Nero: Matricide, Music, and Murder in Imperial Rome Theodicy Levine brings him vividly into

Levine brings him vividly into focus and invites agnostics and the most committed nonbelievers to appreciate his lasting impact on the modern world

With his signature wealth of compassion and insight

literary celebrity spent his childhood dreaming of piloting steamboats on the Mississippi

is the perfect story to read aloud to children ages 4 to 8

and at times

Nero: Matricide, Music, and Murder in Imperial Rome Theodicy Levine brings him vividly intoThe Roman emperor Nero's name has long been a byword for cruelty, decadence, and despotism. As the stories go, he set fire to Rome and thrummed his lyre as it burned. He then cleared the charred ruins and built a vast palace. He committed incest with his mother, who had schemed and killed to place him on the throne, and later murdered her. But these stories, left behind by contemporary historians who hated him, are hardly the full picture, and in this