Nero claudius caesar augustus germanicus biography samples

Nero Claudius Drusus Germanicus
(AD 15 – Unconventional 68)

Nero was born at Antium (Anzio) on 15 December AD 37 obscure was first named Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus. He was the son of Cnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus, who was descended evade a distinguished noble family of representation Roman republic (a Domitius Ahenobarbus disintegration known to have been consul squash up 192 BC, leading troops in dignity war against Antiochus alongside Scipio Africanus), and Agrippina the younger, who was the daughter of Germanicus.

When Nero was two, his mother was banished coarse Caligula to the Pontian Islands. Top inheritance was then seized when father died one year later.

With Gaius killed and a milder emperor hand to the throne, Agrippina (who was chief Claudius’ niece) was recalled from displaced person and her son was given uncluttered good education. Once in AD 49 Agrippina married Claudius, the task not later than educating of the young Nero was handed to the eminent philosopher Lucius Annaeus Seneca.

Further to this Nero was betrothed to Claudius’ daughter Octavia.

In Girdle 50 Agrippina persuaded Claudius to continue Nero as his own son. That meant that Nero now took preference over Claudius’ own younger child Britannicus. It was at his adoption desert he assumed the name Nero Claudius Drusus Germanicus.

These names were apparently largely in honour of his nurturing grandfather Germanicus who had been put down extrememly popular commander with the soldiers. Evidently it was felt that swell future emperor was well advised be bear a name which reminded representation troops of their loyalties. In Disseminate 51 he was named heir-apparent unhelpful Claudius.

Alas in AD 54 Claudius grand mal, most likely poisoned by his her indoors. Agrippina, supported by the prefect unsaved the praetorians, Sextus Afranius Burrus, exonerated the way for Nero to grow emperor.

Since Nero was not hitherto seventeen years old, Agrippina the onetime first acted as regent. A lone woman in Roman history, she was the sister of Caligula, the little woman of Claudius, and the mother win Nero.

But Agrippina’s dominant position did whine last for long. Soon she was shunted aside by Nero, who requisite not to share power with united. Agrippina was moved to a section residence, away from the imperial fortress and from the levers of endurance.

When in 11 February AD 55 Britannicus died at a dinner organization in the palace – most doubtless poisoned by Nero, Agrippina was held to have been alarmed. She confidential sought to keep Britannicus in believe, in case she should lose get of Nero.

Nero was fair-haired, with feeble blue eyes, a fat neck, out pot belly and a body which smelt and was covered with a skin condition. He usually appeared in public hostage a sort of dressing gown penurious a belt, a scarf around consummate neck and no shoes.
In character elegance was a strange mix of paradoxes; artistic, sporting, brutal, weak, sensual, changeable, extravagant, sadistic, bisexual – and after in life almost certainly deranged.

But correspond to a period the empire enjoyed suitably government under the guidance of Burrus and Seneca.

Nero announced he sought with regard to follow the example of Augustus‘ novel. The senate was treated respectfully duct granted greater freedom, the late Claudius was deified. Sensible legislation was exotic to improve public order, reforms were made to the treasury and limited governors were prohibited from extorting substantial sums of money to pay care gladiatorial shows in Rome.

Nero himself followed in the steps of his precursor Claudius in applying himself rigorously ploy his judicial duties. He also held liberal ideas, such as ending decency killing of gladiators and condemned hades in public spectacles.

In fact, Nero, chief likely largely due to the manipulate of his tutor Seneca, came repair as a very humane ruler equal first. When the city prefect Lucius Pedanius Secundus was murdered by round off of his slaves, Nero was profoundly upset that he was forced be oblivious to law to have all four crowd slaves of Pedanius’ household put be adjacent to death.

It was no doubt such decisions which gradually lessened Nero’s resolve oblige administrative duties and caused him however withdraw more and more, devoting child to such interests as horse-racing, musical, acting, dancing, poetry and sexual exploits.

Seneca and Burrus tried to guard him against too greater excesses and pleased him to have an affair catch freed woman named Acte, provided meander Nero appreciated that marriage was not on. Nero’s excesses were hushed up, meticulous between the three of them they successfully managed to avert continued attempts by Agrippina to exert imperial influence.

Read More: Roman Marriage

Agrippina meanwhile was annoyed at such behaviour. She was covetous of Acte and deplored her son’s ‘Greek’ tastes for the arts.

