Nero - Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia

7/29/2019 Nero - Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia

1/25

Nero

5th Emperor of the Roman Empire

Bust of Nero at the Musei Capitolini, Rome

Reign 13 October 54 9 June 68

Full name Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus (birth

to adoption)

Nero Claudius Caesar Drusus

Germanicus (adoption to accession)

Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus

Germanicus (as emperor)

Imperator Nero Cladius Divi Claudius

filius Caesar Augustus Germanicus

(imperial name)[1]

Born 15 December 37

Birthplace Antium, Italy

Died 9 June 68 (aged 30)

Place of

death

outside Rome

Buried Mausoleum of the Domitii

Ahenobarbi, Pincian Hill, Rome

Predecessor Claudius, stepfather

Successor Galba

Consort to Claudia Octavia

Poppaea SabinaStatilia Messalina

Issue Claudia Augusta

NeroFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Nero (Latin:Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus

Germanicus;[2]

15 December 37 9 June 68)[3]

was

Roman Emperor from 54 to 68, and the last in the Julio-

Claudian dynasty. Nero was adopted by his great uncleClaudius to become his heir and successor, and succeeded

to the throne in 54 following Claudius' death.

During his reign, Nero focused much of his attention on

diplomacy, trade, and enhancing the cultural life of the

Empire. He ordered theaters built and promoted athletic

games. During his reign, the redoubtable general Corbulo

conducted a successful war and negotiated peace with the

Parthian Empire. His general Suetonius Paulinus crushed

a revolt in Britain. Nero annexed the Bosporan Kingdom

to the Empire and began the First RomanJewish War.

In 64, most of Rome was destroyed in the Great Fire of

Rome, which many Romans believed Nero himself had

started in order to clear land for his planned palatial

complex, the Domus Aurea. In 68, the rebellion of Vindex

in Gaul and later the acclamation of Galba in Hispania

drove Nero from the throne. Facing assassination, he

committed suicide on 9 June 68 (the first Roman emperor

to do so)[4]

His death ended the Julio-Claudian Dynasty,

sparking a brief period of civil wars known as the Year ofthe Four Emperors. Nero's rule is often associated with

tyranny and extravagance.[5]

He is known for many

executions, including that of his mother,[6]

and the

probable murder by poison of his stepbrother Britannicus.

He is infamously known as the Emperor who "fiddled

while Rome burned"[7]

and as an early persecutor of

Christians. He was known for having captured Christians

to burn them in his garden at night for a source of light.[8]

This view is based on the writings of Tacitus, Suetonius,and Cassius Dio, the main surviving sources for Nero's

reign. Few surviving sources paint Nero in a favorable

light.[9]

Some sources, though, including some mentioned

above, portray him as an emperor who was popular with

the common Roman people, especially in the East.[10]

Some modern historians question the reliability of ancient

sources when reporting on Nero's tyrannical acts.[11]

Contents

1 Early life

1.1 Family

o - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nero

25 11/09/2013 14.03


2/25

Father Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus

Mother Agrippina the Younger

Roman imperial dynasties

Julio-Claudian dynasty

Chronology

Augustus 27 BC 14 AD

Tiberius 1437 AD

Caligula 3741 AD

Claudius 4154 ADNero 5468 AD

Family

Gens Julia

Gens Claudia

Julio-Claudian family tree

Category:Julio-Claudian dynasty

Succession

Preceded by

Roman

Republic

Followed by

Year of the Four

Emperors

1.2 Rise to power

2 Emperor (54 AD)

2.1 Early rule

2.2 Matricide and consolidation of power

2.3 Other relationships

2.4 Administrative policies

2.5 Great Fire of Rome (64 AD)

2.6 Public performances

2.7 War and peace with Parthia

2.8 Other major power struggles and rebellions

2.9 The revolt of Vindex and Galba and the death of Nero

2.10 Post mortem

3 Physical appearance

4 Historiography

5 Nero and religion

5.1 Jewish tradition

5.2 Christian tradition

5.2.1 First persecutor

5.2.2 Killer of Peter and Paul5.2.3 The Antichrist

6 See also

7 Notes

8 References

9 External links

Early life

Family

See also: Roman Emperors family tree

Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, the future Nero, was born on 15

December 37 in Antium, near Rome.[12][13]

He was the only son

of Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus and Agrippina the Younger,

sister of Emperor Caligula.

Nero's father Gnaeus was the son of Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus

(consul 16 BC) and Antonia Major. Gnaeus was thus the grandson

of Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus (consul 32 BC) and probably

Aemilia Lepida on his father's side, and the grandson of Mark

Antony and Octavia Minor on his mother's side. Thus, Nero had as

his paternal grandmother Antonia Maior, and also claimed more

remote descent from Antonia Minor as a great-grandsonlater

grandson after Claudius adopted him.[14]

Through Octavia, Nero was the grandnephew of Caesar Augustus.

Nero's father had been employed as a praetor and was a member of

Caligula's staff when the latter traveled to the East (some

apparently think Suetonius refers to Augustus' adopted son Gaius

Caesar here, but this is not likely).[14]


25 11/09/2013 14.03


3/25

Nero's father was described by Suetonius as a murderer and a cheat who was charged by Emperor Tiberius

with treason, adultery, and incest.[14] Tiberius died, allowing him to escape these charges.[14] Nero's father

died of edema ("dropsy") in 39 when Nero was two.[14]

Nero's mother was Agrippina the Younger, a great-granddaughter of Caesar Augustus and his wife Scribonia

through their daughter Julia the Elder and her husband Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa. Agrippina's father,

Germanicus, was a grandson of Augustus's wife, Livia, on one side and to Mark Antony and Octavia on the

other. Germanicus' mother Antonia Minor, was a daughter of Octavia Minor and Mark Antony. Octavia wasAugustus' elder sister. Germanicus was also the adopted son of Tiberius. Agrippina poisoned her second

husband Passienus Crispus, so many ancient historians also accuse her of murdering her third husband, the

emperor Claudius.[15]

16. Lucius DomitiusAhenobarbus

8. Gnaeus DomitiusAhenobarbus

17. Porcia Catonis

4. Lucius DomitiusAhenobarbus

9. Aemilia Lepida

2. Gnaeus DomitiusAhenobarbus

20. Marcus Antonius Creticus

10. Mark Antony

21. Julia Antonia

5. Antonia Major

22. Gaius Octavius

11. Octavia Minor

23. Atia Balba Caesonia

1.Nero

24. Tiberius Claudius Nero

12. Nero Claudius Drusus

25. Livia Drusilla

6. Germanicus

26.=10. Mark Antony

13. Antonia Minor

27.=11. Octavia Minor

3. Agrippina the Younger

28. Lucius Vipsanius Agrippa

14. Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa

7. Agrippina the Elder

30. Augustus (brother of 11, 27)

15. Julia the Elder

31. Scribonia


25 11/09/2013 14.03


4/25

Coin issued under Claudius celebrating

young Nero as the future emperor, c. 50.

Rise to power

Nero was not expected to become Emperor because his maternal

uncle, Caligula, had begun his reign at the age of 25 with enough

time to produce his own heir. Nero's mother, Agrippina, lost

favor with Caligula and was exiled in 39 after her husband's

death.[16]

Caligula seized Nero's inheritance and sent him to be

raised by his less wealthy aunt, Domitia Lepida, who was themother of Valeria Messalina, Claudius's third wife.

[13]

Caligula, his wife Caesonia and their infant daughter Julia

Drusilla were murdered on 24 January 41.[17] These events led

Claudius, Caligula's uncle, to become emperor.[18]

Claudius

allowed Agrippina to return from exile.[13]

Claudius had married twice before marrying Valeria Messalina.[19]

His previous marriages produced three

children including a son, Drusus, who died at a young age.[20]

He had two children with Messalina Claudia

Octavia (born 40) and Britannicus (born 41).[20] Messalina was executed by Claudius in the year 48.[19]

In 49 AD, Claudius married a fourth time, to Nero's mother Agrippina.[20]

To aid Claudius politically, young

Nero was adopted in 50 and took the name Nero Claudius Caesar Drusus Germanicus (see adoption in

Rome).[21]

Nero was older than his stepbrother Britannicus, and thus became heir to the throne.[22]

Nero was proclaimed an adult in 51 at the age of 14.[23]

He was appointed proconsul, entered and first

addressed the Senate, made joint public appearances with Claudius, and was featured in coinage.[23]

In 53,

he married his stepsister Claudia Octavia.[24]

Emperor (54 AD)

Early rule

Claudius died in 54 and Nero, taking the name Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, was

established as Emperor. Though accounts vary, many ancient historians state Agrippina poisoned

Claudius.[15] According to Pliny the Elder, she used poison mushrooms.[26] It is not known how much Nero

knew or if he was even involved in the death of Claudius.[27]

Suetonius wrote "...for even if he was not the instigator of the emperor's death, he was at least privy toit, as he openly admitted; for he used afterwards to laud mushrooms, the vehicle in which the poison

was administered to Claudius, as "the food of the gods," as the Greek proverb has it. At any rate, after

Claudius' death he vented on him every kind of insult, in act and word, charging him now with folly

and now with cruelty; for it was a favourite joke of his to say that Claudius had ceased "to play the

fool among mortals, lengthening the first syllable of the word morari, and he disregarded many of his

decrees and acts as the work of a madman and a dotard. Finally, he neglected to enclose the place

where his body was burned except with a low and mean wall."[28]

Nero became Emperor at 17 when the news of Claudius' death was made known,[29][30]

the youngest

emperor until that time.[31] Ancient historians describe Nero's early reign as being strongly influenced by hismother, Agrippina, his tutor Lucius Annaeus Seneca, and the Praetorian Prefect Sextus Afranius Burrus,

especially in the first year.[32] Other tutors were less often mentioned, such as Alexander of Aegae.[33]


25 11/09/2013 14.03


5/25

Nero and Agrippina. Agrippina crowns her

young son Nero with a laurel wreath. She

carries a cornucopia, symbol of fortune and

plenty, and he wears the armour and cloak of

a Roman commander, with a helmet on the

ground at his feet. The scene refers to Nero's

accession as emperor in 54 AD and is dated

before 59 AD when Nero had Agrippina

murdered.[25]

An Aureus of Nero and his mother, Agrippina, c. 54.

