Latest / Nero: Mad Tyrant or Misunderstood Emperor? — Fexingo History / Nero's Greek Adventure: The 67 AD Tour
Transcript
- Lucas: So Luna, we've talked a lot about Nero's building projects, his diplomacy with Parthia, the grain supply — but one of the most revealing episodes of his reign is something we haven't touched on yet: his grand tour of Greece in 67 AD. Luna: Oh right, the year he spent in Greece — I've heard he competed in the Olympics? Lucas: Exactly. Nero had always been a passionate philhellene — he loved Greek art, music, theater, and he saw himself as a true artist. In 67 AD, he finally got the chance to perform on the biggest stage of the Greek world. He traveled to Greece with a huge entourage, including his wife Statilia Messalina and the Praetorian prefect Tigellinus. Lucas: The official reason was to attend the Isthmian Games at Corinth and to inspect the province of Achaia, but really he wanted to compete in every major festival. He even had the Olympic Games postponed by a year so he could participate — that's how much it mattered to him. Luna: Wait, he had the Olympics postponed just for him? That's a level of vanity I didn't expect. Lucas: It's extraordinary. The Olympic Games were normally held every four years, and the ones scheduled for 65 AD were moved to 67 AD to suit Nero's schedule. And when he arrived, he entered events that suited his artistic talents: he sang, he played the lyre, he acted in tragedies, and he even gave speeches. But he also entered athletic contests like chariot racing. Lucas: Now, the thing is — Nero was not a great athlete. According to Suetonius, he fell from his chariot during a race and had to be helped back in, but he still won. Most of his victories were essentially bought or forced: the judges were bribed or intimidated into awarding him first place. Luna: So he won everything he entered? That's embarrassing. Lucas: He won 1,808 crowns, according to Suetonius — that's an absurd number. He even invented new events to enter, like a competition for herald or tragic actor, and awarded himself the prize. The official record from the Olympic lists shows that Nero was awarded victories in the chariot race, even though he didn't finish, and in the competition for trumpeters and heralds. Lucas: But there's a more serious side to this tour. Nero made a famous declaration at the Isthmian Games: he announced the liberation of the province of Achaia from Roman taxation and administration, granting the Greeks their freedom. It was a huge propaganda move — Nero was presented as a new Flamininus, the Roman general who had liberated Greece two centuries earlier. Luna: Did that liberation actually last? Lucas: No, it didn't. After Nero's fall, the emperor Vespasian reimposed direct Roman rule and taxation. But for a brief moment, Greece was technically free. Nero also started a massive engineering project: the Corinth Canal. He personally broke ground with a golden pickaxe, and he had Jewish prisoners of war from the First Jewish-Roman War brought in as laborers. Lucas: The canal would have cut the sea route from the Adriatic to the Aegean by hundreds of kilometers, avoiding the dangerous circumnavigation of the Peloponnese. Nero's engineers surveyed the route, but the project was abandoned after his death — it wasn't completed until 1893, by the French. Luna: That's incredible — he was almost 1,800 years ahead of the modern canal. Lucas: Indeed. The tour also had a political dimension. Nero needed to secure the loyalty of the Greek cities, which were wealthy and culturally influential. He also wanted to present himself as a peaceful, cultured emperor after the Parthian settlement of 66 AD. So he timed his visit to coincide with the closing of the Temple of Janus in Rome, symbolizing universal peace. Lucas: But the Roman elite back home were scandalized. For a Roman emperor to appear on stage like a common entertainer was seen as degrading. Tacitus and Suetonius both sneer at Nero's 'theatrical' behavior. Yet the Greeks loved him — they erected statues and inscribed honors. There's even a story from Philostratus that the philosopher Apollonius of Tyana criticized Nero's performances, but the crowds were ecstatic. Luna: So was Nero genuinely passionate about Greek culture, or was it all just for show? Lucas: I think it was genuine — but also deeply narcissistic. He really believed he was a great artist. He had studied with the best musicians and poets, and he took his performances seriously. He even practiced his voice with special diets and exercises. In Greece, he found an audience that appreciated his talents, unlike the stuffy Roman aristocrats who only valued military glory. Lucas: At the same time, he used the tour to cement his image as a divinely favored ruler. He identified with the sun god Sol and with Hercules, and he had himself proclaimed 'the greatest of all Greeks.' The historian Pausanias, writing a century later, mentions that Nero's statue in Olympia was placed next to the temple of Zeus — a huge honor. Luna: That's a pretty bold move, putting yourself next to Zeus. Lucas: Absolutely. And after the tour, Nero returned to Rome in triumph, entering the city in a chariot wearing an Olympic victor's garland. He also brought back hundreds of statues and artworks from Greece to decorate his Domus Aurea. The tour was a massive success in his own mind, but it also deepened the resentment among the Roman elite. Lucas: In the end, the Greek tour reveals Nero's complex character: the artist, the showman, the megalomaniac, and the emperor who genuinely loved Hellenic culture. It's a fascinating episode because it shows his vision of what an emperor could be — not just a military commander, but a patron of the arts, a performer, a liberator. And it's also a cautionary tale about the limits of imperial power. Luna: What happened to all those statues he brought back? Lucas: After Nero's death, many were probably removed or destroyed during the damnatio memoriae. But some may have survived — the Domus Aurea was later filled in and built over, so there might still be treasures buried under Rome. It's a great mystery.