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! ==Historiography== {{see|Nero in the arts and popular culture}} The history of Nero's reign is problematic in that no historical sources survived that were contemporary with Nero. These first histories, while they still existed, were described as biased and fantastical, either overly critical or praising of Nero.<ref>Tacitus, ''Annals'' [[s:The Annals (Tacitus)/Book 1#1|I.1]]; Josephus, ''Antiquities'' [[s:The Antiquities of the Jews/Book XX#Chapter 8|XX.8.3]]; Tacitus, ''Life of Agricola'' [[s:Agricola#10|10]]; Tacitus, ''Annals'' [[s:The Annals (Tacitus)/Book 13#20|XIII.20]].</ref> The original sources were also said to contradict on a number of events.<ref>Tacitus, ''Annals'' [[s:The Annals (Tacitus)/Book 13#20|XIII.20]]; Tacitus, ''Annals'' [[s:The Annals (Tacitus)/Book 14#2|XIV.2]].</ref> Nonetheless, these lost primary sources were the basis of surviving secondary and tertiary histories on Nero written by the next generations of historians.<ref>Tacitus, ''Annals'' [[s:The Annals (Tacitus)/Book 13#20|XIII.20]]; Josephus, ''Antiquities'' [[s:The Antiquities of the Jews/Book XIX#Chapter 1|XIX.1.13]].</ref> A few of the contemporary historians are known by name. [[Fabius Rusticus]], [[Cluvius Rufus]] and [[Pliny the Elder]] all wrote condemning histories on Nero that are now lost.<ref>Tacitus, ''Annals'' [[s:The Annals (Tacitus)/Book 13#20|XIII.20]].</ref> There were also pro-Nero histories, but it is unknown who wrote them or for what deeds Nero was praised.<ref>Tacitus, ''Annals'' [[s:The Annals (Tacitus)/Book 1#1|I.1]]; Josephus, ''Antiquities'' [[s:The Antiquities of the Jews/Book XX#Chapter 8|XX.8.3]].</ref> The bulk of what is known of Nero comes from [[Tacitus]], [[Suetonius]], and [[Cassius Dio]], who were all of the upper classes. Tacitus and Suetonius wrote their histories on Nero over 50 years after his death, while Cassius Dio wrote his history over 150 years after Nero's death. These sources contradict one another on a number of events in Nero's life, including the death of [[Claudius]], the death of [[Agrippina the Younger|Agrippina]], and the Roman fire of AD 64, but they are consistent in their condemnation of Nero. ;Cassius Dio [[Cassius Dio]] (c. 155β229) was the son of [[Cassius Apronianus]], a Roman senator. He passed the greater part of his life in public service. He was a senator under [[Commodus]] and governor of Smyrna after the death of [[Septimius Severus]]; and afterwards suffect consul around 205, and also proconsul in Africa and Pannonia.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Spawforth|first=Anthony|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bVWcAQAAQBAJ|title=The Oxford Classical Dictionary|publisher=OUP Oxford|year=2012|isbn=9780199545568|pages=288}}</ref> Books 61β63 of Dio's ''Roman History'' describe the reign of Nero. Only fragments of these books remain and what does remain was abridged and altered by [[John Xiphilinus]], an 11th-century monk.{{citation needed|date=September 2017}} ;Dio Chrysostom [[Dio Chrysostom]] (c. 40β120), a Greek philosopher and historian, wrote the Roman people were very happy with Nero and would have allowed him to rule indefinitely. They longed for his rule once he was gone and embraced imposters when they appeared: {{blockquote|Indeed the truth about this has not come out even yet; for so far as the rest of his subjects were concerned, there was nothing to prevent his continuing to be Emperor for all time, seeing that even now everybody wishes he were still alive. And the great majority do believe that he still is, although in a certain sense he has died not once but often along with those who had been firmly convinced that he was still alive.<ref>Dio Chrysostom, ''Discourse'' XXI, On Beauty.</ref>}} ;Epictetus [[Epictetus]] (c. 55β135) was the slave to Nero's scribe Epaphroditos.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.college.columbia.edu/core/content/epictetus|title=Epictetus β The Core Curriculum|website=www.college.columbia.edu|access-date=29 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170622144307/http://www.college.columbia.edu/core/content/epictetus|archive-date=22 June 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> He makes a few passing negative comments on Nero's character in his work, but makes no remarks on the nature of his rule. He describes Nero as a spoiled, angry and unhappy man.<ref>{{cite web|title=Epictetus, Discourses, book 3, About Cynism.