Nero [to Prefect]: Speed my commands: send forth a messenger
Who straight shall bring me here the severed heads
Of Plautus and of Sulla.
Prefect: Good, my lord;
Without delay I'll speed me to the camp.
[Exit.]
Seneca: One should not rashly judge against his friends.440
Nero: Let him be just whose heart is free from fear.
Seneca: But mercy is a sovereign cure for fear.
Nero: A ruler's part is to destroy his foes.