1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:03,239 Speaker 1: Hey, history enthusiasts, you get not one, but two events 2 00:00:03,240 --> 00:00:05,960 Speaker 1: in history today. Heads up that you also might hear 3 00:00:06,000 --> 00:00:10,039 Speaker 1: two different hosts, me and Tracy V. Wilson. With that said, 4 00:00:10,160 --> 00:00:17,200 Speaker 1: on with the show, Welcome to this day in History class. 5 00:00:17,200 --> 00:00:21,079 Speaker 1: It's July today, in the year sixty four, a fire 6 00:00:21,200 --> 00:00:23,720 Speaker 1: broke out in Rome that would destroy a lot of 7 00:00:23,720 --> 00:00:26,840 Speaker 1: the city. It would also make the Emperor Nero infamous. 8 00:00:26,920 --> 00:00:30,600 Speaker 1: It's probably the thing people associate most with Nero today. 9 00:00:30,960 --> 00:00:34,720 Speaker 1: So Nero was the great grandson of Caesar Augustus. He 10 00:00:34,800 --> 00:00:36,760 Speaker 1: became emperor at the age of sixteen, and he was 11 00:00:37,159 --> 00:00:40,560 Speaker 1: very ambitious because also ran in the family. His mother 12 00:00:40,680 --> 00:00:43,440 Speaker 1: was also very ambitious, but he got her out of 13 00:00:43,479 --> 00:00:46,480 Speaker 1: the way, first by moving her to a different residence 14 00:00:46,800 --> 00:00:50,440 Speaker 1: and then allegedly by killing her. He also wanted to 15 00:00:50,440 --> 00:00:52,959 Speaker 1: build a giant palace complex of his own and call 16 00:00:53,040 --> 00:00:56,960 Speaker 1: it Neropolis. This fire, though it probably started near the 17 00:00:57,040 --> 00:01:00,840 Speaker 1: chariot stadium known as the Circus Maximus call see Him 18 00:01:00,880 --> 00:01:03,400 Speaker 1: that people think of today, was not yet built. The 19 00:01:03,560 --> 00:01:07,280 Speaker 1: wind spread the fire to wooden housing. Sometimes this housing 20 00:01:07,360 --> 00:01:11,240 Speaker 1: is described as slums, sometimes it's described as apartments. It 21 00:01:11,280 --> 00:01:15,600 Speaker 1: was basically densely packed wooden housing that allowed the fire 22 00:01:15,640 --> 00:01:19,800 Speaker 1: to spread very very quickly. Rome had fourteen districts at 23 00:01:19,800 --> 00:01:23,200 Speaker 1: the time. Three of them were totally destroyed in this fire. 24 00:01:23,400 --> 00:01:27,960 Speaker 1: Almost all of them also sustained some damage. Tacitus wrote 25 00:01:27,959 --> 00:01:30,280 Speaker 1: about this in his history, calling it a disaster that 26 00:01:30,360 --> 00:01:33,600 Speaker 1: was quote graver and more terrible than any other which 27 00:01:33,640 --> 00:01:37,040 Speaker 1: had befallen this city. He also said that people were 28 00:01:37,080 --> 00:01:40,960 Speaker 1: prevented from fighting the fire. There were definitely firefighters in 29 00:01:41,200 --> 00:01:44,119 Speaker 1: Rome at this point, but it's not clear why they 30 00:01:44,120 --> 00:01:47,880 Speaker 1: either couldn't or didn't fight the fire successfully. He did 31 00:01:47,920 --> 00:01:50,920 Speaker 1: not write this history when it happened, though he would 32 00:01:50,960 --> 00:01:53,440 Speaker 1: have been a child or maybe young teenager when the 33 00:01:53,520 --> 00:01:56,400 Speaker 1: fire actually occurred, and he wrote about it later. On 34 00:01:56,480 --> 00:01:59,680 Speaker 1: July twenty, people managed to create a fire break which 35 00:01:59,720 --> 00:02:02,480 Speaker 1: finely stopped the spread of the fire, but it started 36 00:02:02,520 --> 00:02:05,920 Speaker 1: up again a few days later. Overall, it was catastrophic 37 00:02:06,240 --> 00:02:10,840 Speaker 1: for Rome. Nero blamed it on Christians, and then he 38 00:02:10,960 --> 00:02:14,840 Speaker 1: used the fire as an excuse to persecute them, including 39 00:02:14,919 --> 00:02:19,080 Speaker 1: torturing and executing the Christian population of Rome. He also 40 00:02:19,200 --> 00:02:21,240 Speaker 1: used some of the land that had been cleared by 41 00:02:21,240 --> 00:02:23,440 Speaker 1: the fire to start building some of those fancy new 42 00:02:23,440 --> 00:02:26,919 Speaker 1: palaces that he had been so enthusiastic about. He also 43 00:02:27,120 --> 00:02:31,240 Speaker 1: implemented new building codes. He built other structures as well. 44 00:02:31,720 --> 00:02:35,720 Speaker 1: All of this uh contributed to the suspicion that he 45 00:02:35,800 --> 00:02:38,120 Speaker 1: had had something to do with the fire, or at 46 00:02:38,200 --> 00:02:40,919 Speaker 1: least hadn't tried very hard to stop it. And as 47 00:02:41,000 --> 00:02:44,639 Speaker 1: for probably the most frequently asked question, No, Nero did 48 00:02:44,680 --> 00:02:48,919 Speaker 1: not actually fiddle while Rome was burning. The fiddle wasn't 49 00:02:49,320 --> 00:02:52,919 Speaker 1: invented until much later on. He did like music and 50 00:02:53,040 --> 00:02:55,720 Speaker 1: play instruments, the instruments that he played were more like 51 00:02:55,760 --> 00:02:59,600 Speaker 1: a liar, and Tacitus did claim that as Rome was burning, 52 00:02:59,760 --> 00:03:02,960 Speaker 1: near performed a song about the burning of Troy on 53 00:03:03,080 --> 00:03:05,840 Speaker 1: his private stage. Even if you're thinking about the more 54 00:03:06,200 --> 00:03:10,120 Speaker 1: figurative term fiddle rather than actually playing the fiddle as 55 00:03:10,120 --> 00:03:15,280 Speaker 1: an instrument, it's not exactly that he just sat around 56 00:03:15,480 --> 00:03:19,720 Speaker 1: frivolously doing nothing while the fire was happening. Tacita sort 57 00:03:19,720 --> 00:03:22,360 Speaker 1: of implies that he did not come back until his 58 00:03:22,480 --> 00:03:26,040 Speaker 1: some of his personal property was at risk of the fire, 59 00:03:26,360 --> 00:03:29,320 Speaker 1: but once he was back, he set up shelters, he 60 00:03:29,360 --> 00:03:33,560 Speaker 1: distributed food, and those shelters and food distribution points included 61 00:03:33,639 --> 00:03:37,480 Speaker 1: on his own grounds Nero's power, as z Emberg did 62 00:03:37,480 --> 00:03:40,680 Speaker 1: eventually Wayne he died on June nine of the year 63 00:03:40,760 --> 00:03:43,960 Speaker 1: sixty eight, when he was facing arrest and a likely execution, 64 00:03:44,200 --> 00:03:47,240 Speaker 1: and he instead took his own life. Thanks to Christopher 65 00:03:47,240 --> 00:03:51,400 Speaker 1: Hasiotis for his research work on today's episode and Tatari Harrison, 66 00:03:51,480 --> 00:03:55,000 Speaker 1: who editson produces all these episodes. You can subscribe to 67 00:03:55,040 --> 00:03:58,520 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, 68 00:03:58,560 --> 00:04:00,960 Speaker 1: and wherever else you get your podcas asks. You can 69 00:04:01,000 --> 00:04:03,920 Speaker 1: also tune in tomorrow for the story of a convention 70 00:04:04,040 --> 00:04:14,840 Speaker 1: that was the first of its kind. Hi again, welcome 71 00:04:14,960 --> 00:04:18,400 Speaker 1: to This Day in History Class, where history waits for 72 00:04:18,520 --> 00:04:32,960 Speaker 1: no one. The day was July nineteen sixty nine. The 73 00:04:33,080 --> 00:04:36,080 Speaker 1: Organization of American