The Questionable Notoriety of Nebuchadnezzar II

Episode 12 of the podcast, where we let you peek your head round one of our classroom doors, here at History At Our House! One of the things we see a lot in history is people being called "The Great", like "Otto the Great" - but as our students learn, great doesn't necessarily mean good, it just means that particular person is significant to the period they lived in, and we have to be careful not to think of that term as evaluative.  Conversely, we have people who popularly gain a negative reputation from the people in their respective period, for doing things that might not be so significant to us. We have to be suspicious not to assume, just because someone is popularly hated by one group of people, that they must objectively deserve that notoriety. So, this week, we have a look at Nebuchadnezzar II who, as recorded in the Old Testament, was a great villain. But was he really? Let's consider some of the evidence...