ACT · II
A room in the palace, with large windows at back, and doors right and left. The scene remains unchanged throughout the act.
SENECIO, SCEVINUS and QUINTIAN.
SCEVINUS.
’TIS abominable, sir. What’s your net loss?
SENECIO.
I ask you, Quintian, as a man of culture and erudition, what do you make of it?
QUINTIAN.
You admit that Cæsar was not drunk?
Seo. Had he been drunk, he had had some excuse. ’Twas past midnight when he burst in, turned us all out of bed, and ordered the house to be pulled down; and I a married man. I have a wife and daughters.
Sce. Married! well, I never knew that. So your house is pulled down.
Seo. And half the street, for that matter.
Qu. ’Twas done to stay the fire: ’twas well done.
Seo. But we were reckoning our danger past: and ’twas so situated, that if he wished to protect his palace he had choice of some four streets: and he chooses mine, and begins with me, my house, Senecio’s house; Senecio his sworn comrade. I have played housebreaker and looker on to him these eight years, and helped to save his life a score of times from injured husbands and common fellows....
Sce. You do not stand with him as you did.
Seo. Nay, nor you.
Qu. And he hath made verses on me, which he will recite in all company when I am present.
Seo. ’Tis that long-nosed cad Vatinius who hath undermined me.
Sce. And all of us. We are put down by a coarse pig.
Qu. He hath no true wit, no true humour.
Sce. The commoner a man is now, the better will he like him.
Seo. It used not to be so: he was once thick with me.
Sce. He hath sunk to depths.
Qu. With his acting and singing.
Seo. I believe ’twas he set fire to the city. I would the earthquake had swallowed him!
Qu. Well, I’ll not be civil to his buffoon any longer.
Seo. A gentleman must draw the line somewhere.
Sce. Hark, then! Shall we unite in some plan of lordly revenge?
Seo. I care not; I’d as lief run him through and have done with it.
Sce. Are you in earnest? Mean you what you say? Would you join the patriots?
Seo. I care not.
Qu. Could we not raise a quarrel between Tigellinus and Vatinius?
Sce. Poison the brutes both.
Seo. All three of ’em, damn ’em!
Qu. Hush thou! here they come.
Enter Nero, Tigellinus and Vatinius.
NERO.
725
Ha! Here’s my Quintian!
The pale Parnassian reptile, that hath ne’er
Moistened his leathery tongue in Hippocrene....
Nay, laugh not so immoderately, I fear
Your sides may split.
TIGELLINUS.
O no, thou god of the world,
Thou hast practised them too well.
Qu.And I, your majesty,
Am proud to move your jovial lips to smile.
VATINIUS.
We all believe it, while thy writhing grin
Makes us such sport.
Qu. (aside).Curse on this ugly brute!
Ner. Mind him not, Quintian; we are in good spirits.
We have worked all night like firemen, and saved the palace
If not the city. Ha! Senecio, tell us,
How stands it with thy house?
Seo.Permit me, sire,
To thank you for the imperial favour shewn
To my poor dwelling.
Ner.Thank Vatinius:
’Twas his idea.
Seo.Then, sir, I thank thee humbly,—740
(Aside.) Till I can kill thee.
Vat.The emperor and I
Are glad to serve you; we are very free
To all the race.
Ner.’Tis true:—Senecio,
Thou wilt remember well the merry nights,
When I and thou and Otho inaugurated
My reign with freaks of license: since that time
What steps we have made! I laugh when I recall
Those timorous revellings in the dark, and how
’Twas deemed a scandal Cæsar should be seen
Horse-racing. What misgivings when I first
Opened my circus on the Vatican!
But what applause! Then I saw Rome was with me,
Nor ever have doubted since: in other games
Outrunning popularity, till now,
—My thanks to Tigellinus—there’s scarce one
Of all the noblest houses that can brag
It hath not sent some actor to the stage,
Or wrestler to the theatre: and I crowned
My triumph in Naples, when ye saw, ye heard,
Ye applauded.—Would it be believed that when
I came to the throne I might not, in my palace,
Sing my own song at supper?
Seo.Glorious Cæsar,
The Gods deny you nothing.
Tig.Thyself a god,
By destiny their peer.
Vat.Perfect Apollo!
In music equal, and in medicine . . . (Acts taking poison).
