From the Gracchi to Nero: A History of Rome from 133 B.C. to A.D. 68 (70 page)

17 SOURCES FOR NERO (A.D. 54–68). The chief literary sources are Tacitus,
Annals
xiii–xvi (to A.D. 66 only); Suetonius,
Nero
(commentaries by B. H. Warmington (1977) and K. R. Bradley (1978)); Dio Cassius, lxi–lxiii. Documents: E. M. Smallwood,
Documents Illustrating the Principates of Gaius, Claudius and Nero
(1967). Coins: works cited in ch. XI, n. 1.

Modern works: B. W. Henderson,
The Life and Principate of the Emperor Nero
(1903); M. P. Charlesworth,
JRS
, 1950, 69 ff.; M. A. Levi,
Nerone e i suoi tempi
(1950); J. Bishop,
Nero
(1964): B. H. Warmington,
Nero
(1969); M. Grant,
Nero
(1970). [p. 256]

18 THE QUINQUENNIUM NERONIS. On the meaning of this phrase see J. G. C. Anderson,
JRS
, 1911, 173 ff., and F. A. Lepper,
JRS
, 1957, 95 ff.; the latter believes that it was
ben trovato
. O. Murray,
Historia
, 1965, 41 ff., attributes the phrase to Arulenus Rusticus, the biographer of Thrasea Paetus; the former wished to explain why Thrasea, later Nero’s enemy, had at first co-operated with him. J. G. F. Hind (
Historia
, 1971, 488 ff.) attributes the phrase to A.D. 60–65, while M. K. Thornton (
ibid.
, 1973, 570 ff.) applies it to Nero’s last years. [p. 256]

19 AGRIPPINA, SENECA AND BURRUS. For a defence of Agrippina against the charge of
having poisoned Claudius see G. Bagnani,
Phoenix
, 1946, 15 ff. Her decline and fall can be traced dramatically in the coinage. At first her portrait dominated it (see p. 257), then it appeared as the remoter of two jugate busts, then it was banished to the reverse, and finally disappeared. Cf. C. H. V. Sutherland,
Coinage in Rom. Imp. Policy
, 153 ff. The fact that Agrippina could at first control the mint types shows the
de facto
meaning of the restoration of coinage to the Senate. On Seneca see ch. XVI, n. 7; A. Garzetti,
From Tiberius to the Antonines
(1974), 607 ff. On Burrus see W. C. McDermott,
Latomus
, 1949, 229 ff., and D. Gillis,
Parola del Passato
, 1963, 5 ff. A recent inscription from Amisus in Pontus (A.D. 63–65) mentions Nero Poppaea and Britannicus and may suggest official acceptance of Nero’s version of Britannicus’ death: see
L’Année Epigr
. 1959, 224, and L. Robert,
Rev. Étud. Gr.
, 1958, 329. On the question of heirs and rivals of Nero see R. S. Rogers,
TAPA
, 1955, 190 ff. On the place of Agrippina’s murder see R. Katzoff,
Historia
, 1973, 72 ff. [p. 257]

19a FINANCE AND CORN SUPPLY. On Nero’s fiscal policy see M. K. Thornton,
Aufstieg
, II, ii (1975), 149 ff. On the African corn-supply see B. Gallotta,
Rendiconti dell’ Ist. Lombardo
, 1975, 28 ff. [p. 259]

20 NERO ARTIFEX. See M. P. Charlesworth,
JRS
, 1950, 69 ff. On one aspect note also J. M. C. Toynbee,
Cl. Qu.
, 1942, 83 ff. See also H. Bardon,
Rev. Étud. Lat.
, 1936, 337 ff., on Nero’s poetry. On Artifex see C. E. Manning,
Gr. and R.
, 1975, 164 ff., on the Augustales C. Gatti,
Cent. Rich. Doc. Ant. Class.
, 1976–77, 83 ff., on Nero’s popularity L. Garazzi,
Atti Ist. Veneto
, 1975–76, 421 ff. [p. 259]

21 NERO CITHAROEDUS. On the coinage of 64–66 Nero is depicted as Nero–Apollo, the divine musician playing a cithara: see Sutherland,
op. cit.
, 1970 and pl. XIV, 6. [p. 260]

