Nero

Born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus on Decemeber 15, 37 AD. At age two, Nero's father, Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus died of edema, leaving a huge chunk of estate to future Nero. Yet this inheritance was taken from him by Emperor Caligula. Lucius took on the name "Nero" at age 13. At this time, he is adopted by his mother, Agrippina the Younger and his great-uncle, Emperor Claudius.

During his reign, he did certainly hold a large amount of support from the Roman empire. Some even claimed him to be kind. Suetonius: "He let slip no opportunity for acts of generosity and mercy, or even displaying his affability."

On June 9, 53 AD, Nero married Claudia Octavia. There marriage was no pleasant. Tacitus: "Claudia Octavia is an aristocratic and virtuous wife." Obviously, this deviated from what Nero wanted in a wife. On one occasion, Nero, angry and filled with rage, tried to strangle Octavia. The biggest issue was that Octavia couldn't bear a child for Nero, meaning no heir to the throne. Eventually, Nero begin having affairs with various women, one woman was a freedwoman, Poppaea Sabina. Poppaea became pregnant with Nero's child, and Nero and her divorced Octavia and banished her from the kingdom. But the backlash for this move was insane. Many Roman citizens loved Octavia and protested, carrying statues of her through the city. Nero briefly considered remarrying Octavia. He wondered if the only reason the people saw him as their leader was because of Octavia and her connection with past royal families. Instead, he had her killed, hoping this would instill fear and show his leadership in and to the people. On June 8, 62 AD, Octavia was put to death in a traditional Roman suicide ritual.

Nero and his mother ruled the empire for a few years after his mother killed Emperor Claudius. After a few years, their relationship became hostile. At one point, Nero removed her face from Roman coins. At this point, she lost respect with Nero's advisors. No one knows for sure why there was a falling out. Some say it was due to arguments over Nero's lifestyle and affairs. Most likely, it was because she was plotting to kill Nero. So, two years into his reign, Nero relieved her of her bodyguards, exiled her from the imperial palace, and secretly sent assassins to kill her. The assassins poisoned her several times, set up elaborate booby traps, and put her on a ship and ordered an "accidental" collision with another boat. But she always survived, so eventually, they just stabbed her to death, making it look like a suicide. Nero was relieved because he was actually congratulated on the death of his mother. Many high ranking officials and some of the general public saw his mother trying to kill him, and viewed this as a fortuitous event.

Nero's spending on art and building projects drained the treasury. So Nero increased taxes and purged many wealthy land owners for their estates. On July 18, 64 AD, Rome caught on fire. The fire ignited on the Aventine Hill, one of the seven slopes that Rome was built on (it overlooked the Circus Maximus). The fire burned for six days before it could be somewhat controlled, only to reignite and burn uncontrolled for another three days. Over the course of about 9 days, about 70% of Rome was completely destroyed. At the time, Nero was in his villa in Antium, about 35 miles from Rome. He rushed to Rome as soon as he heard the news. Nero gave massive relief efforts for the displaced Romans. He opened his palace for the now homeless Romans and offered them food and shelter. Some suspected he burned Rome to make room for his new palace (which he quickly began building), the Domus Aurea (Latin: Golden House). The palace took up nearly one third of Rome. The palace was built, but the rumors spread that he started the fire on purpose just to make room for the palace and look heroic in relief efforts. It tarnished his public image. This is the start of Nero's decline. So Nero put the blame on Christians and had them publicly burned. Ancient writers and historians claim not only did he start the fire, but he also fiddled while the fire raged. Rebuilding costs were high and forced Nero to devalue imperial currency by 10%. Revolts in Roman provinces of Judea and Britian also escalated.

Nero suspected high level conspiracies in the senate to have him assassinated. He decided that he could only prevent this by having them killed first. Nero took a 15 month trip to Greece, where his passion for art grew, and he enjoyed music, sports, and theatrical performances. When he returned to Rome in 68 AD, he found more unrest in the city. He grew more distant from military decisions and failed to respond to an urgent revolt in Gaul and growing tensions in Africa and Spain. The senate made a bold move and announced that Nero was an enemy of the people. Rumors were that he had started the fire, killed his mother and first wife, and even killed his second (pregnant) wife. He tried fleeing the city, but new his capture and execution were imminent, so he kills himself at age 30.

Eventually, a governor, Gaius Julius Vindex, rebels against Nero and pronounces General Galba as emperor. The rebellion is crushed, but allows Galba's legions to march on Rome and overthrow Nero. Nero runs away and commits suicide. Galba makes himself emperor of Rome.