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spin · 04-07-2011, 04:27 PM

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Originally Posted by hjalti

(I really should stop clicking "view post")

Some people never learn....

TedM · 02-20-2013, 12:46 AM

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Originally Posted by GakuseiDon

Quote:

Originally Posted by spin

This sentence is the concluding summary of Nero's failure regarding the fire. Nothing worked to get rid of the belief that the fire was started by an order. Whoosh, let's go off on a tangent that will make my readers forget the fact that I'm pinning the fire on Nero and tell everyone about killing some bunch of religionists.

I don't think you are reading the text. Tacitus hasn't gone on a tangent. He writes that not only did people think Nero did it, but to deflect attention Nero pinned the blame on a group that everyone hated. But in an ironic twist, people felt compassion for them. As Tacitus writes: "even for criminals who deserved extreme and exemplary punishment, there arose a feeling of compassion; for it was not, as it seemed, for the public good, but to glut one man's cruelty". This isn't a tangent, it is high-lighting Nero's cruelty.

Very nice Don. You get it.

spin · 02-20-2013, 05:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TedM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GakuseiDon

Quote:

Originally Posted by spin

This sentence is the concluding summary of Nero's failure regarding the fire. Nothing worked to get rid of the belief that the fire was started by an order. Whoosh, let's go off on a tangent that will make my readers forget the fact that I'm pinning the fire on Nero and tell everyone about killing some bunch of religionists.

I don't think you are reading the text. Tacitus hasn't gone on a tangent. He writes that not only did people think Nero did it, but to deflect attention Nero pinned the blame on a group that everyone hated. But in an ironic twist, people felt compassion for them. As Tacitus writes: "even for criminals who deserved extreme and exemplary punishment, there arose a feeling of compassion; for it was not, as it seemed, for the public good, but to glut one man's cruelty". This isn't a tangent, it is high-lighting Nero's cruelty.

Very nice Don. You get it.

Gak doesn't seem to understand that the text is about the fire that Tacitus cannot pin on Nero so he connects it through aspersions. This crap about onlookers feeling sorry for the christians has nothing to do with Tacitus crafting Nero's blame for the fire. Tacitus can always highlight Nero's cruelty, but this passage is about the fire and Nero's connection to it, not his persecution of dumb christians.

:banghead:

rlogan · 02-20-2013, 07:35 PM

Oh Golly Spin I had read threads long ago where you talked about Tacitus and I'm really glad to see that blog entry. That was crisp and powerful. It was the prefect/procurator mistake that had convinced me before.

But kind of a "duh" moment for me was pointing out how clearly Tacitus had ended his piece with Nero unable to evade implication it had been by order... except, wait! Er, um one more thing. Blame the Christians.

The Interpolated Gone With the Wind:

"Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn... but let me just say the one thing I do care about Scarlett is where you go and what you do. So let's rent a Motel six for you and get you Thursday nights at the strip club because that rack of yours is going to pay big time."

Not only is the ending not an ending any more, but we go straight into raunchy, salacious and typically obscene Christian overdoing it.

TedM · 02-20-2013, 08:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by spin

Quote:

Very nice Don. You get it.

Gak doesn't seem to understand that the text is about the fire that Tacitus cannot pin on Nero so he connects it through aspersions. This crap about onlookers feeling sorry for the christians has nothing to do with Tacitus crafting Nero's blame for the fire. Tacitus can always highlight Nero's cruelty, but this passage is about the fire and Nero's connection to it, not his persecution of dumb christians.

:banghead:

I want to read your blog and finish reading this thread before commenting further. I don't see the Christians passage as an afterthought at first glance. It sounds like a normal response a king would have -- to find a scapegoat when after all other means to shake the suspicions of his involvement in the fire fail. But, like I said, I want to check out this entire thread further.

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02-20-2013, 07:35 PM	#254
rlogan Banned Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Alaska Posts: 9,159	Oh Golly Spin I had read threads long ago where you talked about Tacitus and I'm really glad to see that blog entry. That was crisp and powerful. It was the prefect/procurator mistake that had convinced me before. But kind of a "duh" moment for me was pointing out how clearly Tacitus had ended his piece with Nero unable to evade implication it had been by order... except, wait! Er, um one more thing. Blame the Christians. The Interpolated Gone With the Wind: "Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn... but let me just say the one thing I do care about Scarlett is where you go and what you do. So let's rent a Motel six for you and get you Thursday nights at the strip club because that rack of yours is going to pay big time." Not only is the ending not an ending any more, but we go straight into raunchy, salacious and typically obscene Christian overdoing it.

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