To this precocious monstrosity of vice12 and crime was mated one of the gentlest young matrons of the C?sarean house, Octavia, the daughter of Claudius and Messalina. Married at the very early age of thirteen to Nero, her timid girlish nature was paralyzed by the coarse habits of her husband, and she merely hovers13 about the stage, like a dimly perceptible shadow, during the earlier part of Nero’s reign14. It must have been shortly after their marriage that Nero disdained15 her for the beautiful Greek slave, Acte, to whom he was more constant than to any other living thing, and who, in return, paid the last tribute to his despised106 remains17. At first one of Nero’s associates screened the entanglement18, but, as we saw, it became known in the palace, and Agrippina made a fruitless effort to press the rights of his girl-wife. The injustice19 was, however, one that Roman ladies were not unaccustomed to bear. Nero soon fell into more disreputable ways. Octavia would see him leave the palace after supper with his wild companions, and needed little effort of imagination to follow his course when he returned, in the early morning, with torn garments and flushed, if not bruised20, features and, occasionally, the painted signs that he had wrenched21 from shop-doors, or the cups he had stolen in a raid upon some low tavern22.
He had gathered about him a band of older youths, who encouraged him in the licentious23 use of his power, and endeared themselves to him by the fertility of their imaginations. Chief among them was Salvius Otho, a young noble of Etruscan descent, five years older than Nero—the Emperor Otho of a later date. He had entered the palace in virtue24 of an amorous25 relation with one of Agrippina’s ladies, and his wide knowledge of adolescent amusements won him the regard of Nero, whom he led into the wildest adventures. They would wander at night through the streets, and revel26 in the taverns27 and brothels of the popular quarters of the city, the mysterious dim-lit valleys on which patrician28 maidens29 looked down from the mansions30 on the hills. In those centres of nightly disorder Nero and his companions were the most daring Mohocks, if we may use a phrase that belongs to later history. They violated women and boys, and played the most brutal pranks32 upon unarmed folk. One night Nero was severely33 thrashed by a Senator, whose wife he had insulted. The man learned afterwards that it was the Emperor whom he had beaten, and went to the palace to apologize. Nero forced him to atone34 with his life for the injury he had done to the Imperial dignity. He withdrew the guards from the Circus, in order that he might enjoy the fights of the rival factions36, and from the Milvian Bridge, at night, so as to give complete liberty to vice in that nocturnal resort.
107 The chaste37 and trembling Octavia, who was still only in her sixteenth year, shrank from his brutal disdain16. It was enough for her to have the title of Empress, he said to his mother, when she urged the rights of Octavia. Presently Nero declared that he would divorce her, and marry the handsome Greek girl, but Seneca and Burrus succeeded in preventing him. To check his disorders38 entirely39 they were quite powerless, and they seem to have thought it better to direct, than to resist, his vices40. Suddenly, however, in the year 58, Nero transferred his passion to the daughter of Popp?a Sabina, and began the long, tragic41 struggle to secure her as his Empress.
Popp?a, who will be the next figure in our gallery of Roman Empresses, and therefore may at once be introduced, was one of the prettiest, vainest, and most discussed ladies in Rome. Her mother, with whom we are already acquainted as one of Messalina’s victims, had been the daughter of a very wealthy and illustrious provincial42 governor, Popp?us Sabinus. Popp?a’s father, Titus Ollius, had been a friend of Sejanus, and had been swept away in the flood of Tiberius’s anger. She was, therefore, of mature years, but she had protected her charms so industriously44 that she still had the soft beauty and the fresh complexion45 of a girl. She had inherited also the wealth, the wit, and—it is said—the easy morals of her mother. The pretence46 of modesty47 which she made, by wearing a veil whenever she went abroad, was redeemed48 by the splendour of her establishment and the elaborate culture of her fair skin and pretty face. The mules49 which drew the litter of the veiled lady were shod with gold, and the traces of their harness were woven from gold thread. When she moved to her country house, or to Bai?, five hundred she-asses ran in the train of her litter and cars, to provide the milk for her daily bath. If we may trust the busts50 to which her name is attached, she had a childish grace and delicacy52 of feature, instead of the tense face of the adventuress; and we know that108 her amber53-coloured hair was so much admired that it set, or revived, a fashion in amber.
She had married a knight55, Rufus Crispinus, by whom she had had a son. This marriage was ended by divorce, and she became the wife of Nero’s favourite, Salvius Otho. It is suggested, and not difficult to believe, that she had married Otho on account of his intimacy57 with the Emperor. He was by no means handsome, though he covered his baldness with a wig58, dressed sumptuously59, and had wealth, wit, and taste for art. From him Nero heard, over their cups, the piquant60 story of Popp?a’s beauty and luxury, and it was not long before Imperial messengers were sent to her mansion31. They were not admitted, and even Nero, when he sought entrance, was coyly reminded that Popp?a was married, and was devoted61 to her husband. After a stormy siege she gracefully62 capitulated so far as to receive innocent visits from Nero, and inflame63 him to madness with the display of her cultivated beauty. He spoke64 bitterly of his mother as an obstacle in the way of their marriage. Popp?a twitted him with his dependence65 on her, and we have seen the outcome.
When Agrippina had been removed, Nero proposed at once to divorce Octavia and wed11 Popp?a. The silence of Seneca at all these critical points in the degradation66 of Nero is painful to every admirer of the distinguished67 moralist. It was the less courtly and less virtuous68 Burrus who defended the young Empress. If Nero abandoned Octavia, he brusquely said, he must also give up her dowry—the throne—and Burrus was too generally respected to be flouted69. Octavia therefore remained in her lonely chamber70 at the palace, a helpless witness of the vices of her husband.
