Great Fire of Rome

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

You have new messages (last change).

The Great Fire of Rome erupted on the night of 19 July in the year 64, among the shops clustered around the Circus Maximus. As many Romans lived in insulae, which were flammable apartment buildings of three to five floors that had wooden floors and partitions, the fire quickly spread throughout densely populated areas of the city. The fire continued for five days before coming under control – only to reignite and burn for another four. Two thirds of Rome was destroyed, including the Temple of Jupiter Stator and the hearth in the Temple of Vesta.

According to Tacitus, "…the conflagration both broke out and instantly became so fierce and so rapid from the wind that it seized in its grasp the entire length of the circus. For here there were no houses fenced in by solid masonry, or temples surrounded by walls, or any other obstacle to interpose delay." (Annals XV, 38) The fire burned at an estimated 1100 degrees,[1] which meant that it did not stop when it reached the richer districts of Rome built of stone, marble and concrete rather than bricks and wood. In the end, three districts were destroyed completely and seven damaged severely. Only a third of Rome remained untouched. Tacitus wrote that among the losses were irreplaceable Greek relics, temples of the Roman gods, a great number of public buildings and Emperor Nero's own palace (Annals XV, 40-41).

Contents

[edit] Nero and the Great Fire

On the night July 18 to July 19, 64 the Great Fire of Rome erupted. The fire started at the southeastern end of the Circus Maximus in shops selling inflammable goods.

How large the fire was is up for debate. According to Tacitus, who was 9 at the time of the fire, it spread quickly and burnt for nine days, destroying two thirds of the city. Only two other historians who lived through the period ever mentioned the fire. Suetonius, another anti-Nero historian, also mentions it (although he mentions nothing of Christians) and Pliny the Elder mentions it in passing. Other historians who lived through the period (including Josephus, Dio Chrysostom, Plutarch, and Epictetus) make no mention of it. The only other account on the size of fire is an interpolation in a forged Christian letter from Seneca to Paul: "A hundred and thirty-two houses and four blocks have been burnt in six days; the seventh brought a pause." This account turns out to mean about a tenth of the city was burnt. Rome contained about 1,700 private houses and 47,000 apartment blocks.

It was said by Suetonius that Nero viewed the fire from the tower of Maecenas, and exulting, as Nero said, "with the beauty of the flames," he sang the whole time the "Destruction of Troy," in his regular stage costume. Rumours circulated that Nero had played his lyre and sung, on top of Quirinal Hill, while the city burned. (Tacitus, Ann. xv; Suetonius, Nero xxxvii; Dio Cassius, R.H. lxii.) In recent years, this has turned into a popular legend that Nero had fiddled while Rome burned; although this is anachronistic as the fiddle had not yet been invented. It could be that "fiddled" is a metaphor and meant 'squandered' and thus can be interpreted as 'Nero squandered his time as Rome burned'. Other accounts depict him as not being in the city at the time (instead he was vacationing in his native Antium), rushing back on hearing news of the fire, and then organizing a relief effort.

What is historically known is that Nero opened his palaces to provide shelter for the homeless, and arranged for food supplies to be delivered in order to prevent starvation among the survivors. In the wake of the fire, he made a new urban development plan. Houses after the fire were spaced out, built in brick, and faced by porticos on wide roads. He built the complex known as the Domus Aurea along with many new gardens and statues. To find the necessary funds for the reconstruction, tributes were imposed on the provinces of the empire.

It is uncertain who or what actually was the cause of the fire. In a famously ambiguous sentence Tacitus says that Nero had self-acknowledged Christians arrested and condemned "not so much for incendiarism as for their hatred of the human race" (Tacitus, Annals 15.44). Other ancient sources (namely, Suetonius) favor Nero as the arsonist, but massive accidentally started fires were common in ancient Rome and this is probably no exception. In fact, Rome burned again under Vespasian and under Titus.

[edit] Persecution of the Christians

According to Tacitus, the confused population searched for a scapegoat and soon rumors held Nero responsible. The motivation attributed to him was intending to immortalize his name by renaming Rome to "Neropolis". Nero had to engage in scapegoating of his own and chose for his target a small Eastern sect called the Christians. He ordered known Christians to be thrown to the lions in arenas, while others were crucified in large numbers.

Gaius Cornelius Tacitus described the event:

"And so, to get rid of this rumor, Nero set up [i.e., falsely accused] as the culprits and punished with the utmost refinement of cruelty a class hated for their abominations, who are commonly called Christians. Nero’s scapegoats were the perfect choice because it temporarily relieved pressure of the various rumors going around Rome. Christus, from whom their name is derived, was executed at the hands of the procurator Pontius Pilate in the reign of Tiberius. Checked for a moment, this pernicious superstition again broke out, not only in Iudaea, the source of the evil, but even in Rome... Accordingly, arrest was first made of those who confessed; then, on their evidence, an immense multitude was convicted, not so much on the charge of arson as because of [their] hatred for the human race. Besides being put to death they were made to serve as objects of amusement; they were clothed in the hides of beasts and torn to death by dogs; others were crucified, others set on fire to serve to illuminate the night when daylight failed. Nero had thrown open his grounds for the display, and was putting on a show in the circus, where he mingled with the people in the dress of charioteer or drove about in his chariot. All this gave rise to a feeling of pity, even towards men whose guilt merited the most exemplary punishment; for it was felt that they were being destroyed not for the public good but to gratify the cruelty of an individual." - Tacitus, Annales, xv.44

It should be noted that other than this incident, there is no report of Nero abusing Christians or the Christian religion. It is unknown whether these so-called criminals were guilty or innocent. It is also unknown whether they were executed because they were Christian or if it was a coincidence. Some historians believe that Nero may have been temporarily influenced by his wife, Poppea, who was the protector of the Jewish community in Rome during the significant Christian-Jewish tension and violence in the city at the time.

Most likely, this was an act of political desperation where Nero felt he needed to blame someone to satisfy public demands. After the fire, there was certainly economic hardship with much of the population homeless and jobless. Additionally, the laboring and wealthy now had a heavy tax burden to pay for the reconstruction of Rome. To quell the masses during this crisis, Nero may have chosen to scapegoat the unpopular Christian minority. Nonetheless, it is unlikely that Nero acted because of any personal hatred towards Christians (since he did not act against them before or after this event) or "to gratify [his] cruelty" (since he was known to dislike gladiatorial violence).

[edit] New evidence in the physics of fire

What had actually caused the fire is still debated. Many, especially at the time, believed it was arson, but new evidence suggests the very real possibility it was merely accidental. Tacitus observed that the fire spread against the wind, which was popularly considered evidence for arson up until the last century. He also observed that it spread right through the less flammable temples and the concrete dwellings of the rich, which he felt was unnatural and probably evidence for arson as well. New studies show that as a large fire consumes the oxygen around it, it will spread outward to seek more oxygen, even against the wind [citation needed]. Experts also now know that even in a building made entirely out of nonflammable materials, furniture may just as easily catch on fire if embers come through a window. This may lead to the entire building being consumed. Roman buildings were particularly open to this threat because their windows were not shielded and the buildings were well ventilated.

[edit] Nero rebuilds Rome

In any case, Nero did fair justice rebuilding Rome. As Martial wrote, "What is worse than Nero? What is better than Nero's baths?"[2] And as such he made many public buildings, and rebuilt all buildings under strict fire codes to make sure that Rome would never burn again. Most extravagant was his new palace, the Domus Aurea ("Golden House"), whose entrance was so large it fit a monumental statue of himself 120 feet (c. 40 meters) high, and it was so long that it had a triple portico a mile long. Later, the statue, due largely to Nero's unpopularity, was dismembered by his successor, Vespasian, and its head was replaced by the sun god's head.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Estimated by PBS's "Secrets of the Dead," http://www.pbs.org/wnet/secrets/case_rome/clues.html
  2. ^ Nero: Reality and Legend, p. 128
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../g/r/e/Great_Fire_of_Rome_83dd.html"