Tacitus, Annals, 15.20­-23, 33­-45. Latin Text, Study Aids with Vocabulary, and Commentary, 2013a

For future reference, more specifically Tacitus’ account of the new palace
that rose from the ashes of Nero’s burnt-down Rome, what is important
here is the distinction between personal and public investment on the
part of the emperor. Tiberius gains the respect of his subjects for using his
private purse for the public’s benefit, while putting severe checks on his
architectural self-aggrandizement. This approach reflects commitment
to a norm that dates back to the republic. As Cicero says at pro Murena
76: odit populus Romanus privatam luxuriam, publicam magnificentiam diligit
(‘the Roman people loathe private luxury but they love public grandeur’).
Just like Tiberius in AD 27, Nero was not actually in Rome when the fire
broke out. He returned to the capital to fund and oversee the relief efforts,
though perhaps not as quickly as he could or should have done, at least
according to popular opinion. Yet somehow, the urban rumour arose (and
stuck) that Nero actually ordered the conflagration. Tacitus, as we shall
see, is rather guarded on the question as to whether Nero was the culprit.
Most of our other surviving sources, however, blame Nero outright. Here
is Suetonius (Nero 38):
Sed nec populo aut moenibus patriae pepercit. Dicente quodam in
aedificiorum et angustiis flexurisque vicorum, incendit urbem tam palam,
ut plerique consulares cubicularios eius cum stuppa taedaque in praediis
suis deprehensos non attigerint, et quaedam horrea circum domum Auream,
quorum spatium maxime desiderabat, ut bellicis machinis labefacta atque
inflammata sint, quod saxeo muro constructa erant. Per sex dies septemque
noctes ea clade saevitum est ad monumentorum bustorumque deversoria
plebe compulsa. Tunc praeter immensum numerum insularum domus
priscorum ducum arserunt hostilibus adhuc spoliis adornatae deorumque
aedes ab regibus ac deinde Punicis et Gallicis bellis votae dedicataeque,
et quidquid visendum atque memorabile ex antiquitate duraverat. Hoc
incendium e turre Maecenatiana prospectans laetusque ‘flammae’, ut
aiebat, ‘pulchritudine’ Halosin Ilii in illo suo scaenico habitu decantavit.
Ac ne non hinc quoque quantum posset praedae et manubiarum invaderet,
pollicitus cadaverum et ruderum gratuitam egestionem nemini ad reliquias
rerum suarum adire permisit; conlationibusque non receptis modo verum
et efflagitatis provincias privatorumque census prope exhausit.
[But he showed no greater mercy to the people or the walls of his capital.
When someone in a general conversation said: ‘When I am dead, be earth