
 embarrassing situation — one in which he would 
 be compelled either to interrupt the game by 
 refusing to obey the orders of the king, or to 
 expose himself to ridicule by making a fruit- 
 less attempt to sing a song. 
 
 To the surprise of all, however, Britannicus 
 rose from his seat without any apparent hesi- 
 tation or embarrassment, walked out upon the 
 floor, and took his position. The attention of 
 the whole company was fixed upon him. AD 
 sounds were hushed. 
 
164 Nero. [A J). 55 
 
 The song which BHtannlcus rung. 
 
 He began to sing. The song was a lament, 
 describing in plaintive words and in mournful 
 music, the situation and the sorrows of a young 
 prince, excluded wrongfully from the throne 
 of his ancestors.* The whole company lis- 
 tened with profound attention, charmed at fir6t 
 by the artless simplicity of the music, and the 
 grace and beauty of the boy. As Britannicus 
 proceeded in his song, and the meaning of it, 
 in its application to his own case, began to be 
 perceived, a universal sympathy for him was 
 felt, by the whole assembly, and when he con- 
 cluded and resumed his seat, the apartment 
 
 * By some it has been thought that the song which Britan 
 nicus sung on this occasiou was one which he had learned 
 before — one perhaps which he had accidentally seen or heard, 
 and vhich had attracted his attention on account of its adapt- 
 edness to hi? own case; and there is a song of Ennius, an an- 
 cient writer, which is sometimes cited as the one he sang od 
 this occasion. Others say that the performance wa9 original 
 and extemporaneous ; that the young prince, excited by hie 
 wrongs, and by the peculiar circumstances of the occasion, 
 jjave utterance to his own feelings in words which suggested 
 \hemselves to him on the spot. To do this would require, of 
 *jurse great intellectual readiness and ability, — but the dif- 
 ficult of such a pei formance would be somewhat diminished 
 by the fact, that the ancient poetry was wholly different 
 from that of modern times, being maiked only by a mea* 
 ared cadence, unconnected with rhvm« 
 
A..D. 55.] Bbitahhious. 
 
 165 
 
 Nerc resolves to reeon to poison. Pollio and LocmU. 
 
 was filled with suppressed murmurs cf ap- 
 plause. The effect of this scene upon the 
 mind of Nero, was of course only to awaken 
 feelings of vexation and anger. He looked 
 on in moody silence, uttering mentally the 
 fiercest threats and denunciations against the 
 object of his jealousy, whom he was nuw com- 
 pelled to look upon, more than ever before, aa 
 a dangerous and formidable rival. He de- 
 termined, in fact, that Britannicus should die. 
 In considering by what means he should 
 undertake to effect his purpose, it seemed to 
 Nero most prudent to employ poison. There 
 was no pretext whatever for any criminal 
 charge against the young prince, and Xero 
 did not dare to resort to open violence. He 
 determined, therefore, to resort to poison, and 
 to employ Locusta to prepare it. 
 
 Locusta, the reader will remember, was the 
 voman whom Agrippina had employed for 
 the murder of her husband. Claudius. She 
 was still in custody as a convict, being undei 
 sentence of death for her crimes. She was in 
 charge oi a certain captain named Pollio. an 
 otficer of the Praetorian guard. Nero ?ent for 
 Pollio, and directed him to procure from his 
 prisoner a prisonous potion suitable for the 
 11 
 
166 Nero. [AJD. 55 
 
 The plan at Orel fails. A second attempt. 
 
 purpose intended. The potion was prepared, 
 and soon afterward it was administered. At 
 least it was given to certain attendants that 
 were employed about the person of Britan- 
 nicus, with orders that they should administer 
 it. The expected effect, however, was not 
 produced. "Whether it was because the po- 
 tion which Locnsta had prepared was too 
 weak, or because it was not really adminis- 
 tered by those who received it in charge, no 
 result followed, and Nero was greatly enraged. 
 He sent for Pollio, and assailed him with re- 
 proaches and threats, and as for Locusta, he 
 declared that she should be immediately put 
 to death. They were both miserable cowards, 
 he said, who had not the firmness to do their 
 duty. Pollio, in reply, made the most earnest 
 protestations of his readiness to do whatever 
 his master should command. He assured 
 Nero that the failure of their attempt was 
 owing entirely to some accidental cause, and 
 that if he would give Locusta one more op- 
 portunity to make the trial, he would guaran 
 tee that she would prepare a mixture tna 
 would kill Britannicus as quick as a dagger 
 *x>uld do it. 
 Nero ordered that this should immediately 
 
A.D. 55.J Britannicus. 167 
 
 A Moood preparation. Mode of administering the poison. 
 
 be done. Locusta was sent for, and was shut 
 up with Pollio in an apartment adjoining that 
 of the emperor, with directions to make the 
 mixture there, and then to administer it forth- 
 with. Their lives were to depend upon the 
 result. The poison was soon prepared. There 
 was, however, a serious difficulty in the way 
 of administering it, since a potion so sudden 
 and violent in its character as this was intend- 
 ed to be, might be expected to take immediate 
 effect upon the taster, and so produce an alarm 
 which would prevent Britannicus from re- 
 ceiving it. To obviate this difficulty, Pollio 
 and Locusta cunningly contrived the follow- 
 ing plan. 
 
 They mixed the poison when it was prepar- 
 ed, with cold water, and put it in the pitcher 
 in which cold water was customarily kept in 
 the apartment where Britannicus was to take 
 his supper. When the time arrived Nero 
 himself came in and took his place upon a 
 couch which was standing in the room, with a 
 view of watching the proceedings. Some 
 bioth was brought in for the prince's supper. 
 The attendant whose duty it was, tasted it as 
 usual, and then passed it into tne prince's 
 hand. Britannicus tasted it, ana found it 
 
168 Nero. [A.D. 55 
 
 Britannicus dies. Agrippina's agitation and 'listree*. 
 
 too hot. It had been purposely made so. 
 He gave it back to the attendant to bo 
 cooled. The attendant took it to the pitcher, 
 and exiled it with the poisoned water, and 
 then gave it back again to Britannicus with- 
 out asking the taster to taste it again. Britan- 
 nicus drank the broth. In a few minutes the 
 fatal consequences ensued. The unhappy 
 victim sank suddenly down in a fainting lit. 
 His eyes became fixed, his limbs were par- 
 alyzed, his breathing was short and convul- 
 sive. The attendants rushed toward him to 
 render him assistance, but his life was fast 
 ebbing away, and before they could recover 
 from the shock which his sudden illness occa- 
 sioned them, they found that he had ceased 
 to breathe. 
 
 The event produced, of course, great excite- 
 ment and commotion throughout the palace. 
 Agrippina was immediately summoned, and 
 as she stood over the dying child she was 
 overwhelmed with terror and distress. Nero, 
 on the other hand, appeared wholly unmoved 
 M It is only one of his epileptic fits," said he. 
 u Britannicus has been accustomed to them 
 from infancy He will soon recover. ''' 
 
 As soon, however, as there was no longer 
 
A.D. 55.] Britanxicus. 169 
 
 Effect produced by ihe poison. Rftnody. 
 
 any room to question that Britamiicus was 
 dead, Xero began immediately to make prep- 
 arations for the burial of the body. The 
 remorse vhich, notwithstanding his depravity, 
 he could not but feel at having perpetrated 
 Buch a crime, made him impatient to remove 
 all traces and memorials of it from his sight ; 
 and, besides, he was afraid to wait the usual 
 period and then to make arrangements for a 
 public funeral, lest the truth in respect to 
 the death of Britannic us might be suspected 
 by the Romans, and a party be formed to re- 
 venge his wrongs. Any tendency of this 
 kind which might exist would be greatly 
 favored, he knew, by the excitement of a pub- 
 lic funeral. He determined, therefore, that 
 the body should be immediately buried. 
 
 There was another reason still for this dis- 
 patch. It seems that one of the effects of the 
 species of poison which Locusta had adminis 
 tered was that the body of the victim was 
 turned black by it soon after death. This dis- 
 coloration, in fact, began to appear in the lace 
 jf the corpse ot Britannicus before the time 
 toi the interment arrived ; and JN ero, in order 
 to guard against the exposure which this- 
 phenomenon threatened, ordered the face to 
 
170 Neko. [A.D. 55 
 
 The Interment of Britannicoa. The storm. 
 
 be painted of the natural color, by means of 
 cosmetics, such as the ladies of the court were 
 accustomed to use in those days. By doing this 
 the countenance of the dead was restored to 
 ite proper color, and afterward underwent no 
 further change. Still the emperor was natu- 
 rally impatient to have the body interred. 
 
 The preparations were accordingly made 
 that same evening, and in the middle of the 
 night the body of Britannicus was buried in 
 the Field of Mars, a vast parade-ground in 
 the precincts of the city. In addition to the 
 darkness of the night, a violent storm arose, 
 and the rain fell in torrents while the inter- 
 ment proceeded. Yery few, therefore, of the 
 people of the city knew what had occurred 
 until the following day. The violence of the 
 6torm, however, which promoted in one re- 
 spect the accomplishment of Nero's designs 
 by favoring the secrecy of the interment, in 
 another respect operated strongly against him 
 for the face of the corpse became so wet with 
 the fallen rain, that the cosmetic was washed 
 away and the blackened 6kin was brought to 
 view. The attendants who had the body in 
 charge learned thus that the boy had been 
 poisoned. 
 
A.D. 55.] Bbitannigus. 171 
 
 Nero's proclamation. 
 
 On the morning after the funeral the em- 
 peror issued a proclamation announcing the 
 death and burial of his brother, and calling 
 upon the Roman Senate and the Roman 
 people for their sympathy and support in the 
 bereavement which he had sustained. 
 
 At the time of his death Britannic us wat 
 fourteen years old. 
 
172 Nero. [A.D. 56 
 
 Situation of Agrippina. Her state of mind 
 
 Chapter Y 1 1 1. 
 The Fate of Agrippina. 
 
 FTOWEYER it may have been with others, 
 -"--*■ Agrippina herself was not deceived by 
 the false pretenses which Nero offered in ex- 
 planation of his brother's death. She under- 
 stood the case too well, and the event filled 
 her mind with a tumult of conflicting emo- 
 tions. Notwithstanding the terrible quarrels 
 which had disturbed her intercourse with the 
 emperor, he was still her son, — her first-born 
 son, — and she loved him as such, even in the 
 midst of the resentment and hostility which 
 her disappointed ambition from time to time 
 awakened in her mind. Her ambition was 
 now more bitterly disappointed than ever. 
 In the death of Britannicus the last link of 
 her power over Nero seemed to be forevei 
 sundered. The hand by which he had fallen 
 was still that of her son, — a son to whom she 
 could not but cling with maternal affection, 
 while she felt deeply wounded at what she 
 
A.D. 55.] Fate of Ageippisa. 173 
 
 Nero'i views In respect to big mother. 
 
 considered bis cruel ingratitude toward her, 
 and vexed and maddened at finding herself 
 so hopelessly circumvented in all her schemes. 
 
 As for Nero himself, he had no longer any 
 hope or expectation of being on good terms 
 with his mother again. He saw clearly that 
 her schemes and" plans were wholly incom- 
 patible with his, and that in order to secure 
 the prosperous accomplishment of his <>wn 
 designs he must now finish the work that he 
 had begun, and curtail and restrict his mo- 
 ther's influence by every means in his power. 
 Other persons he attempted to conciliate. 
 He made splendid presents to the leading 
 men of Borne, as bribes to prevent their insti- 
 tuting inquiries in respect to the death of 
 Britannicus. To some he gave landed es- 
 tates, to others sums of money, and others 
 still he advanced to high offices of civil or 
 military command. Those whom he most 
 feared he removed from Rome, by giving 
 them honorable and lucrative appointments in 
 distant provinces. 
 
 In the mean time Agrippina herself was 
 not idle. As soon as she recovered from the 
 first shock which the death of Britannicus had 
 occasioned her, she began to think oi revenge 
 
174 Nero. [A.D. 55. 
 
 Plans and measures adopted by Agrippina. 
 
 Within the limits and restrictions which the 
 suspicion and vigilance of Nero imposed upon 
 her, she formed a small circle of friends and 
 adherents, and sought out, diligently, though 
 secretly, all whom she supposed to be disaf- 
 fected to the government of Nero. She at 
 tached herself particularly to Octavia, who, 
 being the daughter of Claudius, succeeded 
 now, on the death of Britannictfs, to whatever 
 hereditary rights had been vested in him. 
 She collected money, so far as she had power 
 to do so, from all the resources which remain- 
 ed to her, and she availed herself of every 
 opportunity to cultivate the acquaintance, and 
 court the favor, of all such officers of the ar- 
 my as were accessible to her influence. In a 
 word, she seemed to be meditating some se- 
 cret scheme for retrieving her fallen fortunes, 
 — and Nero, who watched all her motions 
 with a jealous and suspicious eye, began to 
 be alarmed, not knowing to what desperate 
 extremes her resentment and ambition might 
 urge her. 
 
 Up to this time Agrippina had lived in the 
 Imperial palace with Nero, forming, with her 
 retinue, a part of his household, and sharing 
 of course, in some sense, the official honor* 
 
A.D. 55.] Fate or Agbippiica. 175 
 
 Sere establishes bis mother as ■ pnraie lady. 
 
 paid to him. Xero now concluded, however, 
 that he would remove her from this position 
 and give her a separate establishment of her 
 own, — making it correspond in its appoint- 
 ments with the secondary and subordinate 
 station to which he intended thenceforth to 
 confine her. He accordingly assigned to her 
 a certain mansion in the city which had for- 
 merly been occupied by some branch of the 
 imperial family, and removed her to it, with 
 all her attendants. He dismissed, however, 
 from her service, under various pretexts, such 
 officers and adherents as he supposed were 
 most devoted to her interests and most dis- 
 posed to join with her in plots and conspira- 
 cies against him. The places of those whom 
 he thus superseded were supplied by men on 
 whom he could rely for subserviency to him. 
 He diminished too the number of Agrippina's 
 attendants and guards ; he withdrew the sen- 
 tinels that had been accustomed to guard the 
 gate* of her apartments, and dismissed a cer- 
 tain corps of German soldiers that had hither- 
 to served under her cc inmand, as a sort of life- 
 guard. In a word he removed her from the 
 scenes of imperial pomp and splendor in 
 which she had been accustomed to move, and 
 
176 Neko. [A.D. 55 
 
 Agrippina finds herself forsaken and frJendleee. 
 
 established her instead in the position of a 
 private Roman lady. 
 
 The unhappy Agrippina soon found thai 
 diis change in her position made a great 
 change in respect to the degree of considera- 
 tion and regard which was bestowed upon her 
 by the public. The circle of her adherents 
 and friends was gradually diminished. Her 
 visitors were few. The emperor himself went 
 sometimes to see his mother, but he came al- 
 ways attended with a retinue, and after a 
 brief and formal interview, he retired as cer- 
 emoniously as he came, — thus giving to his 
 visit the character simply of a duty of state 
 etiquette. In a word, Agrippina found her- 
 self forsaken and friendless, and her mind 
 gradually sank into a condition of hopeless 
 despondency, vexation and chagrin. 
 
 Things continued in this state for some time 
 until at length one night when Nero had been 
 drinking and carousing at a banquet in his 
 palace, a well-known courtier named 1 'aris, 
 one of the principal of Nero's companions 
 and favorites, came into the apartment and 
 informed the emperor with a countenance ex- 
 pressive of great concern, that he had tidings 
 of the most serious moment to communicate 
 
A..JD. 55.J Fate of Agkippina. 177 
 
 A plot discovered. Statement of Paris. 
 
 to him. Nero withdrew from the scene of 
 festivity to receive the communication, and 
 was informed by Paris, that a discovery had 
 been made of a deep-laid and dangerous plot, 
 which Agrippina and certain accomplices of 
 hers had formed. The object of the conspir- 
 ators, as Paris alledged, was to depose Nero, 
 and raise a certain descendant of Augustus 
 Caesar, named Plautus, to the supreme com- 
 mand, in his stead. This revolution being 
 effected, Agrippina was to marry the new em- 
 peror, and thus be restored to her former 
 power. 
 
 The statement which Paris made was very 
 full in all its details. The names of the chief 
 conspirators were given, and all the plans ex- 
 plained. The chief witness on whose author- 
 ity the charge was made, was a celebrated 
 w^man of the court, an intimate acquaints 
 ance and visitor of Agrippina, named Silana. 
 Silana and Agrippina had been very warm 
 friends, but a terrible quarrel had recently 
 broken out between them, in consequence of 
 some interference on the part of Agrippina, 
 to prevent a marriage, which had been par- 
 tially arranged between Silana and a distin- 
 guished Roman citizen, from being carried 
 15—12 
 
178 Nero. [A.D. 55 
 
 Nero is greatly alarmed. A council called. 
 
 into effect. Silana had been exasperated by 
 this ill office, and the revelation which she 
 had made had been the result. Whether 
 uc: a conspiracy had really been formed, 
 and Silana had been induced to betray the 
 lecret in consequence of the injury which 
 Agrippina had inflicted upon her in prevent- 
 ing her marriage, or whether she wholly in- 
 vented the story under the impulse of a des- 
 perate revenge, was never fully known. The 
 historians of the time incline to the latter 
 opinion. 
 
 However this may be, Nero was greatly 
 alarmed at the communication which Paris 
 made to him. He immediately abandoned 
 his festivities and carousals, dismissed -lis 
 guests, and called a council of his most confi- 
 dential advisers, to consider what was to be 
 done. He stated the case to this council, and 
 announced it as his determination immedi- 
 ately to pronounce sentence of death upon his 
 mother and upon Plautus, and to send officers 
 at once to execute the decree, as the first step 
 to be taken. Burrus, however, strongly dis- 
 suaded him from so rash a proceeding. 
 " These are only charges," said he, " at pres- 
 ent. We have yet no proofs. An informer 
 
A.D. 55. Fate of Ageippixa. 
 
 Las come to yea at dead of night with this 
 wild and improbable story, and if we take it 
 for granted at once that it is true, and allow 
 ourselves to act under the influence of excite- 
 ment and alarm, we should afterward regret 
 :>ur rashness when the consequences could 
 not be retrieved. Besides, Agrippina is your 
 mother ; and as it is the right of the hum! 
 person in the commonwealth, when accused 
 of crime, to be heard in answer to the aecusa- 
 tion, it would be an atrocious crime to de- 
 prive the mother of the emperor of that privi- 
 lege. Postpone, therefore, pronouncing judg- 
 ment in this case until we can learn the : 
 more certainly. I pledge myself to execute 
 sentence of death on Agrippina, if after a fair 
 hearing, this charge is proved against her." 
 
 By such arguments and remonstrances as 
 these Xero was in some degree S] . and 
 
 it was determined to postpone taking any de- 
 cisive action in the emergency until the morn- 
 ing. As soon as it was day. Burros and 
 Seneca, accompanied by several attendants, 
 who were to act as witnesses of the interview, 
 were dispatched to the house of Agrippina to 
 lay the charge before her and to hear v 
 she had to sav 
 
180 Nero. [A.D. 56 
 
 AgTlppina'* Indignant answer to the charge, 
 
 Agrippina was at first somewhat astonished 
 at being summoned at so early an hour to 
 give audience to so formidable a commission ; 
 but her proud spirit had become so fierce and 
 desperate under the treatment which she had 
 received from her son, that she was very 
 slightly sensible to fear. She listened, there- 
 fore, to the heavy charge which Burrus 
 brought against her, undismayed ; and when 
 he paused to hear her reply, instead of excus- 
 ing and defending herself, and deprecating 
 the emperor's displeasure, she commenced 
 the most severe and angry invectives against 
 her son, for listening for a moment to calum 
 nies against her so wild and improbable. 
 That Silana, who was, as she said, a dissolute 
 and unprincipled woman, and who, conse- 
 quently, could have no idea of the strength 
 and the fidelity of maternal affection, should 
 think it possible that a mother could form 
 plots and cDnspiracies against an only son, 
 was not strange ; but that Nero himself, for 
 whom she had made such exertions and in- 
 curred such dangers, and to whose interests 
 she had surrendered and sacrificed every 
 thing that could be dear to the heart of a 
 woman — could believe such tales, and acto 
 
A.D. 56.] Fate of Agrippina. 181 
 
 Return of the commissioners to Nero. 
 
 ally conceive the design of murdering hia 
 mother on the faith of them, was not to be 
 endured. "Does not he know well," said 
 she, in a voice almost inarticulate with ex- 
 citement and indignation, "that, if by any 
 means, Britannicus, or Plautus, or any other 
 man were to be raised to power, my life would 
 be immediately forfeited in consequence cf 
 what I have already done for him ? Can he 
 imagine, after the deep and desperate crimes 
 which I have committed for his sake, in order 
 that I might raise him to his present power, 
 that I could seal my own destruction by 
 bringing forward any one of his rivals and 
 enemies to his place? Go back and tell him 
 this, and say, moreover, that I demand an 
 audience of him. I am his mother ; and I 
 have a right to expect that he shall see me 
 himself, and hear what I have to say." 
 
 The commissioners whom Nero had sent 
 with the accusations, were somewhat aston- 
 ished at receiving these angry denunciations 
 and invectives in reply, instead of the meet 
 and faltering defense which they had ex 
 pected. They were overawed, too, by the 
 lofty and passionate energy with wnich Agrip- 
 pina had spoken. They answered her witL 
 12 
 
182 Neko. lA.D. 56. 
 
 Nero is convinced of his mother's Innocence. 
 
 Boothing and conciliatory words, and then 
 went back to Xero, and reported the result of 
 their interview. 
 
 Nero consented to see his mother. In hia 
 presence she assumed the same tone of prcud 
 and injured innocence, that had character- 
 ized her interview with the messengers. She 
 scorned to enter into any vindication of her- 
 self ; but assumed that she was innocent, and 
 demanded that her accusers should be pun- 
 ished as persons guilty of the most atrocious 
 calumny. Nero was convinced of her inno- 
 cence, and yielded to her demands. Silana 
 and two others of her accusers, were banished 
 from Rome. Another still was punished with 
 death. 
 
 Thus a sort of temporary and imperfect 
 peace was once more established between 
 Nero and his mother. 
 
