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Changed line(s) 20 (click to see context) from:
* ContinuityNod:
to:
* ContinuityNod: ContinuityNod: A couple to Maier's previous novel ''Pontius Pilate''
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** Pontius Pilate is mentioned as living in retirement at Antium, where Maier's previous novel left him.
* DeadpanSnarker: Petronius, who is secretly Nero's shrewdest critic. At one point he snarks he'll give Nero first prize in a competition for making a jackass of himself.
* DeadpanSnarker: Petronius, who is secretly Nero's shrewdest critic. At one point he snarks he'll give Nero first prize in a competition for making a jackass of himself.
to:
** Pontius Pilate is mentioned as living in retirement at Antium, where Maier's previous novel left him.
Antium.
* DeadpanSnarker: Gaius Petronius, who is secretly Nero's shrewdest critic. At one point he snarks he'll give Nero first prize in a competition for making a jackass of himself.
* DeadpanSnarker: Gaius Petronius, who is secretly Nero's shrewdest critic. At one point he snarks he'll give Nero first prize in a competition for making a jackass of himself.
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* DeliberateValuesDissonance: Comes up in regard to the Roman treatment of women with Plautia mentioning the limitations on their freedom. Slavery likewise
to:
* DeliberateValuesDissonance: Comes up in regard to the Roman treatment of women with Plautia mentioning the limitations on their freedom. Slavery likewiselikewise is treated as commonplace.
* DramaQueen: Scaevinus during the prelude to his role in the plot to kill Nero, which leads to the exposure of the conspiracy thanks to his freedman becoming suspicious of his behavior.
* DramaQueen: Scaevinus during the prelude to his role in the plot to kill Nero, which leads to the exposure of the conspiracy thanks to his freedman becoming suspicious of his behavior.
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** The death of four hundred slaves for one murdering Pedanius, has plenty of Senators including Quintus protesting such brutality.
** Poppaea intervenes to prevent the Jew from being made the scapegoats for the fire.
* EpicFail: Nero's attempts to contend with Peter end up as this. Petronius is impressed with Peter but just embarrassed by Nero's poor efforts while Tigellinus and Poppaea try to get him to sit down.
** Poppaea intervenes to prevent the Jew from being made the scapegoats for the fire.
* EpicFail: Nero's attempts to contend with Peter end up as this. Petronius is impressed with Peter but just embarrassed by Nero's poor efforts while Tigellinus and Poppaea try to get him to sit down.
to:
** The death of four hundred slaves for one murdering Pedanius, has plenty of Senators including Quintus Lateranus protesting such brutality.
** Poppaea intervenes to prevent theJew Jewish community from being made the scapegoats for the fire.
* EpicFail: Nero's attempts to verbally contend with Peter end up as this. Petronius is impressed with Peter but just embarrassed by Nero's poor efforts while Tigellinus and Poppaea try to get him to sit down.
** Poppaea intervenes to prevent the
* EpicFail: Nero's attempts to verbally contend with Peter end up as this. Petronius is impressed with Peter but just embarrassed by Nero's poor efforts while Tigellinus and Poppaea try to get him to sit down.
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* {{Jerkass}}:
** Nero's Father Domitus Ahenobarbus is a prime example, according to Agrippina, with some of his stated actions including [[WouldHurtAChild running over a child]], [[EyeScream gouging out someones eye in the Forum]], and [[BrotherSisterIncest sleeping with his own sister]].
** Nero's Father Domitus Ahenobarbus is a prime example, according to Agrippina, with some of his stated actions including [[WouldHurtAChild running over a child]], [[EyeScream gouging out someones eye in the Forum]], and [[BrotherSisterIncest sleeping with his own sister]].
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* DeliberateValuesDissonance: Comes up in regard to the Roman treatment of women with Plautia mentioning the limitations on their freedom. Slavery likewise
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** Poppaea interves to prevent the Jew from being made the scapegoats for the fire.
to:
** The death of four hundred slaves for one murdering Pedanius, has plenty of Senators including Quintus protesting such brutality.
