Paul Before Nero
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penetrate the darkness that enveloped him. Soon he was to suffer the
retributive judgments of God.
Not long after this, Nero sailed on his infamous expedition to
Greece, where he disgraced himself and his kingdom by contemptible
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and debasing frivolity. Returning to Rome with great pomp, he sur-
rounded himself with his courtiers and engaged in scenes of revolting
debauchery. In the midst of this revelry a voice of tumult in the streets
was heard. A messenger dispatched to learn the cause, returned with
the appalling news that Galba, at the head of an army, was march-
ing rapidly upon Rome, that insurrection had already broken out in
the city, and that the streets were filled with an enraged mob, which,
threatening death to the emperor and all his supporters, was rapidly
approaching the palace.
In this time of peril, Nero had not, like the faithful Paul, a powerful
and compassionate God on whom to rely. Fearful of the suffering and
possible torture he might be compelled to endure at the hands of the
mob, the wretched tyrant thought to end his life by his own hand, but at
the critical moment his courage failed. Completely unmanned, he fled
ignominiously from the city and sought shelter at a countryseat a few
miles distant, but to no avail. His hiding place was soon discovered,
and as the pursuing horsemen drew near, he summoned a slave to his
aid and inflicted on himself a mortal wound. Thus perished the tyrant
Nero, at the early age of thirty-two.
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