|url=http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0236:text=disc:book=3:chapter=22|access-date=6 May 2021|website=www.perseus.tufts.edu}}</ref> ;Josephus The historian [[Josephus]] (c. 37β100), while calling Nero a tyrant, was also the first to mention bias against Nero. Of other historians, he said: [[Image:Josephus.jpg|thumb|left|upright|A circa 18th-century woodcut of the historian [[Josephus]] (c. 37β100), who accused other historians of slandering Nero.]] {{blockquote|But I omit any further discourse about these affairs; for there have been a great many who have composed the history of Nero; some of which have departed from the truth of facts out of favour, as having received benefits from him; while others, out of hatred to him, and the great ill-will which they bore him, have so impudently raved against him with their lies, that they justly deserve to be condemned. Nor do I wonder at such as have told lies of Nero, since they have not in their writings preserved the truth of history as to those facts that were earlier than his time, even when the actors could have no way incurred their hatred, since those writers lived a long time after them.<ref>Josephus, ''Antiquities '' [[s:The Antiquities of the Jews/Book XX#Chapter 8|XX.8.3]].</ref>}} ;Lucan Although more of a poet than a historian, [[Marcus Annaeus Lucanus|Lucanus]] (c. 39β65) has one of the kindest accounts of Nero's rule. He writes of peace and prosperity under Nero, in contrast to previous war and strife. Ironically, he was later involved in a conspiracy to overthrow Nero and was executed.<ref>Marcus Annaeus Lucanus, [http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext96/pcwar10.txt ''Pharsalia'' (Civil War) (''c.'' 65)] {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20070726025149/http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext96/pcwar10.txt |date=26 July 2007 }}</ref> ;Philostratus [[Philostratus]] II, "the Athenian" (c. 172β250), spoke of Nero in the ''[[Life of Apollonius Tyana]]'' (Books 4β5). Although he has a generally bad or dim view of Nero, he speaks of others' positive reception of Nero in the East.{{citation needed|date=September 2017}} ;Pliny the Elder The history of Nero by [[Pliny the Elder]] (c. 24β79) did not survive. Still, there are several references to Nero in Pliny's ''Natural Histories''. Pliny has one of the worst opinions of Nero and calls him an "enemy of mankind".<ref>Pliny the Elder, ''Natural Histories'' [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/L/Roman/Texts/Pliny_the_Elder/7*.html#viii VII.8.46].</ref> ;Plutarch [[Plutarch]] (c. 46β127) mentions Nero indirectly in his account of the Life of Galba and the Life of Otho, as well as in the Vision of Thespesius in Book 7 of the Moralia, where a voice orders that Nero's soul be transferred to a more offensive species.<ref>Plutarch, ''Moralia'', ed. by G. P. Goold, trans. by Phillip H. De Lacy and Benedict Einarson, Loeb Classical Library (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1959), 7: 269β99.</ref> Nero is portrayed as a tyrant, but those that replace him are not described as better. ;Seneca the Younger It is not surprising that [[Seneca the Younger|Seneca]] (c. 4 BCβAD 65), Nero's teacher and advisor, writes very well of Nero.<ref>Seneca the Younger, [http://www.gutenberg.org/files/10001/10001-h/10001-h.htm ''Apocolocyntosis'' 4] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060503234818/http://www.gutenberg.org/files/10001/10001-h/10001-h.htm |date=3 May 2006 }}</ref> ;Suetonius {{Main|Lives of the Twelve Caesars}} [[Suetonius]] (c. 69β130) was a member of the equestrian order, and he was the head of the department of the imperial correspondence. While in this position, Suetonius started writing biographies of the emperors, accentuating the anecdotal and sensational aspects. By this account, Nero raped the [[vestal virgin]] Rubria.{{sfn|Suetonius|loc=28}} ;Tacitus {{Main|Annals (Tacitus)}} The ''Annals'' by [[Tacitus]] (c. 56β117) is the most detailed and comprehensive history on the rule of Nero, despite being incomplete after the year AD 66. Tacitus described the rule of the Julio-Claudian emperors as generally unjust. He also thought that existing writing on them was unbalanced: {{blockquote|The histories of Tiberius, Caius, Claudius and Nero, while they were in power, were falsified through terror, and after their death were written under the irritation of a recent hatred.<ref>Tacitus, ''Annals'' [[s:The Annals (Tacitus)/Book 1#1|I.1]].</ref>}} Tacitus was the son of a [[Promagistrate|procurator]], who married into the elite family of Agricola. He entered his political life as a senator after Nero's death and, by Tacitus' own admission, owed much to Nero's rivals. Realising that this bias may be apparent to others, Tacitus protests that his writing is true.<ref>Tacitus, ''History'' [[s:The Histories (Tacitus)/Book 1#1|I.1]].</ref> ; Girolamo Cardano In 1562, [[Girolamo Cardano]] published in Basel his ''Encomium Neronis'', which was one of the first historical references of the [[modern era]] to portray Nero in a positive light.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Manuwald |first=Gesine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Cp5k_JpKO6QC&pg=PA21 |title=Nero in Opera: Librettos as Transformations of Ancient Sources |date=2013-05-28 |publisher=Walter de Gruyter |isbn=978-3-11-031751-0 |page=21 |language=en}}</ref> 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. 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