Latest / Nero: Mad Tyrant or Misunderstood Emperor? — Fexingo History
Nero's Water Games: The Naumachia of 57 AD
Before the Domus Aurea, before the Great Fire, Nero staged an enormous mock sea battle—a naumachia—on the Campus Martius. This episode dives into the logistics, politics, and spectacle of that 57 AD event: how Roman engineers flooded a purpose-built basin, recycled the water for the Tiber, and staged a fight between Athenians and Persians for a crowd of thousands. We explore the earlier naumachia of Julius Caesar and Augustus, the role of condemned prisoners as 'sailors,' the enduring mystery of the basin's exact location, and what this taste for naval theater tells us about…
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