For a month or two after the murder of Agrippina he behaved as one stricken with a wild and haunting remorse71. He went feverishly72 from place to place, and gathered about him a band of magicians and charlatans73. He feared to go to Rome until he was assured that Rome was rejoicing at his escape from his mother’s plot. Few pages in the109 story of that degenerate74 city are sadder than that which records the reception, in the month of May, of the Imperial matricide. The Senators and their families, dressed in their gayest robes, hurried out along the Appian Way to meet him, and his route was lined deep with cheering crowds. He rewarded them royally. Five or six theatres opened their doors, day after day, to the degraded citizens. New things—things that had never before been seen in the whole history of the city—were provided for their entertainment. Men and women of the highest rank played the most lascivious75 parts of the mimes76 on the public stage, and drove their chariots in the public circus. Nero was a champion of the “green” faction35, and pitted his royal skill daily in the circus against the charioteers of the other factions. He sang in the theatre, and organized a band of five thousand handsome youths, in splendid costumes, to lead the applause, and shower upon him his favourite epithet77 of “Apollo.” He even ventured to win praise in the amphitheatre, but the one young lion which he vanquished78 had been prudently79 gorged80 and stupefied before he encountered it. He announced that his skill might be hired for private banquets, and nobles paid him a million sesterces for his services. Apollo, he reflected, had no beard in Greek statuary, so he shaved his beard, and the handful of yellow hair was enclosed in a golden casket studded with pearls, and carried in solemn procession to the Capitol. In the mighty81 rejoicing over this complete assimilation to Apollo of the tun-bellied, lanky-legged, half-crazy youth, it is recorded that a noble dame82 in her eightieth year danced on the stage in the theatre. The descendants of the greatest Roman families voluntarily entered the base ranks of the comedian84 and the charioteer.
Mr. Henderson is reluctant to admit, in his study of Nero, that he was insane. It would, no doubt, puzzle the most penetrating85 psychologist to assign the respective portions of guilt86 and of irresponsible disorder in his conduct; but that there was mental disorder it is at once110 more natural and more charitable to assume. In any case, a year or so of this delirious87 life wore out his robust88 frame, and a serious illness suspended for a time the disgraceful performances. Unfortunately, when he recovered, he lost the one man who had had some power to restrain him, and sufficient honesty to use it. Burrus died in the year 62, and at the same time the slender influence of Seneca was destroyed. This is no place to discuss the difficult and delicate problem of Seneca’s conduct in his association with Nero. Enough to say that he was now accused of conspiracy89, and, although he successfully defended himself, he ceased to have any power at the palace.
It was now possible for Nero to rid himself of the pale young prude, who shrank in her apartments, and there were men enough to devise the procedure. Salvius Otho had already been sent to a remote part of the Empire, and his place had been taken by a horse-dealer, named Tigellinus, of little culture and even less character. With this new favourite Popp?a entered into alliance, and the young Empress presently found herself accused, with brutal levity90, of adultery with Eucer, an Alexandrian slave and musician, and of covering her shame by the crime of abortion91. Tigellinus easily obtained witnesses, but most of Octavia’s servants refused, even under torture, to belie56 the virtue of their gentle mistress. The coarseness of Tigellinus had carried him too far, and public feeling was strongly aroused in her favour. Nero fell back upon the ground of her childlessness, of which he could probably have furnished a simple explanation, and divorced her. In deference92 to the sentiment of Rome, he at first gave her the house of Burrus and the fortune of a noble whom he had executed. A little later, however, probably under pressure from Popp?a, he banished93 her to Campania. He had married Popp?a a fortnight after the divorce of Octavia.
But the flagrant outrage94 quickened the better feeling that Rome had not yet entirely lost, and Nero was forced to recall her. To the deep mortification95 of Popp?a, the111 crowds invaded the outer court of the palace, crying the name of Octavia. They removed the statues of the new Empress from the temples and public places, and restored to their positions, and crowned with flowers, the discarded statues of Octavia. Popp?a angrily pressed Nero to assert his power, and the resourceful Anicetus, the murderer of Agrippina, was summoned to Rome. Bolder even than Tigellinus, he swore that he himself had had commerce with Octavia, and, after a pretence of trial, she was banished to Sardinia. Popp?a was not yet content, and Nero next announced that Octavia had been detected in an attempt to corrupt96 the commander of the fleet. She was taken to the rock-island of Pandateria that had already witnessed tragedies.
The good feeling of Rome seems by this time to have been exhausted97, and Octavia was lazily surrendered to the brutal band who now surrounded Nero. There is a peculiar98 melancholy99 in the closing of that frail100 and innocent career. Rough soldiers seize the timid form, carry her to the bath, bind101 her limbs, and open her veins102. Timid and shrinking to the end, the young girl—even now she is only in her twentieth year—starts back with horror from the great darkness, and piteously implores103 them to spare her life. She faints, and the flow of her blood is arrested. The last pretence of pity is tossed aside, and she is stifled104 in the vapour-bath.
Popp?a, Tacitus says, sent for her head. It is difficult to decide whether the frequent repetition of this horrible detail in the chronicles increases or lessens105 its credulity. But we can have no hesitation106 in believing Tacitus when he says that the Senate ordered services of thanksgiving in the temples for this fresh preservation107 of the life of the Emperor.
Another Empress had stepped in blood to the throne, and was in turn to stain it with her blood after a few years of imperial folly. We have seen what type of woman it was whom Nero put in the place of Octavia. Wealthy, coquettish, and beautiful, Popp?a saw in life only a sunny112 path for the pursuit of butterflies. When she is represented to us as licentious we must remember that no definite scandal attaches to her name, and that she is actually described as “pious” by no less an authority than the Jewish historian Josephus. In fact this circumstance, and a peculiar feature of the disposal of her body, which we will consider, gave birth to a speculation108 in early times that she had become a Christian109. Serviez finds the story of her conversion110 by St. Paul, and subsequent “return to her abominations,” too piquant to admit of doubt. But the conversion is even more disputable than the abominations. It is now much disputed among our leading divines whether St. Paul ever visited Rome, and there is a simpler explanation of the phrase used by Josephus. The Roman governor of Jud?a—the biblical Felix, a brother of Agrippina’s favourite, Pallas—had dealt harshly with the Jews, and sent some of their priests in chains to Rome. Josephus and others went to intercede111 for them, and luckily met a Jewish comedian who was in the favour of Popp?a and Nero. The historian was received with distinction at the palace, and was so successful in his suit that he might well ascribe piety112 to Popp?a. We may agree that the incident probably argues some culture on her part. But we shall discover her later in conduct that makes it undesirable113 to count her as a disciple114 of St. Paul.
