Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (15
December AD 37 – 9 June AD 68), born
Lucius Domitius
Ahenobarbus, also called
Nero Claudius Caesar
Drusus Germanicus, was the fifth and last
Roman emperor of the
Julio-Claudian dynasty. Nero was
adopted by his great uncle
Claudius to
become heir to the throne. As Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus
Germanicus, he succeeded to the throne on 13 October 54, following
Claudius's death.
Nero ruled from 54 to 68, focusing much of his attention on
diplomacy, trade, and increasing the cultural capital of the
empire. He ordered the building of theaters and promoted athletic
games. His reign included a
successful
war and negotiated peace with the
Parthian Empire (58–63), the suppression of
the
British revolt
(60–61) and improving relations with Greece. The
First Roman-Jewish War (66–70)
started during his reign. In 68 a military coup drove Nero from the
throne. Facing assassination, he committed suicide on 9 June
68.
Nero's rule is often associated with tyranny and extravagance. He
is known for a number of executions, including those of his mother
and step-brother, as the emperor who "fiddled while
Rome burned", and as an early persecutor
of
Christians. This view is based upon
the main surviving sources for Nero's reign—
Tacitus,
Suetonius and
Cassius Dio. Few surviving sources paint
Nero in a favorable light. Some sources, though, including some
mentioned above, portray him as an emperor who was popular with the
common Roman people, especially in the East. The study of Nero is
problematic as some modern historians question the reliability of
ancient sources when reporting on Nero's tyrannical acts.
Early life
Family
Nero was
born with the name Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus on 15 December, AD
37, in Antium
, near
Rome. He was the only son of
Gnaeus Domitius
Ahenobarbus and second and third cousin
Agrippina the Younger, sister of
emperor
Caligula.
Lucius' father was the grandson of
Gnaeus Domitius
Ahenobarbus and
Aemilia Lepida
through their son
Lucius Domitius
Ahenobarbus. Gnaeus was a grandson to
Mark Antony and
Octavia
Minor through their daughters
Antonia
Major and
Antonia Minor, by each
parent. With Octavia, he 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. Nero's father was described by Suetonius as a murderer
and a cheat who was charged by emperor
Tiberius with treason, adultery, and incest.
Tiberius died, allowing him to escape these charges. Nero's father
died of
edema (or "dropsy") in 39 AD when Nero
was three.
Lucius' mother was Agrippina the Younger, who was
great-granddaughter to Caesar
Augustus and
his wife
Scribonia through their daughter
Julia the Elder and her husband
Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa.
Agrippina's father,
Germanicus, was
grandson to 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
was Augustus' second elder sister. Germanicus was also the adoptive
son of
Tiberius. A number of ancient
historians accuse Agrippina of murdering her third husband, emperor
Claudius.
- See Roman Emperors family
tree.
Physical appearance
In the book "The Lives of the Twelve Caesars" the Roman historian
Suetonius describes Nero as "about the
average height, his body marked with spots and
malodorous, his hair dark doodoo brown, his
features regular rather than attractive, his eyes blue and somewhat
weak, his neck over thick, his belly prominent, and his legs very
slender."
Rise to power
Nero was not expected ever to become emperor because his maternal
uncle,
Caligula, had begun his reign at the
age of 25 with ample time to produce his own heir. Lucius' mother,
Agrippina, lost favor with Caligula and was exiled in 39 after her
husband's death. Caligula seized Lucius's inheritance and sent him
to be raised by his less wealthy aunt,
Domitia Lepida.
Caligula, his wife
Caesonia and their
infant daughter
Julia Drusilla were
murdered in 41. These events led
Claudius,
Caligula's uncle, to become emperor. Claudius allowed Agrippina to
return from exile.
Claudius had married twice before marrying
Messalina. His previous marriages produced three
children including a son, Drusus, who died at a young age. He had
two children with Messalina -
Claudia
Octavia (b. 40) and
Britannicus (b.
41). Messalina was executed by Claudius in 48.In 49, Claudius
married a fourth time, to Agrippina. To aid Claudius politically,
Lucius was officially adopted in 50 and renamed
Nero Claudius
Caesar Drusus (see
adoption in
Rome). Nero was older than his stepbrother, Britannicus, and
became heir to the throne.
Nero was proclaimed an adult in 51 at the age of 14. He was
appointed
proconsul, entered and first
addressed the
Senate, made joint public
appearances with Claudius, and was featured in coinage. In 53, he
married his stepsister
Claudia
Octavia.
Emperor
Early rule
Claudius died in 54 and Nero was
established as emperor. Though accounts vary greatly, many ancient
historians state
Agrippina
poisoned Claudius. It is not known how much Nero knew or was
involved in the death of Claudius.
Nero became emperor at 16, the youngest emperor up until that time.
Ancient historians describe Nero's early reign as being strongly
influenced by his mother
Agrippina, his tutor
Lucius Annaeus Seneca, and the Praetorian
Prefect
Sextus Afranius
Burrus, especially in the first year. Other tutors were less
often mentioned, such as
Alexander of
Aegae.
