Nero (Latin:IMPERATOR•NERO•CLAVDIVS•CAESAR•AVGVSTVS•GERMANICVS), born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus on December 15, 37 and died on June 6, 68, was the fifth and last Roman emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty; he reigned from 54 to 68.
Nero acceded to the throne on October 13, 54, on the death of his great-uncle and adoptive father Claudius (Claudius), Emperor of Rome. In 66 he added the title Imperator to his name. He was dispossessed of his power in 68 and committed suicide assisted by his scribe Epaphroditos.
Historians still debate Nero's supposed madness today.
Primary sources concerning Nero should be read with caution. His life was reported by the historian Suetonius in his work De vita duodecim Caesarum libri (The Lives of the Twelve Caesars) and by Tacitus in the Annals. Suetonius and Tacitus had the rank of senators. Their descriptions of the events of Nero's reign are suspect since it is known that Nero persecuted Roman senators from the years 65-66, following the discovery of two conspiracies. Some exalted accounts of Nero's reign may therefore be exaggerations.
Family
Born in Antium, Nero was the only son of Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus and Agrippina the Younger, sister of Caligula.
Paternal grandparents
* Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus:son of Cneis Domitius Ahenobarbus the Elder and Aemilia Lepida.
* Antonia Major:daughter of Marc Antoine and Octavie (sister of Auguste and great-niece of Julius Caesar).
Maternal grandparents
* Germanicus:son of Drusus (son of Tiberius Nero and Livia, and brother of Tiberius) and Antonia Minor (sister of Antonia Major). Germanicus is Claudius' brother; he is also the adopted grandson of Auguste, then the adopted son of his uncle Tiberius.
* Agrippina the Elder:daughter of Agrippa and Julia (daughter of Augustus and Scribonia).
Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus was born on December 15, 37. He was not then to become master of the empire. His maternal uncle Caligula had just begun to rule on March 16 of this year, aged 25. His predecessors, Octave and Tibère, had lived to be 76 and 79 respectively. If Caligula lived as long as they did, he could hope for succession through his own descendants.
Lucius is said to have come to his uncle's attention soon after his birth, his mother Agrippina having asked her brother to choose the child's name. It would have been a gesture of favor and marked the child as a possible heir to his uncle, but Caligula only gave his nephew the name Claudius, implying that he had little chance of becoming an emperor, as Claude.
The relationship between brother and sister seems to have improved very quickly. A scandal marking the start of Caligula's reign was his particularly close relationship with his three sisters Drusilla, Julia Livilla and Agrippina. All three were depicted with their brother on coins of the time. The three women seem to have won his favor and no doubt gained influence there. The writings of Flavius Josephus, Suetonius, Dio Cassius report that they had incestuous relations with their brother. Drusilla's quick death in 38 only reinforced this suspicion. She was said to be Caligula's favourite; she was also buried with the honors due to an empress. Caligula even deified her, making her the first woman in Roman history to achieve this honor.
Lucius thus became the son of an influential and famous woman. But she could quickly lose the influence she had over her brother. Caligula still had no children. Her closest male relatives were then her brothers-in-law Marcus Aemilius Lepidus (Drusilla's husband), Marcus Vinicius (Livilla's husband) and Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus (Agrippina's husband). They were the likely heirs in the event of Caligula's untimely death. Yet, after the death of his wife, Lepidus seemed to have lost all chance, but not all ambition, of succeeding his brother-in-law.
Conspiracies
In September 39, Caligula left to join his legions in campaign against the Germanic tribes. The campaign had to be postponed until the following year because of the emperor's fears of a conspiracy against him. In the following year he took up pottery. Lepidus had managed to become the lover of Agrippina and Livilla, apparently seeking their help in gaining the throne. He was immediately executed for this. Caligula also ordered the execution of Gnaeus Cornelius Lentulus Gaetulicus, the popular legate of Upper Germania, and his replacement by Servius Sulpicius Galba. Yet, it is still unclear if he was connected to the Lepidus conspiracy. Agrippina and Livilla were relegated to the Pontian Islands. Lucius was probably separated from his mother at this time.
Lucius' father died of dropsy in 40. Lucius was now an orphan and his fate was uncertain, under the rule of an increasingly capricious Caligula. Luck smiled on him the following year:on January 24, 41, Caligula, his wife Cæsonia Milonia, and their daughter Julia Drusilla were murdered by a conspiracy led by Cassius Chaera. The Praetorian Guard helped Claudius obtain the throne. One of his first decisions was to recall his nieces from exile.
