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33 - A History of the Roman Empire From Augustus to Aurelius by John Bagnell Bury · A History of the Roman Empire From Augustus to Aurelius

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Speaker 1: Chapter seventeen, Sections two and three of J. B. Bury's
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Speaker 1: The Student's Roman Empire, Part one. This is a LibriVox recording.
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Speaker 1: All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more
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Speaker 1: information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. The
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Speaker 1: Student's Roman Empire, Part one by John Bagnell Bury, Chapter seventeen,
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Speaker 1: The Principate of Nero fifty four to sixty eight a d.
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Speaker 1: Sections two and three, Section two The Ascendancy of Popeia
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Speaker 1: and Tigolinus. Agrippina, with all her unscrupulous ambition, had a
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Speaker 1: high conception of the imperial dignity of which Nero was
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Speaker 1: totally devoid. After her death, there was no restraint to
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Speaker 1: hinder him from following his bent and indulging his theatrical
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Speaker 1: and artistic tastes in a manner which set at defiance
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Speaker 1: all the national prejudices of the Romans. His great desire
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Speaker 1: was to appear in public in tragic costume and delight
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Speaker 1: the ear of his subjects by singing and playing on
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Speaker 1: the leer, or to guide a chariot with his own
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Speaker 1: hands in the circus. When Seneca represented that such acts
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Speaker 1: hardly befitted the dignity of the Emperor. Nero answered him
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Speaker 1: with appeals to the superior culture of the Greeks and
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Speaker 1: the example of his uncle Gaeus, Seneca and Buris. Seeing
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Speaker 1: that there was no help for it, tried at least
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Speaker 1: to limit the performances of the emperor to a select audience.
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Speaker 1: A circus was erected in the Vatican Valley, and there
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Speaker 1: a privileged number of courtiers were permitted to admire the
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Speaker 1: skill of the imperial charioteer. But if his guides thought
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Speaker 1: that he would be satisfied with this concession, they were mistaken.
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Speaker 1: It only stimulated him to more public exhibitions. He was
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Speaker 1: resolved to appear as a singer and an actor. He
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Speaker 1: seized the occasion on which his beard was first clipped
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Speaker 1: to institute a feast called Juvenalia, to be celebrated within
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Speaker 1: the palace. Numerous invitations were issued, and noble young Romans
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Speaker 1: were induced to contend a siners and dancers for the
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Speaker 1: prizes which the Emperor offered. Nero himself descended on the
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Speaker 1: stage with his leer in hand, and a band of
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Speaker 1: young men called Augustiani were enrolled to applaud the excellence
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Speaker 1: of his singing. Buris is described as looking on grieving
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Speaker 1: but applauding fifty nine a d. In the following year,
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Speaker 1: the emperor instituted another feast, called by his own name, Neronia,
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Speaker 1: modeled strictly on the Great Greek games, and to be
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Speaker 1: held every five years. In the musical contests he took
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Speaker 1: part himself. These exhibitions were far more harmless than the
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Speaker 1: horrible gladiatorial shows, but they outraged national prejudice and are
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Speaker 1: spoken of with disgust by Roman historians. Nero's ideals were
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Speaker 1: altogether Greek, and he cared little for the spectacles of
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Speaker 1: the arena brought up by Seneca in the Stoic philosophy.
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Speaker 1: He had imbibed at least the spirit of the cosmopolitanism,
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Speaker 1: and was not influenced in the least by the political
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Speaker 1: traditions of Rome. The year sixty two a d was
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Speaker 1: a turning point in Nero's reign. Hitherto he had been
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Speaker 1: under the constraint of Burus and Seneca, who, while they
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Speaker 1: indulged judiciously, his licentious and frivolous tastes, had prevented him
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Speaker 1: from exerting his imperial power to the detriment of the state. Thus,
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Speaker 1: the first five years of Nero's reign became proverbial for
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Speaker 1: good government, the Quinquenium Neronis. The death of Burus early
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Speaker 1: in sixty two a d Was the beginning of a
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Speaker 1: change for the worse. The influence of Seneca, deprived of
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Speaker 1: his friend's support, immediately began to wane. It seems to
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Speaker 1: have been almost impossible to exercise an important influence in
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Speaker 1: political affairs except in concert with the praetorian prefect, and
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Speaker 1: Seneca could not act with the new prefects Sophonius to
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Speaker 1: Jolinus and Phaneus Rufus as he had acted with Burus.
