Nero (Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus; 15 December 37-9 June 68 AD) was the fifth emperor of Rome.
He was adopted by the Roman emperor Claudius at the age of thirteen, and succeeded him to the throne.
Nero seems to have been popular with his Praetorian guards, and with lower-class commoners in Rome and the provinces, but was deeply resented by the Roman aristocracy.
Most contemporary sources describe him as tyrannical, self-indulgent and debauched. He was overthrown by his Senate and committed suicide aged 30, last emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty.
Nero was born at Antium in AD 37, the son of Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus and Agrippina the Younger, a great-granddaughter of the emperor Augustus. When Nero was two years old, his father died. His mother married the emperor Claudius, who eventually adopted Nero as his heir; when Claudius died in 54, Nero became emperor, firstly with the support of the Praetorian guard, and then the Senate.
More information: The British Museum
In the early years of his reign, Nero was advised and guided by his mother Agrippina, his tutor Seneca the Younger, and his praetorian prefect Sextus Afranius Burrus. Nero soon sought to rule independently, and to rid himself of restraining influences.
His power struggle with his mother was eventually resolved when he had her murdered. Roman sources also implicate Nero in the deaths of his foster brother Britannicus, and his wife Claudia Octavia -the latter supposedly so that he could marry Poppaea Sabina. Most Roman sources present Nero as sexually dissolute.
He is said to have married a freedman Pythagoras, acting the part of bride at the ceremony. After Poppaea's death in unclear circumstances, Nero in short succession married an aristocratic woman Statilia Messalina and another freedman, Sporus, whom he had castrated.
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Nero's practical contributions to Rome's governance focused on diplomacy, trade, and culture. He ordered the construction of amphitheaters, promoted athletic games and contests, and made public appearances as an actor, poet, musician, and charioteer. This scandalised his aristocratic contemporaries as these occupations were usually the domain of slaves, public entertainers and infamous persons.
The provision of such entertainments made Nero popular among lower-class citizens, but his performances undermined the Imperial dignity. The costs involved were borne by local elites either directly or through taxation, and were much resented.
During Nero's reign, the general
Corbulo fought the Roman-Parthian War of 58-63, and made peace with the
hostile Parthian Empire. The Roman general Suetonius Paulinus quashed a
major revolt in Britain led by the Iceni's queen Boudica.
The Bosporan Kingdom was briefly annexed to the empire, and the First Jewish-Roman War began. When the Roman senator Vindex rebelled, with support from the eventual Roman emperor Galba, Nero was declared a public enemy and condemned to death in absentia. He fled Rome, and on 9 June in AD 68 he committed suicide. His death sparked a brief period of civil war known as the Year of the Four Emperors.
Most Roman sources offer overwhelmingly negative assessments of his personality and reign. The historian Tacitus claims the Roman people thought him compulsive and corrupt.
Suetonius tells that many Romans believed that the Great Fire of Rome was instigated by Nero to clear land for his planned, Golden House.
Tacitus claims that Nero seized Christians as scapegoats for the fire, and had them burned alive, seemingly motivated not by public justice but by personal cruelty.
Some modern historians question the reliability of the ancient sources on Nero's tyrannical acts, considering his popularity among the Roman commoners. In the eastern provinces of the Empire, a popular legend arose that Nero had not died and would return. After his death, at least three leaders of short-lived, failed rebellions presented themselves as Nero reborn in order to gain popular support.
More information: The New Yorker
Nero was born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus on 15 December 37 AD in Antium (modern Anzio). He was an only-child, the son of the politician Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus and Agrippina the Younger. His mother Agrippina was the sister of the third Roman emperor Caligula.
Nero was also the great-great grandson of former emperor Augustus, descended from Augustus' only daughter, Julia.
He died on 9 June 68, the anniversary of the death of his first wife Claudia Octavia, and was buried in the Mausoleum of the Domitii Ahenobarbi, in what is now the Villa Borghese (Pincian Hill) area of Rome.
According to Sulpicius Severus, it is unclear whether Nero took his own life.
With his death, the Julio-Claudian dynasty ended. When news of his death reached Rome, the Senate posthumously declared Nero a public enemy to appease the coming Galba, as the Senate had initially declared Galba as a public enemy, and proclaimed Galba as the new emperor.
Chaos would ensue in the year of the Four Emperors.
More information: History
but the outcome is in the hand of fortune.
Nero
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