The Great Fire of Rome

The never-before-told story of Rome’s famous fire that destroyed the world’s greatest city and its most notorious emperor: Nero.

In A.D. sixty-four, on the night of July nineteen, a fire began beneath the stands of Rome’s great stadium that spread to engulf much of Rome. From this calamity, one of the ancient world's most devastating events, legends grew—that Nero was responsible for the fire and fiddled while Rome burned and that he blamed the Christians and burned them alive as punishment, making them the first recorded martyrs of Christianity in Rome. Dando-Collins introduces the fascinating cavalcade of historical characters who were in Rome and played a part in the great drama. Using ancient sources, as well as modern archaeology, he describes the fire itself, and its aftermath, as Nero personally directed relief efforts and reconstruction. The Great Fire of Rome is an unforgettable human drama which brings ancient Rome and the momentous events of A.D. sixty-four to scorching life.