passed on, however, and nothing was done. The favorable time
which Flavius looked for did not appear. In the meanwhile Epicharis
became more and more impatient of the delay. She urged the
conspirators to do their work, and chided in the strongest terms
their irresolution and pusillanimity. At length finding that her
invectives and reproaches were of no avail, she determined to leave
them, and to see what she could do herself toward the attainment of
the end.

She accordingly left Rome and proceeded southwardly along the coast
till she came to Misenum, which, as has already been said, was the
great naval station of the empire at this time. Epicharis went to
some of the officers of the fleet, many of whom she knew,--and in a
very secret and cautious manner made known to them the nature of the
plot which had been formed at Rome for the destruction of Nero and
the elevation of Piso to the empire in his stead. Before, however,
communicating intelligence of the conspiracy to any persons
whatever, Epicharis would converse with them secretly and
confidentially to learn how they were affected toward Nero and his
government. If she found them well disposed she said nothing. If on
the other hand any one appeared discontented with the government, or
hostile to it in any way, she would cautiously make known to him
the plans which were concocting at Rome for the overthrow of it. She
took care, however, in these conversations to have never more than
one person present with her at a time, and she revealed none of the
names of the conspirators.

Among the other officers of the fleet was a certain Proculus, who
was one of the first with whom Epicharis communicated. Proculus was
one of the men who had been employed by Nero in his attempts to
assassinate Agrippina his mother, and for his services on that
occasion had been promoted to the command of a certain number of
ships, a number containing in all one thousand men. This promotion,
however, as Epicharis found when she came to converse with him,
Proculus did not consider as great a reward as his services had
deserved. The perpetration of so horrible a crime as the murder of
the emperor's mother, merited, in his opinion, as he said to
Epicharis, a much higher recompense than the command of a thousand
men. Epicharis thought so too. She talked with Proculus about his
wrongs, and the injuries which he suffered from Nero's ingratitude
and neglect, until she fancied that he was in a state