Don't be surprised to see this chapter, this is a promotion of the new Vinnero, replaced by a new chapter of Louis after ten o'clock in the evening.

Nero

Chapter II

A mistake was discovered - Seneca's grandson was supposed to be Paulus, and the other Nero's friend was Marcus...... And it's quite important, so, change it!

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"By the way," Lucius suddenly leaned over and whispered in his grandson's ear, "When the emperor comes, don't say that he looks similar to the empress dowager." ”

Paulus nodded subconsciously, and then he looked at his grandfather strangely, what made him think so, Nero was the son of the beautiful little Agrippina, but he was a mediocre man of appearance, with a flat forehead, a short chin, a large nose, and rough skin, and it was precisely because of this that he often imagined that he was as handsome as Apollo and as charming as Venus, and thought that everyone longed for his favor.

"Why?" he asked in the same low voice.

Ruzius was reluctant to tell him at this time, but it was his negligence: "Because he did not like the face of little Agrippina." ”

At this time, the emperor of Rome had already walked in, and everyone was saluting him, and Paulus was no exception, and when he looked up, he felt a hundred thousand points of confusion, who was it? It should be Nero who sat on the throne (it stands to reason that sitting on the throne should be the most honorable guest, but the emperor is different after all), and Paulus even recognized the young man who followed him as Brittanicus, but Nero ...... Not the Nero he knew at all!

It was a slender, girl-like young man, with a face very similar to that of little Agrippina, and a serious expression, but when he saw Ruzius, his gaze became a little more gentle, "Please be seated, everyone." He said, "It's just a family-like banquet, so please don't be too formal." It was a tone that Paulus had never heard before, low and gentle, full of emotion, completely different from Nero's rude and hoarse voice like the howl of a wild beast, and if Nero had such a good voice, he would not have to rely on the power of the emperor and the temptation of gold, and he could easily win the crown in singing or drama.

It was not only his face and voice that brought Paulus a strange feeling, his clothes were not luxurious, the ornaments were very simple, the food, wine, and sweet water placed in front of him and everyone were small and delicate, and most of them were mainly fruits and vegetables, and it was commendable that the shells and fish in the sea were very fresh, and the meat was very crispy and delicious, and there were two kinds of soups that Paulus remembered with all his heart, pea soup and fish soup, neither of which were salty at all, light and delicious. And during the whole feast, Nero did not drink wine, but only the water of the spring, which was heated and cooled.

But to Paulus's greatest surprise, Brittanycus apparently loved and relied on his nominal brother and had been clinging to him, and Nero had indulged in allowing him to share a meal with him, drink from a cup with him, and eat on a plate.

"What's so strange about that," said Ruzius on the way back, "in order to prevent little Agrippina from poisoning Brittanycus, Nero began to share food with Brittany before Claudius died," and at this the old man smiled meaninglessly, "Have you noticed that the emperor only drinks spring water, and that his food is very light and tends to be plain, with little spice except salt? for he has been poisoned, and I don't know if it was a mistake by Agrippina the Younger, or if someone deliberately let him go to the underworld with Brittanycus...... The poisoning almost killed him, and since then his body has become very weak, and the cold and heat, fatigue and agitation will make him sick, and he cannot ride a horse, nor can he travel long distances, nor can he eat too much, nor can he be too oily, nor can he drink alcohol...... And ......" Luzius whispered, "Don't indulge in ......" he didn't want his grandson to know about this, but it would be bad if his grandson rashly dragged the emperor to a brothel.

"Then he must have lost a lot of fun. Paulus muttered.

"The Emperor will soon summon you to his side," said Ruzius, taking Paulus' hand tightly, "then, my good Paulus, you will not be as careless as you are now." Your father was a mediocre man, stammering and acting recklessly, but you are like the wise Akontius (note 1), who was favored by Minerva and Diana, who used his wisdom to win the love of Cudina, and thou shalt use your wisdom to gain the emperor's trust......"

"Grandfather......" Paulus reluctantly shook his grandfather's hand, which, though not yet showing gray spots that represented aging, had separated from the flesh and was loose like a rattling sheepskin: "I may have to think about it." ”

"What do you think, isn't the grandson of Ruzius not worthy of the emperor's favor? You are all young people, and you will get along very well. ”

Paulus looked at his grandfather, in the veil-shrouded sedan chair, the light was dim, even so, Paulus could make out the arrogant face of Ruzius, he took a deep breath, held back tears, in the first years of Nero's accession to the throne, his grandfather did have been arrogant for a long time because he was the emperor's teacher, but this arrogance was soon replaced by frustration and fear, he was afraid of Nero, and he was afraid of Nero's enemies, both of whom had bad intentions towards Ruzius, and he did die at the hands of the former, and even brought disaster to his family.

How should he answer his grandfather? Tonight, his grandfather's couch was indeed the closest to the emperor, he shared a couch with his grandfather, and the distance from the emperor was only a table, if it weren't for the Nero he saw and not the Nero he remembered, he would have been a sinner who plotted to assassinate the emperor.

Nero ...... Emperor," he couldn't help asking, "has he always been that face?"

Ruzius looked at him strangely, but remembered that his grandson had indeed seen the emperor for the first time—not at the time of sacrifice or procession, and he noticed that the sedan chair was passing through a lively street, and pressed Paulus's hand, and motioned him to wait a while, until the sedan had turned the corner and came to a quieter place, and then he replied, "Is it because I remind you that the emperor does not like his face, which resembles that of little Agrippina?"