 This state of things continued for about the 
 space of three years. During this time, the 
 public affairs of the empire, as conducted by 
 the ministers of state and the military gene- 
 rals, to whom Xero intrusted them, went on 
 with tolerable prosperity and success, while 
 in every thing that related to personal conduct 
 and character, tr e condition of the emperor 
 
A.D. 59.] Fate of Aoeippina. 183 
 
 Nero's course of life. Riota in the street*. 
 
 was becoming every day more and more ie 
 plorable. He spent his days in sloth and 
 sensual stupor, and his nights in the wildest 
 riot and debauchery. He used to disguise 
 himself as a slave, and sally forth at mid 
 night with a party of his companions simi 
 larly attired, into the streets of the city, dis 
 turbing the night with riot and noise. Some- 
 times they would go out at an earlier hour, — 
 while the people were in the streets and the 
 shops were open, — and amuse themselves with 
 seizing the goods and merchandise that they 
 found offered for sale, and assaulting all that 
 came in their way. In these frolics, the em- 
 peror and his party were met sometimes by 
 other parties ; and in the brawls which ensued 
 Nero was frequently handled very roughly — 
 his opponents not knowing who he was. At 
 one time he was knocked down and very seri- 
 ously wounded ; and in consequence of this 
 adventure, his face was for a long time dis- 
 figured with a scar. 
 
 Although in these orgies Nero went gene- 
 rally in disguise, yet as he and his companions 
 were accustomed afterward to boast of their 
 erploits, it soon became generally known to 
 tha people of the city that their young emperor 
 
184 .Nero. [A.D. 59. 
 
 Agrippina lives In seclusion. 
 
 was in the habit of mingling in these midnight 
 brawls. Of course every wild and dissolute 
 young man in Rome was fired with an ambi- 
 tion to imitate the example set him by so 
 exalted an authority. Midnight riots became 
 the fashion. As the parties grew larger, the 
 brawls which occurred in the streets became 
 more and more serious, until at last Nero was 
 accustomed to take with him a gang of sol- 
 diers and gladiators in disguise, who were in- 
 structed to follow him within call, so as to be 
 ready to come up instantly to his aid when- 
 ever he should require their assistance. 
 
 Year after year passed away in this man 
 ner, Nero abandoning himself all the time 
 to the grossest sensual pleasures, and growing 
 more and more reckless and desperate every 
 day. His mother lived during this period in 
 comparative seclusion. She attempted to ex- 
 ercise some little restraint over her son, but 
 without success. She attached herself strongly 
 to Octavia, the wife of Nero, and would have 
 defended her, if she could, from the injuries 
 and wrongs which the conduct of Nero as a 
 husband heaped up<">n her. 
 
 At length the young emperor, in following 
 his round of vicious indulgence, formed an 
 
A.D. 59.] Fate op Agrippina 185 
 
 PoppaBa. Her influence over Nero. 
 
 intimacy with a certain lady of the court 
 named PoppEea, the wife of Otho, one of 
 Nero's companions in pleasure. Nero sent 
 Otho away on some distant appointment, in 
 order that he might enjoy the society of 
 Poppa^a without restraint. At length Poppaea 
 gained so great an ascendency over the mind 
 of the emperor as to seduce him entirely away 
 from his duty to his wife, and she proposed 
 that they should both be divorced and then 
 marry one another. Nero was inclined to ac 
 cede to this proposal, but Agrippina strongly 
 opposed it. For a time Nero hesitated be- 
 tween the influence of Agrippina and the 
 sentiment of duty, on the one hand, and the 
 enticements of Poppsea on the other. In ad- 
 dition to the influence of her blandishments 
 and smiles, she attempted to act upon Nero's 
 boyish pride by taunting him with what 3he 
 called his degrading and unmanly subjection 
 to his mother. How long, she asked, was he 
 to remain like a child under maternal tute- 
 lage ? She wondered how ne could endure 
 90 ignoble a bondage. He was in name and 
 position, she said, a mighty monarch, reign- 
 ing absolutely over half the world, — but in 
 actual fact he was a mere nursery boy, who 
 
186 Nero. [A.D. 59 
 
 Her taunts and reproaches Effect of them on Nero's mind. 
 
 could do nothing without his mother's leave. 
 She was ashamed, she said, to see him in 
 so humiliating a condition ; and unless he 
 would take some vigorous measures to free 
 himself from his chains, she declared that she 
 would leave him forever, and go with her 
 husband to some distant quarter of the world 
 where she could no longer be a witness of his 
 disgrace. 
 
 The effect of these taunts upon the mind of 
 Nero was very much heightened b y the proud 
 and imperious spirit which his mother mani- 
 fested toward him, and which seemed to be- 
 come more and more stern and severe, through 
 the growing desperation which the conduct 
 of her son and her own hopeless condition 
 seemed to awaken in her mind. The quarrel, 
 in a word, between the emperor and his 
 mother grew more and more inveterate and 
 hopeless every day. At length he shunned 
 her entirely, and finally, every remaining 
 spark of filial duty having become extin- 
 guished, he began to meditate some secret 
 plan of removing her out of his way. 
 
 He revolved various projects for accom- 
 plishing this purpose, in his mind. He did 
 not dare to employ open violence, as he had 
 
A.D 60.] Fate of Agbippina. 187 
 
 Nero begins to desire the death of hi* mother. 
 
 no charge against his mother to justify a 
 criminal sentence against her ; and he dreaded 
 the effect upon the public mind which would 
 be produced by the spectacle of so unnatural 
 a deed as the execution of a mother by com- 
 mand of her son. He could not trust to poi- 
 son. Agrippina was perfectly familiar with 
 every thing relating to the poisoning art, and 
 would doubtless be fully on her guard against 
 any attempt of that kind that he might make. 
 Besides, he supposed, that by means of cer- 
 tain antidotes which she was accustomed to 
 use, her system was permanently fortified 
 against the action of every species of poison. 
 
 While Nero was revolving these things in 
 his mind, the occasion occurred for a great 
 naval celebration at Baiae, a beautiful bay 
 south of Rome, near what is now the bay of 
 Naples. Baise was celebrated in ancient 
 times, as it is in fact now, for the beauty of 
 its situation, and it was a place of great resort 
 for the Roman nobility. There was a small, 
 but well-built town at the head of the bay, 
 and the hills and valleys in the vicinity, as 
 well as every headland and promontory along 
 the shore, were ornamented with villas and 
 country-seats, which were occupied as summej 
 
188 Nero. [A.D. 60 
 
 Anioetug. Great naval celebration at Misenom. 
 
 residences by the wealthy people of the city. 
 Baiae was also a great naval station, and there 
 was at this time a fleet stationed there, — 01 
 rather at the promontory of Misenum, a few 
 adles beyond, — under the command of one oi 
 Nero's confidential servants, named Anicetus. 
 The naval celebration was to take place in 
 connection with this fleet. It was an annual 
 festival, and was to continue five days. 
 
 Anicetus had been a personal attendant 
 upon Nero in his infancy, and had lived al- 
 ways in habits of great intimacy with him. 
 For some reason or other, too, he was a great 
 enemy to Agrippina, having been always ac- 
 customed, when Nero was a child, to take his 
 part in the little contests which had arisen, 
 from time to time, between him and his 
 mother. Anicetus was of course prepared to 
 sympathize very readily with Nero in the 
 hatred which he now cherished toward Agrip- 
 pina, and when he learned that Nero was de- 
 sirous of devising some means of accomplish- 
 ing her death, he formed a plan which he 
 said would effect the purpose very 6afcly. 
 He proposed to invite Agrippina to Baiae, and 
 then, in the course of the ceremonies and 
 manoeuvers connected with the naval spec- 
 
A.D. 60.] Fate of Ageippina. 189 
 
 Proposal of Anicfttus. Nero is pleased wlih tt. 
 
 tacle, to take her out upon the bay in a barge 
 or galley. He would have the barge so con- 
 structed, he said, that it should go to pieces 
 at sea, making arrangements beforehand for 
 saving the lives of the others, but leaving 
 Agrippina to be drowned. 
 
 Nero was greatly pleased with this device, 
 and determined at once to adopt the plan. In 
 order to open the way for carrying it into ef- 
 fect, he pretended, when the time for the fes- 
 tival drew nigh, that he desired to be recon- 
 ciled to his mother, and that he was ready 
 now to fall in with her wishes and plans. He 
 begged her to forget all his past unkindness 
 to her, and assuring her that his feelings to- 
 ward her were now wholly changed, he lav- 
 ished upon her expressions of the tenderest 
 regard. A mother is always very easily de- 
 ceived by such protestations on the part of a 
 wayward son, and Agrippina believed all that 
 Nero said to her. In a word, the reconciliation 
 seemed to be complete. 
 
 At length, when the time for the naval fes- 
 tival drew nigh, Xero, who was then at Baiae, 
 sent an invitation to his mother to come and 
 join him in witnessing the spectacle. Agrip- 
 pina readily consented to accept the invita 
 
190 Neko, [A.D. 60. 
 
 Arrangements for carrying it Into effect. 
 
 tMH, She was at this time at Antium, the 
 place, it will be recollected, where Nero was 
 bora. She accordingly set sail from this place 
 in her own galley, and proceeded to the 
 southward. She landed at one of the villas 
 in the neighborhood of Baiae. Nero was ready 
 upon the shore to meet her. He received he* 
 with every demonstration of respect and af- 
 fection. He had provided quarters for her at 
 Baise, and there was a splendid barge ready 
 to convey her thither ; the plan being that 
 she should embark on board this barge, and 
 leave her own galley, — that is the one by 
 which she had come in from sea, — at anchor 
 at the villa where she landed. The barge in 
 which Agrippina was thus invited to embark, 
 was the treacherous trap that Anicetus had 
 contrived for her destruction. It was, how- 
 ever, to all appearance, a very splendid ves- 
 sel, being very richly and beautifully deco- 
 rated, as if expressly intended to do honor to 
 the distinguished passenger whom it was d& 
 signed to convey. 
 
 Agrippina, however, did not seem inclined 
 to go in the barge. She preferred proceeding 
 to Baise by land. Perhaps, notwithstanding 
 Nero's apparent friendliness she felt stiU 
 
4J3. 60.] Fate of Agkippina. 191 
 
 Agrippina goes to Bail 
 
 some misgivings, and was afraid to trust her- 
 self entirely to bis power, — or perhaps she 
 preferred to finish her journey by land only 
 Ltecause, in making the passage from Antium, 
 she had become tired of the sea. Ili>wever 
 this may have been, Nero acquiesced at once 
 in her decision, and provided a sort of sedan 
 for conveying her to Baiae by land. In this 
 sedan she was carried accordingly, by bearers 
 to Baiae, and there lodged in the apartments 
 provided for her. 
 
 No favorable opportunity occurred for 
 taking Agrippina out upon the water until 
 the time arrived for her return to Antinm. 
 During the time of her stay at Baiae. Nero 
 devoted himself to her with the must assid- 
 uous attention. He prepared magnificent 
 banquets for her, and entertained her with a 
 great variety of amusements and diversions. 
 In his conversation he sometimes addressed 
 her with a familiar playfulness and gayety, 
 and at other times he sought occasions to dis- 
 course with her seriously on public affairs, in 
 a private and confidential manner. Agrip- 
 pina was completely deceived by these indi- 
 cations, and ner heart was filled with pride 
 
iy2 K ero. [AD. 60, 
 
 Preparations for destroying Agrippina. 
 
 and joy at the thought that she had regained 
 the affection and confidence of her son. 
 
 Nero and Anieetus determined finally U. 
 put their plan into execution by inducing 
 Ag rippina to embark on board their barge in 
 returning to Antium, when the time should 
 arrive, instead <>i' going back in her own ves- 
 sel. Their other attempts to induce her to gc 
 out upon the water had failed, and this was 
 the only opportunity that now remained. It 
 was desirable that this embarkation should 
 take place in the night, as the deed which 
 they were conteinj dating could be more effec- 
 tually accomplished under the cover of the 
 darkness. Accordingly, on the afternoon of 
 the day on which Agrippina was to return, 
 Nero prepared a banquet for her, and he pro- 
 tracted the festivities and entertainments 
 which attended it until late in the evening, so 
 that it was wholly dark before his mother 
 could take her leave. Anieetus then contriv- 
 ed to have one of the vessels of his fleet 
 run against the galley in which Agrippina 
 had come from Antium, as it lay at anchor 
 near the shore at the place where she had 
 landed. The galley was broken down and 
 disabled by the collision. Anieetus fame to 
 
A D. 60.] Fate of Agrippina. 193 
 
 Nero bids his mother an affectionate farewell. 
 
 Agrippina to report the accident, with a coun- 
 tenance expressive of much concern ; but 
 added that the barge which the emperor had 
 prepared for her was at her service, and pro- 
 posed to substitute that in the place of the 
 one which had been injured. There seemed 
 to be no other alternative, and Agrippina, 
 after taking a very affectionate leave of her 
 son, went gaylv, and wholly unconscious of 
 danger, on board the beautiful but treacher- 
 ous vessel. 
 
 It was observed that Nero exhibited an ex- 
 treme degree of tender regard for his mother 
 in bidding her farewell on this occasion. He 
 hung upon her neck a long time, and kissed 
 her again and again, detaining her by these 
 endearments on the shore, as if reluctant to 
 let her go. After Agrippina's death this 
 scene was remembered by those who witness- 
 ed it, but in reflecting upon it they could not 
 decide whether these tokens of affection were 
 all assumed, as belonging to the part which 
 !ae was so hypocritically acting, or whether he 
 really felt at the last moment some filial re 
 lentings, which led him to detain his mother 
 for a time on the brink of the pit which he 
 had been preparing for her destruction. From 
 15—13 
 
194 Nero. [A J). 60 
 
 Agrippina and her attendant on board the barge. 
 
 all, however, that we now know in respect to 
 the personal character which Nero had formed 
 at this period, it is probable that the former 
 is the correct supposition. 
 
 The plot, dextrous as the contrivance of it 
 had been, was not destined to succeed. The 
 vessel moved gently from the shore, rowed by 
 the mariners. It was a clear starlight night. 
 The sea was smooth, and the air was calm 
 Agrippina took her place upon a couch which 
 had been arranged for her, under a sort of 
 canopy or awning, the frame-work of which, 
 above, had been secretly loaded with lead. 
 She was attended here by one of her ladies 
 named Aceronia Polla, who lay at her mis- 
 tress's feet, and entertained her with conver- 
 sation as the boat glided along on its way. 
 They talked of Nero — of the kind attentions 
 which he had been paying to Agrippina, and 
 of the various advantages which were to fol- 
 low from the reconciliation which had been 
 so happily effected. In this manner the hours 
 passed away, and the barge went on until it 
 reached the place which had been determined 
 upon for breaking it down and casting Agrip 
 pina into the sea. The spot which had been 
 chosen was so near the land as to allow of the 
 
A.D. 60.] Fate of Ageippina. 195 
 
 The result of \h( attempt. Narrow escape erf Agrippina. 
 
 escape of the mariners by swimming, but ret 
 remote enough, as was supposed, to make 
 Agrippina's destruction sure. A few of the 
 mariners were in the secret, and were in some 
 degree prepared for what was to come. Others 
 knew nothing, and were expected to save 
 themselves as they best could, when they 
 should find themselves cast into the sea. 
 
 At a given signal the fastenings of the can- 
 opy were loosened, and the loaded struc- 
 ture came down suddenly with a heavy crash, 
 carrying away with it other parts of the vessel. 
 One man was crashed under the weight of the 
 falling rains, and instantly killed. Agrippina 
 and the lady in waiting upon her were saved 
 by the posts of the bed or couch on which 
 Agrippina was reclining, which happened to 
 be in such a position that they held up the im- 
 pending mass sufficiently to allow the ladies 
 to creep out from beneath it. The breaking 
 down, too, of the deck and bulwarks of the 
 bargre was less extensive than had been in- 
 tended, so that Agrippina not only escaped 
 Deing crushed by the ruins but she also saved 
 herself at first from being thrown into the sea. 
 The men then who were in the secret of the 
 plot immediately raised a great cry and cob- 
 
196 Nero. [A.D. 6C 
 
 Agrippina and Aceronia in the sea. 
 
 fusion, and attempted to upset the barge by 
 climbing up upon one side of it — while the 
 others, who did not understand the case, did 
 all the j could to save it. In the mean time 
 the noise of the outcries reached the shore, 
 aiad fishermen's boats began to put off with a 
 view of coming to the rescue of the distressed 
 vessel. Before they arrived, however, the 
 boat had been overturned, Agrippina and 
 Aceronia had been thrown into the sea, and 
 the men who were in the secret of the plot, 
 taking advantage of the darkness and con- 
 fusion, were endeavoring tu seal the fate of 
 their victims, b} r beating them down with 
 poles and oars as they struggled in the water. 
 These efforts succeeded in the case of Ace- 
 ronia, for she uttered loud and continual out- 
 cries in her terror, and thus drew upon her- 
 self the blows of the assassins. Agrippina, 
 on the other hand, had the presence of mind 
 to keep silence. She received one heavy blow 
 upon the shoulder, which inflicted a serious 
 v>und. In other respects she escaped unin- 
 jured, and succeeded, partly through the 
 buoyancy of her dress, and partly by the ef 
 foi'ts that she made to swm, in keeping her 
 self ati";it until she was taken up by the fish 
 

 ? ft 
 
A.D. 60.] Fate of Ageippina, 19S 
 
 Agrippina escapes. Her message to Nero 
 
 ermen and conveyed to the shore. She waa 
 taken to a villa belonging to her, which was 
 situated not far from the place where the dis- 
 aster had occurred. 
 
 As soon as Agrippina had recovered a little 
 from the terror and excitement of this scene, 
 and had time to reflect upon the circum- 
 stances of it, she was convinced that what had 
 occurred was no accident, but the result of a 
 deep-laid design to destroy her life. She, 
 however, thought it most prudent to dissem- 
 ble her opinion for a time. As soon therefore 
 as she had safely reached her villa, and her 
 wound had been dressed, she dispatched a 
 messenger to Baise to inform Nero of what 
 had occurred. The vessel in which she had 
 embarked had been wrecked at sea, she said, 
 and she had narrowly escaped destruction. 
 She had received a severe hurt, by some fall- 
 ing spar, but had at length safely reached her 
 aome at Antium. She begged, however, that 
 her son would not come to see her, as what 
 she needed most was repose. She had sent 
 the messenger, she said, to inform him of 
 what had occurred only that he might rejoice 
 with her in the signal interposition of divine 
 
200 Nero. [A.D. 60 
 
 Nero's alarm on bearing of his mother's escape, 
 
 providence by which she had been rescued 
 from so imminent a danger. 
 
 In the mean time Nero was waiting impa 
 tientiv and anxiously in his palace at Baiae. 
 for the arrival of a messenger from Anicetus 
 to inform him that his plot had been success 
 ful, and that his mother was drowned. Instead 
 of this a rumor of her escape reached him 
 some time before Agrippina's messenger ar- 
 rived, and threw him into consternation. 
 People came from the coast and informed 
 him that the barge in which his mother had 
 sailed had been wrecked, and that Agrippina 
 had narrowly escaped with her life. The par- 
 ticulars were not fully given to him, but he 
 presumed that Agrippina must have learned 
 that the occurrence was the result of a delib- 
 erate attempt to destroy her, and he was ccn 
 sequently very much alarmed. He dreaded 
 the desperate spirit of resentment and revenge 
 which he presumed had been aroused in hie 
 mother's mind. 
 
 He forthwith sent for Burrus and Seneca 
 and revealed to them all the circumstances 
 of the case. He made the most bitter accu 
 6ations against his mother, in justification of 
 hiK attempt to destroy her. He had long beerj 
 
A.D. 60.] Fate of Aorippina. 201 
 
 Consultation with Seneca and Burrua. 
 
 convinced, he said, that there could be no 
 peace or safety for him as long as she lived, 
 and now, at all events, since he had under- 
 taken the work of destroying her and made 
 the attempt, no alternative was left to him but 
 to go on and finish what lie had begun. " She 
 must die now," said he, " or she will most as- 
 suredly contrive some means to destroy me." 
 Seneca and Burrus were silent. They 
 knew not what to say. They saw very clearly 
 that a crisis had arrived, the end of which 
 would be, that one or the other must perish, 
 and consequently the only question for them 
 to decide was, whether the victim should be 
 the mother or the son. At length, after a 
 long and solemn pause, Seneca looked to 
 Burrus, and inquired whether the soldiers 
 under his command could be relied upon 
 to execute death upon Agrippina. Burrus 
 shook his head. The soldiers, he said, felt 
 such a veneration for the family of German! - 
 cus, which was the family from which Agrip- 
 pina had sprung, that they would perform no 
 such bloody work upon any representative ol 
 it. " Besides," said he, " Anicetus has un- 
 dertaken this duty. It devolves on him tc 
 finish what he has begun." 
 
202 "Nero. [A.D. 60 
 
 Anicetus undertakes to finish his work. 
 
 Anicetus readily undertook the task. He 
 had, in fact, a personal interest in it; for, 
 after what had passed, he knew well that 
 thera could be no safety for him while Agrip 
 pina lived. Nero seemed overjoyed at find- 
 ing Anicetus so ready to meet his wishes, 
 " Be prompt," said he, " in doing what you 
 have to do. Take with you whom you please 
 to assist you. If you accomplish the work, I 
 shall consider that I owe my empire to your 
 fidelity." 
 
 Anicetus, having thus received his commis- 
 sion, ordered a small detachment from the 
 fleet to accompany him, and proceeded to the 
 villa where Agrippina had taken refuge. He 
 found a crowd of country people assembled 
 around the gates of the villa. They had 
 been drawn thither by the tidings of the dis- 
 aster which had happened to Agrippina, ca- 
 rious to learn all the particulars of the occur- 
 rence, or desirous, perhaps, to congratulate 
 Agrippina on her escape. When these peas- 
 antry saw the armed band of Anicetus ap- 
 proaching, they know not what it meant, 
 but were greatly alarmed, and fled in all 
 directions. 
 
 The guards at the gates of Agrippina's 
 
A.D. 60.] Fate of Ageippina. 203 
 
 Anlcetnj goes to Agrippina's villa. 
 
 villa made some resistance to the entrance oi 
 the soldiers, but they were soon knocked 
 down and overpowered ; the gates were burs 4 
 open, and Anicetus entered at the head of 
 his party of marines. Agrippina, who was 
 upon her bed in an inner chamber at the time, 
 heard the noise and tumult, and was greatly 
 alarmed. A number of friends who were 
 with her, hearing the footsteps of the armed 
 men on the stairs, fled from the chamber in 
 dismay, by a private door, leaving Agrippina 
 alone with her maid. The maid, after a mo- 
 ment's pause, fled too, Agrippina saying to 
 her as she disappeared, " Are you, too, going 
 to forsake me V At the same moment, Ani- 
 cetus forced open the door of entrance, and 
 came in accompanied by two of his officers. 
 The three armed men, with an expression of 
 fierce and relentless determination upon their 
 countenances, advanced to Agrippina's bed 
 side. 
 