** Poppaeainterves intervenes to prevent the Jew from being made the scapegoats for the fire.
** Poppaea
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* NamesTheSame: Nymphidius Sabinus shares a name with Flavius Sabinus, something that he notes when the two meet.
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* OneSteveLimit: Averted as many Romans shared the same names such as Titus Flavius Sabinus and his eldest son, Titus Flavius Sabinus.
to:
* OneSteveLimit: Averted as many Romans shared the same names such as Titus Flavius Sabinus and his eldest son, Titus Flavius Sabinus. Praetorian Prefect Nymphidius Sabinus shares a name with Flavius Sabinus, something that he notes when the two meet.
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Changed line(s) 41 (click to see context) from:
* HistoricalBadassUpgrade: The precise role of the historical Titus Flavius Sabinus in Nero's downfall is unknown. Maier makes him the prime mover behind the scenes using his connection
to:
* HistoricalBadassUpgrade: The precise role of the historical Titus Flavius Sabinus in Nero's downfall is unknown. Maier makes him the prime mover behind the scenes using his connectionconnections to Julius Vindix to orchestrate rebellion in the provinces and acting in Rome to undermine Nero.
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* NamesTheSame: Nymphidius Sabinus shares a name with Flavius Sabinus, something that he notes when the two meet.
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** Vitellius' role in removing Pilate from office is brought up.
to:
** Vitellius' role in removing Pilate from office is brought up.up twice.
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* EpicFail: Nero's attempts to contend with Peter end up as this. Petronius is impressed with Peter, but just embarrassed by Nero's poor efforts.
to:
* EpicFail: Nero's attempts to contend with Peter end up as this. Petronius is impressed with Peter, Peter but just embarrassed by Nero's poor efforts.efforts while Tigellinus and Poppaea try to get him to sit down.
* HistoricalBadassUpgrade: The precise role of the historical Titus Flavius Sabinus in Nero's downfall is unknown. Maier makes him the prime mover behind the scenes using his connection
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* HeelFaceTurn: Pallas once he gets involved with Agrippina winds be a party to the poisoning of Claudius.
to:
* HeelFaceTurn: Pallas once he gets involved with Agrippina Agrippina, winds be up as a party to the poisoning of Claudius.Claudius after loyally serving him.
Changed line(s) 63 (click to see context) from:
** Claudius is generally this. Notably he's amused by Sabinus' honesty and does his best to let Quintus off the hook for his involvement with Messalina.
to:
** Claudius is generally this. Notably he's amused by Sabinus' honesty and does his best to let Quintus off the hook for his involvement with Messalina.Messalina since his involvement was relatively brief.
* StrawHypocrite: Gaius Silius makes a great deal of wanting to restore the Republic, but is really out to make himself Emperor using this pretext to gain support. Narcissus speculates he might have been honest once but his ambitions or Messalina corrupted him.
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* TokenGoodTeammate: Sabinus winds up as this to Nero's regime.
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* TokenGoodTeammate: Sabinus winds up as this to Nero's regime, becoming the one moral official in an increasing corrupt regime.
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* {{Womanchild}}: Messalina is immature and hedonistic and never thinks things through. As Valens notes she craves excitement like a drunkard wine. She winds up running to her mother once everything falls apart around her.
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Changed line(s) 8 (click to see context) from:
to:
The novel serves as a loose follow-up to Maier's ''Pontius Pilate'' with elements from that book being referenced.
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* ContinuityNod: Pontius Pilate is mentioned as living in retirement at Antium, where Maier's previous novel left him.
to:
* ContinuityNod: ContinuityNod:
** Vitellius' role in removing Pilate from office is brought up.
** Pontius Pilate is mentioned as living in retirement at Antium, where Maier's previous novel left him.
** Vitellius' role in removing Pilate from office is brought up.
** Pontius Pilate is mentioned as living in retirement at Antium, where Maier's previous novel left him.
* NecessarilyEvil: Gaius Silius sees UsefulNotes/{{Augustus}} as this, a strong man who brought an end to the ruinous civil wars. This becomes sinister in hindsight when Silius proves to have his own Imperial ambitions.
