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fXVBaX"><div class="IameEmbedAspectRatWrapper-hFVJps BKpgQ"><iame class="IameEmbedContent-cMdiev csnuAY IameEmbedContent lazyload" height="90" width="100%" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-orig allow-popups" tle="Embedd Frame" data-src=" allowfullscreen="" allow="toplay *; encrypted-media *; clipboard-wre; toplay; fullscreen; picture--picture"></iame></div></div></figure><p class="has-dropp has-dropp__lead-standard-headg paywall">Nero, who was enthroned Rome 54 A.D., at the age of sixteen, and went on to le for nearly a and a half, veloped a reputatn for tyranny, murro celty, and nce that has survived for nearly two thoand years. Acrdg to var Roman historians, he missned the assassatn of Agrippa the Younger—his mother and sometime lover. He sought to poison her, then to have her cshed by a fallg ceilg or drowned a self-skg boat, before ultimately havg her murr disguised as a suici. Nero was betrothed at eleven and married at fifteen, to his adoptive stepsister, Cldia Octavia, the dghter of the emperor Cldi. At the age of twenty-four, Nero divorced her, banished her, orred her bound wh her wrists sl, and had her suffoted a steam bath. He received her pated head when was livered to his urt. He also murred his send wife, the noblewoman Poppaea Saba, by kickg her the belly while she was pregnant.</p><p class="paywall">Nero’s profligacy went beyond slghterg his neart and art. He spent a fortune buildg an ornate palace, only to have burn down, along wh the rt of the cy of Rome, a nflagratn that lasted for more than a week. Nero watched the stctn om a safe elevatn, sgg of the cimatn of Troy. He was famo for never wearg the same garment twice. He sought out sexual thrills like a hog snufflg for tffl. He had a favored eedman, Spos, strated, then married him a ceremony which Spos was drsed the tradnal garb of a bri and Nero played the groom. Later, Nero repeated the ceremony wh another of his eedmen playg the groom while he adopted the role of bri, sans stratn; the psdo-nuptials were nsummated on a uch full view of guts at a banquet. He was attentn-seekg, petulant, arbrary. He had the senator Publi Clodi Thrasea Paet murred on the ground that his exprsns were overly melancholic.</p><p class="paywall">No wonr Nero’s name beme a byword for generacy. “Let not ever / The soul of Nero enter this firm bosom,” Hamlet remds himself as he prepar to nont Gert over her marriage to Cldi, rolvg to “speak daggers to her but e none.” In the twentieth century, Nero was memorialized by the lurid, Amy Award-nomated performance of Peter Ustov the 1951 Hollywood epic “Quo Vadis,” which Ustov wore purple rob, kicked servants at will, and plumy sisted that <a href=">Sene</a>, his tutor turned adviser, acknowledge his omnipotence. In a more recent popular pictn, a TV movie directed by the late Pl Marc, Nero is reprented as a pretty-boy prce trmatized by havg wnsed his father beg murred by the emperor <a href=">Caligula</a>; Nero starts his reign wh good tentns before embarkg upon his own program of Caligula-style excs. His popular reputatn even featur that prehensive talogue of humany “<a href=">The Simpsons</a>,” an episo which Homer tak his evangelil neighbor, Ned Flanrs, to Las Vegas for an experiment pravy. After a night of boozg at the tabl, they wake to fd that each has married a cktail wars om the hotel so where they are stayg: Nero’s Palace.</p><div><div class="ConsumerMarketgUnThemedWrapper-iUTMTf jssHut nsumer-marketg-un nsumer-marketg-un--article-mid-ntent" role="prentatn" aria-hidn="te"><div class="nsumer-marketg-un__slot nsumer-marketg-un__slot--article-mid-ntent nsumer-marketg-un__slot---ntent"></div><div class="journey-un"></div></div></div><p class="paywall">All of this, acrdg to some recent scholars, is at bt an exaggeratn and at worst a fabritn: a narrative rived om biased histori, wrten s after Nero died, that relied on dub sourc. Nero was the last of the Jul-Cldian emperors, and the posthumo acunts were lculated part to nigrate this dynastic le and burnish the reputatns of s succsors. Depictns of Nero as notor are “based on a source narrative that is partisan,” Thorsten Opper, a curator the Greek and Roman divisn of the <a href=">Brish Mm</a>, told me recently. The mm has jt opened an exhibn that, if not que aimg to rehabilate Nero, challeng his grotque reputatn. “Anythg you thk you know about Nero is based on manipulatn and li that are two thoand years old,” Opper, the show’s lead curator, said. Ined, some of the stori told about Nero, such as the sayg that he “fiddled while Rome burned,” are patently absurd: vls weren’t vented until the sixteenth century.</p><p class="has-dropp has-dropp__lead-standard-headg paywall">Most of what has been passed down about Nero om three historians: Tac, who <a data-offer-url=" class="external-lk" data-event-click="{"element":"ExternalLk","outgogURL":"" href=" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">portrays him</a> as havg “polluted himself by every lawful or lawls dulgence”; Cassi D, who scrib Nero skulkg gno through Rome at night while “sultg women,” “practicg lewdns on boys,” and “beatg, woundg, and murrg” others; and Suetoni, who claims that Nero, havg n through the ual roster of vic, vented a perversn of his own at public gam that he hosted, which he would put on an animal sk and “assail wh vlence the private parts both of men and women, while they were bound to stak.”</p><p class="paywall">Morn scholars have termed that many of the trop ed to characterize Nero’s pravi bear a remarkable siary to lerary acunts of mythil events. Opper said, “The whole thg is based on lerary techniqu that were tght Roman rhetoril schools.” Tac’ and D’s acunts of the Great Fire of Rome, 64 A.D., their tailed evotns of cizens wailg and mothers grabbg their children, closely echo earlier acunts of attacks on ci, pecially the siege of Troy. Nero wasn’t even Rome when the fire started. Moreover, much of what was stroyed was slum hog nstcted by exploative landlords. Durg the fire, Nero “led the relief effort,” Opper’s words, and afterward stuted a new buildg .</p><p class="paywall">Dcriptns of Nero as unhged and licent belong to a rhetoril tradn of personal attack that flourished the Roman urtroom. Opper told me, “They had a term for —<em>vuperat</em>, or ‘vuperatn,’ which meant that you uld say anythg about your opponent. You n really vent all manner of thgs jt to malign that character. And that is exactly the kd of language and stereotyp we fd the source acunts.” The scholar Kirk Frnburg, wrg “<a data-offer-url=" class="external-lk" data-event-click="{"element":"ExternalLk","outgogURL":"" href=" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">The Cambridge Compann to the Age of Nero</a>” (2017), argu that the lurid acunt of the llapsg ship—Nero is said to have sent Agrippa off wh a grand display of affectn, only to have his plot foiled when she swam to safety—“begs to be taken as apocryphal, a ntraptn of the historians’ own clever sign.” Cassi D’s history of ancient Rome suggts that Nero was spired to build a trick vsel after seeg a play which a prop boat sudnly opened up, but Opper argu that the historian himself likely borrowed the ia om the play. Siarly, when Tac wr that Agrippa’s fal gture was to offer her womb up to an assass’s bla, his words mirror a passage om Sene’s “<a data-offer-url=" class="external-lk" data-event-click="{"element":"ExternalLk","outgogURL":"" href=" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Oedip</a>” which Josta seeks to be stabbed the womb “which bore my hband and my sons.” Sene wrote the play around the time of Nero’s le, and ’s possible that his retellg of the mythic story was spired by the actual manner of Agrippa’s ath. But ’s more probable that Sene engaged a dramatic ventn, and that, as Opper suggts, lored Tac’ later acunt of how Agrippa died.</p><div data-attr-viewport-monor="le-recirc" class="le-recirc-wrapper le-recirc-observer-target-1 viewport-monor-anchor"></div><p class="paywall">Some of the current revisnism n seem tennt. In the 2019 book “<a data-offer-url=" class="external-lk" data-event-click="{"element":"ExternalLk","outgogURL":"" href=" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Nero: Emperor and Court</a>,” the Brish classicist John F. Drkwater addrs the even more heo ath of Poppaea. He accepts the historil sourc that scribe an argument between Nero and his wife—Suetoni says that she was angry wh him for g home late om chart racg—but propos that the blow to Poppaea’s belly may have been merely the climax of a “matrimonial row that got out of hand,” addg, “If so Nero was at worst guilty of manslghter.” Opper se no need to downplay domtic abe; rather, he ntends that the over-all acunt of the maral argument nforms to an tablished pattern earlier histori of powerful lears. For a tyrant, “killg your pregnant wife is a topos,” he told me. “It’s applied Roman and Greek history. It’s jt such an evil ed—how much worse n someone be?” Opper said that Nero was eply love wh Poppaea, and sperate for an heir; the uple’s only other child, a dghter, had died recently. In ancient Rome, pregnancy was a hazardo affair, and uld prove fatal even whout an asslt. Opper told me, “You n’t prove eher way, but the evince, I thk, isn’t at all strong to say that he was to blame for .”</p><p class="has-dropp has-dropp__lead-standard-headg paywall">The Brish Mm seeks to build a ls sensatnalist acunt of Nero through the placement and elucidatn of objects: statu, bts, s, scriptns, graffi. A portra emerg of a young, untted lear at the helm of an unwieldy empire that is unr enormo strs. The show’s tenor is tablished by the first object on display: a statue of Nero as a boy of twelve or thirteen. The statue, on loan om the <a href=">Louvre</a>, picts Nero on the cp of manhood, his stat dited by what would at the time have been legible symbols: a bulla, an amulet worn like a locket, nfirms that he is a eeborn boy who has not yet e of age. The ocsn for the statue’s manufacture might have been the marriage of Nero’s mother to his granduncle Cldi, then the emperor, 49 A.D., eight years after the ath of Nero’s father, Gnas Domi Ahenobarb. More likely, the object memorat Cldi’ adoptn of Nero as his heir 50 A.D., the year Nero turned thirteen. The statue would origally have been displayed on a high plth, but at the mm is prented at ground level, so that the viewer is eye to eye wh a child. The lightg sign sts a long shadow: an imperial giant looms.