Nero exhibition

[John W Davison]

I went along to the Nero exhibition at the British museum last month and was quite surprised how much material was on display which would be of interest to Roman army aficionados/aficionadas, in addition to the more predictable coverage of metropolitan aspects of his reign.

As well as various military gear such as swords and helmets from frontier sites in Germany (Mainz/Xanten) and civil war sites such as Cremona, there was a set of horse trappings marked with the name of Pliny also from Germany, various terra cotta tiles showing Parthian archers and lancers, military material from conflict in Britain itself (reflecting the ongoing conquest and the Boudican revolt during his reign) and most spectacularly the relief of the Praetorians which I think resides normally in the Louvre's annex site at Lens.

Showing until 24 October 2021 if you are able to get to London (so there is probably just about time to finish self-isolating/quarantining by then!).

John

[Renatus]

Is there a decent guidebook to go with it that might offer some compensation to those who cannot attend?

[John W Davison]

Is there a decent guidebook to go with it that might offer some compensation to those who cannot attend?

I don't tend to buy the BM guidebooks for the exhibitions as these tend to be quite large and expensive and add to the large pile of former trees that fill large parts of the house!  In this case there is a fairly cheap paperback available.  They are usually well-illustrated but I am not sure whether this one has all the military artefacts if that is what you are after.  The Nero book is not the full-exhibition catalogue style book that they usually do - e.g. the book that went with the Egypt Faith After the Pharaohs" exhibition from a few years ago - see links to compare:

 Nero: the Man Behind the Myth, Exhibition Highlights (britishmuseumshoponline.org)

Buy Egypt Faith After The Pharaoh’S Exhibition Catalogue Paperback Online - The British Museum (britishmuseumshoponline.org)

John

[Renatus]

Thank you. I thought that for six quid I couldn't go too far wrong but the ordering and payment process became so tortuous that I gave up. I may try again later.

[John W Davison]

Thank you.  I thought that for six quid I couldn't go too far wrong but the ordering and payment process became so tortuous that I gave up.  I may try again later.

I googled this and the BM does actually have a full book but they have not managed to get it out in time for the first few months of the exhibition (not the best plan, commercially).  If you don't mind subsidising Jeff Bezos' pointless space trips and alimony, you can get the full catalogue here (PB or HB) with minimal administrative effort.  I looked up the same title at the Book Depositary but annoyingly it is cheaper on Amazon!

Nero: the man behind the myth: Amazon.co.uk: Opper, Thorsten: 9780714122915: Books

Nero : Thorsten Opper : 9780714122915 (bookdepository.com)

Regards, John

[Nathan Ross]

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.

[MonsGraupius]

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.

This revisionism is endemic in History to the extent they are just making a lot of it up. I suspect the cause is that you cannot get a PhD without saying something "new", which means that when examining texts that have been poured over for centuries, the only way to get a PhD now, is to literally invent new history or new (sexist) themes. But, in order to make up these new histories, they have to dismiss inconvient facts that get in the way of their pet theories. Which is why academics now call people like Tacitus "a liar" ... because they have to find a way to dismiss works that are inconvenient.

But, I suppose it makes an excellent foundation for a career in politics.

[Nathan Ross]

revisionism is endemic in History... you cannot get a PhD without saying something "new"

Although to be fair we should stress that history is all about saying new things about the past.

Historians are and always have been reinterpreting, reassessing and straightforward revising the accepted narratives; once they stop doing so (or are prevented from doing so) our ability to understand and to think about the past would quickly ossify. Such a development would suit only those who insist that there can be one story about the past, from which none shall deviate.

In that light, exhibitions like the BM Nero do help to illuminate the distortions and mutations of the historical record, and our inability simply to present 'the facts' about the past. Bias is implicit in our every word and thought. My problem with this particular exhibit was what I saw as a disingenousness about the ways we understand the past, and the sorts of evidence we use to do so.

[MonsGraupius]

revisionism is endemic in History... you cannot get a PhD without saying something "new"

Although to be fair we should stress that history is all about saying new things about the past.

Historians are and always have been reinterpreting, reassessing and straightforward revising the accepted narratives; once they stop doing so (or are prevented from doing so) our ability to understand and to think about the past would quickly ossify. Such a development would suit only those who insist that there can be one story about the past, from which none shall deviate.

In that light, exhibitions like the BM Nero do help to illuminate the distortions and mutations of the historical record, and our inability simply to present 'the facts' about the past. Bias is implicit in our every word and thought. My problem with this particular exhibit was what I saw as a disingenousness about the ways we understand the past, and the sorts of evidence we use to do so.

But much of the revisionism, isn't about history, instead it is using the past to push a current political viewpoint ... or in the case of Saint Patrick's birthplace (where the early biographies say where it is, so there isn't any real question), it's just cheap advertising of some place by falsely manufacturing a connection to a historic personality deliberately mangling the historical record.

