The Roman Emperor That Was Removed From Olympic Winners List

The Roman Emperor Nero is an infinite source of scandalous tales, matricide, and posthumous sightings, but perhaps the greatest story of all is his Olympic legacy.

Nero was emperor of Rome from AD 54 to 69, and throughout his years as ruler, he espoused the merits of Ancient Greek culture, speaking fluent Greek and taking an interest in music and poetry, according to Belgian university KU Leuven.

Tacitus, a historian who wrote about Nero fifty years after his passing, tells us that in AD 60, the Emperor established Rome’s first regular Greek games, which he called Neronia. The event was split into three parts: music, oratory and poetry, and gymnastics and horseback riding.

The Neronia took place every five years, with the first being held six years after Nero’s accession in 54 AD and the following taking place in AD 65.

Roman Emperor Nero and His Attempt at the Olympic Games

In AD 67, the Emperor also competed in the Olympics. According to The Ancient Olympic Games by Judith Swaddling, an academic at the University of Texas, Nero bribed the Roman organizers to postpone the event for a year so he could take part. He also added artistic competitions to the traditional athletic events.

From the book Going for Gold: A History of Olympic Controversies, we learn that Nero, an overweight politician, “won” every competition he took part in. He played the lyre on stage, acted in plays, and raced chariots. The same author writes that Nero competed in the four-horse chariot race using ten horses, and, although he fell from his chariot during the race, he was crowned the winner anyway based on the fact that he would have won if he had finished.

After Nero died a year later, his name was removed from the winners list.
Ku Leuven’s publication, titled “Ancient Olympics,” claims that the Roman Emperor’s greatest moment of the tour was his second appearance in Corinth, where he announced the freedom of all Greeks.

It adds that on Nero’s return from the Games, he had four ‘triumphal entries’ (victories) from Naples, Antium (his place of birth), Alba Longa, and Rome. On the final occasion, he is said to have entered the city on the chariot of Augustus, clad in Greek clothing and wearing the Olympic crown on his head with the Pythian crown around his right arm.

This was the victory of the artist, not of the general, and so, the procession ended in the temple of Apollo rather than that of Jupiter Capitolinus, the source confirms.

Miriam Griffin’s book, Nero: The End of a Dynasty, highlights the Emperor’s studious devotion to poetry, music, painting, and sculpture, claiming that he sang and played the cithara, a type of lyre. Apparently, education in these disciplines was common for the Roman elite, but Nero’s love of music and the Olympic Games went beyond what was socially acceptable for a Roman of his class.

Other well-known Romans around that time were critical and suspicious of Nero’s devotion to the arts, chariot racing, and Olympic athletic events. Pliny the Elder described him as an “actor-emperor.”