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. Nero's personal friends also mistrusted Agrippina
and told Nero to beware of his mother. Nero was reportedly
unsatisfied with his marriage to
Octavia and entered an affair with
Claudia Acte, a former slave. 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.
With Agrippina's influence over her son severed, she reportedly
began pushing for Britannicus, Nero's stepbrother, to become
emperor. Nearly fifteen-year-old Britannicus, heir-designate prior
to Nero's adoption, was still legally a minor, but was approaching
legal adulthood. 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.
However, the youth died suddenly and suspiciously on 12 February,
55, the very day before his proclamation as an adult had been set.
Nero claimed that Britannicus died from an epileptic seizure, but
ancient historians all claim Britannicus' death came from Nero's
poisoning him. After the death of Britannicus, Agrippina was
accused of slandering Octavia and Nero ordered her out of the
imperial residence.
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. Pallas, along
with
Burrus, was accused of conspiring
against the emperor to bring
Faustus Sulla to the throne.
Seneca was accused of having
relations with Agrippina and embezzlement. Seneca was successfully
able to have himself, Pallas and Burrus acquitted. According to
Cassius Dio, at this time, Seneca and
Burrus reduced their role in governing from careful management to
mere moderation of Nero.
In 58, Nero became romantically involved with
Poppaea Sabina, the wife of his friend and
future emperor
Otho. Reportedly because a
marriage to Poppaea and a divorce from Octavia did not seem
politically feasible with Agrippina alive, Nero ordered the murder
of his mother in 59. A number of modern historians find this an
unlikely motive as Nero did not marry Poppaea until 62.
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. Some modern historians theorize that
Nero's execution of Agrippina was prompted by her plotting to set
Rubellius Plautus on the throne.
According to
Suetonius, Nero tried to kill
his mother through a planned shipwreck, but when she survived, he
had her executed and framed it as a suicide. The incident is also
recorded by Tacitus.
In 62 Nero's adviser,
Burrus, died.
Additionally, Seneca was again faced with embezzlement charges.
Seneca asked Nero for permission to retire from public affairs.
Nero divorced and banished
Octavia
on grounds of infertility, leaving him free to marry the pregnant
Poppaea. After public protests, Nero was forced to allow Octavia to
return from exile, but she was executed shortly after her return.
Nero also was reported to have kicked Poppaea to death in 65 before
she could have his second child. However, modern historians, noting
Suetonius, Tacitus and Cassius Dio's possible bias against Nero and
the likelihood that they did not have eyewitness accounts of
private events, postulate that Poppaea may have died because of
complications of miscarriage or childbirth.
Accusations of treason being plotted against Nero and the Senate
first appeared in 62. 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. 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. According to
Suetonius, Nero "showed neither discrimination nor moderation in
putting to death whomsoever he pleased" during this period.
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. By 65, senators
complained that they had no power left and this led to the
Pisonian conspiracy.
Administrative policies
Coin showing Nero distributing charity
to a citizen.
c.
Over the course of his reign, Nero often made rulings that pleased
the lower class. Nero was criticised as being obsessed with being
popular.
Nero began his reign in 54 by promising the Senate more autonomy.
In this first year, he forbade others to refer to him with regard
to enactments, for which he was praised by the Senate. Nero was
known for spending his time visiting brothels and taverns during
this period.
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.
Under Nero, restrictions were put on the amount of bail and fines.
Also, fees for lawyers were limited. 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.
Nero supported the freedmen and ruled that patrons had no such
right. The Senate tried to pass a law in which the crimes of one
slave applied to all slaves within a household. Nero vetoed the
measure. After tax collectors were accused of being too harsh to
the poor, Nero transferred collection authority to lower
commissioners. 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. Additionally, there were
many impeachments and removals of government officials along with
arrests for extortion and corruption. When further complaints arose
that the poor were being overly taxed, Nero attempted to repeal all
indirect taxes. The Senate convinced him this action would bankrupt
the public treasury. As a compromise, taxes were cut from 4.5% to
2.5%. Additionally, secret government tax records were ordered to
become public. To lower the cost of food imports, merchant ships
were declared tax-exempt.
In imitation of the Greeks, Nero built a number of gymnasiums and
theatres. Enormous gladiatorial shows were also held. Nero also
established the
quinquennial
Neronia. The festival included games, poetry and theater.
Historians indicate that there was a belief that theatre led to
immorality. Others considered that to have performers dressed in
Greek clothing was old fashioned. Some questioned the large public
expenditure on entertainment.
In 64,
Rome burned. Nero enacted
a public relief effort as well as significant reconstruction. 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
. In 67, Nero attempted to have a canal dug at
the Isthmus of
Corinth
. Ancient historians state that these
projects and others exacerbated the drain on the State's
budget.
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." Modern historians, though, note that the
period was riddled with deflation and that it is likely that Nero's
spending came in the form of public works projects and charity
intended to ease economic troubles.
Great Fire of Rome
The Great Fire of Rome erupted on the night of 18 July to 19 July,
AD 64. The fire started at the southeastern end of the Circus
Maximus in shops selling flammable goods.