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Speaker 1: But his estrangement from his former pupil was chiefly due
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Speaker 1: to the enmity of Popeia, who was jealous of the
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Speaker 1: old courtiers in fluence over her lover. It was mainly
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Speaker 1: due to Buris and to Seneca, that she had not
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Speaker 1: yet succeeded in displacing Octavia and marrying the Emperor. Buris,
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Speaker 1: when asked to consent to the divorce, had replied with
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Speaker 1: characteristic bluntness. Quote, if you put away the daughter of Claudius,
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Speaker 1: at least restore the empire, which was her dowry end
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Speaker 1: quote Papeya now endeavored to remove Seneca from her path,
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Speaker 1: as she had before removed Agrippina. His riches were imputed
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Speaker 1: to him as a crime, and he was charged with
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Speaker 1: the design of corrupting the populace for treasonable purposes. It
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Speaker 1: was said, too, that he had boasted his own superiority
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Speaker 1: to the emperor in verse writing and oratory. Nero's jealousy
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Speaker 1: and fears were easily aroused, and his altered manner showed
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Speaker 1: the philosopher the dangerous position in which he stood. He
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Speaker 1: took the precaution of giving up all the outward pomp
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Speaker 1: which he had hitherto maintained, and meditated a complete abandonment
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Speaker 1: of public life. Of the two two praetorian prefects who
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Speaker 1: had succeeded Buris Rufus remained insignificant, But Tigellinus, a man
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Speaker 1: of obscure birth and no principles, soon worked himself into
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Speaker 1: the Emperor's confidence by humoring and sharing in his vices.
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Speaker 1: If he had only been the companion of his debaucheries,
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Speaker 1: it might have mattered little to the general welfare. But
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Speaker 1: he was also the instigator of cruelty, the tyranny which
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Speaker 1: marked Nero's later years dates from the appearance of Tigellinus
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Speaker 1: on the scene. The two acts which inaugurated it were
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Speaker 1: the executions of Rebellius Plautus and Cornelius Sulla. On the
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Speaker 1: appearance of a comet in the year sixty, which was
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Speaker 1: supposed to betoken the fall of the princeps, rumour spoke
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Speaker 1: of Rebellius Ploutus as the probable successor. Nero advised him,
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Speaker 1: and the advice was equivalent to a command to retire
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Speaker 1: to his estates in Asia, and there he had lived
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Speaker 1: quietly ever since. Tigellinus represented to the emperor that Ploutus
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Speaker 1: was still dangerous in consequence of his reputation his wealth
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Speaker 1: in the proximity of Asia to the Syrian armies. Accordingly,
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Speaker 1: a centurion with sixty soldiers were sent from Rome with
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Speaker 1: a eunuch of the Palace to remove the obnoxious noble,
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Speaker 1: and Plautus, although he was warned by his friends beforehand
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Speaker 1: and might have fled to Persia, calmly awaited his fate.
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Speaker 1: Cornelius Sulla, the husband of Antonia, daughter of Claudius by Petina,
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Speaker 1: had been suspected of disloyalty four years before and ordered
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Speaker 1: to reside in Massilia. He was not rich, but his
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Speaker 1: noble descent, his connection with the Claudian house, combined with
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Speaker 1: the suspicions that he had previously aroused, decided his doom.
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Speaker 1: After this specimen of tyranny, no senator could consider himself safe,
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Speaker 1: and the tone of the Senate now changes from independence
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Speaker 1: to servility to Jolinus and Popeia were triumphant, and Seneca
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Speaker 1: left the field. The time had now come for Papeia
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Speaker 1: to accomplish her great project and induced Nero to divorce
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Speaker 1: Octavia to Jolnus helped her. A charge was got up
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Speaker 1: of criminal intercourse with an alexandrine flute player, and the
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Speaker 1: Praetorian prefect conducted the investigation under torture. Some of the
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Speaker 1: empress's slave women acknowledged the guilt of their mistress, but
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Speaker 1: most of them denied it. On such evidence, there was
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Speaker 1: no pretext for putting the accused to death, as Popea wished,
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Speaker 1: and Nero contented himself with divorcing her on the ground
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Speaker 1: of barrenness. The palace of Buris and the possessions of
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Speaker 1: Plautus were assigned for her maintenance, and she was commanded
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Speaker 1: to retire to Campania. But the universal sympathy which the
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Speaker 1: lot of this unfortunate and innocent lady aroused among all
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Speaker 1: classes proved her destruction. A rumor was suddenly spread that
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Speaker 1: the Emperor had recalled his wife. It was quite groundless,
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Speaker 1: for Nero had already married Popeia, whose statues were erected
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Speaker 1: in the public places in the city. But the people
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Speaker 1: rushed in excitement to the capital, thanked the gods that
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Speaker 1: the emperor had recognized the just claim of the true
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Speaker 1: daughter of the Caesars, and thrust down the images of
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Speaker 1: Popeia while they bore those of Octavia in triumph. The
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Speaker 1: soldiers of Tigellinus dispersed the masses when they gathered round
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Speaker 1: the imperial palace. Popeia saw that while her rival lived,
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Speaker 1: her position was insecure, and she easily persuaded her husband
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Speaker 1: to consent to the execution of Octavia. Anascetus, the prefect
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Speaker 1: of the fleet of Missenam, who had proved himself so
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Speaker 1: useful encompassing the death of Agrippina, again supplied his services
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Speaker 1: for the destruction of a second victim. He laid a
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Speaker 1: confession before the Emperor that he had committed adultery with
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Speaker 1: Octavia and was sentenced to banishment at Sardinia, where he
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Speaker 1: lived in luxury and died a natural death. Octavia was
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Speaker 1: banished to the island of Panditaria, where she was executed
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Speaker 1: June ninth, sixty two a d. Her head was cut
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Speaker 1: off and carried to Popeia, who could now breathe freely.
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Speaker 1: By a decree of the Senate, sacrifices of thanksgiving were
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Speaker 1: offered to the gods, and, says Tacitus, it may be
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Speaker 1: henceforward understood without special mention that quote, whenever the princeps
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Speaker 1: ordered banishments or executions, thanksgivings were paid to the gods,
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Speaker 1: and the ceremonies which formerly marked prosperous events, were then
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Speaker 1: the tokens of some public disaster. End quote. In the
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Speaker 1: following year sixty three a d Popeia bore a daughter
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Speaker 1: to Nero. The Senate decreed her the title Augusta, which
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Speaker 1: had not been granted to Octavia. But from this time
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Speaker 1: forward this title no longer possessed the same political importance
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Speaker 1: which it had for Livia and Agrippina. Nero was overjoyed
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Speaker 1: at the birth of the child, who was named Claudia,
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Speaker 1: but she died after three months, and then his grief
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Speaker 1: was as extravagant as his joy. Claudia was enrolled in
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Speaker 1: the rank of a dive like Drusilla, the sister of Gaius.
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Speaker 1: Popea herself died two years later in premature childbirth, oh ying,
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Speaker 1: it is said to an accidental kick from Nero. She
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Speaker 1: also was consecrated the first empress since Libya, who had
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Speaker 1: received that honor under the new order of things, Popea
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Speaker 1: and Tigellinus having taken the place of Seneca and Buris,
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Speaker 1: the luxury and cruelty which prevailed in the reign of
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Speaker 1: Gaeus and the gluttony of the court of Claudius were renewed.
