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Was the Neronia a Freak Festival?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 February 2009

J. D. P. Bolton
Affiliation:
The University, Glasgow

Extract

In A.D. 60 Nero instituted at Rome a quinquennale certamen which he called Neronia. It was in three sections—athletics, chariot-racing, and music (which included singing, and recitations in prose and verse)—after a Greek model. This model would be that of the Pythian rather than of the Olympic Games, for at the latter there was no regular musical contest; though perhaps Nero got his immediate inspiration from the Augustalia at Naples, which was an athletic and musical festival of a religious nature.

Information

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Classical Association 1948

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