Quo Vadis Page #9

...I, a god, feel as diminutive as dust.

This is a day for sincerity.

Let me open my soul to you.

Do you think I do not know...

...that there are people in Rome

who call me a matricide, a wife killer?

Hold me a monster?

Tyrant?

But there is something

they do not realize.

A man's acts may be cruel

while he himself is not cruel.

And there are moments,

my dear Petronius...

...when music caresses my soul.

I feel as gentle as a child in a cradle.

Believe me?

All men should know you

as we do, Divinity.

Only then would they be able

to appreciate you.

Yet there are those

who say that I am mad.

I'm only seeking.

The flatness and misery

of common life depress me.

I seek because I must exceed

the stature of man in both good and evil.

I seek because I must be greater

than man...

...for only then

will I be the supreme artist.

Do you know why I condemned

both my wife...

...and my mother to death?

I did it in order to lay at the gates

of an unknown world...

...the greatest sacrifice

a man can put there.

Now, I thought, doors will open...

...beyond which I shall catch

a glimpse of the unknown.

Let it be wonderful.

Or let it be awful.

So long as it is uncommon.

So now.

Behold, dear Petronius.

My new Rome.

It shall rise in gleaming white beauty.

Master gem of the world's crown.

It shall have a new name.

Neropolis, city of Nero.

- Magnificent.

- You have outdone yourself.

Something the world has never seen.

But what of the Rome

that has stood for a thousand years?

After all, Divinity,

the old Rome, our Rome...

...dirty and magnificent,

but still our beloved Rome...

...it still stands.

Does it?

It still stands.

We never thought of that, did we?

Or does it, Tigellinus?

Rome is a sea of flames.

It burns from rim to rim.

You hear that? That is my epic.

To change the face of the world.

To demolish and create, and create anew.

Now, to your chariots, all of you.

You shall come with me

to the funeral pyre.

This very night you shall hear

my dirge over burning Rome.

Its flames shall carry me

higher than the gods.

- All of Rome is burning?

- All but the Palatine area.

- What of the section across the river?

- An inferno.

- Thousands of roofs going up like tinder.

POPPAEA:
Marcus.

Stop Vinicius. Hold him.

Now, indeed,

Nero has his place in history.

Look, there's one of Nero's soldiers.

He burned Rome.

The people here, the girl with the giant,

have you seen them?

They left. Don't kill me, don't kill me.

Mama, Mama.

Mama.

Mama, Mama.

Here, go on. Take care of her.

The sewers. The sewers lead to the river.

Into the sewers.

Lygia.

Marcus.

Lygia.

Oh, Marcus, Marcus, I prayed to see you.

Marcus, Miriam is dead, in the fire.

- She...

My mother.

A wall fell on her.

We'll get you out of this, son.

The Praetorians are holding the bridge.

Open up.

- Who's in command here?

- I am.

Open this barricade.

Imperial orders. We're to keep them

from entering the Palatine area.

Break ranks. Let them through.

Hold your line there.

I'm in charge here,

commander, and by the...

Break ranks, I say.

Petronius, look what I've created!

Tigellinus, my robe of grief.

Terpnos, lyre.

History will judge my song, Petronius.

Will it be great enough

to match the occasion?

I'm seized with the fear

that it will not be great enough.

You will be worthy of the spectacle,

as the spectacle is worthy of you.

You encourage me, Petronius.

But I'm aware that I must compete with

those who sang of the burning of Troy.

My song must be greater,

just as Rome is greater than Troy.

Silence, ye spheres

Be still, ye hurtling stars

Open wide-vaulted skies above me

Now, at last, lo, I see Olympus

And a light from its summit

Doth illumine me

I am one with the gods, immortal

I am Nero

The artist who creates with fire

That the dreams of my life

May come true

To the flames now I give the past

To the flames and soil

Take thou this Rome

Oh, receive her now, ye flames

Consume her as would a furnace

Burn on, O ancient Rome

Burn on, burn on

The mob from burned areas.

They want to survive.

Who asked them to survive?

Tigellinus.

The palace is fully guarded, Majesty.

They will never pass my Praetorians.

The night is chilly.

Let us withdraw.

Is it possible that human beings

can produce such a sound?

Yes, when they've been driven too far.

Death to Nero.

Death to the incendiary.

They'll break through.

Summon all the detachments

from the barracks.

Death to the incendiary.

They're shouting something.

What are they shouting?

They have given you a new title, Divinity.

"Incendiary."

I've sent for reinforcements.

I hope they arrive in time.

I'd speak to the mob.

Make some promises.

I do not ask favors, I confer them.

You go. Speak to them in my name.

Not until detachments arrive,

then I'll speak with steel.

They'd stone me to death now.

In what better cause could you die?

This was your architect's dream.

Go and tell them, Phaon.

This is all for them.

How can we admit that, Divinity?

You're right, we must never admit it.

How can I expect that mob

to share my vision?

Seneca, what do you advise?

The mob is a wild animal,

and with an animal you cannot reason.

I'm surrounded by eunuchs.

Why do you stand aloof?

You're my counselor.

Why don't you counsel me?

Let them enter, we shall all die.

All except you.

You, of course, being a god, are immortal.

Your levity is ill-timed, Petronius.

They'll destroy you also.

I do not share your passion

for self-preservation.

I love Rome,

and I am not eager to survive it.

You're not like these other people.

They think that you're their friend.

Speak to them, make promises.

Grain, oil, wine.

They will take them, Nero,

without your permission.

Insatiable and thankless mob.

- What do they want?

- Justice.

No mob ever wants justice.

They want vengeance.

A victim.

Tigellinus, it was you who burnt Rome.

At your command, Nero.

Tigellinus, do you love me?

- You know it, lord.

- Then prove it.

Go to the mob,

bare your breast to them and your guilt.

I would do so gladly, Nero...

...but I am head of the Praetorian Guard

and the Praetorians love me.

If I die, they may turn against you.

I cannot subject you to that danger.

Are you threatening me, Tigellinus?

Do you hear him threaten me

with the Praetorian Guard?

You're all willing to desert me. I know it.

I feel it.

Nero, my beloved, you were right.

Give the people what they want.

Give them blood and vengeance.

Not one victim, but a hundred,

a thousand.

Victims? What victims?

A group who worship one

they say is higher than you.

They are the enemies

of the human race, and of you.

Who are these people?

They despise our temples

and our gods...

...and prophesy that the end of the world

shall be caused by fire.

Well, then,

make their prophesy come true.

Let it end for them.

Who are they?

They call themselves Christians.

Christians?

Yes, I've heard of them.

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