Ancient writers described how shadowy figures throw burning torches into undamaged buildings.

Are these Nero's men for?

Is this ancient propaganda designed to discredit the emperor?

There are still many unanswered questions.

Why do new fire spring up in different places across the city in an unnatural pattern?

The answer.

Finally exonerate Nero or prove his guilt.

Nero is certainly capable of unspeakable cruelty, but archaeologist Antonio for Rendez believes he also wants to improve his city.

Narrow was a big fun of beautiful buildings on the Minnie Mantles Crete, but before the fire room was very different.

In the years before the fire, Nero longs to rebuild and beautify Rome.

He even has a new name for his new city Neuron Polis.

I think that Nero was a dreamer, was very ambitious during the inferno.

Other fires ignite at random in different parts of the city.

Away from the main blaze is this unnatural spread.

Finally, proof that arson, not accident, is behind the destruction In Scotland, fire investigator Rory Hatton is going to examine if arson is the only explanation for this seemingly unnatural spread of fire.

Just that when we slide it under here to put the fire out, Rory believes flaming embers play a key role in the fires pattern of behavior.

I just want to examine the effect that wind has on ember dispersal.

So we have a fan here that's going to generate some wind for us.

Then in front, we've positioned some materials that will generate some firebrands.

And down here, the straw is a combustible base.

I'm gonna go ahead and light the fire would ignites and begins to chart.

It will produce a small number of fiery embers.

I'm gonna turn on the wind now on Dhe, see what happens with these embers.

The fan blows on the burning wood.

Small embers peel off and float through the air.

As soon as the embers hit this strong, it begins to smoke.

Small fires spring up wherever one lands.

Firebrands generated from the pieces of wood were randomly dispersed on the combustible material way Have a flaming fire.

This'll random dispersal of embers reveals how new fires can sporadically start seemingly out of nowhere.

What we saw here was the result of two small pieces of wood.

If you imagine scaling that up to a city wife, Mayer would be generating millions of embers being transported by the wind and landing all over the place.

Everyday ancient Roman.

This would very much have the appearance off random fires starting all across the city.

Rory's experiment reveals how wind plays a key role in the strange spread of the fire.

At the height of the inferno, a strong wind sweeps through the city.

It pushes the blaze up the Valentine Hill like wild fire.

But the fire also moved south against the wind.

Some believe that the infernal becomes so big it takes on a life of its own.

With our current understanding off large fires, we know that big fires will generate their own wind, so wind generated by the fire is potentially large enough to overcome the natural wind on their four distribute embers with city.

The fire's behavior is disturbing but perfectly natural to an investigator like Rory, but it can easily look like arson to an ancient Roman, the ones we can't definitively rule out arson.

What we've seen today is a much more plausible explanation for why the fire would have appeared to spread randomly on widely across the city.

Thes modern tests are powerful new evidence for Nero's innocents.

But if Nero is innocent, why do generations of Romans insist he is to blame for the fire?

A clue could lie in the eventual fate of the Domus Aurea.

Nero's palace is a mighty statement of wealth and excess.

Buildings shine with gold and mother of Pearl on his statue towers over the city.

But after four years of construction, Romans ransack the palace, stripping off with precious jewels and gold leaf.

They drain the lake and bury the palace on top.

They build an enormous structure policy, a symbol of a city to be shared by all Romans.

Archaeologist Alessandro D'Alessio believes the sheer scale of the palace is the reason for Nero's unpopularity.

The emperor turned some areas into private Parkland.

He creates a fantasy version of the Italian countryside in the middle of the city.

Fields, woods and vineyards sit where homes once stood.

Nero proudly boast to his friends that at last he can live like a man.

He expects the citizens to admire him with the building off the doubles.

Our needle want to leave it with people such, but instead that people send him a message.

After four years of construction, Nero is overthrown and Rome's hated emperor commit suicide.

His ultimate successor, Vespasian, knocks down the Domus Aurea and builds the Coliseum as a huge theater of gladiatorial spectacle and entertainment open to the people, not just for one emperor.

When Nero died, the dynasty after him started to give back to the people the public space.

Nero commits many unspeakable atrocities, but new investigations revealed he is likely innocent of his greatest crime.

Nero's obsession with the domicile Raya sees his reputation.

I don't think Nero started the fire of Rome, but what is significant is that the people of Rome actually thought he might be capable off it.