Curators' tour of Nero: the man behind the myth |  

For those who asked, you can buy your Nero themed replicas and books at our online shop here: www.britishmuseumshoponline.org//exhibitions/nero-the-man-behind-the-myth.html Thanks for being beautiful, wonderful nerds.

I always wondered why you (the British museum) didn't do more virtual tours of the exhibits. Now is the time what with covid and all that. RU-vid has a feature where you can set up a donation area to go along with the video so people can still get educated for free but also donate to the museum if they are able and enjoyed the tour. I'd donate for this tour because it was excellent.

I live in Barbados, and I can't tell you how much it means to me to get to see these tours!! The British Museum is ALWAYS a must see stop on my list when I come up, and I always have to dedicate at least 2 days to it. And STILL I feel like I've not done it justice!! When I bring my son up, I'll bring him there too!!

What I always remember about Nero is the incongruity that despite his reputation he opened his private gardens to the ordinary Roman citizens as refuge from the fires.

Now this is more like what the British Museum should be doing for your channel. This is awesome :D Thank you :D

The boy statue of Nero is truly remarkable. Seems something rare to me. Stunning.

I visited today, it is a great exhibition. Very useful to view this curators’ tour beforehand. And what a great example of international collaboration. Exhibits from so many countries. And two knowledgeable curators.

"You are making an exhibition of yourselves" - in all the right ways! Thank you for bringing this fantastic exhibit to the world, especially at this moment in time.

Sadly, only got to see a small fraction of the treasures of the British Museum when I was there. Therefore, I’m thankful to programs like this that show me some of the amazing things I missed, & for amazing exhibitions like this.

Thoroughly enjoyed this talk as I’m a great lover of a Roman history.

Fascinating. Many thanks for bringing the exhibition to a broader audience that cannot be there to enjoy it in person. As always, British Museum exhibitions in this ground floor space look wonderful and set the standard for other museums.

Really enjoyed this - a fantastic taster of exhibition. Thanks so much Thorsten & Francesca for your wonderful presentation.

What a wonderful presentation about such an interesting subject. Thank you!!!

I visited the exhibition yesterday. It's very well done. A balanced account of his life, set in a broader context than unusual. And the exhibition space is beautifully designed and decorated.

Amazing presentation - adds so much more detail to the monstrous figure we typically encounter. Thank you

My question is that if Nero wasn't as bad as later biased historians would tell us, and indeed was quite popular (at least for a while), why was he hated enough to be abandoned by his guards and staff to be hunted down? What did he do, or neglect to do, that made powerful people want to depose and kill him?

That was an amazing animation showing the change in the portrait

I'm so happy with this program. I had read about this exhibit, and a recent book on Nero. Nice to see all the beautiful ancient statuary. The beautiful statue of Agrippina, still lustrous after all these centuries, was outstanding.

I'd like more of your "remarkably- made-but-totally-ordinary" series, please!

Thank you so much. This was fantastic for those of us who cannot come and see it. Greetings from South Africa. In South Africa our family was privileged to see the travelling King Tut funeral goods (astounding) and the Chinese Terra Cotta Army exhibitions. They were however expensive to attend due to all of the objects needing to be shipped.

Truly wonderful. Thank you so much for making this film about this remarkable exhibition.

I absolutely love both of their accents. With both you can hear their original heritage, but also the British English. Lovely

Great intro to what is a must-see exhibition. Glad the BM is challenging the accepted narrative on Nero.

I loved this video and the presenters are great! Thank you.

Thank you so much for this, I'm enjoying the content from over in the US & wishing I was there to see the exhibit with my own eyes. Loved the narration by the two curators as well! Bravo!

Very much looking forward to this event.

Beautifully done and so instructive! Great work!👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

I'd be keen to hear these two talk about Vespasian and the good work he did after Nero.

That was incredible. Loved the shots showing the curator staring at the art.

666 is the numerical equivalent of the name and title Nero Caesar (Roman Emperor 54-68 AD).Written in Aramaic, this can be valued at 666 using the Hebrew numerology of gematria, and was used to secretly speak against the emperor. Additionally, "Nero Caesar" in the Hebrew alphabet is נרון קסר‎ NRON QSR, which when interpreted numerically represents the numbers 50 200 6 50 100 60 200, which add up to 666.