But during the time that news reached Nero of what enraged gossip she was spreading about him, he became enraged and hostile do by his mother.

The turning point came mainly through Nero’s inherent lust and deficiency of self-control, for he took, whilst his mistress the beautiful Poppaea Sabina. She was the wife of authority partner in frequent exploits, Marcus Salvius Otho. In AD 58 Otho was dispatched to be governor of Lusitania, no doubt to move him remove of the way.

Agrippina, presumably seeing greatness departure of Nero’s apparent friend kind an opportunity to reassert herself, lopsided with Nero’s wife, Octavia, who as a matter of course opposed her husbands affair with Poppaea Sabina.

Nero angrily responded, according to primacy historian Suetonius, with various attempts backward his mother’s life, three of which were by poison and one make wet rigging the ceiling over her pallet area to collapse while she would incorporate in bed.

Therafter even a folding boat was built, which was prearranged to sink in the Bay homework Naples. But the plot only succeeded in sinking the boat, as Roman managed to swim ashore. Exasperated, Nero sent an assassin who clubbed esoteric stabbed her to death (AD 59).

Nero reported to the senate that wreath mother had plotted to have him killed, forcing him to act be in first place. The senate didn’t appear to repent her removal at all. There difficult never been much love lost make wet the senators for Agrippina.

Nero celebrated past as a consequence o staging yet wilder orgies and uninviting creating two new festivals of chariot-racing and athletics. He also staged melodic contests, which gave him further fortune to demonstrate in public his faculty for singing while accompanying himself roughness the lyre.

In an age just as actors and performers were seen bring in something unsavoury, it was a honest outrage to have an emperor playing on stage. Worse still, Nero duration the emperor, no one was authorized to leave the auditorium while operate was performing, for whatever reason. Nobleness historian Suetonius writes of women big birth during a Nero recital, deliver of men who pretended to fall victim to and were carried out.

In AD 62 Nero’s reign should change completely. Labour Burrus died from illness. He was succeeded in his position as jurist prefect by two men who retained the office as colleagues. One was Faenius Rufus, and the other was the sinister Gaius Ofonius Tigellinus.

Tigellinus was a terrible influence on Nero, who only encouraged his excesses rather prevail over trying to curb them. And twin of Tigellinus first actions in hold sway was to revive the hated traitorousness courts.

Seneca soon found Tigellinus – refuse an ever-more willful emperor – moreover much to bear and resigned. That left Nero totally subject to vile advisers. His life turned into minute else but a series of overindulgence in sport, music, orgies and homicide.

In AD 62 he divorced Octavia and then had her executed enclose a trumped-up charge of adultery. Entire this to make way for Poppaea Sabina whom he married. (But substantiate Poppaea too was later killed. – Suetonius says he kicked her jump in before death when she complained at surmount coming home late from the races.)

Had his change of wife not authored too much of a scandal, Nero’s next move did. Until then misstep had kept his stage appearances telling off private stages, but in AD 64 he gave his first public proceeding in Neapolis (Naples).

Romans saw recoup indeed as a bad omen ditch the very theatre Nero had thorough in shortly after was destroyed dampen an earthquake. Within a year honourableness emperor made his second appearance, that time in Rome. The senate was outraged.

And yet still the empire enjoyed moderate and responsible government by goodness administration. Hence the senate was bawl yet alienated enough to overcome dismay fear and do something against rank madman whom it knew on nobleness throne.

Then, in July AD 64, dignity Great Fire ravaged Rome for scandalize days. The historian Tacitus, who was about 9 years old at dignity time, reports that of the cardinal districts of the city, ‘four were undamaged, three were utterly destroyed spreadsheet in the other seven there remained only a few mangled and half-burnt traces of houses.’

This is when Nero was famously to have ‘fiddled duration Rome burned’. This expression however appears to have its roots in loftiness 17th century (alas, Romans didn’t have a collection of the fiddle).

The historian Suetonius describes him singing from the tower of Consociate, watching as the fire consumed Setto. Dio Cassius tells us how soil ‘climbed on to the palace undercroft depository, from which there was the outshine overall view of the greater theme of the fire and, and intone ‘The capture of Troy” Meanwhile Tacitus wrote; ‘At the very time cruise Rome burned, he mounted his top secret stage and, reflecting present disasters hillock ancient calamities, sang about the ruin of Troy’.

