Roman Emperor Nero: Information and Facts.

 Nero became Emperor of the Roman Empire after the death of his adoptive father, Emperor Cladius, in AD 54. Nero was the last ruler of what historians call the "Julio Claudian" dynasty, and he ruled until his suicide in June 68 AD. Nero is best known for his story of playing the violin while Rome burns in a wild fire, but in fact this story is questionable.

Nero is one of the most notorious men in history. During his reign he killed his mother Agrippina the younger and his first wife Octavia, and allegedly killed his second wife, Poppaia Sabina. In addition, ancient writers claim that Nero was the one who started the great fire of Rome in 64 AD in order to rebuild the center City.

Although ancient writers drew many accusations against Nero, the evidence indicates that he enjoyed some popular support, as he was so passionate about music and the arts that he performed a public musical in Rome in AD 65.

Suetonius, a critic of the second century A.D., wrote: "Nero missed any opportunity to show his generosity and mercy, and to show his friendly and affectionate character."

 

A newly translated poem was published recently that portrays Nero in a positive light. The poem narrates Nero's reverence for his dead wife, Poppaia Sabina, and concludes that Sabina takes care of Nero from heaven. Researchers were surprised when they discovered this text, which states that Nero is in the rank of gods, dating back nearly two centuries after Nero's death, as this indicates the presence of some people who supported and supported Nero in the Roman Empire.

The beginnings of his life

Nero was born in Antium, Italy, on December 15th, AD 37. His father Gnaus Domitius Ahenobarbus, a former Roman advisor, but he died when Nero was three years old, and his mother Agrippina the Younger had been exiled by Emperor Caligula and had to leave the young Nero with his aunt to care for him. Nero upon his birth was named Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus.

The mother and son were reunited shortly after Caligula was killed and Emperor Cladius assumed the throne. Nero's mother married Cladeus - who was her uncle - in AD 49 and planned to have him adopt her son and give him a new name, "Nero." Among his teachers was the famous philosopher Seneca, who continued to advise Nero during his rule and wrote a report explaining the reasons for Nero killing his mother.

Roman Emperor Nero: Information and Facts - Emperor of the Roman Empire - Emperor Cladius - Julio Claudian - The Great Fire of Rome

The newly adopted son married his half-sister Octavia, thus becoming Cladius' legal heir, favoring him over his biological son Britannicus, who died shortly after Nero was installed as emperor.

After the death of Cladius in AD 54 - who is believed to have been poisoned with mushrooms - at the age of seventeen, Nero became emperor with the support of the Imperial Guard, and in the first two years of his reign he was photographed by printed coins alongside his mother Agrippina.

 

Cacius Dio, who lived between 155 and 235 AD, writes about Nero's mother Agrippina: “She managed all the affairs of the empire from him, as she received ambassadors and sent letters to various communities, rulers and kings.”

Nero killed his mother:

It seems that Nero's relationship with his mother collapsed two years after his accession to power, as her pictures were no longer printed on coins after the year 55 CE and it seemed that she had lost influence in favor of Nero's top advisors, such as the philosopher Seneca and the commander of the Imperial Guard Borus, who advised him on military affairs.

According to official records, Nero gave the orders to kill his mother in AD 59 because she was planning to kill him. But whatever the reasons, Nero knew that this decision would return to influence him in the future. 

Nero ordered the Navy to sink the boat his mother was sailing in and did not order the Imperial Guard because he did not trust them to carry out the killing. The first attempt failed because the mother was able to swim ashore, so Nero ordered the troops to carry out the operation directly.

 

Tacitus wrote - he lived between 56 - 120 AD - that Agrippa told the troops when she came to kill her: “If you come to see me, they report that our agrippa survived the accident of the sinking boat, but if you came to carry out a crime, I don’t believe that my son might issue an order to kill his mother.”

Nero tried to console himself and mitigate his crime by cheering his deeds as an achievement worthy of applause. Seneca personally wrote to the Senate the Nero Report on the murder, and the Senators said they believed his life was in danger and congratulated him for the murder of his mother.

Nero killed his wife:

Nero's marriage to Octavia was not happy, as she did not give him an heir and they separated by AD 62. That year Nero divorced Octavia and then accused her of fornication and murdered her.

Nero may have decided to kill Octavia to protect his imperial position, as Shotter argues that much of Nero's legitimacy as emperor came from his marriage to Cladius' daughter, and not just because he was his adopted son.

Sitonius writes: “After several unsuccessful attempts to suffocate her, Nero divorced Octavia due to her sterility, but people considered his divorce cruel and brutal and publicly rebuked him, so he denied her and in the end he was sentenced to death for adultery, which was a false and untrue accusation. After all those who were tormented by Nero held her innocence, he bribed his former teacher Anecytus to make a false confession that he had violated Octavia's chastity by means of a trick. ''

Translated by J.C. Rolf

Nero's marriage to Poppaya:

Nero married Popeia, who was pregnant with him in the same year (62 AD in which Octavia was killed), and a daughter was born to him in January 63, but she lived for only three months. Nero mourned the death of his daughter very much and counted her from the gods.

Poppaya died in AD 65 and was pregnant again. The ancient writers say that Nero killed her with a kick in the stomach, but researchers recently deciphered a poem in the Egyptian language in which it was written that Popeia wants to stay with Nero in the afterlife.

“The poet is trying to tell you that Poppaya loves her husband and that the story hinting at him killing her is not true,” says Paul Schubert, a professor at the University of Geneva and the principal researcher who worked on the text of the poem in an interview with LiveScience. With a kick in the stomach. ”

The Great Fire of Rome:

On the night of July 18th in the year 64 AD, a fire broke out in the Circus Maximum and got out of control, leaving only a small part of the city unburned. At the time of the fire Nero was in Antium, but he quickly returned to Rome to oversee the relief effort.

