The purpose of this paper is to propose a new explanation as to why Nero cancelled proposed trips abroad twice in quick succession in early AD64, first a trip to Achaia, then a trip to the East. Tacitus is our main source for these events (Ann. 15.33-36), while Suetonius casts some additional light on the circumstances surrounding the cancellation of the trip to the East (Nero 19.1). Unfortunately, the surviving fragments of Cassius Dio do not discuss either event. New light will also be shed on the circumstances leading to the prosecution and suicide of Decimus Iunius Silanus Torquatus about the same time as the cancellation of the first trip.