Emperor Nero, Abraham Janssens
In 64 CE Emperor Nero went to Greece for a year and a half, where, according to various rumours, earned over 1,800 victories wreaths as a charioteer, lute player, singer and actor.
Normally, the games are held at different times, but the emperor, hungry for laurels, ordered them to be concentrated during the year. At Olympia, contrary to custom, he added musical games, and no one was allowed to leave the theatre during his performance.
It is said that women gave birth to children, and people secretly jumped from the walls, bored with the performance of the emperor.
Sources
- Fox Robin Lane, The Classical World: An Epic History from Homer to Hadrian, 2008
- McKeown J. C., A Cabinet of Roman Curiosities: Strange Tales and Surprising Facts from the World's Greatest Empire, 2010
