Film idea

Biopic of the Emperor Nero.

Nero has become one of history's most famous Roman emperors because he was extraordinarily cruel. But actually, Nero didn't start out too nasty at all. Here is the introductory paragraph to Nero's wikipedia entry:

"Nero ruled from 54 to 68, focusing much of his attention on diplomacy, trade, and increasing the cultural capital of the empire. He ordered the building of theatres and promoted athletic games. His reign included a successful war and negotiated peace with the Parthian Empire (58–63), the suppression of the British revolt (60–61) and improving relations with Greece. The First Roman-Jewish War (66-70) started during his reign. In 68 a military coup drove Nero from the throne. Facing execution, he committed suicide."

Doesn't sound too bad, does it? From the information there, you might well fashion the idea of a noble and peaceful ruler cruelly undone by his scheming generals. Attention to diplomacy, trade and cultural capital? What about attention to death, excess and perversion? Strangely, the not-so-nice side to the emperor's reign is only mentioned cautiously, alongside statements about the dubious reliability of the sources that tell us about such things. From what my old Latin teacher taught me, which seems the most likely (and film-friendly) scenario, Nero started out as an idealist who sought to boost Rome's appreciation for true culture. Unfortunately, it wasn't too long before absolute power began to corrupt absolutely, and emperorship clearly started to stroke the old ego. Nero began to believe that appreciation of true culture really meant appreciation of Nero's culture, and he forced his minions to applaud his own taste and even his own creations (apparently he fancied himself a great composer). And this was when the whole mum-killing thing probably started. Anyways, I reckon that if you didn't Hollywoodise it too much, it would be an awesome story for a film.