Agrippina soon remarried to the wealthy Gaius Sallustius Crispus Passienus. Her husband died between 44 and 47, and Agrippina was suspected of having poisoned him to inherit his immense fortune. Lucius was the sole heir of his mother, who had become wealthy
Lucius, at ten years old, had very little chance of occupying the throne. Claude, 57 at the time, had ruled longer, and arguably more effectively, than his predecessor. Claude had already been married three times. He had married Plautia Urgulanilla and Aelia Paetina when he was a private citizen. Emperor, he was married to Valeria Messalina. The couple had two children, Britannicus (b. 41) and Octavie (b. 40). Messalina was only 25 years old and could give him other heirs.
However, Messalina was executed in 48, accused of conspiracy against her husband. The ambitious Agrippina quickly planned to replace her aunt by marriage. On January 1, 49, she became Claudius' fourth wife, Tiberius Claudius Nero Caesar Drusus. The marriage lasted five years.
At the beginning of 50, the Roman Senate offered Agrippina the honorary title of Augusta, which Livia (14-29) had been the only one to bear before her. On February 25, 50, Lucius was officially adopted by Claudius as Nero Claudius Caesar Drusus. Nero was older than Britannicus, his adopted brother, and this adoption made him the official heir to the throne.
Claude honored his adopted son in several ways. Nero was emancipated in 51, at the age of 14. He was named proconsul, entered the Senate, made his first speech there, appeared publicly in the company of Claudius, and was depicted on coins. In 53, he married his adoptive sister, Octavie.
The early years of the emperor
Claudius died of poisoning on October 13, 54, and Nero was quickly named emperor in his place. He was only 17 years old. Historians agree that Seneca played the role of figurehead at the start of his reign. Important decisions were probably left in the more capable hands of his mother Agrippina the Younger (who may have poisoned Claudius herself), her tutor Seneca, and the praetorian prefect Sextus Afranius Burrus. The first five years of Nero's reign were known as examples of good administration, even prompting the issue of a series of coins celebrating the quinquennium Neronis.
The affairs of the empire were handled with efficiency, and the Senate enjoyed a period of renewed influence in the affairs of state. Problems were soon to arise, however, in Nero's personal life and the growing contest for influence between Agrippina and the two advisers. Everyone knew that Nero was disappointed in his marriage and was cheating on Octavia. He took as his mistress Claudia Acte, a former slave, in 55. Agrippina tried to intervene in favor of Octavie and demanded of her son the dismissal of Acte. Burrus and Seneca, for their part, chose to support their protege.
Nero resisted his mother's interference in his personal affairs. Her influence over her son diminishing, Agrippina turned to a younger candidate for the throne. Britannicus, at fifteen, was still legally a minor and under the care of Nero, but he was approaching the age of majority. Britannicus was a possible successor to Nero and establishing influence over him could strengthen Agrippina's position. But the young man died suddenly on February 12, 55. The proclamation of his majority had been scheduled for February 13. The coincidence of dates suggests that he was poisoned. Burrus is suspected of having taken part in the murder. Nero grew increasingly rebellious against Agrippina's grip, and he began to contemplate the murder of his own mother. He justified his intentions by claiming that she was plotting against him. Agrippina's power was still declining rapidly, while Burrus and Seneca became the two most influential men in Rome.
A series of scandals
While his advisers attended to affairs of state, Nero surrounded himself with a circle of close friends. Roman historians report nights of debauchery and violence, when the more mundane matters of politics were neglected. Marcus Salvius Otho was among these new favourites. In every way Otto was as debauched as Nero, but he became as intimate as a brother. Some sources even consider that they were lovers. Otho is said to have presented Nero with a wife who first married the favorite and then the emperor. Poppea (Poppaea Sabina) was described as a woman of great beauty, full of charm, and intelligence. Rumors of a love triangle between Nero, Otho, and Poppea.
By 58, Poppea had secured her position as Nero's favorite. The following year (59) was a turning point in the reign of Nero. Nero and/or Poppea would have organized the murder of Agrippina. Seneca tried in vain to convince the Senate that she was setting up a conspiracy against her son, the reputation of the emperor was irreparably damaged by this case of matricide. Othon was soon driven out of the imperial entourage and sent to Lusitania as governor.
The next turning point was the year 62, for several reasons.