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Speaker 1: Nero's debauchery was practiced as publicly as his acting in
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Speaker 1: chariot driving. Banquets were spread in all the public places
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Speaker 1: of the city, and the emperor used the whole city
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Speaker 1: as if it had been his private house. The luxury
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Speaker 1: of these rebels, devised by the genius of Tiginellus, was notorious,
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Speaker 1: and the citizens were permitted to be spectators of the
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Speaker 1: emperor's licentiousness. On one occasion, a feast was laid out
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Speaker 1: on a large raft which was total lung by ships
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Speaker 1: in the basin of Agrippa. The vessels were adorned with
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Speaker 1: gold and ivory, and were rowed by men of abandoned character.
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Speaker 1: On the banks of the basin stood disrest reputable houses
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Speaker 1: filled with women of noble birth. Nero himself is said
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Speaker 1: to have crowned his infamy by going through all the
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Speaker 1: rights of the marriage ceremony, the veil, the dowry, the torches,
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Speaker 1: the auspices with a man named Pythodorus. Although the stories
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Speaker 1: told by the ancient historians of the debaucheries of Nero
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Speaker 1: and his court may be exaggerated, yet there can be
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Speaker 1: no doubt that exhibitions of wantonness took place with a
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Speaker 1: shameless publicity which seems almost incredible to a modern reader.
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Speaker 1: The extravagance and prodigality which went hand in hand with
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Speaker 1: the vices of the court, emptied the imperial coppers and
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Speaker 1: brought about a financial crisis, just as had happened in
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Speaker 1: the similar case of Gaeus. The earlier years of Nero
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Speaker 1: had been signalized by a liberal and enlightened financial policy.
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Speaker 1: Claudius had left him a well filled treasury, such as
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Speaker 1: Tiberius had left to Gaius, and he made a serious
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Speaker 1: attempt to relieve the burdens of the masses upon whom
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Speaker 1: the indirect taxes fell so heavily. In the year fifty eight,
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Speaker 1: a remarkable proposal was made by the Emperor to do
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Speaker 1: away with the vectigalia and, as we should say, establish
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Speaker 1: free trade. There is no reason to suppose that this
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Speaker 1: measure was intended to be confined, as some have supposed
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Speaker 1: to Roman citizens or to the city of Rome. Its
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Speaker 1: object was both to relieve the people and to set
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Speaker 1: aside a mode of taxation which was attended with much
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Speaker 1: injustice and fraud. There can be no doubt that it
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Speaker 1: was proposed to make up the loss to the treasury
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Speaker 1: by increasing the direct taxes which fell upon the producers
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Speaker 1: and capitalists who would have profited by the remission of
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Speaker 1: the duties. But the emperor's project did not get a trial.
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Speaker 1: His experienced advisers represented to him that it would mean
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Speaker 1: the ruin of the state. The opposition, doubtless came from
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Speaker 1: those privileged classes which had invested large capital in the
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Speaker 1: farming of taxes, and who would have suffered if the
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Speaker 1: duty on inheritances had been raised. But although this bold
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Speaker 1: design fell through. It led to some important changes which
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Speaker 1: alleviated the hardships of the taxation in its various forms.
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Speaker 1: One measure commanded the publication of the exact amounts of
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Speaker 1: all dues to the state, so as to prevent the
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Speaker 1: tax collectors from exacting too much. Charges against them for
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Speaker 1: extortion were to have precedence in the courts, and claims
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Speaker 1: for arrears were not to be made after a year.
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Speaker 1: The duties on corn imported to Italy from the provinces
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Speaker 1: were lightened. The expenses which fell on the fiscus were heavy.
