Something I found interesting in this weeks reading was,some things that Nero enjoyed doing with his time. Nero liked to sing but not very much in public. Nero thought it would be nice to take part in private performances. He also put on a mask and sang tragedies representing gods,goddess, heroes, heroines. Nero talked constantly about the games in the circus which he was not allowed to be in. Another thing was Nero loved chariots and longed to drive one. At the beginning of Nero's life he was not so bad but, when Nero got older he became really mean and disgusting.
All of the horrendous deeds attributed to Nero may have once been an alarming reality, but other factors must be weighed. For instance, on page 26 of Suetonius’ Nero, it says: “The bitter feeling against him [Nero] was increased…” During my research for my paper on Caligula, I came up with the realization that maybe all the allegations of madness against him were not entirely true. Maybe they weren't true at all! If Caligula,(or Nero) made a mistake that inspired ignominy, prejudice would begin to form. Over time, rumor and gossip could seriously distort the real picture. Though I wouldn't be surprised if some of what we read were true, I also believe that parts of it were blown way out of proportion by prejudiced people.
I found Nero to be a repulsive specimen of the human race. His habits, his decisions, and his treatment of others truly horrified me. Suetonius wrote, “He showed neither discrimination nor moderation in putting to death whomsoever he please on any pretext whatever.” This was true throughout the majority of the reading. If Nero was not pleased with you, he killed you. If Nero felt threatened by you in the slightest way, he killed you. However, I was particularly struck by the fact that he had no guilt or pangs of consciousness at the horrific destruction he was bringing to Rome, and Rome’s people.
In agreement with Caitlyn I think Nero was a “repulsive specimen”. At the beginning he wasn’t very horrid but sadly he didn’t age well. (In appearance, actions, and attitude.) He was a man who did what he liked. It says, at the top of page 5, “He [Nero] was moreover so dishonest that he not only cheated some bankers of the prices of wares which he had bought, but in his praetorship he even defrauded the victors in the chariot races of the amount of their prizes...” Nero was greedy, self-centered and arrogant, not to mention dishonest. However, Nero didn’t appear to care what others thought. If he was satisfied everything was good, but Nero’s greedy appetite was not to be fullfilled. On a horrifying note: Nero seemed to have a mortifying obsession with killing people, namely his friends and relatives. If a guy is okay with killing his friends through medicine-like poison, how much more so is he going to be okay will killing random people on the street? (I’m overjoyed that Nero is not the president)
I also agree with Caitlyn and Sarah. While reading about Nero, at first he seemed fine, even as though he could even be an adequate ruler, such as when he had to sign a warrant for the death of a condenmed man, and exclaimed "How I wish I had never learned to write!" HOWEVER, as the reading continued, we see bits and pieces of his true character revealed. First in vanity, in believing he was the greatest singer in the world, then in his criminal ways. I was utterly disgusted throughout the entire booklet. To echo Sarah, "I am overjoyed that Nero is not the president" lol
Nero hurt so many people during his life. He killed people, and took money from his citizens for his own benefit. He rarely took time to think about anyone except himself. He even killed his own mother! After mistreating his people for so long, he finally got a taste of his own cruelness. The people rebelled. They were tired of his selfishness, and ready for something new. Nero never took the time to be nice his people, he only thought about himself. So when they turned on him there was no mercy. He killed himself out of despair, and the people rejoiced at his death. Nero was hated by the people because he failed to treat others the way he wanted to be treated.
