According to legend the Roman emperor Nero set fire to his majestic imperial capital on the
night of July 19 64 AD and fiddled while the city burned. In Rome Is Burning distinguished
Roman historian Anthony Barrett sets the record straight providing a comprehensive and
authoritative account of the Great Fire of Rome its immediate aftermath and its damaging
longterm consequences for the Roman world. Drawing on remarkable new archaeological discoveries
and sifting through all the literary evidence he tells what is known about what actually
happened--and argues that the disaster was a turning point in Roman history one that
ultimately led to the fall of Nero and the end of the dynasty that began with Julius Caesar.
Rome Is Burning describes how it destroyed Nero's golden image and provoked a financial crisis
and currency devaluation that made a permanent impact on the Roman economy. Most importantly
the book surveys and includes many photographs of recent archaeological evidence that shows
visible traces of the fire's destruction. Finally the book describes the fire's continuing
afterlife in literature opera ballet and film.
