German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 699/2. Photo: Filmhaus Bruckmann / Unione Cinematografica Italiana. Emil Jannings as Nero and Lillian Hall-Davis as Licia in the Italo-German epic Quo vadis? (Gabriellino D'Annunzio, Georg Jacoby, 1924), one of the many adaptations of the classic novel by Henryk Sienkiewicz. Here, we see Nero grabbing Licia after pretending to save her from the clutches of Vinicius.
British postcard. J.F. Grimm & Co., London F.C. Photo: Cines. Postcard for the Italian epic film Quo vadis? (Enrico Guazzoni, 1913). Caption: Watching the massacre of the Christians. Nero (Carlo Cattaneo) is instead watching Petronius (Gustavo Serena) and asking him what he thinks of the spectacle. "It is worthy of you", the latter responds.
Spanish minicard by Reclam Films, Mallorca, no. 1 of 6. Photo: Gloria Film. Vittorio Rossi Pianelli as Nerone and Maria Caserini as Agrippina in Nerone e Agrippina (Mario Caserini, 1914). Caption: Nero's banquet.
British postcard in the series Film Shots by Film Weekly. Photo: Paramount. Charles Laughton and Claudette Colbert in The Sign of the Cross (Cecil B. De Mille, 1932).
Cover page of a film programme by Illustrierte Film-Kurier, no. 1860. Gino Cervi as Nero in Nerone e Messalina / Nero and the Burning of Rome (Primo Zeglio, 1953).
Less evil than we know him
Nero (37-68 CE) was the fifth Roman emperor (54–68 CE). Born in Latium, he was the son of Julia Agrippina and stepson and heir of the emperor Claudius. Nero was known for his debaucheries and his limitless enthusiasm for theatre, considering himself one of the best actors and poets of his time. In modern times, several novels, plays, and films have him in the lead. In cinema adaptations of novels and plays like 'Britannicus', 'Quo vadis?' and 'The Sign of the Cross', Nero is often presented as the evil antagonist. However, historians now contest his involvement in the Great Fire of Rome and the persecution of the Christians.
Sources such as the Encyclopaedia Britannica indicate that, especially during the early years of his reign, Nero was less evil than we know him. He executed much fewer adversaries than his predecessor, Claudius, gave more independence to the Senate, was lenient to his critics, gave slaves the opportunity to bring complaints on unjust masters, and inaugurated competitions in poetry and gymnastics instead of gladiatorial combats. He also helped cities after a disaster and helped the Jews at the request of Jewish historian Flavius Josephus.
Nero was only 16 when he became emperor, and his mother initially controlled the government, but Burrus and Seneca, Nero’s tutor, spurred the young man to take things into his own hands. Gradually, Nero became more brutal and had his stepbrother Britannicus, his mother Agrippina, and his wife Octavia murdered, so he had no competitors anymore and could marry Poppaea Sabina.
It is doubtful he was responsible for the Great Fire of Rome in 64, but he saw it as an opportunity to rebuild the city in the Greek style and build a vast palace of which the Domus Aurea remains, which, if completed, would have covered a third of Rome. Suetonius and Tacitus suggest that Nero started the fire to satisfy his architectural plans and then accused the Christians, who were already suspected of witchcraft, of setting Rome on fire when the populace protested.
While according to the Christian tradition, the apostles Peter and Paul fell victim to the Neronian persecutions, the biggest persecutions of the Christians would follow among later emperors such as Decius and Diocletian. Discontent against Nero grew, but he survived the so-called Piso conspiracy in 65. Still, of the 41 conspirators, only 18 died, including Seneca. Eventually, the legions chose Galba as their new emperor. Nero fled Rome and probably committed suicide in 68. With his death, the so-called Julio-Claudian dynasty ended.
Russian postcard. Russian opera singer Lev Klementjev in the opera 'Nerone' by Anton Rubinstein. This was one of his best-known roles, of which his aria 'Invan, invan' was also put on records in 1902/1903 by G & T and in 1909 by Gramophone. Though some sources state that he was the first Russian to perform Rubinstein's 'Nero' (1875-1876), which despite its French roots had its world premiere in 1879 in Hamburg, Germany, English Wikipedia states that the first Russian performance was in 1884, four years before Klemenjev debuted, and was sung in Italian. The dance scenes were choreographed by Marius Petipa. The first French version was staged in 1894 at Rouen. Several singers, such as Enrico Caruso, sang arias from 'Nero'.