</p><p class="paywall">By the time Nero beme emperor, 54 A.D., the empire’s grip had long been weakeng, and the senatorial and knightly class of Rome often challenged the thory of the emperor, who was only the <em>prceps</em>—the leadg member of their class—rather than a heredary ler. In this light, Nero’s nstctn of the Dom Aurea—a lavish palace that he built after the Great Fire, wh three hundred rooms rated wh and gold leaf—n be seen ls as the exprsn of a luxur appete than as a necsary vtment the perpetual entertament of senators and knights. (That said, the Dom <em>was</em> a b much; acrdg to Suetoni, the buildg’s ceilgs had secret partments om which flower petals or drops of scented unguents were released onto guts’ heads.)</p><div class="Contaer-bkChBi byNLHx"></div><p class="paywall">Material evince the exhibn dit that when Nero ascend the throne he ially garnered the support of the Senate. Cldi had mted s which his portra was paired wh an image of the Praetorian Guard’s barracks—a dntg display of ary domatn. Nero asserted his legimacy by scribg the s ma for his accsn wh imag of an oak wreath, which was tradnally btowed as an honor by the Senate.</p><p class="paywall">One of the most strikg aspects of Nero’s early le was the elevated role of his mother, Agrippa. Gold s issued shortly after Nero beme emperor show him profile, nose to nose, wh his mother, whose tl are given: “Wife of the Deified Cldi, Mother of Nero Caar.” On a large marble relief that was created after Nero’s elevatn, Agrippa is shown placg a crown on Nero’s head, as if she were rponsible for his ascent. In the year after his accsn, a gold was mted pictg mother and son parallel. To the nservative historians who later gave acunts of this perd, Agrippa’s promence unrsred the unnatural qualy of Nero’s reign. Tac srned Nero for beg “led by a woman.” The alleged ct between mother and son was, this tellg, part of Agrippa’s sperate effort to reta power after her hband’s ath. Tac wr that, when Nero was “flhed wh we and feastg,” Agrippa “prented herself attractively attired to her half toxited son and offered him her person.”</p><figure class="AssetEmbedWrapper-eVDQiB byBkf asset-embed"><div class="AssetEmbedAssetContaer-eJxoAx dBHGoQ asset-embed__asset-ntaer"><span class="SpanWrapper-umhxW kKwZhx rponsive-asset AssetEmbedRponsiveAsset-cXBNxi eCxVQK asset-embed__rponsive-asset"><div data-attr-viewport-monor="" class="RponsiveCartoonWrapper-iTMMjI eXTYsS rponsive-rtoon AssetEmbedRponsiveAsset-cXBNxi eCxVQK asset-embed__rponsive-asset viewport-monor-anchor"><a class="external-lk rponsive-rtoon__image-lk" data-event-click="{"element":"ExternalLk","outgogURL":"" href=" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"><picture class="RponsiveImagePicture-cWuUZO dUOtEa RponsiveCartoonImage-hzNqyc ikeCcH rponsive-rtoon__image rponsive-image"><noscript><img alt="Couple sharg an umbrella and walkg the ra." class="RponsiveImageContaer-eybHBd fptoWY rponsive-image__image" src=" srcSet=" 120w, 240w, 320w, 640w, 960w, 1280w, 1600w" siz="100vw"/></noscript></picture></a><div class="CaptnWrapper-jSZdqE gdZTpI ptn RponsiveCartoonCaptn-dokfdF hJgaLQ rponsive-rtoon__ptn"><span class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ CaptnText-bHjzlu iUEiRd hWyo bsWloa ptn__text">“Bis the umbrella, give me one good reason to stay together.”</span></div><div class="CaptnWrapper-jSZdqE iTuhkZ ptn RponsiveCartoonCred-bKlQqO faLAFb rponsive-rtoon__cred"><span class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ CaptnCred-ejegDm iUEiRd iicloT bmQtfn ptn__cred">Cartoon by Liza Donnelly</span></div><div class="RponsiveCartoonCTA-eiqqMB iDCQRs"><div class="RponsiveCartoonCTAWrapper-CYIqa iTbFtf"><div class="RponsiveCartoonLkButtonWrapper-hqDAJK eSEhbj"><button aria-label="Copy lk to rtoon" class="BaseButton-bLlsy ButtonWrapper-xCepQ bqVKKv YsOBB button button--primary-pair RponsiveCartoonInButton-hBCBMq lpsjql" data-event-click="{"element":"Button"}" data-ttid="Button" type="button"><span 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13.2643 7.70873 12.965 7.46959 12.8299C7.23044 12.6948 6.92464 12.775 6.78657 13.009L5.53657 15.1278C4.432 17 5.0875 19.394 7.00068 20.475C8.91385 21.5558 11.3602 20.9144 12.4648 19.0422L14.4648 15.6521C15.5694 13.78 14.9139 11.3859 13.0007 10.305C12.8127 10.1988 12.6195 10.1091 12.4229 10.0357C12.2195 9.95975 11.9956 10.0515 11.8867 10.236C11.7221 10.5151 11.8911 10.8724 12.1932 11.0008C12.2973 11.0451 12.4 11.0956 12.5007 11.1525C13.9356 11.9632 14.4272 13.7587 13.5988 15.1628L11.5988 18.5529C10.7704 19.957 8.93555 20.4382 7.50068 19.6274C6.0658 18.8167 5.57417 17.0212 6.4026 15.6171L7.6526 13.4983Z" fill="black"></path></g><fs><clipPath id="clip0_3732_178637"><rect width="24" height="24" fill="whe"></rect></clipPath><clipPath id="clip1_3732_178637"><rect width="24" height="24" fill="whe"></rect></clipPath></fs></svg></div></button><div class="AlertWrapper-gvFATk MdjE RponsiveCartoonLkAlertPopup-BPAXn kdMXRM shoppg-alert" role="dialog"><div aria-hidn="te" role="prentatn" 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20C8.48424 20 8.03652 19.5523 8.03652 19C8.03652 18.4477 8.48424 18 9.03652 18C9.58881 18 10.0365 18.4477 10.0365 19ZM11.0365 19C11.0365 20.1046 10.1411 21 9.03652 21C7.93195 21 7.03652 20.1046 7.03652 19C7.03652 17.8954 7.93195 17 9.03652 17C10.1411 17 11.0365 17.8954 11.0365 19ZM18.0365 19C18.0365 19.5523 17.5888 20 17.0365 20C16.4842 20 16.0365 19.5523 16.0365 19C16.0365 18.4477 16.4842 18 17.0365 18C17.5888 18 18.0365 18.4477 18.0365 19ZM19.0365 19C19.0365 20.1046 18.1411 21 17.0365 21C15.932 21 15.0365 20.1046 15.0365 19C15.0365 17.8954 15.932 17 17.0365 17C18.1411 17 19.0365 17.8954 19.0365 19Z" fill="black"></path></g><fs><clipPath id="clip0_3732_178638"><rect width="24" height="24" fill="whe"></rect></clipPath><clipPath id="clip1_3732_178638"><rect width="24" height="24" fill="whe"></rect></clipPath></fs></svg></div></button></div></div></div></span></div></figure><p class="paywall">In the mm’s talogue, Opper wr that “there seems ltle reason now to take any of this serly, beyond what reveals about the thors volved.” In the Brish Mm’s prentatn, Agrippa’s securg of power is portrayed as evince of her telligence and her remarkable polil abili, particularly given the nstrats of a patriarchal society. The age om Nero’s reign also documents her eclipse. A few years after his accsn, Nero is picted alone. By 59 A.D. Agrippa was ad, at the age of forty-three, and though her mise probably did not volve self-skg vsels at sea, Nero do seem to have been rponsible for havg her stabbed to ath. Opper suggts that Nero appears to have “sacrificed” her to appease Rome’s senatorial éle, who rented her terventns public affairs. Although matrici was generally regard as a terrible crime by the ancient Romans, Opper pots out that other nvenient women of the perd also met harsh fat: Julia, the only child of the emperor Augt, was banished by her father and died exile. “Mothers obvly have a special stat, but is a mistake to look at Nero isolatn,” Opper told me. “You lose sight of the past patterns, and what they tell about the valu of this strange society.”</p><p class="has-dropp has-dropp__lead-standard-headg paywall">Nero’s monic reputatn also clash wh evince that he was beloved by the Roman people. Alongsi official portras of the Emperor—the bts and statu—the Brish Mm clus a digized reproductn of a graffo scratched to a buildg on the Palate Hill. The image, which match pictns of Nero on survivg age, shows him beard and full-faced, wh an ample double ch, and a ht of a se on pursed lips. Opper tak the portra to be admirg, rather than satiril, notg that no graffied slogan suggts otherwise. Nero, he reports, was wily seen by the Roman public as youthful and vigoro. Suetoni not that Nero, after beg emperor, permted members of the public to watch him exercise, monstratg a physil prows that was marked ntrast to Cldi, who had been ill and ail.</p><p class="paywall">Nero enacted tax and currency reforms, steps that may have been unpopular wh the wealthy but were weled by the broar public. The emperor Trajan, who me to power thirty years after Nero died, is said to have spoken of the “ququennium Neronis”—the five good years of Nero’s fourteen-year le. Trajan did not ce a specific perd, but as emperor Nero took var measur that were approved of and, tellgly, retaed or built on by later lears. He erected a new marketplace and a spectacular plex of public baths, which allowed ordary cizens to dulge ablutnary pleasur prevly rerved for the wealthy. At the end of the first century, the satiril poet Martial quipped, “Who was ever worse than Nero? Yet what n be better than Nero’s warm baths?”</p><p class="paywall">The Roman public also admired an aspect of Nero’s character that was much cricized by his later judg: his love of theatrily, the arts, and spectacle. Nero enjoyed sgg, and Suetoni <a data-offer-url=" class="external-lk" data-event-click="{"element":"ExternalLk","outgogURL":"" href=" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">wr</a> that he “equently claimed public, and reced vers of his own posg, not only at home, but the theatre.” The performanc were “so much to the joy of all the people” that “the vers which had been publicly read, were, after beg wrten gold letters, nsecrated to Juper Capol.” Nero’s provisn of public gam and other entertaments further ntributed to his populary. The Brish Mm’s show featur a terra-tta figure showg two gladiators bat, of the sort that were mass-produced as souvenirs. At the ntts, vlence sometim spilled out of the arena. Durg one gladiatorial match Pompeii, 59 A.D., fightg broke out among supporters of rival batants, rultg such a disturbance that the Roman Senate placed a ten-year ban on such events. Nero tervened to have the ban rced, which surely add to his public support.