21a TIGELLINUS. T. K. Roper,
Historia
, 1979, 346 ff., regards Tigellinus as less powerful or terrible than as generally depicted, and as having connections with Seneca. [p. 260]

22 THE DOMUS AUREA. See J. Ward Perkins,
Antiquity
, 1956, 209 ff., and A. Boethius,
The Golden House of Nero
(1960), ch. 3. [p. 261]

23 POPPAEA. On her alleged Jewish tendencies (doubtfully based on Josephus,
Ant. Jud.
20. 189–196) see E. M. Smallwood,
Journ. Theol. Studies
, 1959, 329 ff. [p. 261]

24 THE CHRISTIAN PERSECUTION. See especially Tacitus,
Ann.
xv, 44. The legal basis of the persecution has formed the subject of endless discussion. The three main views are (1) that a general law was passed which forbade the practice of the Christian religion, (2) that the Christians were punished without the usual forms of trial by ordinary magistrates who exercised their powers of
coercitio
, i.e. police action to enforce public order, and (3) the allegation of some specific charge, as treason or illegal assembly. The first view is not now much in favour. In line with Roman policy to the Bacchanalian cult and Druidism, which were checked only because of the crimes that they provoked, it may be that Christianity was proscribed by magisterial edict because of its supposed inherent
flagitia
, i.e. admission of the
nomen
would expose a man to magisterial
coercitio
and the magistrate would then through the normal process of
cognitio
seek to establish a
flagitium
, whether incendiarism, magic or cannibalism. On this view no general law was passed against Christianity under Nero that would affect provincial governors. For general discussions of the problem see A. N. Sherwin-White,
Journ. Theol. Studies
, 1952, 199 ff.; F. W. Clayton,
Cl. Qu.
, 1947, 81 ff.; J. Beaujeu,
L’incendie de Rome en 64 et les Chrétiens
(1960); G. E. M. de Ste Croix,
Past and Present
, 1963, 6 ff., 1964, 28 ff.; A. N. Sherwin-White,
ibid.
, 1964, 23 ff. (these articles by Sherwin-White and de Ste Croix are reprinted in
Studies in Ancient Society
, edited by M. I. Finley, 1974, 210 ff.); W. H. C. Frend,
Martyrdom and Persecution in the Early Church
(1965), 161 ff.; T. D. Barnes,
JRS
, 1968, 32 ff. [p. 261]

25 ST. PETER IN ROME. For a brief discussion of the evidence for the view that St. Peter
was one of Nero’s victims see J. Lowe,
Saint Peter
(1956). Recent excavations under the Basilica of St. Peter’s in the Vatican City have neither proved nor disproved the tradition that St. Peter was buried under this Church beside the site of the Circus of Nero where he is alleged to have perished. But they have revealed that below the modern church and below the Basilica that Constantine built (now beneath it) there was a large Roman cemetery and that here stood a martyr-shrine to St. Peter which is as old as
c.
A.D. 160 and was the one seen by a priest named Gaius soon after A.D. 200 (Eusebius,
Hist. Eccles.
ii, 25, 6, 7). Whether it was a tomb or a cenotaph is not known, but it is clear that the Christian community in Rome about a hundred years after St. Peter’s death connected this site with him. See J. Toynbee and J. Ward Perkins,
The Shrine of St. Peter
(1956); E. Kirschbaum,
The Tombs of St. Peter and St. Paul
(1959); D. W. O’Connor,
Peter in Rome
(Columbia, 1969). On the disposal of the bodies see H. Chadwick,
Journ. Theol. Studies
, 1957, 31 ff. Excavations (1958) have revealed further burials in this area, including that of a slave of Nero who may have been connected with the administration of the Gardens of Nero. [p. 261]

26 NERO’S LIBERATION OF GREECE. An inscription from Acraephiae in Boeotia contains the text of Nero’s edict summoning the Greeks to the Isthmus and of his speech of liberation. See Smallwood,
Documents
, n. 64; translation in Lewis and Reinhold,
Rn. Civ.
ii, 394. The date was 28 Nov., probably 66, possibly 67: see
CAH
, X, 735, n. 2. For another probably relevant inscription see A. Momigliano,
JRS
, 1944, 115. On the chronology of Nero’s visit to Greece see K. R. Bradley,
Latomus
, 1978, 61 ff. [p. 263]

