artists of Greece, and precious monuments of literature and ancient
genius, were irrecoverably lost.

Whether or not this fire took place through Nero's orders, and was
played to by him on the harp, he showed more feeling for the people and
more good sense in the rebuilding of the city than could have been
expected from one of his weak and vicious character. By his orders the
Field of Mars, the magnificent buildings erected by Agrippa, and even
the imperial gardens were thrown open to the houseless people, and sheds
for their shelter were erected with all possible haste. Household
utensils and all kinds of useful implements were brought from Ostia and
other neighboring cities, and the price of grain was reduced. But all
this failed to gain the good-will of the people, who were exasperated by
the story that Nero had exulted in the grandeur of the flames, and
harped over burning Rome.

When the fire was at length subdued, of the fourteen quarters of Rome
only four were left entire; the remainder presented more or less utter
ruin. The conflagration in the time of the Gauls had been little more
complete, while the wealth now consumed was incomparably greater. The
whole world had been robbed of its treasures to feed the flames of Rome.
But the haste and ill-judged confusion with which the city was rebuilt
after the irruption of the Gauls was not now repeated. A regular plan
was formed; the new streets were made wide and straight; the elevation
of the houses was defined, and each was given an open area before the
door, and was adorned with porticos. The expense of these porticos Nero
took upon himself. He ordered also that the new houses should not be
contiguous, but that each should be surrounded by its own enclosure;
and, in order to hurry the work, he offered rewards to those who should
finish their buildings in a fixed period. As for the refuse of the fire,
it was removed at Nero's expense to the marshes of Ostia in the ships
that brought corn up the Tiber.

These regulations, while they must have made much confusion among the
rival claimants of building sites, added greatly to the beauty and
comfort of the new city, and the Rome which rose from the ruins was far
more stately and handsome than the Rome which had vanished in ashes and
smoke. But Nero, while showing some passing feeling for the people and
some wisdom in the rebuilding of the city, did not hesitate to use a
generous portion of the devastated space for his