21st Century Nero

Wages are stagnant, inflation is rising, redundancies are on the horizon and cut backs are round the corner. This, perhaps is a time to be careful with money. Spend sensibly. Save when one can. It’s not a time for extravagance. Which is a shame, because I really fancied taking out a year’s membership of the British museum. You get free entry to all the exhibitions, a copy of their magazine three times a year and entry into the Members Lounge.

Is membership of the museum really necessary? No, of course not. But then I noticed that the current exhibition is all about the Roman emperor Nero, of fiddle and fire fame. The parallels between his own life and mine jumped out at me. Perhaps one should just keep calm and carry on while everything falls apart around us. I felt I needed to find out how it all worked out for Nero, so I ponied up and handed over the annual dues in exchange for admittance into the elite world of the British Museum member.

It transpires that the story of Nero playing his fiddle while Rome burned around him was just a load of first century fake news. He wasn’t even in Rome at the time. He was something of a populist with a dubious sense of morality and a penchant for throwing friends and family under the bus chariot when convenience required it. He does sound like a certain someone, don’t you think? Perhaps you remain keen to find out how things ended for one of Rome’s most famous emperors? Spoiler alert: it turned rather sour and he killed himself.

The Thomas Beckett exhibition is next. I’ve booked for July 19th, which is also the day when all coronavirus restrictions end in the UK. All being well I will have a fun, mask free day. I hope to visit the museum once every month or so over the next year. It’s a cavernous place. It needs time and patience to get through the best bits, section by section. Suggestions are welcome.

Click here for photos.