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Nero
The Roman emperor Nero is remembered by history as the vain and immoral monster who fiddled while Rome burned. Edward Champlin reinterprets Nero's enormities on their own terms, as the self-conscious performances of an imperial actor with a formidable grasp of Roman history and mythology and a canny sense of his audience. Nero murdered his younger brother and rival to the throne, probably at his mother's prompting. He then murdered his mother, with whom he may have slept. He killed his pregnant wife in a fit of rage, then castrated and married a young freedman because he resembled her. He mounted the public stage to act a hero driven mad or a woman giving birth, and raced a ten-horse chariot in the Olympic games. He probably instigated the burning of Rome, for which he then ordered the spectacular punishment of Christians, many of whom were burned as human torches to light up his gardens at night. Without seeking to rehabilitate the historical monster, Champlin renders Nero more vividly intelligible by illuminating the motives behind his theatrical gestures, and revealing the artist who thought of himself as a heroic figure. Nero is a brilliant reconception of a historical account that extends back to Tacitus, Suetonius, and Cassius Dio. The effortless style and artful construction of the book will engage any reader drawn to its intrinsically fascinating subject.
360 pages, Hardcover
First published October 21, 2003
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
March 13, 2012
This is not a book for people approaching Roman Imperial history for the first time. For that, it's better to read something like Syme's Roman Revolution or Griffin's Nero: The End of a Dynasty (if Nero is what your heart is set on, and not Augustus). Champlin's Nero is much narrower in scope, attempting to understand why Nero is so memorable a figure in later antiquity(a cult hero for the Greeks and a sort of anti-christ to the Jews and Christians), second only to Alexander the Great in singularity, Champlin affirms, in his epilogue. Champlin determines this by triangulating the distorting perspective of both the later aristocratic historians who despised him and his populist dissolution, and Nero's own grandiose ideology, to develop a picture of this raving mad, Macchiaveillian decadent. Champlin, perhaps dishonestly, reads Nero as a figure with constant purpose, although this does lead to some interesting inferences on the reality behind such things as Nero's last words that were distorted by Suetonius and Tacitus' hatred for Nero's memory. I came to this book interested in the politics of the age, with a particular interest in their effect on literary figures like Seneca, Petronius and Lucan, but came out with very little on this front, and a lot on the character of this emperor. This is no real loss; Griffin's account doesn't seem to have much more on these subjects and the extreme popularity of Stoic thinking in this period seems to be just as much to do with how jaded these people were with imperial rule, which had only got more brutal and unpleasant with time, as they were with Nero (I like the idea you get in Graves' novels that Seneca is this real hypocrite, it's an interesting thing to bring to bear on Lucan and Petronius too, particularly in Petronius' slightly nihilistic class politics, which implicate you in the vulgarity of the Freedman class for enjoying his writing as much as it implicates the freedman class itself into this vulgarity).
November 17, 2021
Nerón Claudio César Augusto Germánico (conocido para la eternidad simplemente como Nerón), fue el quinto emperador romano y el último prínceps de la dinastía Julio-Claudia. Su fama (o infamia) ha trascendido las barreras del tiempo y hoy, casi dos milenios después de su reinado, sus excesos, crímenes y aberraciones son parte del imaginario colectivo además de fuente inagotable para novelas históricas, ensayos académicos, películas y series de televisión.
Tirano, depravado sexual, demente, matricida, incestuoso, asesino, pirómano, bufón… todos los adjetivos negativos que se puedan imaginar han sido concedidos a sus 13 años de reinado. Que causó la muerte de su hermanastro Británico para asegurar su posición como emperador; que tuvo una relación incestuosa con su madre Agripina, a quien mató luego de varios intentos; que completamente ebrio y en un ataque de ira, asesinó a puntapies a su segunda esposa Popea Sabina junto con su hijo nonato; que castró a un esclavo – Esporo- lo vistió de mujer y se casó con él debido a su notable parecido con su difunta esposa; y probablemente su historia más reconocida: Que ordenó el gran incendio de Roma del año 64 e.c. y que tocaba la lira mientras la ciudad ardía, culpando posteriormente a los cristianos a quienes procedió a perseguir y martirizar a través de la crucifixión y a usarlos como antorchas humanas para iluminar las noches romanas… pero ¿qué hay de cierto en los crímenes y en la imagen que la historia nos ha legado de Nerón? ¿Qué pasaría si las villanías que se atribuyen a este emperador son fruto de una elaborada estrategia de propaganda negativa - Damnatio memoriae – retocada por senadores y aristócratas enemigos de Nerón, apoyadas por fuentes históricas posteriores y hostiles? ¿Y si su reinado no fue más que una gran obra de teatro elaborada por un emperador que fue más artista que político? ¿No afectaría esto nuestra comprensión de la historia?
