Nero in popular culture

Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus and his reign have been used in music, literature, the arts, and even in business

Animation

• Hugh Harman's and Fred Quimby's Art Gallery (1939): Nero attempts to fool The Three Good Little Monkeys into burning a painting of Rome
• Roman Legion-Hare: Yosemite Sam is a centurion ordered by Nero to round up people to feed to the lions
• See Ya Later Gladiator: Daffy Duck and Speedy Gonzales time-travel to Nero's reign
• Upswept Hare: Bugs Bunny sings about Nero

Anime/Comics/Video Games/Visual Novels

• DC comics' Armageddon The Alien Agenda: Nero is a character
• Devil May Cry 4: Nero is a character
• Demonbane: Nero is a character
• Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII: Nero is a character
• Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew! character "Nero Fox"
• Leading Comics character "Nero Fox"
• The Phantom: Nero is said to have been the original owner of The Phantom's "skull ring" ^[1]
• Silent Hill: Origins: a room is named after Nero
• Marc Sleen's The Adventures of Nero: main character is named after Nero
• The Storykeepers: Nero is a character
• Tsukihime: Nrvnqsr, a name given to a vampire that has the ability to carry 666 familiars in his body, is pronounced "Nero"
• Fate/Extra: Saber's true identity is Nero
• Xenosaga: Wilhelm is said to be Nero

Art

• Salvador Dali's "Dematerialization Near the Nose of Nero" (1949)
• Henryk Siemiradzki's "A Christian Dirce" (1897)
  • "Nero's Torches" depicts Christians being martyred on Nero's orders (1876)
• John William Waterhouse's "The Remorse of Nero After the Murder of His Mother" (1878)
• Peace Sign

Computers/Software

• Nero AG and its products Nero, Nero Digital, Nero Burning ROM (add an -E to ROM), Nero ShowTime and features a pictogram of a burning Rome.^[2]

Fashion

• Balmain's Nero Gladiator Sandals

Film

• The Addams Family: the song "Mamushka" references Nero
• Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown!: Woodstock plays a fiddle as the Château du Mal Voisin burns, à la the Nero legend
• The Exorcism of Emily Rose: one of Emily's demons supposedly possessed Nero
• Fiddlers Three (Francis L. Sullivan)
• A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum: Roy Kinnear's character references Nero
• History of the World Part 1 (Dom DeLuise)
• Home Alone: a pizzeria is called Little Nero's
• Quo Vadis (Peter Ustinov)
• Quo Vadis (Michał Bajor)
• Spartacus (Charles Laughton)
• Riverworld (Jonathan Cake)
• The Sign of the Cross (Charles Laughton)
• Star Trek: Eric Bana's character is named Nero

See also: Nero (Character) imdb.com page

Literature

• Jacob Abbott's Nero (1903)
• Giovanni Boccaccio's De Casibus Virorum Illustrium
• Anthony Burgess's The Kingdom of the Wicked
• Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales and The Monk's Prologue and Tale reference Nero
• Vincent Cronin's Nero
• Jacobus de Voragine's Golden Legend
• Donna Gillespie's The Light Bearer
• Robert Graves's I, Claudius and Claudius, The God
• Daniel Handler's "The Austere Academy": the evil vice-principal is named Nero
• Richard Holland's Nero, The Man Behind The Myth
• Tom Holt's Song for Nero
• Anna Gordon Keown's The Cat Who Saw God: a cat is possessed by Nero
• Humphry Knipe's The Nero Prediction
• Dezső Kosztolányi's Nero, a Véres Költő
• Caroline Lawrence's The Beggar Of Volubilis: the title character is based on Nero
• Henryk Sienkiewicz's Quo Vadis
• E.E. Smith's Lensman series: Nero is a manifestation of Gharlane of Eddore
• Anthony Trollope's Barchester Towers: Madeline Stanhope calls her child "the last of the family of Nero."
• Mika Waltari's The Roman
• Edward Lucas White's The Unwilling Vestal: A Tale of Rome Under the Caesars (1918)
• In Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events The Austure Academy, the headmaster's name is Nero and plays the violin. An obvious homage to Nero of Ancient Rome.
• In the short story Three Skeleton Key The trapped men name a rat "Nero" because of it's evil and leadership qualities