Very early in Nero's rule, problems arose from competition for

influence between Agrippina and Nero's two main advisers,

Seneca and Burrus.

In 54, Agrippina tried to sit down next to Nero while he met with

an Armenian envoy, but Seneca stopped her and prevented a

scandalous scene[34] (as it was unimaginable at that time for a

woman to be in the same room as men doing official business).Nero's friends also mistrusted Agrippina and told Nero to beware

of his mother.[35]

Nero was reportedly unsatisfied with his marriage to Octavia and

entered into an affair with Claudia Acte, a former slave.[36]

In

55, Agrippina attempted to intervene in favor of Octavia and

demanded that her son dismiss Acte. Nero, with the support of

Seneca, resisted the intervention of his mother in his personal

affairs.[37]

With Agrippina's influence over her son severed, she reportedly

began pushing for Britannicus, Nero's stepbrother, to become

emperor.[37]

Nearly fifteen-year-old Britannicus, heir-designate

prior to Nero's adoption, was still legally a minor, but was

approaching legal adulthood.[37] According to Tacitus,

Agrippina hoped that with her support, Britannicus, being the

blood son of Claudius, would be seen as the true heir to the

throne by the state over Nero.[37]

However, the youth died

suddenly and suspiciously on 12 February 55, the very day

before his proclamation as an adult had been set.[38]

Nero claimed that Britannicus died from an epileptic

seizure, but ancient historians all claim Britannicus'

death came from Nero's poisoning him. Supposedly, he

enlisted the services of Locusta, a woman who

specialized in the manufacture of poisons. She devised a

mixture to kill Britannicus, but after testing it

unsuccessfully on a slave, Nero angrily threatened to

have her put to death if she did not come up with

something usable. Locusta then devised a new

concoction that she promised would "kill swifter than a

viper."[39]

Her promise was fulfilled after Britannicus consumed it at a dinner party from water used to cool his wine,

which had already been tasted, and succumbed within minutes.[39]

After the death of Britannicus, Agrippina

was accused of slandering Octavia and Nero ordered her out of the imperial residence.[40]

Matricide and consolidation of power

Over time, Nero became progressively more powerful, freeing himself of his advisers and eliminating rivals

to the throne. In 55, he removed Marcus Antonius Pallas, an ally of Agrippina, from his position in the

treasury.[37]

Pallas, along with Burrus, was accused of conspiring against the Emperor to bring Faustus Sulla

to the throne.[41] Seneca was accused of having relations with Agrippina and embezzlement.[42] Seneca


25 11/09/2013 14.03


6/25

Coin of Nero and Poppaea Sabina

succeeded in having himself, Pallas and Burrus

acquitted.[42] According to Cassius Dio, at this time,

Seneca and Burrus reduced their role in governing from

careful management to mere moderation of Nero.[43]

In 58, Nero became romantically involved with Poppaea

Sabina, the wife of his friend and future emperor

Otho.[44] Reportedly because a marriage to Poppaea anda divorce from Octavia did not seem politically feasible

with Agrippina alive, Nero ordered the murder of his

mother in 59.[45]

A number of modern historians find this an unlikely motive as Nero did not marry Poppaea

until 62 .[46]

Additionally, according to Suetonius, Poppaea did not divorce her husband until after Agrippina's death,

making it unlikely that the already married Poppaea would be pressing Nero for marriage.[47] Some modern

historians theorize that Nero's execution of Agrippina was prompted by her plotting to set Rubellius Plautus

on the throne.[48]

According to Suetonius, Nero tried to kill his mother through a planned shipwreck, which

took the life of her friend, Acerronia Polla, but when Agrippina survived, he had her executed and framed it

as a suicide.[49]

The incident is also recorded by Tacitus.[50]

In 62, Nero's adviser, Burrus, died.[51]

Additionally, Seneca was again faced with embezzlement charges.[52]

Seneca asked Nero for permission to retire from public affairs.[53]

Nero divorced and banished Octavia on

grounds of infertility, leaving him free to marry the pregnant Poppaea.[54]

After public protests, Nero was

forced to allow Octavia to return from exile,[54]

but she was executed shortly after her return.[55]

Nero also was reported to have kicked Poppaea to death in 65 before she could have his second child.[56]

However, modern historians, noting Suetonius, Tacitus and Cassius Dio's possible bias against Nero and thelikelihood that they did not have eyewitness accounts of private events, postulate that Poppaea may have

died because of complications of miscarriage or childbirth.[57]

Accusations of treason being plotted against Nero and the Senate first appeared in 62.[58]

The Senate ruled

that Antistius, a praetor, should be put to death for speaking ill of Nero at a party. Later, Nero ordered the

exile of Fabricius Veiento who slandered the Senate in a book.[59]

Tacitus writes that the roots of the

conspiracy led by Gaius Calpurnius Piso began in this year. To consolidate power, Nero executed a number

of people in 62 and 63 including his rivals Pallas, Rubellius Plautus and Faustus Sulla.[60]

According to

Suetonius, Nero "showed neither discrimination nor moderation in putting to death whomsoever he pleased"

during this period.[61]

Nero's consolidation of power also included a slow usurping of authority from the Senate. In 54, Nero

promised to give the Senate powers equivalent to those under Republican rule.[62]

By 65, senators

complained that they had no power left and this led to the Pisonian conspiracy.[63]

Other relationships

When Nero's wife Poppaea Sabina died in 65, Nero went into deep mourning. Her body was not cremated, it

was stuffed with spices, embalmed and put in the Mausoleum of Augustus. She was given a state funeral.

Nero praised her during the funeral eulogy and gave her divine honors. It is said that Nero "burned ten years'worth of Arabia's incense production at her funeral.

[64]

In the beginning of 66, he married Statilia Messalina.[65]

She was already married when she became Nero's


25 11/09/2013 14.03


7/25

Coin showing Nero distributing charity to a citizen. c.

6466.

mistress in 65 AD, with Statilia's husband being driven to suicide in 66, so Nero could marry Statilia. She was

one of the few of Nero's courtiers who survived the fall of his reign.

In 67, Nero ordered a young freedman, Sporus, to be castrated and then married him.[65][66][67][68]

According to Dion Cassius, Sporus bore an uncanny resemblance to Sabina, and Nero even called him by his

dead wifes name.[68]

Administrative policies

Over the course of his reign, Nero often made rulings

that pleased the lower class. Nero was criticized as

being obsessed with personal popularity.[69]

Nero began his reign in 54 by promising the Senate

more autonomy.[62]

In this first year, he forbade

others to refer to him with regard to enactments, for

which he was praised by the Senate.[70]

Nero was

known for spending his time visiting brothels andtaverns during this period.

[70]

In 55, Nero began taking on a more active role as an

administrator. He was consul four times between 55

and 60. During this period, some ancient historians speak fairly well of Nero and contrast it with his later

rule.[71]

Under Nero, restrictions were put on the amount of bail and fines.[72] Also, fees for lawyers were limited.[73]

There was a discussion in the Senate on the misconduct of the freedmen class, and a strong demand was

made that patrons should have the right of revoking freedom.[74] Nero supported the freedmen and ruledthat patrons had no such right.

[75]

The Senate tried to pass a law in which the crimes of one slave applied to all slaves within a household.

Despite riots from the people, Nero supported the Senate on their measure, and deployed troops to organise

the execution of 400 slaves affected by the law. However, he vetoed strong measures against the freedmen

affected by the case.[76]

After tax collectors were accused of being too harsh to the poor, Nero transferred collection authority to

lower commissioners.[72]

Nero banned any magistrate or procurator from exhibiting public entertainment for

fear that the venue was being used as a method to sway the populace.[77] Additionally, there were manyimpeachments and removals of government officials along with arrests for extortion and corruption.

[78]

When further complaints arose that the poor were being overly taxed, Nero attempted to repeal all indirect

taxes.[79]

The Senate convinced him this action would bankrupt the public treasury.[79]

As a compromise,

taxes were cut from 4.5% to 2.5%.[80]

Additionally, secret government tax records were ordered to become

public.[80]

To lower the cost of food imports, merchant ships were declared tax-exempt.[80]

In imitation of the Greeks, Nero built a number of gymnasiums and theatres.[81] Enormous gladiatorial

shows were also held.[82]

Nero also established the quinquennial Neronia.[81][82]

The festival included

games, poetry, and theater. Historians indicate that there was a belief that theatre led to immorality.[81]

Others considered that to have performers dressed in Greek clothing was old fashioned.[83]

Some questioned

the large public expenditure on entertainment.[83]


25 11/09/2013 14.03


8/25

Nero's abandoned Corinth canal.

