What do you think?
Rate this book
Nero
Nero is a dramatic tragedy by Stephen Phillips that delves into the life and reign of the infamous Roman Emperor Nero. The play presents a richly poetic and theatrical exploration of power, ambition, and moral decay, painting a vivid portrait of a ruler whose excesses lead to his downfall.
The story traces Nero's descent into tyranny, marked by political machinations, personal betrayals, and acts of cruelty. At the heart of the drama is Nero's struggle with his own conscience and his relentless pursuit of artistic greatness, which clashes with his responsibilities as emperor. His relationships—with his mother Agrippina, his mistress Poppaea, and his loyal servant—highlight his conflicting desires for love, power, and validation.
The story traces Nero's descent into tyranny, marked by political machinations, personal betrayals, and acts of cruelty. At the heart of the drama is Nero's struggle with his own conscience and his relentless pursuit of artistic greatness, which clashes with his responsibilities as emperor. His relationships—with his mother Agrippina, his mistress Poppaea, and his loyal servant—highlight his conflicting desires for love, power, and validation.
83 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 7, 2012
14 people are currently reading
19 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
April 29, 2015
An ordinary play about Emperor Nero
19 November 2009
Basically this is a four act play based on the life of Nero beginning with his ascension to the throne and ending with the great fire of Rome. Nothing truly amazing on the scale of Bernard Shaw, but it was enjoyable nonetheless. However, I must admit that I do prefer Shakespeare's standard of a five act play, and while it ended at the great fire, this is not the whole story of Nero, and a final act could have been added which dealt with the aftermath of the fire and his eventual downfall.
Further, it is difficult to call this play a tragedy. It does not deal with a fatal flaw (and Nero did have fatal flaws) nor does it end badly. It ends with him accepting that the great fire was punishment for his murder of his mother, though there are suggestions that he planned the fire so that he could rebuild Rome. Obviously there is still a lot of scholarly debate as to whether Nero was the cause of the fire or not, but my understanding is that while he did not start the fire, he did not act to stop it, and one of the reasons is that because he wanted to remodel Rome. There is the saying that Nero fiddled while Rome burned, and it may have been more entertaining if he was actually playing a fiddle at the time.
19 November 2009
Basically this is a four act play based on the life of Nero beginning with his ascension to the throne and ending with the great fire of Rome. Nothing truly amazing on the scale of Bernard Shaw, but it was enjoyable nonetheless. However, I must admit that I do prefer Shakespeare's standard of a five act play, and while it ended at the great fire, this is not the whole story of Nero, and a final act could have been added which dealt with the aftermath of the fire and his eventual downfall.
Further, it is difficult to call this play a tragedy. It does not deal with a fatal flaw (and Nero did have fatal flaws) nor does it end badly. It ends with him accepting that the great fire was punishment for his murder of his mother, though there are suggestions that he planned the fire so that he could rebuild Rome. Obviously there is still a lot of scholarly debate as to whether Nero was the cause of the fire or not, but my understanding is that while he did not start the fire, he did not act to stop it, and one of the reasons is that because he wanted to remodel Rome. There is the saying that Nero fiddled while Rome burned, and it may have been more entertaining if he was actually playing a fiddle at the time.
March 27, 2018
Play
Well written play. If you wanted to play this out with friends, great fun. I had a general understanding of the narcissistic Agrippina from reading Robert Graves and found this easy to understand unlike some of Shakespeare plays. The homicidal nut jobs that governed hasn't much changed in todays geographic.
Well written play. If you wanted to play this out with friends, great fun. I had a general understanding of the narcissistic Agrippina from reading Robert Graves and found this easy to understand unlike some of Shakespeare plays. The homicidal nut jobs that governed hasn't much changed in todays geographic.
June 5, 2019
So fucking tired of thinking I'm about to read a story only to find out I've purchased or downloaded a short book of poetry or verse or a play, this being a play about Nero, I guess. Couldn't finish it. There aren't enough straight fiction or nonfiction books written about Ancient Rome.
June 7, 2020
A four act play based on the life of the (in)famous roman the emperor Nero, that sees his life through the beginning until the event he's arguably more remembered for, the Great Fire of Rome.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews