Nero: The Man and the Legend

by John Bishop

A biography of the emperor Nero, based heavily on the accounts of Tacitus, Suetonius, and Dio Cassius.

Genres: Biography

208 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1964

About the author

There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads catalog. This entry is for John ^ Bishop.

Reviews

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

A readable and interesting biography of Nero with some unique if not entirely convincing theories about the early Christians. Bishop suggests that in their eagerness to see the kingdom of God come, some Christians may have fed the fire. He also theorizes that John's Revelation was based on the events of the year 69 (when Nero died) and on the subsequent rumors that Nero would return.

In the final chapter, Bishop examines the bias of Tacitus and Suetonius, the two main historians that provide us most of what we know about Nero. This comes a little late in the book. It should have been considered throughout the biography.

[Holly]

It was okay.