Drawing on new archaeological evidence, an authoritative history of
Rome's Great Fire-and how it inflicted lasting harm on the Roman
Empire According to legend, the Roman emperor Nero set fire to his
majestic imperial capital on the night of July 19, AD 64 and
fiddled while the city burned. It's a story that has been told for
more than two millennia-and it's likely that almost none of it is
true. In Rome Is Burning, distinguished Roman historian Anthony
Barrett sets the record straight, providing a comprehensive and
authoritative account of the Great Fire of Rome, its immediate
aftermath, and its damaging longterm consequences for the Roman
world. Drawing on remarkable new archaeological discoveries and
sifting through all the literary evidence, he tells what is known
about what actually happened-and argues that the disaster was a
turning point in Roman history, one that ultimately led to the fall
of Nero and the end of the dynasty that began with Julius Caesar.
Rome Is Burning tells how the fire destroyed much of the city and
threw the population into panic. It describes how it also destroyed
Nero's golden image and provoked a financial crisis and currency
devaluation that made a permanent impact on the Roman economy. Most
importantly, the book surveys, and includes many photographs of,
recent archaeological evidence that shows visible traces of the
fire's destruction. Finally, the book describes the fire's
continuing afterlife in literature, opera, ballet, and film. A
richly detailed and scrupulously factual narrative of an event that
has always been shrouded in myth, Rome Is Burning promises to
become the standard account of the Great Fire of Rome for our time.
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Review This Product
Mon, 2 Dec 2024 | Review
by: Tanya K.
In AD 64, Rome went up in flames. The fire started near Rome's great racing stadium (the Circus Maximus), and aided by a strong and erratic wind, lasted nine days, destroyed vast swaths of Rome and left half the population homeless. Barrett considers this a "turning point in ancient history". Although the Roman Emperor Nero didn't fiddle while Rome burned (the fiddle was only invented in the 11th century), the Great Fire ended Nero's golden years and turned the elite against him permanently. Some blamed Nero for setting the fire (especially after he used land cleared by the fire to build his Golden Palace and its surrounding pleasure gardens). Nero blamed the Christians (possibly), and looking for a scapegoat, persecuted them. This didn't save Nero. Four years after the Great Fire, Nero was forced out of office and committed suicide, resulting in the end of the Julio-Claudian dynasty founded by Caesar Augustus. This made it possible for subsequent emperors to be appointed on merit, or by war, rather than blood-relations. It also frequently lead to political instability and civil war. The Great Fire also initiated the rebuilding of Rome and a revolution in architecture (including Rome's first dome, the use of concrete in vaults, and regulations to minimize fire damage). However, Nero's great building programme required large sums of money, leading to inflation, the debasement of the currency and ruinous taxation and looting of the provinces. All of these cumulative factors had consequences stretching in the distant future.
Barrett has written what I suspect is a definitive overview of everything (and sundry) related to the Great Fire of Rome in AD 64. It wasn't the first fire and wasn't the last large scale fire (a major fire occurred in Rome in AD 80), but it did have far-reaching effects. In his overview, Barret makes use of archaeological and textual evidence to determine exactly what happened. I found the nitpicking of the textual evidence fascinating. The principal sources for the Great Fire AD 64 were written by Tacitus, Suetonius, and Dio - all born after the Great Fire and all having personal biases on display in their writings.
Barret starts off by by providing a background to Nero and the physical aspects of the city of Rome. Then the author analyses the known record of ancient Roman fires to place the Great Fire of AD 64 in context, and considers the measures the Romans adopted to deal with fires. This is followed by a chapter that deals with the events of the Great Fire - where it started, how it spread, where it spread, damaged caused etc. Barret also includes a very interesting chapter analysing the case against Nero's involvement in starting the fire. Subsequent chapters focus on the immediate aftermath of the Great Fire - the targeting of the Christians as convenient scapegoats, and on the architectural transformation of the devastated city. The last chapter assesses the significance of the fire for the subsequent course of Roman history. This chapter includes several pages on the debasement of the currency and fiscal issues related to Nero's renovation project. I would have like a whole chapter dedicated to financial problems that resulted from the Great Fire, inflation and debasement of the currency, since I think this had a greater detrimental effect to the Roman Empire in the long run, than any architectural transformations. The epilogue I found a bit strange in a book like this - it considers Nero and the Great Fire as a persistent cultural phenomena, so all the plays, novels and musicals etc written that involve Nero.
Barrett states that the book is meant to appeal to the specialist, as well as the general readership. I think for the most part, he has managed this. The general readership might find the fine details to be a bit much, but in the end, seeing how the author analyses the available evidence to produce a picture of the events, not to mention a more nuanced picture of Nero (he was apparently on the streets helping to fight the fire - no other history book I've read mentioned this), is a fascinating experience (at least for me). In the end, this is a fascinating analysis of the Great Fire of Rome AD 64 and the man who is usually blamed for causing it.
Note: This wonderful book includes a very helpful timeline, a large number of illustrations, and a translation of the accounts of the fire by Tacitus, Suetonius, and Dio, a glossary, and bibliography.
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