Nero the Imperial Misfit: Philhellenism in a Rich Man's World

Abstract

Nero's seemingly radical innovations in social practices and rituals broke with tradition and fundamentally realigned communication between the emperor and the people. Nero lived in the glitter of a rich man's world - irrespective of the fact that after his father's death in AD 40 Suetonius downgrades him to “almost destitute and needy. Both Nero's philhellenism and the sheer unworldliness are evident in his decision to fuse in return to Rome in AD 67 models from both Greek and Roman culture into an artificial new work of performance art. Like his great role-model Augustus, he conceived his political role while emperor as a drama, theatrically presented in a series of ever-changing images - as Lord of the Golden Age, Liberator of the Greeks, Universal Victor, and latter-day Phoebus Apollo with his lyre, sun-chariot and radiate crown.

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