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History

Rethinking Nero

July 12, 2018

Roman emperor Nero has gone down in history as a crazed tyrant. But was he really that horrible?

https://p.dw.com/p/31KuI
Doku Nero - Plädoyer für eine Bestie
Image: New Docs

Trailer "Nero"

Some experts believe he's been given a bad rap - and blame ancient historians who loathed Nero because he stripped the élites of their power.

Postkarte Brand von Rom - Nero Römisches Reich
Image: picture-alliance/akg-images

Nero - the Roman emperor who set fire to Rome and fiddled while it burned. The history books paint him as a debauched, tyrannical figure. But are the stories really true? These days, a reinterpretation of his reign, from 54-68 A.D. is gaining traction. Nero is believed to have murdered his mother, power-mad Agrippina.

But according to one theory, their relationship had become so fraught that having her killed seemed like the only way the system of dynastic politics could be brought to end. In this documentary, the crime is reappraised and the figure of Nero reconsidered. From today's point of view, he was a ruler who defied the Patricians' definition of a good ruler, but not for the reasons the history books have always had us believe. They were angered by his artistic ambitions, his rejection of bloody gladiator battles and resistance to aggressive expansion. In hindsight, Nero was perhaps a man with humanistic beliefs who was ahead of his time.

Broadcasting Hours: 

Part 1: 

DW English

TUE 14.08.2018 – 19:15 UTC
WED 15.08.2018 – 01:15 UTC
WED 15.08.2018 – 15:15 UTC
THU 16.08.2018 – 05:15 UTC
SAT 19.08.2018 – 14:15 UTC
MON 20.08.2018 – 03:15 UTC
FRI 31.08.2018 – 09:15 UTC

Cape Town UTC +2 | Delhi UTC +5,5 | Hong Kong UTC +8
San Francisco UTC -7 | Edmonton UTC -6 | New York UTC -4
Lagos UTC +1 | Cape Town UTC +2 | Nairobi UTC +3 
London UTC +1 | Berlin UTC +2 | Moscow UTC +3

DW Deutsch+

WED 15.08.2018 – 09:15 UTC
SAT 19.08.2018 – 07:15 UTC

Vancouver UTC -7 | New York UTC -4 | Sao Paulo UTC -3

 

Part 2: 

DW English

TUE 21.08.2018 – 19:15 UTC
WED 22.08.2018 – 01:15 UTC
WED 22.08.2018 – 15:15 UTC
THU 23.08.2018 – 05:15 UTC
SAT 26.08.2018 – 14:15 UTC
MON 27.08.2018 – 03:15 UTC
FRI 07.09.2018 – 09:15 UTC

Cape Town UTC +2 | Delhi UTC +5,5 | Hong Kong UTC +8
San Francisco UTC -7 | Edmonton UTC -6 | New York UTC -4
Lagos UTC +1 | Cape Town UTC +2 | Nairobi UTC +3 
London UTC +1 | Berlin UTC +2 | Moscow UTC +3

DW Deutsch+

WED 22.08.2018 – 09:15 UTC
SAT 26.08.2018 – 07:15 UTC

Vancouver UTC -7 | New York UTC -4 | Sao Paulo UTC -3