He awoke about midnight and finding that the guard of soldiers had left, he sprang from his bed and sent for all his friends. Since no reply came back from anyone, he went himself to their rooms with a few followers. But finding that all the doors were closed and that no one replied to him, he returned to his own chamber, from which now the very caretakers had fled, taking with them even the bed-clothing and the box of poison. Then he at once called for the gladiator Spiculus or any other adept at whose hand he might find death, and when no one appeared, he cried "Have I then neither friend nor foe?" and ran out as if to throw himself into the Tiber. (Suetonius Life of Nero 47-48; tr. by Thayer)
He knew he would have to commit suicide soon (this was a matter-of-fact circumstance in imperial Rome). But for the Romans this was a step to be taken after due consideration and with the help of friends (or, if you're Nero, the help of servants). And so, once he had found a quiet place to commit the deed, and witnessed preparations for his funeral pyre, his private secretary helped him kill himself. Thus came to an end not just a corrupt and cruel ruler, but also the Julio-Claudian dynasty.
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