note The Roman common people (whose accounts have not survived) were probably less negative at first, but he quickly fell out of their good graces too on account of high taxes, bad management, and stupid moves like building his ridiculously lavish palace after the Great Fire rather than using that wealth to rebuild the city as well as sending a load of sand to Rome instead of wheat. The aristocratic pagan writers of his day and the subsequent centuries loathed him for his affronts to Roman dignity - particularly his love of acting and the stage, seen as low pursuits - and the Christians who took charge 300 years later identified him with evil on account of his persecutions of the early Christians. Nero's death would kick off the Year of the Four Emperors, the first civil war of the Roman Empire in which four Emperors ruled in succession: Galba, who ruled for just one year, Otho and Vitellius, who didn't make it past even one year, and Vespasian, who would rule the empire for a decade, establish the Flavian Dynasty of Roman emperors and is credited with bringing political stability to Rome following the chaotic reigns of his predecessors.Īfter Nero's death his name lived on in infamy, not least because everyone at the time not in his personal circle absolutely hated him. The 40 meter high statue of himself was renovated into one dedicated to the Sun God. To avoid this Nero committed suicide, aided by his trusty servant. The Senate intervened, ousted him by coup and ordered his arrest. By 68 AD Rome was in chaos, nearly bankrupt and threatened by foreign invasions. As early as 62 AD a conspiracy was plotted against him, but he found out three years later and had all those involved executed. Naturally, all this debauchery and cruelty didn't make him very popular with the citizens. In 65, he beat his second wife Poppaea to death while she was pregnant with their child. He poisoned his adoptive and step brother Britannicus in 55 AD, ordered the execution of his first wife Claudia Octavia and in 59 AD even the woman who placed him on his throne: mother Agrippina. As emperor, Nero immediately made sure nobody stood in his way. In 54 AD Claudius was poisoned by Agrippina, making Nero his successor. He was adopted by Emperor Claudius on behalf of his new wife Agrippina The Younger, who was Nero's mother (and Caligula's sister). It's worth bearing in mind when reading about how apparently despicable he was. Further to this, he became one of Christianity's earliest and most infamous villains.
In particular, the fact Nero loved to strum his lyre, host grand parties, and pined to become a gladiator was altogether against the morals of the kind of people who recorded history at the time. Note that much of his infamy - similarly to Tiberius and Domitian - is handed down to us by how much the elite of ancient times hated him. Nero (born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, 15 December 37 9 June 68 AD) was a notorious Roman Emperor and among Augustus, Caligula, Hadrian, Marcus Aurelius, and Constantine the Great is one of the most famous.