Not long after the period of the conspiracy described in the last two chapters, and when the excitement connected with it had in some measure subsided, the attention of the public began to be turned toward a great festival, the time for which was then approaching. This festival was celebrated with spectacles and games of various kinds, which were called the quinquennial games, from the circumstance that the period for the celebration of them recurred once in five years. A principal part of the performances on these occasions consisted of contests for prizes, which were offered for those who chose to compete for them. Some of these prizes were for those who excelled in athletic exercises, and in feats of strength and dexterity, while others were for singers and dancers, and other performers on the public stage. Nero could not resist the temptation to avail himself of this grand occasion for the display of his powers, and he prepared to appear among the other actors and mountebanks as a competitor for the theatrical prizes. Performers on the public stage were regarded in ancient days much as they are now. They were applauded, flattered, caressed, and most extravagantly paid; but after all they formed a social class distinct from all others, and of a very low grade. Just as now great public singers are rewarded sometimes with the most princely revenues,--not twice or three times, but _ten_ times perhaps the amount ever paid to the highest ministers of state,--and receive the most flattering attentions from the highest classes of society, and are followed by crowds in the public streets, and enter cities escorted by grand processions, while yet there is scarce a respectable citizen of the better class who would not feel himself demeaned at seeing his son or his daughter on the stage by their side.