““The Footsteps On an ebony bedstead adorned with eagles made of coral, Nero lies deep in sleep – quiet, unconscious, happy: in the prime of his body’s vigour; in the beautiful ardour of his youth. But in the alabaster hall that holds the ancient shrine of the Ahenobarbi, the Lares of his house are anxious. These minor household gods are trembling, trying to conceal their already negligible bodies. For they heard a terrible noise, a deadly sound spiralling up the staircase, iron-soled footsteps shaking the steps. The miserable Lares, near-fainting now, huddle in the corner of the shrine, jostling and stumbling over each other, one little god falling over the next, for they knew what sort of noise it was; they recognize, by now, the footsteps of the Furies.””