The extent of the fire is uncertain. According to
Tacitus, who was nine at the time of the fire, it
spread quickly and burned for over five days. It completely
destroyed three of fourteen Roman districts and severely damaged
seven. The only other historian who lived through the period and
mentioned the fire is
Pliny the
Elder, who wrote about it in passing. Other historians who
lived through the period (including
Josephus,
Dio
Chrysostom,
Plutarch, and
Epictetus) make no mention of it.
It is uncertain who or what actually caused the fire — whether
accident or
arson.
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 by torture. However, fires started
accidentally were common in ancient Rome. In fact, Rome suffered
another large fire in 69 and in 80.
It was said by Suetonius and Cassius Dio that Nero sang the
"
Sack of Ilium" in stage costume while
the city burned. 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. Tacitus also said that Nero playing his lyre
and singing while the city burned was only rumor.
According to Tacitus, upon hearing news of the fire, Nero returned
back to Rome to organize a relief effort, which he paid for from
his own funds. 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. 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.
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 statue of himself, the
Colossus of
Nero
. The size of this complex is debated (from
100 to 300 acres). To find the necessary funds for the
reconstruction, tributes were imposed on the provinces of the
empire.
According to Tacitus, the population searched for a scapegoat and
rumors held Nero responsible. To deflect blame, Nero targeted
Christians. He ordered Christians to be thrown to dogs, while
others were crucified and burned.
Tacitus described the event:
Public performances
Nero enjoyed driving a one-horse chariot, singing to the lyre and
poetry. He even composed songs that were performed by other
entertainers throughout the empire. At first, Nero only performed
for a private audience.
In 64,
Nero began singing in public in Neapolis
in order to
improve his popularity. He also sang at the second
quinquennial Neronia in 65. It was said
that Nero craved the attention, but historians also write that Nero
was encouraged to sing and perform in public by the Senate, his
inner circle and the people. Ancient historians strongly criticize
his choice to perform, calling it shameful.
Nero was convinced to participate in the
Olympic Games of 67 in order to
improve relations with Greece and display Roman dominance. As a
competitor, Nero raced a ten-horse chariot and nearly died after
being thrown from it. He also performed as an actor and a singer.
Though Nero faltered in his racing (in one case, dropping out
entirely before the end) and acting competitions, he won these
crowns nevertheless and paraded them when he returned to Rome. The
victories are attributed to Nero bribing the judges and his status
as emperor.
War and peace with Parthia
Shortly after Nero's accession to the throne in 55, the Roman
vassal kingdom
of Armenia overthrew their prince
Rhadamistus and he was replaced with the
Parthian prince
Tiridates. This was seen as a
Parthian invasion of Roman territory. There was concern in Rome
over how the young emperor would handle the situation. Nero reacted
by immediately sending the military to the region under the command
of
Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo.
The Parthians temporarily relinquished control of Armenia to
Rome.
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. The Parthians
began a full-scale invasion of the Armenian kingdom. Commander
Corbulo responded and repelled most of the Parthian army that same
year. Tiridates retreated and Rome again controlled most of
Armenia.
Nero was acclaimed in public for this initial victory.
Tigranes, a Cappadocian noble raised
in Rome, was installed by Nero as the new ruler of Armenia. Corbulo
was appointed governor of Syria as a reward.
In 62, Tigranes invaded the Parthian province of
Adiabene. 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. Corbulo tried to convince Nero
to continue the war, but Nero opted for a peace deal instead. There
was anxiety in Rome about eastern grain supplies and a budget
deficit.
The result was a deal where Tiridates again became the Armenian
king, but was crowned in Rome by emperor Nero. 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.
This peace deal of 63 was a considerable victory for Nero
politically. Nero became very popular in the eastern provinces of
Rome and with the Parthians as well. 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. Like many
emperors, Nero faced a number of rebellions and power struggles
within the empire.
- British Revolt of 60–61 (Boudica's Uprising)
In 60, a major rebellion broke out in the province of
Britannia.
While the governor Gaius Suetonius Paullinus and his
troops were busy capturing the island of Mona (Anglesey
) from the
druids, the tribes of the south-east staged a revolt led by queen
Boudica of the Iceni. Boudica and her troops destroyed three
cities before the army of Paullinus was able to return, be
reinforced and put down the rebellion in 61. Fearing Paullinus
himself would provoke further rebellion, Nero replaced him with the
more passive
Publius
Petronius Turpilianus.
- The Pisonian Conspiracy of 65
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. According to Tacitus, many
conspirators wished to "rescue the state" from the emperor and
restore the
Republic. The freedman
Milichus discovered the conspiracy and reported it to Nero's
secretary,
Epaphroditos. As a result,
the conspiracy failed and its members were executed including
Lucan, the poet. Nero's
previous advisor,
Seneca was
ordered to commit suicide after admitting he discussed the plot
with the conspirators.
- The First Jewish War of 66–70
In 66, there was a
Jewish
revolt in Judea stemming from Greek and Jewish religious
tension. In 67, Nero dispatched
Vespasian
to restore order. This revolt was eventually put down in 70, after
Nero's death.
