Apollo in Arms: Nero at the Frontier

Abstract

Nero was very much concerned to show himself as a successful commander and diplomat. The favorite contrast between militarism and cultural pursuits was readily resolved in Nero's favorite figure of Apollo. While Nero pointed to Apollo as his precedent and archetype in music and the like, he could also insist upon Apollo as a god of war. Apollo was a very military deity as well as a patron of culture, as Augustus had already made clear. Meanwhile, Nero's multiple concerns with the Greek east - with Greece itself, with Alexandria, with the Caucasus and above all with Armenia and the Parthians - suggest a consistent commitment there. Meanwhile there are strong enough indications of Nero's personal good standing in the east. While the close chronology of events at the frontier under Nero is often uncertain, the broad picture of his engagement with the Greek east in particular is very clear.

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