WHAT CAN HAPPEN WITH AN ACTOR IN CHARGE: 2/8:: 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
🗓️ 3 December 2023
⏱️ 10 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.
1836 CATO'S SUICIDE, BY CHARLES LEBRUN
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| 0:40.0 | is CBS. I on the world. I'm John Bachelor with Anthony Everett and Roddy Ashworth. Their new book is Nero Mat Matricide, Music, and Murder in Imperial Rome. Everything |
| 0:45.5 | you've heard about Nero needs to be updated because the facts are far more bizarre and |
| 0:50.7 | unpredictable. And a deal of that has to do with his mother, whom he murders when he's 22 years old. |
| 0:58.6 | Let's go back to his breach birth in 37 a.d. His father is named Anhina Barbus meaning bronze beard. Agrippina |
| 1:08.9 | will explore. Do we need to know anything about his father, his father's |
| 1:12.4 | personality Anthony? |
| 1:14.0 | Yes, not really about his father. What we do need to know is about his grandfather, |
| 1:18.3 | Joe Mannequos, who was enormously popular with the population and in particular with the soldiering. |
| 1:25.0 | And that was where the protection, if you like, that had been always carried with her. |
| 1:32.0 | The Pretorians and leading soldiers were keen on, were keen on the family. |
| 1:39.0 | I see, so it was Germanicus who was the popular figure and that passed Agrippina his daughter. |
| 1:47.0 | She's born in 15-8, she's, Nero's born in 37 AD. |
| 1:51.6 | It's a breach birth. There's a prophecy. |
| 1:53.7 | Who knows Anthony? |
| 1:54.6 | Who knows whether these prophecies were |
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