Great Fire of Rome

The Great Fire of Rome (Latin: incendium magnum Romae) began on the 19th of July 64 AD.

The Curator Aquarum was also in charge of investigations into those who were illegally piping water away without paying a license fee to the state.

[13] According to Tacitus, the fire began in shops where flammable goods were stored, in the region of the Circus neighboring the Caelian and Palatine Hills of Rome.

Some groups responsible for throwing torches and stopping those from fighting the fire were reported to have claimed they were under orders to do so.

Nero returned to the city and took measures to bring in food supplies and to open gardens and public buildings to accommodate refugees.

The Temple of Jupiter Stator, the House of the Vestals, and Nero's palace, the Domus Transitoria were damaged or destroyed.

[18] The accusations of Nero having started the fire were further exacerbated by his quickness to rebuild burned neighbourhoods in the Greek style and to launch construction of his new palace.

[20] He rebuilt much of the destroyed area, and had the ostentatious building complex known as Domus Aurea (Golden House) built, his personal residence (replacing the Domus Transitoria and including an extension of about 2.5 km2), which came to include the Palatine, the slopes of the Esquiline (Opium) and part of the Celio.

To meet at least a proportion of the costs, Nero devalued the Roman currency, increasing inflationary pressure for the first time in the Empire's history.

Some, for the entertainment of spectators, were torn to pieces by hunting dogs, others were crucified in ways calculated to make them look ridiculous.

The primary accounts, which possibly included histories written by Fabius Rusticus, Marcus Cluvius Rufus, and Pliny the Elder, do not survive.