TWO THOUSAND YEARS OF ACTORS AND EMPIRES: 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
🗓️ 23 June 2024
⏱️ 5 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
https://behindtheblack.com/behind-the-black/points-of-information/sunspot-update-after-going-through-the-roof-last-month-sunspots-drop-into-the-attic-this-month/
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.
1850 ROME
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | I'm John BASHI Niro is gone. |
| 0:07.0 | Matheside music and murder in Imperial Rome. |
| 0:10.0 | It is now 69 AD and Rome has another fate for emperors and eventually the |
| 0:15.4 | Flavians will take charge for the balance of this century but we are concerned |
| 0:20.3 | with who tells us about Nero Anthony Everett and Roddy Ashworth are here. |
| 0:24.3 | Anthony, we've talked about Tacitus who's a scold and disdainful of much of |
| 0:30.0 | Nero's life. Swatonius, I don't have a way of picturing his opinion or |
| 0:35.2 | Dio. Did they all have different points of view and did they read each other? |
| 0:41.2 | Yes, they probably did. The greatest of all those that you mentioned is Tacos. He's a great literary artist. We have a great deal of his work surviving, which is good. |
| 0:55.0 | While he, excuse me, |
| 1:00.0 | Barthes is... While Tacitus is exaggerates, he never knowingly tells a lie and so you can depend on him even if the interpretation that he |
| 1:15.6 | gives on a given incident or event is not one that you would share. |
| 1:21.2 | Fraternus is a gossip and just piles lots of interesting little anecdotes in no particular |
| 1:29.3 | order. |
| 1:31.3 | Diocassius is a senator from two centuries later and he's as good as his sources. |
| 1:38.0 | Sometimes he's good, sometimes he's bad. |
| 1:40.0 | Yes, he's the second, he's the second and third is from the second into the third century so he |
| 1:46.8 | reads he can read the original tacitus and the original suetonias? Yes, yes, yes, yes, again. |
| 1:55.0 | But the greatest of the law is without a doubt that. |
| 1:59.0 | This is the story I want to go to my grave with rather than |
| 2:04.3 | uh sootenous and dicasses. |
| 2:07.5 | Now someone, we've talked about Seneca who is witty. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from John Batchelor, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of John Batchelor and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.