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* NecessarilyEvil: Gaius Silius sees UsefulNotes/{{Augustus}} as this, a strong man who brought an end to the ruinous civil wars. This becomes sinister in hindsight when Silius proves to have his own Imperial ambitions.
to:
* NecessarilyEvil: Gaius Silius sees UsefulNotes/{{Augustus}} as this, a strong man who brought an end to RasputinianDeath: It takes three attempts for the ruinous civil wars. This becomes sinister in hindsight when Silius proves conspirators to have his own Imperial ambitions.successfully kill Claudius with poison.
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Changed line(s) 19 (click to see context) from:
* DeadpanSnarker: Petronius, secrectly Nero's shrewdest critic. At one point he snarks he'll give Nero first prize in a competition for making a jackass of himself.
to:
* DeadpanSnarker: Petronius, secrectly who is secretly Nero's shrewdest critic. At one point he snarks he'll give Nero first prize in a competition for making a jackass of himself.
* HeelFaceTurn: Pallas once he gets involved with Agrippina winds be a party to the poisoning of Claudius.
* OddFriendship: Aulus Plautius and Claudius Caesar. One a hardened military man, the other a bookish libertine.
Changed line(s) 56 (click to see context) from:
** Claudius is generally this. Notably he's amused by Sabinus' honesty and does his beat to let Quintus off the hook for his involment with Messalina.
to:
** Claudius is generally this. Notably he's amused by Sabinus' honesty and does his beat best to let Quintus off the hook for his involment involvement with Messalina.
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* VillainousBreakdown: Nero gradually falls apart in the face of rebellion.
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* DeadpanSnarker: Petronius, secrectly Nero's shrewdest critic. At one point he snarks he'll give Nero first prize in a competition for making a jackass of himself.
** Petronius spends his final moments mocking Nero at his farewell party and sends him a long list of the Emperor's secret depravities that causes Nero to throw a fit.
* EpicFail: Nero's attempts to contend with Peter end up as this. Petronius is impressed with Peter, but just embarrassed by Nero's poor efforts.
* RedHerring: After Plautia hits him with a strigil for spying on her and her friends at the bath, a young Nero smugly notes he'll return the favor for marking him. This only comes up again as a joke Nero makes in his congratulatory letter at her wedding.
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure:
** Claudius is generally this. Notably he's amused by Sabinus' honesty and does his beat to let Quintus off the hook for his involment with Messalina.
** Nero is this from time to time, but ends up as TheCaligula
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure:
** Claudius is generally this. Notably he's amused by Sabinus' honesty and does his beat to let Quintus off the hook for his involment with Messalina.
** Nero is this from time to time, but ends up as TheCaligula
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* UndyingLoyalty: Acte never stops loving Nero and is the only mourner at his funeral.
to:
* UndyingLoyalty: UndyingLoyalty:
** Narcissus keeps faith with Claudius even after his death, burning all of Claudius' secret correspondence which leads to his imprisonment and death.
** Acte never stops loving Nero and is the only mourner at his funeral.
** Narcissus keeps faith with Claudius even after his death, burning all of Claudius' secret correspondence which leads to his imprisonment and death.
** Acte never stops loving Nero and is the only mourner at his funeral.
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* AssholeVictim: Agrippina
to:
* AssholeVictim: AgrippinaAgrippina. After all of her crimes, she really had it comming.
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* BittersweetEnding: Nero is dead and the Christian have a measure of peace, but Sabinus will die securing Rome for his brother Vespasian.
to:
* BittersweetEnding: Nero is dead and the Christian have a measure of peace, but Sabinus will die securing Rome for his brother Vespasian.Vespasian in less than two years.
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* DefiantToTheEnd: Peter on his cross calls out Nero for his crimes and tells him that he and the other Christians forgive him.
to:
* DefiantToTheEnd: DefiantToTheEnd:
** Peter on his cross calls out Nero for his crimes and tells him that he and the other Christians forgivehim.him.
** Hermes spends his dying moments listing off Nero's crimes beginning with a description of the collapsible ceiling her ordered for his mother.