Before the end of the year Popp?a presented Nero with a daughter, and a few weeks of wild rejoicing restored her to general favour, and obliterated115 the memory of Octavia. The title of “Augusta” was, in an excess of flattery, bestowed116 upon both the mother and the infant. Senators raced each other to the Imperial villa117 at Antium, to express their joy at this substantial promise of a continuance of the C?sarean house which had dragged them in the mire54. The whole of Italy was lit up with rejoicing. Popp?a felt that her position was at last secure. And then, by one of those dread119 changes which were almost as common in the life of Rome as in the tragedies of Greece, and made men assume that there was a stern and mighty fate behind113 their puny120 and indulgent gods, the storm broke over Italy once more. The child withered121 and died, and Nero’s mind fell once more into dark disorder. He glanced round with insane suspicion for possible aspirants122 to the throne, and Popp?a’s remaining son was the first victim. One day he saw her boy (by her former husband) playing at being emperor in his games with the other children. In a few days Popp?a heard that the boy had lost his life while fishing. Many another execution was ordered with the same levity.
OCTAVIA
As before, these terrible deeds were mingled123 with the most splendid and the most licentious entertainments. Noble dames124 of the highest rank wrestled125 and fought in the amphitheatre before the frivolous126 crowds; the city abounded127 in schools where the nobility learned to ape the Emperor’s folly, and contribute to the gaiety of Rome with the flute128, the zither, or the dance. Nero conceived a new idea, and pursued it with zeal129. He would contest the crown with the artists of Greece. Popp?a saw him training in the palace, lying for hours with heavy plates of lead on his chest, restricting himself to a diet of leeks130 and oil. She saw him exhibit his skill in the theatre, lifting up his blotched and swollen body, in extraordinary contortions131, on his thin legs, as he strained after the high notes. Woe132 to the man who openly laughed, or who excelled him! One of his masters was put to death because Nero perceived that he could not equal the man. At last his training was complete, and Rome sighed with relief as the thousand carts, drawn133 by silver-shod mules, and the five thousand youths of the Augustan band, set out for the coast. They gratified Naples with a show as they passed through. For several days Nero kept the amazed citizens in the theatre, and took his meals in the orchestra, so as to lose no time. Then came the inevitable134 epilepsy; and it was announced that Nero, perceiving the grief of his subjects at the prospect135 of his departure, had postponed136 the Grecian tour.
On his return to comparative health, and to Rome, he114 once more kept the citizens agog137 with alternate bursts of frantic138 dissipation and sanguinary melancholy. From the death of her child until her own violent end, two years later, Popp?a appears very little in the chronicles; but, as we shall see that, willing or unwilling139, she supported her husband in his bloody140 crimes, we may assume that she joined him in his less criminal orgies. One instance will suffice. He ordered that a banquet should be given on a raft, on the large sheet of water known as Lake Agrippa. When the citizens crowded to the shore on the appointed evening, they found the great raft towed by vessels141 plated with ivory and gold, manned by youths who had won distinction in infamy142. Round the shore taverns, brothels, and dining-rooms had been erected143. And when the night fell, and the beautiful scene was lit by the light of innumerable torches, the public found that women of the highest rank were no less accessible to them than prostitutes in the houses by the lake, and the slave was at liberty to embrace his mistress under the eye of her husband. Nero even outdistanced Caligula in the Imperial teaching of vice. In the garb144 of a bride, he went through the religious ceremony of marriage with a man of base character, named Pythagoras. He had nude145 children fastened to stakes, and rushed upon them fittingly clad in the skin of a wild beast. And round the frontiers of that vast Empire, which the strength and sobriety of his ancestors had created, the weary soldiers watched the barbarians146 who prepared to invade it.
It was about this time that the great fire occurred which turned the laughter of Nero’s subjects into resentment147. For six days and seven nights the flames ate their way through the blocks of tall tenements148, divided only by narrow streets, in the parching149 heat of July. Nero was in the provinces at the time, and from the conflicting accounts it is impossible to pass an opinion on the rumour150 that he had ordered the burning of Rome. Dio gives us the familiar picture of Nero twanging his zither, and chanting the “Fall of Troy” from the summit of a high115 tower on the hill. Others declare, however, that he at once ordered the most expedient151 methods for checking the conflagration152. But it was angrily whispered among the camps of the homeless that men had been seen throwing torches upon their houses, and that they were acting153 under orders from the palace. Nor were the citizens appeased154 when he threw the blame on the obscure and unpopular devotees who went by the name of Christians155, and afforded them the brutal spectacle of driving round the circus to the light of burning men and women, whose living bodies had been wrapped in tow and soaked in wax and tar83. Few believed in their guilt. Even Seneca at length broke his casuistic or diplomatic reserve, and retired156 in disgust from Rome. Nero went down in great dejection to Bai?, leaving orders that, in the restoration of the city, a new palace should be built for him that should transcend157 anything within the memory of Rome or of history.
This “golden house,” which Nero raised round the more modest palaces of his predecessors158, gave a fresh grievance159 to discontent. The great and unselfish Octavian had been satisfied with a small patrician mansion; Tiberius had built a palace; Caligula had enlarged it; Nero flung out its wings over a vast space. It seemed that Emperors squandered160 the money of the State in proportion to their uselessness. The colossal161 edifice162 and its wonderful park stretched from the Palatine to the Esquiline, across the intervening valley, and was surrounded by a triple colonnade163 in marble. Citizens huddled164 in the crowded blocks of the Subura and the Velabrum, while Nero created a miniature world within his marble girdle. There was a great lake, filled with salt water from Ostia, with a small town on its shore; there were vineyards, cornfields, groves165 in which wild beasts ran loose, fountains, and gardens. The palace itself was of such proportions that a statue of Nero one hundred and twenty feet high could be conveniently lodged166 in its porch. Some of the rooms were plated with gold and adorned167 with precious stones. The supper-room had a ceiling of ivory, with openings through116 which flowers and costly168 perfumes might be shed upon the guests. The Egyptian roses whose beauty withered in one banquet in this chamber had a value of ￡35,000 in our coinage.
