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Sebastian Ritscher |
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NERO
Roddy Ashworth Anthony Everitt
Matricide, Music, and Murder in Imperial Rome
A striking, nuanced biography of Nero - the controversial populist ruler and last of the Caesars - and a vivid portrait of ancient Rome
We all have heard of the many infamous stories about the Roman emperor Nero: He set fire to Rome and thrummed his lyre as it burned. Cruel, vain, and incompetent, he then cleared the charred ruins and built a vast palace. He committed incest with his mother, who had schemed and killed to place him on the throne, and later murdered her. Nero has long been the very image of a bad ruler, a legacy left behind by the historians of his day, who despised him.
But contrary to popular memory, the empire was well managed during his reign. He presided over diplomatic triumphs and Rome's epic conquest of Britain and British queen Boudica's doomed revolt against Nero's legions. He was also a champion of arts and culture who loved music, and he won the loyalty of the lower classes with fantastic spectacles. He did not set fire to Rome. This monster was, in fact, loved.
In the hands of Anthony Everitt, the celebrated biographer of classical Greece and Rome, and investigative journalist Roddy Ashworth, Nero's contradictions are laid bare and ancient Rome comes to life. You feel as if you were in the crowded streets that made it prone to fires, with building projects that continuously remade the city.
In this teeming and politically unstable world, Nero was vulnerable to fierce reproach from the nobility and relatives who would gladly usurp him, and he was often too ready to murder rivals. He had a vision for Rome, but, racked by insecurity, perhaps he never really had the stomach to govern it.
Nero has become a byword for cruelty, decadence, and despotism, but in NERO, his life is a cautionary tale about the mettle it takes to rule.
Anthony Everitt, a former visiting professor in the visual and performing arts at Nottingham Trent University, has written extensively on European and classical culture. He is the author of CICERO, AUGUSTUS, ALEXANDER THE GREAT, HADRIAN AND THE TRIUMPH OF ROME, THE RISE OF ROME, AND THE RISE OF ATHENS. He has served as secretary general of the Arts Council of Great Britain and lives near Colchester, England's first recorded town, founded by the Romans.
Roddy Ashworth is an award-winning investigative journalist, former national news editor, and visiting lecturer in media ethics at City University, London.
But contrary to popular memory, the empire was well managed during his reign. He presided over diplomatic triumphs and Rome's epic conquest of Britain and British queen Boudica's doomed revolt against Nero's legions. He was also a champion of arts and culture who loved music, and he won the loyalty of the lower classes with fantastic spectacles. He did not set fire to Rome. This monster was, in fact, loved.
In the hands of Anthony Everitt, the celebrated biographer of classical Greece and Rome, and investigative journalist Roddy Ashworth, Nero's contradictions are laid bare and ancient Rome comes to life. You feel as if you were in the crowded streets that made it prone to fires, with building projects that continuously remade the city.
In this teeming and politically unstable world, Nero was vulnerable to fierce reproach from the nobility and relatives who would gladly usurp him, and he was often too ready to murder rivals. He had a vision for Rome, but, racked by insecurity, perhaps he never really had the stomach to govern it.
Nero has become a byword for cruelty, decadence, and despotism, but in NERO, his life is a cautionary tale about the mettle it takes to rule.
Anthony Everitt, a former visiting professor in the visual and performing arts at Nottingham Trent University, has written extensively on European and classical culture. He is the author of CICERO, AUGUSTUS, ALEXANDER THE GREAT, HADRIAN AND THE TRIUMPH OF ROME, THE RISE OF ROME, AND THE RISE OF ATHENS. He has served as secretary general of the Arts Council of Great Britain and lives near Colchester, England's first recorded town, founded by the Romans.
Roddy Ashworth is an award-winning investigative journalist, former national news editor, and visiting lecturer in media ethics at City University, London.
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Published 2022-11-08 by Random House |