i'd like to the christians think a bit more. Did he? Did he burn them because they were christians, or because they were a community creating that? It could easily be picked on wesper's. One way of thinking about it is that the church wants to present him,. em in the early period, as the first persecutor of the faith. But i think the mistake is to think that there's this large community, that they are a uttered for faith, that it happens in the colosseum. No, don't think he set fire to rome. They got there early.
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’s College, University of Oxford
And
Shushma Malik
Lecturer in Classics at the University of Roehampton
Producer: Simon Tillotson