Great Fire of Rome

Most of what we now see here dates from long after Caligula's death.

His own building was destroyed in the Great Fire of Rome in 64 AD.

But it seems that Caligula was the first emperor to remodel the imperial residences, to make them more palatial in our terms.

The emperor didn't just live on the Palatine Hill.

Which is horrifying.

And I was reading about the Great Fire of Rome and the myth that Nero played the fiddle while the city burned.

I know historians debate the literal truth of that, but it's fascinating how a society advanced enough to build aqueducts and massive civic infrastructure allowed these young men to act like bloodthirsty toddlers.

Why didn't they immediately revolt?

Up there was the palace with Nero's royal box where he had a bird's-eye view, not only of a day at the races, but of the first flames from the fire that swept through Rome.

[dramatic music] In the earliest historical account, Tacitus writes that the Great Fire of Rome probably started as a simple accident.

A brazier got kicked over just outside the stadium, but a strong wind was blowing, and in moments, the flames took hold.

It was a devastating blaze.

Peanuts, Cracker Jacks, Popcorn, Cracker Jacks, and Lemonade.

Then came the Black Bottom, the Burning of Rome, and Slapperman.

Hello, who's that? In the crash of 1929.

More margins, more margins, more margins, more margins, more margins.