EMPEROR AGRIPPINA THE YOUNGER WAS THE DREAM: 8/8:: Nero: Matricide, Music, and Murder in Imperial Rome by Anthony Everitt (Author), Roddy Ashworth (Author)
The John Batchelor Show
John Batchelor
4.5 • 2.8K Ratings
🗓️ 14 October 2024
⏱️ 7 minutes
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Summary
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There are 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 there is a mystery. For a long time after his death, anonymous hands laid flowers on his grave. The monster was loved. In this nuanced biography, Anthony Everitt, the celebrated biographer of classical Greece and Rome, and investigative journalist Roddy Ashworth reveal the contradictions inherent in Nero and offer a reappraisal of his life. 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.
1888 Nero suicide
Transcript
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| 0:26.0 | That's better help help dot com. I'm John Batchi. |
| 0:35.0 | Niro is gone. |
| 0:37.0 | Matricide music and murder in Imperial Rome. |
| 0:40.0 | It is now 69 AD and Rome has another fate for emperors and eventually the Flavians will take charge for the balance of this century. |
| 0:49.3 | But we are concerned with who tells us about Nero. Anthony Everett and Roddy Ashworth |
| 0:54.0 | are here. Anthony, we've talked about Tacitus who's a scold and disdainful of |
| 0:59.8 | much of Nero's life. Swatonius, I don't have a way of picturing his opinion or Dio. |
| 1:06.6 | Did they all have different points of view and did they read each other? |
| 1:10.6 | But yes, they probably did. The greatest of all those that you mentioned is Tacos. He's a great literary artist. |
| 1:21.0 | We have a great deal of his work surviving which is good. |
| 1:25.0 | While he... |
| 1:27.0 | What have he... |
| 1:29.0 | Excuse me? |
| 1:30.0 | Barthesus is... While Tacitus is exaggerates, he never knowingly tells a lie and so you can depend on him even if the interpretation that he |
| 1:45.6 | gives on a given incident or event is not one that you will share. |
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