19th Trends in Classics International Conference

Department of Classics, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki

19th Trends in Classics International Conference
The Ages of Nero: Reality and Reception

Thessaloniki, May 22-24, 2025 

Conference Venue
Auditorium I
Aristotle University, Research Dissemination Center
September 3rd Avenue, University Campus
http://kedea.rc.auth.gr

Nero and his age continue to fascinate us. The past decade alone has seen two Companions, three major museum exhibitions, new excavations of the Domus Aurea, and several biographies that aim to shed new light on Rome’s notorious fifth emperor and the years 54-68 CE. It is also clear that the Age of Nero lived on well after the death of the man himself. In the centuries since his suicide in 68 CE, different groups of people have refashioned their own ideas of Nero or their own idea of the Age of Nero, from the Flavian reshaping of his memory and the Christian creation of the Nero Antichrist legend to the influence of Neronian authors on early modern poetics, the reclaiming of Nero in the late 19th century as a symbol of decadent masculinity, and Hollywood’s use of Nero as symbol of its own spectacular power.  

Perhaps it is time that we speak of Ages of Nero in the plural. This international conference brings together scholars from different academic disciplines to explore such Ages of Nero including the literature, philosophy, art and architecture of Nero’s principate as well as the reception of Nero and Neronian culture from antiquity to today.

Organizing Committee:
Lauren Donovan Ginsberg (Duke University)
Christopher Trinacty (Oberlin College)
Antonios Rengakos (Aristotle University & Academy of Athens)
Stavros Frangoulidis (Aristotle University)

For further information, please contact:
Stavros Frangoulidis (frango@lit.auth.gr)

The organizers would like to acknowledge the kind and generous support of: