Nero | Page 6

was enacted. Public suppers were
limited to the Sportulae [576]; and victualling-houses restrained from
selling any dressed victuals, except pulse and herbs, whereas before
they sold all kinds of meat. He likewise inflicted punishments on the

Christians, a sort of people who held a new and impious [577]
superstition.
(348) He forbad the revels of the charioteers, who had long assumed a
licence to stroll about, and established for themselves a kind of
prescriptive right to cheat and thieve, making a jest of it. The partisans
of the rival theatrical performers were banished, as well as the actors
themselves.
XVII. To prevent forgery, a method was then first invented, of having
writings bored, run through three times with a thread, and then sealed.
It was likewise provided that in wills, the two first pages, with only the
testator's name upon them, should be presented blank to those who
were to sign them as witnesses; and that no one who wrote a will for
another, should insert any legacy for himself. It was likewise ordained
that clients should pay their advocates a certain reasonable fee, but
nothing for the court, which was to be gratuitous, the charges for it
being paid out of the public treasury; that causes, the cognizance of
which before belonged to the judges of the exchequer, should be
transferred to the forum, and the ordinary tribunals; and that all appeals
from the judges should be made to the senate.
XVIII. He never entertained the least ambition or hope of augmenting
and extending the frontiers of the empire. On the contrary, he had
thoughts of withdrawing the troops from Britain, and was only
restrained from so doing by the fear of appearing to detract from the
glory of his father [578]. All (349) that he did was to reduce the
kingdom of Pontus, which was ceded to him by Polemon, and also the
Alps [579], upon the death of Cottius, into the form of a province.
XIX. Twice only he undertook any foreign expeditions, one to
Alexandria, and the other to Achaia; but he abandoned the prosecution
of the former on the very day fixed for his departure, by being deterred
both by ill omens, and the hazard of the voyage. For while he was
making the circuit of the temples, having seated himself in that of
Vesta, when he attempted to rise, the skirt of his robe stuck fast; and he
was instantly seized with such a dimness in his eyes, that he could not
see a yard before him. In Achaia, he attempted to make a cut through

the Isthmus [580]; and, having made a speech encouraging his
pretorians to set about the work, on a signal given by sound of trumpet,
he first broke ground with a spade, and carried off a basket full of earth
upon his shoulders. He made preparations for an expedition to the Pass
of the Caspian mountains [581]; forming a new legion out of his late
levies in Italy, of men all six feet high, which he called the phalanx of
Alexander the Great. These transactions, in part unexceptionable, and
in part highly commendable, I have brought into one view, in order to
separate them from the scandalous and criminal part of his conduct, of
which I shall now give an account.
XX. Among the other liberal arts which he was taught in his youth, he
was instructed in music; and immediately after (350) his advancement
to the empire, he sent for Terpnus, a performer upon the harp [582],
who flourished at that time with the highest reputation. Sitting with him
for several days following, as he sang and played after supper, until late
at night, he began by degrees to practise upon the instrument himself.
Nor did he omit any of those expedients which artists in music adopt,
for the preservation and improvement of their voices. He would lie
upon his back with a sheet of lead upon his breast, clear his stomach
and bowels by vomits and clysters, and forbear the eating of fruits, or
food prejudicial to the voice. Encouraged by his proficiency, though his
voice was naturally neither loud nor clear, he was desirous of appearing
upon the stage, frequently repeating amongst his friends a Greek
proverb to this effect: "that no one had any regard for music which they
never heard." Accordingly, he made his first public appearance at
Naples; and although the theatre quivered with the sudden shock of an
earthquake, he did not desist, until he had finished the piece of music
he had begun. He played and sung in the same place several times, and
for several days together; taking only now and then a little respite to
refresh his voice. Impatient of retirement, it was his custom to go from
the bath to