Nero was innocent of burning down Rome

Sunday Times of London ^ | 12/9/01 | DIPESH GADHER AND JACK GRIMSTON

[Billthedrill]

You're probably thinking about Seutonius, a gossipy old fellow who repeated every fable extant at the time (sounds just like our own journalists now, doesn't it?) But this isn't really new news at all - lots of subsequent scholarship (cited in Michael Grant's Twelve Caesars) has pretty much exonerated Nero of direct responsibility for the fire. His actions afterward to supply food and shelter for those made homeless by the fire were those of a responsible leader. He was accused of setting the fire to clear out the tenements for construction of his Golden Palace by partisans who thought that structure excessive and wasteful - which it probably was.

who roasted Christians for pleasure... is also a bit of an exaggeration - he torched them as scapegoats for the fire when (pardon the expression) the heat on himself became uncomfortable. Even a despot had to be aware of public murmuring, and when he ignored it in later life it cost him his crown and his head. By all reports he really was an accomplished poet and singer who actually played by the rules in competition, not that he had to, since he'd have won them all anyway. "Oh, what a loss to the arts," he exclaimed just before having himself stuck with a sword - the new government wanted to have him scourged to death, the traditional penalty. These were not nice people by our standards...

[mlocher]

i hate when people try to rewrite history. i was just getting comfortable with the theory that sax and violins were the cause of the downfall of civilization.

[George W. Bush]

Well, now that we have established that Nero was a sweet innocent who was framed by those horrible Christians and Jews, all that's left to do is "prove" that those villainous Christians (and Jews) were also politically conservative.

Coming soon to PBS.

[George W. Bush]

who roasted Christians for pleasure... is also a bit of an exaggeration - he torched them as scapegoats for the fire when (pardon the expression) the heat on himself became uncomfortable.

Nero had them wrapped in shrouds and soaked with wax (for slow burning) and used them as human torches to illuminate his gardens. Just a little more background on your "accomplished poet and singer"...

Oh, well. The torture of Christians will always have its apologists.

[yankeedame]

Some 200-300 of the 3,000 then living in Rome were put to the death. According to Tacitus...

Tacitus was a frustrated 'inner-circle' wannbe; as a result he had an axe to grind. For at least the last 100 years historians have known this, and so take Tactitus' writings with a healthy grain of salt.

[shuckmaster]

Aw, Shucks!

[Fresh Wind]

take Tactitus' writings with a healthy grain of salt

Horrors! Media bias in ancient Rome!

[pjsmith]

A fine reminder that the only form of religious bigotry which is permitted in our politically correct, multicultural paradise is anti-Christian bigotry.

People are being arrested for "hate crimes" when they make politically incorrect remarks which hurt the feelings of poor, sensitive, "minorities" (soon to be the majority). However, you can express spew all the hate you want, so long as your targets are white, male, heterosexual, and Christian.

[Pharmboy]

THIS JUST IN...

Mrs. O'Leary's cow innocent...she was eating hay at the time and never kicked over the latern...
Breaking hard...

[SunkenCiv]

A Blast from the Past.

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[Berosus]

At last, we have closure on this issue. Nero's family can rest easy now.

Speaking of media bias, Tacitus can't hold a candle to Procopius, whom I have called the "Dan Rather of the sixth century."

[Einigkeit_Recht_Freiheit]

I cannot beleive that I get to be the first to suggest it was:

BUSH'S FAULT!

[SunkenCiv]

Hi, just in case you hadn't noticed, this is a four year old topic. :')

[SunkenCiv]

Procopius was the propaganda tool of the court, but then spilled a lot of beans with his Secret History, so I guess I see what you mean.

[COBOL2Java]

Nero did rebuild much of the burned stuff. He also was a tyrant but he didn't kill anyone in the Coliseum.

Nero: "Ah did not have murderous relations with those Christians!"

[Skooz]

Revisionist claptrap.

Show us the research, or just keep blowing smoke.

[Einigkeit_Recht_Freiheit]

Seems more like a 2000 year old topic, but I get what you mean. Nevertheless, I was still the first to point out that that the burning of Rome may well have been Bush's fault. A result of a wrinkle in the space-time continuum perhaps, but nevertheless his fault.

[SunkenCiv]

Yeah, you're probably right. ;') Rove and Scooter probably did the grunt work though.

[SunkenCiv]

apropos of nothing...

Research Fraud Rampant in China
Christian Science Monitor (online) | May 16, 2006 | Robert Marquand
Posted on 05/15/2006 9:40:14 PM EDT by grey_whiskers
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1632801/posts

[Cementjungle]

THE Roman emperor Nero, a byword for cruelty and excess, has been falsely blamed for burning down Rome by propagandists covering up for Christian and Jewish saboteurs, according to new research

In related news, a federal court awarded damages of $700 Billion to descendants of Nero to cover the damage caused by the false accusations against Nero.