CHAPTER I.
“But woe to hill, and woe to vale,
Against them shall go forth a wail!
And woe to bridegroom, and to bride,
For death shall on the whirlwind ride!
And woe to thee, resplendent shrine,
The sword is out for thee and thine!”
Croly.
The splendid regnal talents undoubtedly possessed by the Emperor Nero, and the great architectural genius he displayed in rebuilding his capital, had not atoned in the eyes of the Romans for the flagitiousness of his character.