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. However, several other accounts going back to the first century have Paul surviving his two years in Rome and travelling to Hispania, before facing trial in Rome again prior to his death.[143]. They encouraged Nero to act independently of her, and a growing coolness resulted in Neros relations with his mother. Realising that this bias may be apparent to others, Tacitus protests that his writing is true. Upon going to their chambers personally, he found them all abandoned. The accounts by Pliny the Elder, Suetonius, and Cassius Dio suggest several possible reasons for Nero's alleged arson, including his creation of a real-life backdrop to a theatrical performance about the burning of Troy. "[8]:12 Britannicus was poisoned after Agrippina threatened to side with him. "[4]:215 According to Suetonius, Nero had his former freedman Anicetus arrange a shipwreck; Agrippina survived the wreck, swam ashore and was executed by Anicetus, who reported her death as a suicide. For the first time, absolute power in the Roman Empire was vested in a mere boy, who was not yet 17. While their primary goal is to protect the . Still, there are several references to Nero in Pliny's Natural Histories. Non-Christian historian Tacitus describes Nero extensively torturing and executing Christians after the fire of AD 64. This has led some persons of extravagant imagination to suppose that, having been conveyed to a distant region, he is still reserved alive; and to him they apply the Sibylline verses." [115] Nonetheless, these lost primary sources were the basis of surviving secondary and tertiary histories on Nero written by the next generations of historians. [140] The apocryphal Ascension of Isaiah, a Christian writing from the 2nd century, says, "the slayer of his mother, who himself (even) this king, will persecute the plant which the Twelve Apostles of the Beloved have planted. Omissions? He had bribed organizers to postpone the games for a year so he could participate,[112] and artistic competitions were added to the athletic events. Nero was just 30 years old when he fled Rome and committed suicide. He wrote that, "in saying, 'For the mystery of iniquity doth already work,'[150] he alluded to Nero, whose deeds already seemed to be as the deeds of Antichrist."[103]. [130], In 1562, Girolamo Cardano published in Basel his Encomium Neronis, which was one of the first historical references of the Modern era to portray Nero in a positive light. Nero is known as one of Rome's most infamous rulers, notorious for his cruelty, debauchery and madness. and ran out as if to throw himself into the Tiber. [100] Vitellius overthrew Otho. [17]:53[34] He also executed his rivals Cornelius Sulla and Rubellius Plautus. There you will find that Nero was the first that persecuted this doctrine. [8]:12 Nero, who was having an affair with Acte,[v] exiled Agrippina from the palace when she began to cultivate a relationship with his wife Octavia. [84] According to Tacitus, this instability was rooted in the fact that emperors could no longer rely on the perceived legitimacy of the imperial bloodline, as Nero and those before him could. Rabbi Meir was considered one of the greatest of the Tannaim of the third generation (139163). During his eventful reign, from 54 to 68 CE, Nero had relatively few accomplishments, yet is credited with a long . [76][77] At this time, Nero learned that the Senate had declared him a public enemy. [32][33], In AD 62, Nero's adviser Burrus died. [51], Tacitus writes that to remove suspicion from himself, Nero accused Christians of starting the fire. [7], Domitius died in AD 40. These sources contradict one another on a number of events in Nero's life, including the death of Claudius, the death of Agrippina, and the Roman fire of AD 64, but they are consistent in their condemnation of Nero. When the Roman procurator Catus Decianus scourged Prasutagus' wife Boudica and raped her daughters, the Iceni revolted. Nero began preparing for war in the early years of his reign, after the Parthian king Vologeses set his brother Tiridates on the Armenian throne. [17]:84[30], He began to build a new palace, the Domus Transitoria, from about AD 60. But the Roman populace mistakenly believed that he himself had started the fire in Rome in order to indulge his aesthetic tastes in the citys subsequent reconstruction. The bulk of what is known of Nero comes from Tacitus, Suetonius, and Cassius Dio, who were all of the upper classes. Only fragments of these books remain and what does remain was abridged and altered by John Xiphilinus, an 11th-century monk. [72] The prefect of the Praetorian Guard, Gaius Nymphidius Sabinus, also abandoned his allegiance to the Emperor and came out in support of Galba. Updates? [citation needed]. The great fire that ravaged Rome in 64 illustrates how low Neros reputation had sunk by this time. [citation needed], The history of Nero by Pliny the Elder (c. 2479) did not survive. Some modern biblical scholars[151][152] such as Delbert Hillers (Johns Hopkins University) of the American Schools of Oriental Research and the editors of the Oxford Study Bible and HarperCollins Study Bible, contend that the number 666 in the Book of Revelation is a code for Nero,[153] a view that is also supported in Roman Catholic Biblical commentaries. [97] One such notable enemy included Nymphidius Sabinus, who claimed to be the son of Emperor Caligula. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. [114] The original sources were also said to contradict on a number of events. The emperor Nero is referred to as the first persecutor of the Christians by Lactantius. [22], Nero's tutor, Seneca, prepared Nero's first speech before the Senate. Get HISTORYs most fascinating stories delivered to your inbox three times a week. [117] There were also pro-Nero histories, but it is unknown who wrote them or for what deeds Nero was praised.[118]. She turned against him, promoting her stepson Britannicus as the true heir to the throne and protesting Neros affair with his friends wife Poppaea Sabina. The costs involved were borne by local elites either directly or through taxation, and were much resented. Nero exhausted the Roman treasury rebuilding the city around his 100-acre Domus Aurea (Golden House) palace complex. He also thought that existing writing on them was unbalanced: The histories of Tiberius, Caius, Claudius and Nero, while they were in power, were falsified through terror, and after their death were written under the irritation of a recent hatred. Up to the year 59, Neros biographers cite only acts of generosity and clemency on his account. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. [88], Eastern sources, namely Philostratus and Apollonius of Tyana, mention that Nero's death was mourned as he "restored the liberties of Hellas with a wisdom and moderation quite alien to his character",[89] and that he "held our liberties in his hand and respected them". "[43]:5455, Nero established the Neronian games in AD 60. From that time until 62, Burrus and Seneca were the effective rulers of the empire. She then married her uncle, the emperor Claudius. [4]:214 In Annals Tacitus writes that Agrippina opposed Nero's affair with Poppaea because of her affection for his wife Octavia. Nero, fifth Roman emperor, the emperor Claudius's stepson and heir, who became infamous for his personal debaucheries and extravagances and, on doubtful evidence, for his burning of Rome and persecutions of Christians. [119], Books 6163 of Dio's Roman History describe the reign of Nero. [23]:260[44], Some Romans thought the fire an accident, as the merchant shops were timber-framed and sold flammable goods, and the outer seating stands of the Circus were timber-built. All articles are regularly reviewed and updated by the HISTORY.com team. He was led to the murder of Agrippina by her insanity and her fury at seeing her son slip out of her control, to the murder of Octavia by his having fallen in love with Poppaea Sabina, the young wife of the senator (and later emperor) Otho, and by his fear that his repudiated wife was fomenting disaffection at court and among the populace. Over the next nine days, three of Romes 14 districts were destroyed and an additional seven were severely damaged. [71] In an attempt to gain support from outside his own province, Vindex called upon Servius Sulpicius Galba, the governor of Hispania Tarraconensis, to join the rebellion and to declare himself emperor in opposition to Nero. A year's importation of incense was burned at the funeral. Letter from Apollonius to Emperor Vespasian, Philostratus II. His mother Agrippina was the sister of the third Roman emperor Caligula. One of the reasons for the emergence of these rumors, said Malik, is that Nero's death had triggered a civil war also known as the Year of the Four Emperors (A.D. 69). Nero Claudius Caesar (37-68 A.D . 14.1 Nero and the Fire . He was born into a wealthy and politically. Travelling in disguise, Nero and four loyal freedmen, Epaphroditus, Phaon, Neophytus, and Sporus, reached the villa, where Nero ordered them to dig a grave for him. [87] The lower class, slaves, frequenters of the arena and the theater, and "those who were supported by the famous excesses of Nero", on the other hand, were upset with the news. [17]:4142 Ancient sources were critical of Nero's emphasis on the arts, chariot-racing and athletics. According to Suetonius the gymnastic contests were held in the Saepta area of the Campus Martius. He was the son of Cnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus, who was descended from a distinguished noble family of the Roman republic (a Domitius Ahenobarbus is known to have been consul in 192 BC, leading . [74], In response, Nero fled Rome with the intention of going to the port of Ostia and, from there, to take a fleet to one of the still-loyal eastern provinces. [95] Damaged portraits of Nero, often with hammer blows directed to the face, have been found in many provinces of the Roman Empire, three recently having been identified from the United Kingdom. After he died a year later, his name was removed from the list of winners. Malitz writes that in later years, Nero panicked when he had to make decisions on his own during times of crisis. [105] Twenty years after Nero's death, during the reign of Domitian, there was a third pretender. But Nero had learned his mothers lessons well: Brittanicus soon died under dubious circumstances, and in 59, after a failed plot to drown her in a collapsible boat, Nero had Agrippina stabbed to death in her villa. Most contemporary sources describe him as tyrannical, self-indulgent, and debauched. Between the years AD 51 and AD 53, he gave several speeches on behalf of various communities, including the Ilians; the Apameans (requesting a five-year tax reprieve after an earthquake); and the northern colony of Bologna, after their settlement had suffered a devastating fire. [49][50] The popular legend that Nero played the fiddle while Rome burned "is at least partly a literary construct of Flavian propaganda which looked askance on the abortive Neronian attempt to rewrite Augustan models of rule". [66], In 67, Nero married Sporus, a young boy who is said to have greatly resembled Poppaea. March 15, 2016 by Anirudh. Yet for the next five months, it has a vitrine of its own at. After the coronation, friendly relations were established between Rome and the eastern kingdoms of Parthia and Armenia. Of other historians, he said: But I omit any further discourse about these affairs; for there have been a great many who have composed the history of Nero; some of which have departed from the truth of facts out of favour, as having received benefits from him; while others, out of hatred to him, and the great ill-will which they bore him, have so impudently raved against him with their lies, that they justly deserve to be condemned. The historian Josephus (c. 37100), while calling Nero a tyrant, was also the first to mention bias against Nero. [25] After the affair of Lucius Pedanius Secundus who was murdered by a desperate slave, Nero allowed slaves to file complaints about their treatment to the authorities.[21]. Fun fact: Nero is only able to speak once the Shadow Palace appears. Nero was forced to flee Rome, and he later took his own life. An Aggadah in the Talmud says that at the end of AD 66, conflict broke out between Greeks and Jews in Jerusalem and Caesarea. After sleeping, he awoke at about midnight to find the palace guard had left. [84], According to Suetonius and Cassius Dio, the people of Rome celebrated the death of Nero. [113] Champlin writes that though Nero's participation "effectively stifled true competition, [Nero] seems to have been oblivious of reality. Moreover, Nero proclaimed an Emperor with the consent of the Praetorian Guard. 2023, A&E Television Networks, LLC. It is not surprising that Seneca (c. 4 BCAD 65), Nero's teacher and advisor, writes very well of Nero.