Nero
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Nero
Augustus
Bust of Nero at the Musei Capitolini, Rome
Emperor of the Roman Empire
Reign 13 October 54 – 9 June 68
(13 years and 8 months)
Predecessor Claudius
Successor Galba
Born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus
15 December 37 AD
Antium, Italia
Died 9 June 68 AD (aged 30)
Outside Rome
Burial Mausoleum of the Domitii Ahenobarbi, Pincian
Hill, Rome
Claudia Octavia
Spouse
Poppaea Sabina
Statilia Messalina
Sporus
Pythagoras (freedman)
Issue Claudia Augusta
Regnal name
Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus
House Julio-Claudian dynasty
Father Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus
Claudius (adoptive)
Mother Agrippina the Younger
Religion Roman paganism
Roman imperial dynasties
Julio-Claudian dynasty
Chronology
Augustus 27 BC – AD 14
Tiberius AD 14–37
Caligula AD 37–41
Claudius AD 41–54
Nero AD 54–68
Family
Gens Julia
Gens Claudia
Julio-Claudian family tree
Category:Julio-Claudian dynasty
Succession
Preceded by Followed by
Roman Year of the Four
Republic Emperors
Nero (/ˈnɪəroʊ/; Latin: Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus;[i] 15 December 37 – 9 June 68
AD) was the last Roman emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty.[1][2] He was adopted by his great-
uncle Claudius and became Claudius' heir and successor.[1] Like Claudius, Nero became emperor
with the consent of the Praetorian Guard. Nero's mother, Agrippina the Younger, was likely
implicated in Claudius' death and Nero's nomination as emperor. She dominated Nero's early life
and decisions until he cast her off. Five years into his reign, he had her murdered.[1]
During the early years of his reign, Nero was content to be guided by his mother, his tutor Lucius
Annaeus Seneca, and his Praetorian prefect Sextus Afranius Burrus. As time passed, he started to
play a more active and independent role in government and foreign policy. During his reign, the
redoubtable general Corbulo conducted a successful war and negotiated peace with the Parthian
Empire. His general Suetonius Paulinus crushed a major revolt in Britain, led by
the Iceni Queen Boudica. The Bosporan Kingdom was briefly annexed to the empire, and the First
Jewish–Roman War began.[3] Nero focused much of his attention on diplomacy, trade and the
cultural life of the empire, ordering theatres built and promoting athletic games. He made public
appearances as an actor, poet, musician and charioteer. In the eyes of traditionalists, this
undermined the dignity and authority of his person, status, and office. His extravagant, empire-wide
program of public and private works was funded by a rise in taxes that was much resented by the
upper classes. In contrast, his populist style of rule remained very popular among the lower classes
of Rome and the provinces until his death and beyond. Various plots against his life were revealed;
the ringleaders, most of them Nero's own courtiers, were executed.
In 68 AD Vindex, governor of the Gaulish territory Gallia Lugdunensis, rebelled. He was supported
by Galba, the governor of Hispania Tarraconensis. Vindex's revolt failed in its immediate aim, but
Nero fled Rome when Rome's discontented civil and military authorities chose Galba as emperor. He
committed suicide on June 9, 68 AD, when he learned that he had been tried in absentia and
condemned to death as a public enemy, making him the first Roman Emperor to commit
suicide.[4][5] His death ended the Julio-Claudian dynasty, sparking a brief period of civil wars known as
the Year of the Four Emperors.
Nero's rule is usually associated with tyranny and extravagance.[6][7] Most Roman sources, such
as Suetonius and Cassius Dio, offer overwhelmingly negative assessments of his personality and
reign; Tacitus claims that 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 the way for
his planned palatial complex, the Domus Aurea.[8] According to Tacitus he was said to have seized
Christians as scapegoats for the fire and burned them alive, seemingly motivated not by public
justice but by personal cruelty.[9] Some modern historians question the reliability of the ancient
sources on Nero's tyrannical acts.[10] A few sources paint Nero in a more favorable light. There is
evidence of his popularity among the Roman commoners, especially in the eastern provinces of the
Empire, where a popular legend arose that Nero had not died and would return. At least three
leaders of short-lived, failed rebellions presented themselves as "Nero reborn" to enlist popular
support.
Contents
1Early life
2Nero's reign (54 AD–68 AD)
o 2.1Early reign
o 2.2Matricide
o 2.3Decline
o 2.4Great Fire of Rome
o 2.5Later years
o 2.6Revolt of Vindex and Galba and Nero's death
o 2.7After Nero
3Military conflicts
o 3.1Boudica's uprising
o 3.2Peace with Parthia
o 3.3First Jewish War
4Pursuits
5Historiography
6Nero in Jewish and Christian tradition
o 6.1Jewish tradition
o 6.2Christian tradition
6.2.1Martyrdoms of Peter and Paul
6.2.2Antichrist
7Ancestry
8See also
9Notes
10References
11Bibliography
12External links
