Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1882-07-26
The Emperor Nero,

The Emperor Nero.
Yet must write and since these Iron times
FROM living knaves preclude my angry rhymes.
point my pen against the guilty dead,
Ana pour Its gall on each obnoxious head"
Jureaal.
Among the despicable characters ofthe OIL
den times chronicled in history, to be exc
Grated by succeeding ages, the sixth emper-
or of Rome appears to be one who transcen-
ded the bounds of conceivable wickedness.
Had the education of Nero been neglec-
ted, we might find in his ignorance an apol-
osy for the Nervousness of his crimes. But
such was not the case, for he had been care
fully Instructed by the philosopher Seneca,
and was neither deficient in perseverance
nor application to study. At an early pc
Rod OF his life he distinguished himselfas an
advocate and as a linguist,
Nero commenced his career by coup d
ctm. When the Emperor Claudious had
6reathed his last, the Empress Agrippna
detained Germanicus (the right heir to the
throne)in the palace, by her Iamentions ov
or the dead body Of her husband, thereby
enabling her willy son Nero to have himself
conveyed to the camp in the covered coach
used for carrying in procession the Emperor
elect. He bribed the cohorts, was by them
salutcd Emperor" and then he proceeded
to the Senate to deliver Il eulogium upon
Claudius.
Alter this aggressive step, Nero, for u time
cvinced some glimmering of spirit better
than the one elaborated us he advanced in
life
For 4 few years he resisted the collnsels of
his atrocious mother, who would have hur-
ried him into deeds of bloodshed but for the
counteracting influence of Seneca. Never
theless her taunts succeeded in the end, and
the seed she had scattered sprslng UP to
cause her own immolntion.
When we recall to mind, even at this late
day, the crimes perpetrated by Nero, though
centuries upon centuries are piled up, noun
tain high, between the present and the past.
we shudder at the depravity of human ma
ture as exhibited in every period of the
world, since the first and CRATE fall of the
mother Of all the Adamite race.
We deem Nero's neglect of his wife, and
subsequently her murder, as heading the
catalogue of his enormities, though he had,
rs the reader is aware, caused Germanicus
to suffer death before killing Octavia.
Callous indeed must be the heart of the
man, let his position be elevated or the re-
verse, who is deficient in devotion to his
wite-she who, for his sake, left the paren-
tai roof, and seeks happiness only in the un-
divided affection of him who vowed to love
and cherish her.
So very low in vice did Nero sink that at
one period of his reign he was accused by
his subjects of incendiarism. In order to
screen himself, he charged the Christians
with the arson. On this false accusation
many thousand innocent members of that
sect were inhumanly sacrificed for the
amusement of the Emperor
Like the beast of the forest, Nero having
once Illustrated in blood-shedding, his taste
for it became Unsuitable Defend u.s. high
Heaven, from the Purple!
Popppa Sabina, the second wife of Nero,
lost her life through his brutality. This
monster, whose deeds of darkness are un-
rivalcd in the annals of crime. astonishes us
by his beautiful taste, and by his love of the
refnements of life.
The description given by Suetonius of Nero's
| golden house. is overpowering in its grandeur,
| elegance and luxury. 1t was certainly a master
piece of human ingenuity, the banqueting hall
being in itself miniature world.
| Why is it, courteous reader. that no modern
epiCure has immortaliZed himself among the class
by having Golden House erected after the order
of Nero's? Just fancy shOwer-bath of roses and
all atmosphere redolent with the most choice per-
fumes, while enjoying the luNurics of the table
But all such exquisite possessions and delights
arc ouly calculated to aggrevate the natural re-
pugnance that created human beings feel, ut hav-
ing to resign this life and to plunge into the grand
and llimitable eternity of the unknown world
1t is in this regard that the INDECENT and oppressed
arc blessed; they are comforted by looking for
ward to the time when theirlabors, privations and
trials here will end and they find rest in bright
cr and happier abode.
Nero's end was probably accelerated by his love
of amusement and pleasure During an absence
from Rome, on tour through the cities of Greece,
the Emperor was crowned innumerable times for
his success in the public games; but his frivolity
met with 4 just reward. revolt occurred among
his generals; thereupon the Senate pronounced
the death sentence upon him. He escaped pub
lie execution by causing himself to be despatched
by one of his attcndants.=N. Y Erenna Ncrs