This revolt is famous for Romans breaching
the walls of Jerusalem and destroying the Second Temple of
Jerusalem
.
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.
Lucius Verginius Rufus, the governor
of
Germania Superior, was ordered
to put down Vindex's rebellion. In an attempt to gain support from
outside his own province, Vindex called upon
Servius Sulpicius Galba, the governor of
Hispania Tarraconensis, to join the
rebellion and further, to declare himself emperor in opposition to
Nero. At the
Battle of Vesontio
in May 68, Verginius' forces easily defeated those of Vindex and
the latter committed suicide. 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.
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. However he abandoned the idea
when some army officers openly refused to obey his commands,
responding with a line from
Vergil's
Aeneid: "Is it so dreadful a thing
than 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.
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, none replied. Upon going to their chambers personally, all
were abandoned. Upon calling 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.
Returning again, Nero sought for some place where he could hide and
collect his thoughts. An imperial freedman offered his villa,
located 4 miles outside the city. Travelling in disguise, Nero and
four loyal servants reached the villa, where Nero ordered them to
dig a grave for him. As it was being prepared, he said again and
again "What an artist dies in me!". 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. After quoting a line from
Homer's
Iliad ("Hark,
now strikes on my ear the trampling of swift-footed coursers!")
Nero drove a dagger into his throat. In this he was aided by his
private secretary,
Epaphroditos. When
one of the horsemen entered, upon his seeing Nero all but dead he
attempted to stanch the bleeding. With the words "Too late! This is
fidelity!", Nero died on 9 June 68. This was the anniversary of the
death of Octavia.
Nero was buried in the Mausoleum of the
Domitii Ahenobarbi, in what is now the Villa Borghese (Pincian Hill
) area of Rome.
With his death, the
Julio-Claudian dynasty came to an
end. Chaos ensued in the
Year
of the Four Emperors.
After death
According to Suetonius and Cassius Dio, the people of Rome
celebrated the death of Nero. Tacitus, though, describes a more
complicated political environment. Tacitus mentions that Nero's
death was welcomed by Senators, nobility and the upper-class. 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. Members of the military were
said to have mixed feelings, as they had allegiance to Nero, but
were bribed to overthrow him.
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" and that he "held our liberties in his hand and
respected them."
Modern scholarship generally holds that, while the Senate and more
well-off individuals welcomed Nero's death, the general populace
was "loyal to the end and beyond, for Otho and Vitellius both
thought it worthwhile to appeal to their nostalgia."
Nero's name was erased from some monuments, in what Edward Champlin
regards as "outburst of private zeal". Many portraits of Nero were
reworked to represent other figures; according to Eric R. Varner,
over fifty such images survive. 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). Champlin, however,
doubts that the practice is necessarily negative and notes that
some continued to create images of Nero long after his death.
The civil war during the
Year
of the Four Emperors was described by ancient historians as a
troubling period. 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.
Galba began his short reign with the
execution of many allies of Nero and possible future enemies. One
notable enemy included
Nymphidius
Sabinus, who claimed to be the son of emperor
Caligula.
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. It was said that the common
Roman hailed Otho as Nero himself. Otho used "Nero" as a surname
and reerected many statues to Nero.
Vitellius overthrew Otho. Vitellius began his
reign with a large funeral for Nero complete with songs written by
Nero.
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. 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
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. After persuading some
to recognize him, he was captured and executed. Sometime during the
reign of
Titus (79-81) there was another
impostor who appeared in Asia and also sang to the accompaniment of
the lyre and looked like Nero but he, too, was killed. Twenty years
after Nero's death, during the reign of
Domitian, there was a third pretender. Supported by
the Parthians, they hardly could be persuaded to give him up and
the matter almost came to war.
Historiography
The history of Nero’s 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. The
original sources were also said to contradict on a number of
events. Nonetheless, these lost primary sources were the basis of
surviving secondary and tertiary histories on Nero written by the
next generations of historians. 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. There were also pro-Nero
histories, but it is unknown who wrote them or on what deeds Nero
was praised.
The bulk of what is known of Nero comes from
Tacitus,
Suetonius and
Cassius Dio, who were all of the
Patrician 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 Nero’s death. These sources contradict
on a number of events in Nero’s 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 paint Nero in a
favorable light. Some sources, though, portray him as a competent
emperor who was popular with the Roman people, especially in the
east.
- Cassius Dio
Cassius Dio (
c. 155- 229) 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, as also proconsul in Africa and Pannonia.
Books 61–63 of Dio's
Roman History describe the reign of
Nero. Only fragments of these books remain and what does remain was
abridged and altered by
John
Xiphilinus, an 11th century monk.
- Dio Chrysostom
Dio Chrysostom (
c. 40– 120),
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:
- Epictetus
Epictetus (
c. 55- 135) 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. 37-
100), while calling Nero a tyrant, was also the first to mention
bias against Nero. Of other historians, he said:
- Lucan
Though more of a poet than historian,
Lucanus (
c. 39- 65) 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.
