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Authors: Stephen Dando-Collins
Tags: #History, #Ancient, #Rome
The Great Fire of Rome: The Fall of the Emperor Nero and His City (18 page)
BOOK: The Great Fire of Rome: The Fall of the Emperor Nero and His City
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No matter what Nero did over the months following the fire, he could not escape the accusation that he was an incendiary prince. “All human efforts, all the lavish gifts of the emperor, and the propitiations of the gods, did not banish the sinister belief that the conflagration was the result of an order,” said Tacitus. “Consequently, to rid himself of the report, Nero fastened the guilt on a class hated for their abominations.”
26
This “class” was, it is now clear, made up of the numerous followers of the cult of Isis in Rome. Nero had interested himself in Isis, the Egyptian mother goddess, to such an extent that he had introduced Isean feasts to the official Roman religious calendar. But while he retained a fascination with all things Egyptian, his attitude to Isis had changed abruptly.
26
This “class” was, it is now clear, made up of the numerous followers of the cult of Isis in Rome. Nero had interested himself in Isis, the Egyptian mother goddess, to such an extent that he had introduced Isean feasts to the official Roman religious calendar. But while he retained a fascination with all things Egyptian, his attitude to Isis had changed abruptly.
It is likely that Nero’s disdain of Isis had been sponsored by the death of his infant daughter Augusta the previous year. Feeling let down by the goddess, he had grown contemptuous of her and her cult. Now he found in the followers of Isis, most of whom were slaves and freedmen, easy scapegoats for the Great Fire, even though one of the cult’s own temples, on the Capitol, would have been destroyed by the blaze. The average Roman abhorred and execrated the cult’s apparent worship of gods in animal form and would have applauded the cult members’ persecution. At first, a few admitted followers of the cult of Isis, who were known as “Egyptians” by the general population, were arrested. Priests of Isis, with their shaven heads, were easy to spot. These men were put to the rack, and “on their information, an immense multitude was convicted, not so much of the crime of firing the city, as of hatred against mankind.”
27
27
As noncitizens, this “multitude” of guilty people had no right of appeal or to a clean execution in the form of decapitation. Theirs was to be a painful and humiliating death. For some, it was a slow demise nailed or tied to a cross. Others among the convicted were reserved for the arena, the usual destination for a slave convicted of a capital crime. They were kept behind bars until the next spectacle. In normal times, this event would have been the Ludi Romani, the Roman Games, also known as the Ludi Magni, or Great Games. Running for fifteen days from September 4, they were the longest games on the calendar. The Great Games were traditionally held at the Circus Maximus, but that fire-ravaged venue was of course now out of commission and in only the early stages of reconstruction.
One other circus remained intact at Rome, the Circus Flaminius, which had been established on the southwestern side of the Campus Martius in 220 BC. Apart from the marble Arch of Germanicus, dedicated to Nero’s grandfather, which stood at the entrance, and an ancient temple dedicated to the sun god Sol, there were little in the way of permanent structures at the Circus Flaminius. Temporary wooden stands were erected around the race course each November for the Ludi Plebii, the Plebeian Games, and then dismantled again. This lack of incendiary material was no doubt why the Circus Flaminius escaped the Great Fire even though the nearby Theater of Taurus was severely damaged. Nonetheless, by sacred tradition, the Great Games had to be conducted in the Circus Maximus. No Circus Maximus, no Great Games; like the Ludi Victoriae Caesaris, they would not be celebrated this year.
As November approached and with the offerings to Vulcan, Ceres, and Juno made, the first opportunity to execute prisoners in the arena presented itself. The Plebeian Games of November 4-17 had, from their beginning, been held in the Circus Flaminius, and as that venue was intact, these games could go ahead. For the most part, the Plebeian Games program opened with stage performances and concluded with three days of athletics and horse races. Chariot races were not normally included.
It had been almost half a year since the last chariot races at Rome. Nero had missed them, and so, too, would have his fellow Romans. So, the emperor announced that he was sponsoring a day of chariot races at these Plebeian Games. The racecourse of the Circus Flaminius was smaller than that at the Circus Maximus, but it would still permit four two-horse teams to compete. Similarly, the seating capacity was no match for the Circus Maximus, but the members of the population without tickets would still wager on the races from afar. Perhaps, Nero would have been hoping, the announcement that within several days the Blues, Greens, Reds, and Whites would again be racing, courtesy of the emperor, would finally divert public attention away from the malicious gossip and rumors and put him in a good light.
So, members of the cult of Isis went to their deaths during the Plebeian Games. Many of the “Egyptians” were herded into the arena, where packs of savage dogs were let loose on them to tear them to pieces. “Mockery of every kind was added to their deaths,” Tacitus later remarked. To anyone who knew anything about the worship of Isis and about ancient Egyptian religion in general, that mockery was quite apparent. Anubis, the ancient Egyptian god of death, had the head of a jackal, or dog, and these condemned “Egyptians” were executed by dogs. Even more poignantly, Tacitus noted that the Egyptians were sent to their deaths “covered in the skins of animals.”
