We visited the ruins of temples that were erected to I don’t know how many deities, and the next subterranean exploration that we made was at Nero’s Prison, as the guide and the guide-books call it. We left our carriage and went on foot up a narrow lane, and along a path where beggars followed and beset us at every turn; notwithstanding their importunity, they did not extract any money from us, though they appeared in all the conditions in which beggars could possibly present themselves. Nero must have been a charming personage if one could judge of him by looking at the place where he used to shut up those who offended him. It was a subterranean affair, and we were obliged to light our torches to explore it. We were led through winding passages into cells that were anything but comfortable, the guide stopping every moment to explain to us the nature of each one of the cells, and the uses to which they were put. They were small enough to render it utterly improbable that a man would exert his legs very actively in running, after he was once shut in, and as for light and ventilation, they were quite in keeping with the size of the apartments.
I inquired about the character of the food which Nero used to furnish to the occupants of his boarding-house, and was told that it was not of a luxurious character. Nero had no table d’hôte, but used to send the meals to the rooms of his guests. None of them are alive now, and their early death is to be attributed in many cases to the treatment they received. At the time they resided there, oysters had not been invented, and there is nothing on record to show that the delicious conglomerate which we call hash had made its appearance. Some of the patrons used to express a desire to live on the European plan, and take their meals outside; but the proprietor would never permit it. And it must be said, to his credit, that his establishment was to a certain extent a free lunch concern, as he never charged anything for board and lodging. Everything was gratis, and of course the patrons who complained must have been mean fellows, who couldn’t be satisfied, no matter what you might do for them.
CHOICE FURNITURE.
The furniture of the place was very simple. It had been mostly removed when we were there, but it consisted originally of a bundle of straw on the ground and a double lock on the door. There used to be a gymnasium, where they kept a choice lot of racks, thumb-screws, and other luxurious arrangements. Life in the private rooms used to be monotonous, and in order to render it interesting, Nero would take his patrons into the gymnasium to amuse them. Some of them he would play a joke upon by tying them down on a rack and then winding up the machine so that a man of five feet eight would often be converted into six feet two. When he had been played with in this way, they would turn him loose, though releasing him did no good, as he was generally dead before they let him off.
NERO’S GYMNASIUM, AN APARTMENT IN “NERO’S PRISON.”
PROCRUSTES’ BED.
The gymnasium had another arrangement, patented by Mr. Procrustes, which was intended to equalize all men, and make them of a uniform height. This invention, based on the principles of mechanical communism, was a bedstead of iron, and there were various individuals who enjoyed the treat of being placed upon it. A poet has alluded to it as follows:—