Great Fire of Rome 18 July

On this day, 18 July in 64 AD, a fire started in some shops that were close to the Circus Maximus, in Rome. The fire quickly spread and eventually 10 of the 14 districts that comprised ancient Rome were destroyed. The fire raged, in all, for nine days. The story that everyone remembers is that the Emporer Nero started the fire in order to clear space for his planned new palace the Domus Aurea (Golden House). He is supposed to have stood on his private stage and extemporized verses comparing the present disaster to the Fall of Troy, accompanying himself on the lyre, while he watched the fire burn from a safe distance at his villa on the Quirinal Hill. Interestingly however, this may not be entirely, or even slightly, correct. The story was reported by Tacitus who, at the time of the fire, was a young teenager. Tacitus describes the story as a rumour that was going about during the time of the fire. Nero was away at Antium when the fire started,

What certainly is true is that many Romans lived in insulae, which were apartment buildings of three to five floors, with wooden floors and partitions that were built closely packed together in ancient winding lanes. Fires broke out in these conditions all the time. The fire burned hot enough to melt iron gates and nails in the roofs and it seems certain that a firestorm raged, which allowed the fire to advance in the opposite direction to the way the wind was blowing.

What is also certainly true is that Nero accused the Christian sect of starting the fire and embarked on the most appalling persecutions of Christians, with much feeding to the lions, using them as human torches and as targets for gladiators. It has been suggested that the Christians set the fire in order to fulfil an Egyptian prophecy that stated that the day Sirius (the dog star) first rises would mark the fall of the great evil city. Even if they did not start it, some Christians certainly added to the fire after it began. Nero built his Domus Aurea but it was of little use to him - he committed suicide in 68 AD.