Nero killed during the burning of Rome

[singularity]

Nero Burns Rome, people get pissed, and Nero is stabbed in the throat by a praetorian guard before he can pin the fire on the Christians. How would this affect human history?

[Vault boy]

According to Tacitus, Nero wasn't in Rome at the time. He was in Antium. And he rushed back to Rome once he heard about the whole mess.

[singularity]

I prefer the other sources that state Nero ordered the burning. Anything else is revisionist.

[CandyDragon]

Originally Posted by singularity

I prefer the other sources that state Nero ordered the burning. Anything else is revisionist.

Despite Tacitus' general reliability and status as the authority for more than a thousand years?

[singularity]

I'm very rusty on these matters but I'll prefer Cassius dio

[Velasco]

If Nero was killed, it's likely that Claudia Antonia (daughter of Claudius and Nero's adoptive sister) would marry the consular Gaius Calpurnius Piso, who may have already been entertaining hopes for the Imperial crown.

Potential biological heirs to the Julio-Claudians would be:

- Marcus Antonius Primus (born 30-5), great-grandson of Mark Anthony and Octavia, sister of Augustus.
- the orator Lucius Vipstanus Messalla, great-great-grandson of Octavia.
- Quintus Haterius Antoninus (consul in 53, still alive in c.58), great-grandson of Mark Anthony and Octavia. His uncle Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus was Nero's biological father.
- The son of Gaius Rubellius Plautus. Rubellius was the great-grandson of the Emperor Tiberius and descended from two different daughters of Octavia, sister of Augustus.

[Enigmajones]

Originally Posted by singularity

I prefer the other sources that state Nero ordered the burning. Anything else is revisionist.

So because you prefer, and lets make it clear that this is just you, a source that is at this point being brought into question, you proclaim it as revisionist?

[singularity]

Originally Posted by Enigmajones

So because you prefer, and lets make it clear that this is just you, a source that is at this point being brought into question, you proclaim it as revisionist?

Your resistance will be noted!

[ProfJets]

Originally Posted by singularity

I'm very rusty on these matters but I'll prefer Cassius dio

Tacitus wrote closer to the time of the Great Fire of Rome (he was in fact alive, though only a child, during the fire). Nor was Tacitus a fan of Nero, so it's not like he would ignore arson to protect Nero's reputation.

[Superwes]

Originally Posted by singularity

I prefer the other sources that state Nero ordered the burning. Anything else is revisionist.

I'm pretty sure that's the other way around. The idea that Nero was in Rome and ordered the fire were just rumours spread by Roman citizens that spread into medieval times. I don't know why you're taking this as fact.

[hairysamarian]

Despite Nero's probable absence from Rome, the TL could still fly. Suppose the POD were: "People believe pernicious rumors concerning Nero and the fire; one or more of them kills him for it when he rushes back." God knows people have done stupid things before on the basis of erroneous belief.

[robertp6165]

Originally Posted by singularity

I prefer the other sources that state Nero ordered the burning. Anything else is revisionist.

ROFLMAO. One of the great historians of antiquity...and writer of the earliest surviving almost complete biography of Nero...accused of being revisionist. Classic.

[LSCatilina]

Originally Posted by singularity

I prefer the other sources that state Nero ordered the burning. Anything else is revisionist.

But of course. The only roman historian worth of mention is revisionist. Sure. The fact he was contemporary of the events is probably part of the conspiracy?

Indeed, sources like Suetonus who is known for being the official buttlicker of Hadrian, that complilated "sources" from tabernae and slumbers (never from first hand, what for?) is probably more reliable.

And fuck the fact Rome burned regularly and escaped this only when it was flooded by Tiber river.

Probably all burning of Rome are due to Nero. After all if he can be in the same time in Antium and Rome, he could as well travel in time to continue his crimes.

[GrandpaTanaka]

Just to reiterate what everyone else is saying,

Tacitus is THE authority on the period. Unless we find something better, what he says goes.

[singularity]

Your resistance will continue to be noted!!



I'm not a Roman history major. I tend to prefer the source most poetic (and I've watched a lot of religious/gladiator movies

[Doctor Imperialism]

Originally Posted by singularity

Your resistance will continue to be noted!!
Attachment 178517


I'm not a Roman history major. I tend to prefer the source most poetic (and I've watched a lot of religious/gladiator movies

So if I made a haiku about Hitler being the best person ever, I would automatically be right because I was poetic about it?

[LSCatilina]

Originally Posted by singularity

Your resistance will continue to be noted!!

Could you stop with that?

I'm not a Roman history major. I tend to prefer the source most poetic (and I've watched a lot of religious/gladiator movies

Oh, I see. Well, Alternate Litterature.com is just the door after this one.

Seriously, historical sources tend to be used quite often on an alternate historic website. And we're far from having a degree in Roman History yet.

[CandyDragon]

Originally Posted by singularity

I'm not a Roman history major. I tend to prefer the source most poetic (and I've watched a lot of religious/gladiator movies

I find Tacitus to be, especially in the Latin, pretty damn poetic, and he is one of the most respected historians, period. While he may not be perfect, he is better than having to rely on any other Roman source.

[TyrannusZero]

Originally Posted by singularity

I'm not a Roman history major. I tend to prefer the source most poetic (and I've watched a lot of religious/gladiator movies

Maxiumus: [removes helmet and turns around to face Singularity] My name is Maximus Decimus Meridius, commander of the Armies of the North, General of the Felix Legions, loyal servant to the true emperor, Marcus Aurelius. Father to a murdered son, husband to a murdered wife. And your incessant use of a stupid internet meme of a silly little children's show and calling respected sources "revisionists" says to me, one thing, and one thing only about you:

You suck.

[Superwes]

Originally Posted by singularity

(and I've watched a lot of religious/gladiator movies

Well gee I guess that makes you an expert doesn't it? Let's make this chap a mod!