Nero

[The Roadie]

Okay, I confess, I kinda like Nero. It is in fact more than that I share birthday with him and actually have facial features reminiscent of his. I think that he rather than being only a spoiled brat also was a person who held on to some sort of idealistic vision of how the world should look like, upholding the arts, music and theatre as norms for the future.

 

It is my belief that the animosity of ancient Roman writers should be taken with a large grain of salt, especially as they themselves report that the Emperor had a large support base in the proletariat and amongst the slaves. During his reign, Nero often favoured the proletarii at the expense of the citizens and the aristocracy.

 

It is a myth that he fiddled while Rome burned. In fact, he opened the private gardens for the people of the city. His reconstruction programme was the blueprint of what Rome is today. At the end of his reign, he fell out with the aristocrats and started an extermination campaign against them - leading to the western provinces defecting and the Senate declaring Nero an enemy of the state.

 

Even after his death, he had a large following. Both Otho and Vitellius supported their claims on their relations to Nero, and several imposters appeared in the eastern provinces. Even amongst Jews, talmudic tradition tells that Nero converted to Judaism - which must be a sign of a certain popularity even amongst a group traditionally hostile to Roman heads of state.

 

I don't claim that Nero wasn't cruel, but what ruler of that era wasn't cruel?

 

So, is Nero misunderstood?

[Kosmo]

You may like the biography of Nero written by Ed. Champlin as it has some interesting ideas about him.

[caesar novus]

I have also run across sympathetic Nero trivia like the items you mention, but I don't know what to make of it all. He did seem irresponsible too. I can't understand why they mostly destroyed his palace instead of recycling, given the staggering investment. Of course there is a rationale, but it must have been very heartfelt for such destruction.

 

I recently viewed a dozen or so busts of Nero (and similar numbers for other emperors) in museums of Rome and Naples. I have got to say that the Nero ones seem to reek of immaturity, flakiness, and a sort of careless arrogance. They sometimes showed him so young that he wasn't yet in the top office.

 

Sometimes busts seem cookie cutter, like the Caracalla scowl. Even Hadrian always has the same inscrutable pose. Those I don't take seriously since they seem to be products of a publicity campaign. But when they vary I start to suspect I can rely on common denominators, like M. Aurelius being an absent minded professor or C. Augustus being a steely mind within a frail body. Nero was shown unflattering in so many ways, that I can't believe there isn't a hint of truth there. Of course I am talking about expressions, etc, not features you happen to be born with.

Edited June 6, 2010 by caesar novus

[the5500th]

I think we're all forgetting he kicked his wike to death and I think she might even have been pregnant. People like Julius Caesar were not cruel like Nero. Caesar was only really cruel in warfare and even then less so then other men of his time so to say they were all cruel is an exaggeration. I think it should be noted as well that Nero killed his own mother, if that doesn't scream sycho I don't know what does.

[The Roadie]

I think we're all forgetting he kicked his wike to death and I think she might even have been pregnant. People like Julius Caesar were not cruel like Nero. Caesar was only really cruel in warfare and even then less so then other men of his time so to say they were all cruel is an exaggeration. I think it should be noted as well that Nero killed his own mother, if that doesn't scream sycho I don't know what does.

 

It is of course possible that he kicked Poppaea to death, though I doubt it. Some authors mention a fever, others mention childbirth as the reasons for her death. I know some outrageous gossip about modern leaders, like for example that George W Bush as a kid liked to put firecrackers into frogs to watch them explode, or that Che Guevara was a zoophile.

[Thurinius]

I think we're all forgetting he kicked his wike to death and I think she might even have been pregnant. People like Julius Caesar were not cruel like Nero. Caesar was only really cruel in warfare and even then less so then other men of his time so to say they were all cruel is an exaggeration. I think it should be noted as well that Nero killed his own mother, if that doesn't scream sycho I don't know what does.

 

It is of course possible that he kicked Poppaea to death, though I doubt it. Some authors mention a fever, others mention childbirth as the reasons for her death. I know some outrageous gossip about modern leaders, like for example that George W Bush as a kid liked to put firecrackers into frogs to watch them explode, or that Che Guevara was a zoophile.

Most ancient writers even though hostile seem to recognise that Poppaea's death was an accident. He certainly mourned her greatly afterwards and clearly regretted her death.

But yep he did order his mother's execution - which is about as low as you can go.

The impression I get with Nero is that his world was created for him by those around him. A world where he could imagine he was a charioteer, a poet, a singer.

He was, though, undeniably popular with the people and in the Eastern Provinces. The Greeks loved him after he freed them from taxation. His popularity continued way after his death with many false Neros.

