Nero (54-68 A.D.)

David J. Coffta

Canisius College

Nero's Early Life and Reign

The death of Claudius in 54 A.D., generally thought to have been planned
and carried out by his wife Agrippina Minor, secured for her son Lucius
Domitius Ahenobarbus the place as emperor which she had so carefully arranged.
Before his death, Claudius, though he already had a son Britannicus, had
adopted Lucius, who changed his name to Nero Claudius Caesar, (a great-great-grandson of Augustus) at Agrippina's instigation; instrumental too
in the transfer of power was the influence of Seneca, Nero's tutor, and
of Sextus Afranius Burrus, the praetorian prefect. Since Nero was only
an adolescent, the early part of his reign was characterized by direction
from these older figures, including Agrippina herself. Some scholars see
a struggle between Agrippina against Seneca and Burrus for control of the
young emperor, and when Agrippina began to show favor to Britannicus, a
legitimate (though slightly younger) heir and possible rival, Britannicus'
murder was arranged (55 A.D.) and Agrippina's authority displaced.

Nero's Dissolute Nature

The traditional portrait of Nero's dissolute life derives at least in
part from the years which fallowed soon after his accession; the attraction
of Poppaea Sabina who was married first to Rufrius Crispinus end then to
Otho (himself
a close friend of Nero), may have had same connection with the divorce,
exile, and murder of Nero's first wife, Octavia, Claudius' daughter. Poppaea
became Nero's mistress in 58 A.D., and the next year Agrippina herself
was murdered, with Nero's knowledge. Burrus and Seneca continued in their
guidance until 62 A.D. when the former died and the latter entered
retirement.
In their place that year appeared a counselor, Gaius Ofonius Tigellinus,
who had been exiled in 39 A.D. by Caius
(Caligula) for adultery with Agrippina, but who returned to find favor
with Nero and a post for himself as praetorian prefect, from which position
he exerted a further degenerating influence on Nero.

Nero's Marriage and the Burning of Rome

Poppaea and Nero married in 62 A.D., and she bore a daughter to him
the next year, but the child died only a few months later. The events of
62 and the next few years did little to improve public perception of Nero.
In 62, at Tigellinus' instigation, a series of treason laws were put to
deadly use against anyone considered a threat. In 64 A.D. a great fire
left much of the city in ruins, and while it is not certain that Nero himself
had the fires set, it is true that his ambitious building campaign, which
followed the fires (and in particular the construction of the Domus
Aurea), represented to many a private selfishness at a time when public
reconstruction was most needed. In 65 A.D. Nero's artistic inclinations,
present since his accession, became truly public, and in a display which
shocked conservative tastes he appeared on stage and sang for audiences.

Nero's Fall From Power

His enemies had become numerous, and that same year a plot to assassinate
Nero and to replace him with Gaius Calpurnius Piso was both formulated
and betrayed; among those forced to commit suicide in connection with the
Pisonian conspiracy were Seneca, Lucan, Petronius, and Tigellinus' colleague
in the prefecture (his replacement, Nymphidius, was to be influential in
the accession of Galba
three years later). Poppaea died in 66 A.D., and the next year
Nero left Rome altogether for a tour of Greece, during which his extravagances
alienated him further still from general citizens and military commanders
alike. More crucially, in his paranoia after the conspiracy he ordered
a popular and successful general, Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo, to commit suicide,
a decision which left other provincial leaders in doubt about his next
move and inclined toward rebellion rather than inaction.

The Year of the Four Emperors

In 68 A.D. Vindex revolted in Lugdunensis, as did Clodius Macer in Africa.
Galba declared
his allegiance to the Senate and the Roman people, rather than to Nero.
Such unrest in the provinces, coupled with intrigue at Rome among the praetorians
(orchestrated at least in part by Nymphidius), provided Nero's enemies,
especially within the Senate, with their chance to depose him. He committed
suicide on 9 June 68 A.D.

A Historical Assessment of Nero as Emperor

Nero, last of the Julio-Claudians, had been placed in the difficult
position of absolute authority at a young age coupled with the often-contradictory
efforts of those in a position to manipulate him. Augustus, however, had
not been much older when he began his bid for power, and so a great deal
of the responsibility for Nero's conduct must also rest with the man himself.
Nero's reign was not without military operations (e.g., the campaigns of
Corbulo against the Parthians, the suppression of the revolt of Boudicca
in Britain), but his neglect of the armies was a critical error. He left
Rome not to review his troops but to compete in Greek games, and as a further
slight had left a freedman, Helius, in his place at Rome to govern in his
absence. The suspicion which surrounded him after the treason trials and
the conspiracy set the stage for a series of civil upheavals, "the
Year of the Four Emperors," which included the rise to power of men,
such as Otho
in Lusitania and Vespasian
in Judaea, whom Nero himself had sent to the frontiers, unaware that they
were to become his successors.

Bibliography

Sources for this Entry:

Cary, M., A History of Rome down to the Reign of Constantine,
London, 1962, 528-533.