DILECTISSIMAE

LIBERORVM PIENTISSIMAE MATRI

LABORUM OMNIUM ET CURARUM PARTICIPI FIDELISSIMAE
HVNC LIBRVM

D. D. D.
FREDERICVS GVTLTELMVS FARRAR

Dolce color d'oriental zaffiro,
Che s'accoglieva nel sereno aspetto
Dell'aer puro infino al prinio giro,
Agli occhi miei ricomincio diletto,
Tosto ch'io usci fuor dell'aura morta,
Che ni'avea contristato gli occhi e'l petto.
DANTE, Purgatorio, I. 13-18.

The orient sapphire's hue of sweetest tone,
Which gathered in the aspect calm and bright
Of that pure air as far as heaven's first zone,

Now to mine eyes brought back the old delight
Soon as I passed forth from the dead dank air
Which eyes and heart had veiled with saddest night.
PLUMPTRE.
 

 I HAVE endeavoured to choose a title for this book which
shall truly describe its contents. The ' Darkness ' of
which I speak is the darkness of a decadent Paganism;
the ' Dawn ' is the dawn of Christianity. Although the
story is continuous, I have called it 'Scenes in the Days
of Nero,' because the outline is determined by the actual
events of Pagan and Christian history, more than by the
fortunes of the characters who are here introduced. In
other words, the fiction is throughout controlled and dom-
inated by historic facts. The purport of this tale is no
less high and serious than that which I have had in view
in every other book which I have written. It has been
the illustration of a supreme and deeply interesting prob-
lem the causes, namely, why a religion so humble in its
origin and, so feeble in its earthly resources as Christianity,
won so majestic a victory over the power, the glory, and
the intellect of the civilised world.
 

The greater part of the following story has been for
some years in manuscript, and, since it was designed, and
nearly completed, several books have appeared which deal
with the same epoch. Some of these I have not seen.
From none of them have I consciously borrowed even the
smallest hint.

Those who are familiar with the literature of the first
century will recognise that even for the minutest allusions



viii DARKNESS AND DAWN

and particulars I have contemporary authority. Expres-
sions and incidents which, to some, might seem to be
startlingly modern, are in reality suggested by passages in
the satirists, epigrammatists, and romancers of the Empire,
or by anecdotes preserved in the grave pages of Seneca
and the elder Pliny. I have, of course, so far assumed
the liberty accorded to writers of historic fiction as occa-
sionally to deviate, to a small extent, from exact chronology,
but such deviations are very trivial in comparison with
those which have been permitted to others, and especially
to the great masters of historic fiction.

All who know most thoroughly the real features of that
Pagan darkness which was deepest before the Christian
dawn will see that scarcely even by the most distant
allusion have I referred to some of the worst features in
the life of that day. While I have not extenuated the
realities of cruelty and bloodshed, I have repeatedly
softened down their more terrible incidents and details.
To have altered that aspect of monotonous misery which
pained and wearied its ancient annalist would have been
to falsify the real characteristics of the age with which
I had to deal.

The book is not a novel, nor is it to be judged as a
novel. The outline has been imperatively decided for me
by the exigencies of fact, not by the rules of art. I have
been compelled to deal with an epoch which I should
never have touched if I had not seen, in the features
which it presented, one main explanation of an historical
event the most sacred and the most interesting on which
the mind can dwell.

The same object has made it inevitable that, at least in
passing glimpses, the figures of several whose names are



PREFACE ix

surrounded with hallowed associations should appear in
these pages. I could not otherwise bring out the truths
which it was my aim to set forth. But in this matter I
do not think that any serious reader will accuse me of
irreverence. Onesimus, Pudens, Claudia, and a few others,
must be regarded as imaginary persons, except in name,
but scarcely in one incident have I touched the Preachers
of early Christianity with the finger of fiction. They were,
indeed, men of like passions with ourselves, and as St.
Chrysostom says of St. Paul, ' Even if he was Paul, he
was yet a man ; ' but recognising their sacred dignity, I
have almost entirely confined their words to words of
revelation. Even if I had done more than this, I might
plead the grave sanction and example of Dante, and
Milton, and Browning. But the small liberty which I have
dared to use has only been in directions accorded by the
cycle of such early legends as may be considered to be
both innocent and hallowed.

F. W. FAKRAE.



CONTENTS



CHAPTER PAOE

I. THE SOLILOQUIES OF AGRIPPINA '3

II. AGRIPPINA AND NERO 12

III. INSTRUMENTA IMPERII 16

IV. THE CRIME 23

V. THE MOCKERY OF DEATH 29

VI. THE ACCESSION OF NERO 33

VII. SENECA AND HIS FAMILY 39

VIII. SENECA AND HIS VISITORS 47

IX. NERO AND HIS COMPANIONS 54

X. PRINCE BRITANNICUS 61

XI. ' A FOREIGN SUPERSTITION ' 72

XII. ONESIMUS^ 79

XIII. THE ADVENTURES OF A RUNAWAY 86

XIV. MOTHER AND SON 98

XV. EMPEROR AND ESTHETE 105

XVI. EVENTS IN THE VILLA POLLUX 112

XVII. AMUSEMENTS OF AN EMPEROR 119

XVIII. VESPASIAN'S FARM 131

XIX. OTHO'S SUPPER AND WHAT CAME OF IT . . . . . 142

XX. BROTHER AND SISTER 155

XXI. AMONG THE CHRISTIANS . . . 162

XXII. BRITANNICUS AND HIS SONG 170

XXIII. PERILS OF BRITANNICUS 184

XXIV. BRITANNICUS UNDERGOES A NEW EXPERIENCE . . 196



xii DARKNESS ANT) DAWN

nurra PASB

XXV. LOCUSTA 205

XXVI. A BANQUET AND A CONVERSATION 211

XXVII. DEATH IN THE GOBLET 220

XXVIII. THE LAST OF THE CLAUDII 224

XXIX. AGRIPPINA AT BAY 229

XXX. A PRIVATE TRIAL 245

XXXI. THE INTERIOR OF A SLAVE-PRISON 257

XXXII. WANDERINGS OF AN OUTCAST 265

XXXIII. TlTUS AND THE VESTAL 278

XXXIV. AN EVIL EPOCH 287

XXXV. THE MATRICIDE 294

XXXVI. SELF-AVENGED 307

XXXVII. VICTOR OVER THE PUBLIC SERVITUDE .... 314

XXXVIII. THE GLADIATORS' SCHOOL 321

XXXIX. THE FIGHT IN THE ARENA 327

XL. THE SPOLIARIUM 339

XLI. THE KING OF THE GROVE 346

XLII. A MASSACRE OF SLAVES 354

XLIII. A NOTABLE PRISONER 366

XLIV. A SUPPER AT VESPASIAN'S 371

XLV. POPP^.A VICTRIX 380

XL VI. THE DEATH OF OCTAVIA 393

XLVII. A FETTERED AMBASSADOR 405

XLVIII. ENSLAVED AND FREE 411

XLIX. THE DEPTHS OF SATAN 418

L. A CITY IN FLAMES 425

LI. AN INFERNAL SUGGESTION 432

LII. ALITURUS AMONG THE CHRISTIANS 439

LI 1 1. ' HE WHO SAW THE APOCALYPSE ' 446

LIV. IN THE BURNING FIERY FURNACE ... ,453



CONTENTS Xiii

CHAPTER PAOK

LV r . Two MARTYRDOMS 467

LVL LIVING TORCHES 480

LVIL A CONSPIRACY AND ITS COLLAPSE 492

LVIII. THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF SENECA 500

LIX. THE AGONY OF AN EMPRESS 507

LX. THE DOOM OF VIRTUE 516

LXL BEFORE THE LION 526

LXII. NERO IN GREECE 537

LXlil. MUTTERING THUNDER 542

LXIV. AT THE THREE FOUNTAINS 551

LXV. IN THE CLUTCH OF NEMESIS 560

LXVI. L'ENVOi 568

NOTES . 587



BOOK I



CLOTHO FERT FUSUM*



CHAPTEE I

THE SOLILOQUIES OF AGRIPPINA

f Orainus, cave despuas, ocelle,
Ne poenas Nemesis reposcat a te :
Est vehemens Dea ; laedere hanc caveto.'