More of this please! So nice to watch! 🔥

I loved this video tour. Please consider an exhibition centered on those influential women positioned as "supporting players" in this one - especially the fascinating Agrippina the Younger.

I found the lead pig that they talk about I can't wait to see it on display.

Thank you... I was bit distracted but really enjoyed the tour and I'll rewatched it these days

Great talk. A real insight into those times and how the facts can be adjusted by those who follow!

Thank you for the new insights.

Thank you for sharing this. I am in Australia and can admire the exhibition from afar. What an interesting period in human history Ancient Rome was.

I cannot thank you enough!!! Beautiful exhibit & most appreciated private tour!

Living in Germany, I never got to see this marvellous exhibition. Thank you for walking me through some of its salient points!

ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE! Loved it! Thank you.

These tours on youtube are amazing.

Keep doing more tours!!! Show us the entire BM!!! Excellent job!!!

An excellent way to present what lay within the British Museum. Thank you

I understand the appearance and appreciation of the marble and other effectively colorless remaining statuary from ancient Rome, however, I think it would be even more appreciated to show in scale what many of these items actually looked like in their prime and showed it in abundance. I think it would give us a better feel for the ancient society.

Wonderful intro to this impressive-looking exhibition. Will try and see it and hope it has a well-deserved success.

Thank you Thorsten, very clearly communicated, well done.

Amazing. Really enjoyed it. Plz share more similar tours.

I see the point of trying to rehabilitate Nero, but these curators are taking quite a leap saying listing Nero's "great achievements". Certainly things happened during Nero's reign but it's hard to prove if they were initiatives carried out by the emperor directly, or just the machinery of Roman government ticking over and rubber stamped by the mad, idle emperor. I imagine the reality is somewhere in between.

I love that you make this channel. I can't wait to visit. 🇬🇧

What a wonderful presentation of emperor nero and his unknown truths.Thanks to the two curators informing us so well.I hope to see more programmes produced by yourselves,

What a wonderfully informative presentation! Thank you.

You brought this era of Roman history to life and gave me a new view to replace the cartoon version of Nero--thank you!

An educational, well presented, real historical Roman treat for someone like myself who may not get to see the wonderful, iconic British Museum in person. Many thanks! 🌞👍🇦🇺

As someone who should be better known said in 1980 Nero might be considered as a Parthian hero (due to his 50 year peace with Parthia), good to see the BM is catching up!

Great video , thank you for making it. Please make more videos of this type

making roman history accesible and battling myths and half-knowledge. Amazing!

I don't quite agree with the notion that since much of Nero reputation was admittedly via propaganda therefore he was decent. Nor that if general population liked him, therefore he was a decent fella. Both things can be true. Those close to him may have hated him, because he was a tyrant, but those who weren't directly surrounded by him would only see his generosity and divinity, and hence like him. Personally I think that he was a despot, because that's the only accounts we have, but yes, I do believe his cruelty largely was exaggerated, we will never known of course, but that makes sense, in light of what happened after he died.

It was a wonderful “ journey “ to the Nero’s Rome with you guys. complimenti anche alla dott.ssa Bologna ! Ammetto di essere curiosa di sapere di più della sua carriera : arrivare al British è un traguardo incredibile😀

Fascinating to look at how he thickened as he aged; the increased chin area, the wider head, the puffier hair style minimizing the ears.

Great effort and work product results in putting this all together..., Well done !

This was wonderful! I wish I could see the full exhibition in person, what an incredible journey!

Excellent presentation by both. I know quite a bit about this period and yet learned more than I expected. Good work. Hope we may expect more like this from the BM.

These are amazing, thank you. Roman Britain for me is one of the most interesting of the provinces because of its geography being separated from the continent, it’s technological level being somewhat of a backwater when Rome arrived (antiquated warfare tactics, hill forts, chariots, lack of siege capability, etc), the imperial motivations for conquest, and the evolution of the province into something of a cosmopolitan society that seemingly adopted the imperial mantle and was reluctant to let it go. I could go on but you get the picture. Would love more of this content focusing on Roman Britain and perhaps the founding and growth of London.

