Nero. Madness and Reality

The name Nero has become synonymous with all possible vices — a pole on the colorful palette of evil. In the memory of the ages, Nero remains a tyrant, mother murderer, arsonist of Rome, and persecutor of Christians. There is also a more favorable view: a fat neurotic, an unprincipled loafer, a pampered failure who indulged in poetry and horse racing, absolutely unsuited for the role of a Roman emperor. However, memories of Nero have always been derived from senatorial historiography. Not a single wet nurse or taster thought to transfer their opinion about Nero to papyrus. Roman hired laborers and craftsmen, constantly busy with the emperor's construction projects, remain silent, as do Nero's bodyguards, his freedmen, charioteers, actors, and indeed the common people — the overwhelming majority of the population of Rome and the empire. Historian of antiquity Alexander Betz does not set out to whitewash Nero, nor is there any basis for that; the aim of the book is to demythologize the emperor. Betz proposes to dive into the realities of Roman society, the imperial power system, and court intrigues in order to try to see something in the image of Nero beyond orgies, immorality, decadence, cruelty, and arbitrariness. "Nero's tomb was long adorned with flowers. However, we do not know who exactly kept his memory alive, for even today tyrants' graves receive flowers more often than one would like. It was not at all shameful to love Nero."