"Are you saying that the Emperor did not love his mother?" asked Paulus, as Nero's affair with his mother was almost an open secret, and in the first years of the Emperor's reign, they had been so close that Nero fell almost unresistibly under his mother's skirt, and little Riffina was like another emperor— On the coins, the side portraits of the mother and son face each other, and in the reliefs, even the laurel wreath placed on Nero by Grepina the Younger, although this is true, it undoubtedly proves that the Emperor is nothing more than a puppet of Grepina the Younger.

"What shall I say? Luzius said: "Little Agrippina has all the evils of women, and all men, but the emperor is a sentimental man." ”

Sentimentality...... This adjective gave Paulus a chill, for Nero did often describe himself as sentimental (for this is the quality of a poet), and he was often full of apprehensions, but after he was full of apprehensions, he summoned the Praetorian Guards and dispelled them with the blood and weeping of others.

"I think it is Griffina the Younger who has given some of the advantages of women to the Emperor," said Ruzius, "and the Emperor is too gentle, and merciful, and a little indecisive, and in temperament has nothing like his mother or father, I mean, Agrippina the Younger and Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobalbus, you know this man." ”

Paulus nodded.

Gnaeus was Nero's biological father, who came from a prestigious family, but still could not compare in social status with his wife, who was the sister of Emperor Caligula and his lover. He was the third man, the second husband, of little Griffina, and their crystallization was Nero. This mad and tyrannical man drowned in the sea before Nero was three years old, and some say that his death was inseparable from the little Grippina, because at that time the younger Agrippina's uncle Claudius ascended the throne, and the little Agrippina was bent on returning to Rome and ascending to the throne of the queen, and her husband was of course the biggest stumbling block.

It may come as a surprise here, but first of all, we need to sort out the information that has been written about this woman, because she is undoubtedly the one who started our story, without which there would be no Nero Claudius Drusus Germanicus, not that she was his mother, at least not only.

The first thing we should say is Julius Caesar, who was succeeded by the greatest Roman emperor Gavius Octavian Augustus, and his third wife, Livia Drusula, was betrothed to him for political reasons, and by the time the marriage was concluded, Livia had two sons, Tiberius and Drusus, with her ex-husband Claudius Nero, and they became Octavian's adopted sons.

Octavian originally wanted his own son to take over his authority and business, but it backfired, his own son and the two grandsons he adopted later died before him, and the only and adult heir was Tiberius, but Tiberius was able to inherit Caesar's name at the price of adopting his nephew Germancus, which was equivalent to making Germancus his heir, because Germancus was the son of Octavian's granddaughter Agrippina the Great.

Germanus and Agrippina the Great had three sons and a daughter, and after the strange "death" of Germancus, his eldest and second sons also died tragically, and only the third sons, Caligula and Geraripina the Younger, survived.

Tiberius had the same idea as Octavian, that is, to make his own son his heir, but unfortunately his son also died before him, and his immediate family consisted of the exiled Agrippina and her two children, although there was also the younger brother Claudius of Germanicus, who was known to be a dull and incompetent fellow, and Caligula, the last son of Germancus, became the Roman emperor.

Unfortunately, Caligula was not able to inherit the wisdom of his great-grandfather, nor the bravery of his father, he was an absurd and cruel ruler, and in just four years he caused public resentment, and the captain of the Guards and two accomplices took the opportunity to kill him and elect Claudius as Roman emperor.

Agrippina the Younger, who was exiled to the island of Pontia because she was suspected of being associated with the rebels by Caligula, was overjoyed to hear that her uncle Claudius had replaced her brother Caligula as Roman Emperor - Paulus had heard rumors shortly before he was killed in his previous life that shortly before Nero (then Lucius) was born, Agrippina the Younger asked an astrologer to tell her son's fortune, and the soothsayer received an oracle that the child would become Roman emperor in the future, but kill his own mother!

Ringpina the Younger's answer was: If he could become Roman Emperor, what if I were killed by him!?

Paulus, however, prefers to believe another prophecy, which is what Nero's own father said when he heard of Nero's birth, he said: If it were my child with little Grippina, he would only be a monster destroying the world!

Perhaps both were true, and if Nero had not been the Roman emperor, how could he have brought so much suffering and disaster? Paulus said in his heart that Agrippina the Younger, after having a goal, first tried to instigate her uncle Claudius to execute his queen Mesalina, and after becoming the new queen of Rome, she managed to persuade Claudius to adopt Nero as a son, and Claudius had already had a son and a daughter born to him by Mesalina, but he had no chance to regret it, and he died soon after eating poisonous mushrooms at a family banquet.

Agrippina the Younger became the Queen Mother and uncrowned King of Rome, and Paulus knew that five years later, she would be executed for her struggle with Nero for power, fulfilling the astrologer's prophecy.

Agrippina the Younger was not the first casualty of this bloodthirsty monster, nor was it the last, Paulus counted in his mind, not counting the slaves, commoners, and officials, but there were all the illustrious ones - Brittanycus, the former's sister Octavia, Agrippina the Younger's lover Bruce, the treasurer Palles, the suspected descendant of Augustus, Plautus, the elder and his family, his new empress Popea...... Paulus knew all this, and he probably didn't know more, and in 65 years, because of a rebellion and murder against Nero, many officers and nobles died, and then the grandfather, grandmother, him, and the Seneca family who were implicated died, and he didn't know anything about the future.

"Paulus?"

Paulus shuddered for a moment, and then realized that he and his grandfather had returned home, and he took a deep breath, and served Ruzius with the slaves and got out of the sedan chair, and before he could say anything to Lucius, he heard a beaming voice: "Paulus!"

He turned his head and saw Marcus Salvius Otto, who was waving at him.