Embedded Files
Māter imperātōris erat prope nōs et tōtam sermōnem audīvit. Māter imperātōris nōn laeta erat. Māter mē dīmīsit et dīxit "Mī Fīlī, necesse est tibi* īnspicere mīlitēs tuōs! Necesse est tibi imperium cūrāre, nōn necesse est tibi equōs spectāre!" Imperātor trīstis erat sed dīxit, "Ita,** māter."
*for you
**in this context it means "yes"
Suetonius's "Life of Nero" where his love of chariot racing is mentioned. It is important to note that Suetonius is a very biased writer who enjoyed telling every nasty piece of gossip he heard. It's not that the emperors were not abusive of their power, but their abuses were probably not as bizarre as Suetonius makes them out to be.
This is probably one of the most well known examples of Nero's losing any sense of reality in the bizarre world of being a Roman Emperor.
Not everything Nero did was bad, here is a little discussion of his urban planning.
Sources: the story of Nero and his mom is truly bizarre (spoilers: it involves a collapsable party boat and A LOT of poisons)
Consider these questions:
Nero and emperors like him who did things that the historians didn't like were and are often called "crazy." Does his trip to the Olympic games make any sense to normal people or was it really "crazy?"
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse