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Outline: |
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Introduction |
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I. Overview of his life |
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II. His mother |
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III. His villainous acts |
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IV. The Pisonian conspiracy |
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Conclusion |
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Outline: |
|
Introduction |
||
I. Overview of his life |
||
II. His mother |
||
III. His villainous acts |
||
IV. The Pisonian conspiracy |
||
Conclusion |
Nero is considered by some as being one of the manipulative and betraying
emperor Rome has ever seen. Throughout his short reign, Nero has undermined
so many devilish acts as well as persecute the innocent and the weak. Nero's
sexual desire drives him to do many uncivil acts such as killing his own
mother. The flaws in his character, which are so inevitably noticeable,
cause the downfall of his reign
Nero Claudius Caesar, originally known as Lucius Dominitus, was born on 15th of December AD 37. His mother was Julia Agrippina and his father was Cnaeus
Dominitus Ahenobarbos. Nero was able to become emperor because of his mother's
status in the Imperial family. Nero's grandfather was Germanicus, the head
of the Imperials and thus Nero was able to retain the emperor role in the
Roman Empire. In order to solidify his position as emperor, Nero married
Octavia, Augustus' daughter. And in AD 53, Nero officially took the position
as emperor. Nero was sought to be the most cynical and maniacal ruler in
the history of Roman empire. According to Suetonius, Nero 'retained only
the vices of his ancestors, and not noble qualities.' Nero committed suicide
on 18th of June AD 68 due to his failure to maintain Rome under control.
Agrippina was the mother of Nero who helped him to receive the throne. Agrippina
did many uncivil deeds, such as kill the skeptics who viewed Nero as incompetent
and evil. Agrippina also was the one who always warned Nero and basically
nurtured his growth. She however was betrayed by Nero, because she warned
Nero of Poppaea his mistress. Poppaea persuaded Nero to kill his mother
in order for the two to have an intimate relationship. Agrippina was killed
on AD 56.
During Nero's reign, he committed many horrendous acts, which rouse many
questions as to the sanity of their leader. One of the first evil acts that
he committed was the nullification of the Republic. Nero did not follow
the government form that had already been established in the land, the government
which brought them success and prosperity; instead, he basically became a
dictator. Another flaw was that Nero was sexually active. Though Nero was
married to Octavia, he was willing to behead her in order to marry his mistress
Poppaea. His mother tried to convince Nero that without Octavia, his jurisdiction
over the land would be nullified. However, Nero wanted Poppaea so desperately,
he killed both Octavia and Agrippina, his own mother. A major flaw in his
character was his desire for material things. Sources say that Nero so desired
a new kingdom, he purposefully set a conflagration in Rome which burned everything
down. The public was becoming very suspicious of Nero !
and his actions and started to rebel against their leader; in order to bail
himself out, Nero blamed the fire and all of his faults on the Christians.
The Christians were the scapegoats. Nero started to persecute Christians
continuously and the public at first bought into this false reasoning, but
later found out Nero's master plan.
The Pisonian Conspiracy was a group of conspirators trying to dethrone Nero.
The two leaders of the group were one of Nero's former companions. It was
Seneca, the tutor of Agrippina appointed for Nero, and Burrus, the advisor
of the emperor. The two were disgusted with Nero's evil acts and unjustifiable
reasons. This group of people were unsuccessful in impeaching Nero, but
they instigated the doubts that were cast on their, Nero Claudius Caesar.
Galba was one of Nero military leaders who lead a small group of military
forces into battles. Galba lost trust in Nero and felt that Nero wasn't
treating all the military men equally. Galba also decided to conspire against
Nero; his persuasions were very effective and thus the Senate was able to
back his cause. Galba took away the throne in AD 62 and he became the next
Roman Leader.
The infamous leaders of the time, Hitler, Stalin, etc., have all some
connection with Nero in that Hitler persecuted many Christians as a scapegoat
and Stalin unless dictatorship that he tried to manipulate. Nero can be
considered as one of the world's most corrupt leaders for his reign left Rome
in a state of shock and distress. Nero similarities to the world's infamous
leaders proves the parallels classifies Nero as a villainous and evil emperor.
The content of this page was written by Philip Lee.