. A sweet voice!
Rome hath no critics! I would write a play
Lived there a single critic fit to judge it.
Whether a dancing-girl kick high enough--
On this they can pronounce: this is their trade.
With verse upon the stage they cannot cope.
Too well they dine, too heavily, and bear
The undigested peacock to the stalls.

TIGELLINUS. Should Agrippina on a sudden change
Her front, and clasp hands with Britannicus?

NERO. Your words awaken in me a new thirst.

SENECA. Sir, hear the Parthian and the British chiefs.

NERO. [_Going to the throne._] Summon them!

[_Exit_ SENECA.

Think not, though my aim is art,
I cannot toy with empire easily.
The great in me does not preclude the less.

[_Re-enter_ SENECA _with_ PARTHIAN _and_ BRITISH AMBASSADORS,
_followed by the Court_. SENECA _brings forward the_
PARTHIAN CHIEFS, _when_ AGRIPPINA _enters magnificently
dressed and begins to mount steps of throne_. NERO _with
courteous decision brings her down_.

Mother, this is man's business, not for thee.
You jar the scheme of colour--mar the effect.

PARTHIAN. Caesar, we starve: all Parthia parches: all
Our crops sun-smitten bleach upon the plains.
We ask thy aid.

NERO. And ye shall have my aid
Even to the fullest: further, I will open
The imperial granaries for your people's wants.

PARTHIAN. Caesar, we thank thee: and if ever thou
Shouldst need the Parthian aid, whate'er the cost,
That aid thou shalt find ready at thy side.

[_Exit._

BRITISH CHIEF. Caesar, the tax that thou hast laid on us
Remit, we pray thee, else we rise in arms
And will abide thy battle.

NERO. So! You dream
That Caesar being merciful is weak.
I who can succour, I can strike; I'll launch
The legions over sea, and I myself
Will lead them, and the eagles will unloose
Through Britain--I who sit on the world's throne
Will have no threatening from Briton, Gaul,
People or tribe inland or ocean-washed.
The terror of this purple I maintain.
You are dismissed.

[NERO, _spreading his hands, dismisses the Court, and comes
down to his mother_.

NERO. Now, mother!

AGRIPPINA. I will speak
With you alone, not compassed by these men.

[_To_ SENECA _and_ BURRUS.] To me you owe the
height where now you stand.
Who took you, schoolmaster, from exile? Who
Unstewarded you, Burrus? If I have ma