More, please! (Of this kind of content). Absolutely love the existing set of current and past British Museum video offerings, but would like to see more of this kind of detailed overview, with focus on representative artifacts.

Thank You, really enjoyable and interesting. Please do more of these for the majority of us who can’t get to the exhibitions. 👍

My apologies, but, I do believe I might exhaust the presenters with my questions. When we see the first statue of Nero, he holds something in his left hand, and it looks like he may have had a spear in his right. I know nothing of the symbolism of Roman art, but, because he had "X" in his left hand, and "Y" in his right, does that tell us anything about his character, or physical being, would you guess? In the U.S., they say that the eagle (on the official seal) has arrows in one set of talons, as compared to olive branches in the other set, during different times, to represent the state of the country during war, and peace. How tall was Nero, would you think? The comment "Nero the artist" (around 9:20 in the video). Would it be possible to see any of his "artistry" before this point? (maybe not in the interest of time, for your video, but, it might be neat! I'll plan on visiting the Museum as soon as possible) I keep hearing the term "Boudica" (admittedly, I've made it to 50 years of age before I knew "Albion" was an old name for England. They don't teach us a lot of these names, here in the U.S.), what does that mean? The setup of the helmet and shield was really well done! Very cool! The scenes brought in from Pompeii make me want to go to both the original site, and to your museum, as well. Both presenters do a great job! It's neat to hear what the statuary is made of (around 17:30 in the video above). Thank you for taking the time to show this to those of us who aren't able to see this with our own eyes, yet.

Fantastic, thanks so so much for sharing this 🙂🐿❤️

Excellent and informative presentation. More please!

incredible! now I'm totally convinced i HAVE to see the exhibition :)

Brilliant video! I wish I could give more "likes" for this wonderful walkthrough. A gorgeous setting and tastefully presented collection. If only I could visit the BM again. Kudos!

Thanks for an interesting and enlightening talk on Nero.

Unfortunately for me, I can't get to the British Museum to see the actual exhibit, so thank you for the informative tour. Btw, I ❤ Francesca!

Thank you for the tour!

Excellent presentation and presenters. Very illuminating. Thank you.

Thank you! Straight forward, I enjoyed it immensely!!!

I couldn't understand what the girl was saying

Brilliant. Thank you for posting

Looks fantastic I think I will have to go and see that when things are eased up.

Oh I wish I could attend in person. Wonderful history lesson from you both. Appreciated as I stay stranded in Canada's hinterland!

A fascinating video, thank you.

Awesome exhibition. Although very well described here you really need to be there, see every exhibit and read every bit of text to fully appreciate. well worth a visit.

This was fascinating, and they are both charming as hell.

I've just started to study ancient Rome. But it seems to me that becoming emperor was a death sentence. Constant turmoil and and conspiring senators were always afoot.

I collect Roman coins for over 20 years got every type of Nero Coin from Aureus to Semis he’s my favourite emperor lol. My aureus of him is from the early part of his reign. Caligula was the most infamous emperor he liked to force his guests to eat food made of solid gold and would have them executed if they didn’t:(

How can 36 people not like this? I understand this is not for everyone, but if you choose to click on it, and watch it, how can you not be captivated, and want to go visit the exhibition in person? How?? And then to give a thumbs down…

Wonderful video, glad that you're contributing to remove the bias surrounding Nero that came from both his contemporaries and the Christians. It is important to remember, however, that Nero was a military dictator and not a very good one at that.

Very nice, substantive presentation.

I'm in love with this female curator

Absolutely excellent, thank you very much

Very interesting and well presented, thank you!

Very well done. Thank you!

Es una estupenda muestra de Historia con alguna leyenda y con referencias a mitos. Gracias de todas formas.

Great video and exhibition, thanks.

Amazing tour. Fantastic work.

Brilliant! Can’t wait to visit!

Great presentation. So want to get back to the British Museum.

just really brilliant content and produced so well. :) love.

The supposed bad guy was in fact loved by his people.

Simply brilliant.

Outstanding content, thanks !