The first was a change among his advisors. Burrus died and Seneca asked Nero for permission to retire from public affairs. Their replacement as praetorian prefect and councilor was Tigellinus. He had been banished in 39 by Caligula, accused of adultery with both Agrippina and Livilla. He had been recalled from exile by Claudius, then succeeded in becoming close to Nero (and perhaps his lover). With Poppea, he would have had a greater influence than Seneca ever had on the emperor. A few months later, Tigellinus married Poppea. One theory suggests that Poppea tried during these four years (58-62) to keep Nero away from his advisers and friends; if true, what happened to Burrus and Seneca might not have happened by chance. The second important event of the year was the divorce of the emperor. Nero, then twenty-five years old, had reigned eight years and had no heir yet. When Poppea became pregnant, Nero decided to marry his mistress, but his marriage to Octavia had to be annulled first. He began by accusing her of adultery. But Nero had already gained a reputation for being unfaithful, while Octavia was known to be a paragon of virtue. Evidence was needed against her, but the torture of one of her slaves only succeeded in producing the famous statement of Pythias, that Octavia's vulva was cleaner than Tigellinus' mouth. Nero succeeded in obtaining a divorce on grounds of infertility, which allowed him to marry Poppea and wait for her to give birth to an heir. The sudden death of Octavie on June 9, 62 provoked public riots.
One of the quick effects of the appointment of Tigellinus was the enactment of a series of laws against treason; numerous capital punishments were carried out.
During that year, Nero had two of his remaining family members executed:
* Gaius Rubellius Plautus. His mother Claudia Julia was the granddaughter of Tiberius and Vipsania Agrippina. She was also the granddaughter of Drusus and Antonia Minor.
* Faustus Cornelius Sulla Felix. He was the grandson of Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus and Antonia Major. He was also Messalina's maternal half-brother. He had married Claudia Antonia, the only daughter of Claude and Aelia Paetina.
The great fire of Rome
At the beginning of 63, Poppea gave birth to a daughter:Claudia Augusta. Nero celebrated the event, but the child died four months later. Nero still had no heir.
On July 19, 64, the great fire of Rome broke out. The fire started in the shops around the Grand Cirque. Nero was then on vacation in his native city, Antium, but he had to return in haste. The fire raged for six days. The rumor circulated that Nero would have played the lyre and sang, at the top of the Quirinal, while the City was burning. (Tacitus, Ann. XV; Suetonius, Nero XXXVIII; Dio Cassius, R.H. LXII).
The same stories tell us of an emperor opening his palaces to provide shelter for the homeless and organizing food distributions to avert starvation among the survivors. But Nero lost all chance of restoring his reputation by too quickly publicizing his plans to rebuild Rome in a monumental (and less flammable) style.
The bewildered populace was looking for scapegoats, and soon rumors held Nero responsible. His motivation was attributed to the intention of immortalizing his name by renaming Rome Neropolis. It was important for Nero to offer another object to this need to find a culprit. He chose as his target a religion which was taking up more and more space, and whose members he enjoyed persecuting, that of the Christians. He ordered the Christians to be thrown to the lions in the arenas, while others were crucified in large numbers.
Tacitus tells us about this episode
:
“Human prudence had ordered everything that depended on its advice:people soon thought of bending the gods, and they opened the Sibylline Books. According to what we read there, prayers were addressed to Vulcan, to Ceres and to Proserpina:Roman ladies implored Juno, first at the Capitol, then at the edge of the nearest sea, where water was drawn. water for sprinkling the temple walls and the statue of the goddess; finally, women now married celebrated sellisternes and religious vigils. But no human means, no imperial largesse, no expiatory ceremonies silenced the public outcry that accused Nero of ordering the fire. To appease these rumours, he offered other culprits, and made suffer the most refined tortures to a class of men hated for their abominations and whom the vulgar called Christians. This name comes to them from Christ, who, under Tiberius, was handed over to execution by the procurator Pontius Pilatus. Suppressed for a moment, this execrable superstition overflowed again, not only in Judea, where it had its source, but in Rome itself, where all the infamy and horrors that the world encloses flow and find partisans. They seized first those who confessed their sect; and, on their revelations, an infinity of others, who were much less convinced of fire than of hatred for the human race. Their tortures were made a diversion:some, covered with animal skins, perished, devoured by dogs; others died on crosses, or else they were coated with inflammable materials, and, when the day ceased to shine, they were burned in place of torches. Nero lent his gardens for this spectacle, and at the same time gave games at the Circus, where sometimes he mingled with the people in coachmen's clothes, and sometimes drove a chariot. Also, although these men were guilty and had deserved the last rigors, hearts were opened to compassion, thinking that it was not for the public good, but for the cruelty of one alone, that they were immolated. »
According to some supporters of the non-historicity of Jesus, this text would be a medieval forgery. They rely on the fact that even the ecclesiastical historian Eusebius of Caesarea would ignore this massacre. This thesis has not caught the attention of historians.