- Philostratus
Philostratus II "the Athenian"
(
c. 172- 250) spoke of Nero in the
Life of Apollonius Tyana (Books
4–5). Though he has a generally a 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. 24- 79) did not survive. Still, there are
several references to Nero in Pliny's
Natural Histories.
Pliny has one of the worst opinions of Nero and calls him an "enemy
of mankind."
- Plutarch
Plutarch (
c. 46- 127) 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 BC- 65), Nero's teacher and advisor, writes very
well of Nero.
- Suetonius
Suetonius (
c. 69- 130) 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
The
Annals by
Tacitus (
c.
56- 117) 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:
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.
Nero and religion
Jewish tradition
At the end of 66, conflict broke out between Greeks and Jews in
Jerusalem and Caesarea. According to a Jewish tradition in the
Talmud (
tractate
Gitin 56a-b), Nero went to Jerusalem and shot
arrows in all four directions. All the arrows landed in the city.
He then 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).
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.
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 sources nowhere report
Nero's alleged conversion to Judaism, a religion considered by the
Romans as extremely barbaric and immoral. It seems unlikely that
such sources - almost universally hostile towards the emperor -
would have passed up the opportunity to denigrate Nero even further
by mentioning this alleged conversion. Neither is there any record
of Nero having any offspring who survived infancy: his only
recorded child,
Claudia Augusta,
died aged 4 months. The legend recorded in the Talmud thus cannot
be relied upon as a historical source for facts on Nero's
life.
Christian tradition
Early
Christian tradition often holds Nero
as the first persecutor of Christians and as the killer of
Apostles Peter and
Paul. There was also a belief among
some early Christians that Nero was the
Antichrist.
- First Persecutor
The non-Christian historian
Tacitus
describes Nero extensively torturing and executing Christians after
the fire of 64.
Suetonius also mentions
Nero punishing Christians, though he does so as a praise and does
not connect it with the fire.
The Christian writer
Tertullian
(
c. 155- 230) 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".
Lactantius (
c. 240- 320) also
said Nero "first persecuted the servants of God". as does
Sulpicius Severus. However, Suetonius
gives that "since the Jews constantly made disturbances at the
instigation of Chrestus, he [the emperor
Claudius] expelled them from Rome" ("
Iudaeos
impulsore Chresto assidue tumultuantis Roma expulit"). 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."
- Killer of Peter and Paul
The first text to suggest that Nero killed an apostle is the
apocryphal
Ascension 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.
The
Bishop Eusebius of
Caesarea
(c. 275- 339) was the first to
write that Paul was beheaded in Rome during the reign of Nero. He
states that Nero's persecution led to Peter and Paul's deaths, but
that Nero did not give any specific orders. Several other accounts
have Paul surviving his two years in Rome and traveling to
Hispania.
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). 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.
- The Antichrist
The
Ascension of Isaiah
is the first text to suggest that Nero was the
Antichrist. It claims 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.
The
Sibylline Oracles, Book 5 and
8, written in the 2nd century, speaks of Nero returning and
bringing destruction. Within Christian communities, these writings,
along with others, fueled the belief that Nero 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.
In 422,
Augustine of Hippo wrote
about 2 Thessalonians 2:1–11, 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," he alluded to
Nero, whose deeds already seemed to be as the deeds of
Antichrist.
Most scholars, 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 number
666 in the
Book of Revelation is a code for Nero, a
view that is also supported in
Roman
Catholic Biblical commentaries. When treated as Hebrew numbers,
the letters of Nero's name add up either to 616 or 666,
representing the two devil numbers given in ancient versions of
Revelation and the two ways of spelling his name in Hebrew (NERO
and NERON).
The concept of Nero as the Antichrist is often a central belief of
Preterist eschatology.
Nero in post-ancient culture
Nero in medieval and Renaissance literature
Usually as a stock exemplar of vice or a bad ruler:
Nero in modern culture
Nero in music
Nero is the main (or at least an important character) of some
musical works, as the operas.
He is also an inspiration for:
He is referenced in:
Nero in IT
Ancestry
Notes
- Nero's birth day is listed in Suetonius, The Lives of
Twelve Caesars, Life of Nero 6. His death day is uncertain, though, perhaps
because Galba was declared emperor before Nero lived. A June 9th
death day comes 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 June 11th.
- Suetonius states that Nero committed suicide in Suetonius,
The Lives of Twelve Caesars, Life of Nero 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.
- 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. 494–515.
- References to Nero's matricide appear in the Sibylline
Oracles 5.490–520, Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury
Tales The Monk's Tale, and William Shakespeare's
Hamlet 3.ii.
- Nero was not a fiddle player, but a lyre player. He also had a
morbid fear of grapes.[1] Suetonius states Nero played the lyre while
Rome burned, see Suetonius, The Lives of Twelve Caesars,
Life of Nero 38; For a detailed explanation of this
transition see M.F. Gyles "Nero Fiddled while Rome Burned", The
Classical Journal (1948), pp. 211-217 [2].
- These include Lucan's Civil War, Seneca the Younger's
On Mercy and Dio Chrysostom's Discourses along
with various Roman coins and inscriptions.
