"I don't know if Nero was or was not responsible for the burning of Rome, but it seems to me that it wouldn't be a far stretch for a man who burns people as torches to have the city set on fire for a pet project.

As easy as it is to castigate Nero for all the wretched things that he did, one should consider that all governments ultimately rule by the consent of the governed. Nero could never had done the damage he did if he had been removed from the throne, which apparently he was, by the Senate, at the age of 31. My question is, "Why not sooner?"

I don't condone anarchy (at least not seriously), but I also don't condone the murder of hundreds or thousands of people by one man, simply because he is in a position of power. I find myself asking how many people were looking the other way, waiting for someone else to do something, and convincing themselves that there was nothing they could have done. How often do we do the same today?"