The Fall of Righteousness: The evil of the Romans as shown in Paul Maier’s The Flames of Rome
As Albert Einstein once said, “The world is a dangerous place to live; not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don't do anything about it” (www.brainyquotes.com). This statement has everything to do with the evil of the Romans in this fantastic book. Paul Maier’s The Flames of Rome tells the story of the deeds of the Romans and also the lives of the Christians. The Romans show their evil through selfishness and the murders of family members and Christians.
The Romans were portrayed as very egotistic beings. They were willing to do anything that would benefit them, whether it be killing or betraying others. Agrippina, the wife and niece of Claudius Caesar, poisoned Claudius so she would become more powerful. After Claudius’ death, his son Britannicus was to take over the Roman Empire. Agrippina was not in favor of Britannicus ruling, so she decided to poison him also, leaving her only son Nero to take over. This would lead to the downfall of the Roman Empire. To think, all of these murders of innocent people were all for power. These specific Romans only thought of themselves when it came to power. If one of the Romans would have stood up to Agrippina, millions of innocent lives could have been saved. None of the Romans confronted the most powerful leaders of Rome out of fear.
Citizens of Rome feared their leaders. Once Nero came into power everyone had to watch every move they made. If they made one step out of line they would have to face harsh consequences. Some were even murdered. Nero simply did not feel the need to protect his people of Rome therefore; he decided it was his job to murder anyone who got in his way.
When the Great Fire spread throughout Rome, many people believed Nero
