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Home / Periods / Reign of Nero / Great Fire of Rome

Phase

Great Fire of Rome

64 CE

The Great Fire of Rome broke out in AD 64 during Nero’s reign and destroyed large areas of the city. Ancient accounts connect the disaster to panic, relief measures, rebuilding, elite suspicion and stories about Nero’s behaviour.

The fire matters because it became a defining episode in the literary and political memory of Nero’s reign. It also sits behind accounts of urban rebuilding and the persecution of Christians in surviving Roman narratives.

Tacitus’s Annals is the main ancient literary source for the episode. For readers, the episode brings together the city of Rome, the fire, Nero’s response and the politics of blame.

Related people for Great Fire of Rome

Boudica30–61 Claudia Acte40–c. 1st century Galba4 BCE–69 Lucan39–65 Nero37–68 Paul the Apostle5–66 Petroniusc. 27–66 Poppaea Sabina30–65 Saint Peter2 BCE–65 Senecac. 0s BCE–65 Sextus Afranius Burrus1–62 Sporus49–69 Tigellinus10–69 Vespasian9–79

Books

6 Best Novels About the Great Fire of Rome

Non-Fiction

1 Best Non-Fiction Book About the Great Fire of Rome

Histories, biographies and reference works are listed separately from the historical novels above.