But what really annoys me, is the way all those people who have tried to shoe horn events like the battle of Mons Graupius (or Boudica's last stand) to fit their own fancy, have used the device of stating (without any proof) that historians like Tacitus undoubtedly lied in the most laughable way that would have been obvious at the time ... merely to discount the clearly evidence in their texts that contradict their own fancies. (Edit: and to be absolutely clear, that is not true of the debates here ... where I think people are genuinely trying to follow the evidence to see where it leads, and certainly not mangling the evidence to fit a political objective)

So, on Saint Patrick, the early biographies place his birth in Strathclyde. So, those trying to place his birth elsewhere dismiss Scotland by saying "he spoke Latin so must have been born in England". The reality, is that Patrick himself apologises for the poor standard of his Latin making it clear he was not a native speaker of Latin, so was not born in a Latin speaking area.

Likewise, Tacitus records a long speech by Calgacus before the battle of Mons Graupius, in which he gives many details of the battlefield such as "the Romans ... in sight of the sea". That is inconvenient for anyone who's been asked to fabricate a case for some hillock miles from the sea, so they use the device "Of course these battle speeches are all made up". There is absolutely no evidence to support that assertion, and there is no reason whatsoever why Tacitus would make up details about a battlefield (such as being in sight of the sea) which could be so easily checked by asking any of the Romans who were there. It would be like Thatcher talking about the falkland war, including a battle speech talking about the coconut trees and mango** swamp in the Falklands. Even if the speech were fiction, such incidental details about the battlefield serve absolutely no purpose other than to discredit the writer if they are wrong. Yet modern "historians", blatantly assert they were made up and deliberately falsified. That tells us more about the attitude of modern historians about there expectation that (their) history is a lie than about Tacitus.

So, those using these devices are not revising history, but instead deliberately falsifying it. It is not a reinterpretation but a falsification.

**Of course I meant mangrove, but I'm not correcting (as it highlights a point about errors and) I like the idea of Thatcher being quizzed on "Mango swamps".

[Condottiero Magno]

Thank you.  I thought that for six quid I couldn't go too far wrong but the ordering and payment process became so tortuous that I gave up.  I may try again later.

I googled this and the BM does actually have a full book but they have not managed to get it out in time for the first few months of the exhibition (not the best plan, commercially).  If you don't mind subsidising Jeff Bezos' pointless space trips and alimony, you can get the full catalogue here (PB or HB) with minimal administrative effort.  I looked up the same title at the Book Depositary but annoyingly it is cheaper on Amazon!

Nero: the man behind the myth: Amazon.co.uk: Opper, Thorsten: 9780714122915: Books

Nero : Thorsten Opper : 9780714122915 (bookdepository.com)

Regards, John

Won't be out on Amazon.com til late August and don't feel the urge to order from Amazon UK, though I have had pleasant experiences with them in the past, in contrast with The Book Depository which I'd compare with Ryanair! IIRC, TBD was acquired by Amazon years ago and I don't know why they're still around, as the prices are comparable, but the customer service is awful: received a book with a corner of a spine missing and another with a slashed cover, yet all I was offered was a slight discount with the latter or return at my own expense and treated like a liar. Amazon UK once sent me a damaged book in an improperly packaged box and told me to keep it and sent a replacement.

[John W Davison]

Thank you.  I thought that for six quid I couldn't go too far wrong but the ordering and payment process became so tortuous that I gave up.  I may try again later.

I googled this and the BM does actually have a full book but they have not managed to get it out in time for the first few months of the exhibition (not the best plan, commercially).  If you don't mind subsidising Jeff Bezos' pointless space trips and alimony, you can get the full catalogue here (PB or HB) with minimal administrative effort.  I looked up the same title at the Book Depositary but annoyingly it is cheaper on Amazon!

Nero: the man behind the myth: Amazon.co.uk: Opper, Thorsten: 9780714122915: Books

Nero : Thorsten Opper : 9780714122915 (bookdepository.com)

Regards, John

Won't be out on Amazon.com til late August and don't feel the urge to order from Amazon UK, though I have had pleasant experiences with them in the past, in contrast with The Book Depository which I'd compare with Ryanair! IIRC, TBD was acquired by Amazon years ago and I don't know why they're still around, as the prices are comparable, but the customer service is awful: received a book with a corner of a spine missing and another with a slashed cover, yet all I was offered was a slight discount with the latter or return at my own expense and treated like a liar. Amazon UK once sent me a damaged book in an improperly packaged box and told me to keep it and sent a replacement.

There is always Blackwells, which is also a very nice "actual" bookshop if you can make it into the centre of Oxford:

Search results for nero the man Blackwell's (blackwells.co.uk)

 - but even Blackwells sends out the occasional bashed book, so for mail order I think the safest bet is indeed Amazon as they do at least send a replacement if the product is damaged.

Amazon might have to ramp up prices soon as he has upped his discount offer to NASA!

Jeff Bezos offers Nasa $2bn discount for lunar contract | Financial Times (ft.com)