Thread by @pompei79

So I went to the #NeroExhibition @britishmuseum...

You cannot have a #NeroExhibition without the back story. Cue Augustus (and his swooshy locks), Caligula (and his cute eyelashes) and a few of the other Julio-Claudians before we meet the protagonist: Nero. #NeroExhibition

From a curtain fringe to full on foppish curls (and a fuller chin) #NeroExhibition

Senatorial scribes at work.
An altar dedicated to Q. Flavius Eunus’ two sons who had achieved the rank of senior clerks but had both died in their twenties. I’m assuming it’s the two sons who have broken the fourth wall and aren’t concentrating on task in hand. #NeroExhibition

Astonishingly fine detail on this marble relief of a meeting of the Praetorian Guard - you really feel like you’re eavesdropping. #NeroExhibition

Couldn’t have been happier to see this fresco from #Herculaneum in the #NeroExhibition. Having only encountered it recently it was thrilling to see in person the woman writing as the men look on.

Nero in #Pompeii. You can only imagine my delight.

An anonymous Roman scratched into the wall of the House of G. Julius Polybius a record of a visit made by Nero and his wife Poppaea to Pompeii - specifically the Temple of Venus and the offerings they made. #NeroExhibition

A painted stucco relief from the House of the Meleager, #Pompeii. Anyone else a little unsettled by the fact the figures in relief that have lost their colour resemble the plaster casts made of the victims of the eruption? #NeroExhibition

For lovers of Roman coins & Portus, the port of Rome, this is a treat.
Shown are the 2 curving moles of the Claudian harbour, one of which both @stephenjohnkay and I spent an inordinate amount of time looking for...

Narrator: they found it
cambridge.org/core/journals/… #NeroExhibition

Love this fresco for the fact the main protagonists frame a rather empty scene. Orestes and Pylades on the left with King Tauris seated on the right. Iphigenia is there too in shades of shadowy brown...
From the House of the Citharist, #Pompeii. #NeroExhibition

A non-collapsible boat. Not designed for Nero’s mother then...
Detail of a fresco from #Pompeii. #NeroExhibition

Military triumphs & tribulations.
A jaunty looking statue of Nero in military garb, a staggering find of horse regalia with Pliny’s name stamped on it, and a fine cuirass sported by Nero.
Then the blood runs cold on the sight of chains used on enslaved Britons. #NeroExhibition

Skewed view of #Pompeii.
Relief from the household shrine in the House of Caecilius Iucundus depicting the devastating effects of the AD 63 earthquake in the Forum of Pompeii. Detail of the Arch of Augustus and the Temple of Jupiter.
#NeroExhibition

Not a #NeroExhibition without a bit of damnatio memoriae...
An inscription announcing some games in honour of Nero at the amphitheatre in Puteoli (Pozzuoli) #EpigraphyTuesday

Fun and games.
A pair of glorious terracotta panels. One shows a charioteer approaching the turning posts in a circus (and trying to avoid the fallen contestant) and the other an animal hunt with traces of the original paintwork. #NeroExhibition

‘What an artist dies in me!’
— Nero
From the House of the Dioscuri #Pompeii a theatrical performance acted by men dressed as ladies. The perpetual pantomime dames of the Roman World. #NeroExhibition

To end, a bit more damnatio memoriae for good measure. The final insult that a portrait of Nero is later re-sculpted to depict Vespasian - a few telltale leftover Neronian curls on the back of the head are the giveaway.
2nd image: britishmuseum.org/collection/obj…
#NeroExhibition

And what better to listen to on the subject of #Nero than of course the dynamic duo of @holland_tom and @dcsandbrook waxing lyrical on @TheRestHistory podcast?

For those wondering what this panel from a triumphal arch might have looked like painted, your curiosity can now be sated...

Thanks to @chapps for finding this work by AutisticKnight on Reddit.