Latest / Nero: Mad Tyrant or Misunderstood Emperor? — Fexingo History / Nero and the Olympic Games of 67 AD
Transcript
- Lucas: So we've covered a lot of Nero's darker moments — the fire, the persecutions, the family murders. But today I want to talk about something that reveals a completely different side of him: his obsession with Greece and the Olympic Games. Luna: Wait, Nero actually competed in the Olympics? Lucas: He did. And he won. In 67 AD, Nero embarked on a year-long tour of Greece that was essentially a victory lap — except he hadn't actually won anything yet. He was determined to prove himself as an artist and athlete, and Greece was the only stage that mattered. Lucas: Now, the traditional Olympic Games were held every four years at Olympia, in the Peloponnese. But Nero didn't just show up and compete — he completely restructured the festival calendar. He ordered that all the major Panhellenic games — the Olympics, the Pythian Games, the Isthmian Games, the Nemean Games — be held in the same year so he could participate in all of them at once. Luna: That must have been a logistical nightmare. Lucas: Absolutely. And it was a massive break with tradition. The Greeks were horrified, but they also knew that Nero was a Roman emperor who could do whatever he wanted. So they went along with it. Nero arrived in Greece with his entire court, including his wife Poppaea Sabina — though by then she was dead, so actually it was his new wife Statilia Messalina. He brought along thousands of courtiers, musicians, and guards. Lucas: Nero's real passion wasn't athletics — it was music and theater. He considered himself a citharode, a singer who accompanied himself on the cithara, a type of lyre. So when he competed in the Olympics, he insisted on introducing a new category: musical competition. The Greeks had to create a special contest for him. Luna: So he basically rigged the entire Olympics to suit his talents. Lucas: Exactly. Suetonius tells us that Nero performed on stage in several Greek cities, and the audiences were required to applaud on cue. There were even soldiers stationed in the audience to make sure everyone clapped enthusiastically. Anyone who didn't was punished. But the most famous incident is actually the chariot race. Lucas: Nero entered the Olympic chariot race with a team of ten horses — which was already unusual, since most competitors used four. During the race, he lost control, fell from his chariot, and was nearly killed. But instead of being disqualified, he was still declared the winner. The excuse was that he would have won if he hadn't crashed. Luna: That's absurd. Did anyone actually believe that? Lucas: Probably not. But Nero showered the judges with gifts. He also gave the city of Olympia a huge sum of money and granted tax exemptions to the province of Achaia. Cassius Dio writes that the Greeks were so desperate for imperial favor that they flattered Nero relentlessly. They even erected statues of him as a victorious athlete. Lucas: Nero's tour wasn't just about vanity — it had a political dimension. He was a known philhellene, a lover of Greek culture. He spoke Greek, he surrounded himself with Greek advisors, and he saw himself as a champion of Hellenism. By winning the games, he was trying to legitimize his rule as a cultural leader, not just a military one. Luna: And he also declared Greek freedom, right? Lucas: Yes, that's a key moment. At the Isthmian Games in Corinth, Nero made a dramatic announcement: he granted freedom to the Greek provinces, freeing them from Roman taxation and provincial status. It was a massive propaganda move. He was acting like a new Flamininus, the Roman general who had declared Greek freedom centuries earlier. But in practice, it was largely symbolic and didn't last long after his death. Lucas: The whole tour cost an enormous amount of money. Nero gave away huge sums to Greek cities, funded building projects, and showered prizes on himself. This was at a time when the Roman treasury was already strained from the Great Fire and the Jewish Revolt. Critics back in Rome saw it as reckless extravagance. Luna: It's like he was living in a fantasy world while the empire was burning. Lucas: In a way, yes. But there's another angle. Nero genuinely believed in his artistic talent. He had been performing since childhood and had trained with the best musicians. His mother Agrippina had actually tried to discourage his artistic pursuits — she wanted him to focus on politics. So his Greek tour was also a rebellion against her influence, even after her death. Lucas: Now, the legacy of Nero's Olympic games is complicated. On one hand, it's a perfect example of his megalomania. On the other, it shows how deeply Greek culture had penetrated the Roman elite. Nero wasn't the first Roman to love Greek culture — but he was the first emperor to take it to this extreme. Luna: And what happened to all those statues and inscriptions after he died? Lucas: Most were destroyed or recarved. The damnatio memoriae — the official erasure of his memory — was thorough. But some inscriptions survive, including one from Olympia that records his victory in the chariot race. It's a fascinating artifact: a piece of official propaganda that somehow survived the purge. Lucas: You know, it's funny — we spend so much time talking about Nero's crimes, but this episode shows a different side. He was a complicated figure who genuinely loved art and culture, even if his methods were tyrannical. Luna: And a lot of those artistic ambitions cost the empire dearly. Lucas: Exactly. Quick honest thing — a handful of listeners chip in monthly through buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo, and that's literally what funds making this many of these deep dives possible. Luna: Yeah, it keeps us ad-free and lets us spend hours on research like this. Lucas: So if you've enjoyed our Nero series, consider joining that small group. And back to Greece — Nero's final performance, if you will, was in 68 AD, when news of Vindex's rebellion reached him. He cut his tour short and rushed back to Rome, but by then it was too late. The Olympic victories, the statues, the freedom of Greece — none of it could save him. Luna: It's almost poetic. The emperor who wanted to be remembered as an artist ended up being remembered as a monster. Lucas: And that's the tragedy. Nero's artistic ambitions might have been genuine, but they were overshadowed by his cruelty and incompetence. In the end, his Olympic games were just another chapter in a story of power, vanity, and downfall.