To this day, the cause of the fire is unknown. Although ancient sources (and scholars) lean towards an incendiary Nero, it should be remembered that fires were frequent in ancient Rome. The famous Domus aurea was part of the reconstruction project imagined by Nero.
According to Max Gallo, Neron was not the cause of this fire, but could very well have not intervened and taken no action against it.
Nero, the artist and the widower
In 65, Nero was involved in another scandal, taken more seriously by the people of that time than it would be today. It was considered degrading for a Roman emperor to appear as a public entertainer, acting, singing, and playing the lyre.
Hated by many citizens, with a growing list of political enemies, Nero was beginning to appreciate his solitude, when in 65 he discovered the Conspiracy of Piso (named after Gaius Calpurnius Piso, who tried to take his place) and the involvement of old friends like Seneca in the plot. The conspirators were forced to commit suicide.
In addition, Nero ordered Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo, a popular and valiant general, to commit suicide, following vague suspicions of treason. This decision pushed the military commanders, in Rome and in the provinces, to consider the organization of a revolution.
In 65, Poppea died, probably by the hand of Nero himself. The emperor left for Greece in 67, where he entertained his guests with artistic performances, while in Rome the praetorian prefect Nymphidius Sabinus sought the support of the praetorian guards and senators.
Returning to Rome after the "tour", Nero found an icy atmosphere; Gaius Julius Vindex, the governor of Lyon Gaul, revolted, and this led Nero on a paranoid hunt for any possible threat. With this in mind, he ordered the elimination of any patrician with suspicious ideas. Galba, his (once) faithful servant, governor of Hispania (Spain), was one of these dangerous nobles. He therefore ordered his execution. Galba, who had no choice, swore loyalty to the Senate and the People of Rome (Senatus Populus que Romanus:SPQR), he no longer recognized the power of Nero. In addition, he began to organize a campaign to take over the empire.
As a result, Lucius Clodius Macer, legate of the III Augusta legion in Africa, revolted and stopped sending wheat to Rome. Nymphidius corrupted the Imperial Guard, who turned against Nero with the promise of a financial reward from Galba.
The Senate dismissed Nero, who committed suicide by stabbing himself in the throat on June 6, 68. With his death, the Julio-Claudian dynasty came to an end. The senate voted his damnatio memoriae, cursing his memory. Several civil wars ensued in the year 69, the year of the four emperors.
Events during the reign of Nero
* in 55:Britannicus, the son of Claudius, dies without it being known whether his death should be attributed to Nero who wishes to perfect his position on the empire or whether the cause is "the disease of the gods" (Epilepsy).
* in 59:Nero had his mother Agrippina the Younger assassinated.
* in 64:Great fire of Rome.
* 64-64:First persecution of Christians accused of being responsible for the fire.
* in 66:Jewish revolt in Judea.
Historical Viewpoints About Nero
In modern times, in the West, Nero is put by many in symbol of all that ancient Rome had of most monstrous, relying on the texts of Suetonius, frequent peddler of gossip, and Tacitus, augmented with attacks by Christian authors (Tertullian, taken up by Eusebius of Caesarea and others), and crowned by works of fiction like Quo Vadis. The "monstrosities" highlighted being, in addition to family murders, the burning of Rome and the persecution of Christians. However, Nero's actual culpability in the great fire of Rome is an accusation in which historians hardly believe. Moreover, no anti-Christian law was officially promulgated during his reign:there was indeed persecution, but only localized in Rome.
In Nero's defense, it can be said that he was in Antium during the fire of Rome in 64. This fact can be put forward as proof of his innocence, as can also the fact that collections to which he was attached burned there. . The persecution of Christians may have subsequently been a political choice to appease the Roman plebs who needed culprits.
Modern historians are more measured in their judgment of Nero. They also note that under his reign, the Empire was correctly administered, its monetary reform which revalued the denarius benefited business circles, and that it gave an important impetus to artistic developments in the field of architecture and decorative arts (see the Domus aurea).