History of Nero by Jacob Abbott
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| History of Nero |
Excerpt:
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 connect od narrative.
In ancient times, when the city of Rome was at the height of its power and splendor, it was the custom, as it is in fact now with the inhabitants of wealthy capitals, for the principal families to possess, in addition to their city residences, rural villas for summer retreats, which they built in picturesque situations, at a little distance from the city, sometimes in the interior of the country, and sometimes upon the sea-shore. There were many attractive places of resort of this nature in the neighborhood of Rome. Among them was Antium. Antium was situated on the sea coast about thirty miles south of the Tiber.
A bold promontory here projects into the sea, affording A.D. 37. The situation of the promontory of Antium. from its declivities the most extended and magnificent views on every side. On the north, looking from the promontory of Antium, the eye follows the line of the coast away to the mouth of the Tiber; while, on the south, the view is terminated, at about the same distance, by the promontory of Circe, w^hich is the second cape, or promontory, that marks the shore of Italy in going southward from Rome. Toward the interior, from Antium, there extends a broad and beautiful plain, bounded by wooded hills toward the shore, and by ranges of mountains in the distance beyond.
On the southern side of the cape, and sheltered by it, was a small harbor where ^ vessels from all the neighboring seas had been accustomed to bring in their cargoes or to seek shelter in storms, from time immemorial. In fact, Antium, in point of antiquity, takes precedence, probably, even of Rome.
Contents of the book:
Nero's mother -- The assassination of Caligula -- The accession of Claudius -- The fate of Messalina -- The childhood of Nero -- Nero as emperor -- Britannicus -- The fate of Agrippina -- Extreme depravity -- Piso's conspiracy -- The fate of the conspirators -- The expedition into Greece -- Nero's end
Download History of Nero- PDF - 12 MB.
- Author: Jacob Abbott
- Publication date:1881
Download History of Nero- PDF - 12 MB.