CATULL. Carm. L. 18-20.

THE Palace of the Csesars was a building of extraordinary
spaciousness and splendour, which had grown with the grow-
ing power of the emperors. The state entrance was in the
Vicus Apollinis, which led into the Via Sacra. It was an
Arch, twenty-nine feet high, surmounted by a statue of
Apollo and Diana driving a chariot of four horses, the work
of Lysias. Passing the Propylsea the visitor entered the
sacred area, paved with white marble and surrounded by
fifty -two fluted columns of Numidian giallo antico, with its
soft tints of rose and gold. Between these stood statues
of the Danaides, with their father Danaus brandishing a
naked sword. In the open spaces before them were the
statues of their miserable Egyptian husbands, each reining
his haughty steed. Here, too, among other priceless works
of art, stood the famous Hercules of Lysippus, clothed in his
lion's skin and leaning on his club. On one side was the
Temple of Apollo, built of the marble of Luna, designed by
Bupalos and Anthermos of Chios. On the top of its pedi-
ment was the chariot of Apollo in gilt bronze, and the great
bronze valves were incrusted with ivory bas-reliefs of the
triumph over Niobe, and the panic-stricken flight of the
Gauls from Delphi. Behind this temple was the shrine of
Vesta, and on the west side the famous Palatine Library,
large enough to accommodate the whole Senate, and divided
into two compartments, Greek and Latin. In its vestibule
was a bronze statue, fifty feet high, which is said to have
represented Augustus with the attributes of Apollo. 1

1 Xote 1. Palace of the Csesars. (See Lanciani's Ancient Rome in the
light of Modern Discoveries, pp. 107-133.) For Notes see end of Volume.



6 DARKNESS AND DAWN

face stamped on thousands of coins and medals ? Had she
not shown, in contrast to her predecessor, the beautiful and
abandoned Messalina, how dignified could be a matron's
rule ?

Yes, the world was at her feet ; and by every glance and
every gesture she showed her consciousness of a grandeur
such as no woman had hitherto attained. Her agents and
spies were numberless. The Court was with her, for in the
days of Claudius the Court meant the all-powerful freedmen,
who impudently ruled and pillaged their feeble master ; and if
she could not seduce the stolid fidelity of his secretary Nar-
cissus, she had not disdained to stoop to the still more power-
ful Pallas. The people were with her, for she was the sole
surviving child of the prince whom they had regarded with
extravagant affection. The intellect of Borne was on her side,
for Seneca, always among her favourites, had been recalled by
her influence from his banishment in feverous Corsica, and,
holding the high position of tutor to her son, was devoted to
her cause. The Praetorian guards were on her side, for Bur-
rus, their bold and honest commander, owed his office to her
request. The power of gold was hers, for her coffers had been
filled to bursting by an immeasurable rapacity. The power
of fascination was hers, for few of those whom she wished to
entangle were able to resist her spells. Above all she could
rely absolutely upon herself. Undaunted as her mother, the
elder Agrippina ; popular as her father, the adored German-
icus ; brilliant and audacious as her grandmother, Julia, the
unhappy daughter of Augustus ; full of masculine energy and
aptitude for business as her grandfather Agrippa who else
could show such gifts or command such resources ? But she
had not yet drunk to the dregs the cup of ambition which she
had long ago lifted to her eager lips.

She was sitting on a low broad-backed seat, enriched with
gilding and ivory, in the gorgeous room which was set aside
for her special use. It was decorated with every resource of
art, and the autumnal sunlight which was falling through its
warm and perfumed air glinted on statuettes of gold and sil-
ver, on marble bas-reliefs of exquisite fancy, and on walls
which glowed with painted peacocks, winged genii, and
graceful arabesques.

Her face was the index of a soul which onlv used the



THE SOLILOQUIES OF AGRIPPINA 7

meaner passions as aids to the gratification of the grander
ambitions. No one who saw her, as she leant back in her
easy half-recumbent attitude, could have doubted that he was
in the presence of a lady born to rule, and in whose veins
flowed the noblest blood of the most ancient families of Rome.
She was thirty-seven years old, but was still in the zenith of
her imperious charms, and her figure had lost none of the
smooth and rounded contour of youth. Her features were
small and delicate, the forehead well shaped, the eyes singu-
larly bright, and of a light blue, under finely marked eyebrows.
Her nose was slightly aquiline, the mouth small and red and
beautiful, while the slight protrusion of the upper lip gave to
it an expression of decided energy. Her hair was wavy, and
fell in multitudes of small curls over her forehead and cheeks,
but was confined at the back of the head in a golden net from
which a lappet embroidered with pearls and sapphires fell
upon her neck, half concealed by one soft and glowing tress.

She sat there deep in thought, and her mind was not occu-
pied with the exquisite image of herself reflected from the
silver mirror which hung bright and large upon the wall be-
fore her. Her expression was that which she wears in her
bust in the Capitol the expression of one who is anxious,
and waits. One sandalled foot rested on the ankle of the
other, and her fair hands were lightly folded on her robe.
That robe was the long stola worn by noble matrons. It
swept down to her feet and its sleeves reached to the elbows,
where they were fastened by brooches of priceless onyx, leav-
ing bare the rest of her shapely arms. Two large pearls were
in her ears, but she had laid aside her other ornaments. On
a little marble abacus beside her lay her many-jewelled rings,
her superb armlets set with rubies, and the murenula a
necklace of linked and flexile gold glittering with gems
which had encircled her neck at the banquet from which she
just had risen. Her attitude was one of rest ; but there was
no rest in the bosom which rose and fell unequally with her
varying moods no rest in the countenance with its look of
proud and sleepless determination. She was alone, but a
frequent and impatient glance showed that she expected some
one to enter. She had dismissed her slaves, and was devoting
her whole soul to the absorbing design for which at that
moment she lived, and in the accomplishment of which she



6 DARKNESS AND DAWN

face stamped 011 thousands of coins and medals ? Had she
not shown, in contrast to her predecessor, the beautiful and
abandoned Messalina, how dignified could be a matron's
rule ?