British postcard by J. Beagles & Co., no. 354 R. Photo: F.W. Burford. Herbert Beerbohm Tree as Nero in the stage production 'Nero' (1906). Stephen Phillips’ play 'Nero' opened at His Majesty’s Theatre, London, in 1906. In addition to Tree, Constance Collier played Poppaea, while Tree's wife Helen Maud Holt played Agrippina, mother of Nero.
British postcard by Rotary Photo, no. 4039 D. Photo: Foulsham & Banfield. Constance Collier as Poppaea in the stage play 'Nero' (1906).
French postcard. Photo: E. Michel, Lillebonne. Scene from the stage play 'Britannicus' by Jean Racine, performed on 19 July 1908 by the actors of the Comédie française at the Théâtre Romain of Lillebonne, France. Jacques Fenoux played Nero, Madeleine Roch replaced Jeanne Delvair as Agrippina, Thési Borgos played Junie, René Alexandre Narcisse, Albert Lambert père Burrhus, and Albert Reyval Britannicus. The director of the play was Gabriel Le Vallier. The reputed journal, Comoedia called the performance superb and worthy of Racine. Madeleine Roch (Agrippina) can be seen on the left of this card. The young man at the throne may be Fenoux as Nero. The man on the right could be Lambert père as Burrhus.
Austrian postcard. Photo: Ludwig Gutmann, Vienna, Sept. 1910. no. 10. Mr. Recht as Nero and Helene Oberländer as Poppaea in the opera 'Quo Vadis?' at the Wiener Volksoper.
Nero in theatre, literature and painting (and film)
In Christian iconography, Nero is often presented as the Antichrist, the mad, debauched and paranoid emperor, who either because of whims and fears, or manipulated by the evil advices of his surrounding entourage, such as his general Tigellinus and empress Poppaea, takes terrible decisions, such as burning down Rome and massacring the Christians. In later centuries, this was even situated in an anachronistic setting, such as the Colosseum as the martyr’s execution place, while that was built much after, by the Flavian emperors Vespasian and Titus. A rich iconography of Nero as the Antichrist and sadistic, debauched emperor developed through the ages, in painting and on stage. In particular, Jean Racine’s classic tragedy, 'Britannicus' (1669), needs to be mentioned here. Despite the title, the story mostly deals with Nero and his mother, Agrippina. In this version, it is a bit less about power play than desire, as Nero wants to possess Britannicus’s fiancée Junia, although it is also about Nero getting rid of the clutches of his possessive and power-driven mother. Eventually, Britannicus is poisoned by Nero during a dinner proposed as a reconciliation between the two stepbrothers. The play became a classic of the repertory of the Comédie Française, only second to Racine’s 'Andromaque'. Important performers of Nero in 'Britannicus' were the actor François-Joseph Talma (1799), whom Eugène Delacroix painted as Nero in 1852 or 1853. Mounet-Sully first played Nero in 'Britannicus' in 1872, and afterward in 1885, 1896 and 1908. Jacques Fenoux played Nero in 1908 at the open air Théâtre Romain in Lillebonne. In 1912, Pathé Frères would produce a silent film version, directed by Camille de Morlhon, with Jean Hervé as Nero, Romuald Joubé as Britannicus and Gabriel Signoret as the evil plotter Narcisse. Already in 1908, André Calmettes may have filmed a recorded dialogue with the actress Réjane in 'Britannicus'. In the sound era, it was in particular for television that the play was staged, both in France and elsewhere.
In 1895, British playwright, director and actor Wilson Barrett launched his play 'The Sign of the Cross', first performed in St. Louis, Missouri, a few months after in Leeds, U.K, and in 1896 in London. The plot deals with Marcus Superbus, a Roman patrician under Nero, who falls in love with a young woman (Mercia) and converts to Christianity for her. Poppea, Nero's wife, is in unrequited lust for Marcus. In the end, Mercia and Marcus sacrifice their lives in the arena to the lions. 'The Sign of the Cross' is a four-act historical tragedy which remained popular for several decades. Wilson Barrett said its Christian theme was his attempt to bridge the gap between Church and stage. The plot somewhat resembles that of Henryk Sienkiewicz's historical novel 'Quo vadis?'. After two silent film adaptations, Barrett's play would be the basis for Cecil B. DeMille's epic Quo Vadis (1932), although Barrett's daughter opposed the film. It was the first DeMille sound film with a religious theme. Part of the plot of 'The Sign of the Cross' is similar to 'Quo vadis?' which was also turned into stage plays before it was adapted for various film versions. Both plays feature a main character named Marcus, a proud and wealthy Roman, falling in love with a Christian girl. Both tales are set against the same historic context of Neronian times, but the ending of Barrett's play completely contrasts with 'Quo vadis?' Henryk Sienkiewicz lets Marcus (Vinicius, not Superbus) and Lygia (not Mercia) survive and presumably live happily ever after, while Nero is the one who dies
The Sign of the Cross was originally produced by Wilson Barrett at the Grand Opera House, St. Louis, Missouri, in 1895, with Maud Jeffries as Mercia. It was first presented on Broadway at the Knickerbocker Theatre in late 1895. Barrett successfully presented it in England, starting at the Grand Theatre, Leeds, in 1895. He brought it to the Lyric Theatre, London, in 1896. In 1904, a British film adaptation of the play was made by William Haggar. Haggar's sons Will and James played Marcus and Nero, and his daughter Jenny played Mercia. The first feature-length adaptation was made by Frederick Thomson for Famous Players and released by Paramount in 1914. Acclaimed actor William Farnum played Marcus, while Rosina Henley played Mercia and Lila Barclay Poppaea. A tinted version of this film was found in the Desmet Collection of the Dutch Eye Film Museum. Still, in its opulent mise-en-scene - despite the Depression and smaller budgets - Cecil B. DeMille's sound version of 1932 beats them all. Not only for the performances of Fredric March as Marcus, Elissa Landi as Mercia and Claudette Colbert as Poppaea, but also the mise-en-scene, the mobile framing and the ingenious use of sound stand out. The film was also notorious for its sex and sadism, which was later cut out but reinserted in the restored version. In addition to the stage play 'The Sign of the Cross', the British stage also majorly contributed by the lesser known play 'Nero' by Stephen Phillips, with Herbert Beerbohm Tree as Nero and Constance Collier as Poppaea. Stephen Phillips’s 'Nero' opened at His Majesty’s Theatre, London, in 1906.
In the late 19th century, Nero came to the foreground, not only on stage but also in literature and painting. First of all, this can be seen in Henryk Siemiradzki’s painting 'Nero’s Torches' (1876). It inspired Siemiradzki’s compatriot Henryk Sienkiewicz to involve this scene in his novel 'Quo vadis?', which was first launched as feuilleton in Poland in 1895-1896 and then came out as novel in 1896, so one year after 'The Sign of the Cross' hit the American and British stages. The novel was instantly a huge success. It was translated into 50 languages and was endlessly reprinted. Sienkiewicz even won the Nobel Prize for literature. One year after the novel appeared, Siemiradzki painted 'A Christian Dirce' (1897), which clearly refers to Sienkiewicz’s tale of the Christian girl who is tied to a raging bull, although in Siemiradzki’s version, both bull and woman die.
Sienkiewicz’s novel 'Quo vadis?' soon inspired various stage plays. The first was an Italian version in 1900 by Silvio D’Arborio. In 1901, a French version followed, adapted by Émile Moreau. The Italian play was performed by the Achille Mauri company (Compagnia drammatica della Città di Roma) at the Teatro Manzoni in Rome. Giovanni Novelli played a grim Nero, while future film actor Dillo Lombardi played Petronius, Marisa Borisi-Micheluzzi played Eunice and Dario Ferraresi Chilo. In contrast to the French stage version of 1901, the Italian version was less close to Racine's Nero in his 'Britannicus' (1669), which by the 1900s had become a classic of the repertory of the Comédie Française. Chilo became a commedia dell'arte character, and Lygia was presented as less chaste and Joan of Arc-like than in the French version. Also, the Italian version strongly focussed on the Catholic message of the tale and the troubles of the Christian martyrs. Cora Laparcerie played Lygia and Gilda Darthy Poppaea in the French stage play staged at the Théâtre de la Porte Saint-Martin. Edmond Duquesne played Nero. The journal Le Théâtre issued a special issue on the play, which included colour illustrations of the main female actors. Loads of postcards with Miéris as Eunice were issued at the time.
French postcard in the series 'Quo vadis?' (1901) by Ed. I. Lapina, Paris, no. 1692. Illustration: 'Nero at Baiae' by Jan Styka. In 1901-1903, the Polish artist Jan Styka made a large series of watercolours which were also issued as postcards and which were the basis for the book illustrations (etchings) he did for the three-part deluxe edition by Flammarion of the French edition of the novel 'Quo vadis?' by Polish author Henryk Sienkiewicz. For years, the original watercolours by Styka were exhibited in his Quo vadis museum at the Villa Cartosella in Capri.
French postcard by J. Lapina & Cie, Paris, no. 25. 311. Illustration: Jan Styka.