 Agrippina was greatly terrified, but she 
 preserved some degree of outward composure, 
 and raising herself in her bed, she looked 
 Bteadily upon her assassins. 
 
 M Do you come from my son '?" said she. 
 
 They did not answer. 
 
204 Nero. [A.D. 60 
 
 Conversation. Agrippina Is murdered. 
 
 " If you came to inquire how I am," said 
 
 she, " tell him that I am better, and shall 
 
 oon be entirely well. I can not believe that 
 
 e can possibly have sent you to do me any 
 
 violence or harm." 
 
 At this instant one of the assassins struct 
 at the wretched mother with his club. The 
 arm, however, of the most hardened and un- 
 relenting monster, usually falters somewhat 
 at the beginning, in doing such work as this, 
 and the blow gave Agrippina only an incon- 
 siderable wound. She saw at once, however, 
 that all was lost — that the bitter moment ot 
 death had come, — but instead of yielding to 
 the emotions of terror and despair which 
 might have been expected to overwhelm the 
 heart of a woman in such a scene, her fierce 
 and indomitable spirit aroused itself to new 
 life and vigor in the terrible emergency. 
 As the assassins approached her with their 
 swords brandished in the air, preparing to 
 strike her, she threw the bed-clothes oft", so 
 as to uncover her person, and called upon bei 
 murderers to strike her in the womb. "Jl is 
 there," said she, " that the stab should be 
 given when a mother is to be murdered by 
 her son." She was instantly thrust through 
 
A.D. 60.] Fate of Ageippisa. 205 
 
 Nero to OTerwhelmed with remorse and horror. 
 
 with a multitude of wounds in every part of 
 her body, and died weltering in the blood 
 that flowed out upon the couch on which she 
 •ay, 
 
 Anicetus and his comrades, when the deed 
 was done, gazed for a moment on the lifeless 
 bodv, and then gathering together again the 
 soldiers that they had left at the gates, they 
 went back to Baise with the tidings. The first 
 emotion which Kero experienced, on hearing 
 that all was over, was that of relief. He soon 
 found, however, that monster as he was. his 
 conscience was not yet so stupefied, that he 
 could perpetrate such a deed as this without 
 bringiug out her scourge. As soon as he be- 
 gan to reflect upon what he had done, his 
 s«>ul was overwhelmed with remorse and 
 horror. He passed the remainder of the night 
 in dreadful agony, sometimes sitting silent 
 and motionless — gazing into vacancv, as if 
 his faculties were bewildered and lost, and 
 then suddenly starting up, amazed and trem- 
 bling, and staring wildly about, as if seized 
 with a sudden frenzy. His wild and ghastly 
 looks, his convulsive gesticulations, and his 
 incoherent ravings and groans, indicated the 
 uorror that he endured, and were so frightful 
 
♦ 
 206 Neeo. [A.B. 60. 
 
 He becomes more calm. The dead body. 
 
 that his officers and attendants shrunk away 
 from his presence, and knew not what to do. 
 
 At length they sent in one after another to 
 attempt to calm and console him. Their ef- 
 forts, however, were attended with little suc- 
 cess. "When the morning came, it brought 
 with' it some degree of composure ; but the 
 dreadful burden of guilt which pressed upon 
 Nero's mind made him still unutterably 
 wretched. He said that he could not endure 
 any longer to remain on the spot, as every 
 thing that he saw, the villas, the ships, the 
 eea, the shore, and all the other objects around 
 him, were so associated in his mind with the 
 thought of his mother, and with the remem- 
 brance of his dreadful crime, that he could 
 not endure them. 
 
 In the mean time, as soon as the servants 
 and attendants at Agrippina's villa found 
 that Anicetus and his troop had gone, they 
 returned to tne chamber of their mistress and 
 gazed upon the spectacle which awaited them 
 there, with inexpressible horror. Anicetus 
 had left some of his men behind to attend to 
 the disposal of the body, as it was important 
 that it should be removed from sight without 
 delay, since it might be expected that al] 
 
A.D. 60.] Fate of Agkippina. 207 
 
 Burning of the body of Agrippina. 
 
 who should look upon it would be excited to a 
 high pitch of indignation against the perpe- 
 trators of such a crime. The countenance, in 
 the condition of repose which it assumed 
 after death, appeared extremely beautifu-, 
 and seemed to address a mute but touching 
 appeal to the commiseration of every be- 
 holder. It was necessary, therefore, to hurry 
 it away. Besides, the soldiers themselves 
 were impatient. They wished to get through 
 with their horrid work and be gone. 
 
 They accordingly built a funeral pile in the 
 garden of the villa, — using such materials for 
 the purpose as came most readily to hand — 
 and then took up the body of Agrippina on 
 the bed upon which it lay, and placed all to- 
 gether upon the pile. The fires were lighted. 
 The soldiers watched by the side of it until 
 the pile was nearly consumed, and then went 
 away, leaving the heart-broken domestics of 
 Aerippina around the smoldering embers. 
 
208 Nebo. [A.D. 
 
 The atrocity of Nero's crime In murdering Agrlpplna. 
 
 Chapteb IX. 
 
 Extreme Depravity. 
 
 npHERE was nothing in the attendant cir 
 -*- cumstances that were connected with the 
 act of Nero in murdering his mother, which 
 could palliate or extenuate the deed in the 
 slightest degree. It was not an act of self- 
 defense. Agrippina was not doing him, or 
 intending to do him any injury. It was not 
 an act of hasty violence, prompted by sudden 
 passion. It was not required by any political 
 aecessity as a means for accomplishing some 
 great and desirable public end. It was a cool, 
 deliberate, and well-considered crime, per- 
 formed solely for the purpose of removing 
 from the path of the perpetrator of it an ob- 
 stacle to the commission of another crime. 
 Nero murdered his mother in cool blood, sim- 
 ply because she was in the way of his plans 
 for divorcing his innocent wife, and marrying 
 adulterously another woman. 
 
 For some time after the commission of this 
 
A.D. 62.] Extbeme Depravity. 209 
 
 Nero's messages to the senate. Action of the senate. 
 
 great crime, the mind of Nero was haunted 
 by dreadful fears, and he suffered continually, 
 by day and by night, all the pangs of remorse 
 and horror. He did not dare to return to 
 Rome, not knowing to what height the popu 
 lar indignation, that would be naturally ex 
 cited by so atrocious a deed, might rise ; or 
 what might be the consequences to him if he 
 were to appear in the city. He accordingly 
 •emained for a time on the coast at Neapolis. 
 she town to which he had retired from Baiae. 
 From this place he sent various communica- 
 tions to the Roman Senate, explaining and 
 justifying what he called the execution of his 
 mother. He pretended that he had found her 
 guilty of treasonable conspiracies against him 
 and against the state, and that her death had 
 been imperiously demanded, as the only 
 means of securing the public safety. The 
 senators hated Nero and abhorred his crimes ; 
 but they were overawed by the terrible power 
 which he exercised over them through the 
 army, which they knew was entirely subser- 
 vient to his will, and by their dread of his 
 ruthless and desperate character. They pass- 
 ed resolves approving of what he had done. 
 His officers and favorites at Ron e sent him 
 15—14 
 
210 Nero. [A.D. 62. 
 
 Nero divorces Octavia and marries Popptsa. 
 
 word that the memory of Agrippina was ab- 
 horred at the capital, and that in destroying 
 ner, he was considered as having rendered a 
 great service to the state. These representa- 
 tions in some measure reassured his mind, and 
 at length he returned to the city. 
 
 In due time he divorced Octavia, and mar- 
 ried Poppasa. Octavia, however, still remain- 
 ed at Rome, residing in apartments assigned 
 her in one of the imperial palaces. Her high 
 birth and distinguished position, and, more 
 than all, the sympathy that was felt for her 
 in her misfortunes, made her an object of 
 great attention. The people put garlands 
 upon her statues in the public places in the 
 city, and pulled down those which were placed 
 at Xero's command upon those of Poppaea. 
 These and other indications of the popular 
 feeling, inflamed Poppaea's hatred and jeal- 
 ousy to such a degree, that she suborned one 
 of Octavia's domestics to accuse her mistress 
 of an ignominious crime. When tiros accused, 
 3ther women in Octavia's service were put to 
 the rack to compel them to testify against her 
 They, however, persevered, in the midst of 
 their tortures, in asserting her innocence. 
 Poppeea, nevertheless, insisted that she should 
 
AJD. 62.] Extkeme Depuavitt. 21] 
 
 Oeisrift banished from Rome. 
 
 be condemned, and at last, by way of com- 
 promising the case, Xero consented to banisL 
 her from the city. 
 
 She was sent to a villa on the sea-eoast. in 
 the neighborhood of the place where Anicetus 
 was stationed with his fleet. But Poppaea 
 would not allow her to live in peace even as 
 an exile. She soon brought a charge against 
 her of having formed a conspiracy against the 
 government of Xero, and of having corrupted 
 Anicetus, with a view of obtaining the co- 
 operation of the fleet in the execution of trea 
 sonable designs. Anicetus himself testified 
 to the truth of this charge. He said that Oc- 
 tavia had formed such a plan, and that she 
 had given herself up. in person, wholly to 
 him, in order to induce him to join in it. Oc- 
 tavia was accordingly condemned to die. 
 
 Notwithstanding the testimony of Anicetus, 
 Oc La via was not at the time generally believed 
 to be guilty of the charge on which she was 
 condemned. It was supposed that Anicetui 
 was induced, by promises and bribes fr.ir 
 Xero and Poppaea. to fabricate the story, in 
 order that they might have a pretext for put- 
 ting Octavia to death. However this may be. 
 the unhappy princess was condemned, and the 
 
212 Nero. [A.D. 62 
 
 OcUria't unhappy destiny. Charges against aer. 
 
 sentence pronounced upon her was, that she 
 must die. 
 
 The life of Octavia, loft y as her position was 
 in respect to earthly grandeur, had been one 
 of uninterrupted suffering and sorrow. She 
 had been married to Nero when a mere child, 
 and during the whole period of her connec- 
 tion with her husband he had treated her with 
 continual unkindness and neglect. She had 
 at length been cruelly divorced from him, and 
 banished from her native city on charges of 
 the most ignominious nature, though wholly 
 false — and before this last accusation was 
 made against her there seemed to be nothing 
 before her but the prospect of spending the 
 remainder of her days in a miserable and 
 hopeless exile. Still she clung to life, and 
 when the messengers of Nero came to tell her 
 that she must die, she was overwhelmed with 
 agitation and terror. 
 
 She begged and implored them with tears 
 and agony, to spare her life. She would 
 sever, she said, give the emperor any trouble, 
 Dr interfere in any way with any of his plans. 
 She gave up willingly all claims to being his 
 wife, and would always consider herself as 
 only his sister. She would live in retirement 
 
A..D. 62.] Extreme Depravity. 213 
 
 She It pat to death. Extreme .epntvivy 
 
 and seclusion in any place where Nero might 
 appoint her abode, and would never occasion 
 aim the slightest uneasiness whatever. The 
 executioners cut short these entreaties by 
 seizing the unhappy princess in the midst of 
 them, binding her limbs with thongs, and 
 opening her veins. She fainted, however, 
 under this treatment, and when the veins were 
 opened the wretched victim lay passive and 
 insensible in the hands of her executioners, 
 and the blood would not flow. So they car- 
 ried her to a steam-bath which happened to 
 be in readiness near at hand, and shutting 
 her up in it, left her to be suffocated by the 
 vapoi . 
 
 Thus the great crowning crime of Nero's 
 life, — for the murder of Agrippina, the adul- 
 terous marriage with Poppaea, and the subse- 
 quent murder of Octavia, are to be regarded 
 as constituting one single though complicated 
 crime, — was consummate and complete. It 
 was a crime of the highest possible atrocity. 
 To open the way to an adulterous marriage 
 by the deliberate and cruel murder of a mo- 
 ther, and then to seal and secure it by mur- 
 dering an innocent wife, — blackening her 
 
 memory at the same time with an ignominy 
 14 
 
214 Nero. [A.D. 62 
 
 Nero recovers from his remorse. H1b various crimes. 
 
 wholly undeserved, constitute a crime which 
 for unnatural and monstrous enormity must 
 be considered as standing at the head of all 
 that human depravity has ever achieved. 
 
 Nero gradually recovered from the remorse 
 and horror with which the commission of 
 these atrocities at first overwhelmed him; 
 and in order to hasten his relief he plunged 
 recklessly into every species of riot and ex- 
 cess, and in the end hardened himself so 
 completely in crime, that during the remain- 
 der of his life he perpetrated the most abomi- 
 nable deeds without any apparent compunc- 
 tion whatever. He killed Poppsea herself at 
 last with a kick, which he gave her in a fit of 
 passion at a time when circumstances were 
 such with her that the violence brought on a 
 premature and unnatural sickness. He after- 
 ward ordered her son to be drowned in the 
 sea, by his slaves, when he was a fishing, be- 
 cause he understood that the boy, in playing 
 with the other children, often acted the part 
 of an emperor. His general Burrus he poi- 
 soned. He sent him the poison under pre- 
 tense that it was a medical remedy for a 
 swelling of the throat under which Burrus 
 was suffering. Burrus drank the draught 
 
A.D. 62.] Exteeme Depravity. 215 
 
 Public affairs neglected. His performance* on the stage. 
 
 under that impression and died. He de- 
 stroyed by similar means in the course of his 
 life great numbers of his relatives and officers 
 of state, so that there was scarcely a person 
 who was brought into any degree of intimate 
 connection with him that did not sooner or 
 later come to a violent end. 
 
 During his whole reign Xero neglected the 
 public affairs of the empire almost altogether, 
 — apparently regarding the vast power, and 
 the immense resources that were at his com- 
 mand, as only means for the more complete 
 gratification of his own personal propensities 
 and passions. The only ambition which ever 
 appeared to animate him was a desire for 
 fame as a singer and actor on the stage. 
 
 At the time when he commenced his career 
 it was considered wholly beneath the dignity 
 of any Koman of rank to appear in any pub- 
 lic performance of that nature ; but Xero, 
 having conceived in his youth a high idea of 
 his merit as a singer, devoted himself with 
 great assiduity to the cultivation of his voice, 
 and, as he was encouraged in what he did by 
 the flatterers that of course were always 
 around him, his interest in the musical art 
 became at length an extravagant passion. He 
 
216 Nero. [A.D. 62 
 
 Musical training. Nero'e success 
 
 submitted with the greatest patience to tin 
 rigorous training customary in those timei 
 for the development and improvement of th< 
 voice ; such as lying for long periods upon 
 his back, with a weight of lead upon his 
 breast, in order to force the muscles of th« 
 chest to extraordinary exertion, for the pur- 
 pose of strengthening them — and taking medi- 
 cines of various kinds to clear the voice and 
 reduce the system. He was so much pleased 
 with the success of these efforts, that he be- 
 gan to feel a great desire to perform in public 
 upon the stage. He accordingly began to 
 make arrangements for doing this. He first 
 appeared in private exhibitions, in the impe- 
 rial palaces and gardens, where only the 
 nobility of Rome and invited guests were 
 present. He, however, gradually extended 
 his audiences, and at length came out upon 
 the public stage, — first, however, in order to 
 prepare the public mind for what they would 
 have otherwise considered a great degradation, 
 inducing the sons of some of the principal 
 nobility to come forward in similar entertain- 
 ments. He was so pleased with the success 
 which he imagined that he met with in this 
 career that he devoted a large part of his 
 
A.D. 62.] Extreme Depravity. 21^ 
 
 His trained applauders. Rules and regulations at the theater 
 
 time during his whole life to such perform- 
 ances. Of course, his love of applause in his 
 theatrical career, increased much too fast to 
 be satisfied with the natural and ordinary 
 means of gratifying it, and he accordingly 
 made arrangements, most absurdly, to create 
 for his performances a fictitious and counter- 
 feit celebrity. At one time he had a corps 
 of five thousand men under pay to applaud 
 him, in the immense circuses and amphithea- 
 ters where he performed. These men were 
 regularly trained to the work of applauding, 
 as if it were an art to be acquired by study 
 and instruction. It was an art, in fact, as 
 they practiced it, — different modes of ap 
 plause being designated for different species 
 of merit, and the utmost precision being re- 
 quired on the part of the performers, in the 
 concert of their action, and in their obedience 
 to the signals. He used also to require on 
 the days when he was to perform, that the 
 doors of the theater should be closed when 
 the audience had assembled, and no egress 
 allowed on any pretext whatever. Such reg- 
 ulations of course excited great complaint, 
 and much ridicule ; especially as the sessions 
 at these spectacles were sometimes protracted 
 
218 Nebo. [A.D. 63 
 
 Races and games. Nero generally the victor. 
 
 and tiresome to the last degree. Even sud- 
 den sickness was not a sufficient reason for 
 allowing a spectator to depart, and so it waa 
 said that the people used sometimes to feign 
 death, in order to be carried out to their 
 burial. In some cases, it was said, births 
 took place in the theaters, the mothers hav- 
 ing come incautiously with the crowd to 
 witness the spectacles, without properly con- 
 sidering what might be the effect of the 
 excitement, and then afterward not being per 
 mitted to retire. 
 
 Besides singing and acting on the stage, 
 Nero took part in every other species of pub- 
 lic amusement. He entered as a competitor 
 for the prize in races and games of every kind. 
 Of course he always came off victor. This 
 end was accomplished sometimes by the secret 
 connivance of the other competitors, and some- 
 times by open bribery of the judges. Nero's 
 ridiculous vanity and self-conceit seemed to 
 be fully gratified by receiving tne prize, 
 without any regard whatever to the question 
 of deserving it. He used to come back some- 
 times from journeys to foreign cities, where 
 he had been performing on the stage at great 
 public festivals, and enter Rome in triumph, 
 
A..D. 63.] Extreme Depravity. *219 
 
 His private conduct and chit meter. His midnight bra vis. 
 
 with the garlands, and crowns, and other 
 decorations which he had won, paraded be- 
 fore him in the procession, in the manner in 
 which distinguished commanders had been 
 acenstomed to display the trophies of their 
 military victories, when returning from for- 
 eign campaigns. 
 
 In fact it was only in the perpetration of 
 6uch miserable follies as these that Xero ap 
 peared before the pnblic at all, and in his pri- 
 vate condnct and character he sank very rap 
 idly, after he came into power, to the very 
 lowest degree of profligacy and vice. After 
 having spent the evening in drinking and de- 
 bauchery, he would sally forth into the streets 
 at midnight, as has already been stated, to 
 mingle there with the vilest men and women 
 of the town in brawls and riots. On these 
 excursions he would attack such peaceable 
 parties as he chanced to meet in the streets, 
 and if they made resistance, he and his com- 
 panions would beat them down and throw 
 them into canals or open sewers. Sometimes 
 in these combats he was beaten himself, and 
 ol one occasion he came very near losing his 
 life, having been almost killed by the blows 
 dealt upon nim by a certain Roman senatoi. 
 
220 Neko. [A.D. 63 
 
 Rioting and excess. Hie great feasts. The artificial lake. 
 
 whose wife he insulted as she was walking 
 with her husband in the street. The senator, 
 of course, did not know him. He used to go 
 fo the theater in disguise, in company with a 
 gang of companions of similar character to 
 himself, and watch for opportunities to excite 
 or encourage riots or tumults there. When- 
 ever he could succeed in urging these tumults 
 on to actual violence he would mingle in the 
 fray, and throw stones and fragments of 
 broken benches and furniture among the 
 people. 
 
 After a while, when he had grown more 
 bold and desperate in his wickedness, he be- 
 gan to lay aside all disguise, and at last he 
 actually seemed to take a pride and pleasure 
 in exhibiting the scenes of riot and excess m 
 which he engaged, in the most impudent 
 manner before the public gaze. He used to 
 celebrate great feasts in the public amphithe- 
 aters, and on the arena of the circus, and ca- 
 rouse there in company with the most diseo 
 lute men and women of the city — a spectacle 
 to the whole population. There was a large 
 artificial lake or reservoir in one part of the 
 citv, built for the purpose of exhibiting 
 mimic representations of the manoeuvers of 
 
A.D. 63.] Extreme Depravity. 221 
 
 Immense sums of money expended ty Nero. 
 
 fleets, and naval battles, for the amusement 
 of the people at great public celebrations. 
 There were, of course, numerous ranges of 
 «eats around the margin of this lake for the 
 accommodation of the spectators. 2sero took 
 possession of this structure for some of his 
 carousals, in order to obtain greater scope for 
 ostentation and display. The water was 
 drawn off on such occasions and the gates 
 6hut, and then the bottom of the reservoir 
 was floored over to make space for the tables. 
 The sums of money which !N~ero spent in 
 the pursuit of sensual pleasures were incalcu- 
 lable. In fact there were no bounds to his 
 extravagance and profusion. He had com- 
 mand, of course, of all the treasure of the em- 
 pirej and he procured immeDse sums besides, 
 by fines, confiscations, and despotic exactions 
 of various kinds ; and as he undertook no 
 public enterprises — being seldom engaged in 
 foreign wars, and seldom attempting any use- 
 ful constructions in the city — the vast re- 
 sources at his command were wholly devoted 
 to the purposes of ostentatious personal dis- 
 play, and sensual gratifications. The pomp 
 and splendor of his feasts, his processions, his 
 journeys of pleasure, and the sums that he if 
 
222 Nekc [A.D. 63. 
 
 His favorites. His excursions to Ostia. 
 
 said to have lavished sometimes in money 
 and jewels, and sometimes in villas, gardens, 
 and equipages, upon his favorites, both male 
 and female, are almost incredible. On some 
 of the pleasure excursions which he took to 
 the mouth of the Tiber, he would have the 
 banks of the river lined with booths and costly 
 tents all the way from the river to the sea. 
 These tents were provided with sumptuous 
 entertainments, and with beds and couches 
 for repose ; and they were all attended by 
 beautiful girls who stood at the doors of them 
 inviting ISTero and his party to land, as they 
 passed along the river in their barges. He 
 used to fish with a golden net, which was drawn 
 by silken cords of a rich scarlet color.). Oc- 
 casionally he made grand excursions of pleas- 
 ure through Italy or into Greece, in the style 
 of royal progresses. In these expeditions ho 
 sometimes had no less than a thousand carta 
 to convey his baggage — the mules that drew 
 them being all shod with silver, and theii 
 drivers dressed in scarlet clothes of the most 
 costly character. He was attended, also, on 
 these excursions, by a numerous train of foot- 
 men, and of African servants, who wore rid 
 
A..D. 64.J Extreme Depravity. 223 
 
 The burning of Rome. Nero accused of being the incendiary. 
 
 bracelets upon their arms, and were mounted 
 on horses splendidly caparisoned. 
 
