§51Statura fuit prope iusta, corpore maculoso et fetido, subflauo capillo, uultu pulchro magis quam uenusto, oculis caesis et hebetioribus, ceruice obesa, uentre proiecto, gracillimis cruribus, ualitudine prospera: nam qui luxuriae immoderatissimae esset, ter omnino per quattuordecim annos languit, atque ita ut neque uino neque consuetudine reliqua abstineret;
His stature was nearly of average height, his body spotted and foul-smelling, his hair light blond, his face rather handsome than graceful, his eyes grey-blue and somewhat weak, his neck fat, his belly projecting, his legs very slender, and his health was excellent; for although he was of the most immoderate luxury, he fell ill only three times in all during his fourteen years of reign, and that in such a way that he did not abstain from wine or his other usual habits.
circa cultum habitumque adeo pudendus, ut comam semper in gradus formatam peregrinatione Achaica etiam pone uerticem summiserit ac plerumque synthesinam indutus ligato circum collum sudario prodierit in publicum sine cinctu et discalciatus.
In his care of his person and his dress he was so shameless that he always had his hair arranged in tiers, and during his journey in Achaia he even let it grow long behind his head, and commonly appeared in public wearing a synthesina, with a handkerchief tied around his neck, without a girdle, and barefoot.
§52Liberalis disciplinas omnis fere puer attigit.
As a boy he touched upon almost all the liberal disciplines.
sed a philosophia eum mater auertit monens imperaturo contrariam esse; a cognitione ueterum oratorum Seneca praeceptor, quo diutius in admiratione sui detineret.
But from philosophy his mother turned him away, warning him that it was contrary to one who was to rule; and from the study of ancient orators his preceptor Seneca deterred him, in order to keep him longer in admiration of himself.
itaque ad poeticam pronus carmina libenter ac sine labore composuit nec, ut quidam putant, aliena pro suis edidit.
Therefore, being inclined to poetry, he composed verses willingly and without effort, nor did he publish the works of others as his own, as some believe.
uenere in manus meas pugillares libellique cum quibusdam notissimis uersibus ipsius chirographo scriptis, ut facile appareret non tralatos aut dictante aliquo exceptos, sed plane quasi a cogitante atque generante exaratos; ita multa et deleta et inducta et superscripta inerant.
There came into my hands notebooks and booklets containing some of his most well-known verses written in his own handwriting, so that it was easy to see that they were not copied or taken down from dictation, but clearly written as if by one thinking and creating; so many erasures, deletions, and interlineations were present in them.
habuit et pingendi fingendique non mediocre studium.
He also possessed no ordinary enthusiasm for painting and sculpting.
§53Maxime autem popularitate efferebatur, omnium aemulus, qui quoquo modo animum uulgi mouerent.
But above all he was carried away by a desire for popularity, being envious of all who in any way moved the mind of the common people.
exiit opinio post scaenicas coronas proximo lustro descensurum eum ad Olympia inter athletas; nam et luctabatur assidue nec aliter certamina gymnica tota Graecia spectauerat quam brabeutarum more in stadie humi assidens ac, si qua paria longius recessissent, in medium manibus suis protrahens.
A rumor went abroad that after his theatrical crowns, at the next lustrum he would go down to Olympia among the athletes; for he wrestled constantly, and had watched the gymnastic contests throughout Greece in no other way than sitting on the ground in the stadium in the manner of the judges, and if any pairs of wrestlers had moved too far away, dragging them back into the middle with his own hands.
destinauerat etiam, quia Apollinem cantu, Solem aurigando aequiperare existimaretur, imitari et Herculis facta; praeparatumque leonem aiunt, quem uel claua uel brachiorum nexibus in amphitheatri harena spectante populo nudus elideret.
He had also resolved, because he was thought to equal Apollo in singing and the Sun in chariot-driving, to imitate the exploits of Hercules; and they say that a lion was prepared for him to kill naked, with either a club or the grasp of his arms, in the arena of the amphitheatre before the eyes of the people.
§54sub exitu quidem uitae palam uouerat, si sibi incolumis status permansisset, proditurum se partae uictoriae ludis etiam hydraulam et choraulam et utricularium ac nouissimo die histrionem saltaturumque Vergili Turnum.
Indeed, towards the close of his life he had publicly vowed that, if his position remained secure, he would perform at the games for the victory he had won, as a player on the water-organ, the flute, and the bagpipe, and on the last day would act and dance Virgil's Turnus.
et sunt qui tradant Paridem histrionem occisum ab eo quasi grauem aduersarium.
And there are those who report that the actor Paris was put to death by him as a formidable rival.
§55erat illi aeternitatis perpetuaeque famae cupido, sed inconsulta.
He had a desire for eternity and perpetual fame, but it was ill-considered.
ideoque multis rebus ac locis uetere appellatione detracta nouam indixit ex suo nomine, mensem quoque Aprilem Neroneum appellauit; destinauerat et Romam Neropolim nuncupare.
Therefore, having stripped many things and places of their ancient names, he imposed new ones from his own, and even called the month of April "Neroneus"; he had also resolved to rename Rome "Neropolis".
§56Religionum usque quaque contemptor, praeter unius Deae Syriae, hanc mox ita spreuit ut urina contaminaret, alia superstitione captus, in qua sola pertinacissime haesit, siquidem imagunculam puellarem, cum quasi remedium insidiarum a plebeio quodam et ignoto muneri accepisset, detecta confestim coniuratione pro summo numine trinisque in die sacrificiis colere perseuerauit uolebatque credi monitione eius futura praenoscere.
He was a despiser of religions in every way, except for that of the Syrian Goddess alone; but soon he despised her so much that he defiled her with urine, being captivated by another superstition in which alone he persisted most stubbornly. Indeed, having received a little female image as a remedy against conspiracies from a certain obscure commoner, and a conspiracy being immediately detected, he continued to worship it as the supreme deity with threefold sacrifices daily, and wished it to be believed that he foreknew future events by its warning.
ante paucos quam periret menses attendit et extispicio nec umquam litauit.
A few months before he perished, he also attended to extispicy, but never obtained a favorable omen.
§57Obiit tricensimo et secundo aetatis anno, die quo quondam Octauiam interemerat, tantumque gaudium publice praebuit, ut plebs pilleata tota urbe discurreret.
He died in the thirty-second year of his age, on the very day on which he had formerly put Octavia to death, and caused such great public joy that the common people ran about the whole city wearing freedom-caps.
et tamen non defuerunt qui per longum tempus uernis aestiuisque floribus tumulum eius ornarent ac modo imagines praetextatas in rostris proferrent, modo edicta quasi uiuentis et breui magno inimicorum malo reuersuri.
And yet, there were those who for a long time decorated his tomb with spring and summer flowers, and at one time displayed his statues clad in the toga praetexta on the rostra, and at another published edicts as if he were still alive and would shortly return to the great misfortune of his enemies.
quin etiam Vologaesus Parthorum rex missis ad senatum legatis de instauranda societate hoc etiam magno opere orauit, ut Neronis memoria coleretur.
Nay, even Vologaesus, the king of the Parthians, having sent ambassadors to the senate about renewing the alliance, earnestly requested this also, that the memory of Nero should be honored.
denique cum post uiginti annos adulescente me extitisset condicionis incertae qui se Neronem esse iactaret, tam fauorabile nomen eius apud Parthos fuit, ut uehementer adiutus et uix redditus sit.
Finally, when twenty years later, in my youth, there arose a man of uncertain origin who boasted that he was Nero, his name was so popular among the Parthians that he was vigorously supported and was only surrendered with difficulty.