</p></div></div></div><div class="GridItem-buujkM fVLMby grid--em grid-layout__asi"><asi class="PersistentAsiWrapper-VGrR daRVRt persistent-asi" style="posn:absolute;top:to;height:to" data-ttid="PersistentAsiWrapper"><div class="StickyBoxWrapper-jfYB jxBcTH sticky-box"><div class="StickyBoxPrimary-dzWDWL cdhYoN sticky-box__primary"><div class="AdWrapper-dQtivb fZrssQ ad ad--rail"><div class="ad__slot ad__slot--rail" data-no-id="79322l"></div></div><div class="ConsumerMarketgUnThemedWrapper-iUTMTf jssHut nsumer-marketg-un nsumer-marketg-un--display-rail" role="prentatn" aria-hidn="te"><div class="nsumer-marketg-un__slot nsumer-marketg-un__slot--display-rail"></div><div class="journey-un"></div></div></div><div class="StickyBoxPlaceholr-grPmrg dxAvXx"></div></div></asi></div></div><div class="RowWrapper-UmqTg HEhan full-bleed-ad row-mid-ntent-ad"><div class="StickyMidContentAdWrapper-fSBzwl drzyIa ad-stickymidntent"><div class="AdWrapper-dQtivb fZrssQ ad ad--mid-ntent should-hold-space"><div class="ad__slot ad__slot--mid-ntent" data-no-id="5lh09n"></div></div></div></div><div class="GridWrapper-cAzTTK kHBDeH grid grid-margs grid-ems-2 ArticlePageChunksGrid-hfxa bjczjj grid-layout--adrail narrow wi-adrail"><div class="GridItem-buujkM stRKV grid--em grid-layout__ntent"><div class="BodyWrapper-kufPGa EOneK body body__ntaer article__body" data-journey-hook="client-ntent" data-ttid="BodyWrapper"><div class="body__ner-ntaer"><p class="paywall">Nero’s champng of fun and gam, however, was sufficient to secure his posn at the top of Roman society, pecially after the Great Fire. “<a data-offer-url=" class="external-lk" data-event-click="{"element":"ExternalLk","outgogURL":"" href=" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Rome Is Burng</a>,” a recent book by the classicist Anthony A. Barrett, argu that wealthy cizens were adversely affected by the aquacy of fire servic durg the nflagratn, and angered when Nero attempted to build his palatial grounds over the s of their ravaged properti. But Opper pots out that members of the éle had already e to dislike Nero. An uprisg Bra so threatened Roman power that Nero had to rerce troops the provce; though the surrectn was feated, the tumult weakened his reputatn. Aristocratic fai who had for generatns nurtured their own aspiratns to imperial ntrol mataed that Nero wasn’t up to the job, and tried to assassate him. (When the plotters were ught, many were forced to m suici.)</p><div data-attr-viewport-monor="le-recirc" class="le-recirc-wrapper le-recirc-observer-target-2 viewport-monor-anchor"></div><p class="paywall">The mm’s exhib emphasiz that Nero was stgglg to hold together an empire that extend om Bra to Armenia. Among the most arrtg ems the exhibn is a bronze head of Nero, which was disvered the River Al, Suffolk, England, jt over a century ago. There is a nt on the left si of the figure’s neck, which some scholars have read as a gture of ntempt: someone apparently cid to batter the art work wh a heavy implement. Nero clearly “need to reach out” to nstuents who me om the empire’s distant outposts, Opper suggts, but certa Roman senators behaved as if they were still nng a cy-state. A rebelln broke out Gl, followed by a more ser challenge to Nero’s power om Servi Sulpici Galba, the Roman ernor of Spa. The Senate turned agast Nero, who fled to a untry tate and killed himself, at the age of thirty. Galba was soon clared emperor.</p><p class="paywall">Dpe Nero’s downfall, not everyone was disenchanted wh him. The show at the Brish Mm remds visors of ocsnal appearanc, the g s, of “false Neros” the eastern part of the empire. The pretenrs to the imperial throne—whose appeal mt have pend on an endurg affectn for Nero—clud one who bore a remarkable physil remblance to him, and even shared his predilectn for mic.</p><p class="has-dropp has-dropp__lead-standard-headg paywall">Mountg a mm show dited to revisg the reputatn of one of history’s most famo lers is a provotive gture at a time when world lears have been exhibg Neronian gtur of their own. While the mm’s staff was stallg the exhibn, the Brish newspapers were filled wh acunts of the alleged profligacy of Prime Mister <a href=">Boris Johnson</a> renovatg the apartment that he shar wh his wife, Carrie Symonds. The expens reportedly soared to a hundred and twenty-five thoand dollars, and a wealthy donor allegedly vered most of them. (Johnson sists that he has paid for the work himself.) Acrdg to a headle the <em>Daily Mail</em>, the new dér clus “gold wallpaper,” suggtg a Dom Aurea on Downg Street. In the Uned Stat, the nt tast of former Print <a href=">Donald Tmp</a> and his fay were on display for four years. He spent as much time as he uld at his gild private rinc; on the rare ocsns that <a href=">Melania Tmp</a> wore the same outf twice, ma headl. Even before Tmp’s Princy began, the publitn of the Steele dossier spread mors of sexual behavr so theatrilly perverse that Nero himself might have tipped his oak wreath rpect. Recent historil experience has remd that polil populary need not be at odds wh effective or even crimally negligent learship. In the sprg of 2020, wh the <a href="><em class="small">COVID</em>-19 crisis</a> igng, Tmp retweeted a photograph of himself playg the fiddle—an act of Neronian trollg.</p><p class="paywall">Opper’s purpose is not to burnish Nero’s reputatn but to show how was nstcted, and to what end. “Who ntrols the narrative?” he asked me. “It’s the people power. If you only subscribe to one person, and read their tweets, you get a very one-sid story.” The story of Nero that emerg the Brish Mm’s rensiratn is more plex and ls salac than the faiar narrative, though Opper acknowledged, “I don’t know if he was <em>good</em>. He certaly wasn’t bad the ways that he was picted. He was a spoiled young aristocrat. But he wasn’t a monster.”</p><p class="paywall">It was almost evable that Nero’s reputatn was cly rema after his ath, sce those who replaced the Augtan le need to secure their own claims to power. The exhibn clus a sculpture of a male figure that illtrat the thls logic of imperial succsn. The sculpture, exvated Carthage, Tunisia, evok the graffied sketch of Nero found on the Palate Hill: the figure has the faiar ntours of Nero’s jowly face and forward-bshed hair. But the man’s face has evintly been altered, wh the addn of wrkl and creas, to transform to the face of a much olr man: Vpasian, who me to power 69 A.D., at the age of sixty. He tablished his own dynasty, the Flavians, who held power for the next three s before themselv succumbg. Not for the last time, the celebratn of a new emperor entailed the disfigurg of Nero. ♦</p><le-embed name="" attrs="[object Object]" childTyp="" ntentType="llout:"><hr class="paywall"/><h2 class="paywall">New Yorker Favor</h2><ul class="paywall"><li>The <a href=">day the dosrs died</a>.</li><li>What if you uld <a href=">do all over</a>?</li><li>A spense novelist leav a <a href=">trail of ceptns</a>.</li><li>The <a href=">art of dyg</a>.</li><li>Can <a href=">readg make you happier</a>?</li><li>A simple gui to <a href=">tote-bag etiquette</a>.</li><li>Sign up for our daily <a href=">newsletter</a> to receive the bt stori om <em>The New Yorker</em>.</li></ul></le-embed></div></div></div><div class="GridItem-buujkM fVLMby grid--em grid-layout__asi"><div class="StickyBoxWrapper-jfYB jxBcTH sticky-box"><div class="StickyBoxPrimary-dzWDWL cdhYoN sticky-box__primary"><div class="AdWrapper-dQtivb fZrssQ ad ad--rail"><div class="ad__slot ad__slot--rail" data-no-id="fdp2u"></div></div><div class="ConsumerMarketgUnThemedWrapper-iUTMTf jssHut nsumer-marketg-un nsumer-marketg-un--display-rail" role="prentatn" aria-hidn="te"><div class="nsumer-marketg-un__slot nsumer-marketg-un__slot--display-rail"></div><div class="journey-un"></div></div></div><div class="StickyBoxPlaceholr-grPmrg dxAvXx"></div></div></div></div></div><div class="GridWrapper-cAzTTK kHBDeH grid grid-margs grid-ems-2 PaywallInleBarrierWhWrapperGrid-fyrGfS kLQIUk grid-layout--adrail narrow wi-adrail"><div class="GridItem-buujkM stRKV grid--em grid-layout__ntent"><div class="body body__le-barrier article__body"><div class="ntaer ntaer--body"><div class="ntaer--body-ner"><asi class="PaywallInleBarrierWrapper-iBnuqk lfXXa-D" data-ttid="PaywallInleBarrierWrapper"><div class="ConsumerMarketgUnThemedWrapper-iUTMTf jssHut nsumer-marketg-un nsumer-marketg-un--paywall-le-barrier" role="prentatn" aria-live="pole" aria-hidn="te"><div class="nsumer-marketg-un__slot nsumer-marketg-un__slot--paywall-le-barrier"></div><div class="journey-un"></div></div></asi></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="GridWrapper-cAzTTK kHBDeH grid grid-margs grid-ems-2 ContentWrapperGrid-fvkmBv brYtrA grid-layout--adrail narrow wi-adrail"><div class="GridItem-buujkM stRKV grid--em grid-layout__ntent"><div class="body body__ntaer"><div class="ntaer ntaer--body"><div class="ntaer--body-ner"></div></div></div></div></div></div></article><div class="ContentFooterWrapper-jVNdRG dTJkpP ArticlePageContentFooterGrid-ccsXYy eMZRHU article-body__footer"><div class="GridWrapper-cAzTTK kHBDeH grid grid-margs grid-ems-2 grid-layout--adrail narrow wi-adrail"><div class="GridItem-buujkM stRKV grid--em grid-layout__ntent"><footer class="ContentFooterMagazeDisclaimer-gzKAqo iZIuUU" data-ttid="MagazeDisclaimerWrapper">Published the prt edn of the <a href="/magaze/2021/06/14" data-reactroot="">June 14, 2021</a>, issue, wh the headle “How Nasty Was Nero?.”</footer></div></div><div class="RowWrapper-UmqTg HEhan"><div class="GridWrapper-cAzTTK kHBDeH grid grid-margs grid-ems-2 grid-layout--adrail narrow wi-adrail"><div class="GridItem-buujkM stRKV grid--em grid-layout__ntent"></div></div></div><div class="RowWrapper-UmqTg HEhan"><div class="GridWrapper-cAzTTK kHBDeH grid grid-margs grid-ems-2 grid-layout--adrail narrow wi-adrail"><div class="GridItem-buujkM stRKV grid--em grid-layout__ntent"><div class="ContributorsWrapper-eNpWFu GWFsc ntributors" data-ttid="Contributors"><div class="ContributorBWrapper-bnVHbt gMon"><div class="ContributorBAvatar-bIGTqf eMWbvj"><a href="/ntributors/rebec-mead"><span class="SpanWrapper-umhxW jvZaPI rponsive-asset"><picture class="RponsiveImagePicture-cWuUZO dUOtEa rponsive-image"><source media="(max-width: 767px)" srcSet=" 120w, 240w" siz="100vw"/><source media="(m-width: 768px)" srcSet=" 120w, 240w" siz="100vw"/><img alt="" class="RponsiveImageContaer-eybHBd fptoWY rponsive-image__image" src="></picture></span></a></div><div class="ContributorBContent-ubQdr jZTSSi"><div class="ContributorBHear-ledood XOIEx"></div><div class="ContributorBB-fBolsO giFhKz"><a href="/ntributors/rebec-mead">Rebec Mead</a> is a staff wrer at The New Yorker. 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class="RponsiveImageContaer-eybHBd fptoWY rponsive-image__image" src="></noscript></picture></div></div></span></a></div><div class="SummaryItemContent-eiDYMl XMZX summary-em__ntent"><div class="RubricWrapper-dKmCNX kImuKS bric bric--disvery SummaryItemRubric-dguGKN lapGFj summary-em__bric"><span class="RubricName-fVtemz cLxcNi">The New Yorker Interview</span></div><a class="SummaryItemHedLk-civM dVrbhU summary-em-trackg__hed-lk summary-em__hed-lk" data-ponent-type="recirc-river" data-recirc-id="em-hed-2" data-recirc-pattern="summary-em" href=" target="_self"><div class="SummaryItemHedBase-hiFYpQ fzzTdh summary-em__hed" data-ttid="SummaryItemHed">How the War Ukrae Ends</div></a><div class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ SummaryItemDek-CRfsi iUEiRd kxnNhB jDyfzW summary-em__k">An ement historian envisns a settlement among Rsia, Ukrae, and the Wt.</div><div class="SummaryItemByleWrapper-boCfbi cuRXdL summary-em__byle-date-in"><div class="SummaryItemBaseByle-fFbXkY cgDBtc 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23.9508V2.95081H14V3.93211H6V22.1845L12.5 18.5536L19 22.1845V8.83866H20V23.9508Z" fill="black"></path><path class="in-bookmark-stroke" d="M23 3H20V0H19V3H16V4H19V7H20V4H23V3Z" fill="black"></path></svg></div></a></li></ul></div></div></div><div class="GridItem-buujkM eHLzLy grid--em"><div class="SplScreenContentHearLeadWrapper-jYfGAC kBeEbL"><div data-ttid="ContentHearLeadAsset" class="SplScreenContentHearLeBlock-nUOA cwQiEB"><span class="SpanWrapper-umhxW jvZaPI rponsive-asset SplScreenContentHearLe-bGywFh gyNssY"><picture class="RponsiveImagePicture-cWuUZO dUOtEa SplScreenContentHearLe-bGywFh gyNssY rponsive-image"><source media="(max-width: 767px)" srcSet=" 120w, 240w, 320w, 640w, 960w" siz="100vw"/><source media="(m-width: 768px)" srcSet=" 120w, 240w, 320w, 640w, 960w, 1280w, 1600w, 1920w, 2240w" siz="100vw"/><img alt="Nero" class="RponsiveImageContaer-eybHBd fptoWY rponsive-image__image" src="></picture></span></div></div></div></div><div class="GridWrapper-cAzTTK eRggVV grid grid-margs grid-ems-0 SplScreenContentHearGrid-kFpOdh fLkIyA"><div class="GridItem-buujkM kHPPIF grid--em"><div class="CaptnWrapper-jSZdqE iTuhkZ ptn SplScreenContentHearCaptn-iOfEOv ckLUKG"><span class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ CaptnText-bHjzlu iUEiRd hWyo iXWezO ptn__text">A show at the Brish Mm offers a ls sensatnalist acunt of Nero’s reign.</span><span class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ CaptnCred-ejegDm iUEiRd iicloT jbIJNS ptn__cred">Illtratn by Bendik Kaltenborn</span></div></div></div></hear></div><div data-attribute-verso-pattern="article-body" class="ArticlePageContentBackGround-cNiFNN kbAoLA article-body__ntent"><div class="ActnBarWrapperContent-lasBkU cAHp"><div class="ActnBarWrapperComponent-cjwxLS bEeSLb"><div data-attr-viewport-monor="" class="ActnBarWrapper-dhxmQh kNjTbQ viewport-monor-anchor"><button id="bookmark" aria-label="Save this story" class="ActnBarButton-dyFOZU hQrwCF bookmark large-screen"><span class="ActnBarSendaryButtonPrimaryIn-isbvyN 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23.9508V2.95081H14V3.93211H6V22.1845L12.5 18.5536L19 22.1845V8.83866H20V23.9508Z"></path><path class="in-bookmark-fill" d="M23 3H20V0H19V3H16V4H19V7H20V4H23V3Z"></path></svg></span><span class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ ActnBarButtonText-bYXYuh iUEiRd bkefvo gkccfO">Save this story</span></button></div></div></div><div class="LightboxWrapper-dxsWBV hhylRt"><div class="ArticlePageChunksContent-etcMtP bwyLBj"><div data-ttid="ArticlePageChunks" class="ArticlePageChunks-fLyCVG Uozmo"><div class="GridWrapper-cAzTTK kHBDeH grid grid-margs grid-ems-2 ArticlePageChunksGrid-hfxa bjczjj grid-layout--adrail narrow wi-adrail"><div class="GridItem-buujkM stRKV grid--em grid-layout__ntent"><div class="BodyWrapper-kufPGa EOneK body body__ntaer article__body" data-journey-hook="client-ntent" data-ttid="BodyWrapper"><div class="body__ner-ntaer"><figure data-ttid="IameEmbed" class="IameEmbedWrapper-sc-dRedg cjyRVU iame-embed"><div data-ttid="IameEmbedContaer" class="IameEmbedContaer-hptgUZ fXVBaX"><div class="IameEmbedAspectRatWrapper-hFVJps BKpgQ"><iame class="IameEmbedContent-cMdiev csnuAY IameEmbedContent lazyload" height="90" width="100%" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-orig allow-popups" tle="Embedd Frame" data-src=" allowfullscreen="" allow="toplay *; encrypted-media *; clipboard-wre; toplay; fullscreen; picture--picture"></iame></div></div></figure><p class="has-dropp has-dropp__lead-standard-headg paywall">Nero, who was enthroned Rome 54 A.D., at the age of sixteen, and went on to le for nearly a and a half, veloped a reputatn for tyranny, murro celty, and nce that has survived for nearly two thoand years. Acrdg to var Roman historians, he missned the assassatn of Agrippa the Younger—his mother and sometime lover. He sought to poison her, then to have her cshed by a fallg ceilg or drowned a self-skg boat, before ultimately havg her murr disguised as a suici. Nero was betrothed at eleven and married at fifteen, to his adoptive stepsister, Cldia Octavia, the dghter of the emperor Cldi. At the age of twenty-four, Nero divorced her, banished her, orred her bound wh her wrists sl, and had her suffoted a steam bath. He received her pated head when was livered to his urt. He also murred his send wife, the noblewoman Poppaea Saba, by kickg her the belly while she was pregnant.</p><p class="paywall">Nero’s profligacy went beyond slghterg his neart and art. He spent a fortune buildg an ornate palace, only to have burn down, along wh the rt of the cy of Rome, a nflagratn that lasted for more than a week. Nero watched the stctn om a safe elevatn, sgg of the cimatn of Troy. He was famo for never wearg the same garment twice. He sought out sexual thrills like a hog snufflg for tffl. He had a favored eedman, Spos, strated, then married him a ceremony which Spos was drsed the tradnal garb of a bri and Nero played the groom. Later, Nero repeated the ceremony wh another of his eedmen playg the groom while he adopted the role of bri, sans stratn; the psdo-nuptials were nsummated on a uch full view of guts at a banquet. He was attentn-seekg, petulant, arbrary. He had the senator Publi Clodi Thrasea Paet murred on the ground that his exprsns were overly melancholic.</p><p class="paywall">No wonr Nero’s name beme a byword for generacy. “Let not ever / The soul of Nero enter this firm bosom,” Hamlet remds himself as he prepar to nont Gert over her marriage to Cldi, rolvg to “speak daggers to her but e none.” In the twentieth century, Nero was memorialized by the lurid, Amy Award-nomated performance of Peter Ustov the 1951 Hollywood epic “Quo Vadis,” which Ustov wore purple rob, kicked servants at will, and plumy sisted that <a href=">Sene</a>, his tutor turned adviser, acknowledge his omnipotence. In a more recent popular pictn, a TV movie directed by the late Pl Marc, Nero is reprented as a pretty-boy prce trmatized by havg wnsed his father beg murred by the emperor <a href=">Caligula</a>; Nero starts his reign wh good tentns before embarkg upon his own program of Caligula-style excs. His popular reputatn even featur that prehensive talogue of humany “<a href=">The Simpsons</a>,” an episo which Homer tak his evangelil neighbor, Ned Flanrs, to Las Vegas for an experiment pravy. After a night of boozg at the tabl, they wake to fd that each has married a cktail wars om the hotel so where they are stayg: Nero’s Palace.</p><div><div class="ConsumerMarketgUnThemedWrapper-iUTMTf jssHut nsumer-marketg-un nsumer-marketg-un--article-mid-ntent" role="prentatn" aria-hidn="te"><div class="nsumer-marketg-un__slot nsumer-marketg-un__slot--article-mid-ntent nsumer-marketg-un__slot---ntent"></div><div class="journey-un"></div></div></div><p class="paywall">All of this, acrdg to some recent scholars, is at bt an exaggeratn and at worst a fabritn: a narrative rived om biased histori, wrten s after Nero died, that relied on dub sourc. Nero was the last of the Jul-Cldian emperors, and the posthumo acunts were lculated part to nigrate this dynastic le and burnish the reputatns of s succsors. Depictns of Nero as notor are “based on a source narrative that is partisan,” Thorsten Opper, a curator the Greek and Roman divisn of the <a href=">Brish Mm</a>, told me recently. The mm has jt opened an exhibn that, if not que aimg to rehabilate Nero, challeng his grotque reputatn. “Anythg you thk you know about Nero is based on manipulatn and li that are two thoand years old,” Opper, the show’s lead curator, said. Ined, some of the stori told about Nero, such as the sayg that he “fiddled while Rome burned,” are patently absurd: vls weren’t vented until the sixteenth century.</p><p class="has-dropp has-dropp__lead-standard-headg paywall">Most of what has been passed down about Nero om three historians: Tac, who <a data-offer-url=" class="external-lk" data-event-click="{"element":"ExternalLk","outgogURL":"" href=" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">portrays him</a> as havg “polluted himself by every lawful or lawls dulgence”; Cassi D, who scrib Nero skulkg gno through Rome at night while “sultg women,” “practicg lewdns on boys,” and “beatg, woundg, and murrg” others; and Suetoni, who claims that Nero, havg n through the ual roster of vic, vented a perversn of his own at public gam that he hosted, which he would put on an animal sk and “assail wh vlence the private parts both of men and women, while they were bound to stak.”</p><p class="paywall">Morn scholars have termed that many of the trop ed to characterize Nero’s pravi bear a remarkable siary to lerary acunts of mythil events. Opper said, “The whole thg is based on lerary techniqu that were tght Roman rhetoril schools.” Tac’ and D’s acunts of the Great Fire of Rome, 64 A.D., their tailed evotns of cizens wailg and mothers grabbg their children, closely echo earlier acunts of attacks on ci, pecially the siege of Troy. Nero wasn’t even Rome when the fire started. Moreover, much of what was stroyed was slum hog nstcted by exploative landlords. Durg the fire, Nero “led the relief effort,” Opper’s words, and afterward stuted a new buildg .</p><p class="paywall">Dcriptns of Nero as unhged and licent belong to a rhetoril tradn of personal attack that flourished the Roman urtroom. Opper told me, “They had a term for —<em>vuperat</em>, or ‘vuperatn,’ which meant that you uld say anythg about your opponent. You n really vent all manner of thgs jt to malign that character. And that is exactly the kd of language and stereotyp we fd the source acunts.” The scholar Kirk Frnburg, wrg “<a data-offer-url=" class="external-lk" data-event-click="{"element":"ExternalLk","outgogURL":"" href=" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">The Cambridge Compann to the Age of Nero</a>” (2017), argu that the lurid acunt of the llapsg ship—Nero is said to have sent Agrippa off wh a grand display of affectn, only to have his plot foiled when she swam to safety—“begs to be taken as apocryphal, a ntraptn of the historians’ own clever sign.” Cassi D’s history of ancient Rome suggts that Nero was spired to build a trick vsel after seeg a play which a prop boat sudnly opened up, but Opper argu that the historian himself likely borrowed the ia om the play. Siarly, when Tac wr that Agrippa’s fal gture was to offer her womb up to an assass’s bla, his words mirror a passage om Sene’s “<a data-offer-url=" class="external-lk" data-event-click="{"element":"ExternalLk","outgogURL":"" href=" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Oedip</a>” which Josta seeks to be stabbed the womb “which bore my hband and my sons.” Sene wrote the play around the time of Nero’s le, and ’s possible that his retellg of the mythic story was spired by the actual manner of Agrippa’s ath. But ’s more probable that Sene engaged a dramatic ventn, and that, as Opper suggts, lored Tac’ later acunt of how Agrippa died.</p><div data-attr-viewport-monor="le-recirc" class="le-recirc-wrapper le-recirc-observer-target-1 viewport-monor-anchor"></div><p class="paywall">Some of the current revisnism n seem tennt. In the 2019 book “<a data-offer-url=" class="external-lk" data-event-click="{"element":"ExternalLk","outgogURL":"" href=" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Nero: Emperor and Court</a>,” the Brish classicist John F. Drkwater addrs the even more heo ath of Poppaea. He accepts the historil sourc that scribe an argument between Nero and his wife—Suetoni says that she was angry wh him for g home late om chart racg—but propos that the blow to Poppaea’s belly may have been merely the climax of a “matrimonial row that got out of hand,” addg, “If so Nero was at worst guilty of manslghter.” Opper se no need to downplay domtic abe; rather, he ntends that the over-all acunt of the maral argument nforms to an tablished pattern earlier histori of powerful lears. For a tyrant, “killg your pregnant wife is a topos,” he told me. “It’s applied Roman and Greek history. It’s jt such an evil ed—how much worse n someone be?” Opper said that Nero was eply love wh Poppaea, and sperate for an heir; the uple’s only other child, a dghter, had died recently. In ancient Rome, pregnancy was a hazardo affair, and uld prove fatal even whout an asslt. Opper told me, “You n’t prove eher way, but the evince, I thk, isn’t at all strong to say that he was to blame for .”</p><p class="has-dropp has-dropp__lead-standard-headg paywall">The Brish Mm seeks to build a ls sensatnalist acunt of Nero through the placement and elucidatn of objects: statu, bts, s, scriptns, graffi. A portra emerg of a young, untted lear at the helm of an unwieldy empire that is unr enormo strs. The show’s tenor is tablished by the first object on display: a statue of Nero as a boy of twelve or thirteen. The statue, on loan om the <a href=">Louvre</a>, picts Nero on the cp of manhood, his stat dited by what would at the time have been legible symbols: a bulla, an amulet worn like a locket, nfirms that he is a eeborn boy who has not yet e of age. The ocsn for the statue’s manufacture might have been the marriage of Nero’s mother to his granduncle Cldi, then the emperor, 49 A.D., eight years after the ath of Nero’s father, Gnas Domi Ahenobarb. More likely, the object memorat Cldi’ adoptn of Nero as his heir 50 A.D., the year Nero turned thirteen. The statue would origally have been displayed on a high plth, but at the mm is prented at ground level, so that the viewer is eye to eye wh a child. The lightg sign sts a long shadow: an imperial giant looms.</p><p class="paywall">By the time Nero beme emperor, 54 A.D., the empire’s grip had long been weakeng, and the senatorial and knightly class of Rome often challenged the thory of the emperor, who was only the <em>prceps</em>—the leadg member of their class—rather than a heredary ler. In this light, Nero’s nstctn of the Dom Aurea—a lavish palace that he built after the Great Fire, wh three hundred rooms rated wh and gold leaf—n be seen ls as the exprsn of a luxur appete than as a necsary vtment the perpetual entertament of senators and knights. (That said, the Dom <em>was</em> a b much; acrdg to Suetoni, the buildg’s ceilgs had secret partments om which flower petals or drops of scented unguents were released onto guts’ heads.)</p><div class="Contaer-bkChBi byNLHx"></div><p class="paywall">Material evince the exhibn dit that when Nero ascend the throne he ially garnered the support of the Senate. Cldi had mted s which his portra was paired wh an image of the Praetorian Guard’s barracks—a dntg display of ary domatn. Nero asserted his legimacy by scribg the s ma for his accsn wh imag of an oak wreath, which was tradnally btowed as an honor by the Senate.</p><p class="paywall">One of the most strikg aspects of Nero’s early le was the elevated role of his mother, Agrippa. Gold s issued shortly after Nero beme emperor show him profile, nose to nose, wh his mother, whose tl are given: “Wife of the Deified Cldi, Mother of Nero Caar.” On a large marble relief that was created after Nero’s elevatn, Agrippa is shown placg a crown on Nero’s head, as if she were rponsible for his ascent. In the year after his accsn, a gold was mted pictg mother and son parallel. To the nservative historians who later gave acunts of this perd, Agrippa’s promence unrsred the unnatural qualy of Nero’s reign. Tac srned Nero for beg “led by a woman.” The alleged ct between mother and son was, this tellg, part of Agrippa’s sperate effort to reta power after her hband’s ath. Tac wr that, when Nero was “flhed wh we and feastg,” Agrippa “prented herself attractively attired to her half toxited son and offered him her person.”</p><figure class="AssetEmbedWrapper-eVDQiB byBkf asset-embed"><div class="AssetEmbedAssetContaer-eJxoAx dBHGoQ asset-embed__asset-ntaer"><span class="SpanWrapper-umhxW kKwZhx rponsive-asset AssetEmbedRponsiveAsset-cXBNxi eCxVQK asset-embed__rponsive-asset"><div data-attr-viewport-monor="" class="RponsiveCartoonWrapper-iTMMjI eXTYsS rponsive-rtoon AssetEmbedRponsiveAsset-cXBNxi eCxVQK asset-embed__rponsive-asset viewport-monor-anchor"><a class="external-lk rponsive-rtoon__image-lk" data-event-click="{"element":"ExternalLk","outgogURL":"" href=" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"><picture class="RponsiveImagePicture-cWuUZO dUOtEa RponsiveCartoonImage-hzNqyc ikeCcH rponsive-rtoon__image rponsive-image"><noscript><img alt="Couple sharg an umbrella and walkg the ra." class="RponsiveImageContaer-eybHBd fptoWY rponsive-image__image" src=" srcSet=" 120w, 240w, 320w, 640w, 960w, 1280w, 1600w" siz="100vw"/></noscript></picture></a><div class="CaptnWrapper-jSZdqE gdZTpI ptn RponsiveCartoonCaptn-dokfdF hJgaLQ rponsive-rtoon__ptn"><span class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ CaptnText-bHjzlu iUEiRd hWyo bsWloa ptn__text">“Bis the umbrella, give me one good reason to stay together.”</span></div><div class="CaptnWrapper-jSZdqE iTuhkZ ptn RponsiveCartoonCred-bKlQqO faLAFb rponsive-rtoon__cred"><span class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ CaptnCred-ejegDm iUEiRd iicloT bmQtfn ptn__cred">Cartoon by Liza Donnelly</span></div><div class="RponsiveCartoonCTA-eiqqMB iDCQRs"><div class="RponsiveCartoonCTAWrapper-CYIqa iTbFtf"><div class="RponsiveCartoonLkButtonWrapper-hqDAJK eSEhbj"><button aria-label="Copy lk to rtoon" class="BaseButton-bLlsy ButtonWrapper-xCepQ bqVKKv YsOBB button button--primary-pair RponsiveCartoonInButton-hBCBMq lpsjql" data-event-click="{"element":"Button"}" data-ttid="Button" type="button"><span class="ButtonLabel-cjAuJN bBWXSg button__label">Copy lk to rtoon</span><div class="ButtonInWrapper-gFdzAL bPDyTT button__in-ntaer"><svg class="in in-pylk" width="24" height="24" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" xmlns="><tle>Copy lk to rtoon</tle><g clip-path="url(#clip0_3732_178637)"><path fill-le="evenodd" clip-le="evenodd" d="M16.3488 10.5017C16.2107 10.7357 16.2926 11.035 16.5318 11.17C16.7709 11.3052 17.0767 11.225 17.2148 10.991L18.4648 8.87225C19.5694 7.00002 18.9139 4.60601 17.0007 3.52508C15.0875 2.44415 12.6412 3.08562 11.5366 4.95785L9.53657 8.34782C8.432 10.22 9.08751 12.6141 11.0007 13.6949C11.1888 13.8012 11.382 13.8908 11.5785 13.9642C11.7819 14.0403 12.0058 13.9485 12.1147 13.764C12.2794 13.4849 12.1103 13.1276 11.8083 12.9992C11.7041 12.9549 11.6014 12.9044 11.5007 12.8475C10.0658 12.0368 9.57417 10.2413 10.4026 8.83712L12.4026 5.44715C13.2311 4.04298 15.0658 3.56187 16.5007 4.37257C17.9356 5.18327 18.4272 6.97878 17.5988 8.38295L16.3488 10.5017ZM7.6526 13.4983C7.79067 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class="AlertArrow-daOgye AlLda alert-arrow"></div><div class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ AlertMsage-jgAjgo bVCFRm ifgabc iOlxjf alert-msage"><p aria-hidn="te">Lk pied</p></div></div></div><button aria-label="Shop" class="BaseButton-bLlsy ButtonWrapper-xCepQ bqVKKv YsOBB button button--primary-pair RponsiveCartoonInButton-hBCBMq lpsjql" data-event-click="{"element":"Button"}" data-ttid="Button" type="button"><span class="ButtonLabel-cjAuJN bBWXSg button__label">Shop</span><div class="ButtonInWrapper-gFdzAL bPDyTT button__in-ntaer"><svg class="in in-rt" width="24" height="24" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" xmlns="><tle>Shop</tle><g clip-path="url(#clip0_3732_178638)"><path fill-le="evenodd" clip-le="evenodd" d="M4 3H2V4H4.23828L6.99617 15.2631C7.11483 15.6982 7.50998 16 7.96094 16H18.0365C18.4875 16 18.8826 15.6982 19.0013 15.2631L20.9648 7.26312C21.1383 6.62698 20.6594 6 20 6H10V7H20L18.0365 15H7.96094L5.03652 3H4.58055H4ZM10.0365 19C10.0365 19.5523 9.58881 20 9.03652 20C8.48424 20 8.03652 19.5523 8.03652 19C8.03652 18.4477 8.48424 18 9.03652 18C9.58881 18 10.0365 18.4477 10.0365 19ZM11.0365 19C11.0365 20.1046 10.1411 21 9.03652 21C7.93195 21 7.03652 20.1046 7.03652 19C7.03652 17.8954 7.93195 17 9.03652 17C10.1411 17 11.0365 17.8954 11.0365 19ZM18.0365 19C18.0365 19.5523 17.5888 20 17.0365 20C16.4842 20 16.0365 19.5523 16.0365 19C16.0365 18.4477 16.4842 18 17.0365 18C17.5888 18 18.0365 18.4477 18.0365 19ZM19.0365 19C19.0365 20.1046 18.1411 21 17.0365 21C15.932 21 15.0365 20.1046 15.0365 19C15.0365 17.8954 15.932 17 17.0365 17C18.1411 17 19.0365 17.8954 19.0365 19Z" fill="black"></path></g><fs><clipPath id="clip0_3732_178638"><rect width="24" height="24" fill="whe"></rect></clipPath><clipPath id="clip1_3732_178638"><rect width="24" height="24" fill="whe"></rect></clipPath></fs></svg></div></button></div></div></div></span></div></figure><p class="paywall">In the mm’s talogue, Opper wr that “there seems ltle reason now to take any of this serly, beyond what reveals about the thors volved.” In the Brish Mm’s prentatn, Agrippa’s securg of power is portrayed as evince of her telligence and her remarkable polil abili, particularly given the nstrats of a patriarchal society. The age om Nero’s reign also documents her eclipse. A few years after his accsn, Nero is picted alone. By 59 A.D. Agrippa was ad, at the age of forty-three, and though her mise probably did not volve self-skg vsels at sea, Nero do seem to have been rponsible for havg her stabbed to ath. Opper suggts that Nero appears to have “sacrificed” her to appease Rome’s senatorial éle, who rented her terventns public affairs. Although matrici was generally regard as a terrible crime by the ancient Romans, Opper pots out that other nvenient women of the perd also met harsh fat: Julia, the only child of the emperor Augt, was banished by her father and died exile. “Mothers obvly have a special stat, but is a mistake to look at Nero isolatn,” Opper told me. “You lose sight of the past patterns, and what they tell about the valu of this strange society.”</p><p class="has-dropp has-dropp__lead-standard-headg paywall">Nero’s monic reputatn also clash wh evince that he was beloved by the Roman people. Alongsi official portras of the Emperor—the bts and statu—the Brish Mm clus a digized reproductn of a graffo scratched to a buildg on the Palate Hill. The image, which match pictns of Nero on survivg age, shows him beard and full-faced, wh an ample double ch, and a ht of a se on pursed lips. Opper tak the portra to be admirg, rather than satiril, notg that no graffied slogan suggts otherwise. Nero, he reports, was wily seen by the Roman public as youthful and vigoro. Suetoni not that Nero, after beg emperor, permted members of the public to watch him exercise, monstratg a physil prows that was marked ntrast to Cldi, who had been ill and ail.</p><p class="paywall">Nero enacted tax and currency reforms, steps that may have been unpopular wh the wealthy but were weled by the broar public. The emperor Trajan, who me to power thirty years after Nero died, is said to have spoken of the “ququennium Neronis”—the five good years of Nero’s fourteen-year le. Trajan did not ce a specific perd, but as emperor Nero took var measur that were approved of and, tellgly, retaed or built on by later lears. He erected a new marketplace and a spectacular plex of public baths, which allowed ordary cizens to dulge ablutnary pleasur prevly rerved for the wealthy. At the end of the first century, the satiril poet Martial quipped, “Who was ever worse than Nero? Yet what n be better than Nero’s warm baths?”</p><p class="paywall">The Roman public also admired an aspect of Nero’s character that was much cricized by his later judg: his love of theatrily, the arts, and spectacle. Nero enjoyed sgg, and Suetoni <a data-offer-url=" class="external-lk" data-event-click="{"element":"ExternalLk","outgogURL":"" href=" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">wr</a> that he “equently claimed public, and reced vers of his own posg, not only at home, but the theatre.” The performanc were “so much to the joy of all the people” that “the vers which had been publicly read, were, after beg wrten gold letters, nsecrated to Juper Capol.” Nero’s provisn of public gam and other entertaments further ntributed to his populary. The Brish Mm’s show featur a terra-tta figure showg two gladiators bat, of the sort that were mass-produced as souvenirs. At the ntts, vlence sometim spilled out of the arena. Durg one gladiatorial match Pompeii, 59 A.D., fightg broke out among supporters of rival batants, rultg such a disturbance that the Roman Senate placed a ten-year ban on such events. Nero tervened to have the ban rced, which surely add to his public support.</p></div></div></div><div class="GridItem-buujkM fVLMby grid--em grid-layout__asi"><asi class="PersistentAsiWrapper-VGrR daRVRt persistent-asi" style="posn:absolute;top:to;height:to" data-ttid="PersistentAsiWrapper"><div class="StickyBoxWrapper-jfYB jxBcTH sticky-box"><div class="StickyBoxPrimary-dzWDWL cdhYoN sticky-box__primary"><div class="AdWrapper-dQtivb fZrssQ ad ad--rail"><div class="ad__slot ad__slot--rail" data-no-id="79322l"></div></div><div class="ConsumerMarketgUnThemedWrapper-iUTMTf jssHut nsumer-marketg-un nsumer-marketg-un--display-rail" role="prentatn" aria-hidn="te"><div class="nsumer-marketg-un__slot nsumer-marketg-un__slot--display-rail"></div><div class="journey-un"></div></div></div><div class="StickyBoxPlaceholr-grPmrg dxAvXx"></div></div></asi></div></div><div class="RowWrapper-UmqTg HEhan full-bleed-ad row-mid-ntent-ad"><div class="StickyMidContentAdWrapper-fSBzwl drzyIa ad-stickymidntent"><div class="AdWrapper-dQtivb fZrssQ ad ad--mid-ntent should-hold-space"><div class="ad__slot ad__slot--mid-ntent" data-no-id="5lh09n"></div></div></div></div><div class="GridWrapper-cAzTTK kHBDeH grid grid-margs grid-ems-2 ArticlePageChunksGrid-hfxa bjczjj grid-layout--adrail narrow wi-adrail"><div class="GridItem-buujkM stRKV grid--em grid-layout__ntent"><div class="BodyWrapper-kufPGa EOneK body body__ntaer article__body" data-journey-hook="client-ntent" data-ttid="BodyWrapper"><div class="body__ner-ntaer"><p class="paywall">Nero’s champng of fun and gam, however, was sufficient to secure his posn at the top of Roman society, pecially after the Great Fire. “<a data-offer-url=" class="external-lk" data-event-click="{"element":"ExternalLk","outgogURL":"" href=" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Rome Is Burng</a>,” a recent book by the classicist Anthony A. Barrett, argu that wealthy cizens were adversely affected by the aquacy of fire servic durg the nflagratn, and angered when Nero attempted to build his palatial grounds over the s of their ravaged properti. But Opper pots out that members of the éle had already e to dislike Nero. An uprisg Bra so threatened Roman power that Nero had to rerce troops the provce; though the surrectn was feated, the tumult weakened his reputatn. Aristocratic fai who had for generatns nurtured their own aspiratns to imperial ntrol mataed that Nero wasn’t up to the job, and tried to assassate him. (When the plotters were ught, many were forced to m suici.)</p><div data-attr-viewport-monor="le-recirc" class="le-recirc-wrapper le-recirc-observer-target-2 viewport-monor-anchor"></div><p class="paywall">The mm’s exhib emphasiz that Nero was stgglg to hold together an empire that extend om Bra to Armenia. Among the most arrtg ems the exhibn is a bronze head of Nero, which was disvered the River Al, Suffolk, England, jt over a century ago. There is a nt on the left si of the figure’s neck, which some scholars have read as a gture of ntempt: someone apparently cid to batter the art work wh a heavy implement. Nero clearly “need to reach out” to nstuents who me om the empire’s distant outposts, Opper suggts, but certa Roman senators behaved as if they were still nng a cy-state. A rebelln broke out Gl, followed by a more ser challenge to Nero’s power om Servi Sulpici Galba, the Roman ernor of Spa. The Senate turned agast Nero, who fled to a untry tate and killed himself, at the age of thirty. Galba was soon clared emperor.