There now dawned on Rome some consciousness of the price that the Empire was paying for the stupendous folly it had so long applauded. While the treasury169 was being exhausted in entertainments that all could enjoy, the murmuring was confined to the sober few. From the moment when this colossal symbol of Nero’s selfishness towered above the city, the murmurs170 became audible and were multiplied. Nero, alarmed at the sullen171 looks and the vague reports of plots, went down angrily to the coast. Then a slave brought a definite accusation172 of conspiracy against his master, and the stream of blood began to flow.
It is an unhappy fact, and one that confirms the darker view of Popp?a’s character, that almost the only detail related of her in the chronicles, after the death of her child, is that she was one of the council of three who directed this horrible series of executions. Nero would not trust the ordinary procedure of Roman justice. With Popp?a and Tigellinus as associate-judges, he himself examined, or endorsed173, every charge that cupidity174 or malignity175 brought to the palace. Rome was reddened for weeks with torture, murder, and suicide. Students of the decay of Rome have, perhaps, not sufficiently176 appreciated the effect of this periodic effusion of the best blood in the city. In the earlier wars, both civil and foreign, the good and the base alike had fallen. In these inquisitions for conspiracy, which fill Rome with mourning time after time from the death of Octavian to the accession of Trajan, it is chiefly the men and women of honour who suffer. They constitute a natural selection of the cowardly and the sycophantic177.
The city “teemed with funerals,” in the terse178 phrase of Tacitus, and the gatherings179 of its citizens were black with mourning. Large numbers of officers and patricians180 were executed or driven to suicide, and their children were117 scourged181 or banished to the provinces. Seneca paid the penalty of his tardy182 outspokenness183, and his admirable end sustains our trust that his character may, in spite of our unconquerable hesitations184, have been not inconsistent with his high creed185. He and his wife, who nobly asked permission to quit the world with him, had their veins opened, and Seneca passed into the silence with quiet dignity; his wife was, to her regret, recalled to life by the soldiers.
Popp?a did not live to share the punishment which these crimes brought upon Nero. Her end came more swiftly and in more terrible form. The carnage had been interrupted by a fresh outburst of rejoicing. A man declared to Nero that he knew where the fabulous186 treasures of the Carthaginian queen Dido, which Vergil had so recently sung in the “?neid,” were buried. A fleet was sent to Africa to recover them, and from his sombre brooding Nero passed into a new fit of prodigal187 entertaining. He emptied the last depths of his treasury in spectacles and donations. When the fleet returned at length without a single cup or coin, his anger stormed with ungovernable fury, and one day, when Popp?a expostulated with him, he kicked her in the abdomen188. The outrage proved fatal, as she was pregnant, and Nero’s light mind turned from rage to the most extravagant189 lamentation190. Her body was not burned, as was usual at Rome, but embalmed191, and vast quantities of rare perfumes were sacrificed on the funeral pile. This peculiarity192 of her funeral has been thought to strengthen the interesting legend of her conversion to Christianity. It was more probably due to Nero’s frenzied193 desire to give a unique burial to so unique a goddess, as the Senate declared her to be. It is unthinkable that Nero should make such a concession194 to Christian ideas, even if she had shared them in any measure, and her life does not dispose us to claim that honour for her. The legend has no foundation in history, and the early Church may easily be relieved of the stain of having counted Popp?a among its adherents195.
It is not our place to pursue the insanity of the Emperor118 through all the forms it assumed after the death of Popp?a, but he took a third wife, whom Mr. Baring-Gould seems to have overlooked, and we must briefly196 relate the story of her experience. Immediately after the death of Popp?a Nero took a consort197 whom the pen almost shrinks from describing. It seemed to him that he discovered a resemblance to his beloved Popp?a in one of his freedmen, Sporus. The man was entrusted198 to the surgeons for a loathsome199 operation, and then solemnly married to the Emperor. Dressed in the Empress’s robes and jewels, he travelled in Nero’s litter, and was publicly kissed and caressed200 by him.
This abominable201 comedy soon lost its interest, and Nero decided202 to marry Octavia’s sister, Antonia. Recollecting203 the recent fate of her sister, she boldly refused, and she was put to death on a charge of aspiring204 to the throne. Nero then chose Statilia Messalina, the granddaughter of a distinguished and wealthy Senator who had been driven to take his own life under Agrippina. The last part of the “Annals” of Tacitus, which would cover this date, is missing, and if we are to believe the less reputable chroniclers, Messalina had already been familiar with Nero, and had married, as her third husband, one of his close companions in debauch205, Atticus Vestinus. She is described as beautiful, witty206, wealthy, and lax; but the description is applied207 to so large a proportion of the ladies of the time that it gives little aid to the imagination. From some later details we shall conclude that she had more culture, and probably more character, than most of the courtly ladies of Nero’s time. One is disposed to think that she married Nero on the maxim208, literally209 interpreted, that it is better to be married than burned. Her husband was one night entertaining his friends when soldiers from the palace entered the room. They took him to his bath, opened his veins, and let him bleed to death; and Statilia Messalina became the tenth Empress of Rome.