Nero was a weird dude, so I decided to write about "Pliny the Younger's 'Account of the Eruption of Vesuvius'" instead. I found that reading was really interesting.Pliny writes a letter to Tacitus about his uncle's death. He tells how his uncle was relaxing when all of a sudden a cloud rose from the volcano Vesuvius. The cloud was described to look like a pine tree. It had a very long trunk and several branches coming out of it. Part of the cloud was white and other parts were of dirt and ash. His curious uncle wanted a closer look at this phenomenon. He received a letter of Rectina saying she was frightened of this dangerous thing. She begged him to get her away from this danger. He then sailed on to rescue this woman. Ash fell of the ships and it got darker and darker as they went. The wind carried his uncle in. The uncle, in order to lessen the fear of the people, bathed and dined in the midst of the danger. Huge flames lit up the volcano, but the uncle claimed it was just from the hearths of the farmers who ran away. He actually fell asleep during all the chaos. The ground rose higher of a mixture of ash, dirt, and stones. He held pillows to their heads to protect themselves. It got darker, so they used torches to light the way. They reached the shore, but eh sea was uncooperative. The uncle rested in the shade. After a while the uncle's body shut down from the smoke. He was found two days later untouched and unharmed.
One of the interesting things about the coursepack reading this week was the courage of Pliny the Younger's uncle. Rectina was a woman who lived at the foot of Mt. Vesuvius. The only way to get to her villa was by boat. When the volcano started erupting, Rectina became fearful. She asked Pliny's uncle if he would come to take her away. He started on his way, going straight towards the danger that others were fleeing. He even asked to be taken to the baths as to calm the other citizens. When the channel back to the mainland still could not be crossed, he rested in the shade. Eventually he could not breathe from all the dust in the air and his systems shut down. Even with his dying breaths, he did not panic but continued a calm attitude.
Something that stuck out to me in this weeks reading, was the heritage to which Nero was born into. It says on page 5 in the text, that when Nero’s father, Domitius was congratulated on his son’s birth he said “Nothing that was not abominable, and a public bane, could be born of Agrippina and I.” Nero was expected to be an evil person before he could even talk! Another thing, is that even though Nero has the reputation for being a horrible ruler, I learned this week that he actually began his reign well! Be gave grain, land, gold, paintings, ships, jewels, and animals away generously! Given his heritage and reputation, I’m honestly surprised he did any good during his rule at all!
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12 comments:
Something I found interesting in this weeks reading was,some things that Nero enjoyed doing with his time. Nero liked to sing but not very much in public. Nero thought it would be nice to take part in private performances. He also put on a mask and sang tragedies representing gods,goddess, heroes, heroines. Nero talked constantly about the games in the circus which he was not allowed to be in. Another thing was Nero loved chariots and longed to drive one. At the beginning of Nero's life he was not so bad but, when Nero got older he became really mean and disgusting.
All of the horrendous deeds attributed to Nero may have once been an alarming reality, but other factors must be weighed. For instance, on page 26 of Suetonius’ Nero, it says: “The bitter feeling against him [Nero] was increased…” During my research for my paper on Caligula, I came up with the realization that maybe all the allegations of madness against him were not entirely true. Maybe they weren't true at all! If Caligula,(or Nero) made a mistake that inspired ignominy, prejudice would begin to form. Over time, rumor and gossip could seriously distort the real picture. Though I wouldn't be surprised if some of what we read were true, I also believe that parts of it were blown way out of proportion by prejudiced people.
I found Nero to be a repulsive specimen of the human race. His habits, his decisions, and his treatment of others truly horrified me. Suetonius wrote, “He showed neither discrimination nor moderation in putting to death whomsoever he please on any pretext whatever.” This was true throughout the majority of the reading. If Nero was not pleased with you, he killed you. If Nero felt threatened by you in the slightest way, he killed you. However, I was particularly struck by the fact that he had no guilt or pangs of consciousness at the horrific destruction he was bringing to Rome, and Rome’s people.
In agreement with Caitlyn I think Nero was a “repulsive specimen”. At the beginning he wasn’t very horrid but sadly he didn’t age well. (In appearance, actions, and attitude.) He was a man who did what he liked. It says, at the top of page 5, “He [Nero] was moreover so dishonest that he not only cheated some bankers of the prices of wares which he had bought, but in his praetorship he even defrauded the victors in the chariot races of the amount of their prizes...” Nero was greedy, self-centered and arrogant, not to mention dishonest. However, Nero didn’t appear to care what others thought. If he was satisfied everything was good, but Nero’s greedy appetite was not to be fullfilled. On a horrifying note: Nero seemed to have a mortifying obsession with killing people, namely his friends and relatives. If a guy is okay with killing his friends through medicine-like poison, how much more so is he going to be okay will killing random people on the street? (I’m overjoyed that Nero is not the president)
I also agree with Caitlyn and Sarah. While reading about Nero, at first he seemed fine, even as though he could even be an adequate ruler, such as when he had to sign a warrant for the death of a condenmed man, and exclaimed "How I wish I had never learned to write!"
HOWEVER, as the reading continued, we see bits and pieces of his true character revealed. First in vanity, in believing he was the greatest singer in the world, then in his criminal ways. I was utterly disgusted throughout the entire booklet. To echo Sarah,
"I am overjoyed that Nero is not the president" lol
Nero hurt so many people during his life. He killed people, and took money from his citizens for his own benefit. He rarely took time to think about anyone except himself. He even killed his own mother! After mistreating his people for so long, he finally got a taste of his own cruelness. The people rebelled. They were tired of his selfishness, and ready for something new. Nero never took the time to be nice his people, he only thought about himself. So when they turned on him there was no mercy. He killed himself out of despair, and the people rejoiced at his death. Nero was hated by the people because he failed to treat others the way he wanted to be treated.
Nero was a weird dude, so I decided to write about "Pliny the Younger's 'Account of the Eruption of Vesuvius'" instead. I found that reading was really interesting.Pliny writes a letter to Tacitus about his uncle's death. He tells how his uncle was relaxing when all of a sudden a cloud rose from the volcano Vesuvius. The cloud was described to look like a pine tree. It had a very long trunk and several branches coming out of it. Part of the cloud was white and other parts were of dirt and ash. His curious uncle wanted a closer look at this phenomenon. He received a letter of Rectina saying she was frightened of this dangerous thing. She begged him to get her away from this danger. He then sailed on to rescue this woman. Ash fell of the ships and it got darker and darker as they went. The wind carried his uncle in. The uncle, in order to lessen the fear of the people, bathed and dined in the midst of the danger. Huge flames lit up the volcano, but the uncle claimed it was just from the hearths of the farmers who ran away. He actually fell asleep during all the chaos. The ground rose higher of a mixture of ash, dirt, and stones. He held pillows to their heads to protect themselves. It got darker, so they used torches to light the way. They reached the shore, but eh sea was uncooperative. The uncle rested in the shade. After a while the uncle's body shut down from the smoke. He was found two days later untouched and unharmed.
One of the interesting things about the coursepack reading this week was the courage of Pliny the Younger's uncle. Rectina was a woman who lived at the foot of Mt. Vesuvius. The only way to get to her villa was by boat. When the volcano started erupting, Rectina became fearful. She asked Pliny's uncle if he would come to take her away. He started on his way, going straight towards the danger that others were fleeing. He even asked to be taken to the baths as to calm the other citizens. When the channel back to the mainland still could not be crossed, he rested in the shade. Eventually he could not breathe from all the dust in the air and his systems shut down. Even with his dying breaths, he did not panic but continued a calm attitude.
Something that stuck out to me in this weeks reading, was the heritage to which Nero was born into. It says on page 5 in the text, that when Nero’s father, Domitius was congratulated on his son’s birth he said “Nothing that was not abominable, and a public bane, could be born of Agrippina and I.” Nero was expected to be an evil person before he could even talk! Another thing, is that even though Nero has the reputation for being a horrible ruler, I learned this week that he actually began his reign well! Be gave grain, land, gold, paintings, ships, jewels, and animals away generously! Given his heritage and reputation, I’m honestly surprised he did any good during his rule at all!
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