The Splendor Before the Dark by Margaret George

In her first book, The Confessions of Young Nero, Margaret George takes you through Nero's younger years and as a young emperor. The Splendor before the Dark covers Emperor Nero's last four years, beginning with the fire and then ending twenty-three years after his death.This complex and detailed story of Nero's end is reported with passion and insight.  
  
Nero is best known for his debaucheries, political murders, the persecution of Christians, and for the rumor that he "fiddled" while Rome burned during the great fire in 64 A.D. Many people forget that Nero was also an actor, poet, and architect, and supported athletics, in which he himself competed.

Margaret George follows the conviction of Edward Champlin, who, in his book Nero, explains, "I have assumed that his actions were rational--that is, he was not crazy--and that much of what he did resonated far more with contemporary social attitudes than our hostile sources would have us believe." 

The novel is narrated by three characters: Acte, who is Nero's young lover and dearest friend; Locusta, an herbalist who sees Nero's dark side; and Nero himself. In her review, Stephanie Dray says, "Wow! Margaret George--the reigning queen of historical fiction--is back with this epic saga that vividly reimagines the life of young Nero in all its operatic, dramatic glory." Author Diana Gabaldon, of Outlander, says, "Messy lives make good stories." And Nero's life truly is a remarkable story.

"Why have you come?" I ask one of the families, a mother and two children. 

"I have told the children about him,"the woman says. "As this is a lovely day, I thought I would take them here."

"What have you told them?" That he was insane, a tyrant, a monster? That was the official story, peddled by the Senate. "That he was the most remarkable emperor we have had," she says. "He was not a warrior but an artist; he wanted to please the ordinary man, not the aristocrat; he raced chariots!" she laughs. "When shall we have such another?"

"Never, I fear," I say. Never, I know.  -The Splendor before the Dark by Margaret George

   
~Dani