- Tacitus, Histories I.4, I.5, I.13, II.8; Suetonius,
The Lives of Twelve Caesars, Life of Nero 57, Life of Otho 7, Life of Vitellius 11;
Philostratus II, The Life of Apollonius 5.41; Dio
Chrysostom, Discourse XXI, On Beauty.
- On fire and Christian persecution, see F.W. Clayton, "Tacitus
and Christian Persecution", The Classical Quarterly, pp.
81-85; 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. 36-52 (ISBN 0-674-01192-9).
- Suetonius, The Lives of Twelve Caesars, Life of Nero
1.
- Suetonius, The Lives of Twelve Caesars, Life of Nero
6.
- Suetonius, The Lives of Twelve Caesars, Life of Nero
5.
- Tacitus, Annals XII.66; Cassius
Dio, Roman History LXI.34; Suetonius, The Lives of Twelve
Caesars, Life of Claudius 44; Josephus is less sure, Josephus,
Antiquities of the Jews XX.8.1.
- Suetonius, The Lives of Twelve Caesars, Life of
Caligula 29.
- Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews XIX.1.14,
XIX.2.4.
- Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews XIX.3.2.
- Suetonius, The Lives of Twelve Caesars, Life of
Claudius 26.
- Suetonius, The Lives of Twelve Caesars, Life of
Claudius 27.
- Tacitus, Annals XII.25.
- Tacitus, Annals XII.26.
- Tacitus, Annals XII.41.
- Tacitus, Annals XII.58.
- Cassius Dio's and Suetonius' accounts claim Nero knew of the
murder, Cassius Dio, Roman History LXI.35, Suetonius, The Lives of Twelve
Caesars, Life of Nero 33; Tacitus' and Josephus' accounts only
mention Agrippina, Tacitus, Annals XII.65, Josephus,
Antiquities of the Jews XX.8.1.
- Augustus was 35, Tiberius was 56, Caligula was 25 and Cladius
was 50.
- 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.3-7.
- Tacitus, Annals XIII.5.
- Tacitus, Annals XIII.13.
- Tacitus, Annals XIII.12.
- Tacitus, Annals XIII.14.
- Tacitus, Annals XIII.14.
- Tacitus, Annals XIII.16.
- Tacitus, Annals XIII.16;
Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, XX.8.2;
Suetonius, The Lives of Twelve Caesars, Life of Nero
33; Cassius Dio, Roman History
LXI.7.
- Tacitus, Annals XIII.18-21.
- Tacitus, Annals XIII.23.
- Cassius Dio, Roman History LXI.10.
- Cassius Dio, Roman History LXI.7.
- Tacitus, Annals XIII.46.
- Tacitus, Annals XIV.1.
- Dawson, Alexis, "Whatever Happened to Lady Agrippina?", The
Classical Journal, 1969, p. 254.
- Suetonius, The Lives of Twelve Caesars, Life of Otho
3.
- Rogers, Robert, Heirs and Rivals to Nero, 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.
- Suetonius, The Lives of Twelve Caesars, Life of Nero
34.
- Tacitus, "The Annals".
- Tacitus, Annals XIV.51.
- Tacitus, Annals XIV.52.
- Tacitus, Annals XIV.53.
- Tacitus, Annals XIV.60.
- Tacitus, Annals XIV.64.
- Farquhar, Michael (2001). A Treasure of Royal
Scandals, p.216. Penguin Books, New York. ISBN
0739420259.
- Rudich, Vasily, Political Dissidence Under Nero, p.
134.
- Tacitus, Annals XIV.48.
- Tacitus, Annals XIV.49.
- Tacitus, Annals XIV.65.
- Suetonius, The Lives of Twelve Caesars, Life of Nero
37.
- Tacitus, Annals XIII.4.
- Tacitus, Annals XV.51.
- Suetonius, The Lives of Twelve Caesars, Life of Nero
53; Gibbon, Edward, The History of The
Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire Vol. I, Chap. VI.
- Tacitus, Annals XIII.25.
- 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; The unknown author of Epitome de
Caesaribus also mentions Trajan's praise of the first five or
so years of Nero Auctor incertus Epitome De Caesarbius 5.
- Tacitus, Annals XIII.28.
- Suetonius, The Lives of Twelve Caesars, Life of Nero
17.
- Tacitus, Annals XIII.26.
- Tacitus, Annals XIII.27.
- Tacitus, Annals XIV.45.
- Tacitus, Annals XIII.31.
- Tacitus, Annals XIII.30,
XIV.18,
XIV.40,
XIV.46.
- Tacitus, Annals XIII.50.
- Tacitus, Annals XIII.51.
- Tacitus, Annals XIV.20.
- Suetonius, The Lives of Twelve Caesars, Life of Nero
12.
- Tacitus, Annals XIV.21.
- Tacitus, Annals XV.38.
- Tacitus, Annals XV.43.
- Tacitus, Annals XV.42.
- 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. 98–119.
- Tacitus, Annals XVI.3.
- Suetonius, The Lives of Twelve Caesars, Life of Nero
31.