 One of the most remarkable of the events 
 which occurred during Nero's reign was what 
 was called the burning of Rome, — a great 
 conflagration, by which a large part of the 
 city was destroyed. It was very generally 
 believed at the time that this destruction was 
 the work of Nero himself, — the fruit of his 
 reckless and willful depravity. There is, it is 
 true, no very positive proof that the fire was 
 set by Nero's orders, though one of the histo- 
 rians of the time states that confidential ser- 
 vants belonging to Nero's household were 
 seen, when the fire commenced, going from 
 house to house with combustibles and torches, 
 spreading the flames. He was himself at 
 Antium at the time, and did not come to 
 Eome until the fire had been raging for many 
 days. If it is true that the fire was Nero's 
 work, it is not supposed that he designed to 
 cause so extensive a conflagration. He in 
 tended, perhaps, only to destroy a few build 
 ings that covered ground which he wished to 
 occupy for the enlargement of his palaces; 
 though it was said by some writers that he 
 really designed to destroy a great part of the 
 
224 Webo. [A.D. 64. 
 
 His probable motires. He comee to tee the flro. 
 
 city, with a view to immortalize his name by 
 rebuilding it in a new and more splendid 
 form. With these motives, if these indeed 
 were his motives, there was doubtless mingled 
 a feeling of malicious gratification at any 
 thing that would terrify and torment the mis- 
 erable subjects of his power. When he came 
 to Rome from Antium at the time that the 
 conflagration was at its height, he found the 
 whole city a scene of indescribable terror 
 and distress. Thousands of the people had 
 been burned to death or crushed beneath the 
 ruins of the fallen houses. The streets were 
 filled with piles of goods and furniture burnt 
 and broken. Multitudes of men, though near- 
 ly exhausted with fatigue, were desperately 
 .oiling on, in hopeless endeavors to extinguish 
 the flames, or to save some small remnant of 
 their property, — and distracted mothers, wild 
 and haggard from terror and despair, were 
 roaming to and fro, seeking their children, — 
 gome moaning in anguish, and some piercing 
 the air with loud and frantic outcries. Nero 
 was entertained by the scene as if it had been 
 a great dramatic spectacle. He went to one 
 of the theaters, and taking his place upon the 
 stage he amused himself there with singing 
 
A.D. 64.] Extbeme Depeavity. 227 
 
 He celebrates the occasion by a song. 
 
 and playing a celebrated composition on the 
 subject ot the burning of Troy. At least it 
 was said and generally believed in the city 
 hat he did so, and the minds of the people 
 were excited against the inhuman monster 
 to the highest pitch of indignation. In fact, 
 ~Sero seems to have thought at last that he 
 had gone too far, and he began to make efforts 
 in earnest to relieve - the people from some 
 portion of their distress. He caused great 
 numbers of tents to be erected in the parade- 
 ground for temporary shelter, and brought 
 fresh supplies of corn into the city to save the 
 people from famine. These measures of 
 mercy, however, came too late to retrieve his 
 character. The people attributed the miseries 
 of this dreadful calamity to his desperate ma- 
 liciousness, and he became the object of uni 
 versal execration. 
 
228 Nebo. [A.D.65. 
 
 Origin and nature of Ptoo'a conspiracy. 
 
 Chaptee X. 
 
 Pl80'8 CoNSPIBAOY. 
 
 A LTHOUGH the people of Rome were 
 ■£■*- generally so overawed by the terror of 
 Nero's power, that for a long period no one 
 dared to make any open resistance to his will, 
 still his excesses and cruelties excited in the 
 minds of men a great many secret feelings of 
 resentment and detestation. At one period 
 in the course of his reign a very desperate 
 conspiracy was formed by some of the leading 
 men of the state, to dethrone and destroy the 
 tyrant. This plot was a very extensive and 
 a very formidable one. It was, however, ac- 
 cidentally discovered before it was fully ma- 
 ture, and thus was unsuccessful. It is known 
 in history as Piso's Conspiracy — deriving its 
 name from that of the principal leader of .t, 
 Caius Calpurnius Piso. 
 
 It is not supposed, however, that Piso waa 
 abso.utely the originator of the conspiracy, 
 nor is it known, in fact, who the originator 
 of it was. A great number of prominent men 
 
AD. 65.] Piso s Conspiracy. 229 
 
 Lucan, the Latin poet. His quarrel with Nero. 
 
 were involved in the plot — men who, possess- 
 ing very different characters, and occupying 
 very different stations in life, were probably 
 induced by various motives to take part in the 
 conspiracy. A conspiracy, however, of this 
 kind, against so merciless a tyrant as Nero, is 
 an enterprise of such frightful danger, and is 
 attended, if unsuccessful, with such awful 
 consequences to all concerned in it, that men 
 will seldom engage in such a scheme until 
 goaded to desperation, and almost maddened, 
 by the wrongs which they have endured. 
 
 And yet the exasperation which these con- 
 spirators felt against ISTero, seems to have been 
 produced, in some instances at least, by what 
 we should now consider rather inadequate 
 causes. For example, one of the men most 
 active in this secret league, was the celebrated 
 Latin poet Lucan. In the early part of his 
 life, Lucan had been one of Zero's principal 
 flatterers, having written hymns and sonnets 
 in his praise. At length, as it was said, some 
 public occasion occurred in which verses were 
 to be recited in public, for a prize. Nero, 
 whc imagined himself to excel in every hu- 
 man art or attainment, offered some of his own 
 verses in the competition. The prize, how- 
 
230 Nero. [A.D. 65. 
 
 Lateranns. Celebrity of hi* l 
 
 ever, was adjudged to Lucan. Xero's mine 
 was accordingly filled with envy and hate to 
 ward his rival, and he soon found some pre- 
 text for forbidding Lucan ever to recite anv 
 verses in public again. This of course exas- 
 perated Lucan in his turn, and was the cause 
 of his joining in the conspiracy. 
 
 Another of the conspirators was a certain 
 Roman nobleman, whose family name has 
 since become very widely known in all parts 
 of the civilized world, through an estate in the 
 city with which it was associated, — which es- 
 tate, and certain buildings erected upon it, be- 
 came subsequently greatly celebrated in the 
 ecclesiastical history of Rome. The name of 
 this nobleman was Plautius Lateranus. When 
 Lateranus was put to death at the detection of 
 the conspiracy, in the manner to be presently 
 described, his estate was confiscated. The 
 palace and grounds thus became the property 
 of the Roman emperors. In process of time, 
 the emperor Constantine gave the place tc 
 the pope, and from that period it continued to 
 be the residence of the successive pontiffs foi 
 a thousand years. A church was built upon 
 the ground, called the Basilica of St. John of 
 Lateran, where many ancient councils were 
 
A.D. 65.] Pisu's Conspibaoy. 231 
 
 The church of St. John Laler&n. 
 
 held, known in ecclesiastical history as the 
 councils of the Lateran. This church is still 
 osec for some of the ceremonies connected 
 with the inauguration of the pope, but the 
 palace is now uuinhabited. It presents, how- 
 ever, in its ruins, a vast and imposing, though 
 desolate aspect. 
 
 Lateranus was an unprincipled and disso- 
 lute man, and in consequence of certain 
 crimes which he committed in connection 
 with Messalina, during the reign of Claudius, 
 he had been condemned to death. The sen- 
 tence of death was not executed, though Lat- 
 eranus was deprived of his rank, and doomed 
 to live in retirement and disgrace. At the 
 death of Claudius, and the accession of ZSTerc 
 Lateranus was fully pardoned and restored to 
 his former rank and position, through Zero's 
 instrumentality. It might have been sup- 
 posed that gratitude for these favors would 
 have prevented Lateranus from joining such 
 a conspiracy as this against his benefactor, 
 but gratitude has very little place in the 
 hearts ol those who dwell in the courts and 
 palaces of such tyrants as Xero. 
 
 The man on whom the conspirators relied 
 most for efficient military aid so far as such 
 
232 Nero. [A.D. 65 
 
 Fenius Rufus. A woman in the secret 
 
 aid should be needed in their enterprise, was 
 a certain Fenius Rufus, a captain of the im- 
 perial guards. He was a man of very resolute 
 and decided character, and was very highly 
 esteemer by the people of Rome. He was 
 not one of the originators of the plot, but 
 joined it at a later period ; and when the 
 news of his accession to it>was communicated 
 to the rest, it gave them great encouragement, 
 as they attached great importance to the ad 
 hesion of such a man to their cause. Thej 
 now immediately began to take measures for 
 executing their plans. 
 
 There was a woman in the secret of this 
 conspiracy, though how she obtained a knowl- 
 edge of it no one seemed to know. Her name 
 was Epi charts. While the execution of the 
 plans of the confederates was delayed, Epi- 
 charis came to the principal conspirators 
 privately, first to one and then to another, and 
 urged them to action. None of the members 
 of the plot would admit that they had given 
 ner any information on the subject, and how 
 she obtained her information no one could 
 tell. She was a woman of bad character, and 
 %s such women often are, she was violent and 
 implacable in her hatred. She hated Nero, 
 
A.D. 60.J Piso's Conspiracy. 233 
 
 Plans and arrangements of the conspirators. 
 
 and was so impatient at the delay of the con- 
 spirators that she made repeated and earnest 
 efforts to urge them on. 
 
 The conspirators in the mean time held 
 various secret meetings to mature their plans, 
 and to complete the preparation for the exe- 
 cution of them. They designed to destroy 
 Nero by some violent means, and then to 
 cause Piso to be proclaimed emperor in his 
 place. Piso was a man well suited for their 
 purpose in this respect. He was tall and 
 graceful in form, and his personal appearance 
 was in every respect prepossessing. His rank 
 was very high, and he was held in great esti- 
 mation by all the people of the city for the 
 many generous and noble qualities that he 
 possessed. He was allied, too, to the most 
 illustrious families of Rome, and he occupied 
 in all respects so conspicuous a position, and 
 was so much an object of popular favor, that 
 the conspirators believed that his elevation to 
 the empire could easily be effected, if Nero 
 himself could once be put out of the way. To 
 effect the assassination of Nero, therefore, waa 
 the first step. 
 
 After much debate, and many consultations 
 In respect to the best course to be pursued, it 
 
234 Neko. [A.D. 65 
 
 Bold proposals of FLariua. The palace to be set on ftr*. 
 
 was decided to accept the offer of a certain 
 Subrius Flavins, who undertook to kill the 
 emperor in the streets, at night, at some time 
 when he was roaming about in his carousals. 
 Flavius, in fact, was very daring and resolute 
 in his proposals, though wanting, as it proved 
 in the end, in the fulfillment of them. He 
 offered to stab Nero in the theater, when he 
 was singing on the stage, in the midst of all 
 the thousands of spectators convened there 
 This the conspirators thought, it seems, an un- 
 necessarily bold and desperate mode of ac- 
 complishing the end in view, and the plan 
 was accordingly overruled. Flavius then 
 proposed to set the palace on fire some night 
 when Nero was out in the city, and then, in 
 the confusion that would ensue, and while the 
 attention of the guards who had accompanied 
 Nero should be drawn toward the fire, to 
 assassinate the emperor in the streets. This 
 plan was acceded to by the conspirators, and 
 it was left to Flavius to select a favorable 
 time for the execution of it. 
 
 Time passed on, however, and nothing was 
 done. The favorable time which Flavius 
 looked for did not appear. In the mean- 
 while Epicharis became more and more im- 
 
A~D. 65.J Piso 8 Conspiracy. 235 
 
 Epicharis impatient. She gees to the fleet. 
 
 patient of the delay. She urged the conspir- 
 ators to do their work, and chided in the 
 strongest terms their irresolution and pusil 
 .anirnity. At length finding that her invec- 
 tives and reproaches were of no avail, she de- 
 termined to leave them, and to see what she 
 could do herself toward the attainment of the 
 end. 
 
 She accordingly left Rome and proceeded 
 southwardly along the coast till she came to 
 Misenum, which, as has already been said, 
 was the great naval station of the empire at 
 this time. Epicharis went to some of the offi- 
 cers of the fleet, many of whom she knew, — 
 and in a very secret and cautious manner 
 made known to them the nature of the plot 
 which had been formed at Rome for the de- 
 struction of Nero and the elevation of Piso to 
 the empire in his stead. Before, however, 
 communicating intelligence of the conspiracy 
 to any persons whatever, Epicharis would con- 
 verse with them secretly and confidentially 
 to learn how they were affected toward Nero 
 and his government. If she found them well 
 disposed she said nothing. If on the other 
 hand any one appeared discontented with the 
 government, or hostile to it in any way. she 
 
236 Nebo. [A.D. 65. 
 
 She communicates with Proculus at Mtsenum. 
 
 would cautiously make known to him the 
 \ lans which were concocting at Rome for the 
 overthrow of it. She took care, however, in 
 chese conversations to have never more thai) 
 :>ne person present with her at a time, and 
 she revealed none of the names of the con- 
 spirators. 
 
 Among the other officers of the fleet was a 
 certain Proculus, who was one of the first with 
 whom Epicharis communicated. Proculus 
 was one of the men who had been employed 
 by Nero in his attempts to assassinate Agrip 
 pina his mother, and for his services on that 
 occasion had been promoted to the command 
 of a certain number of ships, a number con- 
 taining in all one thousand men. This pro- 
 motion, however, as Epicharis found when she 
 came to converse with him, Proculus did not 
 consider as great a reward as his services had 
 deserved. The perpetration of so horrible a 
 crime as the murder of the emperor's mother, 
 merited, in his opinion, as he said to Epicha- 
 ris, a much higher recompense than the com 
 aiand of a thousand men. Epicharis thought 
 so too. She talked with Proculus about his 
 wrongs, and the injuries which he suffered 
 from Nero's ingratitude and aetrlect, until she 
 
AD. 65.] Piso's Conspikacy. 237 
 
 PtocuJuj rereala the plot to Nero. 
 
 fancied that he was in a state of mind which 
 would prepare him to join in the plans of the 
 conspirators, and then she cautiously unfolded 
 them to him. 
 
 Proculus listened with great apparent inter 
 est to Epicharis's communication, and pre- 
 tended to enter very cordially into the plan 
 of the conspiracy; but as soon as the inter- 
 view was ended he immediately left Mise- 
 num, and proceeded immediately to Rome, 
 where he divulged the whole design to Nero. 
 
 Nero was exceedingly alarmed, and sent 
 officers off at once to seize Epicharis and bring 
 her before him. Epicharis, when questioned 
 and confronted with Proculus, resolutely de- 
 nied that she had ever held any such con- 
 versation with Proculus as he alledged, and 
 feigned the utmost astonishment at what she 
 termed the impudence of his accusation. She 
 called for witnesses and proofs. Proculus of 
 course could produce none, for Epicharis had 
 taken care that there should be no third per- 
 son present at their interviews. Proculus 
 could not even give the names of any of the 
 conspirators at Rome. He could only persist 
 in his declaration that Epicharis had really 
 disclosed to him the existence of the conspir- 
 
238 Nero [A.D. 65 
 
 Nero perplexed. EpicharU Imprisoned, 
 
 acy, and had proposed to him to join in it ; 
 while she on the contrary as strenuously and 
 positively denied it. Nero was perplexed. 
 He found it impossible to determine what to 
 believe. He finally dismissed Proculus, and 
 gent Epicharis to prison, intending that she 
 should remain there until he could make a 
 more full examination into the case, and de- 
 termine what to do. 
 
 In the mean time the conspirators became 
 considerably alarmed when they heard of the 
 arrest of Epicharis, and though they knew 
 that thus far she had revealed nothing, they 
 could not tell how soon her fidelity and firm- 
 ness might yield under the tortures to which 
 6he was every day liable to be subjected ; and 
 as there appeared to be now no prospect that 
 Flavius would ever undertake to execute his 
 plan, they began to devise some other means 
 of attaining the end. 
 
 It seems that Piso possessed at this time a 
 villa and country-seat at Baiae, on the coast 
 south of Rome, and near to Misenum, and 
 that Nero was accustomed sometimes to visit 
 Piso here. It was now proposed by some of 
 the conspirators that Piso should invite Nero 
 to visit him at this villa, as if to witness some 
 
A.D. 65.] 
 
 Piso's Conspiracy. 
 
 23& 
 
 A new plan. 
 
 PiBo'g objections. 
 
 Reason*. 
 
 spectacles or shows which should be arranged 
 for his entertainment there, and that then 
 persons employed for the purpose should sud 
 denly assassinate him, when off his guard, ii 
 the midst of some scene of convivial pleasure*. 
 Piso, however, objected to this plan. He con- 
 ceived, he said, that it would be dishonorable 
 in him to commit an act of violence upon a 
 guest whom he had invited under his roof, as 
 his friend. He was willing to take his full 
 share of the responsibility of destroying the 
 tyrant in any fair and manly way, but he 
 would not violate the sacred rites of hospital 
 ity to accomplish the end. 
 
 So this plan was abandoned. It was sup- 
 posed, however, that Piso had another and a 
 deeper reason for his unwillingness that Xero 
 should be assassinated at Baia? than his re- 
 gard for his honor as a host. He thought, it 
 was said, that it would not be safe for him to 
 be away from Eome when the death of Xero 
 should be proclaimed in the capitol, lest some 
 other Roman nobleman or great officer of * 
 state should suddenly arise in the emergency 
 and assume the empire. There were, in fact, 
 one or two men in Eome of great power and 
 influence, of whom Piso was specially jealous 
 
240 .Nebo. [A.D. 65 
 
 Final arrangements agreed upon. 
 
 and he was naturally very much disposed to 
 be on his guard against opening any door of 
 pportunity for them to rise to power. Tc 
 commit a great crime in order to secure his owe 
 iggrandizement, and yet to manage the com- 
 mission of it in such a way as not only to shut 
 himself oil' from the expected benefit, but to 
 secure that benefit to a hated rival, would 
 have been a very fatal misstep. So the plan 
 of destroying Nero at Baise was overruled. 
 
 At length one more, and as it proved a final 
 scheme, was formed for accomplishing the 
 purpose of the conspiracy. It was determined 
 to execute Nero in Rome, at a great public 
 celebration which was then about to tako 
 place. It seems that it was sometimes cus- 
 tomary in ancient times for persons who had 
 any request or petition to make to an em- 
 peror or kiug, to avail themselves of the occa- 
 sion of such celebrations to present them. 
 A ccordingly it was determined that Lateranus 
 should approach Nero at a certain time du- 
 ring the celebration of the games, as if tc 
 >ffer a petition, — the other conspirators being 
 close at hand, and ready to act at a moment's 
 warning. Lateranus, as soon as he was near 
 enough, was to kneel down and suddenly 
 
A-D. 65.] Piso's Conspiracy. 241 
 
 Nero to be slain In the theatre. 
 
 draw the emperor's robee about his feet, and 
 then clasp the feet thus enveloped, in hie 
 arms, so as to render Xero helpless. The 
 other conspirators were then to rush fur ward 
 and kill their victim with their daggers. In 
 the mean time while Lateranus and his asso- 
 ciates were perpetrating this deed in the cir 
 cnfl where the games were to be exhibited, 
 Pisu was to station himself in a certain tem- 
 ple not far distant, to await the result ; while 
 Fenius, the officer of the guard, who has al- 
 ready been mentioned as the chief military 
 reliance of the conspirators, was to be posted 
 in another part of the city, with a military 
 cavalcade in array, ready to proceed through 
 the streets and bring Piso forth to be pro- 
 claimed emperor as soon as he should receive 
 the tidings that Xero had been slain. It is 
 said that in order to give additional eclat and 
 popularity to the proceeding, it was arranged 
 that Octavia. a daughter of Claudius, the 
 former emperor, was to be brought forward 
 with Piso in the cavalcade, as if to combine 
 the influence of her hereditary claims, what- 
 ever they might be, with the personal popu- 
 larity of Piso in favor of the new government 
 
 about to be established. 
 15—16 
 
242 Neko. [A.D.65 
 
 The *evtral parte assigned. Scerinu*. 
 
 Thus every thing was arranged. To each 
 conspirator, his own particular duty was as- 
 signed, and, as the day approached for the 
 execution of the scheme, every thing seemed 
 to promise success. It is obvious, however, 
 that, as the affair had been arranged, all 
 would depend upon the resolution and fidel 
 ity of those who had been designated to stab 
 the emperor with their daggers, when Late- 
 ranus should have grasped his feet. The 
 slightest faltering or fear at this point, would 
 be fatal to the whole scheme. The man on 
 whom the conspirators chiefly relied for this 
 part of their work, was a certain desperate 
 profligate, named Scevinus, who had been 
 one of the earliest originators of the conspir- 
 acy, and one of the most dauntless and deter- 
 mined of the promoters of it, so far as words 
 and professions could go. He particularly 
 desired that the privilege of plunging the 
 first dagger into Nero's heart should be 
 granted to him. He had a knife, he said, 
 which he had found in a certain temple a loLg 
 time before, and which he had preserved and 
 carried about his person constantly ever since, 
 for some such deed. So it was arranged that 
 Scevinus should strike the fatal blow. 
 
A.D. 65.] Piso's Conspiracy. 243 
 
 Excitement of Scevinua. Hi* toil's. 
 
 As the time drew nigh, Scevinua seemed 
 to grow more and more excited with the 
 thoughts of what was before him. He at- 
 tracted the attention of the domestics at his 
 house, by his strange and mysterious demean- 
 or. He held a long and secret consultation 
 with Xatalis. another conspirator, on the 
 day before the one appointed for the execu- 
 tion of the plot, under such circumstances as 
 to increase still more the wonder and curios 
 ity of his servants. He formally executed 
 Ins will, as if he were approaching some dan- 
 gerous crisis. He made presents to his serv- 
 ants, and actually emancipated one or two 
 of his favorite slaves. He talked with all he 
 met, in a rapid and incoherent manner, on 
 various subjects, and with an air of gayety 
 and cheerfulness which it was obvious to 
 those who observed him was all assumed ; 
 for, in the intervals of these conversations, 
 and at every pause, he relapsed into a 
 thoughtful and absent mood, as if he were 
 meditating some deep and dangerous design. 
 
