which they had
decreed to him in honor of the skill and superiority which he had
displayed in the histrionic art. Nero was extremely gratified at
having such honors conferred upon him. He received the deputations
which brought these tokens, with great pomp and parade, as if they
had been embassadors from sovereign princes or states, sent to
transact business of the most momentous concern. He gave them
audience, in fact, before all others, and entertained them with
feasts and spectacles, and conferred upon them every other mark of
public consideration and honor. On one occasion, at a feast to which
he had invited such a company of embassadors, one of them asked him
to favor them with a song. The emperor at once complied, and sang a
song for the entertainment of the company at the table. He was
rapturously applauded, and was so delighted with the enthusiasm
which his performance awakened, as to exclaim that the Greeks were,
after all, the only people that really had a taste for music; none
but they, he said, could understand or appreciate a good song.

The most renowned of all the celebrations of the ancient Greeks were
the Olympic games. These games constituted a grand national
festival, which was held once in four years on a plain in the
western part of the Peloponnesus, called the Olympian Plain. This
plain was but little more than a mile in extent, and was bordered on
one side by rocky hills, and on the other by the waters of a river.
Here suitable structures were erected for the exhibition of the
spectacles and games, and for the accommodation of the spectators,
and when the period for the celebrations arrived, immense multitudes
assembled from every part of Greece to witness the solemnities. The
spectators, however, were all men; for with the exception of a few
priestesses who had certain official duties to perform, no females
were allowed to be present. The punishment for an attempt to evade
this law was death; for if any woman attempted to witness the scene
in disguise, the law was that she was to be seized, if detected,
and hurled down a neighboring precipice, to be killed by the fall.
It is said, however, that only one case of such detection ever
occurred, and in that case the woman was pardoned in consideration
of the fact that her father, her brothers, and her son had all been
victors in the games.

The games continued for five days. The general arrangements were
made, and the umpires were appointed, by th