POPP?A
BUST IN THE CAPITOLINE MUSEUM, ROME
There is every reason to believe that she shrank, with prudence210, from the executions and entertainments which119 again proceeded with ghastly alternation. Her five predecessors had been murdered; the preceding lady of Nero’s choice had been murdered; and she had herself been divorced by murder. Messalina seems to have concentrated her resources upon remaining alive, until a last and most just murder should release her from her odious211 connexion. Men were wearying even of Nero’s ridiculous performances, and were stung by his cruelty. He put soldiers amongst his audience, to note the absent and detect the scoffer212, so that his festivals became an affliction. Men were driven to the subterfuge213 of shamming214 death, and being borne out by their slaves, to avoid the exacting215 part of admiring spectators. Nero swore that he would exterminate216 the whole senatorial order; it is the most honourable217 mention we find of them in the chronicles for many decades. To their relief he now announced that he would proceed with his Greek tour. The silver-shod mules and the gay regiment218 of the Augustans were set in motion, Nero’s hair was permitted to attain219 an artistic220 length and negligence221, and the comedy was transferred for a time to the land of Aristophanes. How he won every prize for which he competed, how he plundered222 the temples and the mansions of the Greeks, how his retinue223 passed like a flight of locusts224 over the helpless province, must be read elsewhere. After some eighteen months he was recalled to Italy by grave tidings.
It has been impossible to refrain from speaking in accents of disdain of the way in which Rome had silently witnessed, or joyously225 acclaimed226, the successive follies227 of Nero, but, as I have previously228 noticed, it was in a peculiarly difficult situation. The Pr?torian Guards were an army of twenty thousand disciplined soldiers, and were paid for personal service to the ruling house, and blind to any other interest than their own. They kept an irresistible229 check upon every impulse to rebel. That there were such impulses, and probably some attempt to seduce230 the Guards, the unfailing stream of blood at Rome justifies231 us in believing. The hope of the Empire was in the more sober and120 more industrious43 provinces, and it was here that the revolt began. The leader of the troops in Gaul, Vindex, entered into correspondence with the troops in Spain. The Spanish commander, Servius Sulpicius Galba, was a Roman of illustrious family, venerable age, and stern character. Nero had heard that the purple had been offered to Galba, and that the legions of Gaul and Spain were preparing to advance on Italy.
On his return to Italy, however, Nero hears that the German legions are advancing against those of Gaul, and that Galba is hesitating. He gaily232 resumes his follies, and is deaf to political exhortations233. At last a manifesto234 is put into his hands, in which Vindex refers to him as a “miserable235 player,” and the insult to his art cuts deeply. He writes to the Senate to demand redress236, and sets out for Rome. Nothing in the whole of his extraordinary career is so tragi-comic as this penultimate scene. Clothed in a mantle237 of purple embroidered238 with gold stars, wearing the Olympian chaplet on his head, he enters Rome as the god of art. Servants bear before him the 1,800 crowns or chaplets he has won in Greece; the five thousand Augustans march behind his chariot. A sacrifice is made to Apollo, and the games resume their familiar course. Then Nero is told that, though Vindex has committed suicide, the German and other legions have joined Galba, and the fire of revolt is spreading round the Empire. He announces that he will advance on Gaul. The ladies of his harem, who form a fair regiment, have their hair cut short, and, with toy shields and other theatrical239 properties, masquerade as Amazons.
The last scene is brief and inevitable. Galba is marching on Rome, the Pr?torian guards have been won for him, the nobles find it safe to desert Nero. The nerveless brute240 whimpers and weeps in his helplessness. He will fly to Alexandria, and earn his living as a musician. The great “golden house” is silent and deserted241. Rome is openly deriding242 him. His servants have fled; one has even stolen the box in which he121 kept poison for such an emergency. The faithful Acte, Sporus, and a very few of those who fed on his folly, remain with him. Messalina has deserted him, and will appear later as the friend of one of his successors.
In the great silent house, with its walls of gold and its ceilings of ivory, he puts off the purple robes and clothes himself in an old shirt and a ragged118 cloak. On a miserable horse he rides with them across the vast deserted park, and makes for the house of one of his dependents, a few miles from Rome. There they admit him by a hole they have made in the wall, give him black bread and water, and cover him with a blanket. They discuss the situation, and conclude by offering him a dagger243. He shrinks, like Julia, like Messalina, from the horrible darkness, and vainly strains his eyes for a ray of hope. At last they hear the clatter244 of cavalry245 on the road, and Nero feebly points the dagger at his breast, for a servant to drive home. And when the customary cremation246 is over, there are none but Acte and a faithful old nurse to lay the degraded ashes in the tomb.
So the tenth Empress of Rome laid down her brief dignity. Statilia Messalina had had little reason to follow Nero in his humiliation247. Whether the charge of laxity that is brought against her be true or no, she was a woman of exceptional intelligence and culture, and had probably only married Nero out of fear. We meet her again, at a later stage, in the chronicles. After Galba’s short hour of supremacy248 we shall find an equally short reign of Salvius Otho, the man who once pillaged249 taverns with Nero in the Subura. Provincial government had sobered him, and he wrote affectionate letters to Messalina. He would, no doubt, have made her Empress once more if he had lived, but the throne was wrested250 from him, and Messalina retired to the calmer world of letters and rhetoric251. Our last glimpse of her discovers her delivering orations252 of great eloquence253 and learning among the intellectual ladies of Rome.
