the statue of a god, he
seeks a model; but never have I had a model. I never have seen a burning
city; hence there is a lack of truth in my description."

"Then I will say that only a great artist understands this."

Nero grew thoughtful, and after a while he said,--"Answer one question,
Petronius. Dost thou regret the burning of Troy?"

"Do I regret? By the lame consort of Venus, not in the least! And I will
tell thee the reason. Troy would not have been consumed if Prometheus
had not given fire to man, and the Greeks made war on Priam. AEschylus
would not have written his Prometheus had there been no fire, just as
Homer would not have written the Iliad had there been no Trojan war. I
think it better to have Prometheus and the Iliad than a small and shabby
city, which was unclean, I think, and wretched, and in which at best
there would be now some procurator annoying thee through quarrels with
the local areopagus."

"That is what we call speaking with sound reason," said Nero. "For art
and poetry it is permitted, and it is right, to sacrifice everything.
Happy were the Achaeans who furnished Homer with the substance of the
Iliad, and happy Priam who beheld the ruin of his birthplace. As to me,
I have never seen a burning city."

A time of silence followed, which was broken at last by Tigellinus.

"But I have said to thee, Caesar, already, command and I will burn
Antium; or dost thou know what? If thou art sorry for these villas and
palaces, give command to burn the ships in Ostia; or I will build a
wooden city on the Alban Hills, into which thou shalt hurl the fire
thyself. Dost thou wish?"

"Am I to gaze on the burning of wooden sheds?" asked Nero, casting a
look of contempt on him. "Thy mind has grown utterly barren, Tigellinus.
And I see, besides, that thou dost set no great value on my talent or
my Troyad, since thou judgest that any sacrifice would be too great for
it."

Tigellinus was confused; but Nero, as if wishing to change the
conversation, added after a while,--

"Summer is passing. Oh, what a stench there must be in that Rome now!
And still we must return for the summer games."

"When thou dismissest the Augustians, O Caesar, permit me to remain with
thee a moment," said Tigellinus.

An hour later Vinicius, returning with Petronius from Caesar's villa,
said,--"I was a trifle alarmed for thee. I judged that while drunk thou
hadst ruined thyself beyond redemption. Remember that thou art playing