FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   125   126   127   128   129   130   131   132   133   134   135   136   137   138   139   140   141   142   143   144   145   146   147   148   149  
150   151   152   153   154   155   156   157   158   159   160   161   162   163   164   165   166   167   168   169   170   171   172   173   174   >>   >|  
be succeeded not by his own son Britannicus, but by hers, Nero. Meanwhile, there had been a great revolt in Britain against the propraetor Ostorius. First the Iceni took up arms, then the Brigantes; then--a still more serious matter--the Silures, led by the most brilliant of British warriors, Caractacus. Even his skill and courage, however, were of no avail against the superior armament of the Roman legions; his forces were broken up, and he himself, escaping to the Brigantes, was by them betrayed to the Romans. The famous warrior was carried to Rome, where by his dignified demeanour he won pardon and liberty. In the Far East, Mithridates was overthrown by his nephew Rhadamistus, and Parthia and Armenia remained in wild confusion. The reign of Claudius was brought to an end by poison--the notorious Locusta was employed by Agrippina for the purpose--and he was succeeded by Nero, to whom his mother's artifices gave the priority over Britannicus. _IV.--The Infamies of Nero_ At the outset the young emperor was guided by Seneca and Burrus; his first speech--put into his mouth by Seneca, for he was no orator--was full of promise. But he was encouraged in a passion for Acte, a freed-woman, by way of counterpoise to the influence of his mother, Agrippina. The latter, enraged at the dismissal of Pallas, threatened her son with the legitimate claims of Britannicus, son of Claudius; Nero had the boy poisoned. In terror now of his mother, he would have murdered her, but was checked by Burrus. Nero's private excesses and debaucheries developed, while the horrible system of delation flourished, and prosecutions for treason abounded. About this time the emperor's passion for Poppaea Sabina, the wife of Otho, became the source of later disaster. Beautiful, brilliant, utterly immoral, but complete mistress of her passions, she had married Nero's boon companion. Otho was dispatched to Lusitania, and Poppaea remained at Rome. Poppaea was bent on the imperial crown for herself, and urged Nero against his mother. A mock reconciliation took place, but it was only the preliminary to a treacherous plot for murdering the former empress. The plot failed; her barge was sunk, but she escaped to shore. Nero, however, with the shameful assent of Burrus and Seneca, dispatched assassins to carry out the work, and Agrippina was slaughtered. For a moment remorse seized Nero, but it was soon soothed; Burrus headed the cringing congratulatio
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   125   126   127   128   129   130   131   132   133   134   135   136   137   138   139   140   141   142   143   144   145   146   147   148   149  
150   151   152   153   154   155   156   157   158   159   160   161   162   163   164   165   166   167   168   169   170   171   172   173   174   >>   >|  



Top keywords:
Burrus
 

mother

 

Britannicus

 
Agrippina
 

Seneca

 

Poppaea

 

emperor

 

brilliant

 

dispatched

 

passion


succeeded

 
remained
 

Brigantes

 
Claudius
 
delation
 

influence

 

Sabina

 

abounded

 

prosecutions

 

treason


flourished

 

private

 

poisoned

 

terror

 

claims

 
legitimate
 

enraged

 

dismissal

 

Pallas

 

threatened


debaucheries

 

developed

 
horrible
 

excesses

 

murdered

 

source

 

checked

 

system

 

Lusitania

 

shameful


assent
 
assassins
 

escaped

 

empress

 

failed

 
soothed
 

headed

 
cringing
 
congratulatio
 

seized