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precocious
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prematurely
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swollen
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| adj.肿大的，水涨的；v.使变大，肿胀 | |
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4
disorder
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| n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调 | |
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kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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6
invoke
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| v.求助于(神、法律)；恳求，乞求 | |
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7
extenuation
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| n.减轻罪孽的借口；酌情减轻；细 | |
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8
brutal
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| adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的 | |
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folly
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| n.愚笨，愚蠢，蠢事，蠢行，傻话 | |
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insanity
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| n.疯狂，精神错乱；极端的愚蠢，荒唐 | |
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11
wed
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| v.娶，嫁，与…结婚 | |
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12
vice
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| n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的 | |
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13
hovers
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| 鸟( hover的第三人称单数 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫 | |
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14
reign
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| n.统治时期，统治，支配，盛行；v.占优势 | |
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15
disdained
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| 鄙视( disdain的过去式和过去分词 )； 不屑于做，不愿意做 | |
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16
disdain
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| n.鄙视，轻视；v.轻视，鄙视，不屑 | |
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17
remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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18
entanglement
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| n.纠缠，牵累 | |
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19
injustice
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| n.非正义，不公正，不公平，侵犯（别人的）权利 | |
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20
bruised
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| [医]青肿的，瘀紫的 | |
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21
wrenched
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| v.（猛力地）扭( wrench的过去式和过去分词 )；扭伤；使感到痛苦；使悲痛 | |
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22
tavern
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| n.小旅馆，客栈；小酒店 | |
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23
licentious
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| adj.放纵的，淫乱的 | |
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24
virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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25
amorous
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| adj.多情的；有关爱情的 | |
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26
revel
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| vi.狂欢作乐，陶醉；n.作乐，狂欢 | |
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27
taverns
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| n.小旅馆，客栈，酒馆( tavern的名词复数 ) | |
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28
patrician
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| adj.贵族的，显贵的；n.贵族；有教养的人；罗马帝国的地方官 | |
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29
maidens
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| 处女( maiden的名词复数 )； 少女； 未婚女子； （板球运动）未得分的一轮投球 | |
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30
mansions
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| n.宅第，公馆，大厦( mansion的名词复数 ) | |
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31
mansion
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| n.大厦，大楼；宅第 | |
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32
pranks
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| n.玩笑，恶作剧( prank的名词复数 ) | |
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33
severely
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| adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地 | |
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34
atone
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| v.赎罪，补偿 | |
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35
faction
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| n.宗派，小集团；派别；派系斗争 | |
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36
factions
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| 组织中的小派别，派系( faction的名词复数 ) | |
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37
chaste
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| adj.贞洁的；有道德的；善良的；简朴的 | |
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38
disorders
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| n.混乱( disorder的名词复数 )；凌乱；骚乱；（身心、机能）失调 | |
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39
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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40
vices
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| 缺陷( vice的名词复数 )； 恶习； 不道德行为； 台钳 | |
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41
tragic
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| adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的 | |
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42
provincial
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| adj.省的，地方的；n．外省人，乡下人 | |
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43
industrious
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| adj.勤劳的，刻苦的，奋发的 | |
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44
industriously
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45
complexion
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| n.肤色；情况，局面；气质，性格 | |
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46
pretence
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| n.假装，作假；借口，口实；虚伪；虚饰 | |
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47
modesty
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| n.谦逊，虚心，端庄，稳重，羞怯，朴素 | |
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48
redeemed
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| adj. 可赎回的，可救赎的 动词redeem的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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49
mules
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| 骡( mule的名词复数 )； 拖鞋； 顽固的人； 越境运毒者 | |
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50
busts
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| 半身雕塑像( bust的名词复数 )； 妇女的胸部； 胸围； 突击搜捕 | |
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51
bust
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| vt.打破；vi.爆裂；n.半身像；胸部 | |
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52
delicacy
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| n.精致，细微，微妙，精良；美味，佳肴 | |
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53
amber
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| n.琥珀；琥珀色；adj.琥珀制的 | |
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54
mire
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| n.泥沼，泥泞；v.使...陷于泥泞，使...陷入困境 | |
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55
knight
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| n.骑士，武士；爵士 | |
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56
belie
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| v.掩饰，证明为假 | |
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57
intimacy
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| n.熟悉，亲密，密切关系，亲昵的言行 | |
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58
wig
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| n.假发 | |
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59
sumptuously
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| 奢侈地，豪华地 | |
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60
piquant
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| adj.辛辣的，开胃的，令人兴奋的 | |
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61
devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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62
gracefully
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| ad.大大方方地；优美地 | |
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63
inflame
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| v.使燃烧；使极度激动；使发炎 | |
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64
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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65
dependence
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| n.依靠，依赖；信任，信赖；隶属 | |
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66
degradation
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| n.降级；低落；退化；陵削；降解；衰变 | |
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67
distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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68
virtuous
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| adj.有品德的，善良的，贞洁的，有效力的 | |
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69
flouted
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| v.藐视，轻视( flout的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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70
chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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71
remorse
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| n.痛恨，悔恨，自责 | |
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72
feverishly
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| adv. 兴奋地 | |
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73
charlatans
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| n.冒充内行者，骗子( charlatan的名词复数 ) | |
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74
degenerate
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| v.退步，堕落；adj.退步的，堕落的；n.堕落者 | |
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75
lascivious
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| adj.淫荡的，好色的 | |
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76
mimes
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| n.指手画脚( mime的名词复数 )；做手势；哑剧；哑剧演员v.指手画脚地表演，用哑剧的形式表演( mime的第三人称单数 ) | |
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77
epithet
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| n.（用于褒贬人物等的）表述形容词，修饰语 | |
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78
vanquished
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| v.征服( vanquish的过去式和过去分词 )；战胜；克服；抑制 | |
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79
prudently
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| adv. 谨慎地，慎重地 | |
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80
gorged
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| v.（用食物把自己）塞饱，填饱( gorge的过去式和过去分词 )；作呕 | |
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81
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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82
dame
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| n.女士 | |
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83
tar
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| n.柏油，焦油；vt.涂或浇柏油/焦油于 | |
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84
comedian
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| n.喜剧演员；滑稽演员 | |
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85
penetrating
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|
| adj.（声音）响亮的，尖锐的adj.（气味）刺激的adj.（思想）敏锐的，有洞察力的 | |
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86
guilt
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| n.犯罪；内疚；过失，罪责 | |
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87
delirious
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| adj.不省人事的，神智昏迷的 | |
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88