I agree the sources are hostile, Augustus bumped off a huge number of people but this is skipped over and forgotten.

What I like about Nero is that he feels like a real person, you get a real sense of his character from the sources; both good and bad. And boy, he had style!

[Ingsoc]

While most sources express deep hostility to Nero that coming from the Senatorial ranks and probably all the vicious stories about him are untrue (such as he enjoy the burning of Rome etc.) and yes it's true he was popular with the masses.

 

He was nevertheless a bad emperor, didn't have a real vision that he could act on, didn't understand the important of the emperor connection with the military and at the sign of the first real crises lost his nerve and committed suicide even thought he still had a good part of the army loyal to him. in short he was an amateur.

[The Roadie]

While most sources express deep hostility to Nero that coming from the Senatorial ranks and probably all the vicious stories about him are untrue (such as he enjoy the burning of Rome etc.) and yes it's true he was popular with the masses.

 

He was nevertheless a bad emperor, didn't have a real vision that he could act on, didn't understand the important of the emperor connection with the military and at the sign of the first real crises lost his nerve and committed suicide even thought he still had a good part of the army loyal to him. in short he was an amateur.

 

I think he saw himself more like a sort of ancient equivalent to Elvis or Michael Jackson, and attempted to be well-liked by the people. The idea for rebuilding Rome and putting all art there was a lot a consequence of his Hellenophilia and his vision for a sort of reborn utopian ideal world. The same could be said about his plans to weep and sing for the rebelling forces. The man just wanted to be loved.

[Thurinius]

While most sources express deep hostility to Nero that coming from the Senatorial ranks and probably all the vicious stories about him are untrue (such as he enjoy the burning of Rome etc.) and yes it's true he was popular with the masses.

 

He was nevertheless a bad emperor, didn't have a real vision that he could act on, didn't understand the important of the emperor connection with the military and at the sign of the first real crises lost his nerve and committed suicide even thought he still had a good part of the army loyal to him. in short he was an amateur.

 

I think he saw himself more like a sort of ancient equivalent to Elvis or Michael Jackson, and attempted to be well-liked by the people. The idea for rebuilding Rome and putting all art there was a lot a consequence of his Hellenophilia and his vision for a sort of reborn utopian ideal world. The same could be said about his plans to weep and sing for the rebelling forces. The man just wanted to be loved.

 

Which makes him sort of endearing

Though yep agree that he just didn't have what it takes to be an Emperor. Just not intelligent enough. He couldn't play the game that Augustus does so successfully, namely the more power you hold the less you flaunt it.

[the5500th]

He was a bad emporer and a bad person even if every story was exaggerated.

[caldrail]

I don't claim that Nero wasn't cruel, but what ruler of that era wasn't cruel?

 

So, is Nero misunderstood?

 

It depends on your viewpoint. Since he was the first emperor to target christians (He blamed them for the Great Fire of Rome ad64, rightly or wrongly, and had them used as torches to light the streets), he's sometimes described as an antichrist. Personally I think that's a little operatic, but clearly he was spiteful, insecure, ambitious, very unrestrained, and a desperate attention seeker.

[The Roadie]

Actually, that is more qualities which are existent amongst a lot of modern politicians, especially populist demagogues. These traits could also be turned into strengths given the right circumstances.

[Ursus]

I'll quote myself from my own review of Maty's "Sons of Caesar:"

 

Aside from his comittment to the liberal arts, Nero was a rather depraved fellow. But from this book's perspective, his main faults were four. First, he threatened to completely dissolve the Senate and rule through his courtiers. The Senate as a consultative body and pool of potential administrators was vital to the Empire, and had Nero had made good on his promise the empire would have been robbed of its capable elite. Second, Nero's Golden House alienated the people as a sign of extravagant luxury, and taxes used to finance it were bleeding the provinces try. He also alienated the Praetorians by having the popular Agrippina murdered. Finally he started the dangerous trend of debasing the currency which would cause severe inflation problems with the later empire. The only people left generally fond of Nero were the Greeks, as he had been an admirer and patron of their culture.

[Ludovicus]

I stumbled upon this hour long Yale lecture on "Nero and His Architectural Legacy." Very well done and beautifully viewable on the web, gratis!

 

http://academicearth.org/lectures/neros-architectural-legacy

[stella]

I stumbled upon this hour long Yale lecture on "Nero and His Architectural Legacy." Very well done and beautifully viewable on the web, gratis!

 

http://academicearth.org/lectures/neros-architectural-legacy

 

 

Just had a quick look at the site. Fabulous link! Thanks! Will keep me happy for days!