We are shocked and heartbroken over the devastation caused by the California wildfires in and around Los Angeles County. Our thoughts are with the firefighters working so tirelessly and selflessly to extinguish the flames, and with all those who have lost loved ones, their homes, and irreplaceable possessions.
In this post, we’ll be using some hidden gems from our Legal Classics and World Constitutions Illustrated databases to explore some of the worst and most devastating fires to have burned throughout history—and see how people and places have recovered after total destruction. Trying to manage your screentime as part of your New Year resolutions? Hit the headphone icon to listen to the audio version of this post.
1. Great Fire of Rome
When: July 19–27, 64 AD
Where: Rome, Italy
Cause: Disputed
Death Toll: Unknown
The Great Fire of Rome started on a hot summer’s night among the line data shops and slums surrounding the Circus Maximus,[1] a massive chariot-racing stadium that could hold more than 150,000 spectators. Fueled by Rome’s overcrowding, the fire rapidly spread into heavily populated neighborhoods and into the city center. It burned uncontrolled for six days and, when it seemed at last that the flames were under control, reignited and raged for another three days.[2] When the flames were finally extinguished, three of Rome’s districts were completely leveled,[3] and only four of the city’s 14 districts emerged from the ashes largely unscathed.
The Great Fire occurred during Emperor Nero’s reign, but Nero wasn’t in Rome when the city went up in flames. He was spending the summer at his villa in Antium[4] on the coast. He returned to Rome when informed that the fire threatened to destroy his mansion in the city[5]—not to save it, but to watch it be consumed by the flames.
Legend records that when Nero arrived in Rome, he played his lyre[6] and sang “The Sack of Illium” as the city burned, swept up in “the sublime horror of the spectacle.”[7]