** Peter on his cross calls out Nero for his crimes and tells him that he and the other Christians forgive
** Hermes spends his dying moments listing off Nero's crimes beginning with a description of the collapsible ceiling her ordered for his mother.
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* EvilMatriarch: Agrippina
to:
* EveryoneHasStandards:
** The tortures the Christians are put through start to win the sympathy of the Roman crowd, with many leaving outright in disgust.
** Poppaea interves to prevent the Jew from being made the scapegoats for the fire.
* EvilMatriarch:AgrippinaAgrippina. She arranges the death of many of her opponents and tries to control his son's life to the point of trying to seduce him when he's drunk.
** The tortures the Christians are put through start to win the sympathy of the Roman crowd, with many leaving outright in disgust.
** Poppaea interves to prevent the Jew from being made the scapegoats for the fire.
* EvilMatriarch:
* TheGreatFire: Namely the Great Fire of Rome (A.D. 64), which devastated huge swaths of the city.
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* HonorBeforeReason: Quintus is astonished when he realizes that Aulus is serious about going through with the family tribunal and will condemn and exile his wife if he finds her guilty. Mitigated by his private admission to Pomponia that he'd accompany her if it came to that.
to:
* HonorBeforeReason: HonorBeforeReason:
** Quintus is astonished when he realizes that Aulus is serious about going through with the family tribunal and will condemn and exile his wife if he finds her guilty. Mitigated by his private admission to Pomponia that he'd accompany her if it came to that.
** Earlier Sabinus tried to confess his presence at Silius' bacchanal, but Aulus had some of his troops knock him out later noting that he knew Sabinus would play the "noble fool".
** Quintus is astonished when he realizes that Aulus is serious about going through with the family tribunal and will condemn and exile his wife if he finds her guilty. Mitigated by his private admission to Pomponia that he'd accompany her if it came to that.
** Earlier Sabinus tried to confess his presence at Silius' bacchanal, but Aulus had some of his troops knock him out later noting that he knew Sabinus would play the "noble fool".
* NotHelpingYourCase: Nero's construction of the Golden House which majorly slows down the rebuilding of Rome doesn't help his reputation as it causes rumors to spread he started the fire to build it.
* OCStandIn: As the name and background of Sabinus' wife is not recorded, Maier went with the theory that she was an unrecorded daughter of Aulus Plautius.
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* NecessaryEvil: Gaius Silius sees UsefulNotes/{{Augustus}} as this, a strong man who brought an end to the ruinous civil wars. This becomes sinister in hindsight when Silius proves to have his own Imperial ambitions.
to:
* NecessaryEvil: NecessarilyEvil: Gaius Silius sees UsefulNotes/{{Augustus}} as this, a strong man who brought an end to the ruinous civil wars. This becomes sinister in hindsight when Silius proves to have his own Imperial ambitions.ambitions.
* TheScapegoat: The Christians are used as this for Nero to escape the censure of the public for the Great Fire.
* TheScapegoat: The Christians are used as this for Nero to escape the censure of the public for the Great Fire.
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* YoungFutureFamousPeople: The future Emperor Vespasian, is Sabinus' brother and plays a supporting role. His sons Titus and Domitian also show up.
to:
* YoungFutureFamousPeople: The future Emperor Vespasian, is Sabinus' brother and plays a supporting role. His sons and successors Titus and Domitian also show up.
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* {{Archenemy}}: Praetorian Prefect Offanius Tigellinus is this for Sabinus, serving as his most persistent personal enemy. He constantly tries to get Sabinus convicted on some treason charge and attempts to rape Plautia, Sabinus' wife.
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* BetterToDieThanBeKilled: Most Romans go out with a noble suicide rather than face execution.
to:
* BetterToDieThanBeKilled: Most Romans prefer to go out with a noble suicide rather than face execution. Nero tries this when he learns what the Senate plans for him but has to have his aides help him.
