Beware of Caesar Author:Vincen Sheean In all the struggles that bloodied imperial Rome, none progressed with deadlier certainty than the one between Emperor Nero (the Fifth Caesar) and his former teacher, Seneca. The bold, yet infantile, ambitions of the emperor, pitted against the philosophic wisdom of the scholar, became a terrifying prelude to violence and the burning of Rome. Th... more »is fatalistic theme proples an intensely moving novel of love and hate, union and conspiricy.
After baninshing Seneca from his court, Nero removed his own gentle wife Octavia to a country estate as an overture to divorce and a means to satisfy Poppaea's demand for marriage and the crown. As public indignation grew, private assassination plots took form. Some were impractial but wise; others shrewd but foolish. An attempt to enlist Seneca in the cause and make him Emperor in Nero's place failed. The woman Epicharis (not a true prostitue though she enjoyed the confidence of many men) grew impatient with the vacillations of the nobles and took matters into her own hands, with ironically horrible results. As the skies of Rome reddened, the warnings of Seneca took on fresh meaning: