Nero has long been the very image of a bad ruler, a legacy left behind by the historians of his day, who despised him. But there is a mystery. For a long time after his death, anonymous hands laid flowers on his grave. The monster was loved. In this nuanced biography, Anthony Everitt and investigative journalist Roddy Ashworth reveal the contradictions inherent in Nero and offer a reappraisal of his life. Nero has become a byword for cruelty, decadence, and despotism, but in Anthony Everitt's hands, Nero's life is a cautionary tale about the mettle it takes to rule.