Con estas interesantes tesis, el profesor de historia de Princeton Edward Champlin se embarca en este maravilloso ensayo – confundido por muchos como una biografía – que sin seguir una línea cronológica, si nos relata varios aspectos de sus 13 años de reinado. Tomando como fundamento las enormes contradicciones y afirmaciones tendenciosas entre las fuentes clásicas que relataron el reinado de Nerón (básicamente Tácito, Suetonio y Dion Casion) y exacerbadas posteriormente por los escritores judíos y cristianos; el autor pretende exponer sus tesis a través de un análisis exhaustivo de las discordancias y las evidentes inexactitudes que se verifican entre las fuentes al momento de narrar un mismo evento, así como la hostilidad que levantaba la figura de Nerón para los órdenes senatorial, ecuestre y militar (los dos primeros, mecenas de los historiadores romanos), en contraste con el cariño especial que despertaba el emperador frente a las clases populares, llegando incluso a la euforia desatada en Roma cuando el pueblo se enteró de la muerte de su querido emperador, e incluso a la aparición documentada en décadas posteriores de 3 personas que decían ser el verdadero Nerón… todo un culto post-mortem dedicado al prínceps.
Es esta fascinación y la evidente contradicción entre el monstruo que describen las fuentes y el apoyo popular del que gozó Nerón los que llevan al autor a analizar la vida del emperador desde el prisma de un artista y de la intensa teatralidad de todos sus actos públicos, quien buscó por todos lo medios lograr el reconocimiento y fama, no como general, filósofo o administrador sino como el gran artista que pretendía ser. Con un estudio juicioso de la simbología y la mitología griega que usó Nerón para justificar sus actos y la puesta en escena que era su vida – y su principal arma política-, Champlin sin buscar lavar la imagen de un mal hombre y un pésimo gobernante, sí consigue poner en duda no sólo el retrato tergiversado de un desequilibrado y asesino ególatra que nos legaron las fuentes clásicas, sino también los clichés y las falacias que a lo largo de los siglos se han atribuido erradamente al emperador.
Un grandioso ensayo, con un análisis histórico riguroso, una magistral estructura argumentativa y un estilo narrativo bastante ameno, “Nerón” logra traernos una imagen deconstruida del emperador más famoso de la historia romana. Puede que no sea el mejor libro para acercarse por primera vez al personaje (biografías de Nerón hay hasta debajo de las piedras) o que el lector descontextualizado quede extraviado ante un relato que no es cronológico, en todo caso es un libro maravilloso para todo amante de la historia antigua y de la Roma imperial que de seguro dejará varias incógnitas y teorías para ser rumiadas a futuro. No se ha escrito la última palabra acerca de Nerón.
“Tenía un anhelo de inmortalidad y fama imperecedera. Alcanzó una y otra, aunque no del todo de la manera prevista pues pasó de héroe a monstruo. Las fuentes hostiles y la imaginación popular reelaboraron para toda la eternidad nuestra imagen de Nerón, pero no la crearon. Y si esa imagen sigue siendo tan vívida, es porque fue la creación de un artista”.
