Nero Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ==Pursuits== Nero studied poetry, music, painting and sculpture. He both sang and played the ''[[cithara]]'' (a type of [[lyre]]). Many of these disciplines were standard education for the Roman elite, but Nero's devotion to music exceeded what was socially acceptable for a Roman of his class.{{sfn|Griffin|2002|pp=41β42}} Ancient sources were critical of Nero's emphasis on the arts, chariot-racing and athletics. Pliny described Nero as an "actor-emperor" (''scaenici imperatoris'') and Suetonius wrote that he was "carried away by a craze for popularity...since he was acclaimed as the equal of Apollo in music and of the Sun in driving a chariot, he had planned to emulate the exploits of Hercules as well."<ref name=champlin/>{{rp|53}} In AD 67 Nero participated in the [[Ancient Olympic Games|Olympics]]. He had bribed organizers to postpone the games for a year so he could participate,<ref>{{Cite book|title=The ancient Olympic games|last=Judith.|first=Swaddling|year=1984|orig-year=1980|publisher=University of Texas Press|isbn=978-0292703735|edition= 1st University of Texas Press |location=Austin|oclc=10759486}}</ref> and artistic competitions were added to the athletic events. Nero won every contest in which he was a competitor. During the games Nero sang and played his lyre on stage, acted in tragedies and raced chariots. He won a 10-horse chariot race, despite being thrown from the chariot and leaving the race. He was crowned on the basis that he would have won if he had completed the race. After he died a year later, his name was removed from the list of winners.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.randomhistory.com/history-of-olympic-controversies.html|title=Going for Gold: A History of Olympic Controversies|website=www.randomhistory.com|access-date=11 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180112042909/http://www.randomhistory.com/history-of-olympic-controversies.html|archive-date=12 January 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref> Champlin writes that though Nero's participation "effectively stifled true competition, [Nero] seems to have been oblivious of reality."<ref name=champlin/>{{rp|54β55}} Nero established the Neronian games in AD 60. Modeled on Greek style games, these games included musical, gymnastic, and equestrian contests. According to Suetonius the gymnastic contests were held in the Saepta area of the [[Campus Martius]].<ref name=champlin/>{{rp|288}} Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page