Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1913-03-07
DID NERO BURN
ROME?

Did Nero burn Rome, and did he sit,
while all around him We're shrieks and
lamentations n amuse himself by
singing The Destruction of Troy" ac-
companying himself on the Tyre? He
is accused of having been so inhuman.
The fire started among the wooden
buildings in the southern end of Rome
and it ragged for six days. When it had
finally been gotten under control at this
point. 1T broke out at another place. II
was undoubtedly of incendiary origin.
Why was Nero blamed? Because he
had resorted to every imaginable crime.
He took a great delight in suffering and
~bloOdshed. and having satisfied his pas
sion In that respect to an almost UNI
imaginable extent. the people believed
that he next desired to see the city
laid in ashes. deriving pleasure from
witnessing the sufferings of his people
and the great devastation of his city.
In just what way he is supposed to
have dictated the city's destruction has
never been told. But reports tell of
men who rushed through he streets
casting lighted torches into houses and
declaring they acted under imperial or
ders. So. for all time. the burning of
Rome has been attributed to Nero. and
he is accused of gloating over his luck
less peoples misfortune. But, as a
matter of fact. there is no reason
whatever for believing that Nero had
any tnlIlS 10 40 WIN IHe IRE ana Clore
Is every reason to think it was one of
The few crimes of which he was entire
ly innocent.
Through their counsels the first five
years of Nero's reign were distin-
guished by justice and clemency; and
an anccdote is related of him. that hav-
ing an occasion to sign an order for the
execution of a malefactor. he X
claimed: Would that l could not
write.." He discouraged public inform
ers. refused the statues of gold and
silver Which We're offered him by the
senate and people. and used every part
to %ingratiate himself with the latter.
But his mother was enraged to find
that her owe over him became weak
er every day. and that he constantly
d~isregarded her advice and refused her
requests. His neglect of his wife, Oc-
tavia, and his criminal owe of Acte, a
woman of low birth. still farther Wild
ened the breach between him and his
mother.
The threats of his mother only served
to hasten the death of Britannicus,
whose murder forms the ommence-
ment of that long catalog of crime,
which afterwards disgracca the reign
of Nero. But while the
of public affairs appears from the tes-
tlmony of most historians to have been
wisely conducted by Burrus and Sem
eca. Nero INDUCED in private in dis
sipation and profiigacy. He was ac-
customed. in company with other young
men OF his w age. to sally into the
streets of Rome at night. in order to
rob and maltreat passengers and even
to break into private houses and carry
off the property of their owners. But
these eXtravagances We're compar-
ativelv harmless. His Owe for Pop
paea. whom he Il seduced# from Ohio.
led him into more serious crimes. Pop
paea. who was ambitious of sharing
the imperial throne, perceived that she
could not hope to- attain her object
while A~grippina was alive, and accord
ingly induced Nero to consent to the
murder of his mother.
1t was in the 10th year of his reign
"a. d. go, that Rome was almost de-
strOyed by fire. OF the IA districts of
which the city was divided, four only
remained entire. 1t was generally be-
lieved that he had set fire to the city
however. it appears improbable that
Nero was guilty of this crime. His
guilt, indeed. is asserted by S%uetonius
and Dio Cassius. out Tacitus admits
that he was no able to prove the truth
OF the accusation. In order. however.
to remove the suspicious of the peo-
pie. Nero spread a report that the
Christians were the authors of the fire.
and numbers of them were seized and
put to death. Their execution served
as an amusement to the people. Some
were covered with skins OF wild beasts
and were torn to pieces by dogs. 9th
ers were crucified; and several were
smeared with pitch and other combust-
ible materials and burned in the i'm
perial gardens in the night. Nero was
undoubtedly 1.-The Tyrant,' but that he
burned Rome is a mystery that has
never been solved.