them to action. None of
the members of the plot would admit that they had given her any
information on the subject, and how she obtained her information no
one could tell. She was a woman of bad character, and as such women
often are, she was violent and implacable in her hatred. She hated
Nero, and was so impatient at the delay of the conspirators that
she made repeated and earnest efforts to urge them on.

The conspirators in the mean time held various secret meetings to
mature their plans, and to complete the preparation for the
execution of them. They designed to destroy Nero by some violent
means, and then to cause Piso to be proclaimed emperor in his place.
Piso was a man well suited for their purpose in this respect. He was
tall and graceful in form, and his personal appearance was in every
respect prepossessing. His rank was very high, and he was held in
great estimation by all the people of the city for the many generous
and noble qualities that he possessed. He was allied, too, to the
most illustrious families of Rome, and he occupied in all respects
so conspicuous a position, and was so much an object of popular
favor, that the conspirators believed that his elevation to the
empire could easily be effected, if Nero himself could once be put
out of the way. To effect the assassination of Nero, therefore, was
the first step.

After much debate, and many consultations in respect to the best
course to be pursued, it was decided to accept the offer of a
certain Subrius Flavius, who undertook to kill the emperor in the
streets, at night, at some time when he was roaming about in his
carousals. Flavius, in fact, was very daring and resolute in his
proposals, though wanting, as it proved in the end, in the
fulfillment of them. He offered to stab Nero in the theater, when he
was singing on the stage, in the midst of all the thousands of
spectators convened there. This the conspirators thought, it seems,
an unnecessarily bold and desperate mode of accomplishing the end in
view, and the plan was accordingly overruled. Flavius then proposed
to set the palace on fire some night when Nero was out in the city,
and then, in the confusion that would ensue, and while the attention
of the guards who had accompanied Nero should be drawn toward the
fire, to assassinate the emperor in the streets. This plan was
acceded to by the conspirators, and it was left to Flavius to select
a favorable time for the execution of it.

Time