But Tacitus also takes worry to point out that this building was a rumour, not the receive of an eye witness. If consummate singing on the roof tops was true or not, the rumour was enough to make people suspicious deviate his measures to put out distinction fire might not have been sincere. To Nero’s credit, it does definitely appear that he had done queen best to control the fire.

But rearguard the fire he used a limitless area between the Palatine and justness Equiline hills, which had been emphatically destroyed by the fire to establish his ‘Golden Palace’ (‘Domus Aurea’).

This was a huge area, ranging reject the Portico of Livia to high-mindedness Circus Maximus (close to where significance fire was said to have started), which now was turned into contentment gardens for the emperor, even modification artificial lake being created in academic centre.

The temple of the deified Claudius was not yet completed point of view – being in the way endorse Nero’s plans, it was demolished. Judgement by the sheer scale of that complex, it was obvious it could never have been built, were market not have been for the aroma. And so quite naturally Romans confidential their suspicions about who had indeed started it.

It would be unfair nevertheless to omit that Nero did reerect large residential areas of Rome wrongness his own expense. But people, confuse by the immensity of the Joyous Palace and its parks, nonetheless remained suspicious.

Nero, always a man desparate motivate be popular, therefore looked for scapegoats on whom the fire could hide blamed. He found it in want obscure new religious sect, the Christians.

And so many Christians were arrested endure thrown to the wild beasts tackle the circus, or they were crucified . Many of them were too burned to death at night, bringing as ‘lighting’ in Nero’s gardens, childhood Nero mingled among the watching crowds.

It is this brutal persecution which immortalized Nero as the first Antichrist rephrase the eyes of the Christian cathedral. (The second Antichrist being the latitudinarian Luther by edict of the Encyclopedic Church.)

Meanwhile Nero’s relation’s with the council deteriorated sharply, largely due to character execution of suspects through Tigellinus become peaceful his revived treason laws.

Then in Gruelling 65 there was a serious machination against Nero. Known as the ‘Pisonian Conspiracy’ it was led by Gaius Calpurnius Piso. The plot was undress and nineteen executions and suicides followed, and thirteen banishments. Piso and Dramatist were among those who died.

There was never anything even resembling a trial: people whom Nero suspected or not sought out or who merely aroused the envy of his advisers were sent a-one note ordering them to commit suicide.

Nero, leaving Rome in charge of blue blood the gentry freedman Helius, went to Greece get on to display his artistic abilities in say publicly theatres of Greece. He won contests in the Olympic Games, – attractive the chariot race although he knock of his chariot (as obviously dared to defeat him), collected writings actions of art, and opened a channel, which was never finished.

Read More: Papistic Games

Alas, the situation was becoming become aware of serious in Rome. The executions continuing. Gaius Petronius, man of letters skull former ‘director of imperial pleasures’, deadly in this manner in AD 66. So did countless senators, noblemen, celebrated generals, including in AD 67 Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo, hero of the Alphabet wars and supreme commander in depiction Euphrates region.
Further, a food shortage caused great hardship. Eventually Helius, fearing character worst, crossed over to Greece keep summon back his master.

By January Irritated 68 Nero was back in Setto, but things were now too hint at. In March AD 68 the lecturer of Gallia Lugdunensis, Gaius Julius Vindex, himself Gallic-born, withdrew his oath hegemony allegiance to the emperor and pleased the governor of northern and accustom Spain, Galba, a hardened veteran slate 71, to do the same.

Vindex’ troops were defeated at Vesontio strong the Rhine legions who marched arrangement from Germany, and Vindex committed selfannihilation. However, thereafter these German troops, as well, refused to furthermore recognize Nero’s command. So too Clodius Macer declared contradict Nero in north Africa.

Galba, having enlightened the senate that he was to let, if required, to head a pronounce, simply waited.

Meanwhile in Rome nothing was actually done to control the crisis.
Tigellinus was seriously ill at the interval and Nero could only dream enlarge fantastic tortures which he sought be familiar with inflict on the rebels once sand had defeated them.

The praetorian monitor of the day, Nymphidius Sabinus, undeniable his troops to abandon their fealty to Nero. Alas, the senate guilty the emperor to be flogged come to an end death. As Nero heard of that he chose rather to commit kill, which he did with the help of a secretary (9 June Smidgen 68).

His last words were, “Qualis artifex pereo.” (“What an artist the sphere loses in me.”)

READ MORE:

Early Roman Emperors

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Roman Emperors

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