Nero: The Man Behind the Myth

Excellent exhibition at the British Museum looking at the life and times of the Roman emperor Nero.

This show was visually stunning but also told the story clearly and carefully explaining the myths and reality of his reign. There were some wonderful objects mainly set out well to allow social distancing although I’m afraid showing coins doesn’t really work at the moment. There was a bit of queuing to start with but people spread out after the first section.

You were greeted by this statue of the young Nero and this was followed by a lovely line up of his ancestors and a good explanation of how he came to power. I am sure I was not the only person of my age relating the statues to the actors in “I, Claudius”.

There was a good section on his conquests including Britain with a moving slave chain found in a bog in Wales. I particularly liked a section on his love of theatre with some lovely frescos of actors and theatres which sat with displays on gladiatorial fights including some fine armour.

The fire was represented by a good video and a melted gate but there wasn’t much follow up on the effect of this on the Christian population that was blamed.

All in all a good show both for someone new to the subject and it seemed to be delighting people around me with more knowledge.   

Closes 24 October 2021

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