Happy birthday to Nero! ("Somebody tell the emporer that neck beard isn't helping to hide that double chin of his...not it!") Talk about a complex individual. So many stories. So many mysteries. Did he have his mother killed? Agrippina lI (Nero's mom) & Claudius Provincial Mints Bronze 49/50, Ephesus in Ionia. of both busts next to each other/cult of the Artemis of Ephesus. RPC 2621 Yes. More than likely this story is true. In all honesty, she was as power hungry as any of the Augustas...and may have tried seducing her own son! Did he kick his pregnant wife to death? (You can see how she stole not one but two Augustus's hearts. She was Otho's wife previous to Nero) Maybe. Though he seems to have been genuinely enamored with Poppaea Sabina and mourned her greatly, he was known to have a temper and may have lost it. Unlike with his mother, if this was done, it was not premeditated. Now for one of histories great mysteries, did Nero intentionally have Rome set ablaze??? That is a question that I truly believe unknowable with certainty at this time. I tend to doubt it. The Christians, who would later transcribe and manipulate the writings on the emporer, said that he blamed it on them and had them tortured and fed to lions in gladiatorial combat. In "The Great Fire of Rome: the fall of the emporer Nero and his city" by Stephen Dando-Collins, he states that it was the followers of the cult of Isis whom received Nero's wrath. With them making this change to his history, how many more changes might they have made? Though the claim the he started the fire was leveled at him in his lifetime, there was never evidence other than hearsay then. Just as there isn't now. Maybe when we go to the great library in the sky we'll find out the truth? Here are my lone 2 coins of one of histories most polarizing figures: NERO 54-68 CE. AE Dupondius of Lugdunum, 66. Laureate head / Securitas seated with sceptre. RIC.445 Nero! AR Denarius, Salus reverse Nero (54-68). AR Denarius (16-18 mm, 3.00 g), Rome, c. AD 65-66. Obv. NERO CAESAR AVGVSTVS, Laureate head right.Rev. Salus seated left on throne, holding patera; SALVS in exergue. RIC I 60. Old collection toning Please post your thoughts, opinions and most importantly your coins! Oh, and don't forget to wish the man a happy 1,981st birthday Happy B-day N bomb!
I've read many historical fictions about Rome, but the ones I dislike the most are the books written about the times of Caligula's and Nero's reigns. It's a dread because I know it will be about their brutality and abuse. But, letting by gones be by gones, Happy Birthday Nero. NERO AR Denarius OBVERSE: NERO CAESAR AVGVSTVS - Laureate head right REVERSE: No legend Exe: SALVS - Salus seated left, holding patera Struck at Rome, 65/6AD 2.9g, 18mm RIC 60, BMC 90, C 314
Awesome! I just noticed ours are both RIC 60s with Salus reverse. Yours has a beautifully beefy neck!
Happy Birthday, Nero! I suspect you weren't quite as monstrous as some historians would have us believe. Nero struck in Rome, CE 63 Orichalcum sestertius, 34 mm, 26.7 gm Obv: NERO CLAVDIVS CAESAR AVG GERM P M TR P IMP PP; laureate head right, wearing aegis Rev: ANNONA AVGVSTI CERES; Ceres, veiled and draped, seated left, holding corn ears and torch, her feet on stool, facing Annona standing right, holding cornucopia; between them, modius on garlanded altar; in background, stern of ship Ref: RIC 98. Cohen 24 EGYPT, Alexandria. Nero Regnal year 14 (CE 67/8) AE diobol; 27 mm, 10.9 gm Obv: NEPΩKΛAVK[AIΣΣEBΓEPA]; laureate head right Rev: L - IΔ; "vase" (Emmett), or "oinochoe" per others (others are probably correct) Ref: Dattari-Savio Pl. 1, 2 (this coin); Dattari cf 286; RPC 5322; Emmett 153.14; Poole (BM, 1892) cf 188?; Milne -; none in a few other minor references I own. Rare. ex Dattari collection (Giovanni Dattari, 1858-1923) https://www.cointalk.com/threads/more-to-this-than-meets-the-eye.309276/
I had the feeling that he had a bit of a big boy crush on Nero. But I like how he sites sources. What might be the areas of contention?
His main theory that the Isis cult is responsible for the fire is just a theory, a thin one at that. Plus, it isn't a very scholarly work and has many assumptions and outright mistakes. My advice - pick up Nero: The End of a Dynasty by Miriam Griffin (the fundamental modern treatment on Nero) or Nero by Edward Champlain. Both are well balanced and factual.
History is always written by the victors. Hollywood esp. has personified emperors such as Commodus/ Nero/ Caligula as monsters....how much of that is made up fiction? Look at during WW2, the USSR and "Uncle Joe" were the good guys, then with the advent of the Cold War, the Soviet Union became the "bogeyman" and Stalin the symbol of evil....rightly so. In Communist China, Mao is still revered even though his ruthless tyranny killed more people then Stalin. Seen a movie where Vlad Tepes "the Impaler" was a folk hero fighting the Ottoman Turks! In reality the most bloodthirsty thug in history. There where of course great historical figures with no blemishes, great captains of history like Cyrus the Great, Hannibal, Friedrich II the Great, Sulieman the Magnificent, Philip II of Macedon, Karl V Holy Roman Emperor.....
That's good feedback and very appreciated. I'm always looking for good non fiction reads. I use my libraries Libby app. That way I can listen to the books they have...sadly I live in Utah. So I don't have a large option of non religious material to listen to. I'll have to pick them up off of Amazon. Can't wait to read em!