 That night, too, he took out his knife from 
 its sheath, and gave it to one of his servants, 
 named Milichus, to be ground. He directed 
 Milichus to be particularly attentive to the 
 
244 Nero. 
 
 He gives his knife to Milichus to be ground. 
 
 [A.D. 65 
 
 The Knife. 
 
 sharpening of the point. Before Milichus 
 brought back the knife, Scevinus directed 
 him to prepare bandages such as would be 
 suitable for binding up wounds to stop the 
 effusion of blood. Milichus observed all these 
 directions, and, having made all the prepara- 
 tions required, according to the orders which 
 Scevinus had given him —r- keeping the knife, 
 however, still in his possession — he went to 
 report the whole case to his wife, in order to 
 
A..D. 65 J Piso's C0N8PIEAOY. 245 
 
 Milichus con/ere with his wife. Their suspicion*. 
 
 consult with her in respect to the meaning of 
 all these mysterious indications. 
 
 The wife of Milichus soon came to the con 
 elusion, that these strange proceedings could 
 denote nothing less than a plot against the 
 life of the emperor ; and she urged her hus- 
 band to go early the next morning, and make 
 known his discovery. She told him that it 
 was impossible that such a conspiracy should 
 succeed, for it must be known to a great 
 many persons, some one of whom would be 
 sure to divulge it in hope of a reward. " If 
 you divulge it," she added, " you will secure 
 the reward for yourself ; and if you do not, 
 you will be supposed to be privy to it, when 
 it is made known by others, and so will be 
 sacrificed with the rest to Nero's anger." 
 
 Milichus was convinced by his wife's rea- 
 sonings, and on the following morning, as 
 soon as the day dawned, he rose and repaired 
 to the palace. At first he was refused ad- 
 mittance, but on sending word to the officer of 
 the household, that he had intelligence of 'the 
 most urgent importance to communicate to 
 Nero, they allowed him to come in. When 
 brought into Nero's presence, he told his 
 story, describing particularly all the circum 
 
2±6 Neko. [A.D. 65. 
 
 Revelations made by Mllichus. 
 
 stances that he had observed, which had led 
 him to suppose that a conspiracy was formed 
 He spoke of the long and mysterious consul- 
 tation which Scevinus and Xatalis had held 
 together on the preceding day ; he described 
 the singular conduct and demeanor which 
 Scevinus had subsequently manifested, the 
 execution of his will, his wild and incoherent 
 conversation, his directions in respect to the 
 sharpening of the knife and the preparation 
 of the bandages ; and, to crown his proofs, he 
 produced the knife itself, which he had kept 
 for this purpose, and which thus furnished, in 
 6ome sense, an ocular demonstration of the 
 truth of what he had declared. 
 
 Officers were immediately sent to seize 
 Scevinus, and to bring him into the presence 
 of the emperor. Scevinus knew, of course, 
 that the only possible hope for him was in a 
 bold and resolute denial of the charge made 
 against him. He accordingly denied, in the 
 most solemn manner, that there was any plot 
 3r conspiracy whatever, and he attempted to 
 explain all the circumstances which had 
 awakened his servant's suspicions. The knife 
 or dagger which Milichus had produced, was 
 an ancient family relic, he said, — one which 
 
A J). 65.] P iso's Conspiracy. m 
 
 ScevLnus'i defense. He denies '.he allegations of his accossr. 
 
 he had kept for a long time in his chamber, 
 and which his servant had obtained surrepti- 
 tiously, for the purpose of sustaining his false 
 and malicious charge against his master. As 
 to his will, he often made and signed a will 
 anew, he said, as many other persons were 
 accustomed to do, and no just inference 
 against him could be drawn from the circum- 
 stance that he had done this on the preceding 
 day ; and in respect to the bandages and 
 other preparation for the dressing of wounds 
 which Milichus alledged that he had ordered, 
 he denied the statement altogether. He had 
 nut given any such orders. The whole story 
 was the fabrication of a vile slave, attempt- 
 ing, by these infamous means, to compass his 
 masters destruction. Scevinus said all this 
 with so bold and intrepid a tone of voice, and 
 with such an air of injured innocence, that 
 Nero and his friends were half dispose! to 
 believe that he was unjustly accused, ana to 
 dismiss him from custody. This might very 
 probably have been the result, and Milichus 
 himself might have been punished for making 
 a false and malicious accusation, had not the 
 sagacity of his wife, who was ail the time 
 watching these proceedings with the most 
 
248 Nebo. [A.D. 65. 
 
 Nero perplexed. The truth at last discovered. 
 
 anxious interest, furnished a clew which, in 
 the end, brought the whole truth to light. 
 
 She called attention to the long conference 
 which Scevinus had held with Natalis on the 
 preceding day. Scevinus was according!}, 
 questioned concerning it. He declared tha* 
 his interview was nothing but an innocent 
 consultation about his own private affairs. He 
 was questioned then about the particulars of 
 the conversation. Of course he was compelled 
 to fabricate a statement in reply. Natalia 
 himself was then sent for, and examined, 
 apart from Scevinus, in regard to the conver- 
 sation they had held together. Natalis, of 
 course, fabricated a story too, — but, as usua. 
 with such fabrications, the two accounts 
 having been invented independently, were 
 inconsistent with each other. Nero was im- 
 mediately convinced that the men were guilty, 
 and that some sort of plot or conspiracy had 
 been formed. He ordered that they should 
 both be put to the torture in order to compel 
 them to confess their crime, and disclose the 
 names of their accomplices. In the mean 
 time they were sent to prison, and loaded 
 with irons, to be kept in that condition until 
 the instruments of torture could be prepared 
 
A.D. 65.] Piso's Conspiracy. 249 
 
 BceTlnos and Natalia make a full confession. 
 
 When at length they were brought to the 
 rack, the sight of the horrid machinery un- 
 manned them. They begged to be spared, and 
 promised to reveal the whole. They acknowl- 
 edged that a conspiracy had been formed, 
 and gave the names of all who had partici- 
 pated in it. They explained fully, too, the 
 plans which had been devised, and as in this 
 case, though they were examined separately, 
 their statements agreed, Nero and his friends 
 were convinced of the truth of their declara- 
 tions, and thus at last the plot was fully 
 brought to light. Nero himself was struck 
 with consternation and terror at discovering 
 the formidable danger to which he had been 
 exposed. 
 
250 Nero. [A.D. 65 
 
 Epicharis denies all knowledge of the conspiracy. 
 
 Chapter XL 
 The Fate of the Conspirators. 
 
 A S soon as Nero had obtained all the in- 
 -£"*- formation which he and his officers could 
 draw from Scevinus and Natalis, and had sen* 
 to all parts of the city to arrest those whom 
 the forced disclosures of these witnesses ac- 
 cused, he thought of Epicharis, who, it will be 
 recollected, had been sent to prison, and who 
 was still in confinement there. He ordered 
 Epicharis to be told that concealment was no 
 longer possible, — that Scevinus and Natalis 
 had divulged the plot in full, and that her 
 only hope lay in amply confessing all that 
 she knew. 
 
 This announcement had no effect upon 
 Epicharis. She refused to admit that she 
 knew any thing of any conspiracy. 
 
 Nero then ordered that she should be put 
 to the torture. The engines were prepared 
 and she was brought before them. The sight 
 of them produced no change. She was then 
 placed upon the wheel, and her frail and 
 
A.D. 65.] The Conspirators. 251 
 
 Seizures and executions. General panic. 
 
 delicate limbs were stretched, dislocated, and 
 broken, until she had endured every form of 
 agony which such engines could produce 
 Her constancy remained unshaken to the end. 
 At length, when she was so much exhausted 
 by her sufferings that she could no longer feel 
 the pain, she was taken away to be restored 
 by medicaments, cordials, and rest, in order 
 that she might recover strength to endure 
 new tortures on the following day. 
 
 In the mean time, panic and excitement 
 reigned throughout the city. Nero doubled 
 his guards ; he garrisoned his palace ; he 
 brought out bodies of armed men, and station- 
 ed them on the walls of the city and in the 
 public squares, or marched them to and fro 
 about the streets. As fast as men were 
 accused they were put to the question, and as 
 each one saw that the only hope for safety to 
 himself was in freely denouncing others, the 
 names of supposed confederates were revealed 
 in great numbers, and as fast as these names 
 were obtained the men were seized and im- 
 prisoned or executed — the innocent and the 
 guilty together. 
 
 On the very first announcement that the 
 plot had been discovered, those &' the con- 
 
252 Nero. [A.D. 65. 
 
 Death of Piso. The conspirator's discouraged. 
 
 spirators who were still at large made all 
 haste to the house of Piso. They found him 
 prostrate in consternation and despair. They 
 urged him immediately to come forth, and to 
 put himself at the head of an armed force, 
 and fight for his life. Desperate as such an 
 undertaking might be, no other alternative, 
 they said, was now left to him. But all was 
 of no avail. The conspirators could not arouse 
 him to action. They were obliged to retire 
 and leave him to his fate. He opened the 
 veins in his arm, and bled to death while the 
 soldiers whom Nero had sent were breaking 
 into his house to arrest him. 
 
 Being thus deprived of their leader, the 
 conspirators gave up all hope of effecting the 
 revolution, and thought only of the means of 
 screening themselves from Nero's vengeance. 
 
 In the mean time, Epicharis had so far re- 
 covered during the night, that on the follow- 
 ing morning it was determined to bring her 
 again to the torture. She was utterly help- 
 less, — her limbs having been broken by the 
 execution of the day before. The officers ac- 
 cordingly put her into a sort of sedan chair, or 
 covered litter, in order that she might be car- 
 ried by bearers to the place of tc rture. She was 
 
A.D. 65.] The Conspirators. 253 
 
 Epicharis at the torture. 
 
 Her death. 
 
 Brisgixg Epichar;? to the Torture. 
 
 borne in this way to the spot, but when the 
 executioners opened the door of the chair to 
 take her out. they beheld a shocking spectacle. 
 Their wretched victim had escaped from their 
 power. She was hanging by the neck. dead. 
 She had contrived to make a noose in one end 
 of the cincture with which she was girded, and 
 fastening the other end to some part of the 
 chair within, she had succeeded in bringing 
 ti e weieht of her body upon the noose around 
 
254 Nero. [A.D. 65 
 
 The conspirators tried before Nero. Flavin*. 
 
 her neck, and had died without disturbing her 
 bearers as they walked along. 
 
 In the mean time the various parties that 
 were accused were seized in great numbers, 
 nd were brought in for trial before a sort of 
 court-martial which Nero himself, with some 
 of his principal officers, held for this purpose 
 in the gardens of the palace. The number of 
 those accused was so large that the avenues 
 to the garden were blocked up with them, and 
 with the parties of soldiers that conducted 
 them, and multitudes were detained together 
 at the gates, in a state, of course, of awful 
 suspense and agitation, waiting their turns. 
 It happened singularly enough that among 
 those whom Nero summoned to serve on the 
 tribunal for the trial of the prisoners were two 
 of the principal conspirators, who had not yet 
 been accused. These were Subrius Flavius 
 and Fenius Rufus, whom the reader will per- 
 haps recollect as prominent members of the 
 plot. Flavius was the man who had once 
 undertaken to kill the emperor in the streets, 
 and while standing near him at the tribunal, 
 he made signs to the other conspirators that 
 he was ready to stab him to the heart now, 
 If they would but say the word. Bat Rufus 
 
A.D. 65.] The Conspirators. 255 
 
 Demeanor of Rufas In the garden. He is accused. 
 
 restrained Mm, anxiously signifying to him 
 that he was by no means to attempt it. Kufus 
 in fact seems to have been as weak-minded 
 and irresolute as Flavius was desperate and 
 bold. 
 
 In fact although Bufus, when summoned to 
 attend in the garden, for the trial of the con- 
 spirators, did not dare to disobey, he yet found 
 it very difficult to summon resolution to face 
 the appalling dangers of his position. He 
 took his place at last among the others, and 
 with a forced external composure which ill 
 concealed the desperate agitation and anxiety 
 which reigned in his soul, he gave himself to 
 the work of trying and condemning his con- 
 federates and companions. For a time no 
 one of them betrayed him. But at length dur- 
 ing the examination of Scevinus, in his solici- 
 tude to appear zealous in Nero's cause he 
 overacted his part, so far as to press Scevinus 
 too earnestly with his inquiries, until at 
 length Scevinus turned indignantly toward 
 Him saying — 
 
 "Why do you ask these questions? No 
 person in Rome knows more about this con- 
 spiracy than you, and if you feel so devoted 
 to this humane and virtuous prince of yours, 
 
256 N ero. [A.D. 05 
 
 Rufui begs for hla lite. Hlg execution. 
 
 Bhow your gratitude by telling him, yourself, 
 the whole story." 
 
 Rufoa was perfectly overwhelmed at this 
 •sudden charge, and could not say a word, 
 lie attempted to speak, but he faltered and 
 stammered, and then sank down into his seat, 
 pale and trembling, and covered with confu- 
 sion. Nero and the other members of the 
 tribunal were convinced of his guilt. He was 
 seized and put in irons, and after the same 
 summary trial to which the rest were subject- 
 ed, condemned to die. He begged for his 
 life with the most earnest and piteous lamen- 
 tations, but Nero was relentless, and he was 
 immediately beheaded. 
 
 The conspirator Flavius displayed a very 
 different temper. When he came to be ac- 
 cused, at first he denied the charge, and he 
 appealed to his whole past character and 
 course of life as proof of his innocence. 
 Those who had informed against him, how- 
 ever, soon furnished incontestable evidence 
 of his guilt, and then changing his ground, he 
 openly acknowledged his share in the con- 
 spiracy and gloried in it even in the presence 
 of Nero himself. When Nero asked him how 
 ae could so violate his oath of allegiance and 
 
A.P. 65.] The Conspirators. 25? 
 
 Tlarlna Is accused. His desperation. He Is executed. 
 
 fidelity as to conspire against the life of his 
 sovereign, he turned to him with looks of 
 open and angry defiance and said — 
 
 " It was because I hated and detested yon, 
 unnatural monster as you are. There was a 
 time when there was not a soldier in your ser 
 vice who was more devoted to you than I. 
 But that time has passed. You have drawn 
 upon yourself the detestation and abhorrence 
 of all mankind by your cruelties and your 
 crimes. You have murdered your mother. 
 You have murdered your wife. You are an 
 incendiary. And not content with perpetrat- 
 ing these enormous atrocities, you have de- 
 graded yourself in the eyes of all Rome to the 
 level of the lowest mountebank and buffoon, 
 so as to make yourself the object of contempt 
 as well as abhorrence. I hate and defy you." 
 
 Nero was of course astonished and almost 
 confounded at hearing such words. He had 
 never listened to language like this before. 
 His astonishment was succeeded by violent 
 rage, and he ordered Flavius to be led out to 
 immediate execution. 
 
 The centurion to whom the execution waa 
 committed conducted Flavius without the city 
 to a field, and then set the soldiers at work to 
 15—17 
 
258 Nero. [A.D. 65 
 
 The execution of Flarlas. The executioner's fears. 
 
 dig the grave, as was customary at military 
 executions, while he made the other necessary 
 preparations. The soldiers, in their haste, 
 shaped the excavation rudely and imperfectly. 
 Flavius ridiculed their work, asking them, in 
 a tone of contempt, if they considered that the 
 proper way to dig a military grave. And 
 when at length, after all the preparations had 
 been made, and the fatal moment had ar- 
 rived, the tribune who was in command called 
 upon him to uncover his neck and stand forth 
 courageously to meet his fate — he replied by 
 exhorting the officer himself to be resolute 
 and firm. "See," said he, "if you can show 
 as much nerve in striking the blow, as I can 
 in meeting it." To cut down such a man, 
 under such circumstances, was of course a 
 very dreadful duty, even for a Roman sol- 
 dier, and the executioner faltered greatly in 
 the performance of it. The decapitation 
 should have been effected by a single blow ; 
 but the officer found his strength failing him 
 wken he came to strike, so that a second blow 
 was necessary to complete the severance of 
 the head from the body. The tribune was 
 afraid that this, when represented to Nero, 
 might bring him under suspicion, as if it in 
 
A.D. 65.] The Consptritohs. 259 
 
 .■^---ca. Hie chaj-acwr and public poMca 
 
 dicated sorne shrinking on his part from a 
 prompt and vigorous action in puttie*: down 
 the conspiracy ; and so on his return to Nero 
 he boasted of his performance as if it had 
 been just as he intended. " I made the trai 
 tor die twice," said he, "by taking two Mom 
 to dispatch him." 
 
 But perhaps the most melancholy of all the 
 results of this most unfortunate conspiracy, 
 was the fate of Seneca. Sc-neca, it will be 
 remembered, had been Nero's instructor and 
 guardian in former years, and subsequently 
 one of his chief ministers of state. He was 
 now almost seventy years 01 age, and besides 
 the veneration in which he was held on this 
 account, and the respect that was paid to the 
 exalted position which he had occupied for so 
 long a period, he was very highly esteemed for 
 his intellectual endowments and foi his private 
 character. His numerous writings, in fact, 
 had acquired for him an extensive literary 
 fame. 
 
 But Xero hated him. He had long wished 
 him out of the way. It was currently reported, 
 and generally believed, that he had attempted 
 to poison him. However this may be, he 
 certainly desired to find some cccasion of pro- 
 
260 Nebo. [A.D. 65 
 
 Evidence against Seneca. • Hii Journey to Rome. 
 
 ceeding against him, and such an occasion 
 was furnished by the developments connected 
 with this conspiracy. 
 
 Natalis, in the course of his testimony, said 
 that he supposed that Seneca was concerned 
 in the plot, for he recollected that he was 
 once sent to him, while he was confined to his 
 house by illness, with a message from Piso. 
 The message was, that Piso had repeatedly 
 called at his, that is, Seneca's house, but had 
 been unable to obtain admittance. The an- 
 swer which Seneca had returned was, that the 
 reason why he had not received visitors was, 
 that the state of his health was very infirm, 
 but that he entertained none but friendly 
 feelings toward Piso, and wished him pros- 
 perity and success. 
 
 Nero determined to consider this as proof 
 that Seneca was privy to the conspiracy, and 
 that he secretly abetted it. At least he de- 
 termined, for a first step, to send an ofiicei 
 with a band of armed men to arrest him, and 
 to lay the crime to his charge. Seneca was 
 not in the city at this time. He had been 
 absent in Campania, which was a beautiful 
 rural region, south of Rome, back from Mis- 
 enum. He was, however, that very day on 
 
A.D. 65.J The Conspirators. 261 
 
 Senecm arrested. Hi* defence. Tbe officer's report. 
 
 his return to Rome, and Silvanus, the officei 
 whom Nero sent to him, met him on the way, 
 at a villa which he possessed a few miles from 
 Rome. The name of this villa was Nomen- 
 tanuni.* Seneca had stopped at the villa to 
 spend the night, and was seated at the table 
 with Paulina his wife, when Silvanus and his 
 troop arrived. 
 
 The soldiers surrounded the house, so as to 
 prevent all possibility of escape, and posted 
 sentinels at the doors. Silvanus and some of 
 his associates then went in, and entering the 
 hall where Seneca was at supper, they in 
 formed him for what purpose they were come. 
 Silvanus repeated what Natalis had testified 
 in respect to the messages which had passed 
 between Seneca and Piso. Seneca admitted 
 that the statement was true, but he declared 
 that the word which he had sent to Piso was 
 only an ordinary message of civility and 
 friendliness ; it meant nothing more. Find- 
 ing that no tarther explanation could be ob- 
 tained, Silvanus left Seneca in his villa, with 
 a strong guard posted around the house, and 
 returned to Rome to report to Nero. 
 
 When Nero had heard the report, he asked 
 
 * See map. Frontispiece. 
 17 
 
262 .Nero. [A.D. 65 
 
 Nero decides that Sense* must die. 
 
 Silvanus whether Seneca appeared suffi- 
 ciently terrified by the accusation to make 
 it probable that he would destroy himself 
 that night.* Silvanus answered no. " He 
 displayed," said he, " no marks of fear. 
 There was no agitation, no sign of regret, no 
 token of sorrow. His words and looks be- 
 spoke a mind calm, confident and firm." 
 
 " Go to him," rejoined Xero, " and tell 
 him that he must make up his mind to die." 
 
 Silvanus was thunderstruck at receiving 
 this order. He could not believe it possible 
 that Kero would really put to death a man so 
 venerable in years and wisdom, who had been 
 to him all his life, in the place of a father. 
 Instead of proceeding directly to Seneca's 
 house he went to consult with the captain of 
 the guard, who, though really one of the con- 
 spirators, had not yet been accused, and wa3 
 still at liberty, though trembling with appre- 
 
 * It seems to have been considered by public men in those 
 days, that to resolve on self-destruction was a much more 
 honorable course to pursue in an extreme emergency like 
 thjs, than to wait to be condemned and executed by the of- 
 ficers of the law. The attempt to frighten a man into tho 
 act of killing himself wa= accordingly one of the various 
 modes which a tyrant might resort to, tc remove those who 
 were obnoxious to him. 
 
A.D. 65.] The Conspirators. 263 
 
 The death of Seneca. Grief and despair of Paulina. 
 
 hension at the imminence of his clanger. The 
 captain, after hearing the case, said that 
 nothing was to be done but to deliver the 
 message. Silvanus then went to Seneca's 
 villa, but not being able to endure the thought 
 of being himself the bearer of such tidings, 
 sent in a centurion with the message. 
 