Yes, the world was at her feet ; and by every glance and
every gesture she showed her consciousness of a grandeur
such as no woman had hitherto attained. Her agents and
spies were numberless. The Court was with her, for in the
days of Claudius the Court meant the all-powerful freedmen,
who impudently ruled and pillaged their feeble master ; and if
she could not seduce the stolid fidelity of his secretary Nar-
cissus, she had not disdained to stoop to the still more power-
ful Pallas. The people were with her, for she was the sole
surviving child of the prince whom they had regarded with
extravagant affection. The intellect of Eome was on her side,
for Seneca, always among her favourites, had been recalled by
her influence from his banishment in feverous Corsica, and,
holding the high position of tutor to her son, was devoted to
her cause. The Praetorian guards were on her side, for Bur-
rus, their bold and honest commander, owed his office to her
request. The power of gold was hers, for her coffers had been
filled to bursting by an immeasurable rapacity. The power
of fascination was hers, for few of those whom she wished to
entangle were able to resist her spells. Above all she could
rely absolutely upon herself. Undaunted as her mother, the
elder Agrippina ; popular as her father, the adored German -
icus ; brilliant and audacious as her grandmother, Julia, the
unhappy daughter of Augustus ; full of masculine energy and
aptitude for business as her grandfather Agrippa who else
could show such gifts or command such resources ? But she
had not yet drunk to the dregs the cup of ambition which she
had long ago lifted to her eager lips.

She was sitting on a low broad-backed seat, enriched with
gilding and ivory, in the gorgeous room which was set aside
for her special use. It was decorated with every resource of
art, and the autumnal sunlight which was falling through its
warm and perfumed air glinted on statuettes of gold and sil-
ver, on marble bas-reliefs of exquisite fancy, and on walls
which glowed with painted peacocks, winged genii, and
graceful arabesques.

Her face was the index of a soul which onlv used the



THE SOLILOQUIES OF AGRIPPINA 7

meaner passions as aids to the gratification of the grander
ambitions. No one who saw her, as she leant back in her
easy half-recumbent attitude, could have doubted that he was
in the presence of a lady born to rule, and in whose veins
flowed the noblest blood of the most ancient families of Rome.
She was thirty-seven years old, but was still in the zenith of
her imperious charms, and her figure had lost none of the
smooth and rounded contour of youth. Her features were
small and delicate, the forehead well shaped, the eyes singu-
larly bright, and of a light blue, under finely marked eyebrows.
Her nose was slightly aquiline, the mouth small and red and
beautiful, while the slight protrusion of the upper lip gave to
it an expression of decided energy. Her hair was wavy, and
fell in multitudes of small curls over her forehead and cheeks,
but was confined at the back of the head in a golden net from
which a lappet embroidered with pearls and sapphires fell
upon her neck, half concealed by one soft and glowing tress.

She sat there deep in thought, and her mind was not occu-
pied with the exquisite image of herself reflected from the
silver mirror which hung bright and large upon the wall be-
fore her. Her expression was that which she wears in her
bust in the Capitol the expression of one who is anxious,
and waits. One sandalled foot rested on the ankle of the
other, and her fair hands were lightly folded on her robe.
That robe was the long stola worn by noble matrons. It
swept down to her feet and its sleeves reached to the elbows,
where they were fastened by brooches of priceless onyx, leav-
ing bare the rest of her shapely arms. Two large pearls were
in her ears, but she had laid aside her other ornaments. On
a little marble abacus beside her lay her many-jewelled rings,
her superb armlets set with rubies, and the murenula a
necklace of linked and flexile gold glittering with gems
which had encircled her neck at the banquet from which she
just had risen. Her attitude was one of rest ; but there was
no rest in the bosom which rose and fell unequally with her
varying moods no rest in the countenance with its look of
proud and sleepless determination. She was alone, but a
frequent and impatient glance showed that she expected some
one to enter. She had dismissed her slaves, and was devoting
her whole soul to the absorbing design for which at that
moment she lived, and in the accomplishment of which she



8 DARKNESS AND DAWN

persuaded herself that she was ready to die. That design was
the elevation of her Nero, at the first possible moment, to the
throne whose dizzy steps were so slippery with blood.

In the achievement of her purpose no question of right and
wrong for a moment troubled her. Guilt had no horror for
that fair woman. She had long determined that neither the
stings of conscience nor the fear of peril should stop her
haughty course. To her, as to most of the women of high
rank in the Rome of the Empire, crime was nothing from
which to shrink, and virtue was but an empty name. Phi-
losophers she knew talked of virtue. It was interesting to
hear Seueca descant upon it, as she had sometimes heard him
do to her boy, while she sat in an adjoining room only sepa-
rated from them by an embroidered curtain. But she had
long ago convinced herself that this was fine talk, and noth-
ing more. Priests pretended to worship the gods ; but what
were the gods ? Had not the Senate made her ancestor
Augustus a god, and Tiberius, and her mad brother Caligula,
and his little murdered baby, the child of Csesonia, which had
delighted its father by its propensity to scratch ? If such
beings were gods, to whom incense was burned and altars
smoked, assuredly she need not greatly trouble herself about
the inhabitants of Olympus.

Nemesis ? Was there such a thing as Nemesis ? Did a
Presence stalk behind the guilty, with leaden pace, with feet
shod in wool, which sooner or later overtook them which
cast its dark shadow at last beyond their footsteps which
gradually came up to them, laid its hand upon their shoulders,
clutched them, looked them in the face, drove into their heads
the adamantine nail whose blow was death ? For a few
moments her countenance was troubled ; but it was not lon<*
before she had driven away the gloomy thought with a dis*
dainful smile. It was true that there had been calamity
enough in the bloodstained annals of her kinsfolk : calamity
all tlje more deadly in proportion to their awful growth in
power and wealth. Her thoughts reverted to the story of her
nearest relatives. She thought of the days of Tiberius, when
men scarcely dared to speak above a whisper, and when mur-
der lurked at the entrance of every noble home. Her uncles
Gaius and Lucius Caesar had died in the prime of their age.
Had they been poisoned by Sejanus ? Her other uncle, the



THE SOLILOQUIES OF AGRIPPINA 9

young Agrippa Posthumus born after the death of his
father, Agrippa had been killed in a mad struggle with the
centurion whom Livia had sent to murder him in his lonely
exile. Her mother had been cruelly murdered ; her aunt, the
younger Julia, had died in disgrace and exile on a wretched
islet. Her two brothers, Nero and Drusus, had come to
miserable ends in the flower of their days. Her third brother,
the Emperor Caligula, had been assassinated by conspirators.
The two Julias, her sister and her cousin, had fallen victims
to the jealous fury of the Empress Messalina. The name of
her sister Drusilla had been already stained with a thousand
shames. She was the sole survivor of a family of six princes
and princesses, all of whom, in spite of all the favours of for-
tune, had come, in the bloom of life, to violent and shameful
ends. She had herself been banished by her brother to the
island of Pontia, and had been made to carry on her journey,
in her bosom, the irmrned ashes of her brother-in-law, Lepidus,
with whom, as with others, her name had been dishonourably
involved. She had already been twice a widow, and the
world said that she had poisoned her second husband, Cris-
pus Passienus. What did she care what the world said ?
But even if she had poisoned that old and wealthy orator
what then ? His wealth had been and would be very
useful to her. Since that day her fortunes had been golden.
She had been recalled from her dreary banishment. Her
soul had been as glowing iron in the flame of adversity ;
but the day of her adversity had passed. When the time
was ripe she had made her magnificent way in the Court
of her uncle Claudius until she became his wife, and had
swept all her rivals out of her path by her brilliant beauty
and triumphant intrigues.

