Nero legacy
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Nero to zero: The rise and fall of a brutal Roman emperor
7. Nero ordered his first wife’s death and murdered his second wife
When Nero tired of his first wife, Octavia, he had her banished and sent assassins after her.
On stage he wore a mask of the ex-wife he murdered, suggesting he was plagued by guilt and grief over her death.
Nero then married Poppaea, a noblewoman he had fallen in love with, but later kicked her to death in a fit of rage, while she was pregnant. It’s said that after this, whenever he played a tragic heroine on the stage Nero would wear a mask of Poppaea, suggesting he was plagued by guilt and grief over her death.
8. He took a year off to tour Greece as an actor
Nero loved all things theatrical. He played the lyre, sang, wrote poetry and acted on the stage.
These interests would have been seen by the Senate as totally inappropriate for a Roman leader – demeaning and shameful. Nevertheless, Nero spent a year touring Greek theatres and acting in competitions. He also took part in sports, and is said to have been able to drive a 10-
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Nero Julius Caesar
Adopted grandson and heir of the Roman emperor Tiberius
Not to be confused with his nephew, the emperor Nero.
Nero Julius Caesar (c. AD 6–31) was the adopted grandson and heir of the Roman emperor Tiberius, alongside his brother Drusus. Born into the prominent Julio-Claudian dynasty, Nero was the son of Tiberius' general and heir, Germanicus. After the deaths of his father and of Tiberius' son, Drusus the Younger, Nero and his brother Drusus were adopted together by Tiberius in September AD 23. As a result of being heirs of the emperor, he and his brother enjoyed accelerated political careers.
Sejanus, prefect of the Praetorian Guard, had become powerful in Rome and is believed by ancient writers such as Suetonius and Tacitus to have been responsible for the downfall of Drusus the Younger. As the power of Sejanus grew, other members of the imperial family began to fall as well. In AD 29, Tiberius wrote a letter to the Senate attacking Nero and his mother, and the Senate had them both exiled. Two years later, he died in exile on the island of Ponza. His
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"During his reign many abuses were severely punished and put down, and no fewer new laws were made....Punishment was inflicted on the Christians, a class of men given to a new and mischievous superstition."
Suetonius, Nero (XVI.2)
The fire that began in the shops at the Circus Maximus on the night of July 18, AD 64 raged for nine days, burning itself out on the sixth and then suspiciously flaring up again on the estate of Tigellinus, Nero's praetorian prefect (Tacitus, Annals, XV.40; Suetonius, Life of Nero, XXXVIII.2). Nearly two-thirds of Rome burned, including the Palatine Hill, and countless persons died. "There was no curse that the populace did not invoke upon Nero, though they did not mention his name" (Dio, Roman History, LXII.18.2-3). Tacitus goes on to relate that innumerable buildings and temples were lost, including ancient shrines, the spoils of earlier victories, "the glories of Greek art, and yet again the primitive and uncorrupted memorials of literary genius" (XV.41); in short, adds Suetonius, destroying "whatever
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