ANOTHER GOLDEN ROME

Claudius has eaten a bad mushroom and lies close to death. Agrippina has nor only orchestrated his death, but is also keeping Brittanicus, the true heir, captive, so Nero can address the roman people and claim the throne.

Scene II. The Golden River
The Ancient Roman Senate House. Days Later.

The SENATORS wait expectantly.

NERO enters -- in grand style. SENECA stations himself to the left, behind him. AGRIPPINA enters, in splendor. She takes NERO’s hand and leads him to the podium, then assumes a position behind him, on his right.

A CERTAIN SENATOR
(Sotto voce)
Nero -- the adopted?

ANOTHER SENATOR
( So sotto)
Where is the son -- the natural son?

YET ANOTHER SENATOR
Where is Britannicus?

NERO
My friends and fellow citizens, nobles of the Senate,
how am I -- mere boy -- to stand before you,
here on this, the front porch of democracy,
with some few wooden words
to fill our heart with him we’ve lost -- our father?

A CERTAIN SENATOR
Do I detect a hint of Seneca?

ANOTHER SENATOR
Every word.

YET ANOTHER SENATOR
Entirely.

NERO
(Pressing on)
For, this man -- this Roman scholar -- this Republican, this soldier -- was my father.
My adopted father, yes -- oh, I hear it murmured,
whispered through the Gardens of Maecenas...
I listen from our city on a hill, and what a stone sits where my heart is.
For, he was the only man I knew as Father.
The man who scolded and rewarded. He who reared me -- to be Roman.
Ah, to be him...
And to follow, even with some plodding boyish footprint –
to follow him to consulships. To triumphs.

(The SENATORS exchange a look)

A CERTAIN SENATOR
Can we applaud this... this...

ANOTHER SENATOR
Theater?

A CERTAIN SENATOR
A mockery.

NERO
(In address to the departed “god”)
Claudius, son of Tiberius, grandson of Augustus,
great-grandson of the first, our Julius, Caesar,
what need you -- what need any man so often sung, so glorified --
that some mere boy, some Nero, sing your honor?
For the present, let your Nero but proclaim to one and all here --
that the god you were, you are still, Father.
And know: should our freedom see attack from darker corners,
that we shall set a single hand upon our single Roman heart,
and kneel and pray for guidance at your altar --
that you may watch over, and protect, us...
Your loving son, your Nero, bows his head
but not his tears.
O, Father...

(NERO pauses for a moment’s “tears”)

A CERTAIN SENATOR
Look, the boy -- our Nero -- weeps.

ANOTHER SENATOR
Tears of...

YET ANOTHER SENATOR
(”Yes, well”)
A boy who loved his father.

(The SENATORS exchange a look)

A CERTAIN SENATOR
And yet, who are we to look to as our Caesar?
The puppet or the mouth that mouths the speech?

NERO
(Continuing his speech)
Friends, my fellows, let your brother, Nero, promise:
our soldiers -- yes -- our Senate, shall enjoy a life
no less but the more plenteous, under this, our tenure.
For, do we not all know
we must reward those sons of Rome
who serve us -- nay, our world -- as our best arms, and our
best conscience?

(The SENATORS exchange a look)

A CERTAIN SENATOR
So, now we have seen everything.

ANOTHER SENATOR
A puppet king. Whose tutors feed us promises.

YET ANOTHER SENATOR
(”Au contraire”)
A strong -- a worthy -- promise.

NERO
And still, our plenty shall not stop there.
For, in the quiet of the Roman conscience, do we not all know
that deep, persistent poverty is unworthy of our nation’s promise?
Do we not know the pain of those uprooted by the floods?
The fears of those who’ve lost their jobs to slaves?
For assuredly, where there is suffering, there is duty.

A CERTAIN SENATOR
Ah -- an echo of our Claudius.

ANOTHER SENATOR
Even of the songs sung by Augustus.

YET ANOTHER SENATOR
With such fathers, he is already half a Caesar.

NERO
For the Senate, once again, know, all present:
that its powers shall be plenished.
As the right arm of its Emperor,
it shall teem again -- our edicts shall bear fruit again --
as in the harvest days of the Republic.

YET ANOTHER SENATOR
A Caesar who will bring back the Republic!

NERO
For our best hope of peace lies, surely, in our dream
to light the torch of Rome around the globe.

YET ANOTHER SENATOR
A global Rome!

NERO
Then, let the word go forth, that the fire that is Rome
has passed on to a brave new generation.
For, now we build our city on a golden river,
that we may see it glow upon the hill of Liberty.
That our sons, our heirs, may sing a song
of how our time, our world, was once.
A time Rome knew the blessings of Olympus.

The CROWD leaps to its feet. NERO lifts his arms -- in glory. AGRIPPINA touches his shoulder. He assumes his place on a royal litter and is carried from the Senate. The music swells -- a grand, imperial theme.