28
Priests of Isis traditionally eschewed animal products, wearing linen robes and sandals made from papyrus. To be covered in the skins of animals was a gross insult to the beliefs of the followers of Isis.
28
Priests of Isis traditionally eschewed animal products, wearing linen robes and sandals made from papyrus. To be covered in the skins of animals was a gross insult to the beliefs of the followers of Isis.
The Egyptians selected for crucifixion were affixed to crosses raised in one of the imperial gardens, which were likely to have been the Gardens of Sallust. Developed by one of Julius Caesar’s deputies, Sallustius Crispus (Sallust the author), these gardens lay on the flat between the Quirinal and Pincian hills in Regio VI, close to the Salarian Gate, and had been imperial property since the reign of Tiberius. Like the Gardens of Maecenas, they had escaped the Great Fire. There, each evening for several nights, victims from among the Egyptian multitude were burned to death, “to serve as nightly illumination.”
29
As Nero knew, fire played a key role in the worship of Isis, and the incineration of some of the prisoners was another deliberate insult. For sacred and symbolic reasons, November 13 is likely to have been the day set down for these “illuminations” to begin, for this was the combined festival day of Juno, Minerva, Jupiter, and Feronia—Roman goddess of fire.
29
As Nero knew, fire played a key role in the worship of Isis, and the incineration of some of the prisoners was another deliberate insult. For sacred and symbolic reasons, November 13 is likely to have been the day set down for these “illuminations” to begin, for this was the combined festival day of Juno, Minerva, Jupiter, and Feronia—Roman goddess of fire.
Nero was “exhibiting a show in the circus” on the day the illuminations began, said Tacitus.
30
The young emperor had clearly been tempted to drive a chariot in the races at the circus himself, for although he just managed to resist that temptation, he drove into the imperial gardens that night in a chariot and dressed in the full racing garb of the charioteer: leather helmet, tight-fitting leather vest designed to protect the ribs, bottle-green tunic of the Green faction, his favorite, and leather arm-guards and leg-guards. Stepping down from his chariot once he arrived at the gardens for the spectacle, Nero “mingled with the people in the dress of a charioteer,” as the public flocked to see the Egyptians incinerated.
31
30
The young emperor had clearly been tempted to drive a chariot in the races at the circus himself, for although he just managed to resist that temptation, he drove into the imperial gardens that night in a chariot and dressed in the full racing garb of the charioteer: leather helmet, tight-fitting leather vest designed to protect the ribs, bottle-green tunic of the Green faction, his favorite, and leather arm-guards and leg-guards. Stepping down from his chariot once he arrived at the gardens for the spectacle, Nero “mingled with the people in the dress of a charioteer,” as the public flocked to see the Egyptians incinerated.
31
This lack of imperial dignity backfired on the emperor in charioteer dress. Sympathy grew in some quarters for the victims of his persecution. “Even for criminals who deserved extreme and exemplary punishment, there arose a feeling of compassion,” said Tacitus. “For it was not, as it was portrayed, for the public good, that they were being destroyed.” Not even fire could expunge the conviction among many Romans that their own emperor had set their city alight. If anything, his brutal punishments of the supposed culprits only damaged Nero’s reputation all the more. The perception now was that the executions of the followers of Isis had merely been “to satisfy one man’s cruelty.”
32
32
A little over a month later, on December 15, Nero celebrated his twenty-seventh birthday. At Rome and across the empire, most Romans celebrated with him, with prayers and offerings for their emperor’s good health. Throughout that month of December, “never were lightning flashes more frequent” at Rome, and a comet was seen to streak across the night sky.
33
To the more superstitious Romans, who saw portents of the future in natural phenomena, this was “supposed to herald the death of some person of great importance,” said Suetonius.
34
At the very least, said Tacitus, these were omens of “impending evils.”
35
33
To the more superstitious Romans, who saw portents of the future in natural phenomena, this was “supposed to herald the death of some person of great importance,” said Suetonius.
34
At the very least, said Tacitus, these were omens of “impending evils.”
35
XIV
THE CONSPIRACY
A
s AD 65 began, Nero, frustrated that his benevolent acts had failed to silence his critics and stung by the vitriol fueling the worst rumors and gossip about him, gave up all attempts to win public goodwill and became a recluse. He apparently decided that from now on, rather than continue to strive to please his subjects, he would please himself. The one person whom he trusted was his wife Poppaea Sabina, and they became closer during this period; by the spring, she would again be pregnant, giving Nero cause to be optimistic about fathering an heir and defying the supposed Sibylline prophesy that he would be last of the Julian line.
s AD 65 began, Nero, frustrated that his benevolent acts had failed to silence his critics and stung by the vitriol fueling the worst rumors and gossip about him, gave up all attempts to win public goodwill and became a recluse. He apparently decided that from now on, rather than continue to strive to please his subjects, he would please himself. The one person whom he trusted was his wife Poppaea Sabina, and they became closer during this period; by the spring, she would again be pregnant, giving Nero cause to be optimistic about fathering an heir and defying the supposed Sibylline prophesy that he would be last of the Julian line.