Artwork depicting the Great Fire of Rome.

In 64, Rome burned.[84]

Nero enacted a public

relief effort[84]

as well as significant

reconstruction.[85]

A number of other major

construction projects occurred in Nero's late

reign. Nero had the marshes of Ostia filled with

rubble from the fire. He erected the large Domus

Aurea.[86]

In 67, Nero attempted to have a canal

dug at the Isthmus of Corinth.[87] Ancient

historians state that these projects and others

exacerbated the drain on the State's budget.[88]

The cost to rebuild Rome was immense,

requiring funds the state treasury did not have.

Nero devalued the Roman currency for the first

time in the Empire's history. He reduced the weight of the denarius from 84 per Roman pound to 96

(3.85 grams to 3.35 grams). He also reduced the silver purity from 99.5% to 93.5%the silver weight

dropping from 3.83 grams to 3.4 grams. Furthermore, Nero reduced the weight of the aureus from 40 per

Roman pound to 45 (8 grams to 7.2 grams).[89]

Between 62 and 67, according to Plinius the Elder and Seneca, Nero promoted an expedition to discover the

sources of the Nile River. It was the first exploration of equatorial Africa from Europe in history.[90]

However, Nero's expedition up the Nile failed because water plants had clogged the river, denying Nero's

vessels access to the Sudd of Nubia.

The economic policy of Nero is a point of debate among scholars. According to ancient historians, Nero's

construction projects were overly extravagant and the large number of expenditures under Nero left Italy

"thoroughly exhausted by contributions of money" with "the provinces ruined."[91][92]

Modern historians,

though, note that the period was riddled with deflation and that it is likely that Nero's spending came in theform of public works projects and charity intended to ease economic troubles.

[93]

Great Fire of Rome (64 AD)

Main article: Great Fire of Rome

The Great Fire of Rome erupted on the night of 18 July to 19 July 64. The fire started at the southeastern

end of the Circus Maximus in shops selling flammable goods.[84]

The extent of the fire is uncertain. According to Tacitus, whowas nine at the time of the fire, it spread quickly and burned for

over five days.[94]

It destroyed three of fourteen Roman districts

and severely damaged seven.[94]

The only other historian who

lived through the period and mentioned the fire is Pliny the

Elder, who wrote about it in passing.[95]

Other historians who

lived through the period (including Josephus, Dio Chrysostom,

Plutarch, and Epictetus) make no mention of it in what remains

of their work.

It is uncertain who or what actually caused the firewhetheraccident or arson.[84] Suetonius and Cassius Dio favor Nero as

the arsonist, so he could build a palatial complex. Tacitus

mentions that Christians confessed to the crime, but it is not known whether these confessions were induced


25 11/09/2013 14.03


9/25

Sketch of Ancient graffiti

portrait of Nero found at

theDomus Tiberiana.

Nero coin, c. 66. Ara Pacis on the reverse.

by torture.[96]

However, accidental fires were common in ancient Rome.[97]

In

fact, Rome suffered another large fire in 69[98]

and in 80.[99]

It was said by Suetonius and Cassius Dio that Nero sang the "Sack of Ilium" in

stage costume while the city burned.[100]

Popular legend claims that Nero

played the fiddle at the time of the fire, an anachronism based merely on the

concept of the lyre, a stringed instrument associated with Nero and his

performances. (There were no fiddles in 1st-century Rome.) Tacitus's account,however, has Nero in Antium at the time of the fire.

[101]Tacitus also said that

Nero playing his lyre and singing while the city burned was only rumor.[101]

According to Tacitus, upon hearing news of the fire, Nero returned to Rome to

organize a relief effort, which he paid for from his own funds. [101] Nero's

contributions to the relief extended to personally taking part in the search for

and rescue of victims of the blaze, spending days searching the debris without

even his bodyguards.[citation needed]

After the fire, Nero opened his palaces to

provide shelter for the homeless, and arranged for food supplies to be

delivered in order to prevent starvation among the survivors.[101]

In the wake of the fire, he made a new urban development plan. Houses after the fire were spaced out, built

in brick, and faced by porticos on wide roads.[85]

Nero also built a new palace complex known as the Domus

Aurea in an area cleared by the fire. This included lush artificial landscapes and a 30-meter-tall statue of

himself, the Colossus of Nero.[86]

The size of this complex is debated (from 100 to 300 acres).[102][103][104]

To find the necessary funds for the reconstruction, tributes were imposed on the provinces of the

empire.[105]

Tacitus, in one of the earliest non-Christian references to the origins of Christianity, notes that the

population searched for a scapegoat and rumors held Nero responsible.[96] To deflect blame, Nero targeted

Christians. He ordered Christians to be thrown to dogs, while others were crucified and burned.[96]

Public performances

Nero enjoyed driving a one-horse chariot, singing to the

lyre, and poetry.[106]

He even composed songs that were

performed by other entertainers throughout the

empire.[107]

At first, Nero only performed for a private

audience.[108]

In 64 AD., Nero began singing in public in Neapolis in

order to improve his popularity.[108]

He also sang at the

second quinquennial Neronia in 65.[109]

It was said that

Nero craved the attention,[110]

but historians also write

that Nero was encouraged to sing and perform in public by the Senate, his inner circle and the people.[111]

Ancient historians strongly criticize his choice to perform, calling it shameful.[112]

Nero was persuaded to participate in the Olympic Games of 67 in order to improve relations with Greece

and display Roman dominance.[113] As a competitor, Nero raced a ten-horse chariot and nearly died after

being thrown from it.[114] He also performed as an actor and a singer.[115] Though Nero faltered in his

racing (in one case, dropping out entirely before the end) and acting competitions,[114]

he won these crowns

nevertheless and paraded them when he returned to Rome.[114]

The victories are attributed to Nero bribing


25 11/09/2013 14.03


10/25

The Parthian Empire c. 60. Nero's peace deal with Parthia was

a political victory at home and made him beloved in the east.

the judges and his status as emperor.[116]

War and peace with Parthia

For more details on this topic, see Roman-Parthian War of 5863.

Shortly after Nero's accession to the throne in 54, the Roman vassal kingdom of Armenia overthrew their

Iberian prince Rhadamistus and he was replaced with the Parthian prince Tiridates.[117]

This was seen as aParthian invasion of Roman territory.

[117]There was concern in Rome over how the young Emperor would

handle the situation.[118]

Nero reacted by immediately sending the military to the region under the command

of Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo.[119] The Parthians temporarily relinquished control of Armenia to Rome.[120]

The peace did not last and full-scale war broke

out in 58. The Parthian king Vologases I refused

to remove his brother Tiridates from

Armenia.[121]

The Parthians began a full-scale

invasion of the Armenian kingdom.[44]

Commander Corbulo responded and repelled

most of the Parthian army that same year.[122]

Tiridates retreated and Rome again controlled

most of Armenia.[122]

Nero was acclaimed in public for this initial

victory.[123] Tigranes, a Cappadocian noble

raised in Rome, was installed by Nero as the new

ruler of Armenia.[124]

Corbulo was appointed governor of Syria as a reward.[124]

In 62, Tigranes invaded the Parthian province of Adiabene.[125] Again, Rome and Parthia were at war and

this continued until 63. Parthia began building up for a strike against the Roman province of Syria.[126]

Corbulo tried to convince Nero to continue the war, but Nero opted for a peace deal instead.[127]

There was

anxiety in Rome about eastern grain supplies and a budget deficit.[128]

The result was a deal where Tiridates again became the Armenian king, but was crowned in Rome by

Emperor Nero.[129]

In the future, the king of Armenia was to be a Parthian prince, but his appointment

required approval from the Romans. Tiridates was forced to come to Rome and partake in ceremonies meant

to display Roman dominance.[84][130]

This peace deal of 63 was a considerable victory for Nero politically.[131]

Nero became very popular in the

eastern provinces of Rome and with the Parthians as well.[131]

The peace between Parthia and Rome lasted

50 years until Emperor Trajan of Rome invaded Armenia in 114.

Other major power struggles and rebellions

The war with Parthia was not Nero's only major war but he was both criticized and praised for an aversion to

battle.[132]

Like many emperors, Nero faced a number of rebellions and power struggles within the empire.

British Revolt of 6061 (Boudica's Uprising)

Further information: Boudica#Boudica's Uprising

In 60, a major rebellion broke out in the province of Britannia.[133]

While the governor Gaius Suetonius


di 25 11/09/2013 14.03


11/25

A plaster bust of Nero, Pushkin

Museum, Moscow.

A marble bust of Nero,

Antiquarium of the Palatine.

Paullinus and his troops were busy capturing the island of Mona

(Anglesey) from the druids, the tribes of the southeast staged a revolt

led by queen Boudica of the Iceni.[134] Boudica and her troops

destroyed three cities before the army of Paullinus could return,

receive reinforcements, and quell the rebellion in 61.[135]

Fearing

Paullinus himself would provoke further rebellion, Nero replaced him

with the more passive Publius Petronius Turpilianus.[136]

The Pisonian Conspiracy of 65

Main article: Pisonian conspiracy

In 65, Gaius Calpurnius Piso, a Roman statesman, organized a

conspiracy against Nero with the help of Subrius Flavus and Sulpicius

Asper, a tribune and a centurion of the Praetorian Guard.[137]

According to Tacitus, many conspirators wished to "rescue the state"

from the emperor and restore the Republic.[138]

The freedman

Milichus discovered the conspiracy and reported it to Nero'ssecretary, Epaphroditos.