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Speaker 1: Every year Nero presented sixty million cestersis or four hundred
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Speaker 1: eighty thousand pounds to the state. This sum was chiefly
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Speaker 1: devoted to defray the cost of supplying the city with corn,
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Speaker 1: but it also included an advance to the ararium, which
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Speaker 1: was never able to meet its claims without aid from
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Speaker 1: the fisk. The wars in Armenia and Britain were also costly,
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Speaker 1: over and above the ordinary expenses of maintaining the administration
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Speaker 1: and the armies throughout the Empire. The consequence was that
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Speaker 1: when the oul lay of the court became extravagant, under
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Speaker 1: the guidance of Tigellinus and Nero's other licentious friends. The
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Speaker 1: funds ran short, and the emperor was driven to resort
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Speaker 1: to the same measures to replenish his treasury as had
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Speaker 1: been adopted by his uncle Gaius. The methods of dilation
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Speaker 1: and confiscation were again introduced. The rich were accused on
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Speaker 1: false or trifling charges and their possessions appropriated by the fisk.
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Speaker 1: Among the first victims who were sacrificed were two rich freedmen,
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Speaker 1: Nero's secretary de Ryferus, who had presumed to oppose his
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Speaker 1: master's marriage with Popeia, and the Old Palace, who had
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Speaker 1: amassed an immense fortune, which when he was deposed from
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Speaker 1: his office, he had been suffered to retain. As Pallas
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Speaker 1: had become wealthy by defrauding the imperial treasury, which he
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Speaker 1: administered under Claudius, there was no glaring injustice in confiscating
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Speaker 1: his fortune. Seneca offered to place his wealth in the
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Speaker 1: emperor's disposal, but the offer was refused. But the most
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Speaker 1: important effect of the financial difficulties was the fatal measure
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Speaker 1: to which the government resorted of depreciating the gold and
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Speaker 1: silver coinage. This began as early as the years sixty
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Speaker 1: one and sixty two, forty five instead of forty array
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Speaker 1: and ninety six instead of eighty dinarai were struck out
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Speaker 1: of a pound of gold. The coinage never recovered itself,
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Speaker 1: and from Nero's reign we must date the bankruptcy which
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Speaker 1: reached a climax in the third century. The immense amount
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Speaker 1: of silver which was drafted from the Empire to Eastern
15:30
Speaker 1: Asia in return for Oriental luxuries must be taken into
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Speaker 1: account as a cause of the debasement of the silver coinage.
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Speaker 1: Nero further robbed the Senate of the right of coining copper,
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Speaker 1: a right the importance of which has been already explained
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Speaker 1: Section three. The Great Fire in Rome. If Nero succeeded
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Speaker 1: in replenishing his coppers by fear means and foul an
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Speaker 1: event happened in sixty four, a d which demanded all
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Speaker 1: the resources of the Fiscus. Fires were common in Rome,
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Speaker 1: but on the night of July eighteenth of that year,
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Speaker 1: a conflagration broke out, which in magnitude exceeded anything that
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Speaker 1: had been experienced before. It began among some shops full
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Speaker 1: of inflammable material at the southeast end of the Great Circus,
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Speaker 1: where the valleys west of the Salion and south of
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Speaker 1: the Palatine meet. Driven by high wind, the flames consumed
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Speaker 1: the wooden benches and structures of the circus and spread
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Speaker 1: rapidly and irresistibly over the Palatine, the Velia and the Esqualine,
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Speaker 1: where near the gardens of Masinus their course was stayed.
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Speaker 1: But in another direction also the fire made its way
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Speaker 1: and consumed many buildings on the Aventine, in the Forumboium
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Speaker 1: and the Volabrum. It raged for seven nights and six days,
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Speaker 1: and when all thought that it was over, it broke
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Speaker 1: out again in the campus. Martius destroyed the buildings of
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Speaker 1: the Amilion gardens, which belonged to Tigellinus, and spread to
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Speaker 1: the foot of the Capitoline and the Quirinal. It was
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Speaker 1: said that of the fourteen regions, seven completely and four
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Speaker 1: partially were reduced to ashes, but it has been shown
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Speaker 1: that this must be an exaggeration, although the damage done
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Speaker 1: was enormous. Among the public buildings which were consumed were
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Speaker 1: the Temple of Jupiter's Stature founded by Romulus, the Regia
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Speaker 1: of Numa, and the Temple of Vesta. The Temple of
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Speaker 1: Diana dedicated by Servius on the Aventine, the Aramagna, ascribed
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Speaker 1: by legend to Evander, all ancient monuments said to date
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Speaker 1: from the time of the kings. More serious, and from
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Speaker 1: a practical point of view, was the destruction of the
17:35
Speaker 1: splendid edifices of Augustus on the Palatine, the Palace, and
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Speaker 1: the Temple of Apollo. The new buildings in the Campus
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Speaker 1: Martius near the Flaminian Circus had also seriously suffered. Numbers
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Speaker 1: of priceless works of the great Greek sculptors, which no
17:51
Speaker 1: wealth could ever replace, perished in the flames, and countless
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Speaker 1: memorials and trophies of Roman history must have been lost forever.
