The Nero Prediction by Humphry Knipe

Author:Humphry Knipe [Unknown]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Published: 2012-04-07T22:00:00+00:00

Balbillus, looking just noticeably peeved at being consulted second to a liver reader, advised Nero to hold his welcome-home Saturnalia during the Games of Apollo that began on July 6. The problem was that this gave us just thirty days, barely enough time to organize a decent funeral let alone a mighty festival. But Nero was adamant. Since nothing happened by chance it all made sense. The comet had pointed at Saturn, Apollo was patron of the lyre and a Saturnalia was supposed to be chaotic anyway.

The planning began in the carriage racing us to Rome. Tigellinus sat with Nero, arguing the politics of the thing, I sat opposite taking notes.

"I intend to feast with my people," Nero insisted from the start. "I've done it disguised more than enough. This time I will be wearing the purple. I will be the King of Misrule, I’ve done it before at a Saturnalia, you know, this was before your time Epaphroditus, when poor little Britannicus was still alive. As king I ordered him to sing a song. He sang a very sad one about a prince who’d lost his father’s empire.” He turned his gaze upward, perhaps listening to that plaintive melody. “Well I suppose the less said about all that the better."

Tigellinus wiped away a cold smile with his fingertips. "Well, I don't see there’s a problem with your being King of Misrule and ordering people to make fools of themselves, as long as we keep you a discreet distance from the plebs.”

Nero smacked his hands together in exasperation. "But that's exactly what I don't want! I want to mix everybody up just like in a real Saturnalia so they get a feeling of what it means to belong together. When they feast they must feast like a family, just like when they listen they listen as a single audience."

It was a pleasure to see Tigellinus cringe. "Like a family? Augustus, the nobles and the mob aren't a family. They have separate seats at the Circus, at the amphitheater, at the theater. Your predecessors, even Caligula, all dined them in separate halls or a separate times. To force a patrician to recline cheek by jowl with a pleb, why that would be unthinkable!"

Nero set his jaw. "Well, you better start thinking about it because that's the way it's going to be!" His eyes were shining now in spite of the lateness of the hour. "You see, I don't give a fig for the patricians, I really don't, their minds are too narrow, they see the world through the back of their heads because they're always looking to the past. The future is the common people, their minds are a blank sheet upon which anything can be written. Let's make a point of humiliating the patricians. For every enemy I make among them I'll make a hundred friends among the plebs. Do you see it now? It will be the secret of my success!"

Tigellinus swallowed this in two big gulps. He was

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.