Nero

===Great Fire of Rome===
{{Main|Great Fire of Rome}}
[[File:Robert, Hubert - Incendie à Rome -.jpg|thumb|''The Fire of Rome'' by [[Hubert Robert]] (1785)]]
The Great Fire of Rome began on the night of 18 to 19 July 64, probably in one of the merchant shops on the slope of the [[Aventine Hill|Aventine]] overlooking the [[Circus Maximus]], or in the wooden outer seating of the Circus itself. Rome had always been vulnerable to fires, and this one was fanned to catastrophic proportions by the winds.<ref name=champlin122>[[#Champlin|Champlin]], p. 122</ref><ref name="tacitus-annals-xv-38">[[Tacitus]], ''Annals'', [[s:The Annals (Tacitus)/Book 15#38|XV.38]]</ref> Tacitus, Cassius Dio, and modern archaeology describe the destruction of mansions, ordinary residences, public buildings, and temples on the Aventine, Palatine, and Caelian hills.<ref name=champlin122/><ref name=champlin>[[#Champlin|Champlin]], p. 125</ref> The fire burned for over seven days before subsiding; it then started again and burned for three more. It destroyed three of Rome's 14 districts and severely damaged seven more.{{sfn|Scullard|2011|p=260}}<ref name="annals-xv-40">[[Tacitus]], ''[[Tacitus]]'', [[s:The Annals (Tacitus)/Book 15#40|XV.40]]</ref>

Some Romans thought the fire an accident, as the merchant shops were timber-framed and sold flammable goods, and the outer seating stands of the Circus were timber-built. Others claimed it was arson committed on Nero's behalf. The accounts by [[Pliny the Elder]], Suetonius, and Cassius Dio suggest several possible reasons for Nero's alleged arson, including his creation of a real-life backdrop to a theatrical performance about the burning of Troy. Suetonius wrote that Nero started the fire to clear the site for his planned palatial [[Domus Aurea|Golden House]].<ref>[[#Champlin|Champlin]], p. 182</ref> This would include lush artificial landscapes and a 30-meter-tall statue of himself, the [[Colossus of Nero]], sited more or less where the [[Colosseum]] would eventually be built.<ref>Roth, Leland M. (1993). ''Understanding Architecture: Its Elements, History and Meaning''. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, pp. 227–28. {{ISBN|0-06-430158-3}}.</ref><ref>Ball, Larry F. (2003). ''The Domus Aurea and the Roman architectural revolution''. Cambridge University Press. {{ISBN|0-521-82251-3}}.</ref><ref>Warden reduces its size to under {{convert|100|acre|km2}}. {{cite journal|author=Warden, P.G.|title=The Domus Aurea Reconsidered|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/989644|journal= Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians |volume=40 |issue=4|year=1981|pages= 271–78|doi=10.2307/989644|jstor=989644}}</ref> Suetonius and Cassius Dio claim that Nero sang the "[[Iliupersis|Sack of Ilium]]" in stage costume while the city burned.<ref>[[#Champlin|Champlin]], p. 77</ref>{{sfn|Suetonius|loc=[https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Suetonius/12Caesars/Nero*.html#38 38]}}{{sfn|Cassius Dio|loc=[https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Cassius_Dio/62*.html#16 62.16]}} The popular legend that Nero played the [[fiddle]] while Rome burned "is at least partly a literary construct of [[Flavian dynasty|Flavian]] propaganda ... which looked askance on the abortive Neronian attempt to rewrite Augustan models of rule".{{sfn|Buckley|Dinter|2013|p=2}}

Tacitus suspends judgment on Nero's responsibility for the fire; he found that Nero was in Antium when the fire started, and returned to Rome to organize a relief effort, providing for the removal of bodies and debris, which he paid for from his own funds.<ref name="annals-xv-39">[[Tacitus]], ''Annals'', [[s:The Annals (Tacitus)/Book 15#39|XV.39]]</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Walsh|first=Joseph J.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RX-tDwAAQBAJ&q=nero+search+debris+rome+fire+victims&pg=PT57|title=The Great Fire of Rome: Life and Death in the Ancient City|date=1 October 2019|publisher=JHU Press|isbn=978-1-4214-3372-1|language=en}}</ref> After the fire, Nero opened his palaces to provide shelter for the homeless, and arranged for food supplies to be delivered in order to prevent starvation among the survivors.<ref name="annals-xv-39"/>

Tacitus writes that to remove suspicion from himself, Nero accused Christians of starting the fire.<ref>[[#Champlin|Champlin]], p. 121</ref> According to this account, many Christians were arrested and brutally executed by "being thrown to the beasts, crucified, and being burned alive".<ref>[[#Champlin|Champlin]], pp. 121–22</ref> Tacitus asserts that in his imposition of such ferocious punishments, Nero was not motivated by a sense of justice, but by a penchant for personal cruelty.<ref name="annals-xv-44">[[Tacitus]], ''[[Annals (Tacitus)|Annals]]''. XV.44.</ref>

Houses built after the fire were spaced out, built in brick, and faced by [[porticos]] on wide roads.<ref name="annals-xv-43">[[Tacitus]], ''Annals'', [[s:The Annals (Tacitus)/Book 15#43|XV.43]]</ref> Nero also built himself a new palace complex known as the [[Domus Aurea]] in an area cleared by the fire. The cost to rebuild Rome was immense, requiring funds the state treasury did not have. To find the necessary funds for the reconstruction, Nero's government increased taxation.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.historyextra.com/period/roman/emperor-nero-facts-biography-tyrant-crimes-accomplishments/ |title=Emperor Nero: the tyrant of Rome |publisher=BBC History Magazine and BBC History Revealed |access-date=3 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210506004906/https://www.historyextra.com/period/roman/emperor-nero-facts-biography-tyrant-crimes-accomplishments/ |archive-date=6 May 2021 }}</ref> Particularly heavy [[tributes]] were imposed on the provinces of the empire.<ref>[[Tacitus]], ''Annals'' [[s:The Annals (Tacitus)/Book 15#45|XV.45]].</ref> To meet at least a portion of the costs, Nero devalued the [[Roman currency]], increasing inflationary pressure for the first time in the Empire's history.{{efn-lr|Nero or his moneyers reduced the weight of the [[denarius]] from 84 per [[Roman pound]] to 96 (3.80&nbsp;grams to 3.30&nbsp;grams). He also reduced the silver purity from 99.5% to 93.5%—the silver weight dropping from 3.80&nbsp;grams to 2.97&nbsp;grams. He also reduced the weight of the [[aureus]] from 40 per Roman pound to 45 (7.9&nbsp;grams to 7.2&nbsp;grams). [[Tulane University]] hand-out, [https://web.archive.org/web/20010210220413/http://www.tulane.edu/~august/handouts/601cprin.htm archived]. {{better source needed|date=October 2023}}}}
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