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Authors: Stephen Dando-Collins
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The Great Fire of Rome: The Fall of the Emperor Nero and His City (39 page)
BOOK: The Great Fire of Rome: The Fall of the Emperor Nero and His City
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Yet, just as Nero’s reign was initially made at Rome, it was at Rome that it was undone. The patricians of Rome despised young Nero for his artistic aspirations, just as they despised the provincials and freedmen whom Nero employed in powerful positions. Men like Thrasea actively snubbed their noses at Nero while working against him behind the scenes. As the Piso Plot demonstrated, there were enough malcontents among the upper class and military officers to engineer a concerted attempt to deliver Julius Caesar’s fate to the fifth emperor of Rome. And even though that plot failed, it planted a seed in the minds of other ambitious men.
Significantly, the Piso Plot emerged in the wake of the Great Fire. Without the fire, there probably would never have been the courage or the commitment for a Piso Plot. The persistent rumors that swept the city after the fire, the concerted propaganda campaign directed against Nero, gave the Piso plotters the gumption to proceed. The rumor regarding the reading of the Sibylline Books can realistically be traced to Thrasea. And perhaps he inspired some of the other rumors. But it is unlikely that he was the lone rumormonger. There would have been others, men who used the fire to launch bids for the throne.
Why did Galba spare Tigellinus? Could it be that Tigellinus worked behind the scenes on Galba’s behalf following the fire, spreading rumors against Nero? And was it the knowledge of Tigellinus’ support that gave Galba the courage to launch his bid for the throne from faraway Spain? Certainly, Galba’s fearful retreat to Clunia came after Tigellinus lost his power at Rome.
Still another man in authority could have been working against Nero behind the scenes from the time of the Great Fire. There can be no denying that Praetorian Prefect Nymphidius made Nero’s downfall possible, and inevitable, by unseating Tigellinus and bribing the Praetorian and German Cohorts to desert the emperor. If Nymphidius was indeed prefect of the Cohortes Vigiles the night the Great Fire began, as is believed, he may well have been the “one who gives us authority,” the man who had sent underlings around the already-burning city to spread the fire. And he may well have been the one to ignite the second fire in the property of Tigellinus, the man he later forced into retirement to gain sole power at the head of the Praetorians.
There had previously been a Praetorian prefect who eyed the throne for himself—Sejanus, Tiberius’ slimy underling. To give himself a connection with the imperial family and improve his claim to the throne, Sejanus had married the sister of Claudius and Germanicus. Nymphidius had a similar but even stronger connection, a blood connection, with the Caesars, claiming to be a son of Claudius. It is not unrealistic to imagine opportunistic Nymphidius playing puppet master to a four-year campaign to unseat Nero—a campaign that began the moment the Great Fire spluttered into life. And he succeeded, overthrowing Nero and putting Galba on the throne, no doubt with plans to remove Galba once the prefect felt that he himself could command the loyalty of the army. But his scheme backfired—crusty, suspicious Galba recognized Nymphidius’ ambition and saw through his plan, terminating plot and plotter in one fell swoop.
Had there been no Great Fire, Nero would have embarked on his Ethiopian and Caspian Gates operations and may well have become the new Alexander the Great. Hailed by his army, his people, and the writers of history, he might have lived and reigned for another fifty or sixty years, fathering sons with a new wife and propagating the Julian line.
With Nero’s demise came the end of imperial Rome’s founding dynasty. After Nero, there would sometimes be blood links between emperors, but never would there be a dynasty, or an era, like that of the Caesars. The end of Nero, and the end of his family’s dynasty, was one of history’s great turning points. Nero’s end began with the flames of July 19, AD 64. There can be no doubting that Roman history, and world history, would have been very different had it not been for the Great Fire of Rome.
Notes
1
Cassius Dio,
Roman History
62.16.
Cassius Dio,
Roman History
62.16.
2
Ibid. 62.18.
Ibid. 62.18.
3
Suetonius,
The Twelve Caesars
6.38.
Suetonius,
The Twelve Caesars
6.38.
4
Josephus,
Jewish Antiquities
20.8.3.
Josephus,
Jewish Antiquities
20.8.3.
5
Tacitus,
Annals
13.20.
Tacitus,
Annals
13.20.
6
Josephus,
Jewish Antiquities
20.8.3.
Josephus,
Jewish Antiquities
20.8.3.
7
Suetonius,
The Twelve Caesars
6.16.
Suetonius,
The Twelve Caesars
6.16.
8
New Encyclopaedia Britannica
, 18th ed. (Chicago: Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1987), s.v. “Nero.”
New Encyclopaedia Britannica
, 18th ed. (Chicago: Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1987), s.v. “Nero.”
9
Dio,
Roman History
62.14.
Dio,
Roman History
62.14.
10
Suetonius,
The Twelve Caesars
12.10.
Suetonius,
The Twelve Caesars
12.10.
11
Tacitus,
Annals
15.44.
Tacitus,
Annals
15.44.
12
2 Tim. 4:21.
2 Tim. 4:21.
13
Acts 28:15.
Acts 28:15.
14
Suetonius,
The Twelve Caesars
3.36.
Suetonius,
The Twelve Caesars
3.36.
15
Philo,
In Flaccum
1.
Philo,
In Flaccum
1.
16
Suetonius,
The Twelve Caesars
5.25.
Suetonius,
The Twelve Caesars
5.25.
17
Ibid. 12.1.
Ibid. 12.1.
1
Based on Vegetius, “The Organization of the Legion,” in
The Military Institutions of the Romans
2.
Based on Vegetius, “The Organization of the Legion,” in
The Military Institutions of the Romans
2.
2
Tacitus,
Annals
15.46.
Tacitus,
Annals
15.46.
3
Ibid. 13.3.
Ibid. 13.3.
4
Suetonius,
The Twelve Caesars
6.52.
Suetonius,
The Twelve Caesars
6.52.
5
Ibid. 6.20.
Ibid. 6.20.
6
Tacitus,
Annals
15.33.
Tacitus,
Annals
15.33.
7
Suetonius,
The Twelve Caesars
6.53.
Suetonius,
The Twelve Caesars
6.53.
8
Tacitus,
Annals
15.33.
Tacitus,
Annals
15.33.
1
Tacitus,
Annals
14.51.
Tacitus,
Annals
14.51.
2
Ibid.
Ibid.
3
Ibid.
Ibid.
4
Ibid. 14.57.
Ibid. 14.57.
5
Ibid. 13.21.
Ibid. 13.21.
6
Ibid. 14.22.
Ibid. 14.22.
7
Ibid.
Ibid.
8
Ibid. 14.57.
Ibid. 14.57.
9
Ibid.
Ibid.
10
Ibid.
Ibid.
11
Ibid. 14.59.
Ibid. 14.59.
12
Seneca,
Letters to Lucilius
113.
Seneca,
Letters to Lucilius
113.
13
Ibid. 104.
Ibid. 104.
14
Horace,
Odes
3.29.5-12.
Horace,
Odes
3.29.5-12.
1
Martial.
Martial.
2
Tacitus,
Annals
15.49.
Tacitus,
Annals
15.49.
3
Pliny the Younger,
Letters
3.21.
Pliny the Younger,
Letters
3.21.
4
Seneca,
Letters to Lucilius
112.
Seneca,
Letters to Lucilius
112.
1
Seneca,
Letters to Lucilius
113.
Seneca,
Letters to Lucilius
113.
2
Tacitus,
Annals
14.65.
Tacitus,
Annals
14.65.
3
Ibid. 14.53.
Ibid. 14.53.
4
Seneca,
Letters to Lucilius
123.
Seneca,
Letters to Lucilius
123.
5
Ibid.
Ibid.
6
Ibid.
Ibid.
1
Suetonius,
The Twelve Caesars
6.28.
Suetonius,
The Twelve Caesars
6.28.
2
Tacitus,
Agricola
6.
Tacitus,
Agricola
6.
3
Ibid.
Ibid.
4
Suetonius,
The Twelve Caesars
10.3.
Suetonius,
The Twelve Caesars
10.3.
5
Pliny the Younger,
Letters
3.5.
Pliny the Younger,
Letters
3.5.
6
Ibid.
Ibid.
1
Martial,
Epigrams
9.17.5-6.
Martial,
Epigrams
9.17.5-6.
2
Frontinus,
Aqueducts
2.87.
Frontinus,
Aqueducts
2.87.
3
Ibid.
Ibid.
1
Tacitus,
Annals
15.33.
Tacitus,
Annals
15.33.
2
Suetonius,
The Twelve Caesars
6.20.
Suetonius,
The Twelve Caesars
6.20.
3
Ibid.
Ibid.
4
Ibid.
Ibid.
5
Tacitus,
Annals
15.34.
Tacitus,
Annals
15.34.
1
Tacitus,
Annals
15.34.
Tacitus,
Annals
15.34.
2
Cassius Dio,
Roman History
62.15.
Cassius Dio,
Roman History
62.15.
3
Tacitus,
Annals
15.34.
Tacitus,
Annals
15.34.
4
Suetonius,
The Twelve Caesars
5.21.
Suetonius,
The Twelve Caesars
5.21.
5
Tacitus,
Annals
15.34.
Tacitus,
Annals
15.34.
6
Dio,
Roman History
62.13.
Dio,
Roman History
62.13.
7
Tacitus,
Annals
15.35.
Tacitus,
Annals
15.35.
8
Ibid.
Ibid.
1
Josephus,
Life
3.
Josephus,
Life
3.
2
Gal. 1:13.
Gal. 1:13.
3
Rom. 15:24.
Rom. 15:24.
4
Cave,
Lives of the Apostles
1, 7.
Cave,
Lives of the Apostles
1, 7.
5
Acts 28:31.
Acts 28:31.
6
Cave,
Lives of the Apostles
1, 7.
Cave,
Lives of the Apostles
1, 7.
7
Cassius Dio,
Roman History
61.7.
Cassius Dio,
Roman History
61.7.
8
Josephus,
Life
3.
Josephus,
Life
3.
9
Plutarch,
Galba.
Plutarch,
Galba.
10
Tacitus,
Annals
13.45.
Tacitus,
Annals
13.45.
11
Suetonius,
The Twelve Caesars
8.3.
Suetonius,
The Twelve Caesars
8.3.
12
Plutarch,
Otho
.
Plutarch,
Otho
.
13
Tacitus,
Annals
13.46.
Tacitus,
Annals
13.46.
1
Tacitus,
Annals
15.36.
Tacitus,
Annals
15.36.
2
Ibid.
Ibid.
3
Ibid.
Ibid.
4
Ibid.
Ibid.
1
Suetonius,
The Twelve Caesars
6.22.
Suetonius,
The Twelve Caesars
6.22.
2
Ibid.
Ibid.
1
There is no record of these games being scheduled for AD 64. However, Nero, being a member of the Julio-Claudian line and also being a lover of chariot racing, is sure to have planned to celebrate the games of Caesar.
There is no record of these games being scheduled for AD 64. However, Nero, being a member of the Julio-Claudian line and also being a lover of chariot racing, is sure to have planned to celebrate the games of Caesar.
2
Suetonius,
The Twelve Caesars
6.23.
Suetonius,
The Twelve Caesars
6.23.
3
Tacitus,
Annals
15.38.
Tacitus,
Annals
15.38.
4
Ibid.
Ibid.
5
Ibid.
Ibid.
BOOK: The Great Fire of Rome: The Fall of the Emperor Nero and His City
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