 Seneca received it with calm composure, 
 and immediately made preparations for tei 
 minating his life. His wife Paulina insisted 
 on sharing his fate. He gathered his friends 
 around him to give them his parting counsels 
 and bid them farewell, and ordered his ser- 
 vants to make the necessary preparations for 
 opening his veins. Then ensued one of those 
 sad and awful scenes of mourning and death, 
 with which the page of ancient history is so 
 often darkened — forming pictures, as they do, 
 too shocking to be exhibited in full detail. 
 The calm composure of Seneca, was con- 
 trasted on the one hand with the bitter an- 
 guish and loud lamentations of his domestics 
 and friends, and on the other with Paulina's 
 mute despair. "When the veins were opened, 
 the blood at first would not flow, and various 
 artificial means were resorted to, to accelerate 
 the extinction of life ; at last, however, Sen- 
 
264 Nero. [A.D. 65 
 
 They save Paulina's life. The consul Vestinuf. 
 
 eca ceased to breathe. The domestics of the 
 family then begged and entreated the soldiers 
 with many tears, that they might be allowed 
 to 6ave Paulina if it were not too late. The 
 soldiers consented ; so the women bound up 
 ner wounds, as she lay insensible and help- 
 less before them, and thus stopping the far- 
 ther effusion of blood, they watched over her 
 with assiduous care, in hopes to restore her. 
 They succeeded. They brought her back to 
 life, or rather to a semblance of life ; for she 
 never really recovered so as to be herself 
 again, during the few lonely and desolate 
 years through which she afterward lingered. 
 
 There was another Roman citizen of the 
 highest rank who fell an innocent victim to 
 the angry passions which the discovery of 
 this plot awakened in Nero's mind. It was 
 the consul Yestinus. Yestinus was a man 
 3f great loftiness of character, and had never 
 evinced that pliancy of temper, and that sub- 
 missivenes8 to the imperial will, which Nero 
 required. His position, too, as consul, which 
 was the highest civil office in the common- 
 wealth, gave him a vast influence over the 
 people of Rome, so that Nero feared as well 
 as hated him. In fact, so great was his m 
 
A.D. 65.] The Conspirators. 265 
 
 Large force sent to arrest V ostium. 
 
 dependence of character, and his intracta- 
 bility, as it was sometimes called, that the 
 conspirators, after mature deliberation, had 
 concluded not to propose to him to engage in 
 the plot. But, though he was thus innocent, 
 Nero did not certainly know the fact, and, at 
 any rate, such an opportunity to effect the 
 destruction of a hated rival, was too good to 
 be lost. Very soon, therefore, after the dis- 
 closure of the conspiracy had been made, 
 Nero sent a tribune, at the head of five hun- 
 dred men, to arrest the consul. 
 
 This large force was designated for the ser- 
 vice, partly because, — on account of the high 
 rank and office of the accused, — Nero did not 
 know what means of resistance the consul 
 might be able to command, and partly be- 
 cause his house, which was situated in the 
 most public part of the city, overlooking the 
 Forum, was in itself a sort of citadel, of 
 which the various officers of Vestinus's house- 
 nold, and his numerous retainers, constituted 
 a sort of garrison. It happened that, at the 
 time when Nero sent his troop to make the 
 arrest, Vestinus was entertaining a large 
 partv of friends at supper. The festivities 
 were suddenly interrupted, and the whole 
 
866 Nero. [A.D. 65 
 
 Vertlnua arrested. His extraordinary fata. 
 
 company were thrown into a state of the most 
 frightful excitement and confusion, by the 
 sudden onset of this large body of armed 
 men, who besieged the doors, blocked up all 
 the avenues of approach, and, surrounding 
 and guarding the house on every side, shut 
 all the inmates in, as if they were investing 
 the castle of an enemy. Certain soldiers of 
 the guard were then sent in to Vestinus in 
 the banqueting-room, to inform him that the 
 tribune wished to speak with him on impor- 
 tant business. 
 
 The consul knew the character of Nero, 
 and the feelings which the tyrant entertained 
 toward him too well, and saw too clearly the 
 advantage which the discovery of the conspir- 
 acy gave to Nero, not to perceive at once that 
 his fate was sealed ; and the action which he 
 took in this frightful emergency comported 
 well with his insubmissive and intractable 
 character. Instead of obeying the summons 
 of the tribune, he repaired immediately to a 
 private apartment, summoned his physician, 
 directed a bath to be prepared, ordered the 
 physician to open his veins, lay down in the 
 bath to promote the flowing of the blood, and 
 in a few minutes ceased to breathe. 
 
A.D.65J The Conspieaiors. 267 
 
 Nero i9 pleased. The guests at Vestinus's supper 
 
 The announcement of the consul's death, 
 when it came to be reported to Nero, of 
 course gave him great satisfaction. lie con- 
 tinued the guards, however, still about the 
 house, keeping the guests imprisoned in the 
 bancjueting-room for many hours. Of course, 
 during all this time, the minds of these 
 guests were in a state of extreme distress and 
 apprehension, inasmuch as every one of them 
 must necessarily have felt in immediate dan- 
 ger. "When the anxiety and agitation which 
 they felt, was reported to Nero, he was 
 greatly entertained by it, and said that they 
 were paying for their consular supper. He 
 kept them in this state of suspense until 
 nearly morning, and then ordered the guards 
 to be withdrawn. 
 
 The number of victims who were sacrificed 
 to Nero's resentment in consequence of this 
 conspiracy, was very large ; so that the streets 
 were filled with executions and with funeral 
 processions for many days. Universal grief 
 and panic prevailed, and yet no one dared 
 to manifest the slightest indications of sorrow 
 or of fear. The people supposed that pity for 
 the sufferers, or anxiety for themselves, would 
 be interpreted as proofs that they had been 
 
268 Neko. [A.D. 65. 
 
 Appearances of public rejoicing. 
 
 concerned in the conspiracy ; for multitudes 
 of those who had been put to death, were 
 condemned on pretexts and pretended proofs 
 )f the most frivolous character. Every one, 
 Jierefore, even of those whose nearest and 
 dearest friends had been killed, was com- 
 pelled to assume all the appearances of ex- 
 travagant joy that so wicked a plot against 
 the life of so vise and excellent a prince, had 
 been exposed, and the guilty devisers of it 
 brought to punishment. Parents whose sons 
 had been slain, and wives and children who 
 had lost their husbands and fathers, were 
 thus compelled to unite in the congratulations 
 and expressions of joy which were every- 
 where addressed to the emperor. Proces- 
 sions were formed, addresses were made, sac- 
 rifices were offered, games, spectacles, and 
 illuminations without number were celebrated, 
 to testify to the general rejoicing; and thus 
 the city presented all the outward appear- 
 ances of universal gladness and joy, while, in 
 truth, the hearts of men were everywhere 
 overwhelmed with anxiety, grief, and fear. 
 
 ~W"hen at length a sufficient number of the 
 citizens of Rome had been destroyed, Nero 
 assembled the army, and after making an 
 
A..D. 65.] The Conspikatoes. 269 
 
 Nero grants gifts to the army and to the people. 
 
 address to the troops on the subject of the 
 conspiracy, and on his happy escape from the 
 danger, he divided an immense sum of money 
 from the public treasury among the soldiers, 
 ?o as to give a very considerable largess tc 
 each man. He also distributed among them 
 a vast amount of provisions from the public 
 granaries. This act, and the connection be- 
 tween Nero and the troops which it illustrates, 
 explain what would otherwise seem an in- 
 scrutable mystery, namely, how it can be 
 possible for one man to bring the immense 
 population of such an empire as that of ancient 
 Rome so entirely under his power, that any 
 number of the most prominent and influential 
 of the citizens shall be siezed and beheaded, 
 or thrust through the heart with swords and 
 daggers at a word or a nod from him. The 
 
 Co 
 
 explanation is, the army. Give to the single 
 tyrant one or two hundred thousand desper- 
 adoes, well banded together, and completely 
 armed, under a compact between them by 
 which he says, " Help me to control, to domi- 
 neer over, and to plunder the industnal 
 «lasses of society, and I will give you a large 
 share of the spoil," and the work is very easy 
 The governments that have existed in the 
 
270 Neko. [A.D. 65 
 
 Nature of despotic goYernment Secret of their power. 
 
 world have generally been formed on this 
 plan. They have been simply vast armies 
 authorized to collect their own pay by the 
 systematic plunder of the millions whose 
 peaceful industry feeds and clothes the world. 
 The remedy which mankind is now beginning 
 to discover and apply is equally simple. The 
 millions who do the work are learning to keep 
 the arms in their own hands, and to forbid 
 the banding together of masses of troops for 
 the purpose of exalting pride and cruelty to 
 a position of absolute and irresponsible power. 
 In Nero's case, so great was the awe which 
 the terrible power of the Roman legions in- 
 spired, that even the Senate bowed humbly 
 before it, and joined in the general adulation 
 of the hated tyrant. They decreed oblations 
 and public thanksgivings ; they erected new 
 temples to express their gratitude to the gods 
 for so signal a deliverance ; they instituted 
 new games and festivities to express the gene- 
 ral joy, and erected statues and monuments 
 in honor of those who had contributed to the 
 discovery of the plot. The knife or dagger 
 which Milichus had produced as the one by 
 which Nero was to have been slain, was pre- 
 served as a sacred relic. A suitable inscrip- 
 
A.D. 65.] The Conspirators. £71 
 
 Doubt In respect to Pise's conspiracy. 
 
 tion was placed upon it, and it was deposited, 
 with all solemnity, in one of the temples of 
 tne city, there to remain a memorial of the 
 event for all future generations. In a word, 
 the tyrant's escape from death called forth 
 all the outward manifestations of joy which 
 could have been deserved by the greatest 
 public benefactor. 
 
 And yet, notwithstanding all this, such was 
 the estimate which public sentiment really 
 entertained of the true character of Nero, that 
 it was considered extremely doubtful at the 
 time, and has, in fact, been so considered ever 
 since, whether there ever was any conspiracy 
 at all. It was very extensively believed that 
 the whole pretended discovery of the plot waa 
 an ingenious device on the part of Nero, to 
 furnish him with plausible pretexts for de- 
 stroying a great number of men who were 
 personally obnoxious to him. And were it 
 not almost impossible to believe that such 
 monstrous wickedness and tyranny as that of 
 Nero could riot so long over Romans without 
 arousing them to some desperate attempts to 
 destroy him, we might ourselves adopt this 
 view, and suppose that this celebrated plot 
 was wholly a fabrication. 
 
272 Nero. [A.D. 65 
 
 Nero becomes mora depraved and abandoned than ever. 
 
 Chapter XII. 
 The Expedition into Greece. 
 
 AS the excitement which had been pro- 
 duced by the discovery, real or pre- 
 tended, of Piso's conspiracy, and by the innu- 
 merable executions which were attendant 
 upon it, passed away, Nero returned to his 
 usual mode of life, and in fact abandoned 
 himself to the indulgence of his brutal pro- 
 pensities and passions more recklessly than 
 ever. He spent his days in sloth, and his 
 nights in rioting and carousals, and was rap- 
 idly becoming an object of general contempt 
 and detestation. The only ambition which 
 eeemed to animate him was to excel, or rather 
 to have the credit of excelling, as a player 
 and singer on the public stage. 
 
 Not long after the period of the conspiracy 
 described in the last two chapters, and when 
 the excitement connected with it had in some 
 measure subsided, the attention of the public 
 began to be turned toward a great festival, the 
 time for which was then approaching. This 
 
A^D. 65.] The Expeditios. 273 
 
 Nero appears on ihe public ftig*. 
 
 festival was celebrated with spectacle? and 
 games of various kinds, which were called 
 the quinquennial games, from the circum- 
 stance that the period for the celebration of 
 them recurred once in five years. A prima 
 pal part of the performances on these occa- 
 sions consisted oi contests for prizes, which 
 were offered for those who chose to compete 
 for them. Some of these prizes were for those 
 who excelled in athletic exercises, and in 
 feats of strength and dexterity, while others 
 were for singers and dancers, and other per- 
 formers on the public stage. Nero could not 
 resist the temptation to avail himself of this 
 grand occasion for the display of his powers, 
 and he prepared to appear among the other 
 actors and mountebanks as a competitor for 
 the theatrical prizes. 
 
 Performers on the public stage were re- 
 garded in ancient days much as they are 
 now. They were applauded, flattered, ca- 
 ressed, and most extravagantly paid ; but 
 after all they formed a social class distinct 
 r rom all others, and of a very low grade. 
 Jnst as now great public singers are rewarded 
 sometimes with the most princely revennes, — 
 
 not twice or three times, but ten times per 
 15— IS 
 
274 1ST e bo. [A.D. 65. 
 
 Estimation in which p layer* were held. 
 
 haps the amount ever paid to the highest 
 ministers of state, — and receive the most flat- 
 tering attentions from the highest classes of 
 society, and are followed by crowds in the 
 public streets, and enter cities escorted by 
 grand processions, while yet there is scarce a 
 respectable citizen of the better class who 
 would not feel himself demeaned at seeing 
 his son or his daughter on the stage by their 
 side. 
 
 In the same manner public sentiment was 
 such in the city of Rome, in Nero's day, that 
 to see the chief military magistrate of the 
 commonwealth publicly performing on the 
 stage, and entering into an eager competition 
 with the singing men and women, the low 
 comedians, the dancers, the buffoons, and 
 other such characters, that figured there, was 
 a very humiliating spectacle. In fact, when 
 the time for the quinquennial celebration ap- 
 proached, the government attempted to pre- 
 vent the necessity of the emperor's actual ap- 
 pearing upon the stage, by passing in the 
 Senate, among other decrees relating to the 
 celebrations, certain votes awarding honorary 
 crowns and prizes to Nero, by anticipation, — 
 thus acknowledging him to be the first with- 
 
A.D. 65.] The Expeditiok. 275 
 
 Action of the Senate. Theatrical exdtennnta. 
 
 out requiring the test of actual competition. 
 But this did not satisfy Nero. In fact, the 
 honor of being publicly proclaimed victor was 
 not probably the chief allurement which at- 
 tracted him. He wished to enjoy the excite- 
 ment and the pleasure of the contest, — to see 
 the yast audience assembled before him, and 
 held in charmed and enraptured attention by 
 his performance ; and to listen to and enjoy 
 the triumphant grandeur of the applause 
 which rolled and reyerberated in the great 
 Roman amphitheaters on such occasions with 
 the sound of thunder. In a word it was the 
 yanity of personal display, rather than ambi- 
 tion for an honorable distinction, that con- 
 stituted the motiye which actuated him. 
 
 He consequently disregarded the honorary 
 awards which the Senate had decreed him, 
 and insisted on actually appearing on the 
 stage. His first performance was the reciting 
 of a poem which he had composed. The 
 poem was receiyed, of course, with unbounded 
 applause. Afterward he appeared on the 
 6tage in competition with the harpers and 
 other musical performers. The populace ap- 
 plauded his efforts with the greatest enthu- 
 liasm, while the more respectable citizeni 
 
276 Nero. [A.D. 66. 
 
 Humiliating demeanor of the emperor. 
 
 were silent, or spoke to each other in secret 
 murmurs of discontent and disapproval. 
 There were a great many rules and restric- 
 tions which the candidates in these contests 
 were required to observe ; and though they 
 were all proper enough for the class of men 
 for whom they were intended, were yet such 
 ihat the emperor, in subjecting himself to 
 'hem, placed himself in a very low and de- 
 ftradt/d pjsition, so as to become an object of 
 ridicule and contempt. For example, after 
 coming to the end of a performance on the 
 harp, he would advance to the front of the 
 stage, and there, after the manner customary 
 among the players of that day, would knee] 
 down in an imploring attitude, with his hands 
 raised, as if humbly soliciting a favorable sen- 
 tence from the audience, as his judges, and 
 tremblingly waiting their decision. This, 
 considering that the suppliant performer waa 
 the greatest potentate on earth, officially re 
 sponsible for the government of half the world, 
 and the audience before whom he was kneel- 
 ing was mainly composed of the lowest rabble 
 of the city, seemed to every respectable Ro- 
 man, absurd and ridiculous to the last degree. 
 Nevertheless, the fame of these exploits 
 
A..D. 66.] The Expedition. 277 
 
 Rewards and honore conferred upon Nero. 
 
 performed by Nero as a public actor, spread 
 gradually throughout the empire, and the 
 •ubject attracted special attention in the cities 
 of Greece, where games and public spectacles 
 of every kind were celebrated with the great- 
 est pomp and splendor. Several of these 
 cities sent deputations to Rome, with crowns 
 and garlands for the emperor, which they had 
 decreed to him in honor of the skill and su- 
 periority which he had displayed in the his- 
 trionic art. Xero was extremely gratified at 
 having such honors conferred upon him. He 
 received the deputations which brought these 
 tokens, with great pomp and parade, as if they 
 had been embassadors from sovereign princes 
 or states, sent to transact business of the most 
 momentous concern. He gave them audience. 
 in fact, before all others, and entertained 
 them with feasts and spectacles, and conferred 
 upon them every other mark of public con- 
 sideration and honor. On one occasion, at a 
 feast to which he had invited such a company 
 of embassadors, one of them asked him to fa 
 vur them with a song. The emperor at once 
 complied, and sang a song for the entertain 
 iaent of the company at the table. He was 
 -apturously applauded, and was so delighted 
 18 
 
278 Nebo. [A.D. «« 
 
 The Olympic gamM. The plain. Kukw. 
 
 with the enthusiasm which his performance 
 awakened, as to exclaim that the Greeks were, 
 after all, the only people that really had a 
 taste for music ; none but they, he said, could 
 understand or appreciate a good song. 
 
 The most renowned of all the celebrationb 
 of the ancient Greeks were the Olympic 
 games. These games constituted a grand 
 national festival, which was held once in four 
 years on a plain in the western part of the 
 Peloponnesus, called the Olympian Plain. 
 This plain was but little more than a mile in 
 extent, and was bordered on one side by 
 rocky hills, and on the other by the waters of 
 a river. Here suitable structures were erected 
 for the exhibition of the spectacles and games, 
 and for the accommodation of the spectators, 
 and when the period for the celebrations ar- 
 rived, immense multitudes assembled from 
 every part of Greece to witness the solemni- 
 ties. The spectators, however, were all men ; 
 for with the exception of a few priestesses wao 
 had certain official duties to perform, no fe- 
 males were allowed to be present. The pun- 
 ishment for an attempt to evade this law was 
 death ; for if any woman attempted to witness 
 the scene in disguise, the law was that she 
 
A.D. 66.] The Expedition. 279 
 
 Preliminary arrangements of the Olympic games. 
 
 was to be seized, if detected, and hurled down 
 a neighboring precipice, to be killed by the 
 fall. It is said, however, that only one case 
 of such detection ever occurred, and in that 
 case the woman was pardoned in considera- 
 tion of the fact that her father, her brothers, 
 and her son had all been victors in the games. 
 The games continued for five days. The 
 general arrangements were made, and the 
 umpires were appointed, by the government 
 of Elis, which was the state in which the 
 Olympian plain was situated. There was a 
 gymnasium in the vicinity, where those who 
 intended to enter the lists as competitors were 
 accustomed to put themselves in training. 
 This training occupied nearly a year, and for 
 thirty days previous to the public exhibition 
 the exercises were conducted at this gymna- 
 sium in the same manner and form as at the 
 games themselves. There was a large and 
 regularly organized police provided to pre- 
 serve order, and umpires appointed with great 
 formality, to decide the contests and make 
 the awards. These umpires were inducted 
 intc office by the most solemn oaths. They 
 bound themselves by these oaths to give just 
 and true decisions without fear or favor. 
 
280 Nero. [A.D. 66. 
 
 Various contests and spectacles at the Olympic games. 
 
 The festival was opened, when the time 
 arrived, in the evening, by the offering of sac- 
 rifices, — the services being conducted in the 
 most imposing and solemn manner. On the 
 following morning at daybreak the games 
 and contests began. These consisted of races 
 — in chariots, on horseback, and on foot, — the 
 runners being in the latter case sometimes 
 dressed lightly, and sometimes loaded with 
 heavy armor; — of matches in leaping, wrest- 
 ling, boxing, and throwing the discus ; — and 
 finally, of musical and poetical performances 
 of various kinds. To obtain the prize in any 
 of these contests was considered throughout 
 the whole Grecian world as an honor of the 
 highest degree. 
 
 The period for the celebration of these 
 games began to draw nigh, as it happened, 
 not long after the time when the deputations 
 from Greece came to Nero with the compli- 
 ments and crowns decreed to him in token of 
 their admiration of his public performances at 
 Rome, — and it is not at all surprising that his 
 attention and interest were strongly awakened 
 by the approach of so renowned a festival. 
 In short he resolved to go to Greece, and dis- 
 play his powers before the immense and dis- 
 
A.D. 66.] The Expedition. 281 
 
 Nero wis oat for Greece. Hli retinue. 
 
 tinguished audiences that were to assemble on 
 the Olympic plains. 
 
 lie accordingly organized a very large reti- 
 aue of attendants and followers, and prepared 
 to set out on his journey. This retinue was 
 in numbers quite an army; but in character 
 it was a mere troop of actors, musicians and 
 buffoons. It was made up almost wholly of 
 people connected in various ways with the 
 stage, so that the baggage which followed in 
 its train, instead of being formed of arms and 
 munitions of war, as was usual when a great 
 Roman commander had occasion to pass out 
 of Italy, consisted of harps, fiddles, masks, 
 buskins, and such other stage property as was 
 in use in those times, — while the company 
 itself was formed almost entirely of come- 
 dians, singers, dancers, and wrestlers, with an 
 immense retinue of gay and dissipated men 
 and women, who exemplified every possible 
 sthge of moral debasement and degradation. 
 "With this company Xero crossed to the east- 
 ern shore of Italy, and there, embarking on 
 board the vessels which had been prepared 
 for the voyage, he sailed over the Adriatic 
 sea tc the shores of Greece. 
 
 He landed at Cassiope, a town in the north- 
 
282 Nero. [A.D. 6& 
 
 Hero's progress through Greece. Crowds of auditors. 
 
 ern part of the island of Corcyra. Here there 
 was a temple to Jupiter, and the first of Nero's 
 exploits was to go there and sing, being im- 
 patient, it would seem, to give the people of 
 Greece a specimen of his powers immediately 
 on landing. After this he passed over to the 
 continent, and thence advanced into the heart 
 of Greece, playing, singing, and acting in all 
 the cities through which he passed. As there 
 were yet some months to elapse before the pe- 
 riod for celebrating the Olympic games, Nero 
 had ample time for making this tour. He was 
 of course everywhere received with the most 
 unbounded applause, for of course those only, 
 in general, who were most pleased with such 
 amusements, and were most inclined to ap- 
 prove of Nero's exhibiting himself as a per- 
 former, came together in the assemblies which 
 convened to hear him. Thus it happened that 
 the virtuous, the cultivated, and the refined, 
 remained at their homes ; while all the idle, 
 reckless, and dissolute spirits of the land 
 flocked in crowds to the entertainments which 
 their imperial visitor offered them. These 
 men, of course, considered it quite a triumph 
 for them that so distinguished a potentate 
 should take an active part in ministering to 
 
A.D. 66.] The Expedition. 283 
 
 Nero to receded with great applauM. 
 
 their pleasures ; and thus wherever Nero went 
 he was sure to be attended by crowds, and 
 his performances, whether skillful or not, could 
 Dot fail of being extravagantly extolled in 
 conversation, and of eliciting in the theaters 
 thunders of applause. The consequence was 
 that Nero was delighted with the enthusiasm 
 which his performances seemed everywhere 
 to awaken. To be thus received and thus 
 applauded in the cities of Greece, seemed to 
 satisfy his highest ambition. 
 