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 5. Photo: Filmhaus Bruckmann / Unione Cinematografica Italiana. Bruto Castellani as Ursus and Lilian Hall-Davis as Licia in the Italo-German epic Quo vadis? (Gabriellino D'Annunzio, Georg Jacoby, 1924). Here, we see Ursus liberating Licia after he has conquered the raging bull. Castellani's face and hair are drawn afterwards. In the restored version of the film, the nudity is not visible.
German-Polish postcard by Verlag A. Raczynski, Krakow / Farbenlichtdruck Martin Rommel, Stuttgart, 1906, no. 6. Illustration: Piotr Stachiewicz. Caption: The banquet at Nero's. The first illustrations of Stachiewicz's work appeared in magazines from 1896 onward, while postcards were reissued many times between 1900 and 1930. He was the favourite illustrator of the novelist Henryk Sienkiewicz.
Italian postcard for the early epic Quo vadis? (Enrico Guazzoni, Cines 1913), adapted from Henryk Sienkiewicz's classic novel and the biggest film hit of 1913 worldwide. Caption: The death of the gladiator. This image cites Jean-Léon Gérôme's famous painting 'Pollice verso' (Thumbs down, 1872) and was often used in the publicity for the film. In the back, the emperor Nero (Carlo Cattaneo) makes the sign of thumbs down, the sign for the conqueror to kill his adversary. Flanking Nero are, at left Tigellinus (Cesare Moltroni) and right Petronius (Gustavo Serena). To the left of the imperial box, the Vestal Virgins are seated.
Nero in film
Probably the oldest film on Nero is the Lumière production Néron essayant des poisons sur des esclaves (1896) by Georges Hatot, a single shot film. It reminds of the painting 'Néron et Locuste essayant des poisons sur un esclave' (date unknown) by Alexis-Joseph Mazerolle, in which Nero and his poison monger Locusta test poison before it is given to Britannicus. This scene returns in the early Italian film Agrippina (Cines, 1911) by Enrico Guazzoni. Two years later, Guazzoni directed the epic Quo vadis? (1913), in which Nero also has an important part, even if not the lead. Louis Feuillade, now better known for his later crime serials such as Fantomas and Judex, produced in the early 1910s a series of historical short films. These included Le fils de Locuste (1911), in which not Nero but Locusta has the lead, masterfully recited in the verosimilar way by Renée Carl, opposite Georges Wague as Nero. Already in 1901, Ferdinand Zecca filmed for Pathé Frères the novel 'Quo vadis?', remarkably soon after the Moreau stage play version. Just like Hatot’s film, it was a single-take film, which starts with the banquet at Nero’s palace where Lygia is saved from the clutches of Vinicius by Ursus and ends with the Fire of Rome. In between, we see female dancers and two gladiators, who mimic Jean-Léon Gérôme’s famous painting, 'Police verso' (1872).
Around 1900, several postcard series were released on 'Quo vadis?'. Polish painter Jan Styka illustrated a French edition of the novel, which was edited by Flammarion. His watercolours were shown at the Paris Salon and would be exhibited for years at Styka’s villa on the island of Capri. Another postcard series was illustrated by Polish painter Piotr Stachiewicz. After Quo vadis (1901), several early films would return to Neronian Rome, in particular to its persecutions. Most famous was the Ambrosio production Nerone (Luigi Maggi, Arturo Ambrosio, 1909), with Alberto Capozzi as Nero. It was distributed over the world and was well received everywhere. The film reduces Nero’s tale by suggesting that he set fire to Rome when the populace rebelled against his killing of Octavia. At the end of his life, he has a vision - a giant projection screen within the film - of his past massacres. In this scene, Gérôme’s painting 'The Christian Martyrs’ Last Prayer' is cited. Most scenes are presented like a series of tableaux vivants with painted backdrops. Depth is suggested by using diagonals instead of frontal views. According to Maria Wyke in 'Projecting the Past' (1997), the film combined various elder sources such as Monteverdi’s opera 'L’incoronazione di Poppea' (1642) and Pietro Cossa’s tragedy 'Nerone' (1872). Cossa’s play would later also be the basis of Pietro Mascagni’s opera 'Nerone' (1935). Another opera is Arrigo Boito’s 'Nerone', first performed in 1924. There are also two older operas on Nero, 'Agrippina' (1709) by Georg Friedrich Händel, and 'Nero' (1875) by Anton Rubinstein.