She thought of some of those rivals, and as she thought
of them an evil smile lighted up her beautiful features.

Messalina, her predecessor did not everything seem to
be in her favour ? Claudius had doted on her ; she fooled
him to the top of his bent. She had borne him two fair
children, and the emperor loved them. Who could help
loving the reserved but noble Britannicus, the gentle and
innocent Octavia ? No doubt Messalina had felt certain
that, her boy should succeed his father. But how badly
she had managed ! How silly had been her preference for



10 DARKNESS AND DAWN

pleasure over ambition 1 How easily Agrippina had con-
trived that, without her taking any overt share in the
catastrophe, Messaliria should destroy herself by her own
shainelessness, and perish, while still little more than girl,
by the sword of the executioner, in a pre-eminence of
shame !

And Lollia Paulina ? What might she not have done
with her enormous riches ? Agrippina could recall her
not at one of the great Court gatherings, but at an ordi-
nary marriage supper, in which she had appeared in a dress
embroidered from head to foot with alternate rows of pearls
and emeralds, with emeralds in her hair, emeralds of deep-
est lustre on her fingers, a carcanet of emeralds the finest
Borne had ever seen around her neck. Yet this was not
her best dress, and her jewels were said to be worth eighty
millions of sesterces. 1 She remembered with what a stately
step, with what a haughty countenance the great heiress, who
had for a short time been Empress as wife of Caligula, passed
among the ranks of dazzled courtiers, with the revenues of a
province upon her robes. Well, she had dared to be a com-
petitor with Agrippina for the hand of Claudius. It required
no small skill to avert the deeply seated Roman prejudice
against the union of an uncle with his niece ; yet Agrippina
had won thanks to the freedman Pallas, and to other things.
She procured the banishment of Lollia, and soon afterwards a
tribune was sent and she was bidden to kill herself. The
countenance of the thinker darkened for a moment as she
remembered the evening when the tribune had returned, and
had taken out of its casket the terrible proof that her
vengeance was accomplished. How unlike was that ghastly
relic to the head whose dark locks had been wreathed with
emeralds !

And Domitia Lepida, her sister-in-law, the mother of the
Empress Messalina, the aunt of her son Nero, the former
wife of her own husband, Crispus Passienus ? She was
wealthy as herself, beautiful as herself, noble as herself,
unscrupulous as herself. She might have been a powerful
ally, but how dared she to compete for the affections of
Nero ? How dared she to be indulgent when Agrippina
was severe? The boy had been brought up in her houso

1 Note 2. Lollia Paulina's jewels.



THE SOLILOQUIES OF AGRIPPINA 11

when his father was dead and his mother an exile. His
chances had seemed very small then, and Lepida had so
shamefully neglected him that his only tutors were a bar-
ber and a dancer. But now that he held the glorious posi-
tion of Prince of the Roman Youth ; now that he wore
the manly toga, while Britannicus only stood in humble
boy's dress the embroidered robe, and the golden bulla
round his neck to avert the evil eye ; now that it seemed
probable to all that Nero, the adopted son of Claudius,
would be the future Emperor instead of Britannicus, his
real son, it was all very well for Domitia to fondle and
pamper him. It was a hard matter to get rid of Lepida,
for Narcissus, the faithful guardian of Claudius, had op-
posed the attempt to get her put to death. Nevertheless,
Agrippina seldom failed in her purposes ; and as for Lepida
and Narcissus their turn might come !

She could only recall one insult which she had not avenged.
The senator Galba was rich, and was said by the astrologers
to have an imperial nativity. She had therefore made love
to him so openly that his mother, Livia Ocellina, had once
slapped her in the face. If she had not made Galba and his
virago-mother feel the weight of her vengeance, it was only
because they were too insignificant to be any longer worthy
of her attention. She was too proud to take revenge on
minor opposition. The eagle, she thought, does not trouble
itself about the mole.

Enough ! Her thoughts were getting too agitated ! She
must go step by step ; but who would dare to say that she
would not succeed ? The wit and purpose of a woman against
the world ! ' Yes, Nero, my Nero, thou shalt be Emperor yet !
Thou shalt rule the world, and I have always ruled thee, and
will rule thee still. Thy weak nature is under my dominance ;
and I, whose heart is hard as the diamond, shall be Empress
of the world. Nemesis if there be a Nemesis must bide
her time.'

She murmured the words in a low tone to herself ; but at
this point her reverie was broken.



12 DARKNESS AND DAWN



CHAPTEK II

AGRIPPINA AND NERO
'Occidat dum imperet.' TAC. Ann. xiv. 9.

A VOICE was heard in the corridor, the curtain was drawn
aside, and a youth of sixteen, but who had nearly com-
pleted his seventeenth year, entered the room.

He was still in the bloom of his youthful beauty. His
face was stamped with all the nobility of the Domitian
race from which he sprang. It had not as yet a trace of
that ferocity engendered in later years from an immense
vanity clouded by a dim sense of mediocrity. It was perfectly
smooth, and there was nothing to give promise of the famous
brazen beards of his ancestors, unless it were the light hair,
with its slight tinge of red, which was so greatly admired in
antiquity, and which looked golden when it caught the sun-
light. Round the forehead it was brushed back, but it
covered his head with a mass of short and shining curls,
and grew low down over the white neck. His face had not
yet lost the rose of youth, though its softness spoke of a
luxurious life. The eyes were of light grey, and the ex-
pression was not ungenial, though, owing to his short sight,
his forehead often wore the appearance of a slight frown.
He was of middle height, and of those fine proportions
which made his flatterers compare him to the youthful
God of Song.

' Nero ! ' exclaimed his mother ; ' I thought you were still
in the banquet hall. If the Emperor awakes he may notice
your absence.'

'There is little fear of that,' said Nero, laughing. 'I
left the Emperor snoring on his couch, and the other guests
decorously trying to suppress the most portentous yawns.
They, poor wretches, will have to stay on till midnight or



AGRIPPINA AND NERO 13

later, unless Narcissus sets them free from the edifying
spectacle of a semi-divinity quite intoxicated.'

' Hush ! ' said Agrippiua, severely. ' This levity is boyish
and ill-timed. Jest at what you like, but never at the majesty
of the Imperial power not even in private, not even to me.
And remember that palace walls have ears. Did you leave
Octavia at the table ? '

'I did.'

' Imprudent ! ' said his mother. ' You know what pains
I have taken to keep her from seeing too much of her father
except when we are present. Claudius sometimes sleeps off
the fumes of wine, and after a doze he can talk as sensibly as
he ever does. Was Britannicus in the Hall ? '

' Britannicus ? ' said Nero. ' Of course not. You have
taken pains enough, mother, to keep him in the background.
According to the antique fashion which the Emperor has re-
vived of late, you saw him at the banquet, sitting at the end
of the seat behind his father. But the boys have been
dismissed with their pedagogues long ago, and, for all I know,
Britannicus has been sent to bed.'

