Nero meanwhile availed himself of his country's desolation, and
erected a mansion in which the jewels and gold, long familiar objects,
quite vulgarised by our extravagance, were not so marvellous as the fields
and lakes, with woods on one side to resemble a wilderness, and, on the
other, open spaces and extensive views. The directors and contrivers of
the work were Severus and Celer, who had the genius and the audacity to
attempt by art even what nature had refused, and to fool away |