Nero

[Wotan]

Next semester I will be doing an essay on the Roman Emperor Nero, I have seen a documentary on him (don't remember what it was called but I should be able to dig it up) and I probably have some information on him in a few of my history books.

I was just wondering if anyone can share any General knowledge on him or direct me to some sites/books/documentaries that have information on Nero. I figure I might aswell start gathering information on him now

 

[LegendofJoe]

Yeah, he was an asshole.
But seriously, it is a myth that he played the violin as Rome burned. There was a fire though, and he blamed the Christians
for that. He is known as a great persecutor of Christians.

 

[fibi ducks]

He's also said to have murdered his mother. The Romans are said to have really had lot of respect for their mothers, and thought this was beyond the limit.

 

[Wotan]

He killed his wife because she said he was a bad actor, NOW THATS METHOD ACTING!

 

[fibi ducks]

By the way, I think Suetonius has a section on him in his 12 Ceasars. If there is it would be really juicy. Maybe you're using that already.

 

[Amy_lewis_143]

I heard he used to cover Christian's in tar and set them alight as street lamps, thats what my RE teacher told me anyhows.

 

[Pegasus]

Nero was quite the tyrant. Much to read about there. As bad as Nero was - I understand that he did not hold a candle to his Father. Guess the leaves don't fall from from the tree. Nero arranged to have his Mother killed, and in the end died with someone's assistance of suicide. Oh, forgot to mention, Nero was haunted by the ghost of his murdered Mother.

 

[Wotan]

This project is going to be so much fun! (it's hard to tell on the interweb but that is NOT sarcasm)

 

[RLynn]

There is a growing consensus that the Christians were persecuted not so much because of their religion, but because they were considered irreligious, immoral, and bad citizens, since they did not conform to the "correct" religion.

 

[LegendofJoe]

They also refused to worship the emperor as a god. A big no no to the Romans.

 

[RLynn]

They also refused to worship the emperor as a god. A big no no to the Romans.

That would be distasteful, but unless someone has a martyr complex, I suppose one could pretend to worship the emperor in order to survive. Of course, lots of Christians have venerated scurrilous popes, and the god of the Old Testament, Yahweh, had he been a human being, could be considered a tyrant with questionable morals, demanding that his subjects perpetrate acts of violence and aggression against blameless victims.

 

[Allie-Gator]

A lot of the Roman emperors were horrible. But then a lot of them really helped to further civilization. I still wouldn't have wanted to be a citizen of the Roman Empire though.

 

[Arachne]

I recall reading that Nero wore his hair long like the Spartans did and this offended the senators. Later in life he grew fat but when he was younger he had a reputation for being handsome.

He also liked to have sex with eunuchs

 

[Allie-Gator]

I'm certainly glad I live now and not back then. I wouldn't do well with dictators or emperors I'm afraid. I tend to challenge authority at any time I can.

 

[Chablis]

I remember my Latin teacher telling us that he was insane and that today historians believed he had syphilis that had eaten his brain and made him nuts.

 

[Moncler Jackets]

He killed his wife because she said he was a bad actor,

 

[Wotan]

Thanks yal' handed up my final yesterday (I wont be posting it because if they search "Did Nero do more good than bad for Rome?" and it comes up with my essay, I will get 0 for plagerising my own work . However, if anyone needs any help about Nero, they are welcome to contact me, I have a fairly comprehensive list of books that are actually worth looking at and don't just spill the same few lines copied and pasted (as all the books at my school library did)