</p><p class="paywall">Dpe Nero’s downfall, not everyone was disenchanted wh him. The show at the Brish Mm remds visors of ocsnal appearanc, the g s, of “false Neros” the eastern part of the empire. The pretenrs to the imperial throne—whose appeal mt have pend on an endurg affectn for Nero—clud one who bore a remarkable physil remblance to him, and even shared his predilectn for mic.</p><p class="has-dropp has-dropp__lead-standard-headg paywall">Mountg a mm show dited to revisg the reputatn of one of history’s most famo lers is a provotive gture at a time when world lears have been exhibg Neronian gtur of their own. While the mm’s staff was stallg the exhibn, the Brish newspapers were filled wh acunts of the alleged profligacy of Prime Mister <a href=">Boris Johnson</a> renovatg the apartment that he shar wh his wife, Carrie Symonds. The expens reportedly soared to a hundred and twenty-five thoand dollars, and a wealthy donor allegedly vered most of them. (Johnson sists that he has paid for the work himself.) Acrdg to a headle the <em>Daily Mail</em>, the new dér clus “gold wallpaper,” suggtg a Dom Aurea on Downg Street. In the Uned Stat, the nt tast of former Print <a href=">Donald Tmp</a> and his fay were on display for four years. He spent as much time as he uld at his gild private rinc; on the rare ocsns that <a href=">Melania Tmp</a> wore the same outf twice, ma headl. Even before Tmp’s Princy began, the publitn of the Steele dossier spread mors of sexual behavr so theatrilly perverse that Nero himself might have tipped his oak wreath rpect. Recent historil experience has remd that polil populary need not be at odds wh effective or even crimally negligent learship. In the sprg of 2020, wh the <a href="><em class="small">COVID</em>-19 crisis</a> igng, Tmp retweeted a photograph of himself playg the fiddle—an act of Neronian trollg.</p><p class="paywall">Opper’s purpose is not to burnish Nero’s reputatn but to show how was nstcted, and to what end. “Who ntrols the narrative?” he asked me. “It’s the people power. If you only subscribe to one person, and read their tweets, you get a very one-sid story.” The story of Nero that emerg the Brish Mm’s rensiratn is more plex and ls salac than the faiar narrative, though Opper acknowledged, “I don’t know if he was <em>good</em>. He certaly wasn’t bad the ways that he was picted. He was a spoiled young aristocrat. But he wasn’t a monster.”</p><p class="paywall">It was almost evable that Nero’s reputatn was cly rema after his ath, sce those who replaced the Augtan le need to secure their own claims to power. The exhibn clus a sculpture of a male figure that illtrat the thls logic of imperial succsn. The sculpture, exvated Carthage, Tunisia, evok the graffied sketch of Nero found on the Palate Hill: the figure has the faiar ntours of Nero’s jowly face and forward-bshed hair. But the man’s face has evintly been altered, wh the addn of wrkl and creas, to transform to the face of a much olr man: Vpasian, who me to power 69 A.D., at the age of sixty. He tablished his own dynasty, the Flavians, who held power for the next three s before themselv succumbg. Not for the last time, the celebratn of a new emperor entailed the disfigurg of Nero. ♦</p><le-embed name="" attrs="[object Object]" childTyp="" ntentType="llout:"><hr class="paywall"/><h2 class="paywall">New Yorker Favor</h2><ul class="paywall"><li>The <a href=">day the dosrs died</a>.</li><li>What if you uld <a href=">do all over</a>?</li><li>A spense novelist leav a <a href=">trail of ceptns</a>.</li><li>The <a href=">art of dyg</a>.</li><li>Can <a href=">readg make you happier</a>?</li><li>A simple gui to <a href=">tote-bag etiquette</a>.</li><li>Sign up for our daily <a href=">newsletter</a> to receive the bt stori om <em>The New Yorker</em>.</li></ul></le-embed></div></div></div><div class="GridItem-buujkM fVLMby grid--em grid-layout__asi"><div class="StickyBoxWrapper-jfYB jxBcTH sticky-box"><div class="StickyBoxPrimary-dzWDWL cdhYoN sticky-box__primary"><div class="AdWrapper-dQtivb fZrssQ ad ad--rail"><div class="ad__slot ad__slot--rail" data-no-id="fdp2u"></div></div><div class="ConsumerMarketgUnThemedWrapper-iUTMTf jssHut nsumer-marketg-un nsumer-marketg-un--display-rail" role="prentatn" aria-hidn="te"><div class="nsumer-marketg-un__slot nsumer-marketg-un__slot--display-rail"></div><div class="journey-un"></div></div></div><div class="StickyBoxPlaceholr-grPmrg dxAvXx"></div></div></div></div></div><div class="GridWrapper-cAzTTK kHBDeH grid grid-margs grid-ems-2 PaywallInleBarrierWhWrapperGrid-fyrGfS kLQIUk grid-layout--adrail narrow wi-adrail"><div class="GridItem-buujkM stRKV grid--em grid-layout__ntent"><div class="body body__le-barrier article__body"><div class="ntaer ntaer--body"><div class="ntaer--body-ner"><asi class="PaywallInleBarrierWrapper-iBnuqk lfXXa-D" data-ttid="PaywallInleBarrierWrapper"><div class="ConsumerMarketgUnThemedWrapper-iUTMTf jssHut nsumer-marketg-un nsumer-marketg-un--paywall-le-barrier" role="prentatn" aria-live="pole" aria-hidn="te"><div class="nsumer-marketg-un__slot nsumer-marketg-un__slot--paywall-le-barrier"></div><div class="journey-un"></div></div></asi></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="GridWrapper-cAzTTK kHBDeH grid grid-margs grid-ems-2 ContentWrapperGrid-fvkmBv brYtrA grid-layout--adrail narrow wi-adrail"><div class="GridItem-buujkM stRKV grid--em grid-layout__ntent"><div class="body body__ntaer"><div class="ntaer ntaer--body"><div class="ntaer--body-ner"></div></div></div></div></div></div></article><div class="ContentFooterWrapper-jVNdRG dTJkpP ArticlePageContentFooterGrid-ccsXYy eMZRHU article-body__footer"><div class="GridWrapper-cAzTTK kHBDeH grid grid-margs grid-ems-2 grid-layout--adrail narrow wi-adrail"><div class="GridItem-buujkM stRKV grid--em grid-layout__ntent"><footer class="ContentFooterMagazeDisclaimer-gzKAqo iZIuUU" data-ttid="MagazeDisclaimerWrapper">Published the prt edn of the <a href="/magaze/2021/06/14" data-reactroot="">June 14, 2021</a>, issue, wh the headle “How Nasty Was Nero?.”</footer></div></div><div class="RowWrapper-UmqTg HEhan"><div class="GridWrapper-cAzTTK kHBDeH grid grid-margs grid-ems-2 grid-layout--adrail narrow wi-adrail"><div class="GridItem-buujkM stRKV grid--em grid-layout__ntent"></div></div></div><div class="RowWrapper-UmqTg HEhan"><div class="GridWrapper-cAzTTK kHBDeH grid grid-margs grid-ems-2 grid-layout--adrail narrow wi-adrail"><div class="GridItem-buujkM stRKV grid--em grid-layout__ntent"><div class="ContributorsWrapper-eNpWFu GWFsc ntributors" data-ttid="Contributors"><div class="ContributorBWrapper-bnVHbt gMon"><div class="ContributorBAvatar-bIGTqf eMWbvj"><a href="/ntributors/rebec-mead"><span class="SpanWrapper-umhxW jvZaPI rponsive-asset"><picture class="RponsiveImagePicture-cWuUZO dUOtEa rponsive-image"><source media="(max-width: 767px)" srcSet=" 120w, 240w" siz="100vw"/><source media="(m-width: 768px)" srcSet=" 120w, 240w" siz="100vw"/><img alt="" class="RponsiveImageContaer-eybHBd fptoWY rponsive-image__image" src="></picture></span></a></div><div class="ContributorBContent-ubQdr jZTSSi"><div class="ContributorBHear-ledood XOIEx"></div><div class="ContributorBB-fBolsO giFhKz"><a href="/ntributors/rebec-mead">Rebec Mead</a> is a staff wrer at The New Yorker. Her most recent book is “<a href=">Home/Land</a>.”</div><div class="ContributorBFooter-brqDlv ezUmSv"></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="RowWrapper-UmqTg HEhan"><div class="GridWrapper-cAzTTK kHBDeH grid grid-margs grid-ems-2 grid-layout--adrail narrow wi-adrail"><div class="GridItem-buujkM stRKV grid--em grid-layout__ntent"><div data-ttid="TagCloudWrapper" class="TagCloudWrapper-gGgndx ctyZyK ContentFooterTagCloud-krQmRG ZLGh"><span class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ TagCloudSectnHear-cOforY iUEiRd bPyAoD kQQRmu">More:</span><a href="/tag/history" class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ BaseLk-eNWuiM TagCloudLk-kvjZFu iUEiRd ggMZaT gFob hIhJOI"><span class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ TagCloudName-eAUnLd iUEiRd gwIVBQ bUkXwu">History</span></a><a href="/tag/brish-mm" class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ BaseLk-eNWuiM TagCloudLk-kvjZFu iUEiRd ggMZaT gFob hIhJOI"><span class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ TagCloudName-eAUnLd iUEiRd gwIVBQ bUkXwu">Brish Mm</span></a><a href="/tag/nero" class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ BaseLk-eNWuiM TagCloudLk-kvjZFu iUEiRd ggMZaT gFob hIhJOI"><span class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ TagCloudName-eAUnLd iUEiRd gwIVBQ bUkXwu">Nero</span></a><a href="/tag/emperor-nero" class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ BaseLk-eNWuiM TagCloudLk-kvjZFu iUEiRd ggMZaT gFob hIhJOI"><span class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ TagCloudName-eAUnLd iUEiRd gwIVBQ bUkXwu">Emperor Nero</span></a><a href="/tag/emperors" class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ BaseLk-eNWuiM TagCloudLk-kvjZFu iUEiRd ggMZaT gFob hIhJOI"><span class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ TagCloudName-eAUnLd iUEiRd gwIVBQ bUkXwu">Emperors</span></a><a href="/tag/exhibs" class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ BaseLk-eNWuiM TagCloudLk-kvjZFu iUEiRd ggMZaT gFob hIhJOI"><span class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ TagCloudName-eAUnLd iUEiRd gwIVBQ bUkXwu">Exhibs</span></a><a href="/tag/romans" class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ BaseLk-eNWuiM TagCloudLk-kvjZFu iUEiRd ggMZaT gFob hIhJOI"><span class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ TagCloudName-eAUnLd iUEiRd gwIVBQ bUkXwu">Romans</span></a><a href="/tag/rome" class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ BaseLk-eNWuiM TagCloudLk-kvjZFu iUEiRd ggMZaT gFob hIhJOI"><span class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ TagCloudName-eAUnLd iUEiRd gwIVBQ bUkXwu">Rome</span></a><a href="/tag/ancient-rome" class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ BaseLk-eNWuiM TagCloudLk-kvjZFu iUEiRd ggMZaT gFob hIhJOI"><span class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ TagCloudName-eAUnLd iUEiRd gwIVBQ bUkXwu">Ancient Rome</span></a><a href="/tag/reputatns" class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ BaseLk-eNWuiM TagCloudLk-kvjZFu iUEiRd ggMZaT gFob hIhJOI"><span class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ TagCloudName-eAUnLd iUEiRd gwIVBQ bUkXwu">Reputatns</span></a></div></div></div></div><div data-ttid="ContentFooterBottom" 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For three days New York, I learned how not to e .</div><div class="SummaryItemByleWrapper-boCfbi cuRXdL summary-em__byle-date-in"><div class="SummaryItemBaseByle-fFbXkY cgDBtc summary-em__byle"><div class="summary-em__byle__ntent"><div data-ttid="BylWrapper" class="BylWrapper-KIudk irTIfE byl"><p class="ByleWrapper-jWHrLH dSEWiO byle byl__byle" data-ttid="ByleWrapper" emProp="thor" emType="><span emProp="name" class="ByleNamWrapper-jbHncj fuDQVo"><span data-ttid="ByleName" class="ByleName-kwmrLn cYaBaU byle__name"><span class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ BylePreamble-iJolpQ iUEiRd jslZfG gnILss byle__preamble">By </span>Andre Dub III</span></span></p></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="SummaryItemWrapper-iwvBff hNpSyX summary-em summary-em--ARTICLE summary-em--no-in summary-em--text-align-left summary-em--layout-placement-text-below summary-em--layout-posn-image-left summary-em--layout-proportns-50-50 summary-em--si-by-si-align-center summary-em--si-by-si-image-right-mobile-false summary-em--standard SummaryCollectnGridSummaryItem-WColm hKqhyj" role="button" tabx="0"><div class="SummaryItemAssetContaer-gwhFFH VOyg summary-em__asset-ntaer"><a class="SummaryItemImageLk-dshqxb cPpCwE summary-em__image-lk summary-em-trackg__image-lk" href=" aria-hidn="te" tabx="-1" data-ponent-type="recirc-river" data-recirc-id="em-image-2" data-recirc-pattern="summary-em" target="_self"><span class="SpanWrapper-umhxW kGxnNB rponsive-asset SummaryItemRponsiveAsset-hjGIGg bDvSkO summary-em__image"><div data-tt="aspect-rat-ntaer" class="AspectRatContaer-bJHpJz ktcjQn"><div class="aspect-rat--overlay-ntaer"><picture class="RponsiveImagePicture-cWuUZO dUOtEa SummaryItemRponsiveAsset-hjGIGg bDvSkO summary-em__image rponsive-image"><noscript><source media="(max-width: 767px)" srcSet=" 120w, 240w, 320w, 640w" siz="100vw"/><source media="(m-width: 768px)" srcSet=" 120w, 240w, 320w" siz="100vw"/><img alt="How the War Ukrae Ends" class="RponsiveImageContaer-eybHBd fptoWY rponsive-image__image" src="></noscript></picture></div></div></span></a></div><div class="SummaryItemContent-eiDYMl XMZX summary-em__ntent"><div class="RubricWrapper-dKmCNX kImuKS bric bric--disvery SummaryItemRubric-dguGKN lapGFj summary-em__bric"><span class="RubricName-fVtemz cLxcNi">The New Yorker Interview</span></div><a class="SummaryItemHedLk-civM dVrbhU summary-em-trackg__hed-lk summary-em__hed-lk" data-ponent-type="recirc-river" data-recirc-id="em-hed-2" data-recirc-pattern="summary-em" href=" target="_self"><div class="SummaryItemHedBase-hiFYpQ fzzTdh summary-em__hed" data-ttid="SummaryItemHed">How the War Ukrae Ends</div></a><div class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ SummaryItemDek-CRfsi iUEiRd kxnNhB jDyfzW summary-em__k">An ement historian envisns a settlement among Rsia, Ukrae, and the Wt.</div><div class="SummaryItemByleWrapper-boCfbi cuRXdL summary-em__byle-date-in"><div class="SummaryItemBaseByle-fFbXkY cgDBtc summary-em__byle"><div class="summary-em__byle__ntent"><div data-ttid="BylWrapper" class="BylWrapper-KIudk irTIfE byl"><p class="ByleWrapper-jWHrLH dSEWiO byle byl__byle" data-ttid="ByleWrapper" emProp="thor" emType="><span emProp="name" class="ByleNamWrapper-jbHncj fuDQVo"><span data-ttid="ByleName" class="ByleName-kwmrLn cYaBaU byle__name"><span class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ BylePreamble-iJolpQ iUEiRd jslZfG gnILss byle__preamble">By </span>David Remnick</span></span></p></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="SummaryItemWrapper-iwvBff hNpSyX summary-em summary-em--ARTICLE summary-em--no-in summary-em--text-align-left summary-em--layout-placement-text-below summary-em--layout-posn-image-left summary-em--layout-proportns-50-50 summary-em--si-by-si-align-center summary-em--si-by-si-image-right-mobile-false summary-em--standard SummaryCollectnGridSummaryItem-WColm hKqhyj" role="button" tabx="0"><div class="SummaryItemAssetContaer-gwhFFH VOyg summary-em__asset-ntaer"><a class="SummaryItemImageLk-dshqxb cPpCwE summary-em__image-lk summary-em-trackg__image-lk" href=" aria-hidn="te" tabx="-1" data-ponent-type="recirc-river" data-recirc-id="em-image-3" data-recirc-pattern="summary-em" target="_self"><span class="SpanWrapper-umhxW kGxnNB rponsive-asset SummaryItemRponsiveAsset-hjGIGg bDvSkO summary-em__image"><div data-tt="aspect-rat-ntaer" class="AspectRatContaer-bJHpJz ktcjQn"><div class="aspect-rat--overlay-ntaer"><picture class="RponsiveImagePicture-cWuUZO dUOtEa SummaryItemRponsiveAsset-hjGIGg bDvSkO summary-em__image rponsive-image"><noscript><source media="(max-width: 767px)" srcSet=" 120w, 240w, 320w, 640w" siz="100vw"/><source media="(m-width: 768px)" srcSet=" 120w, 240w, 320w" siz="100vw"/><img alt="Why Sarah Jsi Parker Keeps Playg Carrie Bradshaw" class="RponsiveImageContaer-eybHBd fptoWY rponsive-image__image" src="></noscript></picture></div></div></span></a></div><div class="SummaryItemContent-eiDYMl XMZX summary-em__ntent"><div class="RubricWrapper-dKmCNX kImuKS bric bric--disvery SummaryItemRubric-dguGKN lapGFj summary-em__bric"><span class="RubricName-fVtemz cLxcNi">Profil</span></div><a class="SummaryItemHedLk-civM dVrbhU summary-em-trackg__hed-lk summary-em__hed-lk" data-ponent-type="recirc-river" data-recirc-id="em-hed-3" data-recirc-pattern="summary-em" href=" target="_self"><div class="SummaryItemHedBase-hiFYpQ fzzTdh summary-em__hed" data-ttid="SummaryItemHed">Why Sarah Jsi Parker Keeps Playg Carrie Bradshaw</div></a><div class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ SummaryItemDek-CRfsi iUEiRd kxnNhB jDyfzW summary-em__k">In all of her profsnal enavors, cludg the “Sex and the Cy” anchise, Parker nsirs herself a “bter enr.”</div><div class="SummaryItemByleWrapper-boCfbi cuRXdL summary-em__byle-date-in"><div class="SummaryItemBaseByle-fFbXkY cgDBtc summary-em__byle"><div class="summary-em__byle__ntent"><div data-ttid="BylWrapper" class="BylWrapper-KIudk irTIfE byl"><p class="ByleWrapper-jWHrLH dSEWiO byle byl__byle" data-ttid="ByleWrapper" emProp="thor" emType="><span emProp="name" class="ByleNamWrapper-jbHncj fuDQVo"><span data-ttid="ByleName" class="ByleName-kwmrLn cYaBaU byle__name"><span class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ BylePreamble-iJolpQ iUEiRd jslZfG gnILss byle__preamble">By </span>Rachel Syme</span></span></p></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="SummaryItemWrapper-iwvBff hNpSyX summary-em summary-em--ARTICLE summary-em--no-in summary-em--text-align-left summary-em--layout-placement-text-below summary-em--layout-posn-image-left summary-em--layout-proportns-50-50 summary-em--si-by-si-align-center summary-em--si-by-si-image-right-mobile-false summary-em--standard SummaryCollectnGridSummaryItem-WColm hKqhyj" role="button" tabx="0"><div class="SummaryItemAssetContaer-gwhFFH VOyg summary-em__asset-ntaer"><a class="SummaryItemImageLk-dshqxb cPpCwE summary-em__image-lk summary-em-trackg__image-lk" href=" aria-hidn="te" tabx="-1" data-ponent-type="recirc-river" data-recirc-id="em-image-4" data-recirc-pattern="summary-em" target="_self"><span class="SpanWrapper-umhxW kGxnNB rponsive-asset SummaryItemRponsiveAsset-hjGIGg bDvSkO summary-em__image"><div data-tt="aspect-rat-ntaer" class="AspectRatContaer-bJHpJz ktcjQn"><div class="aspect-rat--overlay-ntaer"><picture class="RponsiveImagePicture-cWuUZO dUOtEa SummaryItemRponsiveAsset-hjGIGg bDvSkO summary-em__image rponsive-image"><noscript><source media="(max-width: 767px)" srcSet=" 120w, 240w, 320w, 640w" siz="100vw"/><source media="(m-width: 768px)" srcSet=" 120w, 240w, 320w" siz="100vw"/><img alt="The Tan Submersible Was “an Accint Wag to Happen”" class="RponsiveImageContaer-eybHBd fptoWY rponsive-image__image" src="></noscript></picture></div></div></span></a></div><div class="SummaryItemContent-eiDYMl XMZX summary-em__ntent"><div class="RubricWrapper-dKmCNX kImuKS bric bric--disvery SummaryItemRubric-dguGKN lapGFj summary-em__bric"><span class="RubricName-fVtemz cLxcNi">A Reporter at Large</span></div><a class="SummaryItemHedLk-civM dVrbhU summary-em-trackg__hed-lk summary-em__hed-lk" data-ponent-type="recirc-river" data-recirc-id="em-hed-4" data-recirc-pattern="summary-em" href=" target="_self"><div class="SummaryItemHedBase-hiFYpQ fzzTdh summary-em__hed" data-ttid="SummaryItemHed">The Tan Submersible Was “an Accint Wag to Happen”</div></a><div class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ SummaryItemDek-CRfsi iUEiRd kxnNhB jDyfzW summary-em__k">Interviews and e-mails wh expedn lears and employe reveal how OceanGate ignored sperate warngs om si and outsi the pany. “It’s a lemon,” one wrote.</div><div class="SummaryItemByleWrapper-boCfbi cuRXdL summary-em__byle-date-in"><div class="SummaryItemBaseByle-fFbXkY cgDBtc summary-em__byle"><div class="summary-em__byle__ntent"><div data-ttid="BylWrapper" class="BylWrapper-KIudk irTIfE byl"><p class="ByleWrapper-jWHrLH dSEWiO byle byl__byle" data-ttid="ByleWrapper" emProp="thor" emType="><span 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