Main content

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the reputation of Nero, popular with his subjects but vilified in his lifetime and after and associated with the Beast in the Book of Revelation.

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the life of Nero (37-68 AD) who became Emperor at the age of 16. At first he was largely praised for his generosity yet became known for his debauched lifestyle, with allegations he started the Fire of Rome, watching the flames as he played the lyre. Christians saw him as their persecutor, an anti-Christ, and the number of the Beast in the Book of Revelation was thought to indicate Nero. He had confidence in his own artistry, took up acting (which then had a very low status) and, as revolts in the empire grew, killed himself after the Senate condemned him to die as a slave, on a cross.

With

Maria Wyke
Professor of Latin at University College London

Matthew Nicholls
Fellow and Senior Tutor at St John鈥檚 College, University of Oxford

And

Shushma Malik
Lecturer in Classics at the University of Roehampton

Producer: Simon Tillotson

Available now

51 minutes

Last on

Thu 25 Apr 2019 21:30
大象传媒 Radio 4

More episodes

Previous

A Midsummer Night's Dream

Next

The Gordon Riots

See all episodes from In Our Time

Clip

LINKS AND FURTHER READING

听

READING LIST:

Larry F. Ball, The Domus Aurea and the Roman Architectural Revolution (Cambridge University Press, 2003)

A.A. Barrett, E. Fantham, and J. C. Yardley, The Emperor Nero: A Guide to the Ancient Sources (Princeton University Press, 2016)

S. Bartsch, K. Freudenburg, and C.听 Littlewood (eds.), The Cambridge Companion to the Neronian Age (Cambridge University Press, 2017)

E. Buckley and M. Dinter (eds.), A Companion to the Neronian Age (Wiley-Blackwell, 2013)

E. Champlin, Nero (Harvard University Press, 2003)

J. Drinkwater, Nero: Emperor and Court (Cambridge University Press, 2019)

J. Elsner and J. Masters (eds.), Reflections of Nero: Culture, History, and Representation (University of North Carolina Press, 1994)

M. Griffin, Nero: The End of a Dynasty (Routledge, 1987)

Jurgen Malitz, Nero (Wiley-Blackwell, 2005)

Gwyn Morgan, 69 A.D.: The Year of Four Emperors (Oxford University Press, 2007)

V. Rudich, Political Dissidence under Nero: The Price of Dissimulation (first published 1993; Routledge, 2014)

V. Rudich, Dissidence and Literature under Nero: The Prize of Rhetoricization (first published 1997; Routledge, 2013)

V. Rudich, Religious Dissent in the Roman Empire: Violence in Judaea at the Time of Nero (Routledge, 2018)

David Shotter, Nero (Routledge, 2005)

David Shotter, Nero Caesar Augustus: Emperor of Rome (Routledge, 2017)

听

Broadcasts

  • Thu 25 Apr 2019 09:00
    大象传媒 Radio 4
  • Thu 25 Apr 2019 21:30
    大象传媒 Radio 4

Featured in...

In Our Time podcasts

Download programmes from the huge In Our Time archive.

The In Our Time Listeners' Top 10

If you鈥檙e new to In Our Time, this is a good place to start.

Arts and Ideas podcast

Download the best of Radio 3's Free Thinking programme.

Podcast

  • In Our Time

    Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the ideas, people and events that have shaped our world.