' And for whose sake do I take these precautions ? ' asked
the Empress. ' Is it not for your sake, ungrateful ? Is it not
that you may wear the purple, and tower over the world as
the Imperator Rornanus ? '

' For my sake,' thought Nero, ' and for her own sake, too.'
But he said nothing ; and as he had not attained to the art of
disguising his thoughts from that keenest of observers, he bent
down, to conceal a smile, and kissed his mother's cheek, with
the murmured words, ' Best of mothers ! '

' Best of mothers ! Yes ; but for how long ? ' said Agrippina.
' When once I have seated you on the throne ' She
broke off her sentence. She had never dared to tell her son
the fearful augury which the Chaldeans had uttered of him :
' He shall be Emperor, and shall kill his mother.' He had
never dreamed that she had returned the answer : ' Let him
slay me, so he be Emperor.'

' Optima mater, now and always,' he replied. But I am
angry with Britannicus very angry ! ' and he stamped his
foot.

' Why ? The boy is harmless enough. I thought you had
him completely under your power. You seem to be very



14 DARKNESS AND DAWN

good friends, and I have seen you sitting together, and train-
ing your magpies and jays to talk, quite amicably. Nay,
though Hritannicus hates me, I almost won his heart for
two minutes by promising to give him my talking-thrush,
which eyos us so curiously from its cage.' *

' Give it to me, mother,' said Nero. ' A thrush that cau
talk as yours can is the greatest rarity in the world, and
worth ten times over its weight in gold.'

'No, Nero; Hritannicus shall have it. I like to see him
devoting himself to such trifles. I have other views for you.
Hut what has the poor l>oy done to offend you ?'

1 1 met him in the Gelotian House,' said Nero, ' and how do
you think he dared to address me ? Me by sacred adoption
the son of Claudius, and, therefore, his elder brother?'

* How ? '

1 1 said to him, quite civilly, "Good morning, Britannicus."
Ho had actually the audacity to reply, "Good morning,
Ahnmbarlnia !" AhenolMirbus, indeed I I hate the name.
I stand nearer to the divine Augustus than he does. 2 What
did ho mean by it 'f '

Agrippina broke into a ripple of laughter. ' The poor harm-
less lad!' she said. 'It merely was because his wits were
wool-gathering, as his father's always are. No doubt he dis-
likes you ho lias good reason to do so; but ho meant nothing
by it.'

' 1 doubt that,' answered the youth. ' I suspect that he was
prompted to insult me by Narcissus, or Pudens, or the knight
Julius Ponsus or some of the people who are still about him.'

'Ah!' said Agrippina, thoughtfully, 'Narcissus is our most
dangerous enemy. He is much too proud of his ivory rod and
prn'tor's insignia. Hut ho is not unassailable. The Emperor
was not pleased with the failure of the canal for draining Lake
Fucinus, and perhaps I can get Domitius Afer or some one
else, to accuse him of embezzling the funds. How else could
he have amassed 400,000,000 sesterces? He has the gout
very badly, and 1 will persuade him that it is necessary for
him to go to Campania for the benefit of his health. When
once he is out of the way- But, Nero, I am expecting a
visit from Pallas, with whom I have much important business.

1 Not* 8. Agrippinn'M tnlking thnuh.
Not* 4. Nero Genealogy.



AGRIPPIXA AND XEKO 15

Go back to the hall, my boy, and keep your eyes open always
as to what is going on.'

' I will go back,' said Nero ; ' but, mother, I sometimes wish
that all this was over. I wish I had not been forced to marry
Octavia. I shall never like her. I should like to have '

He stopped, and blushed crimson, for his mother's eagle
eye was upon him, and he had almost let out the secret of
his sudden and passionate love for Acte, the beautiful freed-
woman of his wife.

' Well ? ' said Agrippina suspiciously, but not ill-pleased to
see how her son quailed before her imperious glance. ' Go on.'

4 1 meant nothing particular,' he stammered, his cheek still
dyed with its deep blush, ' but that I sometimes wish I were
not going to be Emperor at all Julius was murdered.
Augustus, they say, was poisoned. Tiberius was suffocated.
My uncle Gaius was stabbed with many wounds. The life is
not a happy one, and the dagger-stab too often finds its way
through the purple.'

' Degenerate boy ! ' said Agrippina ; ' I do not wonder that
you blush. Is it such a nothing to be a Lord of the World ?
Have you forgotten that you are a grandson of Germanicus,
and that the blood of the Caesars as well as of the Douiitii
flows in your veins? One would think you were as ordinary
a boy as Britannicus. For shame ! '

4 Well, well, mother,' he said, ' you always get your own
way with every ona Pallas is in the anteroom, and I must

go-'

Nero kissed her, and took his leave. Immediately after-
wards the slave announced that Pallas was awaiting the
pleasure of the Empress.



16 DARKNESS AND DAWN



CHAPTER III
INSTRUMENTA IMPERII

1 It is the curse of kings to be attended
By slaves who take their humours for a warrant
To break into the bloody house of life.'

SHAKESPEARE, King John^

THE autumn twilight had by this time faded, but one silver
lamp, standing on a slab of softly glowing marble, shed a dim
light through the room when the freedman was ushered into
it. He was a man of portly presence, and of demeanour
amazingly haughty for one who had once bawled ' Sea-urchins
for sale ! ' in the Subura, and come over the sea from his
native Arcadia with his feet chalked as a common slave.
His immense wealth, his influence over the Emperor, and his
advocacy of the claims of Agrippina to her uncle's hand, to-
gether with the honours bestowed upon him by the mean
adulation of the Senate, had raised him to the pinnacle of his
power. Agrippina had stooped to the lowest depths to pur-
chase his adherence, and now there was absolute confidence
between them. He was ready to betray the too-indulgent
master who had raised him from the dust and heaped upon
him gifts and privileges, for which the noblest Consul might
have sighed in vain.

Pallas was in a grave mood. The air was full of portents.
A tale was on every lip among the common people that a pig
had been born with the talons of a hawk. A swarm of bees
had settled on the top of the Capitol. The tents and stand-
ards of the soldiers had been struck with fire from heaven.
In that year a quaestor, an aedile, a tribune, a praetor, and a
consul had all died within a few months of each other.
Claudius had nominated two consuls, but had only nominated
them for a single month. Had he misgivings about his ap-
proaching fate ? Agrippina was not superstitious, and she



INSTRUMENTA IMPERII 17

listened to these stories of the Greek freedman with the in-
difference of disdain. But it was far otherwise when he told
her that Narcissus had been heard to utter very dangerous
speeches. He had said that whether Britannicus or Nero
succeeded, he himself was doomed to perish. Britannicus
would hate him as the man who had brought about the death
of his mother Messalina. Nero would hate him, because he
had opposed his adoption, and the marriage of his mother to
the Emperor, both which events had been achieved by the
rival influence of Pallas. Still Narcissus was faithful to his
kind master, and Britannicus was the Emperor's son. The
freedman had been seen to embrace Britannicus; he had
spoken of him as the ' true image of Claudius ; ' had stretched
forth his hands now to him and now to heaven, and had
prayed ' that the boy might grow speedily to man's estate, and
drive away the enemies of his father, even if he also took
vengeance on the slayer of his mother.'