robust
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| adj.强壮的，强健的，粗野的，需要体力的，浓的 | |
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89
conspiracy
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| n.阴谋，密谋，共谋 | |
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90
levity
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| n.轻率，轻浮，不稳定，多变 | |
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91
abortion
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| n.流产，堕胎 | |
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92
deference
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| n.尊重，顺从；敬意 | |
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93
banished
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| v.放逐，驱逐( banish的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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94
outrage
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| n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒 | |
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95
mortification
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| n.耻辱，屈辱 | |
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96
corrupt
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| v.贿赂，收买；adj.腐败的，贪污的 | |
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97
exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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98
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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99
melancholy
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| n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的 | |
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100
frail
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| adj.身体虚弱的；易损坏的 | |
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101
bind
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| vt.捆，包扎；装订；约束；使凝固；vi.变硬 | |
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102
veins
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| n.纹理；矿脉( vein的名词复数 )；静脉；叶脉；纹理 | |
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103
implores
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| 恳求或乞求（某人）( implore的第三人称单数 ) | |
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104
stifled
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| （使）窒息， （使）窒闷( stifle的过去式和过去分词 )； 镇压，遏制； 堵 | |
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105
lessens
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| 变少( lessen的第三人称单数 )； 减少（某事物） | |
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106
hesitation
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| n.犹豫，踌躇 | |
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107
preservation
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| n.保护，维护，保存，保留，保持 | |
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108
speculation
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| n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机 | |
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109
Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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110
conversion
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| n.转化，转换，转变 | |
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111
intercede
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| vi.仲裁，说情 | |
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112
piety
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| n.虔诚，虔敬 | |
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113
undesirable
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| adj.不受欢迎的，不良的，不合意的，讨厌的；n.不受欢迎的人，不良分子 | |
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114
disciple
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| n.信徒，门徒，追随者 | |
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115
obliterated
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| v.除去( obliterate的过去式和过去分词 )；涂去；擦掉；彻底破坏或毁灭 | |
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116
bestowed
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| 赠给，授予( bestow的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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117
villa
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| n.别墅，城郊小屋 | |
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118
ragged
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| adj.衣衫褴褛的，粗糙的，刺耳的 | |
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119
dread
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| vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧 | |
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120
puny
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| adj.微不足道的，弱小的 | |
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121
withered
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| adj. 枯萎的，干瘪的，（人身体的部分器官）因病萎缩的或未发育良好的 动词wither的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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122
aspirants
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| n.有志向或渴望获得…的人( aspirant的名词复数 )v.渴望的，有抱负的，追求名誉或地位的( aspirant的第三人称单数 )；有志向或渴望获得…的人 | |
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123
mingled
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| 混合，混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 )； 混进，与…交往[联系] | |
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124
dames
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| n.（在英国）夫人（一种封号），夫人（爵士妻子的称号）( dame的名词复数 )；女人 | |
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125
wrestled
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| v.（与某人）搏斗( wrestle的过去式和过去分词 )；扭成一团；扭打；（与…）摔跤 | |
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126
frivolous
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| adj.轻薄的；轻率的 | |
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127
abounded
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| v.大量存在，充满，富于( abound的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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128
flute
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| n.长笛；v.吹笛 | |
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129
zeal
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| n.热心，热情，热忱 | |
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130
leeks
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| 韭葱( leek的名词复数 ) | |
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131
contortions
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| n.扭歪，弯曲；扭曲，弄歪，歪曲( contortion的名词复数 ) | |
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132
woe
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| n.悲哀，苦痛，不幸，困难；int.用来表达悲伤或惊慌 | |
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133
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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134
inevitable
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| adj.不可避免的，必然发生的 | |
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135
prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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136
postponed
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| vt.& vi.延期，缓办，（使）延迟vt.把…放在次要地位；[语]把…放在后面（或句尾）vi.（疟疾等）延缓发作（或复发） | |
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137
agog
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| adj.兴奋的，有强烈兴趣的； adv.渴望地 | |
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138
frantic
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| adj.狂乱的，错乱的，激昂的 | |
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139
unwilling
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| adj.不情愿的 | |
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140
bloody
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| adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染 | |
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141
vessels
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| n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人 | |
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142
infamy
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| n.声名狼藉，出丑，恶行 | |
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143
ERECTED
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| adj. 直立的，竖立的，笔直的 vt. 使 ... 直立，建立 | |
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144
garb
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| n.服装，装束 | |
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145
nude
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| adj.裸体的；n.裸体者，裸体艺术品 | |
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146
barbarians
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| n.野蛮人( barbarian的名词复数 )；外国人；粗野的人；无教养的人 | |
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147
resentment
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| n.怨愤，忿恨 | |
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148
tenements
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| n.房屋，住户，租房子( tenement的名词复数 ) | |
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149
parching
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| adj.烘烤似的，焦干似的v.（使）焦干， （使）干透( parch的现在分词 )；使（某人）极口渴 | |
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150
rumour
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| n.谣言，谣传，传闻 | |
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151
expedient
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| adj.有用的，有利的；n.紧急的办法，权宜之计 | |
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152
conflagration
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| n.建筑物或森林大火 | |
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153
acting
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| n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的 | |
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154
appeased
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| 安抚，抚慰( appease的过去式和过去分词 )； 绥靖（满足另一国的要求以避免战争） | |
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155
Christians
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| n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 ) | |
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156
retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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157
transcend
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| vt.超出，超越(理性等)的范围 | |
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158
predecessors
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| n.前任( predecessor的名词复数 )；前辈；（被取代的）原有事物；前身 | |
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159
grievance
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| n.怨愤，气恼，委屈 | |
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160
squandered
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| v.（指钱，财产等）浪费，乱花( squander的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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161
colossal
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| adj.异常的，庞大的 | |
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162
edifice
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| n.宏伟的建筑物(如宫殿，教室) | |
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163
colonnade
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| n.柱廊 | |
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164
huddled
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| 挤在一起（huddle的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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165
groves
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| 树丛，小树林( grove的名词复数 ) | |
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166
lodged
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| v.存放( lodge的过去式和过去分词 )；暂住；埋入；（权利、权威等）归属 | |
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167
adorned
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| [计]被修饰的 | |
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168
costly
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| adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的 | |
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169
