Among the other liberal arts which he was taught in his youth, he was instructed
					in music; and immediately after his advancement to the empire, he sent for
					Terpnus, a performer upon the harp, Citharoedus: the word
						signifies a vocalist, who with his singing gave an accompaniment on the
						harp. who flourished at that time with the highest reputation.
					Sitting with him for several days following, as he sang and played after supper,
					until late at night, he began by degrees to practise upon the instrument
					himself. Nor did he omit any of those expedients which artists in music adopt,
					for the preservation and improvement of their voices. He would lie upon his back
					with a sheet of lead upon his breast, clear his stomach and bowels by vomits and
					clysters, and forbear the eating of fruits, or food prejudicial to the voice.
					Encouraged by his proficiency, though his voice was neither loud nor clear, he
					was desirous of appearing upon the stage, frequently repeating amongst his
					friends a Greek proverb to this effect: " that no one had any regard for music
					which they never heard." Accordingly, he made his first public appearance at
						 Naples ; and although the theatre
					quivered with the sudden shock of an earthquake, he did not desist, until he had
					finished the piece of music he had begun. He played and sung in the same place
					several times, and for several days together; taking only now and then a little
					respite to refresh his voice. Impatient of retirement, it was his custom to go
					from the bath to the theatre; and after dining in the orchestra, amidst a
					crowded assembly of the people, he promised them in Greek, It has already been observed that Naples was a Greek colony, and consequently Greek appears
						to have continued the vernacular tongue. " that after he had drank a
					little, he would give them a tune which would make their ears tingle." Being
					highly pleased with the songs that were sung in his praise by some Alexandrians
					belonging to the fleet just arrived at Naples , See AUGUSTUS, c. xciv. he
					sent for more of the like singers from Alexandria . At the same time, he chose young men of the
					equestrian order, and above five thousand robust young fellows from the common
					people, on purpose to learn various kinds of applause, called bombi, imbrices,
					and testae, Of the strange names given to the different
						modes of applauding in the theatre, the first was derived from the humming
						of bees; the second from the rattling of rain or hail on the roofs; and the
						third from the tinkling of porcelain vessels when clashed together. 
					which the were to practice in his favour, whenever he performed. They were
					divided into several parties, and were remarkable for their fine heads of hair,
					and were extremely well dressed, with rings upon their left hands. The leaders
					of these bands had salaries of forty thousand sesterces allowed them. At Rome also, being extremely proud of
					his singing, he ordered the games called Neronia to be celebrated before the
					time fixed for their return. All now becoming importunate to hear "his heavenly
					voice," he informed them, "that he would gratify those who desired it at the
					gardens." But the soldiers then on guard seconding the voice of the people, he
					promised to comply with their request immediately, and with all his heart. He
					instantly ordered his name to be entered upon the list of musicians who proposed
					to contend, and having thrown his lot into the urn among the rest, took his
					turn, and entered, attended by the prefects of the pretorian cohorts bearing his
					harp, and followed by the military tbunes, and several of his intimate friends.
					After he had taken his station, and made the usual prelude, he commanded Cluvius
					Rufus, a man of consular rank, to proclaim in the theatre, that he intended to
					sing the story of Niobe. This he accordingly did, and continued it until nearly
					ten o'clock, but deferred the disposal of the crown, and the remaining part of
					the solemnity, until the next year; that he might have more frequent
					opportunities of performing. But that being too long, he could not refrain from
					often appearing as a public performer during the interval. He made no scruple of
					exhibiting on the stage, even in the spectacles presented to the people by
					private persons, and was offered by one of the praetors, no less than a million
					of sesterces for his services. He likewise sang tragedies in a mask; the visors
					of the heroes and gods, as also of the heroines and goddesses, being formed into
					a resemblance of his own face, and that of any woman he was in love with.
					Amongst the rest, he sung "Canace in Labour," Canace was
						the daughter of an Etrurian king, whose incestuous intercourse with her
						brother having been detected, in consequence of the cries of the infant of
						which she was delivered, she killed herself. It was a joke at Rome , that some one asking, when Nero was
						performing in Canace, what the emperor was doing; a wag replied, "He is
						labouring in child-birth." "Orestes the Murderer of his Mother,"
					"Oedipus Blinded," and "Hercules Mad." In the last tragedy, it is said that a
					young sentinel, posted at the entrance of the stage, seeing him in a prison
					dress and bound with fetters, as the fable of the play required, ran to his
					assistance. He had from his childhood an extravagant passion for horses; and his constant
					talk was of the Circensian races, notwithstanding it was prohibited him.
					Lamenting once, among his fellow-pupils, the case of a charioteer of the green
					party, who was dragged round the circus at the tail of his chariot, and being
					reprimanded by his tutor for it, he pretended that he was talking of Hector. In
					the beginning of his reign, he used to amuse himself daily with chariots drawn
					by four horses, made of ivory, upon a table. He attended at all the lesser
					exhibitions in the circus, at first privately, but at last openly; so that
					nobody ever doubted of his presence on any particular day. Nor did he conceal
					his desire to have the number of the prizes doubled; so that the races being
					increased accordingly, the diversion continued until a late hour; the leaders of
					parties refusing now to bring out their companies for any time less than the
					whole day. Upon this, he took a fancy for driving the chariot himself, and that
					even publicly. Having made his first experiment in the gardens, amidst crowds of
					slaves and other rabble, he at length performed in the view of all the people,
					in the Circus Maximus, whilst one of his freedmen dropped the napkin in the
					place where the magistrates used to give the signal. Not satisfied with
					exhibiting various specimens of his skill in those arts at Rome , he went over to Achaia , as has been already said, principally
					for this purpose. The several cities, in which solemn trials of musical skill
					used to be publicly held, had resolved to send him the crowns belonging to those
					who bore away the prize. These he accepted so graciously, that he not only gave
					the deputies who brought them an immediate audience, but even invited them to
					his table. Being requested by some of them to sing at supper, and prodigiously
					applauded, he said, " the Greeks were the only people who had an ear for music,
					and were the only good judges of him and his attainments." Without delay he
					commenced his journey, and on his arrival at Cassiope, A
						town in Corcyra , now Corfu . There was a sea-port of the same
						name in Epirus . exhibited
					his first musical performance before the altar of Jupiter Cassius.