Roman emperor Nero, named Lucius
Domitius Ahenobarbus at birth, ruled more than 2,000 years ago. He was born Dec.
15, 37 A.D., not long after Pontius Pilate had Jesus nailed to the cross between
two thieves.
I recall hearing that while Rome was
burning, Nero was playing the fiddle. Fake news, maybe. So I sought the truth. According
to the ancient biographer Suetonius, Nero was the son of the first Roman emperor’s
only daughter, and his ancestors were not what you would call hospitable folks.
His grandfather enjoyed “violent gladiator games,” and his father was
“irascible and brutal.”
His father, Domitus, had apparently
been involved in a political scandal of some kind and died in 40 when Nero was 3.
Before that, Nero’s
mother Agrippina had her own scandal and was a “suspect of adultery with her
brother-in-law.” Quite a group running things back then, replete with banishments, power grabs, and plots to take control—even
an assassination.
Just the kind of environment for someone to seize control of
the government. His
great uncle Claudius took Nero’s mother for his fourth wife and added Claudius
to his name “to mark
the adoption.” And so he became Nero Claudius
Caesar Drusus Germanicus and entered public life as an adult at 14 years old.
While there were differing accounts about
how Claudius died in 54, most folks think Nero’s mother Agrippina helped to make
sure her son would become the emperor. So with a little manipulation, Nero rose
to power.
All reports from ancient writers say
Nero was quite extravagant in his construction projects and the way he spent
the country’s funds and left the provinces ruined. But historians today take a
different view, believing that Nero was really interested in making things
better with public works projects and charity—which took lots of
cash and seems likely for someone leading his country to make it great.
Still, Nero’s policies were deemed “well-meant but incompetent notions.” Like a
failed initiative to abolish taxes in an effort to help the people.
At only 16 years old when he became emperor in 54, Nero had no experience in governing. His tutor, Seneca, is
said to have written his first speech before the Senate, and his mother has
been reportedly to have “meant to rule through her son.” While she was
doing that, they say she got even with her
political rivals and murdered three of them. How’s that for taking care of
business?
Nero followed in his mother’s
footsteps by getting rid of people who didn’t share his beliefs. He was also said to be having an
affair with a slave girl, and
he poisoned his half-brother Britannicus because his
mother sided with him when she saw Nero was following his own mind. That got
her exiled from the palace.
Later, he had his mother killed, possibly
because of her disapproval of his affair with Poppaea Sabina while she was
still married. Regardless, Agrippina was no
more. The modern scholar Miriam Griffiths suggests things go really
went downhill after
her death and says,
“Nero lost all sense of right and wrong and listened to flattery with total
credulity.”
Prior to this, his relationship with
the Roman Senate had been relatively good. But scholar Jurgen Malitz writes, “Nero
abandoned the restraint he had previously shown because he believed a course
supporting the Senate promised to be less and less profitable.”
He divorced another of his
wives, Octavia, on grounds of infertility, banished her, and when there were
public protests, he accused her of adultery and executed her and married again
in 64, the same year The Great Fire of Rome erupted. That was the night of July
18-19 when a large number of mansions, residences and temples were burned. The
fire lasted a week, destroying three of 14 Roman districts and severely
damaging seven more.
Differing
accounts of the cause have described it
as an accident, a plot of Nero’s or simply “unsure.”
Some said the plot was because of Nero’s dislike of the ancient construction,
and he wanted to build his own lush palace and a “30-meter-tall statue of
himself, the colossus of Nero.” So he
accused the Christians of starting the fire and had many arrested and brutally
executed by “being thrown to the beasts, crucified and being burned alive.”
More
than 2,000 years later, scholars and historians continue
to research and argue whether Nero started the fire, sang and played the fiddle
while Rome burned. But Nero ruled his kingdom for
several years and did pretty much what he wanted and nobody touched him.
By
65, though, there was a conspiracy against Nero, with many wanting to “rescue
the state” from him and restore the republic. But he got wind of it and
executed its leaders. Even his old adviser, Seneca, was
accused, but denied being involved. Nevertheless, he was ordered to commit
suicide.
Then
some said Nero kicked his next wife, Poppaea, to death before she had her second child.
Other historians suggest she may have had a miscarriage and died.
Later, his tax
policies caused a rebellion. The rebel leader lost the battle and committed
suicide, while the followers of Nero’s commander
wanted him to be emperor. He wouldn’t act against Nero, but others stepped up,
and his army officers refused to obey him.
He
couldn’t leave Rome, the palace guard left
and most friends abandoned him. At this point he wanted someone to kill him.
But he couldn’t find anyone, and reportedly cried out, “Have I neither
friend nor foe?” and ran to throw himself in the Tiber River but couldn’t do
it.
A friend offered a
villa outside Rome, and some of Nero’s loyalists
accompanied him in disguise. Once there, he ordered them to dig a grave for him. He
knew the Senate had declared him a public enemy and planned to execute him by
beating him to death. The Senate hoped to find a compromise, but Nero didn’t
know that and prepared to commit suicide. He
begged one of his companions to set an example by killing himself.
When
he heard horses approaching, and knew they were coming for him, he pressed his
private secretary to kill him. But Nero finally got
the job done, becoming the first emperor to do so. One of the horsemen tried to
stop the bleeding, but was too late.
His
last words were reported to be, “Too late. This is fidelity.”
That
was June 9, 68 A.D., almost 1,950 years ago. What a time in which to
have lived in such a place!
