Biographies of Nero

Abstract

Nero was a selfish child inappropriately obsessed with the “arts,” he was irresponsible when it came to governance. A cruel tyrant whose viciousness was revealed over time, he did not bear up under adversity. This characterization is communicated to us first and foremost in the writings of two historians, Cornelius Tacitus and Cassius Dio Cocceianus, and one biographer, Suetonius Tranquillus. Their writings stand between us and the historical Nero, whoever that may be attempts to tease an historical Nero from the myth (Griffin attempts to tease an historical Nero from the myth; Champlin provides context for his behavior; Barton relates the tradition to conventional invective). Tacitus and Suetonius wrote Nero's story within a short time of one another in the second and early third decades of the second century, 40-50 years after his death, and represent a second generation of the historiography of his reign.

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