Terrifying reign of Roman emperor Nero ended in suicide

HE is considered one of the most vile Roman emperors in history. For 13 years, Nero terrorised his empire, persecuting Christians and Jews, neglecting his army, draining his treasury and murdering his family.

Death of Nero, an engraving by Englebert Kaempfer, 1651-1716.

HE is considered one of the most vile Roman emperors in written history, bringing about the end of its first Imperial Dynasty and laying waste to the capital city of Rome.

For 13 years, Nero terrorised his empire, persecuting Christians and Jews, neglecting his army, draining his treasury and murdering his family.

Knowing the terrible reckoning that awaited him when his subjects eventually rebelled, Nero forced his private secretary, Epaphroditos, to kill him 1950 years ago today. He was 30.

Born on December 15, AD37, Nero was the last ruler of the Julio-Claudian dynasty and reigned from October 13, AD54, to June 9, AD68.

At the age of 16, he inherited the throne from his adopted father, Emperor Claudius. Nero’s mother, Agrippina the Younger, had married Claudius, her uncle, and his death is commonly attributed to her.

Ten years into his reign, much of Rome was incinerated by fire, while the young emperor allegedly sang and played music. Some historians argue he was responsible.

Nevertheless he blamed the incident on Christians, burning many to death and using their bodies as human torches to light his gardens.

Bust of Roman Emperor Nero, born AD37AD and ruled Rome between AD54-AD68.

Russian artist Vasily Smirnov's 1888 painting, The Death of Nero.

Nero was also infamous for his acts of incest and familial murder; he would sleep with and murder his mother and one stepsister, execute another stepsister, and finally rape and murder his stepbrother. It is believed most of his close relatives died at his hand.

But Prof Edward Champlin, author of Nero: The End Of A Dynasty, says, “even monsters have their good side”.

“A very different and equally powerful image of Nero competed for favour down through the centuries,” he wrote. “Rumours flew from the moment he disappeared, that he was not in fact dead, that he had fled to the East, gone into hiding and was now biding his time. He would return in triumph, like Arthur or Charlemagne, to slaughter his enemies, free his oppressed people, and reign again: some three and a half centuries later.” As Nero punished the privileged and Christians during his reign — those who controlled the written history, Champlin explains, ultimately distorted Nero’s image.

“So to the Christians, within a generation of his death, Nero became the Beast of Revelation, forerunner of the Antichrist, sometimes even the Antichrist himself,” he writes.

Prof Glen Bowersock of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton also weighs in
on the written representations of the man.

“(Earlier writings) have run the gamut from sensationalist accounts of the madman on the throne of the Caesars,” he told The New York Times.

“The popular image of Nero has always been the much darker one, and I think that’s much nearer the truth.’’

Marble bust believed to be of Roman Emperor Claudius at the Nicholson Museum, Sydney University.

Bust of Roman emperor Galba at Antiques Museum in the Royal Palace, Stockholm.

He added that Nero’s reign was, however, “a great time for literature”.

He also granted the Greeks freedom at the Isthmaian Games in Corinth, a year after performing at the Ancient Olympic Games in AD66.

Ultimately, Nero’s popularity dissipated, particularly when he began construction of his golden palace on the site of the ashes of burnt-out Rome.

“The Golden House aroused a lot of criticism both in Nero’s life and after his death, for its perceived indifference to the suffering of the citizens, and particularly for its swallowing up
of much prime real estate,” Prof Champlin writes.

But Nero sealed his fate upon executing his political rivals Cornelius Sulla and Rubellius Plautus, German historian Jürgen Malitz believes.

“Nero abandoned the restraint he had previously shown because he believed a course supporting the Senate promised to be less and less profitable,” he writes.

Nero also turned on governor of Gallia Lugdunensis, Gaius Julius Vindex, and the governor of Hispania Tarraconensis, Servius Sulpicius Galba.

By June AD68, Galba had garnered military support against Nero, and after the latter’s suicide he marched for Rome.

Dr Bowersock adds that Nero’s empire was imploding at the time as a result of neglecting the armies on the periphery.

“What really began to make the domination of Nero totter were the movements of Roman troops on the frontiers.

“In other words, this was a case where the periphery contributed to the overthrow of the centre.’’

After Nero’s suicide, the people of the Empire were left divided.

Prof Champlin said Roman historian Tacitus recalled a Rome where “senators were delighted, so were the leading knights”.

“(So) were the respectable part of the population and the clients of the great families. But the sordid plebs were not happy, the scum of the city, frequenters of the circus and the theatre, the most worthless of slaves and wastrels.

“That is to say, at least 90 per cent of the population of Rome was evidently not pleased at Nero’s death — and it is this very popularity with the people who ate his banquets and joined enthusiastically in his performances that grated on his aristocratic detractors.”

Originally published as Terrifying reign of Roman emperor Nero ended in suicide