27 THE ANGLESEY HOARD. See Sir Cyril Fox,
A Find of the Early Iron Age from Llyn Cerrig Bach, Anglesey
(1946). [p. 264]

28 BOUDICCA’S REVOLT. See R. Syme,
Tacitus
, 762 ff. (who dates the outbreak in 60, not 61) and C. M. Bulst,
Historia
, 1961, 496 ff. On the governor Q. Veranius, Suetonius’ immediate predecessor, see A. E. Gordon,
Univ. California Pub. in Cl. Arch.
1952, 241 ff., and E. Birley,
Roman Britain and the Roman Army
(1953), 1 ff. The tombstone of Iulius Classicianus was found in London. The fact that he was of provincial or North Italian origin may bear on his more sympathetic policy; see E. Birley,
Antiquaries Journal
, 1936, 207 f. See D. R. Dudley and G. Webster,
The Rebellion of Boudicca
(1962) and G. Webster,
Boudicca, The British Revolt against Rome, A.D
.
60
(1978). On the recall of Suetonius see M. T. Griffin
Scripta Class. Israelica
, 1976–77, 138 ff. [p. 265]

29 ARMENIA AND PARTHIA. See Tac.
Ann.
xiii, 7–9; 34–41; xiv, 23–26; xv, 1–17; 24–31; Dio Cass. lxii, 19–23. Cf. Furneaux, ed. of
Annals
, II (1907), 96 ff.; Henderson,
Nero
, 153 ff.; Anderson,
CAH
, X, 758 ff.; and for discussion of detailed and controversial points (e.g. chronology and fluctuations in Roman policy) see D. Magie,
Roman Rule in Asia Minor
, II, 1411 ff. On Corbulo see R. Syme,
JRS
, 1970, 37 ff. and on his eastern campaign see K. Gilmartin,
Historia
, 1973, 583 ff. On the Armenian settlement of A.D. 60 see A. A. Barrett,
Cl. Qu
., 1979, 465 ff. [p. 265]

30 NERO AND THE CASPIAN. The objective, the Caspiae Portae, probably is the Dariel Pass over the Caucasus north of Tiflis. The view of W. Schur (
Die Orientpolitik d. Kaisers Nero
, 1923) that Nero was trying to ‘encircle’ Armenia and dominate a supposed traderoute from the Black Sea to India via the Caspian and the Oxus has not found general acceptance: see D. Magie,
op. cit
., 1418. Against the existence of this trade-route see Sir W. W. Tarn,
The Greeks in Bactria and India
(1938), Appendix xiv. [p. 266]

31 NERO AND ETHIOPIA. On the expedition see Pliny,
NH
, vi, 181 ff.; xii, 19; Seneca,
Nat. Quaest
, vi, 8, 3; Dio Cass. lxiii, 8, 1. Cf. M. Cary and E. H. Warmington,
The Ancient Explorers
(1929), 174 ff. For a criticism of the view that Nero intended serious warfare and wished to safeguard the Arabian coast and trade-routes in the Red Sea against the ambitions of the Axumite kingdom (cf. W. Schur,
op. cit
.), see J. G. C. Anderson,
CAH
, X,
880 ff. A fragment of papyrus describes a minor engagement between some Romans and Ethiopians: for the view that this may refer to Nero’s expedition, see E. G. Turner,
JRS
, 1950, 57 ff. Cf. also ch. XII, n. 13. [p. 266]

32 THE QUMRAN COMMUNITY AND THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS. Amid the immense modern literature on this subject, reference may be made to M. Burrows,
The Dead Sea Scrolls
(1956) and
More Light on the Dead Sea Scrolls
(1958); T. H. Gaster,
The Scriptures of the Dead Sea Sect
(1957); J. Van der Ploeg,
The Excavations at Qumran
(1958); F. M. Cross,
The Ancient Library at Qumran
(1961); E. F. Sutcliffe,
The Monks of Qumran
(1960); R. de Vaux,
Archaeology and the Dead Sea Scrolls
(1973).
The Scroll of the War of the Sons of Light
(1962), which has been edited by Y. Yadin, throws light on military matters. Whether this sect were Essenes or not, is not yet established, but it was certainly not very dissimilar. The Kittim in the Scrolls are generally identified with the Romans. Their date is variously estimated, but is generally put before A.D. 70. One historical crux, the identification of the priestly enemy of the Teacher of Righteousness, has led to widely discrepant suggestions, e.g. Antiochus Epiphanes, Alexander Jannaeus, John Hyrcanus, or the Zealot Menahem (i.e. from
c.
175 B.C. to A.D. 66). [p. 266]

