It was the night of July 19, AD 64. C., when the Great Fire broke out through the roofs of the shops near the mass entertainment and chariot racing venue called Circus Maximus. The flames, whipped up by a strong wind, quickly engulfed densely populated areas of the city.
After burning uncontrollably for five days, 4 of the 14 Roman districts were burned down and seven more were seriously damaged.
Nero: Playing while Rome burned?
Nero might have been playing a zither while Rome burned, but he wasn’t playing a violin. That’s because violins weren’t invented until around 1550.
Nero, probably the most infamous Roman emperor, was the great-grandson of Caesar Augustus.
When his mother’s husband (also his uncle and Nero’s adoptive father…) was killed with poisoned mushrooms, Nero acceded to the throne.
Like many children in those days, he wanted to be a famous singer and a poet. His talent was poor, but as emperor, the empire doubled as a captive audience.
His mother tried to control Nero, to the point of having sex with him. She tried to assassinate her by booking her on a ship that was designed to crumble into the sea. Unfortunately, her mother was a good swimmer. After she survived, she had a soldier kill her. This shocked the public, a bit, but they got over it.
neropolis
It was no secret that Nero wanted to build a series of palaces that he planned to call Neropolis.
But, the planned location was in the city. To build Neropolis, a third of Rome would have to be demolished. The Senate rejected the idea.
Then, coincidentally, the fire cleared the real estate that Neropolis required.
Despite the obvious benefit, there’s still a good chance that Nero did NOT start the fire. Up to a hundred small fires regularly broke out in Rome each day. On top of that, the fire destroyed Nero’s own palace. It also seems that Nero did everything he could to stop the fire…
Nero’s reaction to fire
Accounts of the day say that when Nero heard of the fire, he rushed back from Antium to organize a relief effort, using his own money. He opened his palaces to let in the homeless and had food delivered to the survivors.
Nero also devised a new urban development plan that would make Rome less vulnerable to fire. But, although he established rules to ensure a safer rebuilding, he also gave himself a large tract of property from the city with the intention of building his new palace there.
Fake terror gives poll numbers a boost
The people knew of Nero’s plans for Neropolis, and all his efforts to help the city could not counter the rampant rumors that he would help start the fire.
As the poll numbers dropped, Nero management realized the need to employ False Flag 101: Whenever something, anything, happens to you, even if it’s accidental, point the finger at your enemy.
Fortunately, there was a strange new cult of religious nuts on hand. This cult was unpopular because they refused to worship the emperor, denounced possessions, held secret meetings, and always talked about the destruction of Rome and the end of the world.
Even luckier for Nero, two of the cult’s biggest leaders, Peter and Paul, were currently in town.
Then Nero spread the word that the Christians had started the Great Fire. The citizens of Rome bought his hook, line, and sinker. Peter was crucified (upside down, at his own request) and Paul was beheaded. Hundreds of others in the youth cult were fed to lions, or tarred and set on fire to become human streetlights.
Such is the fate of those caught unexpectedly in a false flag operation.