Bad reputation: British Museum takes new look at Rome's Nero

A museum employee poses for photographers next to Roman era gladiatorial helmets and a shield, during a media preview for the "Nero: the man behind the myth" exhibition, at the British Museum in London, Monday, May 24, 2021. The exhibition, which open to visitors on May 27 and runs until October 24, explores the true story of Rome's fifth emperor informed by new research and archaeological evidence from the time. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)

A museum employee poses for photographers with statues of members of the Julio-Claudian family which was from the first Roman emperor Augustus descending to Nero the last in the line, during a media preview for the "Nero: the man behind the myth" exhibition, at the British Museum in London, Monday, May 24, 2021. The exhibition, which open to visitors on May 27 and runs until October 24, explores the true story of Rome's fifth emperor informed by new research and archaeological evidence from the time. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)

A bronze head of Roman emperor Nero dating from around AD 54-61 and found in the River Alde at Rendham in Suffolk, eastern England, is displayed during a media preview for the "Nero: the man behind the myth" exhibition, at the British Museum in London, Monday, May 24, 2021. The exhibition, which opens to visitors on May 27 and runs until October 24, explores the true story of Rome's fifth emperor informed by new research and archaeological evidence from the time. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)

Museum employees pose for photographers next to gang chains dated to 100 BC to AD 78 which held enslaved people or prisoners and were found in a lake on the island of Mona (today called Anglesey) in north west Wales, during a media preview for the "Nero: the man behind the myth" exhibition, at the British Museum in London, Monday, May 24, 2021. The exhibition, which open to visitors on May 27 and runs until October 24, explores the true story of Rome's fifth emperor informed by new research and archaeological evidence from the time. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)

Museum employees pose for photographers in a display area to tell the story of Roman emperor Nero's grand palace, called the Domus Aurea (Golden House), which was finished by Nero's death in AD 68, during a media preview for the "Nero: the man behind the myth" exhibition, at the British Museum in London, Monday, May 24, 2021. The exhibition, which open to visitors on May 27 and runs until October 24, explores the true story of Rome's fifth emperor informed by new research and archaeological evidence from the time. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)

A museum employee poses for photographers next to a marble bust of Roman emperor Nero dating from about AD 54-59 from Olbia, on the island of Sardinia in Italy, during a media preview for the "Nero: the man behind the myth" exhibition, at the British Museum in London, Monday, May 24, 2021. The exhibition, which opens to visitors on May 27 and runs until October 24, explores the true story of Rome's fifth emperor informed by new research and archaeological evidence from the time. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)

Tableware items are displayed in an area to tell the story of Roman emperor Nero's grand palace, called the Domus Aurea (Golden House), which was unfinished by Nero's death in AD 68, during a media preview for the "Nero: the man behind the myth" exhibition, at the British Museum in London, Monday, May 24, 2021. The exhibition, which open to visitors on May 27 and runs until October 24, explores the true story of Rome's fifth emperor informed by new research and archaeological evidence from the time. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)

A museum employee poses for photographers next to Roman era gladiatorial helmets, armour and a shield, during a media preview for the "Nero: the man behind the myth" exhibition, at the British Museum in London, Monday, May 24, 2021. The exhibition, which open to visitors on May 27 and runs until October 24, explores the true story of Rome's fifth emperor informed by new research and archaeological evidence from the time. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)

A museum employee poses for photographers next to a bronze head of Roman emperor Nero dating from around AD 54-61 and found in the River Alde at Rendham in Suffolk, eastern England, during a media preview for the "Nero: the man behind the myth" exhibition, at the British Museum in London, Monday, May 24, 2021. The exhibition, which opens to visitors on May 27 and runs until October 24, explores the true story of Rome's fifth emperor informed by new research and archaeological evidence from the time. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)