Durango semi-weekly herald., 1902-02-13

in his prime minister, and Burrhus.
a loyal and upright soldier, he prom
ised to be great improvement upon
both Claudius and Caligula, but his
feeble head soon became dizzy with
the consciousness of power, and he
got rid OF his mother. his minister
and his royal chieItain one after the
other by assassination, and then pro
ceeded to crafty his cruelty and lust.
Aoippina. his mother, was a model of
virtue, and it was violation of the
laws of heredity for her to have hal
such children as her son and daugh-
ter
Do you remember the clever
scheme by which Nero attempted to
put an end to his mothers life? He
invited her to dine with him in villa
on the opposite side of the lake upon
which he resided. He gave her a
beautiful time and treated her with
marked respect and affection, and at
the end of the dinner sent her home
in gondola. which he told her. had
been built in her honor. When half
way across the lake, where the water
was the deepest, one of Nero's crea-
lures touched a spring and the boat
suddenly separated into a thousand
fragments leaving his mother in the
water The boatmen swan ashore,
in. obedience to Nero's orders, and
left her to drown, but fate directed
otherwise. She was rescued and
taken to her own villa, where. after
a little reflection. she comprehended
the conspiracy and sent sarcastic
message to her imperial son, thank
ing him for pleasant evening and
novel and unexpected experience dur
ing her homeward journey. This so
excited Nero that he sent assassins
over Immediately to kill her.
Before leaving the Palatine Hill
the guide takes you to what they call
ed the Basilica, which was the law
court where the emperor sat and
tried criminals. A part of the chair
OF justice is still preserved and a por-
tion of the richly wrought marble bar
at which st Lawrence and many 9TH
er Christian martyrs were judged
still exists. 1t was there also that
st. Paul was tried before Nero. Aug
ustus heard appeals in private, but
administered public justice through
delegates. julius Caesar, Tiberius
and Claudius occasionally held court
in the Forum. but Nero, with his love
did roofless hall, lined with the most
precious marbles of Egypt and Labia,
and there heard appeals from the de-
cisions of distinguished bench of
the most cultured judges of all the
civilized world. and usually pervert-
ed both law and justice to crafty his
humor or his whims.
AS st. Paul was pronounced guilt
less of the charges brought against
him. Nero was doubtless in good
humor when he heard the trial of the
most distinguished defendant that
ever appeared in his court. The
apostle was brought before him in
letters. in charge of military guard.
For several years the prosecuting at
torney had been working up evidence
against him, and produced both dep
ositions and personal witnesses. He
was accused OF disturbing the Jews
in the exercise of the freedom of wor-
ship, which was guaranteed to them
by law; of desecrating their temples;
OF disturbing the public peace; Of
SANDER; of sedition, as the ringlead-
er OF a new and dangerous faction.
and of treason against the common
wealth-the most serious of accusa-
tions from the standpoint of Roman
statesmen and jurists of that period
We do not know why Nero chose to
hear the evidence himself. He
might have referred the case to com
missioners. as he usually did, to ex-
anime the witnesses and prepare an