S1E13: Did Nero Fiddle While Rome Burned?

Roman emperor Nero’s name is often equated with ruthlessness and cruelty in popular memory.
Most often, this image revolves around the assumption that he had been happily playing a stringed instrument while the city of Rome burned in a major fire accident. Some even claim that Nero himself had arranged for the fire so that he could build a new capital in its place.

However, it is a matter of fact that much of this popular recall is not true. Nero was probably not a great emperor. He had committed plenty of violence and caused untold miseries to his subjects during his reign. Yet, it is not clear why and how his notoriety is memorised by the singular image of fiddling while Rome burned.

In this episode Historychatter presents an account of how this particular image gained ground over time.
It would seem that this image of Nero’s cruelty became popular many centuries after the event.
It probably had more to do with his treatment of early Christians.

This episode recalls this intriguing history of the image of Nero fiddling while Rome burned. In so doing, it asks how popular assumptions are burn and circulate over time.

Hosted by Dr. Anirban Bandyopadhyay

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