Although ancient writers tend to blame Nero for starting the fire, this accusation is far from the truth because most of the building in Rome was made of combustible material and the city was very crowded as well.

After the fires had subsided and went out, Nero tried to blame the Christians, who were a fairly small sect at the time. Tacitus wrote, and the translation from Juergen Malitz's book “Nero”: “Nero blamed a group that was detested by their immorality and malice, calling them Christians, and inflicted on them the most severe torment. In addition to their killing, they were not spared from ridicule and mockery of all kinds, as their faces were covered with beasts' skins and dogs tore them to death, and they were nailed and fixed on crosses or thrown into fires and burned to light at night when the day ended.

We don't know yet: Was it Nero who started the fire or not? As he took advantage of the space that was consumed by the fire and began work on building a new palace called Damus Uriah (The Golden Palace), and it was said that on the way to its entrance was a 120-foot (37 m) column on which a statue of Nero erected.

Bloodbaths in the empire:

Like all emperors' reigns, Nero's reign saw blood and wars in many places throughout the Roman Empire. In Britain, Queen Essene Boudicia (pronounced bodica or bodicia) raised a rebellion after Roman soldiers whipped her and raped her daughters. Her husband, King Brasutagus, had concluded a treaty with Cladius allowing him to rule as a vassal king of the Roman Empire, but after his death in 59 AD, the officials appointed by Nero ignored the treaty and seized the lands of Essene.

In the beginning, the Bodiasia Rebellion was successful, as it crushed a number of Roman settlements and military units. Researchers Richard Hingley and Christina Unwin write in their book “Boudicia: The Warrior Queen of the Iron Age”: “You may compare the results of the Bodiasia revolution in Kamolodnum and Londonim to some extent with the volcanic eruptions that destroyed my city. Pompeii and Hercolinium .

 

Ancient sources indicate that Nero had considered evacuating the island, but he did not need to implement this idea because the Roman commander on the island Gaius Suetonius Paulinus was able to muster a force of 10,000 men and defeated Boadicea in the Battle of Watling Street.

Britain was not the only place where Rome suffered from problems during the reign of Nero, in the east Rome fought Parthia - Iran now - and lost the war, which made it abandon plans to annex the Kingdom of Armenia to its lands, as Armenia was a separator between the two powers. In addition, a rebellion broke out in the Kingdom of Judah in 67 AD at the end of Nero's rule, and resulted in the siege of Jerusalem in AD 70 and the destruction of the Second Temple. Another consequence of this rebellion was the abandonment of the Qumran region, an ancient Arab city on the northern edge of the Dead Sea where Dead Sea scrolls and scrolls were found stored in nearby caves.

A trip to Greece:

Nero did not always adopt violence, and in 66 AD Nero, a lover of Greek culture, traveled on a trip to Greece, which had been subject to the rule of Rome for nearly two centuries.

Shotter writes that Nero participated in several Greek festivals and took home with him the 1808 Prize, which he won for his elaborate musical performances. The Greeks also agreed to postpone the Olympic Games for one year in order for Nero to be able to compete in it, but they were not satisfied with that only, as Edward Champion says in his book "Nero": “The Greeks added to the sports competitions competitions concerned with musical performances such as singing and acting for Nero, in an event that is taking place. for the first time. In one of the dangerous races, Nero fell from his chariot, yet the Greek rulers in charge of the games awarded him a wreath of victory, which made him reward these officials with a million sisters, as they are usually unpaid. ”

Shotter notes that Nero was very happy with the results of his trip to Greece, so he rewarded the Greeks with their freedom and exempted them from taxes.

The end of Nero:

By the year 68 AD Nero had accumulated problems. According to some accounts, he killed his mother, his first wife, and also his second wife. In addition to all the previous problems, he rebuilt Rome and built his golden palace that burdened the empire with financial burdens, so he was forced to increase taxes and also seized religious treasures.

Richard Duncan-Jones writes in his book "Money and Government in the Roman Empire": "Nero seized offerings and vows from temples in Rome and Italy in addition to hundreds of statues of sects and religious doctrines from temples in Greece and Asia, after the fire of Rome in 64 AD." Jones also notes that Nero reduced the volume of coins minted in Rome.

Nero's support began to diminish, and Soter wrote that the Roman ruler in Gaul Gaius Julius Vendex had abandoned Nero in April 64 CE and declared his support and support for often and then to the emperor in Spain. Although Vendex committed suicide after the defeat of his forces at the hands of German armies, what he did was enough to withdraw from Nero's support.

Shortly after this incident, the Imperial Guard - which represents the force charged with the task of guarding and protecting the emperor - abandoned Nero's support, and the Roman Senate declared that the former emperor had become an enemy of the people, on the eighth of June. Nero committed suicide the next day, and it was said that his last words were: "What a great artist he is dying in me!"

Soter notes that Nero's mistress Acti, who had accompanied him for a long time, secured him a proper burial in the Domitian family cemetery on the Pensian Plateau in Rome.

The emperor is dead:

After the death of Nero, the Roman Empire fell into disarray, as other emperors ascended the throne trying to control the empire but did not live for long periods. Soter notes that Nero still enjoyed a fair amount of popular support as well as that of Emperor Otho, calling himself "Nero Otho" in honor of Nero.

Champlin writes that people also refused to believe Nero's death, so he says: “Many believe that Nero did not kill himself in June 68 AD, and Tacitus, the ancient writer, confirms that various rumors surrounded Nero's death, and because of these rumors many believed or pretended to believe that Nero was still alive. 

Soter also notes this and says: “In the decades following Nero’s death, many people in the East saw people impersonating Nero, or the pseudo-Nero.” This indicates that some in the Roman Empire continued to support this man who is now famous for evil and bad.