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Comment by Simon_O_Rourke | Hacker News Reader

"No one was allowed to leave the theatre during his recitals, however pressing the reason. We read of women in the audience giving birth, and of men being so bored with listening and applauding that they furtively dropped down from the wall at the rear, since the gates were kept barred, or shammed dead and were carried away for burial." - Suetonius, The Twelve Caesars

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Is there any chance that this was anti-Nero propaganda, with only a passing familiarity with reality?

Yes, there's a decent chance. Lots of the crazier stories about the "bad" emperors are exaggerations or wholesale fabrications.

On the other hand, we do have eccentric dictators today/last century, reasonable to assume that there were some nutjob dictators thousands of years ago.

like enjoying beachfront holidays while Maui burns?

or watching football while Iraq is invaded under fake WMD assertions to provide someone has a bigger swinging d*ck than his father?

or flying to golfing holidays even though parabolic antennas and drones mean they aren't safe from eavesdropping any more...

antiquated habits and shows of power and privilege are a terrible combination

Just so it's clear to me, since it's been a few days, exactly at what point in time will it be OK for people to enjoy beachfront holidays[1] again?

[1] In parts of the world that aren't actively trying to rebuild from a horrible disaster and are thus closed to tourists and other gawkers.

I was more thinking along the lines of Saddam Hossein having someone write a copy of the Qur'an using his blood, but sure.

The worst emperors of Rome did so many horrific things that some of the stories about them are bound to be embellished.

Not only it is possibile, it is very much plausible.

The anti Nero propaganda is one of those things that are forever stuck in our collective imaginary, even though most of it has been proven false by scholars.

Nero was notoriously "not loved", to use an euphemism, by his contemporary ruling class.

Sometimes for good reasons, most of the times just because he wasn't on their side.

I've been to a few off-Broadway productions which made me want to feign death to get out of them too. Granted Suetonius wasn't exactly a fan, but I'm guessing Nero's narcissism and fecklessness was pretty well developed without anyone needing to propagandize it.

I'm pretty sure that even 2000 years later I can detect some "embellishment" of the story; even back then I think exceptionally pregnant and almost in labor women would just skip the theater.

Unless he forced people to attend at spear-point.

I mean, it happens today as well, and I'm pretty sure without any spears.

https://www.standard.co.uk/hp/front/drama-as-mum-gives-birth...

He was many decades after Nero, so the motivation wasn't there. More likely to be just exaggeration for the purposes of entertainment (or just repeating an oft told tale that gets bigger with time).

Now I get the character of Vice Principal Nero in the Series of Unfortunate Events a little bit better.

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