Why was Nero: the infamous roman emperor famous?
Historians of the time depict him in a bad light, notably Tacitus and Pliny the Elder, both of whom lived in Nero’s lifetime, but also others. It is the Roman historians that have been responsible for his current dark reputation. He is said to have murdered his own mother as well as an adoptive brother. During his reign a great fire took place in Rome which destroyed several distracts. He is said to have been engaged in an artistic performance while this happened. (As popular wit has it now, he “fiddled” while Rome burned, but in fact the fiddle had not been invented.) He blamed Christians for the fire and engaged in a pogram against them. Understand that few Roman emerors were NOT treated skeptically by history. One reason: many rulers persecuted Christians, and it was the Christians who eventually triumphed as Roman authority faded. It is the victors who write history, not the vanquished.
