Mid-July, 64 CE, in the heart of Rome, tragedy struck as fire erupted into a massive inferno. Did Emperor Nero, regent at the time, purposely set the city ablaze or merely preside over the disaster?
Written by Matthew Reich. Narration by Dr. Nicholas Breyfogle. Video production by Laura Seeger and Dr. Nicholas Breyfogle.
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Learn more about the Great Fire of Rome:
Roman History Introduction:
Potter, David S., Ancient Rome: A New History. Third Edition. New York, New York: Thames & Hudson, 2018.
On the Great Fire:
Walsh, Joseph J., The Great Fire of Rome: Life and Death in the Ancient City. Witness to Ancient History. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2019.
Dando-Collins, Stephen., The Great Fire of Rome: The Fall of the Emperor Nero and His City. 1. ed. Cambridge, Mass: Da Capo Press, 2010.
Ancient Authors:
Tacitus, Annals, https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/e/roman/texts/tacitus/annals/15b*.html
Suetonius, The Lives of the Twelve Caesars, https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Suetonius/12Caesars/Nero*.html
