07-20-2021, 01:46 PM
I went to the exhibition last month too. There is some quite nice stuff on display, although not much truly new (the most interesting was the heat-distorted iron grille from the vicinity of the Circus Maximus, and the animated map showing the course of the AD64 fire).
Overall I was most struck by the level of revisionism. The organisers were so keen to show 'the man behind the myth' that they often ignored the myth (ie the literary record) entirely. Anyone who had not already read Suetonius, Tacitus and Dio would get the impression that Nero was a great man, beloved by one and all. The reasons for his overthrow and subsequent notoriety are left unexamined, beyond a few allusions to the jealousy of the 'elites'.
It's a shame, as there could have been a truly fascinating show about the contrast between 'man' and 'myth' - or rather, between the official propaganda of a colossal tyrant, and subsequent snarky histories written by men who despised him. That way, we might better appreciate that neither view is objective.
Overall I was most struck by the level of revisionism. The organisers were so keen to show 'the man behind the myth' that they often ignored the myth (ie the literary record) entirely. Anyone who had not already read Suetonius, Tacitus and Dio would get the impression that Nero was a great man, beloved by one and all. The reasons for his overthrow and subsequent notoriety are left unexamined, beyond a few allusions to the jealousy of the 'elites'.
It's a shame, as there could have been a truly fascinating show about the contrast between 'man' and 'myth' - or rather, between the official propaganda of a colossal tyrant, and subsequent snarky histories written by men who despised him. That way, we might better appreciate that neither view is objective.
Nathan Ross