[139]As a result, the conspiracy failed and its members were executed including

Lucan, the poet.[140]

Nero's previous advisor, Seneca was ordered to commit suicide after admitting he

discussed the plot with the conspirators.[141]

The First Jewish War of 6670

Main article: First Jewish-Roman War

In 66, there was a Jewish revolt in Judea stemming from Greek and Jewish religious tension.[142]

In 67, Nero

dispatched Vespasian to restore order.

[143]

This revolt was eventually put down in 70, after Nero'sdeath.

[144]This revolt is famous for Romans breaching the walls of Jerusalem and destroying the Second

Temple of Jerusalem.[145]

The revolt of Vindex and Galba and the death of Nero

In March 68, Gaius Julius Vindex, the governor of Gallia Lugdunensis,

rebelled against Nero's tax policies.[146][147]

Lucius Verginius Rufus,

the governor of Germania Superior, was ordered to put down Vindex's

rebellion.[148]

In an attempt to gain support from outside his own

province, Vindex called upon Servius Sulpicius Galba, the governor ofHispania Tarraconensis, to join the rebellion and further, to declare

himself emperor in opposition to Nero.[149]

At the Battle of Vesontio in May 68, Verginius' forces easily defeated

those of Vindex and the latter committed suicide.[148]

However, after

putting down this one rebel, Verginius' legions attempted to proclaim

their own commander as Emperor. Verginius refused to act against

Nero, but the discontent of the legions of Germany and the continued

opposition of Galba in Spain did not bode well for Nero.

While Nero had retained some control of the situation, support for Galba

increased despite his being officially declared a public enemy. The

prefect of the Praetorian Guard, Gaius Nymphidius Sabinus, also

abandoned his allegiance to the Emperor and came out in support for Galba.


di 25 11/09/2013 14.03


12/25

In response, Nero fled Rome with the intention of going to the port of Ostia and, from there, to take a fleet

to one of the still-loyal eastern provinces. According to Suetonius, Nero abandoned the idea when some

army officers openly refused to obey his commands, responding with a line from Vergil'sAeneid: "Is it so

dreadful a thing then to die?" Nero then toyed with the idea of fleeing to Parthia, throwing himself upon the

mercy of Galba, or to appeal to the people and beg them to pardon him for his past offences "and if he could

not soften their hearts, to entreat them at least to allow him the prefecture of Egypt". Suetonius reports that

the text of this speech was later found in Nero's writing desk, but that he dared not give it from fear of being

torn to pieces before he could reach the Forum.[150]

Nero returned to Rome and spent the evening in the palace. After sleeping, he awoke at about midnight to

find the palace guard had left. Dispatching messages to his friends' palace chambers for them to come, he

received no answers. Upon going to their chambers personally, he found them all abandoned. When he

called for a gladiator or anyone else adept with a sword to kill him, no one appeared. He cried, "Have I

neither friend nor foe?" and ran out as if to throw himself into the Tiber.[150]

Returning, Nero sought for some place where he could hide and collect his thoughts. An imperial freedman,

Phaon, offered his villa, located 4 miles outside the city. Travelling in disguise, Nero and four loyal

freedman, Epaphroditos, Phaon, Neophytus, and Sporus, reached the villa, where Nero ordered them to dig a

grave for him. At this time, a courier arrived with a report that the Senate had declared Nero a public enemy

and that it was their intention to execute him by beating him to death.

At this news, Nero prepared himself for suicide. Losing his nerve, he first begged for one of his companions

to set an example by first killing himself. At last, the sound of approaching horsemen drove Nero to face the

end. However, he still could not bring himself to take his own life but instead he forced his private secretary,

Epaphroditos, to perform the task.[citation needed]

Nero's famous dying words were "Qualis artifex pereo",

which translates into English as "What an artist dies in me!"

When one of the horsemen entered, upon his seeing Nero all but dead he attempted to stop the bleeding in

vain. Nero died on 9 June 68, the anniversary of the death of Octavia, and was buried in the Mausoleum ofthe Domitii Ahenobarbi, in what is now the Villa Borghese (Pincian Hill) area of Rome.

[151]

With his death, the Julio-Claudian dynasty ended. Chaos ensued in the year of the Four Emperors.[98]

Post mortem

See also: Nero Redivivus Legend and Pseudo-Nero

According to Suetonius and Cassius Dio, the people of Rome celebrated the death of Nero.[152][153]

Tacitus,

though, describes a more complicated political environment. Tacitus mentions that Nero's death waswelcomed by Senators, nobility and the upper class.

[154]The lower-class, slaves, frequenters of the arena

and the theater, and "those who were supported by the famous excesses of Nero", on the other hand, were

upset with the news.[154]

Members of the military were said to have mixed feelings, as they had allegiance to

Nero, but were bribed to overthrow him.[155]

Eastern sources, namely Philostratus II and Apollonius of Tyana, mention that Nero's death was mourned as

he "restored the liberties of Hellas with a wisdom and moderation quite alien to his character"[156] and that

he "held our liberties in his hand and respected them."[157]

Modern scholarship generally holds that, while the Senate and more well-off individuals welcomed Nero'sdeath, the general populace was "loyal to the end and beyond, for Otho and Vitellius both thought it

worthwhile to appeal to their nostalgia."[158]


di 25 11/09/2013 14.03


13/25

The alleged Tomb of Nero.

Apotheosis of Nero, c. after 68.

Artwork portraying Nero rising

to divine status after his death.

Nero's name was erased from some monuments, in what Edward

Champlin regards as an "outburst of private zeal".[159] Many

portraits of Nero were reworked to represent other figures;

according to Eric R. Varner, over fifty such images survive.[160]

This reworking of images is often explained as part of the way in

which the memory of disgraced emperors was condemned

posthumously (see damnatio memoriae).[160]

Champlin,

however, doubts that the practice is necessarily negative andnotes that some continued to create images of Nero long after

his death.[161]

The civil war during the year of the Four Emperors was

described by ancient historians as a troubling period.[98]

According to Tacitus, this instability was rooted in the fact that

emperors could no longer rely on the perceived legitimacy of the

imperial bloodline, as Nero and those before him could.[154]

Galba began his short reign with the execution of many allies of

Nero and possible future enemies.[162] One such notable enemy

included Nymphidius Sabinus, who claimed to be the son of

Emperor Caligula.[163]

Otho overthrew Galba. Otho was said to be liked by many soldiers

because he had been a friend of Nero's and resembled him somewhat in

temperament.[164]

It was said that the common Roman hailed Otho as

Nero himself.[165]

Otho used "Nero" as a surname and reerected many

statues to Nero.[165]

Vitellius overthrew Otho. Vitellius began his reign

with a large funeral for Nero complete with songs written by Nero.

[166]

After Nero's suicide in 68, there was a widespread belief, especially in the

eastern provinces, that he was not dead and somehow would return.[167]

This belief came to be known as the Nero Redivivus Legend.

The legend of Nero's return lasted for hundreds of years after Nero's

death. Augustine of Hippo wrote of the legend as a popular belief in

422.[168]

At least three Nero imposters emerged leading rebellions. The first, who

sang and played the cithara or lyre and whose face was similar to that of

the dead emperor, appeared in 69 during the reign of Vitellius.[169] After persuading some to recognize him,

he was captured and executed.[169]

Sometime during the reign of Titus (7981), another impostor appeared

in Asia and sang to the accompaniment of the lyre and looked like Nero but he, too, was killed.[170]

Twenty

years after Nero's death, during the reign of Domitian, there was a third pretender. He was supported by the

Parthians, who only reluctantly gave him up,[171]

and the matter almost came to war.[98]

Physical appearance

In his bookThe Lives of the Twelve Caesars, Suetonius describes Nero as "about the average height, hisbody marked with spots and malodorous, his hair light blond, his features regular rather than attractive, his

eyes blue and somewhat weak, his neck over thick, his belly prominent, and his legs very slender."[172]


di 25 11/09/2013 14.03


14/25

Historiography

The history of Neros reign is problematic in that no historical sources survived that were contemporary with

Nero. These first histories at one time did exist and were described as biased and fantastical, either overly

critical or praising of Nero.[173]

The original sources were also said to contradict on a number of events.[174]

Nonetheless, these lost primary sources were the basis of surviving secondary and tertiary histories on Nero

written by the next generations of historians.[175]

A few of the contemporary historians are known by name.

Fabius Rusticus, Cluvius Rufus and Pliny the Elder all wrote condemning histories on Nero that are now

lost.[176]

There were also pro-Nero histories, but it is unknown who wrote them or for what deeds Nero was

praised.[177]

The bulk of what is known of Nero comes from Tacitus, Suetonius and Cassius Dio, who were all of the

senatorial class. Tacitus and Suetonius wrote their histories on Nero over fifty years after his death, while

Cassius Dio wrote his history over 150 years after Neros death. These sources contradict on a number of

events in Neros life including the death of Claudius, the death of Agrippina, and the Roman fire of 64, but

they are consistent in their condemnation of Nero.

