The philhellene Emperor who ‘fiddled while Rome burned’, who murdered his mother and whose reign descended into “open absolutism and tyranny” , our image of Nero is in so many ways wholly negative. And yet, when Otho, the 2nd of 4 individuals who were to be emperor in 69 AD came to power, the biographer Suetonius (along with other ancient sources) tells us a curious thing. He writes: “He [Otho] was hailed by the lowest of the common people as Nero, a title which he gave no inclination of rejecting.” (Suet. Oth. 7). Along with other incidences where Otho is said to strongly associate himself with Nero then, we are perhaps left with a curious question in our minds – did Otho know something we do not? Was there an idea of Nero, one more positive than that in our cultural imagination, which he was appealing to? This essay sets out to argue that yes, this was indeed the case. Accordingly, I will firstly sketch our current picture of Nero, as derived from the dominant ancient tradition, and detail why such an image has been presented. I will then attempt to resuscitate and image of the kind Otho was perhaps drawing on, intending to reveal a much more balanced portrait of the emperor.
My identity is constituted by a myriad of historical factors, and to feel comfortable in life, those factors can be returned to, sought out, eaten up, slept on.
Overall, and above most things, I feel remarkably English. I feel Anglican, I feel Victorian, when I go to England it feels so warm and normal and like home. Often when I'm on my own I find myself reciting Anglican liturgy, and making the sign of the cross over my chest.
I don't feel particularly American. Many people around me do.
And England is dying, and the world is changing, and David Cameron is going to bring the thugs to justice.
colonial, postcolonial, postcolonialism, conrad. foucault, sex, power. The Gracchi, Gaius Marius, Sulla, populus romanus. aesthetics, literary interpretations, new historicism, new critics, deconstructionism.
walking, reading poetry, appreciating living, Sonya, immersion in texts, warm showers, bruce springsteen, peaceful room.