Agrippina listened to this report with anxious disquietude,
and Pallas told her further that lately the Emperor had often
pressed Britannicus and Octavia to his heart ; had spoken of
their wrongs ; had declared that they should not be ousted
from their place in his affections by the crafty and upstart
sou of such a wretch as Domitius Ahenobarbus, of whom it
might be said, as the orator Licinius Crassus said of his an-
cestor, ' No wonder his beard was of brass, since his tongue
was of iron, and his heart of lead.' Claudius often repeated
himself, and when he saw his son he had several times used
the Greek proverb, 6 rpcaa-as /cat Ida-erai, ' he who wounded
shall also heal you.'

But worse news followed, and Agrippina grasped the side
of her couch with an impulse of terror, when, last of all, Pallas
told her that, on that very evening, the Emperor, in his cups,
had been heard to mutter to some of his intimates ' that he
more than suspected the designs of his wife ; and that it had
always been his destiny to bear the flagitious conduct of his
consorts for a time, but at last to avenge it.'

As she heard these words Agrippina stood up, her arms out-
stretched, her fine nostril dilated, her whole countenance
inflamed with rage and scorn. 'The dotard !' she exclaimed,
' the miserable, drivelling, drunken dotard ! He to speak
thus of me ! Pallas, the hour for delay is over. It is time



18 DARKNESS AND DAWN

to act. But,' she added, ' Narcissus is still here. He loves
his master ; he watches over him with sleepless vigilance. I
dare attempt nothing while he remains about the Court.'

' He is crippled with the gout/ answered Pallas. ' He suf-
fers excruciating agony. He cannot hold out much longer.
I told him that you strongly recommended him to try the
sulphur baths of Siuuessa. He is nearly certain to take the
hint. In a week or two at the latest he will ask leave of
absence, for his life is a torture.'

'Good!' whispered the Empress; and then, dropping her
voice to a whisper, she hissed into the ear of the freedman,
' Claudius must not live.'

' You need not drop your voice, Augusta,' said Pallas. 'No
slave is near. I placed one of my own attendants in the cor-
ridor, and forbade him on pain of death to let anyone approach
your chamber.'

' You ventured to tell him that ? ' asked Agrippina, amazed
at the freed man's boldness.

' Not to tell him that,' answered Pallas. ' Do you suppose
that I would degrade myself by speaking to one of my own
slaves, or even of my own freedrnen I who, as the senate
truly says, am descended from Evander and the ancient kings
of Arcadia, though I deign to be among Caesar's servants ?
No ! a look, a sign, a wave of the hand is sufficient command
from me. If anything more is wanted I write it down on my
tablets. I rejoice as I told the senate when they offered me
four million sesterces to serve Caesar and retain my poverty.'

' The insolent thrall ! ' thought Agrippina ; ' and he says this
to me who know that he was one of the common slaves of
Antonia, the Emperor's mother, and still has to conceal under
his hair the holes bored in his ears. And he talks of his
poverty to me, though I know as well as he does how he has
amassed sixty million sesterces by robbery in fourteen years !'
But she instantly concealed the disdainful smile which flitted
across her lips, and repeated in a low voice, ' Claudius must
die !'

' The plan has its perils,' said the freedman.

' Not if it remains unknown to the world,' she replied.
' And who will dare to reveal it, when they know that to
allude to it is death ? '

' If you are the daughter of the beloved Germanicus.' he



INSTRUMENTA IMPERII 19

said, ' the Emperor is his brother. The soldiers would never
rise against him.'

'I did not think of the Praetorians,' said Agrippina. 'There
are other means. In the prison beneath this palace is one
who will help me.'

' Locusta ? ' whispered Pallas, with an involuntary shudder.
' But the Emperor has a prcegustator who tastes every dish
and every cup.'

' Yes ! The eunuch Halotus,' answered Agrippina. ' He is
in my pay ; he will do my bidding.'

' But Claudius also has a physician.'

' Yes ! The illustrious Xenophou of Cos,' answered the
Empress, with a meaning smile.

Pallas raised his hands, half in horror, half in admiration.
Careless of every moral consideration, he had never dipped his
hands in blood. He had lived in the midst of a profoundly
corrupt society from his earliest youth. He knew that poison-
ings were frequent amid the gilded wickedness and hollow
misery of the Roman aristocracy. He knew that they had
been far from infrequent in the House of Caesar, and that
Eudernus, the physician of Drusus, son of the Emperor Tibe-
rius, had poisoned his lord. Yet before the cool hardihood of
Agrippina's criminality he stood secretly appalled. Would it
not have been better for him, after all, to have followed the
example of Narcissus, and to have remained faithful to his
master ? How long would he be necessary to the Empress
and her son ? And when he ceased to be useful, what would
be his fate ?

Agrippina read his thoughts in his face, and said, ' I sup-
pose that Claudius is still lingering over the wine cup.
Conduct me back to him. Acerronia, my lady-in-waiting,
will follow us.'

' He has been carried to his own room,' said Pallas ; ' but
if you wish to see him, I will attend you.'

He led the way, and gave the watchword of the night to
the Prsetorian guards and their officer, Pudens. The room of
the Emperor was only across the court, and the slaves and
freedmen and pages who kept watch over it made way for the
Augusta and the all-powerful freedman.

' The Emperor still sleeps,' said the groom of the chamber
as they entered.



20 DARKNESS AND DAWN

' Good,' answered Agrippina. ' You may depart. We have
business to transact with him, and will await his wakening.
Give me the lamp. Acerronia will remain without.'

The slave handed her a golden lamp richly chased, and left
the chamber. There on a couch of citron-wood lay the Em-
peror, overcome, as was generally the case in the evening,
with the quantities of strong wine he had drunk. His
breathing was deep and stertorous ; his thin grey hairs
were dishevelled; his purple robe stained, crumpled, and
disordered. His mouth was open, his face flushed ; the
laurel wreath had fallen awry over his forehead, and, in the
imbecile expression of intoxication, every trace of dignity and
nobleness was obliterated from his features.

They stood and looked at him under the lamp which
Agrippina uplifted so that the light might stream upon his
face.

'Sot and dotard!' she exclaimed, in low tones, but full of
scorn and hatred. ' Did not his own mother, Antonia, call
him " a portent of a man " ? I am not surprised that my
brother Gaius once ordered him to be flung into the Rhone ;
or that he and his rude guests used to slap him on the face,
and pelt him with olives and date-stones when he fell asleep
at the table. I have often seen them smear him with grape
juice, and draw his stockings over his hands, that he might
rub his face with them when he awoke ! To think that such
a man should be lord of the world, when my radiant Nero, so
young, so beautiful, so gifted, might be seated on his throne
for all the world to admire and love ! '

'The Emperor has learning,' said Pallas, looking on him
with pity. ' His natural impulses are all good. He has been
a very kind and indulgent master.'

'He ought never to have been Emperor at all,' she an-
swered, vehemently. ' That he is so is the merest accident.
We owe no thanks to the Praetorian Gratus, who found him
hidden behind a curtain on the day that my brother Gaius
was murdered, and pulled him out by the legs: still less
thanks to that supple intriguing Jew, Herod Agrippa, who
persuaded the wavering senate to salute him Emperor. Why,
all his life long he has been a mere joke. Augustus called
him " a poor little wretch," and as a boy he used to be beaten
bv a common groom.'



INSTRUMENTA IMPERII 21

'He has been a kind master,' said the freedman once more;
b^d as he spoke he sighed.

The Empress turned on him. "Will you dare to desert
me ? ' she said. ' Do you not know that, at this moment,
Narcissus has records and letters in his possession which
would hand me over to the fate of Messalina, and you to the
fate of the noble C. Silius ? '

' I desert you not,' he answered, gloomily ; ' I have gone
too far. But it is dangerous for us to remain alone any
longer. I will retire.'

He bowed low and left the room, but before he went out
he turned and said, very hesitatingly, ' He is safe with you ? '

' Go ! ' she answered, in a tone of command. ' Agrippina
does not use the dagger; and there are slaves and soldiers
and freedmen at hand, who would come rushing in at the
slightest sound.'

She was alone with Claudius, and seeing that it would be
many hours before he woke from his heavy slumber, she
gently drew from his finger the beryl, engraved with an
eagle the work of Myron which he wore as his signet
rincj. Then she called for Acerronia, and, throwing over her

O ' O

face and figure a large veil, bade her show the ring to the
centurion Pudens, and tell him to lead them towards the
entrance of the Palace prisons, as there was one of the
prisoners whom she would see.

Pudens received the order and felt no surprise. He who
had anything to do with the Palace knew well that the air of
it was tremulous with dark intrigues. He went before them
to the outer door of the subterranean cells, and unlocked it.
Even within the gate slaves were on guard ; but, although no
one recognised the veiled figure, a glance at the signet ring
sufficed to make them unlock for her the cell in which
Locusta was confined.

Agrippiua entered alone. By a lamp of earthernware sat
the woman who had played her part in so many crimes. She
was imprisoned on the charge of having been concerned in
various murders, but in those awful times she was too useful
to be put to death. The phials and herbs which had been her
stock-in-trade were left in her possession.

' I need/ said the Empress, in a tone of voice which she
hardly took the trouble to disguise, 'a particular kind of



22 DARKNESS AND DAWN

poison : not one to destroy life too suddenly ; not one which
will involve a lingering illness ; but one which will first
disturb the intellect, and so bring death at last.'

' And who is it that thus commands ? ' asked Locusta, lifting
up to her visitor a face which would have had some traces of
beauty but for its hard wickedness. ' It is not to everyone
that I supply poisons. Who knows but what you may be
some slave plotting against our lord and master, Claudius ?
They who use me must pay me, and I must have my
warrant.'

' Is that warrant enough ? ' said Agrippina, showing her the
signet ring.

' It is,' said Locusta, no longer doubtful that her visitor was,
as she had from the first suspected, the Empress herself. 'But
what shall be my reward, Aug '

' Finish that word,' said the Empress, ' and you shall die on
the rack to-morrow. Fear not, you shall have reward enough.
For the present take this ; ' and she flung upon the table a
purse full of gold.

Suspiciously yet greedily the prisoner seized it/and opening
it with trembling fingers saw how rich was her guerdon.
She went to a chest which lay in the corner of the room and,
bending over it with the lamp, produced a small box, in which
lay some flakes and powder of a pale yellow colour.

' This,' she said, ' will do what you desire. Sprinkle it over
any well-cooked dish, and it will not be visible. A few flakes
of it will cause first delirium, then death. It has been tested.'

Without a word Agrippina took it, and, slightly waving her
hand, glided out of the cell. Acerronia awaited her, and
Pudens again went before them towards the apartments of
the Empress and her ladies.



THE CRIME 23



CHAPTEE IV

THE CRIME

' Une grande reine, fille, femme, mere de rois si puissants.' BOSSUET,
Oraison Funebre d? Henrietta de France.

1 Boletos . . . optimi quidem hos cibi, sed immeuso exemplo incrimen
adductos.' PLINY, N. H. xxii. 46.

A FORTNIGHT had elapsed since the evening which we have
described. Claudius, worn out with the heavy cares of state,
to which he always devoted a conscientious, if somewhat
bewildered, attention, had fallen into ill health, which was
increased by his unhappy intemperance. Unwilling at all
times to allow himself a holida}', even in his advancing years,
he had at last been persuaded to visit Sinuessa, near the
mouth of the River Vulturous, in the hope that its charming
climate and healing waters might restore him to his .usual
strength. He had there enjoyed a few days of quiet, during
which his suspicions had been lulled to sleep by the incessant
assiduities of Agrippina. His children had accompanied him,
and Agrippina had been forced to coucea 1 the furious jealousy
with which she witnessed the signs of affection which he
began to lavish upon them. She did not dare to delay any
longer the terrible crime which she had for some time medi-
tated. She stood on the edge of a precipice. There was peril
in every day's procrastination. What if Pallas, whose scruples
she had witnessed, should feel an impulse of repentance
should fling himself at his master's feet, confess all, and hurry
her to execution, as Narcissus had hurried Messalina ? The
weak mind of Claudius was easily stirred to suspicions. He
had already shown marked signs of uneasiness. Halotus,
Xenophon, Locusta they knew all. Could so frightful a
secret be kept ? Might not any whisper or any accident re-
veal it ? If she would end this harassing uncertainty and
reap the glittering reward of crime, there must be no delay.



24 DARKNESS AND DAWN

She had intended to cany out the fatal deed at Sinuessa,
but Claudius felt restless ; and as a few days of country air
had refreshed his health and spirits, he hurried back to Home
on October 13, A..D. 54. She felt that, if she was not prompt,
Narcissus, the vigilant guardian of his master, might return,
and the opportunity might slip away for ever.

They had scarcely reached the Palace when she bade
Acerronia to summon Halotus to her presence as secretly
as possible.

The eunuch entered a wrinkled and evil specimen of hu-
manity, who had grown grey in the household of Claudius.

' The Emperor,' she said, ' is far from well. His appetite
needs to be enticed by the most delicate kinds of food. You
will see that his tastes are consulted in the supper of this
evening.'

' Madam,' said the slave, ' there is nothing of which the
noble Claudius is fonder than boletus mushrooms. They are
scarce, but a small dish of them has been procured.'

' Let them be brought here, that I may see them.'

Halotus returned in a few moments, followed by a slave,
who set the mushrooms before her on a silver dish, and
retired. They were few in number, but one was peculiarly
fine.

' I will consult the physician Xenophon, whether they
will suit the Emperor's health,' said Agrippina. 'He is in
attendance.'

Passing into an adjoining room, which was empty, she
hastily drew from her bosom the little box which Locusta
had given her, and sprinkled the yellow flakes and powder
among the sporules on the pink inner surface of the mush-
room. Then returning she said,

' Halotus, this dainty must be reserved for the table of the
Emperor alone, and T design this mushroom particularly for
him. He will be pleased at the care which I have taken to
stimulate his appetite. And if I have reason to be satisfied
with you, your freedom is secured your fortune made.'

The eunuch bowed ; but as he left the room he thrust his
tongue into his cheek, and his wrinkled face bore an ugly
smile.

The evening came. The supper party was small, for
Claudius still longed for quiet, and had been glad, in the re-



THE CRIME 25

tirement of Sinuessa, to lay aside the superb state of the
imperial household. Usually when he was at Eome the hall
was crowded with guests ; but on this day he had desired
that only a few friends should be present. At the sigma, or
semicircular table at which he reclined, there were no others
except Agrippina, who was next to him, Pallas, Octavia, and
Nero. Burrus, the commander of the Praetorian camp, was in
attendance, and Seneca, Nero's tutor; but they were at
another sigma, with one or two distinguished senators who
had been asked to meet them.

Except Halotus and Pallas, there was not one person in
the room who had the least suspicion of the tragedy which
was about to be enacted. Yet there fell on all the guests
one of those unaccountable spells of silence and depression
which are so often the prelude to great calamities. At the
lower table, indeed, Burrus tried to enliven the guests with
the narrative of scenes which he had witnessed in Germany
and Britain in days of active service, and told once more
how he had received the wound which disabled his left
hand. But to these stories they listened with polite apathy,
nor could they be roused from their languor by the studied
impromptus of Seneca. At the upper table Nero, startled
by a few vague words which his mother had dropped early
in the day, was tirnid and restless. The young Octavia
she was but fourteen years old was habitually taciturn
in the presence of her husband, Nero, who even in these
early days had conceived an aversion, which he was not al-
ways able to conceal, for the bride who had been forced upon
him by his mother's ambition. Claudius talked but little,
for he was intent, as usual, on the pleasures of the table,
and all conversation with him soon became impossible, as
he drained goblet after goblet of Massic wine. Agrippina
alone affected cheerfulness as she congratulated the Emperor
on his improving health, and praised the wisdom which
had at last induced him to yield to her loving entreaties,
and to take a much-needed holiday.

' And now, Caesar,' she said, ' I have a little surprise for
you. There is, I know, nothing which you like better than
these rare boleti. They are entirely for ourselves. I shall
take some ; the rest are for you, especially this the finest
I could procure.'



26 DARKNESS AND DAWN

With her own white and jewelled hand she took from
the dish the fatal mushroom, and handed it to her husband.
He greedily ate the dainty, and thanked her. Not long
after he looked wildly round him, tried in vain to speak,
rose from the table, and, staggering, fell back into the arms
of the treacherous Halotus.

The unfortunate Emperor was carried out of the triclinium
by his attendants. Such an end of the banquet was common
enough after he had sat long over the wine, but that he should
be removed so suddenly before the supper was half over was
an unwonted circumstance.

The slaves had carried him into the adjoining Nymphaeum,
a room adorned with rare plants, and were splashing his face
with the water of the fountain. Xenophon was summoned,
and gave orders that he should be at once conveyed to his
chamber. The guests caught one last glimpse of his senseless
form as the slaves hurriedly carried it back through the
dining-hall.

Seneca and Burrus exchanged terrified glances, but no
word was spoken until Agrippina whispered to Pallas to
dismiss the guests. He rose, and told them that the Em-
peror had suddenly been taken ill, but that the illness did not
seem to be serious. A night's rest would doubtless set him
right. Meanwhile the Empress was naturally anxious, and
as she desired to tend her suffering husband, it was better
that all strangers should take their farewell.

As they departed, they heard her ordering the preparation
of heated cloths and fomentations, as she hurried to the sick
room. The Emperor lay gasping and convulsed, sometimes
unconscious, sometimes in a delirium of agony ; and it was
clear that the quantities of wine which he had drunk might
tend to dilute the poison, possibly even to counteract its
working. Hour after hour passed by, and Claudius still
breathed. Xenophon, the treacherous physician, saw the
danger. Assuring those present in the chamber of the dying
man that quiet was essential to his recovery, he urged the
Empress to have the room cleared, and to take upon herself
the duties of nurse. His commands were obeyed, and under
pretence that he might produce some natural relief by irritating
the throat, Xenophon sent for a large feather. The feather of
a flamingo was brought, and when the slaves had retired, he



THE CRIME 27

smeared it with a rapid and deadly poison. The effect was
instant. The swollen form of the Emperor heaved with the
spasm of a last struggle, and he lay dead before them.

Not a tear did Agrippina shed, not one sigh broke from the
murderess, as her uncle and husband breathed his last.

' It must not be known that he is dead,' she whispered.
( Watch here. I will give out that he has fallen into a re-
freshing sleep, and will probably awake in his accustomed
health. Fear not for your reward ; it shall be immense when
my Nero reigns. But much has first to be done.'

She hurried to her room, and despatched messengers in all
directions, though it was now near midnight. She sent to the
Priests, bidding them to offer vows to all the gods for the
Emperor's safety ; she ordered the Consuls to convoke the
Senate, and gave them secret directions that, while they
prayed for Claudius, they should be prepared for all emer-
gencies. Special despatches were sent to Seneca and Burrus.
The former was to prepare an address which Nero might, if
necessary, pronounce before the Senate ; the latter was to
repair to the Palace at earliest dawn and await the issue of
events.

Meanwhile she gave the strictest orders that the Palace
gates should be guarded, and that none should be allowed to
enter or to leave unless they could produce written permission.
All this was easy for her. The Palace was full of her creatures.
Britannicus and Octavia had been gradually deprived of nearly
all who were known to be faithful to their interests. They
were kept in profound ignorance that death had robbed them
of the one natural protector, who loved them with a tenderness
which had often been obscured by the bedazed character of his
intellect, but which had never been for one moment quenched.
All that they learnt from the spies and traitors who were
placed about their persons was that the Emperor had been
taken suddenly ill, but was already recovering, and was now
in a peaceful slumber.

Having taken all these precautions, and secured that no
one except Pallas or herself should be admitted during the
night into the room where Xenophon kept watch beside the
corpse, Agrippina retired to her chamber. One thing alone
troubled her. Before she retired she had looked for a
moment on the nightly sky, and saw on the far horizon a



28 DAKKNESS AND DAWN

gleam unknown to her. She called her Greek astrologer
and asked him what it was. He paused, and for a moment
looked alarmed. ' It is a comet,' he said.

' Is that an omen of disaster ? '

The learned slave was too politic to give it that inter-
pretation. ' It may,' he said, ' portend the brilliant in-
auguration of a new reign.'

She was reassured by the answer, and laid herself down to
rest. Though greatly excited by the events of the day, and
the immense cares which fell upon her, she slept as sweetly as
a child. No 'pale faces looked in upon her slumber; no
shriek rang through her dreams; no fancy troubled her of
gibbering spectre or Fury from the abyss. She had given
orders that she should be awakened in a few hours, and by
the time that the first grey light shuddered in the east she
had dressed herself in rich array, and, with a sense of positive
exultation, stepped out of her room, calm and perfumed, to
achieve that which had been for years the main ambition, of
her life.



THE MOCKERY OF DEATH 29



CHAPTEE V

THE MOCKERY OF DEATH

1 Esse aliquos Manes et subterranea regna

Nee pueri credimt, nisi qui nondum sere lavautur,
Sed tu vera puta.' Juv. Sat. ii. 149-153.

AGRIPPINA. had long contrived to secure the absolute devotion
of her slaves, clients, and freedinen. In that vast household
of at least sixteen hundred persons, all courteously treated
and liberally paid, there were many who were ready to go any
lengths in support of t