* DueToTheDead: Sabinus makes a point to bury the Christian victims of Nero's persecutions, setting aside a separate tomb for Simon Peter.
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* FaceDeathWithDignity: A ton of characters exhibit this when faced with certain death: Gaius Silius, St. Peter, Paul of Tarsus, Seneca, Petronius, Thrasea Paetus
to:
* FaceDeathWithDignity: A ton of characters exhibit this when faced with certain death: Gaius Silius, St. Peter, Paul of Tarsus, Seneca, Petronius, Thrasea PaetusPaetus. Even Nero at the very end.
* FateWorseThanDeath: Nero considers "punishment in the ancient fashion" to be this where the victim is stripped, ladden with chains, paraded through the city, and then beaten to death with rods and thrown into the Tiber.
* FateWorseThanDeath: Nero considers "punishment in the ancient fashion" to be this where the victim is stripped, ladden with chains, paraded through the city, and then beaten to death with rods and thrown into the Tiber.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Nero after he kills his beloved wife Poppaea and their unborn child in a fit of temper.
* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: Tigelinus flees Rome when Nero starts sliding off the deep end. He winds up committing suicide.
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* UndyningLoyalty: Acte never stops loving Nero and is the only mourner at his funeral.
to:
* UndyningLoyalty: UndyingLoyalty: Acte never stops loving Nero and is the only mourner at his funeral.
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* AlasPoorVillain: Nero, at the end. Sabinus is left pitying him.
to:
* AlasPoorVillain: Nero, at the end. Sabinus Sabinus, who came determined to take his vengeance, is left pitying him.
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* GoodRepublicEvilEmpire: Played with. Quintus and other republican senators believe thehowever Aulus deconstructs
to:
* GoodRepublicEvilEmpire: Played with. Quintus and the other republican senators believe thehowever the restoration of the Republic would end the excesses and corruption of the Empire, however Aulus deconstructs this with his point that the Republic was hardly any better by the end.
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* HeterosexualLifePartners: Flavius Sabinus and Quintus Laternus are close friends and business partners. Quintus' death after the failure of the Piso plot, is the final straw that makes Sabinus vow to destroy Nero.
to:
* HeterosexualLifePartners: Flavius Sabinus and his cousin by marriage Quintus Laternus are close friends and lifelong business partners.partners. Due to their remarkable resemblance they refer to themselves as the Twin Brothers after the mythical Castor and Pollux. Quintus' death after the failure of the Piso plot, is the final straw that makes Sabinus vow to destroy Nero.
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* TheLastDJ: Thrasea Paetus, one of the few incorruptible Senators left holding on to the principles of honest government and speaking out against tyranny. He's referred to by Quintus as "one of the last of the old Romans". As he notes when Nero orders his death, he's surprised he's lasted this long after being Nero's earliest enemy.
to:
* HonorBeforeReason: Quintus is astonished when he realizes that Aulus is serious about going through with the family tribunal and will condemn and exile his wife if he finds her guilty. Mitigated by his private admission to Pomponia that he'd accompany her if it came to that.
* TheLastDJ: Thrasea Paetus, one of the few incorruptible Senators left holding on to the principles of honest government and speaking out against tyranny. He's referred to by Quintus as "one of the last of the old Romans". As he cheerfully notes when Nero orders his death, he's surprised he's lasted this long after being Nero's earliest enemy.
* TheLastDJ: Thrasea Paetus, one of the few incorruptible Senators left holding on to the principles of honest government and speaking out against tyranny. He's referred to by Quintus as "one of the last of the old Romans". As he cheerfully notes when Nero orders his death, he's surprised he's lasted this long after being Nero's earliest enemy.
Changed line(s) 31 (click to see context) from:
* ObfuscatingStupidity: Claudius is very shrewd, if prone to vice.
to:
* NiceToTheWaiter: One palace gardener hesitates to betray Nero, as he was always kind to him. An irate Sabinus counters by pointing he was a monster to hundreds of others.
* NostalgiaFilter: Frequently applied to the Roman Republic by Quintus.