Tirano, depravado sexual, demente, matricida, incestuoso, asesino, pirómano, bufón… todos los adjetivos negativos que se puedan imaginar han sido concedidos a sus 13 años de reinado. Que causó la muerte de su hermanastro Británico para asegurar su posición como emperador; que tuvo una relación incestuosa con su madre Agripina, a quien mató luego de varios intentos; que completamente ebrio y en un ataque de ira, asesinó a puntapies a su segunda esposa Popea Sabina junto con su hijo nonato; que castró a un esclavo – Esporo- lo vistió de mujer y se casó con él debido a su notable parecido con su difunta esposa; y probablemente su historia más reconocida: Que ordenó el gran incendio de Roma del año 64 e.c. y que tocaba la lira mientras la ciudad ardía, culpando posteriormente a los cristianos a quienes procedió a perseguir y martirizar a través de la crucifixión y a usarlos como antorchas humanas para iluminar las noches romanas… pero ¿qué hay de cierto en los crímenes y en la imagen que la historia nos ha legado de Nerón? ¿Qué pasaría si las villanías que se atribuyen a este emperador son fruto de una elaborada estrategia de propaganda negativa - Damnatio memoriae – retocada por senadores y aristócratas enemigos de Nerón, apoyadas por fuentes históricas posteriores y hostiles? ¿Y si su reinado no fue más que una gran obra de teatro elaborada por un emperador que fue más artista que político? ¿No afectaría esto nuestra comprensión de la historia?
Con estas interesantes tesis, el profesor de historia de Princeton Edward Champlin se embarca en este maravilloso ensayo – confundido por muchos como una biografía – que sin seguir una línea cronológica, si nos relata varios aspectos de sus 13 años de reinado. Tomando como fundamento las enormes contradicciones y afirmaciones tendenciosas entre las fuentes clásicas que relataron el reinado de Nerón (básicamente Tácito, Suetonio y Dion Casion) y exacerbadas posteriormente por los escritores judíos y cristianos; el autor pretende exponer sus tesis a través de un análisis exhaustivo de las discordancias y las evidentes inexactitudes que se verifican entre las fuentes al momento de narrar un mismo evento, así como la hostilidad que levantaba la figura de Nerón para los órdenes senatorial, ecuestre y militar (los dos primeros, mecenas de los historiadores romanos), en contraste con el cariño especial que despertaba el emperador frente a las clases populares, llegando incluso a la euforia desatada en Roma cuando el pueblo se enteró de la muerte de su querido emperador, e incluso a la aparición documentada en décadas posteriores de 3 personas que decían ser el verdadero Nerón… todo un culto post-mortem dedicado al prínceps.
Es esta fascinación y la evidente contradicción entre el monstruo que describen las fuentes y el apoyo popular del que gozó Nerón los que llevan al autor a analizar la vida del emperador desde el prisma de un artista y de la intensa teatralidad de todos sus actos públicos, quien buscó por todos lo medios lograr el reconocimiento y fama, no como general, filósofo o administrador sino como el gran artista que pretendía ser. Con un estudio juicioso de la simbología y la mitología griega que usó Nerón para justificar sus actos y la puesta en escena que era su vida – y su principal arma política-, Champlin sin buscar lavar la imagen de un mal hombre y un pésimo gobernante, sí consigue poner en duda no sólo el retrato tergiversado de un desequilibrado y asesino ególatra que nos legaron las fuentes clásicas, sino también los clichés y las falacias que a lo largo de los siglos se han atribuido erradamente al emperador.
Un grandioso ensayo, con un análisis histórico riguroso, una magistral estructura argumentativa y un estilo narrativo bastante ameno, “Nerón” logra traernos una imagen deconstruida del emperador más famoso de la historia romana. Puede que no sea el mejor libro para acercarse por primera vez al personaje (biografías de Nerón hay hasta debajo de las piedras) o que el lector descontextualizado quede extraviado ante un relato que no es cronológico, en todo caso es un libro maravilloso para todo amante de la historia antigua y de la Roma imperial que de seguro dejará varias incógnitas y teorías para ser rumiadas a futuro. No se ha escrito la última palabra acerca de Nerón.
“Tenía un anhelo de inmortalidad y fama imperecedera. Alcanzó una y otra, aunque no del todo de la manera prevista pues pasó de héroe a monstruo. Las fuentes hostiles y la imaginación popular reelaboraron para toda la eternidad nuestra imagen de Nerón, pero no la crearon. Y si esa imagen sigue siendo tan vívida, es porque fue la creación de un artista”.
July 17, 2020
E. Champlin se plantea la siguiente pregunta: ¿por qué el personaje de Nerón es tan fascinante?
El ensayo es un intento, algo deslavazado, de obtener una respuesta satisfactoria a la pregunta anterior. No sigue un orden que yo haya podido interpretar como lógico a la hora de bucear en la vida, los hechos, y los mitos sobre Nerón.
