Identifier: greatestnations03elli (find matches)
Title: The story of the greatest nations, from the dawn of history to the twentieth century : a comprehensive history, founded upon the leading authorities, including a complete chronology of the world, and a pronouncing vocabulary of each nation
Year: 1900 (1900s)
Authors: Ellis, Edward Sylvester, 1840-1916 Horne, Charles F. (Charles Francis), 1870-1942
Subjects: World history
Publisher: New York : F.R. Niglutsch
Contributing Library: University of California Libraries
Digitizing Sponsor: Internet Archive

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the sacrilege surely could not havebenefited him much. And now comes anotlier of those infamous wretches, with which an all-wiseRuler finds it expedient to chastise mankind at certain intervals. This wasNero, whose full name was Xero Claudius Caesar Drusus Germanicus. He be-gan his reign well, and but for the baleful influence of his mother, Agrippina,might have continued in the good way, under the tutelage of Seneca the phi-losopher. He soon yielded, however, to temptation or to his natural in-clinations, and plunged headlong into tyranny, extravagance, and every speciesof debauchery that human ingenuity could devise. Falling out with his mother,he caused her to be assassinated to please one of his mistresses, the wife ofOtho, afterward emperor. To marry this woman Nero had put to death hisown wife; now his mother followed, and the servile Senate actually issued anaddress congratulating the matricide on her death. The rebellion which broke out in Britain under Queen Boadicea was sup-
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Rome—Atrocities of Nero 421 pressed in 61, but the war against the Parthians the next year was unsuccess-ful. In July, 64, occurred the great conflagration in Rome, by which two-thirds of the city was reduced to ashes. It is recorded that while theconflagration was raging, Nero watched it from a turret in his palace, singingverses to the music of his lyre, and it is the general belief that it was his handthat kindled the flames. Sated with every known indulgence, he had set outto discover some new kind of enjoyment. Could his guilt nave been established, the populace would have wreakedquick vengeance upon him. The cowardly miscreant was scared, and stroveto turn aside the suspicion whose whispers had reached his ears. He traversedthe stricken streets with hypocritical expressions of sympathy, and gave awayall the money he could steal to help the sufferers; but seeing the necessity ofdirecting distrust toward some one, he cunningly chose the new sect known asChristians, who had becom

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