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Balls at the Theater San Carlo were social events of the season, especially the masked balls. The king and queen enjoyed costuming themselves, though at Caroline’s insistence neither ever wore masks. Caroline and Murat entertained frequently and lavishly. Nobles, officials, and military officers followed the example of the monarchs—some happily, like Prince Pignatelli, who spent 50,000 francs on a single ball—some grudgingly, like Marshal Pérignon, commandant of Naples, at whose affairs there was little wine and sometimes no food. Premiers at the theaters and opera were occasions, though Murat was apt to doze. His real passion was hunting— pheasant at Caserta, ducks at Lake Agnano, deer on the Volturno. The pace was exhausting, but wine flowed and feasts were lavish. And a veritable pageant surrounded the king, who took as his hunting costume the uniform of his heroes—the Gascon musketeers of Francis I. Never was he happier or a better host than in the country.

“Perhaps after thousands of years some wonderfully shrewd schoolmaster in a fearfully profound dissertation will prove beyond cavil, that Napoleon Bonaparte was identical with that other Titan who stole fire from the gods, and who for this trespass was chained to a solitary rock in the midst of the sea, as a prey to a vultue, which day by day gnawed away at his heart.”