Nero was emperor of Rome and owner of a golden house whose ruins were where a young Scintilla Sforza attended parties (Saint Fidgeta and Other Parodies; 14).
Inspiration
Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (37–68) was Emperor of the Roman Empire from 54 to 68. His rule is often associated with tyranny and extravagance: he is known for a number of executions and being an early persecutor of Christians and as the emperor who "fiddled while Rome burned.[1]"
Bellairs’s references to Nero, especially in his late-1960s writing, comes on the heels of his aborted doctoral dissertation on a minor dramatic piece, The Tragedy of Nero (1624).
Reference
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