Nero, the Roman emperor infamous for playing the lyre as Rome burned and beginning a persecution of Christians, was in reality a kind ruler and a peaceful, theatre-loving aesthete, more interested in poetry and song than terror and bloodshed.

The revelations come in a new book, Nero, the Man Behind the Myth. Nero has often been portrayed as one of Rome's most vindictive, vicious rulers. His genocidal rage against Christians has become an important part of religious history.

But it is most unlikely that Nero fiddled while Rome burned. Richard Holland, the book's author, offers evidence that Nero was at a holiday retreat when the Great Fire of Rome started and rushed back to oversee the fire-fighting operations. The book adds that he would have been hard-pressed to find a lyre, since his palace and possessions were on fire. The book also claims Nero's foreign policy was one of 'make love, not war'.

'Nero reigned for 13 years and not once did he go to a legionary fort on the edge of the empire,' said Holland. 'He was interested in Greek singing, poetry, philosophy, sex and dressing up. He was a bit of a show-off - a typical actor.'

Explanations as to the cause of the Great Fire of Rome in AD64 have often relied on the accounts of historians Suetonius and Dio Cassius, who suggest that Nero deliberately started the blaze himself.

The new book, however, cites the account of the authoritative Tacitus, who expressed his doubts because of lack of evidence.

'Tacitus is the best historian [from that period]', said Miriam Griffin, a tutorial fellow in ancient history at Somerville College, Oxford. 'He's more apt to express doubts and confront divergent sources,' she said.

The biography suggests that a simple misunderstanding lies behind the myth that Nero took to the lyre while Rome took to the pumps. 'It is likely that, at some stage, Nero turned to a companion and said the burning of Rome was like that of Troy,' said Holland. Nero may then have quoted an epic poem that he had written about the fall of Troy, which would account for the misleading idea that he was performing as the flames rose.

Holland says the known facts about Nero 'do not justify the myth of the monster', and points out that, when compared to the gentle Nero, Julius Caesar was not a model ruler and was 'rightly accused of war crimes'.

Holland challenges the long-held claim that Nero murdered his 13-year-old brother, Britannicus, after sodomising him, referring to forensic evidence that suggests Britannicus died of an epileptic fit.