- Tacitus, Annals wikisource:The
Annals /Book 15#45 XV.45.
- Thornton, Mary Elizabeth Kelly "Nero's New Deal,"
Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological
Association, Vol. 102, (1971), p. 629.
- Tacitus, Annals XV.38.
- 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.
- Pliny the Elder, Natural Histories, XVII.1.5, Pliny mentions trees that lasted
"down to the Emperor Nero’s conflagration".
- Suetonius, Life of Nero 38; Cassius Dio, Roman History
LXII.16.
- Tacitus Annals XV.44.
- Juvenal writes that Rome suffered from perpetual fires and
falling houses Juvenal, Satires 3.7,
3.195, 3.214.
- Tacitus, Histories I.2.
- Suetonius, Lives of Twelve Caesars, Life of Titus
8.
- Suetonius, The Lives of Twelve Caesars, Life of Nero,
38; Cassius Dio, Roman History
LXII.16.
- Tacitus, Annals XV.39.
- Roth, Leland M. (1993). Understanding Architecture: Its
Elements, History and Meaning, First, Boulder, CO: Westview Press,
pp. 227-8. ISBN 0-06-430158-3.
- Ball, Larry F. (2003). The Domus Aurea and the Roman
architectural revolution. Cambridge University Press. ISBN
0521822513.
- Warden reduces its size to under . Warden, P.G., "The Domus
Aurea Reconsidered," Journal of the Society of Architectural
Historians 40 (1981) pp. 271-278.
- Tacitus, Annals XV.45.
- Tacitus, Annals XIV.14,
XIV.16.
- Philostratus II, Life of Apollonius 4.39; Suetonius, The Lives of Twelve
Caesars, Life of Vitellius 11.
- Tacitus, Annals XV.33.
- Suetonius, The Lives of Twelve Caesars Life of Nero
21.
- Suetonius, The Lives of Twelve Caesars, Life of Nero
33.
- Tacitus, Annals XVI.4; Suetonius,
The Lives of Twelve Caesars, Life of Vitellius 11; Suetonius, The Lives of Twelve
Caesars, Life of Nero 10, 21.
- Tacitus, Annals XIV.15; Cassius
Dio, Roman History LXI.19.
- Philostratus II, Life of Apollonius 5.7.
- Suetonius, The Lives of Twelve Caesars, Life of Nero
24.
- Suetonius, The Lives of Twelve Caesars, Life of Nero
25.
- Suetonius The Lives of Twelve Caesars, Life of Nero
23, 24.
- Tacitus, Annals XIII.7.
- Tacitus, Annals XIII.8.
- Tacitus, Annals XIII.9.
- Tacitus, Annals XIII.10.
- Tacitus, Annals XIII.42.
- Tacitus, Annals XIII.55.
- Tacitus, Annals XIII.56.
- Tacitus, Annals XIV.36.
- Tacitus, Annals XV.1.
- Tacitus, Annals XV.4.
- Tacitus, Annals XV.16.
- Tacitus, Annals XV.18.
- Tacitus, Annals XV.29.
- Cassius Dio, Roman History LXIII.2.
- Cassius Dio, Roman History LXII.23.
- Suetonius Lives of Twelve Caesars, Life of Nero
18; Marcus Annaeus Lucanus Pharsalia
(Civil War) (c. 65)[3].
- Tacitus, Annals XIV.29.
- Tacitus, Annals XIV.31.
- Tacitus, Annals XIV.31-38.
- Tacitus, Annals XIV.39.
- Tacitus, Annals XV.49.
- Tacitus, Annals XV.50.
- Tacitus, Annals XV.55.
- Tacitus, Annals XV.70.
- Tacitus, Annals XV.60-62.
- Josephus, War of the Jews II.13.7.
- Josephus, War of the Jews III.1.3.
- Josephus, War of the Jews VI.10.1.
- Josephus, War of the Jews VII.1.1.
- Cassius Dio, Roman History LXIII.22.
- Donahue.
- Cassius Dio, Roman History LXIII.24.
- Plutarch, The Parallel Lives, Life of Galba 5.
- Suetonius, The Lives of Twelve Caesars, Life of Nero
47.
- Suetonius, The Lives of Twelve Caesars, Life of Nero
47.
- Suetonius, Nero, xlix) [4].
- Suetonius, The Lives of Twelve Caesars, Life of Nero
49.
- Suetonius, The Lives of Twelve Caesars, Life of Nero
49.
- Cassius Dio, Roman History 63.
- Suetonius, The Lives of Twelve Caesars, Life of Nero
57.
- Tacitus, Histories I.4.
- Tacitus, Histories I.5.
- Philostratus II, The Life of Apollonius 5.41.
- Letter from Apollonius to Emperor Vespasian, Philostratus II,
The Life of Apollonius 5.41.
- M. T. Griffin, Nero (1984), p. 186; Gibbon, Edward, The
History of The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire Vol. I,
Chap. III.
- Champlin (2003), p. 29.
- John Pollini, Review of Mutilation and Transformation:
Damnatio Memoriae and Roman Imperial Portraiture by Eric R.