33 TIBERIUS IULIUS ALEXANDER. On this man see E. G. Turner,
JRS
, 1954, 54 ff.; G. Chalon,
L’édit de Tiberius Julius Alexander
(1964). [p. 267]

34 THE JEWISH WAR. The main source is the works of Josephus, who took part:
Bellum Iudaicum
and his autobiography (
Vita
); the last book (xx) of his
Antiquitates Iudaicae
(from the Creation to a.d. 66) is also relevant here. See H. St. J. Thackeray,
Josephus the Man and the Historian
(1929). After the fall of Jerusalem some of the Sicarii managed to hold out in the fortress of Masada on the Dead Sea until they all perished in 73. For the Roman siege-works and camps here see A. Schulten,
Masada
(1933); excavation reports in
Israel Explor. Journ.
, 1956–; I. A. Richmond,
JRS
, 1962, 142 ff.; Y. Yadin,
Masada
(1967). On the Sicarii see M. Hengel,
Die Zeloten
(1961); S. Applebaum,
JRS
, 1971, 155 ff. [p. 268]

35 VINDEX AND VERGINIUS. See M. Raoss,
Epigrafica
, 1958, 46–120; P. A. Brunt,
Latomus
, 1959, 531 ff.; G. Townend,
ibid.
, 1961, 337 ff.; J. C. Hainsworth,
Historia
, 1962, 88 ff. On the development of events see now P. A. L. Greenhalgh,
The Year of the Four Emperors
(1975), and K. Wellesley,
The Long Year
,
A.D
. 69 (1975). On the chronology of Jan. to June, see D. F. A. Shotter,
Historia
, 1975, 59 ff., on the role of Verginius, L. J. Daly,
Historia
, 1975, 75 ff., and on the causes of the disorder of A.D. 68–69 see R. J. A. Talbert,
Amer. J. Anc. Hist.
, 1977, 69 ff. [p. 269]

1 THE ECONOMIC LIFE OF THE EARLY EMPIRE. No ancient writer dealt with this subject. The evidence therefore has to be gathered from sources such as the geographer Strabo, Pliny the Elder’s
Natural History
, the
Periplus maris Erythraei
(see n. 4 below), Petronius, and chance remarks in other writers, together with epigraphical, papyrological and archaeological material. Much of this has been brought together in Tenney Frank’s indispensable
Economic Survey of Ancient Rome
, of which vol. V (1940) deals with Rome and Italy of the Empire, and vols. II–IV with the provinces.

See also Tenney Frank,
An Economic History of Rome
(2nd ed. 1927); M. Rostovtzeff,
The Social and Economic History of the Roman Empire
(2nd ed. 1957); F. M. Heichelheim,
An Ancient Economic History
, III (1970), ch. viii; M. P. Charlesworth,
Trade Routes and
Commerce of the Roman Empire
(2nd ed. 1926); K. D. White,
Roman Farming
(1970). See also A. Burford,
Craftsmen in Greek and Roman Society
(1972); M. I. Finley,
The Ancient Economy
(1973); R. Duncan-Jones
The Economy of the Roman Empire
(1974); L. Casson,
Travel in the Ancient World
(1974). [p. 272]

2 INDUSTRY AT POMPEII. See T. Frank,
Econ. Hist.
, ch. xiv,
Econ. Survey
V, 252 ff. On life in Pompeii in general see R. C. Carrington,
Pompeii
(1936); H. H. Tanzer,
The Common People of Pompeii
(1939); M. Della Corte,
Case ed abitanti a Pompeii
(2nd ed. 1954). Pompeian families (especially of the governing class) are studied by P. Castren,
Ordo Populusque Pompeianus: Polity and Society in Roman Pompeii
(1975), and Pompeian commercial life by Andreau,
Les affaires de Monsieur Jucundus
(1974). For life at Ostia, see R. Meiggs,
Roman Ostia
²
(1973). [p. 273]