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Speaker 1: In this emergency, Nero showed himself in the most favorable light.
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Speaker 1: He was absent at Antium when the fire broke out,
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Speaker 1: and he returned to the city as the conflagration was
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Speaker 1: approaching the Palace. He left nothing undone in his attempts
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Speaker 1: to quell the flames. He rushed about the city by himself,
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Speaker 1: without attendants or guards, to the places which were most
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Speaker 1: in danger, And when at length the fire ceased to spread,
18:23
Speaker 1: he did all he could to help and relieve the
18:25
Speaker 1: terrible distress of the homeless and shelterless thousands who had
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Speaker 1: lost all their belongings. The public buildings and the Imperial
18:33
Speaker 1: gardens were opened to receive them, and a temporary shelter
18:36
Speaker 1: was erected in the campus. The price of corn was
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Speaker 1: lowered to three cestresses a bushel, and contributions were levied
18:43
Speaker 1: for the relief of the sufferers. The rebuilding of Rome
18:47
Speaker 1: was begun with vigor. It must have involved a vast outlay,
18:51
Speaker 1: and Nero was determined that the city should arise from
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Speaker 1: its ashes and on a more rational and salubrious plan.
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Speaker 1: The mistakes of the old architecture were comprehended and avoided.
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Speaker 1: The streets were made wider, the houses lower, and partly
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Speaker 1: at least of stone arcades were built outside the new
19:08
Speaker 1: houses for protection from sun and rain. But the new palace,
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Speaker 1: the Golden Houses, it was called, planned by the architects
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Speaker 1: Severus and Cellar, was the wonder of the restored Rome.
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Speaker 1: It was not so much the splendor of the house
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Speaker 1: that excited wonder as the fields, the ponds, the wooded solitudes,
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Speaker 1: the views of the park. Italy and the provinces were
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Speaker 1: required to contribute to the restoration of their mistress city
19:33
Speaker 1: and treasures of art which adorned the cities and temples
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Speaker 1: of the Greek lands were carried off to replace those
19:39
Speaker 1: which Rome had lost. There is no reason to suppose
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Speaker 1: that the outbreak of this great fire was other than accidental,
19:46
Speaker 1: but the multitude suspected incendiaries, and a wild rumor was
19:50
Speaker 1: circulated that the emperor himself was privy to the burning
19:53
Speaker 1: of the city. Various motives were attributed for such a
19:57
Speaker 1: monstrous act. It was said that he wished to to
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Speaker 1: outlive the destruction of his mother's city, or that he
20:03
Speaker 1: desired to rebuild Rome and call it by his own name,
20:06
Speaker 1: or that his artistic sense was offended by the architectural
20:09
Speaker 1: ugliness of the city. It is also related that he
20:13
Speaker 1: regarded the ravages of the flames from the palace of
20:16
Speaker 1: mason Us with delight, and saying a scene from his
20:18
Speaker 1: own play on the Capture of Troy. For this anecdote
20:22
Speaker 1: there may be some foundation in fact, but the charge
20:25
Speaker 1: of incendiarism, which even contemporaries brought against Nero, was assuredly false.
