The legend references the closing of the Temple of Janus — a ritual performed only when Rome was at peace on all fronts, an event so rare that it had occurred just twice in the preceding seven centuries. Nero's closure, sometime around 66 AD, was partly propagandistic: the Parthian settlement under Corbulo had ended the Armenian war, but Judaea was already moving toward revolt. The temple would not stay symbolically shut for long.
The legend references the closing of the Temple of Janus — a ritual performed only when Rome was at peace on all fronts, an event so rare that it had occurred just twice in the preceding seven centuries. Nero's closure, sometime around 66 AD, was partly propagandistic: the Parthian settlement under Corbulo had ended the Armenian war, but Judaea was already moving toward revolt. The temple would not stay symbolically shut for long.