Omaha daily bee., 1910-12-06
COMING BACK IN OLD ROME
NerO's quick und sure Method of
Fixing his pernicious
Opponents.


Opponents.
Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus Nero
Claudius Caesar Drusus Germauicus was
The fun name Of the Emperor Nero. When
il was hung out on the line wash days Il
made all the other back yards in the block
look foolish. The other families IN the
ncighborhood finally changed their wash
day to Tuesday to escape the humiliaung
comparison. Mrs. Caius Tiberius Quintus
OCassius, who lived next door, fancied
she had two pretty good pairs before the
Nero family moved in and showed up.
After that she hung her clothesline in the
basement Ike the rest Of the neighbors.
Nero became emperor when he was only
Il years old. His early accession to the
throne he owed entirely TO his mother
Agrippina who thoughtfuuy poisoned the
Emperor Claudius when IT began to look
as though the old man intended to defer
dying until a later date than Nero had
fixed his heart on. Any Roman emperor
who fancied he was going to die Of old age
could have been convicted II softening Of
the brain in any court in Rome. After sit
ting up several nights thinking hard the
writer has been unable to remember a sin
gle Roman emperor who died Of old age
Agrippina had married Claudius after Gre
ating the proper vacancy by putting pto-
maines in his wifes soup. and then in
duced the emperor to adopt Nero. Even
at this early day Nero exhibited many evil
dences that he would make a good Roman
emperor. Besides playing the fiddle he
combined a taste for Greek art and muir
der that held forth great promise Of fu-
ture usefulness to the state. Agrippina
training had not been in vain, as Nero
showed by attempting to drown the old
lady as soon as he found himself on the
throne. Although he failed in his first at
tempt, the earnest preparations he had
made indicated that the failure was not
the fault of carelessness. He was deeply
mortified at the slip, however, and for
several days couldn't look his mother in
the face, conscious that he deserved re-
proach for his clumsiness after all her
patient lessons Many and many a night
had the noble widow sat up with her
fatherless boy-at her knee, teaching him
his murder primer, and now ct the very
first attempt to carry out her precepts he
had made a coarse bungle Of it. But did
Nero give up, discouraged, as many man
would have done under the circumstances?
No! With noble perseverance and pa
AANAAAt ullWtdiltu tNutdNOI ne lohONGu
his mother to her villa whence she had
fled, surrounded the place with soldiers
and had her successfully strangled in the
night. 1t may not have been as artistic
as his first plan, but, as Nero well re-
marked to Seneca the next morning, life
Is short and art is long.
Flushed with this success Nero cast about
to see whom he could practice on next and
n 70 n yfrfFa not yIa 10
didn't have anything against her, but he
was just naturally tired Of seeing her
around. And, anyway. Poppaea Sabina. a
woman who lived across the street, did
her hair much prettier, and Nero had rea-
son to believe that were Octavia out of
the way she would let him come over and
cit in the hammock. once Poppaea had
said coyly that II she got a chance she
would like to push Octavia off the dock
herself She was just crazy to be empress
and wear a crown and have her head on
the coin, which was a privilege Of the
Roman expresses Lots of people have
tried to get ahead on the coin, and 80 per-
haps Poppaea is not to be blamed After
getting rid of Octavia, her brother, Britain
nicus, and others of his family who clut
tered up the palace Nero turned his at
tenton to other branches of art. He APP
pNdIeu Ol Lil6 stage db III ACTOR COuptLeu
in the public games, drove chariots, threw
the discus and number of other wres-
tiers who challenged him. and took down
ali the garlands and cups that we're Of
fered. 1t wasn't considered polite to win
any trophies from Nero, and he was al
ways sure Of favorable notices in the
papers. Amy paper that failed to speak
we'll Of his acting could be purchased at
bargain the next morning.
His extravagRnt way OF living told on
his purse after a while and he burned
Rome down to get the insurance. While
the fire ragged he sat on his front porch
playing. "There'H BE a Hot Time in the
Old Town Tonight" on his fiddle. They
came to him the next morning and told
him there was no money to rebuild the
town with. Nero thought deeply for
moment and then an inspiration struck
him.
Fine every country editor 10 sesterces
who says in the next issue Of his paper
that Rome will rise like a phoenix from
it's ashes" he ordered.
Thus Rome was rebuilt more magnifl-
Gently than before.
Considering the rlskiness OF the job It
10 a matter for wonder now that any one
should have desired to be a Roman en-
peror. But as often the job was va
cant hundreds answered the want ad in