The Caldwell tribune. [volume] (Caldwell, Idaho Territory [Idaho]) 1883-1928, 1885-07-24
THE EMPEROR NERO.
BIl Nye Chats Gracefully About the Ancient
Fidller-now Nero Punished Offen-
sive PartIsanship.

nero, VINO was hOman emperor
from "a to 68 A. d., was said to have
been one of the most disagreeable
mouarchs to meet that Rome ever had.
He was nephew of Caligula, the en-
peror, on his mothers side, and q son
of Dominitius Ahenobarbus, of st.
Lawrence county. The above was re-
ally Nero's name, but in the year of
so A. d. his mother married Claudius,
and her son adopted the name of Ne
ro Claudius Cesar Drusus Germani-
Gus. This name he was in the habit
of wearing during the cold weather,
buttoned up in front. During the
hot weather Nero was all the name he
wore.
In 53 Nero married Octavia, daught-
er of Claudius, and went right to
housekeeping. Nero and Octavia did
not get along tirst-rate. Nero soon
wearIed of his young wife, and finally
transferred her to the New Jerusa-
lem.
In "a Nero's mother, by concealing
the rightful heir TO the throne for sew
eral weeks and doctoring the returns,
succeeded in getting the steady job of
emperor for Nero at good salary.
His reign was quite stormy, and sew
eral long, bloody wars were carried
on during that period. He was Il
good, vicarious fighter, and could sue
cessfully hold a mans coat all day
while the man went to the front to get
killed. He loved to go out riding
over the battle-fields, as soon as it
was safe, in his gorgeously bedizened
band chariot, and he didn't care if the
wheels rolled in gore up to the hub.
providing it was some other mans
gore. 1t gave him great pleasure to
drive over the field of carnage and
gloat over the dead. Nero was not
great success as an emperor, but as a
gloater he has no rival in history.
Nero's reign was characterized, al
so, by the great confiagration and Ro-
man fireworks of July, Ga, by which
two thirds of the city of Rome was
destroyed. The emperor was charged
with starting this fire in order to get
the insurance on stock of dry goods
on Main street.
Instead of taking off his crown,
hanging it up in the hall, and helping
to put out the fire, as other emperors
have done time and again, Nero took
his violin upstairs and played "pll
Meet You When the Sun Goes Down. y
This occasioneda a great deal of adverse
criticism on the part of those who op-
posed the administration. Several per-
sons openly criticised Nero's policy
and then died.
A man in those days would put on
his overcoat IN the morning, and tell
his wife not to keep dinner waiting.
81 am going downtown to criticise
the emperor a few moments" he
would say ''If do not get home in
time for dinner, meet me on the ever
green Shore"
Nero. after the death of Octavia,
married Popp@a Sabina. She died
afterward at her husbands earnest
solicitation. Nero did not care so
much about being bridegroom, but
the excitement of being widower al
ways gratifed and pleased him.
He was very Jealous monarch, and
kept Rome pretty we'll stirred up
during his reign. If man failed v
show up anywhere on time, his friends
would look sadly at each other and
say: "Alas! he has criticised Nero.
A man could wrestle with the yell
low fever, or the smallpox, or the
Asiatic cholera, and stand chance for
recovery. but when he spoke sarcas-
tically of Nero il was good-by, John.
When Nero decided that a man was
an offensive partisan that man would
generally put up the following notice
on his office door:
Gone to see the emperor in relation
to charge of offensive partisanship.
Meet me at the cemetery at 2 O'Clock.
Finally, Nero overdid this thing and
ran it into the ground. He did not
want to be disliked, and so those who
disliked him were killed. This made
timid, and muzzled the press
a good deal.
The Roman papers in those days
were all on one side. They did not
dare to be fearless and outspoken for
fear that Nero would take out his ad
So they would confine themselves to
the statement that 1.-The genial and
lrbane Afranius Burrhus had painted
MS new and recherche picket fence last
week." or, "Our enterprising fellow
;ownsman, Caesar Kersikes, will re-
move the tail of his favorite bulldog
,ext week, if the weather should be
or
s'Miss Agrippina Bangoline. eldest
laughter of Romulus Bangoline, the
yreat Roman rinkist, will teach the
Ichool at Eupatorium, Trifoliatum
Ioller, this summer. She is a highly
young lady. and a good
peller."
Nero grew more and more fatal as
10 grew older, and finally the Romans
,egan to wonder whether he would
lot wipe out the empire before he
lied. His back yard was full all the
ime of people who have dropped in TO
,e killed, so that they could have it of
heir minds.
Finally Nero himself yielded to the
.reat strain that had been placed upon
i'm, and, in the midst of an insurrec- |
ion in Gaul, Spain, and Rome itself,
le fled and killed himself.
The Romans were very grateful for
Jero's great crowning act in the kill
no line, but they were dissatisfied be-
ansed he DELAYED It so long, and there