* ObfuscatingStupidity: Claudius is very shrewd, if prone to vice. As he notes he successfully conquered Britannia.
* NostalgiaFilter: Frequently applied to the Roman Republic by Quintus.
* ObfuscatingStupidity: Claudius is very shrewd, if prone to vice. As he notes he successfully conquered Britannia.
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* UndyningLoyalty: Acte never stops loving Nero and is the only mourner at his funeral.
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Changed line(s) 21 (click to see context) from:
* GodSaveUsFromTheQueen: Agrippina at her worst.
to:
* GodSaveUsFromTheQueen: Agrippina at her worst. Messalina also has shades of this.
* GoodRepublicEvilEmpire: Played with. Quintus and other republican senators believe thehowever Aulus deconstructs
* GoodRepublicEvilEmpire: Played with. Quintus and other republican senators believe thehowever Aulus deconstructs
* HeterosexualLifePartners: Flavius Sabinus and Quintus Laternus are close friends and business partners. Quintus' death after the failure of the Piso plot, is the final straw that makes Sabinus vow to destroy Nero.
* TheLastDJ: Thrasea Paetus, one of the few incorruptible Senators left holding on to the principles of honest government and speaking out against tyranny. He's referred to by Quintus as "one of the last of the old Romans". As he notes when Nero orders his death, he's surprised he's lasted this long after being Nero's earliest enemy.
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* ObfuscatingStupidity: Claudius is very shrewd, if sprone to vice
to:
** Peter give a version of the ''Quo vadis'' legend as to why he returned to Rome, with the language of the exchange changed to Aramaic.
* ObfuscatingStupidity: Claudius is very shrewd, ifsprone prone to vicevice.
* OneSteveLimit: Averted as many Romans shared the same names such as Titus Flavius Sabinus and his eldest son, Titus Flavius Sabinus.
* NecessaryEvil: Gaius Silius sees UsefulNotes/{{Augustus}} as this, a strong man who brought an end to the ruinous civil wars. This becomes sinister in hindsight when Silius proves to have his own Imperial ambitions.
* ObfuscatingStupidity: Claudius is very shrewd, if
* OneSteveLimit: Averted as many Romans shared the same names such as Titus Flavius Sabinus and his eldest son, Titus Flavius Sabinus.
* NecessaryEvil: Gaius Silius sees UsefulNotes/{{Augustus}} as this, a strong man who brought an end to the ruinous civil wars. This becomes sinister in hindsight when Silius proves to have his own Imperial ambitions.
* {{Sucksessor}}: Silius cites this of UsefulNotes/{{Augustus}}'s successors mocking them as ''[[UsefulNotes/{{Tiberius}} a hypocrite,]] [[UsefulNotes/{{Caligula}} a madman]], and [[UsefulNotes/{{Claudius}} a fool"!]]
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* YoungFutureFamousPeople: The future Emperor Vespasian, is Sabinus' brother and plays a supporting role.
to:
* YoungFutureFamousPeople: The future Emperor Vespasian, is Sabinus' brother and plays a supporting role. His sons Titus and Domitian also show up.
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''The Flames of Rome'' is a Historical novel written by Paul L. Maier.
to:
''The Flames of Rome'' is a Historical historical novel written by Paul L. Maier.
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[[quoteright:318:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/2688639.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:318:While Rome burns...]]
''The Flames of Rome'' is a Historical novel written by Paul L. Maier.
It follow the lives of two Roman families, the Plautii and the Flavii, in the years AD 47-69 as they witness the twilight of Emperor Claudius' reign, the emergence of Christianity onto the Roman stage, and the tumultuous reign of Nero.
----
!!This book contains examples of:
* AlasPoorVillain: Nero, at the end. Sabinus is left pitying him.
* AlcoholInducedIdiocy: Claudius falls victim to this twice, leading to his death when he spills to much to Agrippina.
* AssholeVictim: Agrippina
* BetterToDieThanBeKilled: Most Romans go out with a noble suicide rather than face execution.
* BittersweetEnding: Nero is dead and the Christian have a measure of peace, but Sabinus will die securing Rome for his brother Vespasian.
