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Mid-Atlantic Popular &
American Culture Association

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Pop Stars From the 60s: Nero, the Emperor of Rome (AD 54-68) & Nero & the Gladiators, the British Beat Group (1961-63)

Area: 
Presenter: 
C D Fleiner (University of Winchester)
Presentation type: 
Paper
Abstract: 

Roman emperor Nero is still remembered for his keenness in music and performance – lesser known are his namesakes, an early 1960s instrumental combo, Nero & the Gladiators. This British group fluctuated in its membership between 1961 and 1963, but maintained its distinctive look, a result of singer Colin Hicks and O’Neill’s sojourn to Italy where they were inspired by the music coming from the Cinecitta studios in Rome. Dressed in costumes liberated from the 1951 film Quo Vadis, they returned to Britain and toured as the emperor and his ‘gladiators.’ This paper will first discuss their brief, but memorable recording career, boosted by a hit novelty record (a rock-beat interpretation of ‘Entry of the Gladiators’), several instrumentals, and, the main basis for the case study here, a rare vocal-based track, ‘That’s a Long Time Ago’ – the latter reflecting on such Roman luminaries as Julius Caesar and Cleopatra.

The paper situates a discussion of the group within the context of Classical reception in the mid 20th century, particularly in Britain. The group pre-date the Egyptian/Roman revival that dominated early 1960s cinema and television in Britain from 1963 onwards (including Cleopatra, Carry On Cleo, and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum and a popular costumer from the BBC, The Spread of the Eagle) that would have an impact on both Classical history and popular imagery in the mid-1960s onwards. So we will consider what context the gimmick may have had in the context of Classics in contemporary British education and in the popular media of the time — ‘Sword and sandal’ films of the time (especially those coming out of Italy and Spain featuring Hercules), Ben-Hur (1959), and Spartacus (1960) as well as the popular children’s novel The Eagle of the Ninth (1954).

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About the presenter

C D Fleiner

Senior Lecturer in Classical (Roman) history at the University of Winchester. Areas of interest: Julio-Claudian women, Roman sport & leisure, popular reception of Rome; the Kinks & English culture. Twitter: @AugustaAtrox

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