States called for a ceasefire in the 74 00:04:36,120 --> 00:04:41,520 Speaker 1: so called soccer War between El Salvador and Honduras. In 75 00:04:41,600 --> 00:04:44,760 Speaker 1: nineteen sixty nine, about three point five million people lived 76 00:04:44,800 --> 00:04:47,400 Speaker 1: in El Salvador, and a lot of the country was 77 00:04:47,480 --> 00:04:51,760 Speaker 1: owned by the landowning elite. At the same time, about 78 00:04:51,760 --> 00:04:54,880 Speaker 1: two point six million people lived in Honduras, a country 79 00:04:54,920 --> 00:04:57,919 Speaker 1: that shared a border with El Salvador but was much larger. 80 00:04:59,080 --> 00:05:02,720 Speaker 1: Honduras was also controlled by wealthy landowners but the prospect 81 00:05:02,720 --> 00:05:05,880 Speaker 1: of cheap land and of escaping and oppressive government drew 82 00:05:05,920 --> 00:05:10,480 Speaker 1: Salvadorans to the neighboring country. By that year, more than 83 00:05:10,480 --> 00:05:15,080 Speaker 1: three hundred thousand Salvadorans were living in Honduras. Landowners in 84 00:05:15,120 --> 00:05:19,080 Speaker 1: El Salvador supported the mass immigration, which freed up land 85 00:05:19,080 --> 00:05:22,920 Speaker 1: in their country, but Honduran peasants were not so happy 86 00:05:22,960 --> 00:05:26,120 Speaker 1: with the influx of immigrants, as they were already vuying 87 00:05:26,160 --> 00:05:30,280 Speaker 1: to get more land in their country. Landowners in Honduras 88 00:05:30,279 --> 00:05:33,200 Speaker 1: had formed a group called the National Federation of Farmers 89 00:05:33,480 --> 00:05:36,760 Speaker 1: and Live Stock Farmers of Honduras, and as they promoted 90 00:05:36,800 --> 00:05:42,680 Speaker 1: their own interests, they also encouraged Honduran nationalism. Already resentful 91 00:05:42,760 --> 00:05:48,359 Speaker 1: of Salvadoran migrants, Hondurans began beating, torturing, and even killing Salvadorans. 92 00:05:49,440 --> 00:05:52,839 Speaker 1: The Honduran government passed an agrarian land reformed law to 93 00:05:52,960 --> 00:05:57,080 Speaker 1: lessen the resentment that many Hondurans had for Salvadorans. It 94 00:05:57,200 --> 00:06:00,800 Speaker 1: called for Salvadoran immigrants to give up their land redistributed 95 00:06:00,839 --> 00:06:05,840 Speaker 1: among native born Hondurans, but that legislation wasn't really effective, 96 00:06:06,240 --> 00:06:10,000 Speaker 1: and the reform ended with Honduran President Oswaldo Lopez Arellano, 97 00:06:10,320 --> 00:06:15,440 Speaker 1: deporting thousands of Salvadorans. As the migrants returned to El Salvador, 98 00:06:15,600 --> 00:06:18,119 Speaker 1: the government struggled to deal with the influx of people, 99 00:06:18,480 --> 00:06:23,279 Speaker 1: and Salvadoran landowners called for military action. El Salvador began 100 00:06:23,360 --> 00:06:25,920 Speaker 1: claiming it owned the land that was taken from El 101 00:06:25,960 --> 00:06:30,400 Speaker 1: Salvador and immigrants in Honduras. On top of all that conflict, 102 00:06:30,720 --> 00:06:33,520 Speaker 1: other land and border disputes were underway in the region, 103 00:06:34,040 --> 00:06:37,080 Speaker 1: and El Salvador and Honduras were slated to compete in 104 00:06:37,080 --> 00:06:41,440 Speaker 1: the qualifying matches for the FIFA World Cup. The first 105 00:06:41,480 --> 00:06:44,880 Speaker 1: game was played in the Honduran capital of Tegucigalpa, where 106 00:06:44,920 --> 00:06:50,200 Speaker 1: Honduras one one to zero in a game Instant Salvador 107 00:06:50,200 --> 00:06:55,599 Speaker 1: on June. El Salvador one three to zero. Honduras was 108 00:06:55,760 --> 00:07:00,080 Speaker 1: mocked and Hunduran fans were ridiculed at the game. The 109 00:07:00,120 --> 00:07:03,320 Speaker 1: designing match was set to take place on June, but 110 00:07:03,440 --> 00:07:06,040 Speaker 1: that same day Al Salvador announced that it was severing 111 00:07:06,080 --> 00:07:10,920 Speaker 1: diplomatic relations with Honduras. The deportation and immigration issues had 112 00:07:10,920 --> 00:07:14,560 Speaker 1: gotten so bad that El Salvador accused Honduras of committing 113 00:07:14,600 --> 00:07:18,920 Speaker 1: crimes that constitute genocide and not holding anyone responsible for it. 114 00:07:19,960 --> 00:07:23,480 Speaker 1: Tensions were already running high, but after El Salvador won 115 00:07:23,520 --> 00:07:26,880 Speaker 1: the Designing match three to two in Mexico, conflict at 116 00:07:26,920 --> 00:07:32,480 Speaker 1: the border intensified. On July fourteenth, El Salvador invaded Honduras 117 00:07:32,560 --> 00:07:36,480 Speaker 1: and began bombing it. The Honduran army was small and 118 00:07:36,600 --> 00:07:39,800 Speaker 1: El Salvador was stronger on the ground. In the air, 119 00:07:39,880 --> 00:07:44,480 Speaker 1: the Hundurans had the advantage in El Salvador. Honduran aircraft 120 00:07:44,560 --> 00:07:49,200 Speaker 1: targeted oil facilities. The Organization of American States called for 121 00:07:49,240 --> 00:07:53,880 Speaker 1: El Salvador to withdraw from Honduras. El Salvador refused to 122 00:07:53,920 --> 00:07:58,160 Speaker 1: withdraw unless Hunduras agreed to give reparations to displace Salvadorans 123 00:07:58,200 --> 00:08:02,280 Speaker 1: and not to harm Salvadorans and hunt Duras. A ceasefire 124 00:08:02,440 --> 00:08:05,560 Speaker 1: was arranged on July eighteenth, and it took effect on 125 00:08:05,600 --> 00:08:09,280 Speaker 1: the twentieth, but by that time somewhere around three thousand 126 00:08:09,320 --> 00:08:12,040 Speaker 1: people had died in the fighting and more were displaced. 127 00:08:13,160 --> 00:08:17,120 Speaker 1: El Salvador didn't leave Honduras until August two, when the 128 00:08:17,160 --> 00:08:23,080 Speaker 1: Honduran government promised not to mistreat Salvadoran's living in Honduras. Still, 129 00:08:23,160 --> 00:08:26,560 Speaker 1: the border remained in dispute. Trade between the two countries 130 00:08:26,640 --> 00:08:30,720 Speaker 1: was disrupted, affecting their economies and the Central American Common Market. 131 00:08:31,880 --> 00:08:35,240 Speaker 1: A peace treaty between El Salvador and Honduras was not 132 00:08:35,480 --> 00:08:40,000 Speaker 1: signed until nineteen eighty, though the conflict did not actually 133 00:08:40,040 --> 00:08:43,120 Speaker 1: start because of the soccer game, the name the Football 134 00:08:43,120 --> 00:08:47,800 Speaker 1: War or the Soccer War stuck. I'm Eve step Coote 135 00:08:47,880 --> 00:08:50,760 Speaker 1: and hopefully you know a little more about history today 136 00:08:50,880 --> 00:08:55,280 Speaker 1: than you did yesterday. And if you're so inclined, you 137 00:08:55,320 --> 00:08:59,679 Speaker 1: can follow us at T D I h C Podcasts 138 00:09:00,120 --> 00:09:04,400 Speaker 1: on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. We'll be back with more 139 00:09:04,480 --> 00:09:10,199 Speaker 1: history tomorrow. For more podcasts from I Heart Radio, visit 140 00:09:10,240 --> 00:09:12,920 Speaker 1: the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen 141 00:09:12,920 --> 00:09:13,800 Speaker 1: to your favorite shows.