A handful of other sources also add a limited and varying perspective on Nero. Few surviving sources paintNero in a favorable light. Some sources, though, portray him as a competent emperor who was popular with

the Roman people, especially in the east.[citation needed]

Cassius Dio

Cassius Dio (c. 155229) was the son of Cassius Apronianus, a Roman senator. He passed the greater part of

his life in public service. He was a senator under Commodus and governor of Smyrna after the death of

Septimius Severus; and afterwards suffect consul around 205, and also proconsul in Africa and Pannonia.

Books 6163 of Dio'sRoman History

describe the reign of Nero. Only fragments of these books remain andwhat does remain was abridged and altered by John Xiphilinus, an 11th-century monk.

Dio Chrysostom

Dio Chrysostom (c. 40120), a Greek philosopher and historian, wrote the Roman people were very happy

with Nero and would have allowed him to rule indefinitely. They longed for his rule once he was gone and

embraced imposters when they appeared:

Indeed the truth about this has not come out even yet; for so far as the rest of his subjects were

concerned, there was nothing to prevent his continuing to be Emperor for all time, seeing that

even now everybody wishes he were still alive. And the great majority do believe that he still is,although in a certain sense he has died not once but often along with those who had been firmly

convinced that he was still alive.[178]

Epictetus

Epictetus (c. 55135) was the slave to Nero's scribe Epaphroditos. He makes a few passing negative

comments on Nero's character in his work, but makes no remarks on the nature of his rule. He describes

Nero as a spoiled, angry, and unhappy man.

Josephus

The historian Josephus (c. 37100), while calling Nero a tyrant, was also the first to mention bias against

Nero. Of other historians, he said:

But I omit any further discourse about these affairs; for there have been a great many who have


di 25 11/09/2013 14.03


15/25

The historian Josephus (c. 37100)

accused other historians of slandering

Nero.

composed the history of Nero; some of which have departed

from the truth of facts out of favor, as having received benefits

from him; while others, out of hatred to him, and the great

ill-will which they bore him, have so impudently raved against

him with their lies, that they justly deserve to be condemned.

Nor do I wonder at such as have told lies of Nero, since they

have not in their writings preserved the truth of history as to

those facts that were earlier than his time, even when the

actors could have no way incurred their hatred, since those

writers lived a long time after them.[179]

Lucan

Though more of a poet than historian, Lucanus (c. 3965) has one of

the kindest accounts of Nero's rule. He writes of peace and prosperity

under Nero in contrast to previous war and strife. Ironically, he was

later involved in a conspiracy to overthrow Nero and was

executed.[180]

Philostratus

Philostratus II "the Athenian" (c. 172250) spoke of Nero in the Life

of Apollonius Tyana (Books 45). Though he has a generally bad or

dim view of Nero, he speaks of others' positive reception of Nero in the East.

Pliny the Elder

The history of Nero by Pliny the Elder (c. 2479) did not survive. Still, there are several references to Nero

in Pliny'sNatural Histories. Pliny has one of the worst opinions of Nero and calls him an "enemy of

mankind."[181]

Plutarch

Plutarch (c. 46127) mentions Nero indirectly in his account of the Life of Galba and the Life of Otho. Nero

is portrayed as a tyrant, but those that replace him are not described as better.

Seneca the Younger

It is not surprising that Seneca (c. 4 BEC65), Nero's teacher and advisor, writes very well of Nero.[182]

Suetonius

Main article: Lives of the Twelve Caesars

Suetonius (c. 69130) was a member of the equestrian order, and he was the head of the department of the

imperial correspondence. While in this position, Suetonius started writing biographies of the emperors,

accentuating the anecdotal and sensational aspects.

Tacitus

Main article: Annals (Tacitus)

TheAnnals by Tacitus (c. 56117) is the most detailed and comprehensive history on the rule of Nero,

despite being incomplete after the year 66. Tacitus described the rule of the Julio-Claudian emperors as

generally unjust. He also thought that existing writing on them was unbalanced:


di 25 11/09/2013 14.03


16/25

A Christian Dirce, by Henryk Siemiradzki. A Christian woman is

martyred in this re-enactment of the myth of Dirce.

The histories of Tiberius, Caius, Claudius, and Nero, while they were in power, were falsified

through terror, and after their death were written under the irritation of a recent hatred.[183]

Tacitus was the son of a procurator, who married into the elite family of Agricola. He entered his political

life as a senator after Nero's death and, by Tacitus' own admission, owed much to Nero's rivals. Realizing

that this bias may be apparent to others, Tacitus protests that his writing is true.[184]

Girolamo Cardano

In 1562 Girolamo Cardano published in Basel hisEncomium Neronis, which was one of the first historical

references of the Modern era to portray Nero in a positive light.

Nero and religion

Jewish tradition

At the end of 66, conflict broke out between Greeks and Jews in Jerusalem and Caesarea. According to the

Talmud, Nero went to Jerusalem and shot arrows in all four directions. All the arrows landed in the city. Hethen asked a passing child to repeat the verse he had learned that day. The child responded, "I will lay my

vengeance upon Edom by the hand of my people Israel" (Ez. 25,14 (http://av1611.com/kjbp/kjv-bible-

text/Eze-25.html)). Nero became terrified, believing that God wanted the Temple in Jerusalem to be

destroyed, but would punish the one to carry it out. Nero said, "He desires to lay waste His House and to lay

the blame on me," whereupon he fled and converted to Judaism to avoid such retribution.[185]

Vespasian

was then dispatched to put down the rebellion.

The Talmud adds that the sage Reb Meir Baal HaNess, a prominent supporter of the Bar Kokhba rebellion

against Roman rule, was a descendant of Nero.

Roman and Greek sources nowhere report Nero's alleged trip to Jerusalem or his alleged conversion to

Judaism.[186] There is also no record of Nero having any offspring who survived infancy: his only recorded

child, Claudia Augusta, died aged 4 months.

Christian tradition

Christian tradition and secular historical

sources hold Nero as the first major state

sponsor of Christian persecution, and

sometimes as the killer of Apostles Peter

and Paul. Some 2nd- and 3rd-century

theologians, among others, recorded their

belief that Nero would return from death

or exile, usually as "the Anti-Christ. He

is also seen as one of the most savage

persecutors of Christians."

First persecutor

Non-Christian historian Tacitus describes

Nero extensively torturing and executing Christians after the fire of 64.[96] Suetonius also mentions Nero

punishing Christians, though he does so because they are "given to a new and mischievous superstition" and

does not connect it with the fire.[187]


di 25 11/09/2013 14.03


17/25

Christian writer Tertullian (c. 155230) was the first to call Nero the first persecutor of Christians. He wrote,

"Examine your records. There you will find that Nero was the first that persecuted this doctrine".[188]

Lactantius (c. 240320) also said that Nero "first persecuted the servants of God".[189]

as does Sulpicius

Severus.[190]

However, Suetonius writes that, "since the Jews constantly made disturbances at the instigation

of Chrestus, he [emperor Claudius] expelled them from Rome" ("Iudaeos impulsore Chresto assidue

tumultuantis Roma expulit").[191]

These expelled "Jews" may have been early Christians, although

Suetonius is not explicit. Nor is the Bible explicit, calling Aquila of Pontus and his wife, Priscilla, both

expelled from Italy at the time, "Jews".[192]

Killer of Peter and Paul

The first text to suggest that Nero killed an apostle is the apocryphalAscension of Isaiah, a Christian writing

from the 2nd century. It says, the slayer of his mother, who himself this king, will persecute the plant which

the Twelve Apostles of the Beloved have planted. Of the Twelve one will be delivered into his hands.[193]

Bishop Eusebius of Caesarea (c. 275339) was the first to write explicitly that Paul was beheaded in Rome

during the reign of Nero.[194]

He states that Nero's persecution led to Peter and Paul's deaths, but that Nero

did not give any specific orders. However, several other accounts going back to the first century have Paul

surviving his two years in Rome and traveling to Hispania, before facing trial in Rome again prior to his

death.[195] This evidence, from sources in living memory of the events it relates to, is in harmony with the

second epistle to Timothy in which Paul speaks of his imprisonment and expectation of imminent death.

Peter is first said to have been crucified upside-down in Rome during Nero's reign (but not by Nero) in the

apocryphal Acts of Peter (c. 200).[196]

The account ends with Paul still alive and Nero abiding by God's

command not to persecute any more Christians.

By the 4th century, a number of writers were stating that Nero killed Peter and Paul.[197]

The Antichrist

Main articles: Anti-Christ, The Beast (Bible), and Number of the Beast

TheAscension of Isaiah is the first text to suggest that Nero was the Antichrist. It claims that a "lawless

king, the slayer of his mother...will come and there will come with him all the powers of this world, and they

will hearken unto him in all that he desires."[193]

The Sibylline Oracles, Book 5 and 8, written in the 2nd century, speak of Nero returning and bringing

destruction.[198] Within Christian communities, these writings, along with others,[199] fueled the belief thatNero would return as the Antichrist. In 310, Lactantius wrote that Nero suddenly disappeared, and even the

burial-place of that noxious wild beast was nowhere to be seen. This has led some persons of extravagant

imagination to suppose that, having been conveyed to a distant region, he is still reserved alive; and to him

they apply the Sibylline verses.[189]

In 422, Augustine of Hippo wrote about 2 Thessalonians 2:111, where he believed Paul mentioned the

coming of the Antichrist. Though he rejects the theory, Augustine mentions that many Christians believed

that Nero was the Antichrist or would return as the Antichrist. He wrote, so that in saying, "For the mystery

of iniquity doth already work,"[200]

he alluded to Nero, whose deeds already seemed to be as the deeds of

Antichrist.[168]

Some modern biblical scholars[201][202]

such as Delbert Hillers (Johns Hopkins University) of the American

Schools of Oriental Research and the editors of the Oxford & Harper Collins Study Bibles, contend that the


di 25 11/09/2013 14.03


18/25

number 666 in the Book of Revelation is a code for Nero,[203]

a view that is also supported in Roman

Catholic Biblical commentaries.[204][205]

The concept of Nero as the Antichrist is often a central belief of Preterist eschatology.