 It has always been considered a very extra 
 ordinary proof of mental and moral degrada- 
 tion on the part of Nero, that he could thus 
 descend from the exalted sphere of responsi- 
 bility and duty to which his high official sta- 
 tion properly consigned him, in order to min- 
 gle in such scenes and engage in such contests 
 as were exhibited in the ordinary theaters and 
 circuses in Greece. It is however not so sur- 
 prising that he should have been willing to 
 appear as a competitor at the Olympic games : 
 bo prominent were these games above all the 
 other athletic and military celebrations of that 
 age, and so great was the value attached to the 
 honor of a victory obtained in them. There 
 was, it is true, no value in the prize itself. 
 
284 Nebo. [A.D. 66. 
 
 The crown of olive leaves. Oeremo&iet. 
 
 that was bestowed upon the victors. Ttere 
 was do silver cup, or golden crown, or sum of 
 money staked upon the issue. The only di- 
 rect award was a crown of olive leaves, which, 
 at the close of the contest, was placed upon 
 the head of the victor. Everything pertain- 
 ing to this crown was connected with the 
 most imposing and peculiar ceremonies. The 
 leaves from which the garland was made were 
 obtained from a certain sacred olive-tree, 
 which grew in a consecrated grove in Olym- 
 pia. The tree itself had been originally 
 brought, it was said, from the country of the 
 Hyperboreans, by Hercules, and planted in 
 Olympia, where it was sacredly preserved to 
 furnish garlands for the victors in the games. 
 The leaves were cut from the tree by a boy 
 chosen for the purpose. He gathered the 
 leaves by means of a golden sickle, which was 
 set apart expressly to this use. When the 
 time arrived for the crowning of the victor, 
 the candidate was brought forward in presence 
 of a vast concourse of spectators, and placed 
 tpon a tripod, which was originally formed 
 of bronze, but in subsequent ages was wrought 
 in ivory and gold. Branches of palm-trees, 
 the usual symbols of victory, were placed iD 
 
A.D. 66.] The Expedition. 285 
 
 Sacrifices and festivities. Hero at Olympia. 
 
 his hands. His name and that of his father 
 and of the country whence he came, were 
 proclaimed with great ceremony by the her- 
 alds. The crown was then placed upon hi? 
 nead, and the festival ended with proces 
 sions and sacrifices and a public banquet 
 given in honor of the occasion. On his re- 
 turn to his own country, the victor entered 
 the capital by a triumphal procession, and 
 was usually rewarded there by immunities and 
 privileges of the most important character. 
 
 At length the time arrived for the celebra- 
 tion of the Olympic games, and Nero repaired 
 to the spot, following the vast throngs that 
 were proceeding thither from every part of 
 Greece, and there entered into competition 
 with all the common singers and players of 
 the time. The prize for excellence in music 
 was awarded to him. It was, however, gen- 
 erally understood that the judges were bribed 
 to decide in his favor. Nero entered as a 
 competitor, too, in the chariot race ; and heie 
 he was successful in winning the prize ; 
 though in this case it was decreed to him in 
 plain and open violation of all rule. He un- 
 dertook to drive ten horses in this race ; but 
 he found the team too much for him to con- 
 
286 Nero. [A J). 65 
 
 The chariot race. Nero receives the prliea. 
 
 trol. The horses became unmanageable ; Nero 
 was thrown out of his carriage and was so 
 much hurt that he could not finish the race at 
 all. He, however, insisted that accidents and 
 casualties were not to be taken into the ac- 
 count, and that inasmuch as he should cer- 
 tainly have outran his competitors if he had 
 not been prevented by misfortune, he claimed 
 that the judges should award him the prize. 
 Greatly to his delight the judges did so. Ii 
 is true they were bound by the most solemn 
 oaths to make just and true decisions ; but it 
 has been seldom found in the history of the 
 world that official oaths constitute any serious 
 barrier against the demands or encroachments 
 of emperors or kings. 
 
 When the games were ended Nero con- 
 ferred very rich rewards upon all the judges. 
 
 These successes at the Olympic games, 
 nominal and empty as they really were, seem- 
 ed to have inflamed the emperor's vanity and 
 ambition more than ever. Instead of return 
 ing to Rome he commenced another tour 
 through the heart of Greece, singing and 
 playing in all the cities where he went, and 
 challenging all the most distinguished actors 
 
A.D. 66.] The Expedition. 987 
 
 Nero sends despatches to Rome. 
 
 and performers to meet him and contend witb 
 lrim for prizes. 
 
 Of course the prizes were always awarded 
 to Nero on this tour, as they had been at the 
 Olympic games. Nero sent home regular 
 dispatches after each of his performances, to 
 inform the Roman Senate of his victories, just 
 as former emperors had been accustomed to 
 send military bulletins to announce the prog- 
 ress of their armies, and the conquests which 
 they had gained in battle ; and with a degree 
 of vanity and folly which seems almost incred- 
 ible, he called upon the Senate to institute 
 religious celebrations and sacrifices in Rome, 
 and great public processions, in order to sig- 
 nalize and commemorate these great successes, 
 and to express the gratitude of the people t<> 
 the gods for having vouchsafed them. Not 
 satisfied with expecting this parade of public 
 rejoicing in Rome, he called upon the Senate 
 to ordain that similar services should be held 
 in all the cities and towns throughout the 
 empire. 
 
 During the visit of Nero to Greece, he en- 
 gaged in one undertaking which might be 
 denominated a useful enterprise, though he 
 managed it with such characteristic imbecil- 
 
288 Nero. [A.D. 66. 
 
 Bta plan for catting through the Isthmus of Corinth. 
 
 ity and folly, that it ended, as might hare 
 been foreseen, in a miserable failure. The 
 plan which he conceived, was to cut through 
 the Isthmus of Corinth, so as to open a ship 
 communication between the Ionian and the 
 ^Egean seas. Such a canal, he thought, 
 would save for many vessels the long and 
 dangerous voyage around the Peloponnesus, 
 and thus prevent many of the wrecks which 
 then annually took place on the shores of the 
 Peninsula, and which were often attended 
 with the destruction of much property and of 
 many lives. 
 
 The plan might thus have been a very good 
 one, had any proper and efficient means been 
 adopted for carrying it into execution; but 
 in all that he did in this respect, Nero seems 
 to have looked no farther than to the perform- 
 ance of pompous and empty ceremonies in 
 commencing the work. He convened a great 
 public assembly on the ground. He enter- 
 tained this assembly with spectacles and 
 shows. He thei. placed himself at the head 
 of his life-guards, and, after a speech of great 
 promise and pretension, he advanced at tho 
 head of a procession, singing and dancing by 
 the way, to the place where the first ground 
 
A..D. 66.] The Expedition. 2S9 
 
 Breaking fro and. The golden p;cx-&xe. 
 
 was to be broken. Here he made three 
 strokes with a golden pick-axe, which had 
 been provided for the occasion, and putting 
 the earth which he had loosened into a 
 basket he carried it away to a short distance, 
 and threw it ont npon the ground. This 
 ceremony was meant for the commencement 
 of the canal ; and when it was over, the 
 company dispersed, and Xero was escorted 
 by his guards back to the city of Corinth, 
 which lay at a few miles' distance from the 
 scene. 
 
 Nothing more was ever done. Xero issued 
 orders, it is true, that all the criminals, con- 
 victs, and prisoners in Greece, should be 
 transported to the Isthmus, and set to work 
 upon this canal ; and some Jewish captives 
 were actually employed there for a time ; 
 but, for some reason or other, nothing was 
 done. The actual work was never seriuusly 
 undertaken. 
 
 In the mean time, Xero had left the gov- 
 ernment at Rome in the hands of a certain 
 ignoble favorite, named Helius, who, being 
 placed in command of the army during his 
 roaster's absence, held the lives and fortunes 
 
 of all the inhabitants at his supreme disposal, 
 15—19 
 
290 Nebo. [A.B. 66 
 
 Hellas calls upon Nero to return to Borne. 
 
 and, as might have been expected, he pur- 
 sued such a career of cruelty and oppression, 
 in his attempts to overawe and subject those 
 who were under his power, that a universal 
 feeling of hostility and hatred was awakened 
 against him. Things at last assumed so 
 alarming an attitude, that Helius was terri- 
 fied in his turn, and at length he began to 
 send for Nero to come home. Nero at first 
 paid no attention to these requests. The 
 danger, however, increased ; the crisis be- 
 came extremely imminent, so that a general 
 insurrection was anticipated. Helius sent 
 messengers after messengers to Nero, implor- 
 ing him to return, if he wished to save him- 
 self from ruin ; — but all the answer that he 
 could obtain from Nero was, that, if Helius 
 truly loved him, he would not envy him the 
 glory that he was acquiring in Greece ; but, 
 instead of hastening his return, would rather 
 wish that he should come back worthy of 
 himself, after having fully accomplished hia 
 victories. At last Helius, growing desperate 
 in view of the impending danger, left Rome, 
 and, traveling with all possible dispatch, 
 night and day, came to Nero in Greece, and 
 there made such statements and disclosurea 
 
A.D. 66.] The Expedition. 291 
 
 N«ro return* HU train. HU prize*. 
 
 in respect to the condition of things at Rome, 
 that Nero at length reluctantly concluded to 
 return. 
 
 He accordingly set out in grand state on 
 his journey westward, escorted by his body- 
 guard, and with his motley and innumerable 
 horde of singers, dancers, poets, actors, and 
 mountebanks in his train. He brought with 
 him the prizes which he had won in the vari- 
 ous cities of Greece. The number of these 
 prizes, it was said, was more than eighteen 
 hundred. On his way through Greece, when 
 about to return to Rome, he went to Delphi, 
 to consult the sacred oracle there, in respect 
 to his future fortunes. The reply of the 
 Pythoness was, "Beware of seventy-three." 
 This answer gave Nero great satisfaction and 
 pleasure. It meant, he had no doubt, that 
 he had no danger to fear until he should have 
 attained to the age of seventy-three ; and as 
 he was yet not quite thirty, the response of 
 the oracle seemed to put so far away the evil 
 day, that he thought he might dismiss it from 
 his mind altogether. So he repaid the oracle 
 for the flattering prediction with most mag 
 nificent presents, and pursued his journey to 
 ward Rome with a mind quite at ease 
 
292 Nero. [A.D.66 
 
 Hii Toyige. Danger of shipwreck. Journey to Rome 
 
 The ships in which he embarked to cross 
 the Adriatic on his return to Italy encountered 
 a terrible storm, by which they were dis- 
 persed, and many of them were destroyed 
 Nero himself had a very narrow escape, at 
 tLe ship which he was in came very near be- 
 ing lost. To see him in this danger seems 
 greatly to have pleased some of his attend- 
 ants, for so imperious and cruel was his tem- 
 per, that he was generally hated by all who 
 came under his power. These men hated him 
 so intensely that they were willing, as it 
 would appear, to perish themselves, for the 
 pleasure of witnessing his destruction ; and in 
 the extreme moments of danger they openly 
 manifested this feeling. The vessel, however, 
 was saved, and Nero, as soon as he landed, or- 
 dered these persons all to be slain. 
 
 On landing he gathered together the scat- 
 tered remnants of his company, and organiz- 
 ing a new escort, he advanced toward Rome, 
 in a grand triumphal march, displaying his 
 prizes and crowns in all the great cities 
 through which he passed, and claiming uni- 
 versal homage. When he arrived at the 
 gates of Rome, he made preparations for a 
 grand triumphal entry to the city, in the man 
 
A .D. 66.] The Expedition. 293 
 
 HI* triumphal entry Into Rom*. 
 
 ner of great military conquerors. A breach 
 was made in the walls for the admission of 
 the procession. Nero rode in the trinmpnal 
 chariot of Augustus, with a distinguished 
 Greek harpist by his side, who wore an Olym- 
 pic crown upon his head, and carried another 
 crown in his hand. Before this chariot 
 marched a company of eighteen hundred 
 men, each of them carrying one of the crowns 
 which Nero had won, with an inscription for 
 the spectators to read, signifying where the 
 crown had been won, the name of the empe- 
 ror's competitor, the title of the song which 
 he had sung, and other similar particulars. 
 In this way he traversed the principal streets, 
 exhibiting himself and his trophies to the 
 populace, and finally when he arrived at his 
 house, he entered it with great pomp and 
 parade, and caused the crowns to be hung up 
 upon the innumerable statues of himself 
 which had been erected in the courts and 
 halls of the building. Those which he valued 
 most highly he placed conspicuously arour d 
 his bed in his bedchamber, in order that they 
 might be the last objects for his eyes to rest 
 upon at night, and the first to greet his new 
 in the morning. 
 19 
 
3594 Nkbo. [A.D.6« 
 
 HU proceeding*. He continue* the training of hi* rota*. 
 
 As soon as he became established in Rome 
 again, he began to form new plans for devel- 
 oping his powers and capacities as a musi- 
 cian, in the hope of gaining still higher tri- 
 omphs than those to which he had already 
 attained. Far from giving his time and at- 
 tention to the public business of the empire, 
 he devoted himself with new zeal and enthu- 
 siasm to the cultivation of his art. In doing 
 this it was necessary, according to the cus- 
 toms and usages in respect to the training ol 
 musicians that prevailed in those days, that 
 he should submit to rules and exercises most 
 absurd and degrading to one holding such a 
 station as his ; and as accounts of his mode 
 of life circulated among the community, he 
 became an object of general ridicule and con- 
 tempt. In order to strengthen his lungs and 
 improve his voice he used to lie on his back 
 with a plate of lead upon his chest, that the 
 lungs, working under such a burden, might 
 acquire strength by the effort. He took pow- 
 erful medicines, such as were supposed in 
 those days to act upon the system in such 
 a manner as to produce clearness and reso- 
 nance in the tones of the voice. He subjected 
 himself to the most rigid rules of diet, — and 
 
A.D. 66.] The Expedition. 295 
 
 Tbe Phooiscns. Public jyerforni&nw*. 
 
 gave up the practice of addressing the senate 
 and the army, -which the Roman emperors 
 often had occasion to do, for fear that speak- 
 ing so loud might strain his voice and injure 
 the sweetness of its tones. He had a special 
 officer in his household, called his Phonaacus^ 
 meaning his voice-keeper. This officer was 
 to watch him at all times, caution him against 
 speaking too loud or too fast, — prescribe far 
 him, and in every way take care that his 
 voice received no detriment. During all 
 this time Nero was continually performing in 
 public, and though his performances were 
 protracted and tedious to the last degree, all 
 the Roman nobility were compelled always to 
 attend them, under pain of his horrible dis- 
 pleasure. 
 
 As Nero went on thus in the career which 
 he had chosen, — neglecting altogether the 
 affairs of government, and giving himself up 
 more and more every year to the most ex- 
 pensive dissipation ; his finances became at 
 length greatly involved, and he was com- 
 pelled to resort to every possible form of 
 extortion, in order to raise the money that he 
 required. His pecuniary embarrassments be- 
 came, at length, very perplexing, and they 
 
296 Nero. [A.D. 66. 
 
 Pecuniary embaraasments. Besroi'f ttory. 
 
 were finally very much increased by the ex- 
 traordinary folly which he displayed in giv- 
 ing credence to the dreams and promises of 
 a certain adventurer who came to him from 
 Africa. The name of this man was Bessus. 
 He was a native of Carthage. He came, at 
 one time, to Rome, and having contrived, by 
 means of presents and bribes which he of- 
 fered to the officers of Nero's household, to 
 obtain an audience of the emperor, he in- 
 formed him that he had intelligence of the 
 highest importance to communicate, which 
 was, that on his estate in Africa, there was a 
 large cavern, in which was stored an immense 
 treasure. This treasure consisted, he said, 
 of vast heaps of golden ingots, rude and 
 shapeless in form, but composed of pure and 
 precious metal. The cavern, he said, which 
 contained these stores, was very spacious, and 
 the gold lay piled in it in heaps, and some- 
 times in solid columns, towering to a pro- 
 digious height. These treasures had been 
 deposited there, he said, by Dido, the ancient 
 Carthaginian queen, and they had remained 
 there so long, that all knowledge of them had 
 been lost. They had been reserved, in a 
 word, for Nero, and were all now at ois di» 
 
AJD. 66.] The Expedition. 297 
 
 Nero sends to Egypt for the treasure. 
 
 posal, ready to be brought out and employed 
 in promoting the glory and magnificence of 
 his reign. 
 
 Nero readily gave credit to this story, an 
 inasmuch as in the exuberance of his exulta- 
 tion he made known this wonderful discovery 
 to those around him, the tidings of it soon 
 spread throughout the city, and produced the 
 most intense excitement among all classes. 
 Nero i mm ediately began to fit out an expedi- 
 tion to proceed to Africa, and bring the treas- 
 ure home. Galleys were equipped to convey 
 it, and a body of troops was designated to es- 
 cort it, and suitable officers appointed to pro- 
 ceed with Bessus to Carthage, and superintend 
 the transportation of the metal. These prep- 
 arations necessarily required some time, and 
 during the interval Bessus was of course the 
 object at Kome of universal attention and re- 
 gard. Nero himself, finding that he was 
 about to enter upon the possession of 6uch in 
 exhaustible treasures, dismissed all concern in 
 respect to his finances, and launched out intc 
 wilder extravagance than ever. He raised 
 money for the present moment, by assigning 
 •hares »* the treasure at exorbitant rates of 
 
298 Nebo. [A.D.66 
 
 HU dliappolntment. Th* dream. 
 
 discount, and thus borrowed and expended 
 with the most unbounded profusion. 
 
 At length the expedition sailed for Car- 
 tilage, taking Bessus with them, — but all 
 search for the cavern, when they arrived, was 
 unavailing. It proved that all the evidence 
 which Bessus had of the existence of the cave, 
 and of the heaps of gold contained in it, was 
 derived from certain remarkable dreams which 
 he had had, — and though Nero's commission- 
 ers dug into the ground most faithfully in 
 every place on the estate which the d* earns 
 had indicated, no treasure, and not even the 
 cavern, could ever be found. 
 
A.D. 66.] Nkbo's End. 299 
 
 G*ib4. Hit hUtory. Hi* pportae* 
 
 Chiptee XIII. 
 Xebo'8 End. 
 
 THE successor of Nero in the line of Ro 
 man emperors, was Galba. Galba, though 
 a son of one of the most illustrious Roman 
 families, was born in Spain, and he was about 
 forty years older than Nero, being now over 
 seventy, while Nero was yet but thirty years 
 of age. 
 
 During the whole course of his life, Galba 
 had been a very distinguished commander, 
 and had risen from one post of influence and 
 honor to another, until he became one of the 
 most considerable personages in the state. 
 Nero at length appointed him to the command 
 of a very large and important province in 
 Spain. At this station Galba remained some 
 years, and he was here, attending regularly to 
 the duties of his government, at the time 
 when Nero returned from his expedition into 
 Greece. Galba himself, and all the other 
 governors around him, felt the same indigna- 
 tion at Nero's cruelties and crimes, and the 
 
800 Nero. [A.D. 66 
 
 Revolt of Vindex Embassadors sent to GsJb*. 
 
 same contempt for his low and degrading 
 vanity and folly, that prevailed so generally 
 at Rome. In fact, feelings of exasperation 
 and hatred against the tyrant, began to ex- 
 tend universally throughout the empire. The 
 people in every quarter, in fact, seemed ripe 
 for insurrection. 
 
 "While things were in this state, a messen- 
 ger arrived one day at Galba's court, from a 
 certain chieftain of the Gauls, named Julius 
 Yindex. This messenger came to announce 
 to Galba that Vindex had revolted against the 
 Roman government in Gaul. He declared, 
 however, that it was only Nerd's power that 
 Vindex intended to resist, and promised that 
 if Galba would himself assume the supreme 
 command, Yindex would acknowledge alle- 
 giance to him, and would do all in his power 
 to promote his cause. He said, moreover, 
 that such was the detestation in which Nero 
 was universally held, that there was no doubt 
 that the whole empire would sustain Galba in 
 effecting such a revolution, if he would once 
 raise his standard. At the same time that 
 this messenger came from Yindex, another 
 came from the Roman governor of the prov- 
 ince of Gaul, where Yindex resided, to inform 
 
A.D. 66.] Nebo s End. 301 
 
 Debate* In the council. Galba joint Vlndex. 
 
 Galba of the revolt, and asking for a detach- 
 ment of troops to assist him in putting it 
 down. Galba called a council, and laid the 
 subject before them. 
 
 After some debate one of the councillors 
 rose and said that there was no more danger 
 in openly joining Yindex in his rebellion, 
 than » here was in debating, in such a council, 
 what they should do. "It is just as treason- 
 able," said he, " to doubt and hesitate wheth- 
 er to send troops to put down the revolt, as 
 it would be openly to rebel ; and Nero will so 
 regard it. My counsel therefore is that, un- 
 less you choose to be considered as aiding the 
 revolution, you should instantly send off troops 
 to put it down." 
 
 Galba was much impressed with the wis- 
 dom of this advice. He felt strongly inclined 
 to favor the cause of Yindex and the rebels, 
 and on further reflection he secretly deter- 
 mined to join them, and to take measures for 
 raising a general insurrection. He did not, 
 however, make known his determination to 
 any one, but dismissed the council without 
 declaring what he had concluded to do. Soon 
 afterward he sent out to all parts of the prov 
 ince, and ordered a general mustering of the 
 
302 JSebo. [A.D. 67. 
 
 Newt of the rebellion meet* Nero at Naples. 
 
 forces under his command, and of all that 
 could be raised throughout the province, re- 
 quiring them to meet at a certain appointed 
 rendezvous. The army, though not openly 
 informed of it, suspected what the object of 
 this movement was to be, and came forward 
 to the work, with the utmost alacrity and joy. 
 