Se apoya en las fuentes primarias y nos previene de las intenciones probables de cada una de ellas y del interés político del tiempo en que se escribieron, pero construye su teoría basándose en ellas sin apenas intentar interpretarlas.
¿La conclusión? La vida de Nerón es tan fascinante y resuena tanto porque fue construida por un artista.
Como lector, compro buena parte de la mercancía y he disfrutado de detalles que desconocía. La lectura se hace difícil en ocasiones porque nos lleva hacia delante o hacia atrás en la vida de Nerón, según el aspecto de su carácter que se quiera resaltar.
He echado de menos mayor profundidad en su obra política y en su relación con el ejército. La propuesta es una revisión de la vida y los hechos del artista al que el autor, por cierto, considera cuerdo.
Mi nota: 7,5/10
Nota tras relectura: subo un punto la valoración hasta 7,5. El autor justifica la parquedad en los detalles historiográficos en el hecho de que su ensayo pretende solamente responder a la pregunta siguiente: ¿Por qué nos fascina Nerón?. De esta forma se entiende la búsqueda constante de la teatralización y el dramatismo en la vida del "artista".
Tal vez tras meses de bucear en los hechos de la época me ha venido bien una visión más original sobre el personaje.
El ensayo es un intento, algo deslavazado, de obtener una respuesta satisfactoria a la pregunta anterior. No sigue un orden que yo haya podido interpretar como lógico a la hora de bucear en la vida, los hechos, y los mitos sobre Nerón.
Se apoya en las fuentes primarias y nos previene de las intenciones probables de cada una de ellas y del interés político del tiempo en que se escribieron, pero construye su teoría basándose en ellas sin apenas intentar interpretarlas.
¿La conclusión? La vida de Nerón es tan fascinante y resuena tanto porque fue construida por un artista.
Como lector, compro buena parte de la mercancía y he disfrutado de detalles que desconocía. La lectura se hace difícil en ocasiones porque nos lleva hacia delante o hacia atrás en la vida de Nerón, según el aspecto de su carácter que se quiera resaltar.
He echado de menos mayor profundidad en su obra política y en su relación con el ejército. La propuesta es una revisión de la vida y los hechos del artista al que el autor, por cierto, considera cuerdo.
Mi nota: 7,5/10
Nota tras relectura: subo un punto la valoración hasta 7,5. El autor justifica la parquedad en los detalles historiográficos en el hecho de que su ensayo pretende solamente responder a la pregunta siguiente: ¿Por qué nos fascina Nerón?. De esta forma se entiende la búsqueda constante de la teatralización y el dramatismo en la vida del "artista".
Tal vez tras meses de bucear en los hechos de la época me ha venido bien una visión más original sobre el personaje.
October 7, 2012
This is a difficult book to review, because I believe that a certain audience will enjoy it, where others may not. As others have commented, this book is not a biography nor does it have a standard historical progression. Champlin argues neither that Nero was a good person or necessarily a good ruler, but that he was skilled in how he presented himself to the Roman people and that was why he was successful for a number of years. So in that sense, Suetonius, Tacitus, and Dio all portray him unfairly as an irrational, greedy, and monstrous ruler. This is the third book (in addition to reading ancient sources) I've read on Nero and was able to follow Champlin's analysis and argument fairly easily. He writes in a clear academic style, though he does take some very complicated positions that may confuse or elude anyone not familiar with Nero's life. While I didn't agree with everything Champlin said (one of the beautiful things about Roman History is the room for interpretation), I do think he made some interesting and well-supported points about Nero's time as imperator. Anybody who is already interested in Nero will likely enjoy this book and find new ideas to ponder. If you haven't read much about Nero, start with Griffin's biography first and then you'll appreciate this book even more.
June 25, 2023
¿Por qué muchos ciudadanos seguían adorando a Nerón después de muerto, si fue el peor emperador de Roma? ¿Sus actos eran locuras o la obra de un genio incomprendido? Texto controvertido sobre lo difícil que es conocer la Historia por culpa de los filtros, intereses y prejuicios. El autor no justifica a Nerón ni tampoco lo condena: indaga en las fuentes para desentrañar qué podía moverle a actuar como lo hacía y qué puede haber de verdad, rumor o propaganda en todo lo que se nos cuenta.
Para reflexionar el pasaje en el que se nos habla de cómo la construcción por parte de Nerón de paseos, parques y jardines en pleno centro de Roma, para uso y disfrute de toda la población, fue tildado como algo megalomaníaco, tiránico y clasista por parte de las élites, que preferían el trazado insalubre original de la ciudad. La visión de estas élites es la que perduró.
Para reflexionar el pasaje en el que se nos habla de cómo la construcción por parte de Nerón de paseos, parques y jardines en pleno centro de Roma, para uso y disfrute de toda la población, fue tildado como algo megalomaníaco, tiránico y clasista por parte de las élites, que preferían el trazado insalubre original de la ciudad. La visión de estas élites es la que perduró.
March 30, 2014
A very interesting read: a new perspective on the life and career of emperor Nero. The author is more interested in reconstructing Nero's public image and self-representaion than in solving any mysteries of his life. Instead of taking a side in a long war of anti-Nero historians, who believe the ancient sources seeing in Nero an example of a bad, self-indulgent, cruel ruler (and, let us not forget, the persecutor of Christianity!) against those who believe Nero to be a much better emperor than the propaganda of his times presents him, Champlin concentrates on the conscious efforts of Nero to present his public image to the people of Rome and on the fact that Romans were probably understanding certain actions and decision rather differently than we tend to do today. Highly recommended for anyone interested in Roman history and in the issues of royal propaganda and self-representation.
June 19, 2015
Retrato magnificente y enfermizo de un "imperator", ansioso por ser artista, y trasformado por la historia como un monstruo matricida, piromaniaco y persecutor de cristianos; este ensayo desvela los entresijos del poder en la Roma imperial con el más infausto de sus representantes. Nerón, el artista populista que quizó ser un dios y que el autor desvela como un reflejo de las muchas bocas hambrientas del poder.
August 25, 2012
Rather a disappointing book on Nero. For someone as awesome as Nero, the author is rather boring describing the tyranny of his reign (or lack of doing anything really).
June 13, 2021
The author says clearly that he does not intend to justify Nero’s bizarre behavior and atrocious conduct but to put it into context. But it often felt like Champlain was Nero’s press secretary and PR agent, framing even the most absurd actions in a most flattering light - for instance, saying that Nero rampaging through Rome murdering and sexually assaulting Roman men and women as a young princeps leading a drunk predatory gang was accepted by Romans as normal youth behavior. And while (almost begrudgingly) admitting that Nero started the Great Fire, Champlin contends that Nero constructed his giant gold palace as a grand gesture to share with the people of Rome in an imperial mi casa su casa the pleasures of something like a Roman Las Vegas, which seemed implausible at best. But the biggest hole in the book is that Champlin spends no serious time discussing why, if Nero was so genuinely beloved, the senators and generals turned on him, leaving him to die alone and afraid as a fugitive without an apparent popular response in his defense - which I felt undercut Champlin’s theory of Nero as populist folk hero and champion of the common Roman populace. While Champlin’s discussion of Nero as an artist and Apollo on earth was most interesting, I felt that Champlin failed in changing the narrative on Nero, whose place in history appears beyond rehabilitation.
July 19, 2018
Unlike other disgraced emperors, Nero was given a normal funeral after his death. And within a quarter of a century after Nero killed himself, three "False Neros" arose, claiming to be the emperor. So despite this emperor's infamous deeds, he was apparently loved by some. Why?
This book seeks to answer that question by suggesting that rather than being a crazed buffoon, Nero actually was somewhat skilled at showmanship and propaganda. For example, after his mother was murdered at his behest, Nero appeared in plays as Alcmaeon and Orestes (two characters in Greek mythology who killed their mothers with good cause). Rather than merely acting for his own enjoyment, Nero was using the stage the way modern leaders use Twitter: as a way of getting his point across.
He also threw great parties: turning one of Rome's artificial lakes into a mini-resort for the masses, and throwing parades and banquets at the slightest excuse. And when much of Rome was destroyed by a fire late in his reign, he energetically rebuilt it (though Champlin speculates that he was responsible for the fire, burning down the city so he could get credit for rebuilding it). In addition to propagandizing, Nero delivered at least some tangible benefits to the public.
This book seeks to answer that question by suggesting that rather than being a crazed buffoon, Nero actually was somewhat skilled at showmanship and propaganda. For example, after his mother was murdered at his behest, Nero appeared in plays as Alcmaeon and Orestes (two characters in Greek mythology who killed their mothers with good cause). Rather than merely acting for his own enjoyment, Nero was using the stage the way modern leaders use Twitter: as a way of getting his point across.