Music

• Alesana's "Nero's Decay" (from On Frail Wings of Vanity and Wax)
• Bad Religion's "Materialist" references Nero
• Botch's "Man the Ramparts" references Nero
• Bob Dylan's "Desolation Row" references Nero
• Joia's sub-label Nero
• Karel Kryl's "Bivoj" references Nero (from Karavana mraků)^[3]
• Lupe Fiasco's "Tilted" references Nero
• Maldita's "Nero" album and song. Maldita is a brazilian industrial metal.
• Molotov's "Nero"
• Moondog's "Nero's Expedition of the Nile"
• Nero (musicians) a drum and bass and dubstep duo from the UK
• The 1960s British instrumental band Nero and the Gladiators
• Ivor Novello's "If You Wonder What a Duke Should Be" references Nero
• Psyclon Nine's frontman uses the stage-name Nero
• Satyricon's album The Age of Nero is named after Nero
• Senses Fail's "Nero" (written by Buddy Nielsen)
• Theatre of Hate's "Nero"
• This Is Hell's "Procession Commence" references Nero
• U2's "Mercy" references Nero (from How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb) ^[4]
• Fats Waller's "Nero" (written by Andy Razaf)
• Harry Chapin's "Danceband on the Titanic" references Nero

Opera

• Arrigo Boito's Nerone
• George Frideric Handel's Agrippina
• Pietro Mascagni's Nerone
• Claudio Monteverdi's L'incoronazione di Poppea
• Anton Rubinstein's Néron
• Alessandro Scarlatti's Nerone fatto Cesare (1695)

Plays

• Anonymous's The Tragedy of Nero (1624) published by Augustine Matthews ^[5]
• Víctor Balaguer's La Mort de Nerón (1894)
• Wilson Barrett's The Sign of the Cross
• Robert Bridges's Nero: From the Death of Burrus to the Death of Seneca. Comprising the Conspiracy of Piso (1894)
• Pietro Cossa's Nero: A Play in Five Acts (1881)
• Amy Freed's You, Nero (2009)
• Nathaniel Lee's The Tragedy of Nero, Emperour of Rome (1675)
• Stephen Phillips's Nero (1906)
• William Shakespeare's Henry VI, Part 1: Henry references Nero (Act I, Scene 4)
• William Wetmore Story's Nero: An Historical Play (1872)

Television

• Ancient Rome: The Rise and Fall of an Empire (Michael Sheen)
• The Bugs Bunny Show: in a re-working of "Satan's Waitin'" and "Roman Legion-Hare", Yosemite Sam is a stagehand on a Nero-run movie set (17 October 1961)
• Doctor Who: "The Romans" (Derek Francis)
• The Flintstones: "Time Machine" (John Stephenson)
• History Bites: "Nero Business Like Show Business" (Season 3, episode 4)
• I, Claudius (Christopher Biggins)
• MacGyver: "Trumbo's World", David Ackroyd's character references Nero's burning of Rome
• Nero (Hans Matheson)
• Peabody's Improbable History: "Nero" (Season 2, episode 15)
• The Time Tunnel: The Ghost Of Nero
• Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Once More With Feeling

See also: Nero (Character) imdb.com page

References

1. ^ The Phantlantis jungle sayings
2. ^ "Ahead Software: Nero Burning ROM" IT Reviews 2000-04-05
3. ^ [1]
4. ^ U2Wanderer.org lyric of Mercy Retrieved 2009 10 19
5. ^ "Nero Fiddled While Rome Burned" by Mary Francis Gyles The Classical Journal, Jan. 1947 21 April 2010

Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Joss Whedon): Episode: once more with feeling Song:What you Feel The singing demon mentions Nero. (Apparently he bought him his first fiddle)

External links

• "Nero Fiddled While Rome Burned" by Mary Francis Gyles The Classical Journal, Jan. 1947 explores the history behind the legend of Nero playing the fiddle as Rome burned