treasury
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| n.宝库；国库，金库；文库 | |
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170
murmurs
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| n.低沉、连续而不清的声音( murmur的名词复数 )；低语声；怨言；嘀咕 | |
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171
sullen
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| adj.愠怒的，闷闷不乐的，(天气等)阴沉的 | |
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172
accusation
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| n.控告，指责，谴责 | |
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173
endorsed
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| vt.& vi.endorse的过去式或过去分词形式v.赞同( endorse的过去式和过去分词 )；在（尤指支票的）背面签字；在（文件的）背面写评论；在广告上说本人使用并赞同某产品 | |
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174
cupidity
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| n.贪心，贪财 | |
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175
malignity
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| n.极度的恶意，恶毒；（病的）恶性 | |
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176
sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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177
sycophantic
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| adj.阿谀奉承的 | |
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178
terse
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| adj.(说话，文笔)精炼的，简明的 | |
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179
gatherings
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| 聚集( gathering的名词复数 )； 收集； 采集； 搜集 | |
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180
patricians
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| n.（古罗马的）统治阶层成员( patrician的名词复数 )；贵族，显贵 | |
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181
scourged
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| 鞭打( scourge的过去式和过去分词 )； 惩罚，压迫 | |
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182
tardy
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| adj.缓慢的，迟缓的 | |
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183
outspokenness
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184
hesitations
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| n.犹豫( hesitation的名词复数 )；踌躇；犹豫（之事或行为）；口吃 | |
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185
creed
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| n.信条；信念，纲领 | |
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186
fabulous
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| adj.极好的；极为巨大的；寓言中的，传说中的 | |
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187
prodigal
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| adj.浪费的，挥霍的，放荡的 | |
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188
abdomen
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| n.腹，下腹(胸部到腿部的部分) | |
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189
extravagant
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| adj.奢侈的；过分的；(言行等)放肆的 | |
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190
lamentation
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| n.悲叹，哀悼 | |
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191
embalmed
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| adj.用防腐药物保存（尸体）的v.保存（尸体）不腐( embalm的过去式和过去分词 )；使不被遗忘；使充满香气 | |
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192
peculiarity
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| n.独特性，特色；特殊的东西；怪癖 | |
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193
frenzied
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| a.激怒的；疯狂的 | |
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194
concession
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| n.让步，妥协；特许(权) | |
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195
adherents
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| n.支持者，拥护者( adherent的名词复数 )；党羽；徒子徒孙 | |
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196
briefly
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| adv.简单地，简短地 | |
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197
consort
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| v.相伴；结交 | |
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198
entrusted
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| v.委托，托付( entrust的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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199
loathsome
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| adj.讨厌的，令人厌恶的 | |
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200
caressed
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| 爱抚或抚摸…( caress的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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201
abominable
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| adj.可厌的，令人憎恶的 | |
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202
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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203
recollecting
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| v.记起，想起( recollect的现在分词 ) | |
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204
aspiring
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| adj.有志气的；有抱负的；高耸的v.渴望；追求 | |
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205
debauch
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| v.使堕落，放纵 | |
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206
witty
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| adj.机智的，风趣的 | |
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207
applied
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| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
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208
maxim
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| n.格言，箴言 | |
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209
literally
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| adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实 | |
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210
prudence
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| n.谨慎，精明，节俭 | |
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211
odious
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| adj.可憎的，讨厌的 | |
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212
scoffer
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| 嘲笑者 | |
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213
subterfuge
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| n.诡计；藉口 | |
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214
shamming
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| 假装，冒充( sham的现在分词 ) | |
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215
exacting
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| adj.苛求的，要求严格的 | |
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216
exterminate
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| v.扑灭，消灭，根绝 | |
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217
honourable
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| adj.可敬的；荣誉的，光荣的 | |
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218
regiment
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| n.团，多数，管理；v.组织，编成团，统制 | |
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219
attain
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| vt.达到，获得，完成 | |
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220
artistic
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| adj.艺术(家)的，美术(家)的；善于艺术创作的 | |
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221
negligence
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| n.疏忽，玩忽，粗心大意 | |
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222
plundered
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| 掠夺，抢劫( plunder的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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223
retinue
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| n.侍从；随员 | |
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224
locusts
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| n.蝗虫( locust的名词复数 )；贪吃的人；破坏者；槐树 | |
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225
joyously
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| ad.快乐地, 高兴地 | |
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226
acclaimed
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| adj.受人欢迎的 | |
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227
follies
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| 罪恶，时事讽刺剧； 愚蠢，蠢笨，愚蠢的行为、思想或做法( folly的名词复数 ) | |
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228
previously
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| adv.以前，先前（地） | |
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229
irresistible
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| adj.非常诱人的，无法拒绝的，无法抗拒的 | |
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230
seduce
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| vt.勾引，诱奸，诱惑，引诱 | |
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231
justifies
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| 证明…有理( justify的第三人称单数 )； 为…辩护； 对…作出解释； 为…辩解（或辩护） | |
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232
gaily
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| adv.欢乐地，高兴地 | |
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233
exhortations
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| n.敦促( exhortation的名词复数 )；极力推荐；（正式的）演讲；（宗教仪式中的）劝诫 | |
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234
manifesto
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| n.宣言，声明 | |
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235
miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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236
redress
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| n.赔偿，救济，矫正；v.纠正，匡正，革除 | |
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237
mantle
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| n.斗篷，覆罩之物，罩子；v.罩住，覆盖，脸红 | |
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238
embroidered
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| adj．绣花的 | |
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239
theatrical
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| adj.剧场的，演戏的；做戏似的，做作的 | |
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240
brute
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| n.野兽，兽性 | |
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241
deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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242
deriding
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| v.取笑，嘲笑( deride的现在分词 ) | |
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243
dagger
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| n.匕首，短剑，剑号 | |
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244
clatter
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| v./n.(使)发出连续而清脆的撞击声 | |
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245
cavalry
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| n.骑兵；轻装甲部队 | |
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246
cremation
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| n.火葬，火化 | |
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247
humiliation
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| n.羞辱 | |
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248
supremacy
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| n.至上；至高权力 | |
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249
pillaged
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| v.抢劫，掠夺( pillage的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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250
wrested
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| （用力）拧( wrest的过去式和过去分词 )； 费力取得； （从…）攫取； （ 从… ） 强行取去… | |
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251
rhetoric
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| n.修辞学，浮夸之言语 | |
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252
orations
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| n.（正式仪式中的）演说，演讲( oration的名词复数 ) | |
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253
eloquence
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| n.雄辩；口才，修辞 | |
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