| July 18 |  |
Editor says, what if the AD64 Fire in Rome was successfully contained?, muses Jeff Provine on This Day in Alternate History Please note that the opinions expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect the views of the author(s).
| Share this Article on: |  Facebook |  Twitter |
In 64 AD, as recorded by the Roman poet Tacitus, a fire broke out in the merchant district of the city of Rome, consumed a warehouse, and was defeated by brave workers dragging sand and water from the Tiber.
Fire Successfully Contained Nero praised the men's actions even though some of them were of the Christian cult, a band of Jews who had begun accepting Gentiles after worshiping the Son of a God. One of them, Paul of Tarsus, had been brought on an appeal to Caesar after being accused of treason, of which Nero would later find him innocent.
A new story by Jeff ProvineAfter the fire, Nero would continue his campaign to lower taxes on the poor, keep foreign diplomacy afloat (he had already maintained conquest of Britain after the rebellion of Boudicca as well as defeated Parthia in the east), and improve culture throughout the empire. Later, in 66, a revolt in Judaea would arise, and Nero would dispatch his great general Vespasian to put it down. Distrust of the Christians would mix with the fervor of the revolt, and a great divide would split the cult between the Gentiles and those who still held to the Jewish Law, the latter being removed from Rome and facing legal segregation. Gradually, the religion would blend with other Roman beliefs, such as had been done with the Egyptian Isis and the Persian Mithras.
In 65, a conspiracy by the statesman Piso to overthrow Nero and return the Republic was discovered and destroyed. The senators complained that they had lost all power despite Nero's promise in 54 to return their influence to levels under the Republic. Nero liked the power in his own hands and refused to give up any of it, using his sway to launch his massive construction projects. While Italia and the provinces struggled economically, taxes were never levied enough to cause rebellion. The successful end of the Jewish rebellion and looking of Jerusalem and their temple in AD 70 was enough to alleviate many of Nero's empty coffers.
As Nero grew older, he began to slow down his pace and draw more to distraction with his own arts. Meanwhile, Nero's son Antonius grew in military strength under the tutelage of the Governor Agricola of Britain during his conquest of Caledonia. Antonius would spearhead the conquest of Hibernia before returning to Rome after the death of Nero. More concerned with expansion than rule, Antonius would finally begin the return of Roman government back to the Senate, so long as it maintained funds for his expeditions into Germania. After the bloody conquest of the Germans, Rome would grow stagnant and corrupt, eventually falling in the north to the predatory Vikings of the 900s and the south to renewed Arab and Parthian attack.
Entry posted by
Jeff Provine
© Jeff Provine, 2010-.Story Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Jeff Provine Blog Source: Jeff Provine’s Blog Labels: Nero, Rome, Fire, Roman Empire, Tacitus. Editor says, in reality, the fire raged for five and a half days, destroying nearly half the city. The emperor Nero did much to aid the victims, but nothing could squelch their smoldering discontent (there were even rumors of singing while his city burned, though Tacitus recorded him being in Antium at the time). To redirect public ill sentiment, Nero blamed the grown Christian population of the city. Several Christians even admitted to the conspiracy (though this was proven to be under torture). Christians were thusly thrown to dogs, crucified, and even dipped in oil and burned alive as streetlights, beginning centuries of persecution throughout the empire. Despite the torment, Christianity would survive and even thrive to the Edict of Milan 250 years later when tolerance was declared by the Emperor Constantine.
Meanwhile, Nero used the newly cleared space in Rome to build his Domus Aurea, a palace for which he paid by levying tribute from every province of the empire. It would be another dark badge on the bad emperor's toga. Later taxation policies on the provinces would cause Governor Vindex of Gallia Lugdunensis to rebel, the first link in a chain that would bring about the rise of Galba, who would declare himself emperor and drive Nero to suicide.
~ No Great Fire of Rome would have been interesting, but sooner or later, the Christians and the Roman authorities would have come into severe conflict.
Comment from Valente Real on Facebook: Nero started that fire, then tried to rebuilt where the ruins
Comment from Dianne Castillo on Facebook: don't want to imagine that!
Comment from Marko Prpic on Facebook: It is assumed that the last of Nero's words were "What a great artist dies with me.
Comment from Joe Mwangi on Facebook: Then Nero (I believe he caused the fire so as to build his Megalomaniac edifices) would not have become so unpopular until the Senate declared him an enemy of Rome forcing him to flee then commit suicide.The line of Julius Caesar might have continued.Nero's downfall was beneficial to Imperium Romanaum since the resulting civil war brought in Emperor Vespasian who rebuit the empire (but he started building the Colosseum in which humans died for sport)!!
Comment from Michael Balikoff on Facebook: It has not been commented on the purported ability of Nero to play the Violin one wonders what the tune would have been if this was true...maybe "We have a burning desire for you"
Seriously though, it was a marvelous ploy by the Emperor to ...gain some open space to enable his rebuilding desires was it not? .... jazzman
Comment from Norton James on Facebook: Christians wouldn't be persecuted by the pagans
~ If Nero had followed the policies of Claudius he would have gone down well as would any emperor but he didn't. Truth is Nero was his own worst enemy. His ego and his vanity were his unding. As for restoring the Republic, Few in the Senate wanted that since the Emperor did all the decision making while they kept the powers of patronage and spending. Would be nice if Nero had restored the Tribunes of the Plebs Tiberius abolished and granted other citizen provinces of the empire right to elect them to the Senate. That way some parts of the Repbulic could carry on as far as tehg empire was concerned.
~ If Valente's right, that would have made Nero the world's first arsonist... :D
© Today in Alternate History, 2013-. All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
