Nero became Emperor at the early age of seventeen, ruling after the death of Claudius. Though he is notorious for his cruelty and corrupt acts, he also provided for the people and the city throughout various disasters. The most well known event during his reign is the great fire of Rome, taking place in 64 CE. Many ancient historians wrote about this catastrophe and the emperor’s role in it, having various accounts of what had occurred. Tacitus, Suetonius, and Cassius Dio all recorded this event and painted Nero in differing lights, with the first having the most extensive account and being the only one to have been alive during the fire.
Tacitus (56-120 CE) was a Roman orator and public official, who used many public records, official reports, and his own experience as the basis for his historical writings. As a writer, it is said that he demonstrated his moral authority and dignity through his works, but also that he controlled the performance of the characters in his writings, making them not necessarily strict history. In Tacitus’ Annals, he states that the disaster could have been “accidental or treacherously contrived by the emperor.” Throughout the account, he depicts Nero to have greatly relieved and aided the people, as well as made
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While writing from a senatorial perspective, he likely borrowed information from other historians and relied on public records. In Cassius Dio’s Roman History, he reports that Nero had secretly sent out men to set the fire in the city to accomplish his desire of making “an end of the whole city and realm during his lifetime.” After describing the devastation of the fire, Cassius Dio mentions nothing of relief from Nero, but only that he sang and played the lyre from the roof of the palace to obtain the best view of the burning