After the early years of cinema, Nero was given a major part in Enrico Guazzoni’s major epic Quo vadis? (1913), even if the lead was for Amleto Novelli as Marcus Vinicius, who afterward would become Guazzoni’s favourite Antiquity film hero, while strongman Bruto Castellani played Ursus, who conquers the bull before the eyes of all in the arena. In 1914, renowned stage and film actor Vittorio Rossi-Pianelli played Nero in the major epic Nerone e Agrippina, with Maria Caserini as Nero’s ambitious mother. The film was directed by Caserini’s husband, Mario Caserini, produced by the Turinese company Gloria Film, and distributed in Europe by Pathé. Unfortunately, the only existing print of the film lacks all of the spectacular scenes in the arena, which our Spanish minicards and original programmes by Pathé do show. Unfortunately, the film Nero (J. Gordon Edwards, 1922) is considered lost. It was shot at the Fox studios in Rome, with Jacques Grétillat as Nero, Violet Mersereau as Marcia, Paulette Duval as Poppaea and Sandro Salvini as the young hero Horatius. In the end, the film had been too costly, so Fox ended its studio in Rome soon afterward.
In the 1924 version of Quo vadis?, Nero’s part was substantially enlarged and altered when the prominent German cinema actor Emil Jannings played the part of Nero. In contrast to the 1913 version, Jannings is no longer the rather dimly witted emperor but a cunning sadist and womanizer. Under the mask of politeness, he shows unlimited lust and aggression, which can only be tempered by Petronius’s flattery, cunning, and actions – until he falls from grace. Jannings’ name was even prominently displayed as a draw on the film’s posters. In the sound era, Mervyn LeRoy shot a new epic version for MGM, Quo Vadis (1951), at the newly refurbished Cinecittà studios in Rome. Peter Ustinov impressed as a cruel and paranoid Nero opposite Robert Taylor as Vinicius and Deborah Kerr as Lygia, called Lycia here.
Also in 1951, Mario Soldati directed an Italian comedy called O.K. Nerone, with Gino Cervi as Nero. Cervi reprised his part in a dramatic version in Nerone e Messalina (Primo Zeglio, 1953). Three years later, Alberto Sordi played Nero in the comedy Mio figlio Nerone (Steno, 1956). Preceding these 1950s parodies of Nero, the vaudeville actor Petrolini had already made fun of Nero in Nerone (1930), a lost film by Alessandro Blasetti. Some say that this box office hit in Italy at the time criticised Mussolini and his Third Rome. Comedies didn’t stop there. In 1970, a new Nerone was made with Pippo Franco as Nerone, directed by Castellacci & Pingito. In 1985, Klaus Maria Brandauer played the notorious emperor in Franco Rossi’s drama mini-series Quo vadis?. Finally, there is a Polish production, Quo vadis? (Jerzy Kawalerowicz, 2001) with Michał Bajor as Nero.
Italian postcard by G.G. Falci, Milano, no. 159. Photo: La Fotominio. Emil Jannings as Nero and Raimondo van Riel as Tigellinus in Quo vadis? (Gabriellino D'Annunzio, Georg Jacoby, 1924). Caption: They heard the menacing shouts of the revolting mob.
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 176/12. Photo: Paramount. Elissa Landi in the American epic The Sign of the Cross (Cecil B. DeMille, 1932), based on the original 1895 play by Wilson Barrett.
Dutch-German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 176/4. Photo: Paramount. Claudette Colbert in The Sign of the Cross (Cecil B. DeMille, 1932). On the back: Boekhandel Leonard Tijssen, Leeuwarden. Claudette Colbert as Empress Poppaea, bathing in donkey milk. Pliny the Elder describes how Poppaea indeed did so: "It is generally believed that ass milk effaces wrinkles in the face, renders the skin more delicate, and preserves its whiteness: and it is a well-known fact, that some women are in the habit of washing their face with it seven times daily, strictly observing that number. Poppaea, the wife of Emperor Nero, was the first to practice this; indeed, she had sitting baths, prepared solely with ass milk, for which purpose whole troops of she-asses used to attend her on her journeys." The dolphin fountain is copied from an 18th-century fountain by Vanvitelli at the Royal Palace in Caserta.
Vintage American still by MGM, no. 51/211. Peter Ustinov as Emperor Nero in Quo Vadis (Mervyn LeRoy, 1951), which was shot at the Cinecittà studios in Rome.
West German postcard by Kunst und Bild, Berlin-Charlottenburg, no. S 780. Photo: Union Film, Den Haag. Brigitte Bardot in Mio figlio Nerone / Nero's Mistress (Steno, 1956). The mural in the background is an imitation of the fresque in the Villa dei Misteri in Pompeii.
Sources: Ivo Blom (Quo vadis. Cabiria and the 'Archaeologists', 2003), and research project Museum of Dream Worlds.