Tig. (hastily). Above all gods in this, that full success
Attests thy wisdom.
Ner.Well, and is’t not sense
To seek for happiness the natural way?
Not by the notions of philosophers,
Who fashion theoretic right and wrong
From books; or if they judge mankind at all,
Judge by themselves, who are unlike the rest,
Scarce human. ’Tis the soundest principle
To follow nature; and what nature is
I well perceive. I judge all by myself:
The appetites are universal gifts:
Cæsar will never stoop to flatter Cæsar
By such pretence of difference, nor withhold
From others what himself loves. I believe
That no man in the world worth calling man
Is what philosophers term pure and good;—
Nor woman either. All would gratify
The strong desires of nature, and all shall,
While I am emperor.
Tig.Blessed be the god,
Who first named thee for rule.
Sce.We all admire.
Ner. Is it not sense?
Tig.’Tis commonsense.
Vat.I wonder
None ever thought of it before.
Ner.Tut! fool;
That is the greatness: ’tis the common thing
For man to beat about. True genius
Is but simplicity: all great inventions
Seem first devices.
Tig.’Tis a revolution.
Ner. Just so: in ethics as in politics.
I let the world wag as it will; and if
The world mistake its will, then I am Cæsar
To wag it.
Vat.Here’s a flaw, good wag; you judge
The appetites of all men by your own:
The standard is too high.
Ner.We’ll see to that;
By one experiment I’ll strangle doubt.
This is my plan. I mean to hold a fête,
Say at Agrippa’s pool:—the folk will need
Some such diversion when the fire is o’er:—
Thither I’ll draw all Rome, with novel shows,
Sea-fights and monsters; round about the water,
Along the bank, I shall have wine-booths set,
Brilliant with luxury and enticement, wine
Gratis; and to all comers night and day
They shall stand open. Now I’ll have these booths
Kept by the Roman ladies:—that’s my plan.
They shall have license, everything permitted
But interference. We will watch our Trojans,
How they conduct themselves.
Vat.This is simplicity.
Ner. (aside to Tig.). And mark the disaffected.
Tig. (aside).Here’s a trap
To catch all but the vermin.
Sce.A grand invention.
Ner. The details, my good master, are for you:
Our three friends here may help.
Sce., Seo. and Qu. (bowing).Our humble thanks.
Enter a Servant.
Ner. (to Servant). What is it?
SERVANT.
Lord Seneca is in attendance, sire.
Tig. (to Ner.). Send the old man home to his wife.
Ner.What can he come for?
Vat. Is’t not the hour for lessons?
Ner.Now what say you
To have him in, and make him of your council
For the ordering of the fête (To Serv.) Go shew him here.
Tig. (aside to Nero). Jest not with this man, Cæsar; Thrasea and he
Are your worst enemies.
Ner.Mighty enemies!
Tig. If there were no pretenders.
Ner.What do you mean?
Tig. (apart with Nero). My only pleasure is thy service, Cæsar:
If ’tis thy will that Tigellinus die,
I’ll be thy sacrifice and welcome death.
The mob shall tear me, as they tore Sejanus,
And tread my mangled corpse on Tiber’s steps:
But pardon Nature’s shudderings, they come
At sound of these men’s names.
Ner.Why, know you not
I am reconciled with Thrasea, since I put
His motion to the senate? While he lets me
Go my way, he goes his.
Tig.And Seneca?
Ner.Pooh!
Tig. Cæsar said well these men were not to fear,
If there were no pretenders.
Ner.What pretenders?
Tig. Sylla and Plautus are the first to name.
Ner. Both are retired from Rome.
Tig.And whither, Cæsar?
Mark you that Sylla is retired to Gaul,
Fire to the tinderbox: those doughty legions
Forget not how they crossed the Rubicon.
And where is Plautus? close by Corbulo,
Whose army is a créature of díscipline,
To serve him as his fingers....
Ner. Corbulo, now! my prince of generals,
Rome’s trusty dexter arm.
Tig.Trust not that giant!
Nature packed not his mighty body full
Of intrepidity for nought. I well
Remember when I sat by him at supper,
The day he took his baton; how his triumph
Was undisguised; and whén Cæsar was mentioned—
You happed to have won a horse-race....
Ner.And what said he?
Tig. No word, else had I told it; he but hemmed:
But the couch shook. In his big iron chest
A thunder rumbled, such as Jove might make
If he found Juno faithless.
Ner.Ha, ha, ha!
He’ll crunch us, think you, master? But this Sylla
Is poor as a rat: and Plautus, if he is wealthy,
Lives moderately.
Tig.Poor men are poor in scruples:
And rich men that live moderately, be sure,
Hide some rich purpose.
Ner.Had these men a purpose,
It would be bruited.
Tig.It is bruited.
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Ner.Ha!
That’s so?
Tig. ’Tis also hoped that, being a pair,
The one may fight the other and both be slain.
Ner. That is a trouble we can spare them, master:
That were a pity.—I thank you, Tigellinus:—
Take you the order for their deaths; but mind,
Secretly, secretly. Here’s Seneca.
Enter Seneca. (Scevinus, Senecio and Quintian still stand aside.)
Tig. (aside). Two of my foes wiped out; now, Mister Seneca,
I take you next.
Ner. Good Seneca, what wouldst thou?
SENECA.
Cæsar, I ask
A private interview.
Ner. ’Tis private here:
This is my privy-council.
Vat.Rome’s triumvirate.
Ha, ha! we rule the world!
(Gesturing.) Come, trust thy secret
In Cæsar’s ear, my lord.
Seo. (aside to Sce.). Let us make up
To Seneca by going out.
Sen. As Cæsar wills.
Sce. (to Nero). Cæsar’s august permission!
We are not stoics.
Ner.I understand you, sir:
You may withdraw.
Sce., Seo. and Qu. Our humble thanks.
class="right">[Exeunt, bowing separately to Nero and Seneca.
Ner. Now we are private.
Sen.If your majesty
Will lend me attention, I will put my business
Shortly.
Ner. I shall not interrupt.
880
Vat.Nor I;
Unless I snore. (Sits.)
Sen. ’Tis fourteen years, Cæsar, since I was first
Chosen your guide; and for eight years and more
You have governed the empire not without my aid.
Through all wh time your kindness hath heaped ón me
So many dignities and so much wealth,
That nothing wants to my felicity
Save some curtailment of it.—I can allege
Precedents for my conduct: the divine Augustus,
Who was your great-great-grandfather, permitted
Marcus Agrippa to withdraw himself
To Mitylenè and a private life:
Mæcenas too he let abide in Rome,
As in a foreign country, at his ease;—
Whereof the one had served in all his wars,
The other toiled at home; and each grown rich
With presents answerable to their high deserts.
As for myself, what I have done to merit
Your prodigal favour,—being but a student,
A teacher, a philosopher,—I say not:900
But being enriched, it comforteth my mind
’Twas not for me to strive against your gifts.
Both of us, sire, have filled our measure, you
In giving all a prince should give a friend,
I taking what a friend might from a prince.
But now, sire, in my journey of life grown old,
The business of my riches burdens me.
And ’tis by envy augmented; which if you
Be set above the sting of, yet ’tis known
What curse to peace it is. Wherefore I pray,
Let me retire. I crave your helping hand
To ease me of my wealth: that I restore
Whence first I had it, to yourself: receive it,
I pray you, as your own. You, in your flower,
May serve your generation, and permit
Your old friends to betake themselves to rest.
’Twill be your praise, sire, to have enriched such men
As could live happy in a mean estate.
Tig. (half aside). There’s something behind this.
Ner. (to Tig.). Silence, I bid!
(To Sen.) If, Seneca, I am able out of hand
To meet thy long premeditated speech
With equal answer, that I owe to thee,
And thine instruction.—First thou didst allege
Mæcenas and Agrippa: but from them
Divine Augustus took not back their wealth;
Which if they won in danger, yet I doubt not
Thy weapons and thy hand would not have wanted
Had I had need of them. But what I needed
That gavest thou; such reason and good counsel
As shall abide with me while my life lasteth.
Those goods material, which thou hadst of me,
Are liable to perish; and I am shamed
That thou, who art the first in my affection,
Art not first also in wealth:—nay, there be slaves
Own more than thou:—and for thine age, I know
Thou’rt lusty for thy years, and able well
To enjoy thy wealth and its commodities.
Keep thy rewards still, and still do us service:
If slipperiness of youth be overprone
To what it should not, thou mayst draw us back;
And our unseemly and unruly zeal
Temper with kind advice. Harked I to thee,
’Tis not thy moderation we should hear of,
Nay, nor thy ease, shouldst thou forsake our service:
Rather my covetousness and thy fear
Would be in all men’s mouths. ’Twould ill beseem
Such a philosopher as thou, at cost
Of thy friend’s infamy to win thy comfort.
Tig. Hear, hear! ’Tis well said, Cæsar!
Vat.Admirable!
But somewhat senecal.
950
Ner.Embrace me, Seneca.
Let us be friends.
Vat.Ye gods! I shall be jealous.
Me too, my lord.
Sen.If, Cæsar, in this embrace
Power kissed philosophy, ’twere well with both.
Ner. I have my own philosophy to kiss;
Be thou content with thine.
Sen.Nay, the wise man
Is so convinced of truth, he seeks to impart it.
Ner. I would impart my wisdom unto thee.
(A Messenger enters and speaks to Tigellinus, who goes out with him.)
Sen. Alas! all schools alike spew out your doctrines,
Zeno or Epicurus.
Ner.That is because
You all agree to teach what none believes,
That pain and misery and death are nothing,
But goodness all-sufficient. Tell me, Seneca,
Can a good man be happy on the rack?
Vat. Not if the rack be good.
Sen.Such questions, Cæsar,
Have their fit time and place. I came to offer
My wealth and counsel both; you refuse both,
And let your fool mock me.—Knows he not whom
Ill manners hurt, that thus he wounds his master?
Ner. And better have no manners than be made,
As thou, of manners only. Thou affectest
Insensibility; thy pompous maxims
Of wordy wisdom thou wouldst pass for strong
Because they are harsh, generous because inflated.
Thy rhetoric is like a mouldy cake;
I have eaten to loathing of it: I would no more.
Sen. Look for no more. That speech delivers you.
Whether my words are false and empty bubbles
There’s nought to show, but ’twill appear the day
When life must answer for it:—The condition,
Cæsar, I accept, and do not fear the judgment.
[Bows to Nero and exit.
Re-enter Tigellinus excitedly.
Tig. My house is burning, Cæsar!
Ner.Well! if it be?
By all the gods, vex me not now.
Tig.My house!
Ner. And what’s thy house, curse it? when half the city
Was burned to the ground, wert thou not cool? why now
Fume for thy house?
Tig.Cæsar, the Vatican!
Ner. The Vatican!
Tig.You may see it from the windows.
Ner. (going to window). Then Rome will all be burned.
Tig. (aside).And by thy foes.
When the wínd was in the south, they fired the south:
Now it hath changed, they fire the north.
Ner. (returning).’Tis true.
I can do nó móre: it must búrn.
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Tig.What, sire,
To tell the captains? May they use discretion
To pull down?
Ner. Bid them change the wind, man: bid them
Snow from the south. Wóod must búrn; when ’tis burnt,
I will rebuild in stone. Go: tell them that!
Go, sir! Stay: hark! Have supper laid to-night
On the palace roof, music beneath, and ladders
Outside for the attendance.
If Rome must burn,
Well, let me see it.
Enter Poppæa.
POPPÆA.
Ah, Nero, Nero! Rome will all be burned.
Canst thou do nought?
Ner.Nothing. Come watch it with me.
What are my spectacles to this? The gods
Burn at my feet the capital of the world,
’Tis done for me to look on.
Pop.Hast thou a heart?
Ner. There is no mischief, love, I am not a match for.
Rome is a second Troy, but when Troy burned
None built it up; but I will rebuild Rome:
Its name shall be Neropolis.
Pop.Vain thou art!
Ner. Eh! wouldst thou have it Poppæapolis?
Pop. I would not jest to think of all the misery,
These homeless thousands....
Ner.Seneca hath taught me
The good man cannot suffer, and the bad
Deserves ill-fortune.
Pop.Woe to me! alas,
That e’er I loved thee! one day too shall I
Taste of thy scorn.
Ner.Nay, love; thy will’s my law.
Tell me what I shall do.
Pop.If thou didst love me
Thou wouldst not suffer Acte in the palace.
Ner. Acte! what’s she to do with it now? and yet
If that’s thy sorrow, she shall go to-day.
Send the witch hither.
Pop.And never to return.
Ner. Send her at once. I promised thee.
[Exit Poppæa.