* CanonCharacterAllAlong: Titus Flavius Sabinus is the Theophilus that Luke addresses his Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles to.
* ContinuityNod: Pontius Pilate is mentioned as living in retirement at Antium, where Maier's previous novel left him.
* DefiantToTheEnd: Peter on his cross calls out Nero for his crimes and tells him that he and the other Christians forgive him.
* EvilMatriarch: Agrippina
* FaceDeathWithDignity: A ton of characters exhibit this when faced with certain death: Gaius Silius, St. Peter, Paul of Tarsus, Seneca, Petronius, Thrasea Paetus
* GodSaveUsFromTheQueen: Agrippina at her worst.
* TheGoodChancellor: Narcissus for Claudius, Sabinus for Nero.
* HistoricalDomainCharacter: Pretty much the whole cast, with Maier noting he had to omit certain individuals to slim down the text.
* MoralityChain: Seneca and Burrus to Nero. Once they go, Nero goes downhill.
* MythologyGag:
** Peter asks to be crucified upside down since he believes he's not worthy to be crucified the same way Jesus was
* ObfuscatingStupidity: Claudius is very shrewd, if sprone to vice
* ShownTheirWork: Maier is a history professor and cites the specific sources he drew on at the end of the books.
* TokenGoodTeammate: Sabinus winds up as this to Nero's regime.
* WhileRomeBurns: The Trope Namer. A grieving Nero sings an epic on the fall of Troy while they city burns in front of him.
* YoungFutureFamousPeople: The future Emperor Vespasian, is Sabinus' brother and plays a supporting role.
[[caption-width-right:318:While Rome burns...]]
''The Flames of Rome'' is a Historical novel written by Paul L. Maier.
It follow the lives of two Roman families, the Plautii and the Flavii, in the years AD 47-69 as they witness the twilight of Emperor Claudius' reign, the emergence of Christianity onto the Roman stage, and the tumultuous reign of Nero.
----
!!This book contains examples of:
* AlasPoorVillain: Nero, at the end. Sabinus is left pitying him.
* AlcoholInducedIdiocy: Claudius falls victim to this twice, leading to his death when he spills to much to Agrippina.
* AssholeVictim: Agrippina
* BetterToDieThanBeKilled: Most Romans go out with a noble suicide rather than face execution.
* BittersweetEnding: Nero is dead and the Christian have a measure of peace, but Sabinus will die securing Rome for his brother Vespasian.
* CanonCharacterAllAlong: Titus Flavius Sabinus is the Theophilus that Luke addresses his Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles to.
* ContinuityNod: Pontius Pilate is mentioned as living in retirement at Antium, where Maier's previous novel left him.
* DefiantToTheEnd: Peter on his cross calls out Nero for his crimes and tells him that he and the other Christians forgive him.
* EvilMatriarch: Agrippina
* FaceDeathWithDignity: A ton of characters exhibit this when faced with certain death: Gaius Silius, St. Peter, Paul of Tarsus, Seneca, Petronius, Thrasea Paetus
* GodSaveUsFromTheQueen: Agrippina at her worst.
* TheGoodChancellor: Narcissus for Claudius, Sabinus for Nero.
* HistoricalDomainCharacter: Pretty much the whole cast, with Maier noting he had to omit certain individuals to slim down the text.
* MoralityChain: Seneca and Burrus to Nero. Once they go, Nero goes downhill.
* MythologyGag:
** Peter asks to be crucified upside down since he believes he's not worthy to be crucified the same way Jesus was
* ObfuscatingStupidity: Claudius is very shrewd, if sprone to vice
* ShownTheirWork: Maier is a history professor and cites the specific sources he drew on at the end of the books.
* TokenGoodTeammate: Sabinus winds up as this to Nero's regime.
* WhileRomeBurns: The Trope Namer. A grieving Nero sings an epic on the fall of Troy while they city burns in front of him.
* YoungFutureFamousPeople: The future Emperor Vespasian, is Sabinus' brother and plays a supporting role.