He also threw great parties: turning one of Rome's artificial lakes into a mini-resort for the masses, and throwing parades and banquets at the slightest excuse. And when much of Rome was destroyed by a fire late in his reign, he energetically rebuilt it (though Champlin speculates that he was responsible for the fire, burning down the city so he could get credit for rebuilding it). In addition to propagandizing, Nero delivered at least some tangible benefits to the public.
May 25, 2021
This is a scholarly work written by a leading Classicist and historian in his field, and not popular history written for a mass audience. I am not by any means a scholar, though I did enjoy it and I feel have learnt from it, but I imagine many would find it rather dry as it lacks the often wild speculation and prurient retellings of some of the more outrageous charges laid against Nero. Neither is it a straight biography as it concentrates on themes rather than chronology.
Champlin asks and seeks to understand why Nero still fascinates us today. Why was he so popular among the ordinary people of his day and why did his popularity continue after his death if he really was the monster so often portrayed in our history books. The Nero we think we know is - as is so often the case - a product of histories written by authors who were decidedly hostile towards him, who were often writing long after his death, and were writing with an eye on who was in power at the time and could be reading their accounts. Champlin doesn't seek to exonerate Nero or transform him into one of the "good" emperors, though he does make it clear how unlikely it is that he was guilty of some of the charges laid against him.
This I would imagine is an invaluable book for the serious student or scholar, and a worthwhile read for the interested layman looking to go a little more deeply into the subject.
Champlin asks and seeks to understand why Nero still fascinates us today. Why was he so popular among the ordinary people of his day and why did his popularity continue after his death if he really was the monster so often portrayed in our history books. The Nero we think we know is - as is so often the case - a product of histories written by authors who were decidedly hostile towards him, who were often writing long after his death, and were writing with an eye on who was in power at the time and could be reading their accounts. Champlin doesn't seek to exonerate Nero or transform him into one of the "good" emperors, though he does make it clear how unlikely it is that he was guilty of some of the charges laid against him.
This I would imagine is an invaluable book for the serious student or scholar, and a worthwhile read for the interested layman looking to go a little more deeply into the subject.
January 4, 2025
Though it wasn’t quite what I was expecting, this was an excellent book. To be clear to anyone considering reading this, the book does not take a biographical or historical approach. This is an academic work forwarding the thesis that Nero’s various notorious actions were not those of an irrational monster, but rather those of a self proclaimed artist - whether this does anything to diminish Nero’s monstrosity is ultimately up to the reader to decide. I would not recommend this book to anyone that does not already have a fairly solid grasp on the underlying history, and I would suggest reading the primary sources (particularly the relevant portion of Tacitus’ Annals) before reading this book. That said, for those with the requisite background information this book forwards several interesting arguments that are, if nothing else, worth your consideration.
TL;DR: Not entry level or a biography, but academic with very insightful and well developed arguments.
TL;DR: Not entry level or a biography, but academic with very insightful and well developed arguments.
March 15, 2023
It has been a while since I have gotten into a history book but I was fascinated by the Roman culture given the historical context we have been going through in Colossians and Philippians. Paul's writing has so much more weight given the backwards culture of Rome that was set by its leader. Nero's reign was marked by a special kind of depravity that provided a perfect foil for the progression of the gospel. Also learning about how the progression of the Caesars was destroyed after Nero was interesting.
December 31, 2023
One cannot truly understand the Book of Revelation (or 2 Thessalonians) until one knows the life of Nero. Champlin, a Princeton classical scholar, has not penned a typical biography but a study of Nero's outrageous actions. Champlin wanted an answer but assumes a level of rationality that I cannot share. Yet, it is a compelling read.
December 19, 2021
I would choose another Nero book
This is an unorthodox biography and the author rambles and includes many extraneous and irrelevant details, and you are left with a mess of jumbled knowledge out of chronological order.
This is an unorthodox biography and the author rambles and includes many extraneous and irrelevant details, and you are left with a mess of jumbled knowledge out of chronological order.
April 11, 2022
Fun fact: Nero played the lyre, not the fiddle.