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Speaker 1: He had nothing to gain and everything to lose by
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Speaker 1: the destruction of Rome. The solicitude which he had always
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Speaker 1: showed for the welfare of the populace, and the efforts
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Speaker 1: which he made to save the Palatine are hardly consistent
20:43
Speaker 1: with such a supposition. Nor is it conceivable that at
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Speaker 1: a moment when he was pressed by financial difficulties, he
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Speaker 1: would have gone out of his way to burden the
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Speaker 1: treasury with the enormous expenses required for the rebuilding of
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Speaker 1: the city and the maintenance of the sufferers. The emperor
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Speaker 1: had met many enemies whose interest it was to place
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Speaker 1: him in the worst light, and we can easily understand
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Speaker 1: that they either originated or fostered the rumor. But it
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Speaker 1: was generally believed that incendiaries were at work, and there
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Speaker 1: were police investigations which led to the arrest and punishment
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Speaker 1: of a number of people quote whom the Vulgar called
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Speaker 1: Christians end Quote here for the first time, the Christian
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Speaker 1: sect appears on the stage of profane history, and the
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Speaker 1: remarkable words in which Tacitus describes it deserved to be quoted.
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Speaker 1: Quote Christus, from whom this name was derived, was executed
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Speaker 1: when Tiberius was imperator by Pontius Pilotus, the procurator. The
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Speaker 1: pernicious superstition checked for the time being again broke out
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Speaker 1: not only in Judea, its original home, but even in
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Speaker 1: the city, the meeting place of all horrible and immoral
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Speaker 1: practices from all quarters of the world. End quote. This
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Speaker 1: description represents the popular belief that the Christians practiced all
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Speaker 1: sorts of horrors in their secret mises, assemblies such as
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Speaker 1: cannibalism and incest. Those who were known to be Christians
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Speaker 1: and confessed the creed when they were charged with it
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Speaker 1: were first arrested, and some of these, under torture, betrayed
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Speaker 1: the names of many others who were secretly Christians but
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Speaker 1: were not known as such. The prisoners were not tried
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Speaker 1: strictly on the charge of incendiarism, and Tacitus seems to
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Speaker 1: have no doubt of their innocence of this crime, which
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Speaker 1: could not be brought home to them. But as hatred
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Speaker 1: of the human race was in popular credence imputed to Christians,
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Speaker 1: they were thought capable of it. A considerable number were condemned,
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Speaker 1: really because they were proved to be Christians, but nominally
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Speaker 1: on the ground that they were incendiaries. They were put
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Speaker 1: to death with mockery. Some wrapped in skins were torn
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Speaker 1: to pieces by dogs. Others arrayed in the Tunica Molesta
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Speaker 1: were set on fire to serve as torches. By night.
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Speaker 1: Nero gave up his Vatican gardens to the spectacle of
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Speaker 1: these tortures, and at the same time exhibited a show
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Speaker 1: in the circus. There appeared Ring himself dressed as a charioteer.
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Speaker 1: The sacrifice of these victims soothed the exasperation of the populace,
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Speaker 1: and the emperor's callousness even brought about a revulsion of feeling.
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Speaker 1: The Christians of Rome were sacrificed because Nero required scapegoats,
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Speaker 1: But the question arises, why were the Christians, who as
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Speaker 1: yet had attracted little public attention selected for the purpose.
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Speaker 1: Contemporary literature shows that at this time the Jews were
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Speaker 1: objects of general hatred and suspicion, and it might seem
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Speaker 1: more natural that they should have been suspected and punished
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Speaker 1: by the government. It is impossible to answer the question
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Speaker 1: with certainty, but it has been plausibly suggested that the
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Speaker 1: Jews themselves may have shifted the charge from their own
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Speaker 1: body upon the Christians, whom they hated bitterly. They might
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Speaker 1: have been the more easily able to effect this through
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Speaker 1: the influence of Popeia Sabina, of whose leaning towards the
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Speaker 1: Jews and their religion there is undoubted evidence. End of
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Speaker 1: Chapter seventeen, Sections two and three