 In the mean time the tidings of Yindex'a 
 revolt traveled rapidly to Rome, and thence 
 to Naples, where Nero was at this time per- 
 forming on the public stage. Nero seemed to 
 be very much delighted to hear the news. 
 He supposed that the rebellion would of 
 course be very easily suppressed, and that 
 when it was suppressed he could make it an 
 excuse for subjecting the province in which it 
 had occurred to fines and confiscations that 
 would greatly enrich his treasury. He was 
 extremely pleased therefore at the tidings of 
 the revolt, and abandoned himself to the the- 
 atrical pursuits and pleasures in which he was 
 engaged, more absolutely and recklessly than 
 ever. 
 
 In the mean time fresh messengers arrived 
 at short intervals from Rome, to inform Nero 
 of the progress of the rebellion. The news 
 was that Yindex was gaining strength every 
 
AJ). 67.] Nebo's End. 303 
 
 The proclamation of Vlndax. Nero'i \rm. 
 
 day, and was issuing proclamations to the 
 people calling upon them everywhere to rise 
 and throw off the ignoble yoke of oppression 
 which they were enduring. In these procla- 
 mations the emperor was called Brazenbeard, 
 and designated as a "wretched fiddler." 
 These taunts excited Nero's ire. He wrote to 
 the Senate at Rome calling upon them to 
 adopt some measures for putting down this 
 insolent rebel, and having dispatched this 
 letter, he seemed to dismiss the subject from 
 his mind, and turned his attention anew to 
 his dancing and acting. 
 
 His mind was, however, soon disturbed 
 again, for fresh messengers continued to come, 
 each bringing reports more alarming than 
 those of his predecessor. The rebellion was 
 evidently gaining ground. Nero was con- 
 vinced that something must be done. He ac- 
 cordingly broke away, though with great re- 
 luctance, from his amusements at Naples, and 
 proceeded to Rome. On his arrival at the 
 capital he called a council of some of his prin 
 cipal ministers of state, and after a short con- 
 sultation on the subject of the rebellion — in 
 which, however, nothing was determined 
 apon — he proceeded to produce some newly- 
 
304 Nero. [A.D. 67. 
 
 Nero plans mw performances. The new instrument*. 
 
 invented musical instruments which he had 
 brought with him from Naples, and in which 
 he was greatly interested. After showing 
 and explaining these instruments to the conn • 
 cilors, he promised them that he would give 
 them the pleasure before long of hearing a 
 performance upon them, on the stage, — 
 "provided," he added jocosely, "that this 
 Vindex will give me leave." 
 
 The councilors at length withdrew, and 
 Nero remained in his apartment. On retiring 
 to rest, however, he found that he could not 
 sleep. His thoughts were running on the 
 musical instruments which he had been show- 
 ing, and on the pleasure which he anticipated 
 in a public performance with them. At 
 length, at a very late hour, he sent for his 
 councilors to come again to his apartment. 
 They came, full of excitement and wonder, 
 supposing that they were thus suddenly sum- 
 moned on account of some new and very 
 momentous tidings which had been received 
 from Gaul. They found, however, that Nerc 
 only wished to give some farther account of 
 the instruments which he had shown them, 
 and to ask their opinions of certain improve- 
 
A..D. 67.] Nebo-s End. 305 
 
 Galba Joini the insurrection. Nero appalled. 
 
 ments which had occurred to him since they 
 went away. 
 
 Nero did not, however, remain very long in 
 This state of insane and stnpid nnconcern ; 
 for on the evening of the following day a 
 courier arrived from the north with the appal- 
 ling intelligence that Vindex had made him- 
 self master of Gaul, and that Galba, the most 
 powerful general in the Roman army, had 
 joined the insurrection with all the legions 
 under his command, and that he was now ad- 
 vancing toward Home at the head of his 
 armies with the avowed purpose of deposing 
 Nero, and making himself emperor in his 
 stead. 
 
 Nero was at first absolutely stupefied at 
 hearing these tidings. He remained for some 
 time silent and motionless, as if made com 
 pletely senseless with consternation. When 
 at length he came to himself again, he fell 
 into a perfect frenzy of rage and terror. He 
 overturned the supper table, tore his garments, 
 threw down two valuable cups to the floor and 
 broke them to pieces, and then began to dash 
 his head against the wall, as if he were per- 
 fectly insane. He said he was undone. No 
 man had ever been so wretched. His domin- 
 15—20 
 
306 Nebo. [A.D. 67 
 
 GO* plans for Yeugeanoe. He la restrained. 
 
 ions were to be seized from him while he yet 
 lived, and held by an usurper ; he was utterly 
 ruined and undone. 
 
 After a little time had elapsed the agita 
 tion and excitement of his mind took anothei 
 direction, that of furious anger against the 
 generals and officers of his army, — not only 
 those who had actually rebelled, but all others, 
 for he was jealous and suspicious of all, and 
 said that he believed that the whole army was 
 engaged in the conspiracy. He was going to 
 send out orders to the various provinces and 
 encampments, for the assassination of great 
 numbers of the officers, — such as he imagined 
 might be inclined to turn against him, — and 
 he would probably have done so if he had not 
 been restrained by the influence of his minis- 
 ters of state. He also proposed to seize and 
 kill all the Gauls then in Rome, as a mode of 
 taking vengeance on their countrymen for 
 joining Vindex in his rebellion, and could 
 scarcely be prevented from doing this by the 
 urgent remonstrances of all his friends. 
 
 After a time Nero so far recovered his sell 
 possession that he began to make preparation* 
 for organizing an army, with the design of 
 marching against the rebels. He accordingly 
 
A.D. 67.] Neeo'b End. 307 
 
 He attempts to raiw an army. Starea. 
 
 ordered troops to be enlisted and arms and 
 ammunition to be provided, — assessing at the 
 lame time heavy taxes upon the people of 
 Rome to defray the expense. All these 
 arrangements, however, only increased the 
 general discontent. The people saw that the 
 preparations which the emperor was making 
 were wholly inadequate to the crisis, and that 
 no efficient military operations could ever 
 come from them. In the first place, he could 
 obtain no troops, for no men fit for soldiers 
 were willing to enlist, — and so he undertook 
 to supply the deficiency by requiring every 
 master of slaves to send him a certain number 
 of his bondmen, and these bondmen he freed 
 and then enrolled them in his army, in lieu 
 of soldiers. Moreover, in making provision 
 for the wants of his army, instead of devoting 
 his chief attention to securing a sufficiency of 
 arms, ammunition, military stores, and other 
 such supplies as were required in preparing 
 for an efficient campaign, he seemed only in- 
 terested in getting together actors, dancers, 
 aausical instruments, and dresses for perform- 
 ers on the public stage. In excuse for this 
 course of procedure, Nero said frankly that 
 ae did not expect that his expedition would 
 
308 Nero. [A.D. 67 
 
 Nero's hope leas condition. His plans for escape. 
 
 lead to any important military operations. As 
 soon as he reached the rebel armies his inten- 
 tion was, he said, to throw himself upon then- 
 sense of justice and their loyalty. He would 
 acknowledge whatever had been wrong in his 
 past government, and promise solemnly that 
 his sway in future should be more mild and 
 beneficent; and he had no doubt that thus 
 the whole disturbance would be quelled. The 
 revolted troops would at once return to their 
 duty, and the musical and theatrical prepa- 
 rations which he was making were intended 
 for a series of grand festivities to celebrate 
 the reconciliation. 
 
 Of course such insane and hopeless folly as 
 this awakened a sentiment of universal con- 
 tempt and indignation among the people of 
 Rome. The greatest excitement and confu- 
 sion prevailed throughout the city ; and, as is 
 usual in times of public panic, money and 
 provisions were hid away by those who pos- 
 sessed them, in secret hoards ; and this sood 
 >ccasioned a great scarcity of food. The city, 
 n fact, was threatened with famine. In the 
 midst of the alarm and anxiety which this 
 state of things occasioned, two ships arrived 
 from Egypt, at Ostia, and the news produced 
 
A.D. 67.] Neeo's End. 309 
 
 The trriYil of the cargoes of Mod from Egypt. 
 
 a general rejoicing, — it being supposed, of 
 course, that the ships were laden with corn, 
 It proved, however, that there was no corn on 
 board. Instead of food for the metropolis, 
 the cargo consisted of sand, intended to form 
 the arena of some of the emperor's amphi- 
 theaters, for the gladiators and wrestlers to 
 stand upon, in contending. This incident 
 seemed to fill the cup of public indignation 
 to the brim ; and, as news arrived just at this 
 time that the rebellion had extended into 
 Germany, and that all the legions in the 
 German provinces had gone over to Galba, 
 Nero's power began to be considered at an 
 end. Tumults prevailed everywhere through- 
 out the city, and assemblies were held, threat 
 ening open defiance to the authority of the 
 emperor, and declaring the readiness of the 
 people to acknowledge Galba so soon as he 
 should arrive. 
 
 Nero was now more terrified than ever. 
 He knew not what to do. He fled from his 
 palace, and sought a retreat in certain gar- 
 dens near — acting in this, however, under the 
 influence of a blind and instinctive fear, rath- 
 er than from any rational hope of securing 
 his safety by seeking such a place of refuge 
 
 20 
 
310 Nero. [A.D. 67. 
 
 Nero proposes to fly from Egypt His distraction and terror 
 
 In fact, he was now perfectly distracted with 
 terror. He procured some poison before he 
 left his palace, and carried it in a small golden 
 oox with him to the gardens ; but he had not 
 strength or resolution to take it. He then 
 conceived of the plan of flying from Rome 
 altogether. He would go at once to Ostia, 
 he said, and there embark on board a ship 
 and sail for Egypt, where, it might be sup- 
 posed, he would be out of the reach of his 
 enemies. He asked his officers and attend- 
 ants if they would accompany him in this 
 flight. But they refused to go. 
 
 Then he began to talk of another plan. He 
 would go and meet Galba as a suppliant, and, 
 falling upon his knees before the conqueror, 
 would implore him to spare his life. Or he 
 would go into the Roman Forum, and make 
 a humble and supplicatory address to the 
 people there, imploring their forgiveness foi 
 his cruelties and crimes, and solemnly prom- 
 ising never to be guilty of such excesses 
 again, if they would pardon and protect him. 
 The by-standers told him that such a proceed- 
 ing was wholly out of the question ; for if he 
 were to go forth for such a purpose from his 
 retreat, the people were in such a frenzy of 
 
A.D. 67.J Nebo's End. 311 
 
 He tinki Into bopelew despair. Tbe night 
 
 excitement against him, that thej would tear 
 him to pieces before he could reach the Ros- 
 tra. In a word, the distracted thoughts of 
 the wretched criminal turned this way and 
 that, in the wild agitation with which re 
 morse and terror filled his mind, vainly seek- 
 ing some way of escape from the awful 
 dangers which were circling and narrowing 
 so rapidly around him. There was, in fact, 
 no hope now left for him — no refuge, no 
 protection, no possibility of escape ; and so, 
 after suddenly seizing, and as suddenly aban- 
 doning, one impracticable scheme after an- 
 other, his mind became wholly bewildered, 
 and he sank down, at length, into a condition 
 of blank and hopeless despair. 
 
 Although the insurrection had become very 
 general in the provinces, the troops in the 
 city, consisting chiefly of the emperor's 
 guards, yet remained faithful ; and now as 
 the night was coming on, they were stationed 
 as usual at their respective posts in varicios 
 parts of the city and at the palace gates. 
 Nero retired to rest. He found, however, that 
 ne could not sleep. At midnight he rose, 
 and came forth from his apartment He was 
 surprised to find that there was no sentinel at 
 
312 Nero. [A.D. 67. 
 
 He it deserted by hla guard*. He cklli for * gladiator. 
 
 the door. On farther examination he found 
 to his amazement that the palace guards had 
 been wholly withdrawn. He was thunder- 
 atiuck at making this discovery. He re- 
 turned into the palace and aroused some of 
 the domestics, and then went forth with them 
 to the residences of some of his chief minis- 
 ters, who resided near, to ask for help. He 
 could, however, nowhere gain admission. He 
 found the houses all closely shut up, and by 
 all his knocking at the doors he could get no 
 answer from any persons within. He then 
 came back in great distress and alarm to his 
 own apartment. He found that it had been 
 broken into during the short time that he had 
 been gone, and rifled of every thing valuable 
 that it contained. Even his golden box of 
 poison had been carried away. In a word the 
 great sovereign of half the world found that 
 he had been abandoned by all his adherents 
 and left in a condition of utter and absolute 
 exposure. The guards had concluded to de- 
 clare for Galba, and had accordingly gone 
 away, leaving the fallen tyrant to his fate. 
 
 Nero called desperately to his servants to 
 send for a gladiator to thrust him through 
 with a sword, but no one would go. " Alas I" 
 
A.D. 67.J Nxso'a End. 313 
 
 Phaon proposes i place of r*Vreau 
 
 ne exclaimed, ''has it come to this \ Am I 
 so utterly abandoned that I have not even 
 enemies left who are willing to kill me '" 
 
 After a little time he began to be a little 
 more composed, and expressed a wish that he 
 Knew of some place in the environs of the city 
 where he could go and conceal himself for a 
 little time until he could determine what to 
 do. One of the servants of his household 
 named Phaon, told him that he had a country- 
 house near the city, where, perhaps. Nero 
 might hide. Xero immediately resolved to 
 go there. The better to conceal his night he 
 disguised himself in mean apparel, and tied 
 a handkerchief about his face ; and then 
 mounting on horseback in company with two 
 or three attendants, he proceeded out of the 
 city. As he went, it thundered and lightened 
 from time to time, and Xero was greatly ter 
 rified. He supposed that the commotion of 
 the elements was occasioned by the spirits of 
 those whom he had murdered cuming now to 
 persecute and torment him in the hour of his 
 extremity. 
 
 He passed, during his ride, a station of the 
 guard which happened to be on his way, and 
 heard the soldiers cursing him as he went by, 
 
314 Nebo. [A.D. 67 
 
 Nero's flight from the city. LDddenU. 
 
 and expressing joy at his downfall. Soon aftei 
 this he overheard a passenger whom his party 
 met on the road, say to his companion, when 
 he saw Nero and his attendants riding by, 
 ( ' These men no doubt are going in pursuit of 
 the emperor." Another man whom they met 
 on the way stopped them to ask what news 
 there was in town about the emperor. In 
 these occurrences, though they of course 
 tended to increase the agitation and excite- 
 ment of Nero's mind, there was nothing par- 
 ticularly alarming ; but at length an incident 
 happened which frightened the fugitive ex- 
 tremely. He was passing a place where a 
 carcass lay by the side of the road. Some 
 soldiers of the guard were standing near. 
 The horse that Nero rode was startled at the 
 sight of the carcass, and springing suddenly 
 shook down the handkerchief from Nero's 
 face. One of the soldiers by this means ob- 
 tained a view of his countenance, and ex- 
 claimed that that was the empercr. Nero 
 was so much alarmed at this that he hastened 
 on, and as soon as he was out of the view of 
 the men who had 6een him, he leaped from 
 his horse, and calling upon his attendants to 
 dismount too and follow him, he ran int<» 
 
A.,1). 67.] Nebo's End. 315 
 
 He refuses to be burled before be 1j dead. 
 
 an adjoining thicket, among bushes and bri- 
 ers, and thence the whole party made their 
 way circuitously round to the rear of Phaon's 
 grounds. Here they stopped and hid them- 
 selves till they could contrive some way to 
 get through or over the wall. 
 
 There was a pit near by, which had been 
 made by digging for sand. Phaon proposed 
 that Nero should hide in this pit until an 
 opening could be made in the wall. But 
 Nero refused to do this, saying that he would 
 not be buried before he was dead. So he re 
 mained hid in the thickets while Phaon went 
 to work to make an opening in the wall. 
 
 The wall was not of a very substantial 
 character ; if it had been, it would not have 
 been possible for Phaon, with the means at 
 his command, to have effected a passage. 
 As it was, he succeeded, though with diffi- 
 culty, in loosening some of the stones, so as 
 gradually to make an opening. 
 
 Nero was engaged, while this work was going 
 on, in pulling the briers out of his clothes and 
 flesh, and being thirsty, he went down to a 
 ditch that was Dear, and drank, taking up 
 the water in his hands. As he drank, he 
 
316 
 
 He gets through the wall. 
 
 Ntcro. 
 
 [A.D.67. 
 
 He is concealed. 
 
 Phaon at the Wall. 
 
 groaned out, " Oh, can it be that I have come 
 to this !" 
 
 In the mean time, Phaon went on with his 
 Work, and soon succeeded in making a hole 
 in the wall sufficient for his purpose, and then 
 the men dragged Nero through. They brought 
 him into the house, and shut him up in a small 
 and secret apartment there. 
 
 Nero now felt relieved from the extreme ter- 
 ror which he had suffered during his flight; 
 
k.D. 67.] Nero's End. 317 
 
 Phaon counsels Nero to kill himself. 
 
 but the feelings of terror subsided in his mind, 
 only to give place to the still more dreadful 
 pangs of remorse and horror. He moaned 
 continually in his anguish, and incessantly 
 repeated the words, " My father, my mother, 
 and my wife doom me to destruction." These 
 were indeed the words of one of the tragedies 
 which he had been accustomed to act upon 
 the stage, but they expressed the remorse and 
 anguish of his mind so truly, that they recur- 
 red continually to his lips. Phaon and the 
 men who had brought him to the house, find- 
 ing it impossible to calm him, and seeing no 
 hope of his final escape from death, and per- 
 haps, moreover, wishing to relieve themselves 
 of what was now fast becoming a serious bur- 
 then to them, recommended to him to kill 
 himself, — and thus, as they said, since he 
 must die, die like a man. Finally, Nero 
 seemed to yield to their urgings. He said 
 that he would kill himself as they desired 
 They might go out and dig a grave for him, 
 and prepare wood and water for washing the 
 body. While giving these orders he moaned 
 and groaned continually, as if in a state of 
 delirium. 
 
 Li the mean time the morning had come, 
 
818 Nebo. [A.D.67 
 
 Nero Is condemned by the Senate. The dagger*. 
 
 and at Rome all was excitement and commo- 
 tion. The Senate came together and pro- 
 claimed Galba emperor. They also passed a 
 decree pronouncing Nero an enemy to the 
 state, and sentencing him to be punished as 
 such in the ancient manner. When this news 
 transpired, a friend of Phaon wrote a letter to 
 him, giving an account of what the Senate had 
 done, and sent it off with the utmost haste by 
 a trusty messenger. The messenger arrived 
 at Phaon's house, and brought the letter in. 
 Nero seized it from Phaon's hands, and read 
 it. " What is the ancient manner ?" he asked, 
 in a tone of great anxiety and terror. They 
 told him that it was to be stripped naked, and 
 then to be secured by having his head fastened 
 in a pillory, and in that position to be whipped 
 to death. At hearing this, Nero broke forth 
 in fresh groans and lamentations. He could 
 not endure such a death as that, he said, and 
 he would kill himself, therefore, at once, if 
 they would give him a dagger. 
 
 There were daggers at hand. Nero took 
 them, examined the points of them with a 
 trembling touch, seemed undecided, and 
 finally put them away again, saying that his 
 hour was not yet quite come. Presently he 
 
A.D. 67.] ISeeo'sEnd. 319 
 
 Armed men come to arrest Nero at Paaon'i hcm««. 
 
 took one of the daggers again, and made a 
 new attempt to awaken in himself sufficient 
 resolution to strike the blow, but his courage 
 failed him. He moaned and raved all this 
 time in the most incoherent and distracted 
 manner. He even begged that one of the 
 attendants who were with him would take the 
 dagger and kill himself first, in order to en- 
 courage Nero by letting him see that it was 
 not after all so dreadful a thing to die. But 
 no one of the attendants seemed sufficiently 
 devoted to his master to be willing to rendei 
 him such a service as this. 
 
 In the midst of this perplexity and delay a 
 noise was heard as of horsemen riding up to 
 the door. Nero was terrified anew at the 
 sound. They were coming, he said, to seize 
 him. He immediately drew one of the dag- 
 gers, and putting it to his throat, attempt- 
 ed desperately to nerve himself to the work 
 of driving it home. But he could not do it. 
 The noise at the door in the mean time in- 
 creased. Nero then gave the dagger to one 
 of the men standing by, and begged that he 
 wjuld kill him. The man took the dagger 
 with great reluctance, but presently gave the 
 
320 Nero. [A.D. 67 
 
 The soldier* attempt to save Nero. He dies. 
 
 fatal stab, and Nero sank down upon the 
 ground mortally wounded. 
 
 At this moment the door was suddenly 
 opened, and the soldiers that had just arrived 
 came in. They had been sent by the Senate 
 to search for the fugitive and bring him back 
 to Rome. The centurion who commanded 
 these men, advanced into the room, and 
 looked at the fallen emperor, as he lay upon 
 the floor, weltering in his blood. He had 
 been commanded to bring the prisoner to the 
 city, if possible, alive ; and he accordingly 
 ordered the soldiers to come to the dying man 
 and endeavor to stanch his wounds and save 
 him. But it was too late. ISTero stared at 
 them as they advanced to take hold of him, 
 with a wild and frightful expression of coun- 
 tenance, which shocked all who saw him, and 
 in the midst of this agony of terror, he sank 
 down and died. 
 
 The news of the tyrant's death spread with 
 the utmost rapidity in all directions. A 
 courier immediately set off for the north to 
 carry tidings of the event *o Galba. People 
 flocked from all quarters to the house of 
 Phaon to gaze on the lifeless body, and to ex- 
 ult in the monster's death. The people of the 
 
A.D 67.] Nebo's End. 321 
 
 Galbft's march to Rome. SeTemj-three. 
 
 city gave themselves up to the wildest and 
 most extravagant joy. They put on caps such 
 as were worn by manumitted slaves when 
 first obtaining their freedom, and roamed 
 about the city expressing in every possible 
 way the exultation they felt at their deliver- 
 ance, and breaking down and destroying the 
 statues of Kero wherever they could find 
 them. 
 
 In the mean time Galba was steadily ad- 
 vancing on the way to Rome. In due time 
 he made his entry into the city, and embas- 
 sadors came to him there from all parts of the 
 Roman world to acknowledge him as the 
 reigning emperor. At this time he was 
 seventy -three years old. So that the number 
 seventy-three of which the oracle had warned 
 Nero to beware, denoted the age of his rival 
 wid enemy, — not his own. 
 
 15—21 
 
 The Ehb. 
 
 fttOnRTY LIBRARY 
 tf. C. State College 
 
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 1985 
 
 N. MANCHESTER, 
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