December 28, 2024
based on how helpful the information was, not how much i enjoyed it
June 9, 2015
This was a too-detailed and academic treatment of Nero, when I wanted a basic popular history. I'm sure a scholar of the Roman Empire and emperors would find this of greater value than I did. Much of what may have been superior scholarship and insights were lost on a plebian like me!
Of interest to me: Did Nero really fiddle while Rome burned, among the many other atrocious historical events he is accused? Maybe. Apparently he did set the fire, kill his mother and his wife and unborn child (accidentally), according to the author.
--or maybe not. The amazing thing is how sketchy is the historical record on a great Roman leader who lived just after the time of the events recorded in much greater detail in the Gospels.
--and if he did these things, Nero was probably driven by his desire to place himself within the mythic-historic background of his predecessors.
Of interest to me: Did Nero really fiddle while Rome burned, among the many other atrocious historical events he is accused? Maybe. Apparently he did set the fire, kill his mother and his wife and unborn child (accidentally), according to the author.
--or maybe not. The amazing thing is how sketchy is the historical record on a great Roman leader who lived just after the time of the events recorded in much greater detail in the Gospels.
--and if he did these things, Nero was probably driven by his desire to place himself within the mythic-historic background of his predecessors.
September 26, 2012
This isn't so much a chronological history of Nero as it is an examination of various themes in his life. It begins with a look at how people have viewed Nero down through the ages. The different chapters cover, among other things, the murder of his mother, the fire in Rome, his Golden House, his artistic and athletic pursuits and his presentation of himself as an incarnation of Apollo, both in his musical ability and as a sun god. It is an interesting way to do a biography, but I think I prefer a straight history, at least as a first pass.
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June 1, 2015Fascinating perspective on an old favorite. Nero was neither a good man, nor a good emperor, but when I look at him through the eyes of Champlain's book, I can't help but begin to like him! He seems to have had a rather ostentatious sense of humor, and I always like a person that can appreciate irony. The idea that Nero's life was one grand performance, and he the protagonist, fascinates me - whatever else he was, there is no denying that he was a man of great vision. Love him or hate him, consider him a god or demon, Nero is a man that we never will forget!
June 9, 2016
Interesting perspective of the Roman Emperor Nero. Interesting and thought provoking but failed to take a stand in many cases I feel it could have or failed to truly prove the stands he took in my opinion. Worth the read if you are interested in Ancient Rome though because the care he takes in reviewing not only the ancient sources themselves but the culture and context that the writers took their information from gives us a much better picture than just relying on the words alone.
September 11, 2010
Really good. It was difficult to understand the author's intent at first because the book doesn't flow chronologically but once you see that it flows from one Nero event to another. I wish he would have explored the similarities between Nero and Alexander the great, but the purpose of the book was to show case Nero the artist and his attempt to play to history.
March 19, 2013
Champlin has written not a biography of Nero but rather a multifaceted discussion of the emperor's foibles and personae. In parts repetitious, the book thoroughly enjoys Nero's peccadillos but also uses them as a framework to talk about Rome itself and its history. Camplin's basic point is "why is Nero so very fascinating?" I'm not at all sure he answers it!
May 11, 2012
This book does a great job analyzing why Nero was fascinating in his time and remembered long after his violent death. This book is not a biography, something the author explains very early in the book.
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June 2, 2016This is excellent, but I started it over a year ago and did not finish it due to life getting in the way. I definitely want to return to it, as it is yet another fantastic work of historical revisionism ... and when the subject is Nero that is particularly provocative.
February 11, 2012
Interesting take on the Emperor. The timeline is confusing, and the narrative is jumbled. Best to know a lot about Nero before reading this.
December 20, 2015
Find out how we got George W. Bush and Dick Cheney.
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March 6, 2017January 2016
Notes for me:
I've read selected chapters of this book for my studies. Shelving to remember the author's name, as I want to read the entire work in the future.
Notes for me:
I've read selected chapters of this book for my studies. Shelving to remember the author's name, as I want to read the entire work in the future.
March 29, 2017
There is a great deal to enjoy in this book, but I'm puzzled by its structure. Is it trying to be the story of Nero through those who documented his life? Is it a story of Nero view through his interests, in some thematic order? It doesn't quite know what it wants to be, and results in an interesting pick-and-mix of history and biography...I wish it would make up its mind.
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