Varner, The Art Bulletin (September 2006).
- Champlin (2003), pp. 29–31.
- Tacitus, Histories I.6.
- Plutarch, The Parallel Lives, The Life of Galba
9.
- Tacitus, Histories I.13.
- Suetonius, The Lives of Twelve Caesars, Life of Otho
7.
- Suetonius, The Lives of Twelve Caesars, Life of
Vitellius 11.
- Suetonius, The Lives of Twelve Caesars, Life of Nero
57; Tacitus, Histories II.8; Cassius
Dio, Roman History LXVI.19.
- Augustine of Hippo, City of God . XX.19.3.
- Tacitus, Histories II.8.
- Cassius Dio, Roman History LXVI.19.
- Suetonius, The Lives of Twelve Caears, Life of Nero
57.
- Tacitus, Annals I.1; Josephus,
Antiquities of the Jews XX.8.3;
Tacitus, Life of Gnaeus Julius Agricola 10;
Tacitus, Annals XIII.20.
- Tacitus, Annals XIII.20; Tacitus,
Annals XIV.2.
- Tacitus, Annals XIII.20;
Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews XIX.1.13.
- Tacitus, Annals XIII.20.
- Tacitus, Annals I.1; Josephus,
Antiquities of the Jews XX.8.3.
- Marcus Annaeus Lucanus, Pharsalia (Civil War) (c. 65).
- Pliny the Elder, Natural Histories VII.8.46.
- Seneca the Younger, Apocolocyntosis 4.
- Tacitus, History I.1.
- Isaac, Benjamin (2004) The Invention of Racism in Classical
Antiquity pp. 440-491. Princeton.
- Suetonius The Lives of Twelve Caesars, Life of Nero, chapter 16.
- Tertullian Apologeticum, lost text quoted in [5], Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History,
II.25.4.
- Lactantius, Of the Manner in Which the
Persecutors Died II.
- Sulpicius Severus, Chronica
II.28.
- Suetonius The Lives of Twelve Caesars, Life of
Claudius 25.
- Acts of the Apostles
18:2.
- Ascension of Isaiah Chapter 4.2.
- Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History II.25.5.
- In the apocryphal Acts of Paul, in the apocryphal Acts of Peter, in the First Epistle of Clement 5:6, and in The Muratorian Fragment.
- Apocryphal Acts of Peter.
- Lactantius
wrote that Nero crucified Peter, and slew Paul.,
Lactantius, Of the Manner in Which the Persecutors Died
II; John
Chrysostom wrote Nero knew Paul personally and had him killed,
John Chrysostom, Concerning Lowliness of Mind 4; Sulpicius Severus
says Nero killed Peter and Paul, Sulpicius Severus, Chronica II.28-29.
- Sibylline Oracles 5.361-376, 8.68-72,
8.531-157.
- Sulpicius Severus and Victorinus of
Pettau also say Nero is the Antichrist, Sulpicius Severus, Chronica II.28-29;
Victorinus of Pettau, Commentary on the
Apocalypse 17.
-
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=60&chapter=2&verse=7&version=9&context=verse
- The Book of Revelation, Catherine A. Cory.
- Revelation, Alan John Philip Garrow.
- Hillers, Delbert, “Rev. 13, 18 and a scroll from Murabba’at”,
Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 170 (1963)
65.
- The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Ed. Raymond E. Brown,
Joseph A. Fitzmyer, and Roland E. Murphy. Englewood Cliffs, NJ:
Prentice-Hall, 1990. 1009.
- U2Wanderer.org lyric of Mercy Retrieved 2009 10
19
References
Primary sources
- Tacitus, Histories, I-IV (c.
105)
- Tacitus, Annals, XIII–XVI (c.
117)
- Josephus, War of the Jews, Books II-VI
(c. 94)
- Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, Book XX
(c. 94)
- Cassius Dio, Roman History, Books 61–63
(c. 229)
- Plutarch, The Parallel Lives, The Life of
Galba (c. 110)
- Philostratus II, Life of Apollonius Tyana, Books
4–5, (c. 220)
- Suetonius, The Lives of Twelve Caesars,
the Life of Nero (c. 121)
Secondary material
- Benario, Herbert W. Nero
at De Imperatoribus Romanis.
- Champlin, Edward. Nero. Harvard: Harvard University
Press, 2003 (paperback, ISBN 0-674-01822-2).
- Donahue, John, (68-69
A.D.)" at De 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
Heaven, 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).
- 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 Nero: The Actor-Emperor
- Nero entry in historical sourcebook by Mahlon H.
Smith
- Nero basic data & select quotes posted by
Romans
On Line
- Nero Caesar biographical sketch archived in Bible History
Online
- THE LIFE AND TIMES OF NERO By CARLO MARIA FRANZERO
(BTM format).
- Nero Claudius Drusus Germanicus entry in the
Illustrated History of the Roman Empire.
is
Rom (a literal English translation would be Nero
Burning ROMe). The program logo is an image of the Roman
Colosseum
in flames; this is dramatic but inaccurate, as the
Great Fire of Rome took place in
64 AD, while construction of the Colosseum
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