Rome In Flames
This day in history: July 18th, 64 CE
It was a night like any other. The carts galavanting through the streets. The common people in bed sleeping. Even the people out at night, visiting the local brothels and pubs were making the city light up by torchlight. Ancient Rome was a city that couldn’t sleep. It ruled a vast empire, so why would its capital do something such as settle for the night. But during the summer the winds blew with a fierce vigor. And with most of the city built from wooden and flammable material, it doesn’t take a Nostradamus to see something was bound to happen.
While the city scampered about, its highest official, the Princeps, was at his summer places in Antium. Which is about 60 kilometers from Rome. He was probably preparing for bed or getting ready to torment some poor person that angered him. But on the night of July 18th, 64 CE, he would rush to the capital. Word spread quickly that a fire had broken out, but by the time the Princeps made it the fire was out of control.
Starting in the merchant’s sector, the fire devastates the whole city. The fire spread to the closely packed buildings engulfing everything it touched. Tacitus writes this about the fire:
“A disaster followed, whether accidental or treacherously contrived by the emperor, is uncertain, as authors have GREAT FIRE AT ROME…
