:Nero Caesar Augustus: Emperor of Rome

Abstract

There seems to be an insatiable demand for biographies of early Roman emperors, with Nero unquestionably heading the list. The last decade or so has seen Miriam T. Griffin's authoritative Nero: the End of a Dynasty (1985, reprinted 2001), Edward Champlin's individualistic and often inspired Nero (2003) and, for the general reader, Jürgen Malitz's Nero (2005) and David Shotter's own Nero (1997, reprinted 2005) in the “Lancaster Pamphlets” series. Is there a case for yet another book on the same emperor? Shotter's new volume does indeed meet a clearly identifiable need. It is aimed at a non-specialist readership, but unlike Malitz's book and Shotter's own earlier biography, both in series that dictated summary treatments, this volume recognizes an essential truth about the classical world: that there are very few topics not vexed by scholarly disputes and that there are few undisputed “facts.” This holds especially true for a colorful figure like Nero. Commendably, Shotter here provides non-specialist readers with proper notes and references, as well as with extensive bibliographical information, essential tools for the proper understanding of the contentious issues raised. While the label “popularizer” might be attached to him, it carries no stigma, since Shotter underpins this role with a raft of published scholarship on early imperial history.