Nero

Misha Glenny and guests discuss the origins and evolution of an alliance which transformed the geopolitics of the classical world: the Delian League. Since the start of the 5th Century BCE, city states across Greece had been fighting a series of armed conflicts in the Greco-Persi ...  Show more

At the Hay Festival, Misha Glenny and guests discuss the impact of the Norman invasion on the people and land of Wales and across the modern border with England in what became known as The Welsh Marches, march being a term for a militarized borderland. Hay was one of the first Ma ...  Show more

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the life of Nero (37-68 AD) who became Emperor at the age of 16. At first he was largely praised for his generosity yet became known for his debauched lifestyle, with allegations he started the Fire of Rome, watching the flames as he played the lyr ...  Show more

Emperor Nero was one of the most reviled and controversial leaders of Ancient Rome. To some, his reign was a breath of fresh air after his unpopular predecessor, and his failings had no more to do with him, than with the unstable infrastructure of Roman government. And yet to oth ...  Show more

Nero fiddled while Rome burned, didn’t he? At least, that’s what the history books tell us. Nero’s image as a depraved tyrant has been handed down to us by three biased sources, written after the emperor’s suicide in 68AD. These sources have informed interpretations of Nero’s leg ...  Show more

Before he became one of Rome’s most infamous tyrants, Nero was a golden boy - young, talented, and full of promise.

In this episode of The Ancients, Tristan Hughes is joined by bestselling author Conn Iggulden to explore Nero’s early years, from his powerful mother A ...