See how
’Tis private pleasure that she seeks, nought else:
And Seneca the same. That’s the true fire,
That burns unquenchable in all human hearts.
Let it rage, and consume the rotten timbers
Of old convention, the dry mouldering houses
Of sad philosophy, that in their stead
I may build up the free and ample structure
Of modern wisdom. Ay, and let Rome burn.
Blow, wind, and fan the flames till all’s consumed;
That out of full destruction may arise
The perfect city of my reconstruction,
Beautiful, incombustible, Neronic;
Good out of ill: or rather there’s no ill:
’Tis good’s condition, cradle: ’tis good itself.
But now for Acte, my Acte: poor little Acte!
That bearest all so patiently; the insult
And domineering scorn, which this fine lady,
Whom for her beauty I have made my empress,
Pours on thy head! Thou shalt have full protection:
I cannot give it here, but I can send thee
To those who hate thy rival, and for that
Will cherish thee. Thy rival! rob me of thee!
Why, there’s no clown in my subservient world,
No drudge of lot the vilest, but may smile
Secure in tyranny of one fair province,
Where young love first campaigned, the tender trust
Of a devoted woman: and shall Cæsar
Throw up this allmen’s joy? nay, here the heart rules:
Who aims at thee wounds me.
Re-enter Poppæa with Acte.
I thank thee, love; now leave us. Hither, Acte!
(Poppæa goes out, and is seen to hide where she can be seen by the audience, and can overhear.)
ACTE.
1051
Act. Cæsar sent for me.
Ner. My sweetest, dearest girl: my only pleasure.
I have ill news for thee.
Act.Nought can seem ill
Told me by Nero.
Ner.Acte, thy noble Cæsar
Is sometimes sad.
Act.Ah, ’tis the fire: thou’rt sorry
For thy poor folk. Would I had strength to cheer thee,
If thou didst send for this.
Ner.No: but to see thee
Doth comfort me. It comforts me to tell thee
I am not happy.
Act.Let the happiness
Which thy love gives me, turn to thee again.
Ner. Acte, I think, I know, Acte, that thou
Art the only one in the world that truly loves me.
Act. I wish it were no crime to wish I were.
Yet I would have all love thee, since I know
None can as I.
Ner.And none hath loved so long:
Thou wert my first delight.
Act.Did Cæsar send
To tell me this bad news?
Ner.Nay, but I love to tell it:
Now for the bad. Hark: thou must leave the palace:
Poppæa is jealous, and the day draws near
When she and I must solemnize our nuptials:
Rome needs an heir.
Act.I am not jealous óf her,
If Cæsar love me; for I know that Cæsar
Cannot be bound like other men.
Ner.’Tis true:
And I can send thee too where they will love thee;
To Silia’s house; thou wilt be happier there.
Act. I think so.
Ner.This is not dismissal.
Act.Nay.
Ner. ’Tis needful for thy sake.
Act.I know that Nero
Will not love Acte less, when she is away
From his dislikes.
Ner.Ah, pretty sweet, thou know’st
My secretest heart. Come, I will write a letter
For thee to take to Silia. Come!
Act. (turning).O, Nero,1081
The fire, the fire! I am frightened.
Ner.Hide thine eyes
And think not of it.
Act.Nay, but I can hear it,
And smell the smoke.
Ner.It shall not hurt thee, darling:
And Silia’s house lies down beyond the Tiber,
Far from the flames. Come, sweetest, thou shalt sit
Beside me while I write the letter. Come!
I treasure thee ’bove all I have. Fear not!
[Exeunt Nero and Acte. Poppæa comes out from where she was hid. The fire rages.
Pop. Accursed wretch! I knew it: she is thy wife.
And I thy harlot. Yet I can dissemble—
I can dissemble too—I, sanctified
By long devotion to the Queen of heaven,
Shelter too well thy godless head. I live
To reign when thou art dead. Vain, hideous fool!
Whose heart not murder scathes nor fire can scare,
Proof by self-evil against all outer evil:
There is one mischief that thou’rt not a match for,
The hate of thy bed-fellow. I shall be avenged.
(There is at the end of this act such a tableau of fire as the stage machinery will allow of. The fire is first seen thro’ the windows when Tigellinus sends Nero to the window at line 986. At Acte’s speech, ‘Nero, the fire!’ it is very bright: and its climax is during Poppæa’s last speech.)