See also

Nero in popular culture

Notes

^ Nero's regal name has an equivalent meaning in English as "Commander Nero Claudius, Son of the Divine

Claudius, the Emperor, Conqueror of the Germans".

1.

^ In Classical Latin, Nero's name would be inscribed as NERO CLAVDIVS CAESAR AVGVSTVS

GERMANICVS.

2.

^ Nero's birth day is listed in Suetonius, The Lives of Twelve Caesars, Life of Nero 6

(http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Suetonius/12Caesars/Nero*.html#6). His death day isuncertain, though, perhaps because Galba was declared emperor before Nero died. The date of 9 June is

calculated from Jerome, Chronicle, which lists Nero's rule as 13 years, 7 months and 28 days. Cassius Dio,

Roman History LXII.3 and Josephus, War of the Jews IV, say Nero's rule was 13 years, 8 months which would

be until 11 June.

3.

^ Suetonius states that Nero committed suicide in Suetonius, The Lives of Twelve Caesars, Life of Nero 49

(http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Suetonius/12Caesars/Nero*.html#49); Sulpicius Severus,

who possibly used Tacitus' lost fragments as a source, reports that is was uncertain whether Nero committed

suicide, Sulpicius Severus, Chronica II.29, also see T.D. Barnes, "The Fragments of Tacitus' Histories",

Classical Philology (1977), p. 228.

4.

^ Galba criticized Nero's luxuria, both his public and private excessive spending, during rebellion, Tacitus,

Annals I.16; Kragelund, Patrick, "Nero's Luxuria, in Tacitus and in the Octavia", The Classical Quarterly, 2000,

pp. 494515.

5.

^ References to Nero's matricide appear in the Sibylline Oracles 5.490520, Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury

Tales The Monk's Tale, and William Shakespeare'sHamlet3.ii.

6.

^ Nero was not a fiddle player, but a lyre player (the fiddle was not invented for at least another 1500 years).

Suetonius states Nero played the lyre while Rome burned, see Suetonius, The Lives of Twelve Caesars, Life of

Nero 38 (http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Suetonius/12Caesars/Nero*.html#38); For a

detailed explanation of this transition see M. F. Gyles "Nero Fiddled while Rome Burned", The Classical

Journal 42, no. 4 (January 1947), pp. 21117 nevertheless, the idea that Nero played any kind of musical

instrument is an urban legend, since he was away from Rome at the time of the fire. [1]

(http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/secondary/journals/CJ/42/4/Nero_Fiddled*.html).

7.

^ Tacitus,Annals XV.44.8.

^ These include Lucan's Civil War, Seneca the Younger's On Mercy and Dio Chrysostom'sDiscourses alongwith various Roman coins and inscriptions.

9.

^ Tacitus,Histories I.4, I.5, I.13, II.8; Suetonius, The Lives of Twelve Caesars, Life of Nero 57

(http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Suetonius/12Caesars/Nero*.html#57), Life of Otho 7, Life

of Vitellius 11; Philostratus II, The Life of Apollonius 5.41; Dio Chrysostom,Discourse XXI, On Beauty.

10.

^ On fire and Christian persecution, see F.W. Clayton, "Tacitus and Christian Persecution", The Classical

Quarterly, pp. 8185; B.W. Henderson,Life and Principate of the Emperor Nero, p. 437; On general bias

against Nero, see Edward Champlin,Nero, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2003, pp. 3652 (ISBN

0-674-01192-9

11.

^ Suetonius, The Lives of Twelve Caesars, Life of Nero 1 (http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman

/Texts/Suetonius/12Caesars/Nero*.html#1).

12.

^

a

b

c

Suetonius, The Lives of Twelve Caesars, Life of Nero 6 (http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Suetonius/12Caesars/Nero*.html#6).

13.

^ abcde Suetonius, The Lives of Twelve Caesars, Life of Nero 5 (http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer

/E/Roman/Texts/Suetonius/12Caesars/Nero*.html#5).

14.

^ ab Tacitus,Annals XII.66; Cassius Dio,Roman History LXI.34 (http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer15.


di 25 11/09/2013 14.03


19/25

/E/Roman/Texts/Cassius_Dio/61*.html#34); Suetonius, The Lives of Twelve Caesars, Life of Claudius 44

(http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Suetonius/12Caesars/Claudius*.html#44); Josephus is

less sure, Josephus,Antiquities of the Jews XX.8.1.

^ Suetonius, The Lives of Twelve Caesars, Life of Caligula 29 (http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman

/Texts/Suetonius/12Caesars/Caligula*.html#29).

16.

^ Josephus,Antiquities of the Jews XIX.1.14, XIX.2.4.17.

^ Josephus,Antiquities of the Jews XIX.3.2.18.

â

b

Suetonius, The Lives of Twelve Caesars, Life of Claudius 26 (http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer

/E/Roman/Texts/Suetonius/12Caesars/Claudius*.html#26).

19.

â

b

c

Suetonius, The Lives of Twelve Caesars, Life of Claudius 27 (http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer

/E/Roman/Texts/Suetonius/12Caesars/Claudius*.html#27).

20.

^ Tacitus,Annals XII.25.21.


â

b

Tacitus,Annals XII.41.23.


^ Information about this sculpture at the Museum of Aphrodisias, Turkey, where it is located.25.

^ On the Mushroom that Deified the Emperor Claudius (http://journals.cambridge.org/action

/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=3578208)

26.

^ Cassius Dio's and Suetonius' accounts claim Nero knew of the murder, Cassius Dio,Roman History LXI.35

(http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Cassius_Dio/61*.html#35), Suetonius, The Lives ofTwelve Caesars, Life of Nero 33 (http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Suetonius/12Caesars

/Nero*.html#33); Tacitus' and Josephus' accounts only mention Agrippina, Tacitus,Annals XII.65, Josephus,

Antiquities of the Jews XX.8.1.

27.

^ Suetonius Life of Nero (http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Suetonius/12Caesars

/Nero*.html#33)

28.

^ Book LXI #3 P39 (http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Cassius_Dio/61*.html)29.

^ #8 P100 (http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Suetonius/12Caesars/Nero*.html#33)30.

^ Augustus was 35, Tiberius was 56, Caligula was 25 and Claudius was 50.31.

^ Cassius Dio claims "At first Agrippina managed for him all the business of the empire", then Seneca and

Burrus "took the rule entirely into their own hands,", but "after the death of Britannicus, Seneca and Burrus no

longer gave any careful attention to the public business" in 55, Cassius Dio,Roman History LXI.37

(http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Cassius_Dio/61*.html#3).

32.

^ Jowett, Benjamin (1867). "Alexander of Aegae" (http://www.ancientlibrary.com/smith-bio/0119.html). In

William Smith.Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology1. Boston: Little, Brown and

Company. pp. 110111.

33.

^ Tacitus,Annals XIII.5.34.



^ abcde Tacitus,Annals XIII.14.37.


â

b

Tacitus,Annals XIII.16; Josephus,Antiquities of the Jews, XX.8.2; Suetonius, The Lives of Twelve

Caesars, Life of Nero 33 (http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Suetonius/12Caesars

/Nero*.html#33); Cassius Dio,Roman History LXI.7 (http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Cassius_Dio/61*.html#7).

39.



^ ab Cassius Dio,Roman History LXI.10 (http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Cassius_Dio

/61*.html#10).

42.

^ Cassius Dio,Roman History LXI.7 (http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Cassius_Dio

/61*.html#7).

43.

â

b

Tacitus,Annals XIII.46.44.

^ Tacitus,Annals XIV.1.45.

^ Dawson, Alexis, "Whatever Happened to Lady Agrippina?", The Classical Journal, 1969, p. 254.46.

^ Suetonius, The Lives of Twelve Caesars, Life of Otho 3.47.^ Rogers, Robert,Heirs and Rivals to Nero (http://www.jstor.org/view/00659711/ap010058/01a00140/0),

Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association, Vol. 86. (1955), p. 202. Silana accuses

Agrippina of plotting to bring up Plautus in 55, Tacitus, Annals XIII.19; Silana is recalled from exile after

Agrippina's power waned, Tacitus,Annals XIV.12; Plautus is exiled in 60, Tacitus,Annals XIV.22.

48.


di 25 11/09/2013 14.03


20/25



49.

^ Tacitus, "The Annals".50.




^ ab Tacitus,Annals XIV.60.54.


^ Farquhar, Michael (2001).A Treasure of Royal Scandals, p.216. Penguin Books, New York. ISBN0-7394-2025-9.

56.

