The fire and the persecution

De Urbe a Nerone incensa
[Nero 38,1-3]

(1) Sed nec populo aut moenibus patriae pepercit. Dicente quodam in sermone communi: «Emoû thanóntos gaîa meikhthéto purí », «immo», inquit, «emoû zôntos», planeque ita fecit. Nam quasi offensus deformitate veterum aedificiorum et angustiis flexurisque vicorum, incendit urbem tam palam, ut plerique consulares cubicularios eius cum stuppa taedaque in praediis suis deprehensos non attigerint, et quaedam horrea circa domum Auream, quorum spatium maxime desiderabat, ut bellicis machinis labefacta atque inflammata sint, quod saxeo muro constructa erant.
(2) Per sex dies septemque noctes ea clade saevitum est, ad monumentorum bustorumque deversoria plebe compulsa. Tunc praeter immensum numerum insularum domus priscorum ducum arserunt hostilibus adhuc spoliis adornatae deorumque aedes ab regibus ac deinde Punicis et Gallicis bellis votae dedicataeque, et quidquid visendum atque memorabile ex antiquitate duraverat. Hoc incendium e turre Maecenatiana prospectans laetusque «flammae», ut aiebat, «pulchritudine», Halosin Ilii in illo suo scaenico habitu decantavit.
(3) Ac ne non hinc quoque quantum posset praedae et manubiarum invaderet, pollicitus cadaverum et ruderum gratuitam egestionem nemini ad reliquias rerum suarum adire permisit; conlationibusque non receptis modo verum et efflagitatis provincias privatorumque census prope exhausit.

Caius Suetonius Tranquillus (ca. 75-160)


Rome burned by Nero
[Nero 38,1-3]

(1) But he had no respect for the people nor for the walls of the homeland. When someone, during a conversation, quoted: “When I die, let earth disappear in fire!”, Nero said: “On the contrary, while I am alive!”, and he plainly did so. In fact, as if wounded by the ugliness of the old buildings and by the narrow and tortuous streets, he burned Rome in so obvious a way that quite a number of the consular class, though having surprised his servants on their properties with tow and torches, did not dare touch them; and some stores, near to the Golden House, of which he desired to occupy the area, were demolished with siege equipment and given to the flames, because they were built in stone.
(2) The scourge grew crueller for six days and seven nights, driving the plebs to seek shelter in the monuments and in the burial grounds. Then, as well as a boundless number of house buildings, the dwellings of the old generals were devoured by the fire, still decked with enemy spoils, and the temples of the gods, some votive and dedicated since the time of the kings, and others during the Punic and Gallic wars, and everything that had remained worthy to be seen or remembered from antiquity. Contemplating the fire from the tower of Maecenas and gladdened – they are his words – “by the beauty of the flames”, he sang The destruction of Troy wearing his stage costume.
(3) And, so as not to miss even on this occasion appropriating the greatest possible quantity of plunder and spoils, after promising to remove the dead bodies and rubble freely, he allowed no one to approach the remains of their possessions. And not only accepted contributions, but demanded them in such measure as to ruin provinces and private individuals.










De persecutione Neronis
[Annales XV, 44, 2-5]

(2) Sed non ope humana, non largitionibus principis aut deum placamentis decedebat infamia, quin iussum incendium crederetur. Ergo abolendo rumori Nero subdidit reos et quaesitissimis poenis affecit, quos per flagitia invisos vulgus Christianos appellabat.
(3) Auctor nominis eius Christus Tiberio imperitante per procuratorem Pontium Pilatum supplicio adfectus erat; repressaque in praesens exitiabilis superstitio rursum erumpebat, non modo per Iudaeam, originem eius mali, sed per urbem etiam, quo cuncta undique atrocia aut pudenda confluunt celebranturque.
(4) Igitur primum correpti qui fatebantur, deinde indicio eorum multitudo ingens haud proinde in crimine incendii quam odio humani generis convicti sunt. Et pereuntibus addita ludibria, ut ferarum tergis contecti laniatu canum interirent aut crucibus adfixi atque flammati, ubi defecisset dies, in usum nocturni luminis urerentur.
(5) Hortos suos ei spectaculo Nero obtulerat et circense ludicrum edebat, habitu aurigae permixtus plebi vel curriculo insistens. Unde quamquam adversus sontes et novissima exempla meritos miseratio oriebatur, tamquam non utilitate publica, sed in saevitiam unius absumerentur.

Cornelius Tacitus (54-119)


Nero’s persecution
[Annales XV, 44, 2-5]

(2) But the scandalous accusation whereby it was believed that the fire had been ordered did not lose credence, despite the human efforts, the donations from the emperor or the ceremonies to propitiate the gods. Therefore, to stop the public voices, Nero invented the guilty, and subjected to refined torture those that the people called Christians, hated for their iniquities.
(3) Their name came from Christ who in Tiberius’ reign was condemned to death by the procurator Pontius Pilate; dying down for a time, this pernicious superstition broke out again not only in Judea, origin of the evil, but also in Rome, where everything that is abominable and shameful flows together and finds its consecration.
(4) So, first those were arrested who made open confession of the belief, then, on denunciation by those, a great multitude were arrested, not so much with the accusation of having started the fire, as for the hatred they had against human kind. And scorn was poured on those who died, so that, covered in animal skins, they perished torn to pieces by dogs, or hung on crosses and given to the flames they were burned alive, at sunset, like torches for the night.
(5) Nero had made his gardens available for that spectacle, and had arranged circus games, joining in with the crowd dressed as a charioteer or standing on his race-chariot. Thus, albeit they were guilty and merited those novel torments, a sense of pity was generated, because they were sacrificed not for the common good, but to the cruelty of one man alone.