The story of Nero is also the story of much of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. The bloody legacies of the previous emperors Caligula and Claudius are introduced before delving into Nero's own reign of intrigue, murder, and atrocities. The women of the family, including Nero's mother Agrippina, his wife Poppaea, and the empress Messalina, contribute their share of villainy to the tale. The death of Nero provides a pathetic testimony to the cowardice that often underlies tyranny. Show All     Download:     PDF       EPUB

ENVIRONS OF ROME

Preface

In writing the series of historical narratives to which the present work pertains, it has been the object of the author to furnish to the reading community of this country an accurate and faithful account of the lives and actions of the several personages that are made successively the subjects of the volumes, following precisely the story which has come down to us from ancient times. The writer has spared no pains to gain access in all cases to the original sources of information, and has confined himself strictly to them. The reader may, therefore, feel assured in perusing any one of these works, that the interest of it is in no degree indebted to the invention of the author. No incident, however trivial, is ever added to the original account, nor are any words even in any case, attributed to a speaker without express authority. Whatever of interest, therefore, these stories may possess, is due solely to the facts themselves which are recorded in them, and to their being brought together in a plain, simple, and connected narrative.