^ Rudich, Vasily, Political Dissidence Under Nero, p. 134.57.






61.

^ ab Tacitus,Annals XIII.4.62.


^ Donato and Seefried (1989), p. 55.64.

â

b

Champlin, 2005, p.14565.^ Ancient History Sourcebook: Suetonius: De Vita Caesarum--Nero, c. 110 C.E. (http://www.fordham.edu

/halsall/ancient/suet-nero-rolfe.html)

66.

^ Cassius Dio Roman History: LXII, 28 - LXIII, 12-13 (http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts

/Cassius_Dio/62*.html)

67.

â

b

Smith, 1849, p.89768.


/Texts/Suetonius/12Caesars/Nero*.html#53); Gibbon, Edward, The History of The Decline and Fall of the

Roman Empire Vol. I, Chap. VI.

69.

â

b


^ Aurelius Victor mentions Trajan's praise of Nero's first five or so years. Aurelius Victor The Style of Life

and the Manners of the Imperitors 5 (http://www.roman-emperors.org/epitome.htm); The unknown author ofEpitome de Caesaribus also mentions Trajan's praise of the first five or so years of Nero Auctor incertus

Epitome De Caesarbius 5 (http://www.intratext.com/IXT/LAT0210/_P2.HTM).

71.

â

b




73.





^ Tacitus,Annals XIII.30, XIV.18, XIV.40, XIV.46.78.

â

b


â

b

c


â

b

c

Tacitus,Annals XIV.20.81.

â

b

Suetonius, The Lives of Twelve Caesars, Life of Nero 12 (http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman


82.

^ ab Tacitus,Annals XIV.21.83.

â

b

cd

e

Tacitus,Annals XV.38.84.

^ ab Tacitus,Annals XV.43.85.


^ Josephus, War of the Jews III.10.10,Werner, Walter: "The largest ship trackway in ancient times: the Diolkos

of the Isthmus of Corinth, Greece, and early attempts to build a canal", The International Journal of Nautical

Archaeology, Vol. 26, No. 2 (1997), pp. 98119.

87.

^ Tacitus,Annals XVI.3.88.

^ "Roman Currency of the Principate" (http://www.tulane.edu/~august/handouts/601cprin.htm). Tulane

University. Retrieved 2011-07-13.

89.

^Derek A. Welsby: Nero expedition to Nile sources (http://books.google.com/books?id=I2bJP8zLR_UC&90.


di 25 11/09/2013 14.03


21/25

pg=PA70&lpg=PA70&dq=nero+expedition+to+ethiopia&source=bl&ots=tc0NB0Oqt1&sig=ros4Zz0Ayze9-

xtWGH90ULSOsUs&hl=en&ei=htBkTLvtEoP-8AaHlqXeCA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&

ved=0CBcQ6AEwADgK#v=onepage&q=nero%20expedition%20to%20ethiopia&f=false). Books.google.com.

Retrieved 2010-11-09.



91.

^ Tacitus,Annals wikisource:The Annals (Tacitus)/Book 15#45 XV.45.92.

^ Thornton, Mary Elizabeth Kelly "Nero's New Deal," Transactions and Proceedings of the American

Philological Association, Vol. 102, (1971), p. 629.

93.

^ ab Tacitus,Annals XV.40; Suetonius says the fire raged for six days and seven nights, Suetonius, The Lives

of Twelve Caesars, Life of Nero 38; A pillar set by Domitius states the fire burned for nine days.

94.

^ Pliny the Elder,Natural Histories, XVII.1.5 (http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/L/Roman/Texts

/Pliny_the_Elder/17*.html#1), Pliny mentions trees that lasted "down to the Emperor Neros conflagration".

95.

^ abcd TacitusAnnals XV.44.96.

^ Juvenal writes that Rome suffered from perpetual fires and falling houses Juvenal, Satires 3.7, 3.195, 3.214

(http://www.vroma.org/~araia/satire3.html).

97.

^ abcd Tacitus,Histories I.2.98.

^ Suetonius,Lives of Twelve Caesars, Life of Titus 8 (http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts

/Suetonius/12Caesars/Titus*.html#8).

99.

^ Suetonius, The Lives of Twelve Caesars, Life of Nero, 38 (http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Suetonius/12Caesars/Nero*.html#38); Cassius Dio,Roman History LXII.16


100.

^a

b

cd

Tacitus,Annals XV.39.101.

^ Roth, Leland M. (1993). Understanding Architecture: Its Elements, History and Meaning, First, Boulder, CO:

Westview Press, pp. 2278. ISBN 0-06-430158-3.

102.

^ Ball, Larry F. (2003). The Domus Aurea and the Roman architectural revolution. Cambridge University

Press. ISBN 0-521-82251-3.

103.

^ Warden reduces its size to under 100 acres (0.40 km2). Warden, P.G., "The Domus Aurea Reconsidered,"

Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians 40 (1981) pp. 271278.

104.


^ Tacitus,Annals XIV.14, XIV.16.106. ^ Philostratus II,Life of Apollonius 4.39 (http://www.livius.org/ap-ark/apollonius/life/va_4_36.html#39);

Suetonius, The Lives of Twelve Caesars, Life of Vitellius 11 (http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman

/Texts/Suetonius/12Caesars/Vitellius*.html#11).

107.


^ Suetonius, The Lives of Twelve Caesars Life of Nero 21 (http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman


109.



110.

^ Tacitus,Annals XVI.4; Suetonius, The Lives of Twelve Caesars, Life of Vitellius 11

(http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Suetonius/12Caesars/Vitelius*.html#11); Suetonius, The

Lives of Twelve Caesars, Life of Nero 10 (http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Suetonius

/12Caesars/Nero*.html#10), 21 (http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Suetonius/12Caesars

/Nero*.html#21).

111.

^ Tacitus,Annals XIV.15; Cassius Dio,Roman History LXI.19 (http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman

/Texts/Cassius_Dio/61*.html#19).

112.

^ Philostratus II,Life of Apollonius 5.7 (http://www.livius.org/ap-ark/apollonius/life/va_5_06.html#7).113.

^ abc Suetonius, The Lives of Twelve Caesars, Life of Nero 24 (http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman


114.



115.

^ Suetonius The Lives of Twelve Caesars, Life of Nero 23 (http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman

/Texts/Suetonius/12Caesars/Nero*.html#23), 24 (http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts

/Suetonius/12Caesars/Nero*.html#24).

116.

^ ab Tacitus,Annals XIII.7.117.





di 25 11/09/2013 14.03


22/25


â

b



â

b

Tacitus,Annals XIV.36.124.





^ Tacitus,Annals XV.29.129.^ Cassius Dio,Roman History LXIII.2 (http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Cassius_Dio

/63*.html#2).

130.

^ ab Cassius Dio,Roman History LXII.23 (http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Cassius_Dio

/62*.html#23).

131.

^ SuetoniusLives of Twelve Caesars, Life of Nero 18 (http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts

/Suetonius/12Caesars/Nero*.html#18); Marcus Annaeus Lucanus Pharsalia (Civil War) (c. 65)[2]

(http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext96/pcwar10.txt).

132.




^ Tacitus,Annals XIV.39.136.^ Tacitus,Annals XV.49.137.





^ Josephus, War of the Jews II.13.7.142.

^ Josephus, War of the Jews III.1.3.143.

^ Josephus, War of the Jews VI.10.1.144.

^ Josephus, War of the Jews VII.1.1.145.

^ Cassius Dio,Roman History LXIII.22 (http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Cassius_Dio

/63*.html#22).

146.

^ Donahue.147.

^ ab Cassius Dio,Roman History LXIII.24 (http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Cassius_Dio

/63*.html#24).

148.

^ Plutarch, The Parallel Lives, Life of Galba 5 (http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch

/Lives/Galba*.html#5).

149.

^ ab Suetonius, The Lives of Twelve Caesars, Life of Nero 47 (http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman


150.



151.

^ Cassius Dio,Roman History 63 (http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Cassius_Dio

/63*.html).

152.

^ Suetonius, The Lives of Twelve Caesars, Life of Nero 57 (http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/L/Roman/Texts/Suetonius/12Caesars/Nero*.html#57).

153.

â

b

c

Tacitus,Histories I.4.154.

^ Tacitus,Histories I.5.155.

^ Philostratus II, The Life of Apollonius 5.41 (http://www.livius.org/ap-ark/apollonius/life/va_5_41.html#41).156.

^ Letter from Apollonius to Emperor Vespasian, Philostratus II, The Life of Apollonius 5.41

(http://www.livius.org/ap-ark/apollonius/life/va_5_41.html#41).

157.

^ M. T. Griffin, Nero (1984), p. 186; Gibbon, Edward, The History of The Decline and Fall of the Roman

Empire Vol. I, Chap. III.

158.

^ Champlin (2003), p. 29.159.

^ ab John Pollini (September 2006), Review ofMutilation and Transformation: Damnatio Memoriae and

Roman Imperial Portraiture by Eric R. Varner, The Art Bulletin.

160.

^ Champlin (2003), pp. 2931.161.


^ Plutarch, The Parallel Lives, The Life of Galba 9 (http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts

/Plutarch/Lives/Galba*.html#9).

163.


di 25 11/09/2013 14.03


23/25


â

b

Suetonius, The Lives of Twelve Caesars, Life of Otho 7 (http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman

/Texts/Suetonius/12Caesars/Otho*.html#7).