3 TRADE BEYOND THE EMPIRE. See Sir M. Wheeler,
Rome beyond the Imperial Frontiers
(1954); O. Brogan,
JRS
, 1936, 195 ff. on trade with the free Germans; E. H. Warmington,
The Commerce between the Roman Empire and India
(1928); J. I. Miller,
The Spice Trade of the Roman Empire 29 BC
–
A.D
.
641
(1969). On Roma and India see W. Schmitthenner,
JRS
, 1979, 90 ff. [p. 277]

4 HIPPALUS. Our knowledge of Hippalus derives from
The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea
and Pliny,
NH
, vi, 26. The former is a sailor’s guide written in Greek by an Egyptian merchant and dealing with all the seas through which Oriental trade passed. It was written in the first century A.D., perhaps about 50. The date of Hippalus is uncertain and has been placed between 80 B.C. (W. W. Tarn) and A.D. 40 (Warmington). But an Augustan date is suggested both by the date of the pottery found at Pondicherry (the actual site is two miles south at Arikamedu near a village named Virampatnam) and by an inscription from the Eastern Desert of Egypt (see
JRS
, 1953, p. 38) which refers to a slave of P. Annius Plocamus in A.D. 6, while we know that a freedman of Plocamus farmed the Red Sea taxes; his adventures at sea suggest that he did not yet know the use of the monsoon. [p. 278]

5 THE SILK ROUTE AND TITIANUS. An expedition was sent along this route, presumably to expedite trade, led by a merchant named ‘Maes who was also called Titianus’ (Ptolemy, i, 11, 7); he probably was a Syrian and his party got as far as the Stone Tower in Chinese Turkestan. He is usually dated about A.D. 100–120, but his expedition may have been between 20 and 1 B.C. and fit in with the interest of Augustus in the East: see M. Cary,
Cl. Qu.
, 1956, 130 ff. However, W. Schmitthenner,
JRS
, 1979, 105, thinks an Augustan date improbable. [p. 279]

6 PORTORIA. On the organization of these taxes see S. J. De Laet,
Portorium
(1949). [p. 280]

7 THE IMPORTANCE OF TRADE. For the view that this was less than is often assumed see A. H. M. Jones,
Recueil de la Société Jean Bodin
vii, 161 ff. For a wide survey of trade see K. Hopkins, ‘Taxes and Trade in the Roman Empire, 200 B.C. to A.D. 400’,
JRS
, 1980, 101 ff. [p. 282]

8 THE DECLINE OF THE NOBILITY. See R. Syme,
Rom. Rev.
, ch. xxxii, and
Tacitus
(1958), 585 ff. [p. 283]

9 SOCIAL LIFE IN THE EARLY PRINCIPATE. See T. G. Tucker,
Life in the Roman World of Nero and St. Paul
(1910); L. Friedlander,
Roman Life and Manners under the Early Empire
(1908 ff.); J. Carcopino,
Daily Life in Ancient Rome
(1941); C. G. Starr,
Civilization and the Caesars
(1954); J. P. V. D. Balsdon,
Life and Leisure in Ancient Rome
(1969), a valuable and entertaining survey. See also R. MacMullen,
Roman Social Relations, 50 BC to A.D
.
284
(1974), and
Romans and Aliens
(1979) by J. P. V. D. Balsdon who surveys the mutual regard of Romans and other people. [p. 285]

10 CORN DISTRIBUTIONS. See D. Van Berchem,
Les Distributions de blé et d’argent à la
plèbe romaine sous l’empire
(1939). See also A. R. Hands,
Charities and Social Aid in Greece and Rome
(1968), 101 ff., a book which also deals with other forms of ‘relief’. See also H. Pavis d’Escurac,
La Préfecture de l’annone: service administratif imperiale d’Auguste à Constantine
(1976) and G. Rickman,
The Corn Supply of Ancient Rome
(1980). Cf. also ch. vii, n. 7 above. [p. 287]

10a CHARIOT-RACING. On this and sport in general see H. A. Harris,
Sport in Greece and Rome
(1972). [p. 289]

11 GLADIATORS. See ch. ix., n. 11 above and L. Robert,
Gladiateurs dans l’Orient grec
(1940). [p. 289]