New Book from Dando-Collins: Great Fire of Rome

[Narukami]

Stephen Dando-Collins has a new book out (published this month): The Great Fire of Rome: The Fall of the Emperor Nero and His City. :?

http://www.amazon.com/Great-Fire-Rome-F ... _ir_all_12

Product Details
Hardcover: 288 pages
Publisher: Da Capo Press (September 7, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0306818906
ISBN-13: 978-0306818905
Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.4 x 1.1 inches

Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Australian-born historian Dando-Collins vividly recreates one of history's most famous events. On a warm summer night in 64 C.E., a small fire broke out in a Roman shop; fanned by winds, the fire spread quickly, destroying huge parts of the city. The emperor, Nero, an accomplished lyre player and singer, was in Antium for a singing competition, and when news of the fire reached him, he reluctantly set sail for home. Nero announced an ambitious rebuilding plan, with bounties for landowners who completed reconstruction of buildings on their land in a prescribed period. Nero also planned for wider streets, which made him unpopular with many. Seeking to assign blame for the fire, Nero settled on the priests of Isis, persecuting them at public festivals. This drew the ire of Nero's critics, who believed the emperor himself had set the fire. Nero spent the last four years of his life in seclusion. Drawing heavily upon the conflicting accounts of the fire and Nero's rise and demise in the works of Roman historians Tacitus, Suetonius, and Cassius Dio, historian Dando-Collins energetically recreates the days leading up to the fire, the conflagration itself, and the subsequent decline of Nero's fortunes. 8 pages of b&w photos, maps.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Publishers Weekly, 7/26/10
“Dando-Collins vividly recreates one of history’s most famous events…Dando-Collins energetically recreates the days leading up to the fire, the conflagration itself, and the subsequent decline of Nero’s fortunes.”

If nothing else, Dando-Collins is a prolific writer. :| ? |

Narukami

[JeffF]

Since his original book Caesar's Legion was filled with so many made up facts or assumptions presented as facts I would never buy anything from this author.

[Jona Lendering]

Since his original book Caesar's Legion was filled with so many made up facts or assumptions presented as facts I would never buy anything from this author.

The trouble is that he's not alone. As some members know, I published a little book on common errors on ancient history; of the 50 that I discussed, 37 were found in books by people with a Ph.D., employed by universities.

[Narukami]

Speaking of which...

Jona, is there ever going to be an English language edition of that book? :?

Or...

Did I miss its publication? :oops:

:wink:

Narukami

[Phaichtos]

Since his original book Caesar's Legion was filled with so many made up facts or assumptions presented as facts I would never buy anything from this author.

The trouble is that he's not alone. As some members know, I published a little book on common errors on ancient history; of the 50 that I discussed, 37 were found in books by people with a Ph.D., employed by universities.

Are you serious? That is kind of apalling :o

[Jona Lendering]

Jona, is there ever going to be an English language edition of that book? :?

I don't think so; but look here.

[ScipioAsina]

Haven't read anything by Dando-Collins, but it looks like he's also trying to rewrite early Christian history. Priests of Isis, saw what?

[Robert Vermaat]

he's also trying to rewrite early Christian history.

Are you referring to Roman history or the early Christian version of that? :wink:

[M. Demetrius]

History is always written by the survivors, and favors the winners in the conflict. No doubt somebody using a church candle....

That part of town was reportedly pretty decripit, and made of cheaply constructed wood-frame buildings. Once the fire started, by whatever means, it was inevitable it would be a disaster. I've (before reading that review below) always read that Nero blamed the Christians, starting a pogrom of sorts to eliminate their influence. That, too, could be propaganda, but there are various reports of people of different religions who refused to say emperors were gods who were killed in creative ways in arenas. I dunno. One man's propaganda is another's core belief. I don't think the Spartacus (Kirk Douglas version) is accurate, but still -- it makes a good story.

Thanks for the list of errors, though. Maybe it was the Druids that set the fire. :wink:

[Narukami]

Jona, is there ever going to be an English language edition of that book? :?

I don't think so; but look here.

Thanks Jona -- this book needs to be published in English.

Now, how to make that happen...
:?

Narukami

[ScipioAsina]

I understand that Nero probably was not guilty of starting the fires, but that his actions afterward led people to believe he was. He then tried to make scapegoats out of the Christians, who, according to Tacitus, "were made objects of amusement; they were clothed in hides of beasts and torn to death by dogs; others were crucified, others were set on fire to illuminate the night after sunset." (Annals 15.44) This had the unintended consequence of making some Romans sympathetic to the Christians. I was never aware that the priests of Isis were targeted, as Dando-Collins claims.

[Phaichtos]

Jona, is there ever going to be an English language edition of that book? :?

I don't think so; but look here.

Thanks for that, Jona!

On a related note, you have a new PM from yours truly

[philsidnell]

Jona, is there ever going to be an English language edition of that book? :?

I don't think so; but look here.

Thanks Jona -- this book needs to be published in English.

Now, how to make that happen...
:?

Narukami

Well, not for want of trying. Jona, I'll PM you soon

Phil
Pen & Sword Books

[MARCvSVIBIvSMAvRINvS]

When suffering from Dando-Collins :

http://www.nooooooooooooooo.com/

Click and press button.

M.VIB.M.

[Nathan Ross]

A little late in the day, but I finally had a look through this book and was not impressed (not that I expected to be, really...). It's as riven with errors, speculations masquerading as facts and straightforward inventions as the other titles by this author.

The theory that followers of Isis were blamed for the fire is casually suggested in the introduction, and thereafter taken as established fact. The reasoning is that Romans didn't like Egyptians, had persecuted the Isis cult in the past, and so probably did again. Also that Egyptians worshipped a dog-headed god, so having them torn to pieces with dogs made sense. No it doesn't. D-C rewrites the passage from Tacitus supposedly mentioning Christians to read 'followers of Isis' instead!

Even his geography is off. He believes the 'Aemilian property' of Tigellinus (praedia Aemiliana Tigellini), where the second fire broke out, was the Basilica Aemilia in the Forum. Actually it was surely located in the Aemiliana district, in the southeast of the Campus Martius, exactly where Tacitus says it was. Any decent topography of Rome would have made that clear.

Meanwhile - have there been any good books, or even good chapters in other books, about the Great Fire, or the role of the Vigils? The only title I can find on the latter is a slim volume published in the 1920s...

- Nathan