By Melissa Ingells, WKAR News
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wkar/local-wkar-946939.mp3
EAST LANSING, MI – In this month's Under the Radar segment, book reviewer Lev Raphael takes a look at "The Great Fire of Rome" by Stephen Dando-Collins.
AUDIO:
LEV RAPHAEL: I have brought an eye-opening book called "The Great Fire of Rome" by Stephen Dando-Collins.
MELISSA INGELLS: Is this a historical book or a disaster book? I know there's been kind of a traffic in disaster books over the years.
RAPHAEL: Well it is both, because it is an amazing description of the Great Fire of Rome that destroyed most of the city in the year 64, but the big questions it looks at are, did Nero start it, did Nero fiddle while the city burned--
INGELLS: Very important to know.
RAPHAEL: --And afterwards did he blame the Christians and set them on fire? And the answer is no, no, and no.
INGELLS: Really?
RAPHAEL: Absolutely. First of all there were no fiddles back then. They weren't invented. Which is great.
INGELLS: That's a good point.
RAPHAEL: So, he was a lyre player--a small version of the harp. He had nothing to do with setting the fires in Rome. Rome was really a giant firetrap because it was so overcrowded, there were not building codes, and there was not enough water to put out even a small fire.
INGELLS: What caught? Was it wood construction?
RAPHAEL: Wood construction. The Circus Maximus in the middle of a blazing summer caught fire, and the city burned about a week and most of it was destroyed. And instead of being a destroyer, Nero actually helped rebuild the city in brilliant ways, widening the streets, putting in building codes that didn't exist, so that the city was more open, cleaner, had more water available, and was not so dangerous. People don't realize this but Rome was the victim of fires every couple of decades that damaged the city, but nobody really did anything about it until Nero. So, Nero comes across in this book, not as a nut job, but actually as somebody who cared about the city, loved the city. Which is really sad, because no matter what he did, the PR was against him and he was blamed for it. And plots arose to destroy him, and he basically became his innate cruelty came out and he became paranoid and given to executing anyone he thought could be one of his enemies. The best thing about the book is that Nero comes across as a frustrated artist.
INGELLS: Oh really?
RAPHAEL: You know, in the same way that they say Teddy Roosevelt wanted to be the bride at every wedding and the corpse at every funeral? Nero wanted to be the center of attention. Now, you'd think an emperor probably would already have that.
INGELLS: I was going to say, you know, you would think that gig would have some perks.
RAPHAEL: It has plenty of perks. It's got palaces, it's got jewels, it's got parades, it's got all that. But he wanted to win the prizes at poetry and music competitions all over Greece and all over Rome.
INGELLS: Was he bad?
RAPHAEL: No he wasn't bad. He actually was pretty good. But he probably wasn't the best, and, let me ask you, Melissa if the Emperor was competing, would you vote him off the island?
INGELLS: Um, you'd probably give him the prize.
RAPHAEL: Yes, so this book is history, it's disaster book, it's documentary, it's very funny, very fast paced, and you get more than just the lifestyles of the Rich and Roman because it takes you to every level of society, from the slaves all the way up to the Emperor, how they all interacted, and how the fire was a fulcrum for tremendous change in Rome, which as they say, wasn't built in a day, but it also wasn't burnt in a day, either.