Latest / Nero: Mad Tyrant or Misunderstood Emperor? — Fexingo History
Nero's Cithara: The Emperor Who Competed as a Lyre Player
In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore Nero's passion for the cithara—a large lyre—and his unprecedented decision to perform publicly as a citharode at the Neronia and in Greece. They discuss how this broke Roman aristocratic norms, the scandal of an emperor competing on stage, and the political fallout. Key figures: Nero, Menecrates, Patrobolus. Places: Rome, Naples, Greece. Concepts: cithara, citharode, Neronia, agonothetes, Philhellenism. Also covered: the reaction of the Senate, Tacitus' and Suetonius' accounts, and how Nero's artistic ambitions undermined his…
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