165.

^ Suetonius, The Lives of Twelve Caesars, Life of Vitellius 11 (http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman

/Texts/Suetonius/12Caesars/Vitellius*.html#11).

166.


/Texts/Suetonius/12Caesars/Nero*.html#57); Tacitus,Histories II.8; Cassius Dio,Roman History LXVI.19


167.

^ ab Augustine of Hippo, City of God.XX.19.3 (http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf102.iv.XX.19.html).168.â

b

Tacitus,Histories II.8.169.

^ Cassius Dio,Roman History LXVI.19 (http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Cassius_Dio

/66*.html#19).

170.

^ Suetonius, The Lives of Twelve Caears, Life of Nero 57 (http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman


171.

^ Suetonius. "Life of Nero, 51" (http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Suetonius/12Caesars

/Nero*.html#51). The Lives of Twelve Caesars.

172.

^ Tacitus,Annals I.1; Josephus,Antiquities of the Jews XX.8.3; Tacitus,Life of Gnaeus Julius Agricola 10;

Tacitus,Annals XIII.20.

173.

^ Tacitus,Annals XIII.20; Tacitus,Annals XIV.2.174.

^ Tacitus,Annals XIII.20; Josephus,Antiquities of the Jews XIX.1.13.175.^ Tacitus,Annals XIII.20.176.

^ Tacitus,Annals I.1; Josephus,Antiquities of the Jews XX.8.3.177.

^ Dio Chrysostom,Discourse XXI, On Beauty.178.

^ Josephus,Antiquities of the Jews XX.8.3.179.

^ Marcus Annaeus Lucanus, Pharsalia (Civil War) (c. 65) (http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext96/pcwar10.txt).180.

^ Pliny the Elder,Natural Histories VII.8.46 (http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/L/Roman/Texts

/Pliny_the_Elder/7*.html#viii).

181.

^ Seneca the Younger,Apocolocyntosis 4 (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/10001/10001-h/10001-h.htm).182.

^ Tacitus,Annals I.1.183.

^ Tacitus,History I.1.184.

^ Talmud, tractate Gitin 56a-b185.

^ Isaac, Benjamin (2004) The Invention of Racism in Classical Antiquity pp. 440491. Princeton.186.

^ Suetonius The Lives of Twelve Caesars, Life of Nero, chapter 16 (http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer

/E/Roman/Texts/Suetonius/12Caesars/Nero*.html#16).

187.

^ TertullianApologeticum, lost text quoted in [3] (http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/250102.htm), Eusebius,

Ecclesiastical History, II.25.4.

188.

â

b

Lactantius, Of the Manner in Which the Persecutors DiedII (http://www.ccel.org/fathers2/ANF-07

/anf07-15.htm).

189.

^ Sulpicius Severus, Chronica II.28 (http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/sulpiciusseveruschron2.html).190.

^ Suetonius The Lives of Twelve Caesars, Life of Claudius 25 (http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman

/Texts/Suetonius/12Caesars/Claudius*.html#25).

191.

^ Acts of the Apostles 18:2.192.

^ abAscension of Isaiah Chapter 4.2 (http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/ascension.html).193.^ Eusebius,Ecclesiastical History II.25.5 (http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/250102.htm).194.

^ In the apocryphal Acts of Paul (http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/actspaul.html), in the apocryphal

Acts of Peter (http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/actspeter.html), in the First Epistle of Clement 5:6

(http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/1clement-lightfoot.html), and in The Muratorian Fragment

(http://www.bible-researcher.com/muratorian.html).

195.

^ ApocryphalActs of Peter(http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/actspeter.html).196.

^ Lactantius wrote that Nero crucified Peter, and slew Paul., Lactantius, Of the Manner in Which the

Persecutors DiedII (http://www.ccel.org/fathers2/ANF-07/anf07-15.htm); John Chrysostom wrote Nero knew

Paul personally and had him killed, John Chrysostom, Concerning Lowliness of Mind4

(http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/1907.htm); Sulpicius Severus says Nero killed Peter and Paul, Sulpicius

Severus, Chronica II.2829 (http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/sulpiciusseveruschron2.html).

197.

^Sibylline Oracles 5.361376, 8.6872, 8.531157 (http://www.sacred-texts.com/cla/sib/index.htm).198.

^ Sulpicius Severus and Victorinus of Pettau also say that Nero is the Antichrist, Sulpicius Severus, Chronica

II.2829 (http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/sulpiciusseveruschron2.html); Victorinus of Pettau, Commentary on

the Apocalypse 17 (http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0712.htm).

199.


di 25 11/09/2013 14.03


24/25

^ "2 Thessalonians 2:7 Passage Lookup King James Version" (http://www.biblegateway.com/passage

/?book_id=60&chapter=2&verse=7&version=9&context=verse). BibleGateway.com. Retrieved 2010-11-09.

200.

^ The Book of Revelation (http://books.google.com/books?id=IzzAFl2ONfAC&pg=PA61), Catherine A. Cory.201.

^ Revelation (http://books.google.com/books?id=SkOg-tEYbR4C&pg=PA86), Alan John Philip Garrow.202.

^ Hillers, Delbert, Rev. 13, 18 and a scroll from Murabbaat, Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental

Research 170 (1963) 65.

203.

^ The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Ed. Raymond E. Brown, Joseph A. Fitzmyer, and Roland E. Murphy.

Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1990. 1009.

204.

^ Just, S.J., Ph.D., Prof. Felix. "The Book of Revelation, Apocalyptic Literature, and Millennial Movements,University of San Francisco, USF Jesuit Community" (http://catholic-resources.org/Bible/Apocalyptic.htm).

Retrieved 2007-05-18.

205.

References

Primary sources

Tacitus,Histories, IIV (c. 105) (http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/txt/ah/Tacitus/index.htm)

Tacitus,Annals, XIIIXVI (c. 117) (http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/txt/ah/Tacitus/index.htm)

Josephus, War of the Jews, Books IIVI (c. 94) (http://www.ccel.org/ccel/josephus/works/files/works.html)

Josephus,Antiquities of the Jews, Book XX (c. 94) (http://www.ccel.org/j/josephus/works/ant-20.htm)

Cassius Dio,Roman History, Books 6163 (c. 229) (http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman

/Texts/Cassius_Dio/home.html)

Plutarch, The Parallel Lives, The Life of Galba (c. 110) (http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer

/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Galba*.html)

Philostratus II,Life of Apollonius Tyana, Books 45, (c. 220) (http://www.livius.org/ap-ark/apollonius

/life/va_00.html)

Suetonius, The Lives of Twelve Caesars, the Life of Nero (c. 121) (http://penelope.uchicago.edu

/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Suetonius/12Caesars/Nero*.html)

Secondary sources

Benario, Herbert W. Nero (http://www.roman-emperors.org/nero.htm) atDe Imperatoribus Romanis.

Champlin, Edward (2005).Nero (http://books.google.com/books?isbn=0674018222). Harvard

University Press. p. 346. ISBN 978-0-674-01822-8.

Cronin, Vincent.Nero. London: Stacey International, 2010 (ISBN 1906768145).

Donahue, John, "Galba (6869 A.D.)" (http://www.roman-emperors.org/galba.htm) atDe

Imperatoribus Romanis.

Grant, Michael.Nero. New York: Dorset Press, 1989 (ISBN 0-88029-311-X).

Griffin, Miriam T.Nero: The End of a Dynasty. New Haven, CT; London: Yale University Press,1985 (hardcover, ISBN 0-300-03285-4); London; New York: Routledge, 1987 (paperback, ISBN

0-7134-4465-7).

Holland, Richard.Nero: The Man Behind the Myth. Stroud: Sutton Publishing, 2000 (paperback ISBN

0-7509-2876-X).

(French) Minaud, Grard,Les vies de 12 femmes dempereur romain - Devoirs, Intrigues & Volupts

, Paris, LHarmattan, 2012, ch. 4,La vie de Poppe, femme de Nron, p. 97-120 (ISBN

978-2-33600291-0).

Warmington, Brian Herbert.Nero: Reality and Legend. London: Chatto & Windus, 1969 (hardcover,

ISBN 0-7011-1438-X); New York: W.W Norton & Company, 1970 (paperback, ISBN

0-393-00542-9); New York: Vintage, 1981 (paperback, ISBN 0-7011-1454-1).

Nero (http://web.archive.org/web/20091027092615/http://geocities.com/gaiusulpius/nero.html) Nero:The Actor-Emperor

Nero (http://virtualreligion.net/iho/nero.html) entry in historical sourcebook by Mahlon H. Smith

Nero (http://www.romansonline.com/Persns.asp?IntID=5&Ename=Nero) basic data & select quotes

posted byRomans On Line (http://www.romansonline.com/)


di 25 11/09/2013 14.03


25/25

Nero Caesar (http://www.bible-history.com/nero/) biographical sketch archived inBible History

Online (http://www.bible-history.com/)

THE LIFE AND TIMES OF NERO By CARLO MARIA FRANZERO (BTM format)

(http://www.third-millennium-library.com/readinghall/GalleryofHistory/Nero/NERO-DOOR.html).

Nero's depiction in Tacitus' Annals (http://www.bijanomrani.com/?p=tacitus)

Nero Claudius Drusus Germanicus (http://www.ro

Documents

Nero - Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia