Nero’s ascent to the throne was only the beginning….Now Margaret George, the author of The Confessions of Young Nero, weaves a web of politics and passion, as ancient Rome’s most infamous emperor cements his place in history.With the beautiful and cunning Poppaea at his side, Nero commands the Roman empire, ushering in an unprecedented era of artistic and cultural splendor. Although he has yet … splendor. Although he has yet to produce an heir, his power is unquestioned.
But in the tenth year of his reign, a terrifying prophecy comes to pass and a fire engulfs Rome, reducing entire swaths of the city to rubble. Rumors of Nero’s complicity in the blaze start to sow unrest among the populace—and the politicians….
For better or worse, Nero knows that his fate is now tied to Rome’s—and he vows to rebuild it as a city that will stun the world. But there are those who find his rampant quest for glory dangerous. Throughout the empire, false friends and spies conspire against him, not understanding what drives him to undertake the impossible.
Nero will either survive and be the first in his family to escape the web of betrayals that is the Roman court, or be ensnared and remembered as the last radiance of the greatest dynasty the world has ever known.
“A resplendent novel filled with the gilt and marble of the ancient world.”—C. W. Gortner, author of The Romanov Empress
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The Splendor Before the Dark is the second of two novels that George wrote about Nero’s life. While this novel can certainly stand on its own, I definitely recommend you read the first, The Confessions of Young Nero. George is a master when it comes to delivering complex nuanced characters, inviting us into their inner lives in a way that will leave its mark on your own memory and life. There are several schools of thought about Nero and how horrible he might have been in life, but many modern historians think that some of these portrayals weren’t, in fact, accurate. George takes this view and portrays Nero as a naive, creative artist who was not terribly suited to be emperor because his love for art and beauty were rather misplaced. My description is rather simplistic–George layers so much history and beauty into her story that I cannot do it justice. I had visited the remains of Nero’s Golden House in Rome a few months ago, so much of her descriptions of Nero’s sumptuous palace was fresh in my mind.
In short, this is a fascinating, page-turning story about one of the most infamous people in history. I loved this book and predict that you will too.
Thanks NetGalley and Berkley, for the early read.
History enjoys repeating itself. We may have advanced technologically, but we still mimic the same winning (or losing) attributes of our ancestors. There was gossip, and assassination plots, and Olympic games. Granted, the likes of Facebook and Instagram, Twitter, and Snapchat have amplified the directness of things like gossip, delivering them with such speed and efficiency. Think how many plans could have been foiled if history (particularly focusing on the Roman Empire today) had this technology available. For a culture so set in their ways, any new idea seemed like a direct snub to the gods. Would a forward-thinking emperor be the doom of Rome? Or would he pave the road in gold for the future?
Nero is twenty-six years old, and has reigned as emperor of Rome for nine years. While the climb has not been easy, it seems our young emperor is making a name for himself, in positive ways, as well as negative. Nero had openly admitted (as well as performed) his affinity for the arts; poetry, cithara playing, and the controversy-causing chariot racing. Nero was in Antium, having recited his narrative of the fall of Troy. A breathless courier interrupts Nero’s reverie with an urgent message: Rome is burning.
Without any hesitation, Nero decides to go home and help extinguish the fire. The blaze is uncontrollable as if it has a mind of its own driven by the wind. It jumps from one house to the next, inconsiderate of the livelihood of business and families it takes. The streets were bombarded with citizens fleeing. In the chaos, Nero witnessed a few people throwing torches into homes. Deliberate arson. The arsonists met their fiery end with unstable buildings collapsing on them, rendering them innocent in the real world, with hopes of justice in the underworld.
Naturally, with any disaster comes rumors. The fire was an accident. The fire was a result of arson. The emperor sat and played his cithara while Rome burned. The emperor set fire to Rome. The gods were punishing them. Of course the farther away one was, the more egregious the rumor. Nero set up several stations for the citizens; first aid, food and water, and most important (and equally devastating) was the missing people/ news board. The emperor himself even posted a list of people he would like found, and was overjoyed when most of the people were located.
When discussing the building of Rome:
“How can we afford it?”
An astute and painful question.
“We will afford it because we have no choice.”
Nero sees the needs of his people, they need (understandably!) a place to live- and they need to start right away. He wants to include and recreate what they had, but also build a bigger and better Rome for the future. Rome will be like a phoenix taking flight from the ashes. While seeing the emperor out and about gave the public much needed encouragement, while having the opposite effect on Nero. He saw nothing but devastation, lost, and years of hard work, which ultimately led to his futuristic architectural designs as well as his own demise.
Will Rome accept the major changes the emperor will lay at their doorstep, and advance to a forward thinking culture? Or will they revert to the old ways, and put faith in a Sibylline prophecy:
“Last of the sons of Aeneas, a mother-slayer, shall govern,
And that after that, Rome by the strife of her people shall perish.”
It’s a revisionist version of Nero, not insane, misunderstood. Frankly, he’s more interesting as a crazy, but it does give you a very different look at him and at his contemporaries. And at his history. The author’s notes are very interesting and well worth the read.
Sequel to Young Nero. Enlightening insight about an Emperor usually known only as “fiddling while Rome burned”. Shows how distorted history can get when you rely on the movies! Worth the read.