The emperor was not seen by the public on New Year’s Day, nor on any other occasion as the winter passed. He had a new passion. Instead of simply rebuilding his gutted palaces on the Palatine and in the valley of the Forum, he had acceded to the suggestion of Severus and Celer that he use this opportunity to build the grandest palace that man had ever seen to replace the residence that the fire had taken from him. This pair, said Tacitus, “had the genius and the audacity to attempt by art even that which nature had rejected, and to fool away an emperor’s money.”
1
They were made directors of the project.
1
They were made directors of the project.
The new palace that they designed for Nero, to be called the
Domus aurea
, or Golden House, would cover two hundred acres. Like Tacitus, Suetonius decried the expense and wastefulness of Nero’s new palace: “The entrance hall was large enough to accommodate a huge statue of himself, 120 feet high.”
2
This statue of Nero, which came to be called the Colossus, was several times life size and perched on a column. Combined, statue and column stood beneath the roof of the fantastic new palace’s foyer. The foyer sat at the foot of the Palatine, beside the House of the Vestals, which, in its reconstructed form, was built on a slightly different axis from the building it replaced, to accommodate the Golden House’s foyer next door.
Domus aurea
, or Golden House, would cover two hundred acres. Like Tacitus, Suetonius decried the expense and wastefulness of Nero’s new palace: “The entrance hall was large enough to accommodate a huge statue of himself, 120 feet high.”
2
This statue of Nero, which came to be called the Colossus, was several times life size and perched on a column. Combined, statue and column stood beneath the roof of the fantastic new palace’s foyer. The foyer sat at the foot of the Palatine, beside the House of the Vestals, which, in its reconstructed form, was built on a slightly different axis from the building it replaced, to accommodate the Golden House’s foyer next door.
From this lofty entrance hall, a pillared arcade, three stories high and called the Millaria, would run for an entire mile from the Forum valley, through the Carinae and Subura districts, to the Esquiline. Many of the palace’s acres would be occupied by “an enormous pool, like a sea,” said Suetonius.
3
Called the
stagnum Neronis
, or Nero’s Pool, this sheet of water spread over the cleared site in the valley that, prior to the fire, had been occupied for the most part by houses, including the one in which the Apostle Paul is said to have lived for two years during his first stay at Rome.
3
Called the
stagnum Neronis
, or Nero’s Pool, this sheet of water spread over the cleared site in the valley that, prior to the fire, had been occupied for the most part by houses, including the one in which the Apostle Paul is said to have lived for two years during his first stay at Rome.
Just seven years after it was created, this pool of Nero’s would be drained by a future emperor to make way for a new structure on this site—Vespasian’s Hunting Theater. Much later, the Hunting Theater would become known as the Colosseum. Many scholars believe that it took its unofficial name from Nero’s statue, the Colossus, which would be re-erected in the Via Sacra outside the amphitheater, with Nero’s head replaced, some say by that of the emperor Titus, others by a head representing the sun god Sol. Meanwhile, Nero’s Pool, said Suetonius, “was surrounded by buildings made to resemble cities and by a landscaped garden consisting of ploughed fields, vineyards, pastures and woodlands, where every variety of domestic and wild animal roamed about.”
4
4
No extravagance was spared. Parts of the Golden House would be gilded and studded with precious stones and mother of pearl. The palace’s main dining room was circular; its roof could revolve. The ceilings of all the dining rooms would be made of fretted ivory; they would open on command, with ceiling panels sliding back to allow a rain of flower petals to fall on diners below, or for perfume to waft down from hidden sprinklers. Seawater and sulfur water would be on tap in the palace’s bathhouse. The Golden House’s lavish design pleased Nero beyond measure. “Good,” he is reported to have said once it neared completion. “Now I can at last begin to live like a human being.”
5
5
To pay for the rebuilding of the capital and for the construction of the Golden House, all the donations from the cities and towns of Italy, the provinces, and the rulers of states allied to Rome—some donations voluntary, some compelled—were clearly not going to be enough. Much of the gold that had accumulated in the temples of Rome as votive offerings from triumphant generals and individual citizens, and rescued ahead of the flames the previous July, was now melted down into coinage, to the horror of traditionalists.
To advise him on other fund-raising methods, Nero had sent for his retired chief secretary, Seneca, who forwarded a message in response, requesting that he be permitted to remain in rural retirement. Tacitus thought that Seneca did this so that he would not have to contribute to the desecration of temples, but it is just as likely that Seneca, who never showed the least piety in either his deeds or his writings, feared that Nero would now accept his previous offer to hand over his properties; Seneca perhaps simply did not want to contribute to the rebuilding fund.
BOOK: The Great Fire of Rome: The Fall of the Emperor Nero and His City
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