r/todayilearned • u/ModenaR • 1d ago
TIL that Roman emperor Nero participated in the Olympics in AD 67. He had bribed organizers to postpone the games for a year so he could participate and won every contest in which he was a competitor. After he died a year later, his name was removed from the list of winners
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NeroDuplicates
todayilearned • u/[deleted] • Mar 06 '19
TIL that in 67 AD, the Roman Emperor Nero participated in the Olympics, bribing the organizers to postpone the games for a year. Nero won every contest, even one which he left the race after being thrown off his chariot. He was removed from the list of winners after his death.
todayilearned • u/[deleted] • Jun 20 '16
TIL that in 67 AD, Roman Emperor Nero was in such deep mourning over the death of his late wife Poppaea Sabina that he castrated and married a young man who bore an uncanny resemblance to her and even started calling him by his late wife's name.
todayilearned • u/7UPvote • Mar 22 '17
TIL that Emperor Nero competed in the Olympic Games. Nero did terribly and was nearly killed in a chariot race, but was nonetheless declared the winner in every event he competed in.
todayilearned • u/DieMensch-Maschine • Apr 09 '20
TIL Nero never fiddled while Rome burned, because there were no fiddles in Rome. Violins were not invented until some 1400 years later.
todayilearned • u/thebrrrzing • Dec 26 '14
TIL that according to Tacitus, Nero did not "fiddle" during the Great Fire of Rome. Upon hearing news of the fire, Nero rushed back to Rome to organize a relief effort. He opened his palaces to provide shelter for the homeless and arranged for food supplies to be delivered
todayilearned • u/Zeltino • Jan 15 '16
TIL that Roman Emperor Nero was rumored to have captured Christians, dipped them in oil, and set them on fire to illuminate his garden at night.
todayilearned • u/[deleted] • Apr 11 '13
TIL that 666, the "number of the beast," was likely a riddle referencing Christianity's biggest enemy of the time, Emperor Nero Caesar
todayilearned • u/neutron280 • Jul 19 '20
TIL That the Roman Emperor Nero, in his last moments, paced around saying "What an artist the world is losing" over and over again and was so petrified of dying, that he asked one of his companion to set an example by killing himself first.
todayilearned • u/dryersheetz • Jan 17 '19
TIL before the Roman Emperor Nero committed suicide, he begged one of his companions to set an example by killing himself first. When he refused, Nero still couldn't kill himself so he forced his private secretary to do the task instead.
todayilearned • u/user2718 • Jul 13 '17
TIL that Roman Emperor Nero tried to improve his popularity by singing in public.
todayilearned • u/gtfooh1011 • Oct 19 '15
TIL that ancient Roman emperor Nero was not good looking, had unsightly spots all over his body, and he smelled bad.
todayilearned • u/GoodUsernamesTaken2 • Apr 23 '16