Lissa’s answer to “What research did you carry out for your novel Nero?” > Likes and Comments
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Seven years research is quite a lot of time. Was there any characteristics of Nero or events in his life that you learned about which surprised you?
Everything about him surprised me when I first read Suetonius and Tacitus, which was why I set out to bring the real Nero to a wider audience. He was so young, Emperor at 16 and dead by 30. Idealistic, with very socialist politics, for example. And I suppose by now most people are aware it was a myth about him "fiddling while Rome burned", but I didn't expect the heroic role he played during that disaster. When actually delving further, I found he had won a Gold Medal at the Olympiad, which was quite interesting and not the usual Imperial story. However, the biggest surprise for me was that I 'met' through research one of his dearest friends, who in a way that only another writer can understand became one of my dearest friends, too. I found Marcus Otho, himself an Emperor of Rome after Nero's passing, a fascinating character and really hated having to exclude him from much of the book, due to historical events. No plot spoiler there, but had I been in control of the story, he would have remained at its centre throughout! That's the drawback of writing fact and I really missed the freedom of fiction.
I noticed you are currently reading Nero - thank you for having him on your reading pile! So I should ask, has anything about him surprised you so far?
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Gabriel
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Feb 06, 2018 10:51AM
Seven years research is quite a lot of time. Was there any characteristics of Nero or events in his life that you learned about which surprised you?
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Everything about him surprised me when I first read Suetonius and Tacitus, which was why I set out to bring the real Nero to a wider audience. He was so young, Emperor at 16 and dead by 30. Idealistic, with very socialist politics, for example. And I suppose by now most people are aware it was a myth about him "fiddling while Rome burned", but I didn't expect the heroic role he played during that disaster. When actually delving further, I found he had won a Gold Medal at the Olympiad, which was quite interesting and not the usual Imperial story. However, the biggest surprise for me was that I 'met' through research one of his dearest friends, who in a way that only another writer can understand became one of my dearest friends, too. I found Marcus Otho, himself an Emperor of Rome after Nero's passing, a fascinating character and really hated having to exclude him from much of the book, due to historical events. No plot spoiler there, but had I been in control of the story, he would have remained at its centre throughout! That's the drawback of writing fact and I really missed the freedom of fiction.
I noticed you are currently reading Nero - thank you for having him on your reading pile! So I should ask, has anything about him surprised you so far?
