death at the detection of the conspiracy, in
the manner to be presently described, his estate was confiscated.
The palace and grounds thus became the property of the Roman
emperors. In process of time, the emperor Constantine gave the place
to the pope, and from that period it continued to be the residence
of the successive pontiffs for a thousand years. A church was built
upon the ground, called the Basilica of St. John of Lateran, where
many ancient councils were held, known in ecclesiastical history as
the councils of the Lateran. This church is still used for some of
the ceremonies connected with the inauguration of the pope, but the
palace is now uninhabited. It presents, however, in its ruins, a
vast and imposing, though desolate aspect.

Lateranus was an unprincipled and dissolute man, and in consequence
of certain crimes which he committed in connection with Messalina,
during the reign of Claudius, he had been condemned to death. The
sentence of death was not executed, though Lateranus was deprived of
his rank, and doomed to live in retirement and disgrace. At the
death of Claudius, and the accession of Nero, Lateranus was fully
pardoned and restored to his former rank and position, through
Nero's instrumentality. It might have been supposed that gratitude
for these favors would have prevented Lateranus from joining such a
conspiracy as this against his benefactor, but gratitude has very
little place in the hearts of those who dwell in the courts and
palaces of such tyrants as Nero.

The man on whom the conspirators relied most for efficient military
aid, so far as such aid should be needed in their enterprise, was a
certain Fenius Rufus, a captain of the imperial guards. He was a man
of very resolute and decided character, and was very highly esteemed
by the people of Rome. He was not one of the originators of the
plot, but joined it at a later period; and when the news of his
accession to it was communicated to the rest, it gave them great
encouragement, as they attached great importance to the adhesion of
such a man to their cause. They now immediately began to take
measures for executing their plans.

There was a woman in the secret of this conspiracy, though how she
obtained a knowledge of it no one seemed to know. Her name was
Epicharis. While the execution of the plans of the confederates was
delayed, Epicharis came to the principal conspirators privately,
first to one and then to another, and urged