Nero

Mention the Roman emperor, Nero, and the response will probably be “fiddling” (while Rome burnt). But of course, like all Roman history, Nero’s tale has so many other parts to it, as I found via this Hourly History book.

 

Nero, from age 4, was raised by his aunt. His father had died, and his mother, Agrippina, was exiled for treason against the emperor of the time, Caligula. When Caligula died, Agrippina was allowed to return to Rome. She set her eyes on the new emperor, Claudius, to secure her own as well as her son’s prospects…

 

Agrippina decided to marry the emperor even though she was his niece – but the Senate wouldn’t allow incestuous relations. Agrippina didn’t let that get in her way – she convinced Claudius to pass legislation to OK her marriage to him. Next, she got Nero to marry the emperor’s daughter from his previous marriage. And she browbeat the emperor to declare Nero, not his older son from the earlier marriage, as his successor. The stage was thus set for Nero.

 

When Claudius died, Nero became emperor at the age of 16. He was soon smitten by a commoner woman. Agrippina was having none of this “wild whim of youth”. And she criticized him for it. As their differences increased over time, Agrippina became desperate and cast her support for the deceased emperor’s son. Nero had her removed from the palace.

 

As Agrippina lost favour, power and influence, her enemies came out poisoning Nero’s mind with other stories of his mother’s betrayals. He wanted to execute her, but was dissuaded by his advisors. But when his mother continued to criticize him for his affairs, he finally decided to kill her in an “accident” at sea. His mother, however, survived that. Only to be killed by soldiers sent by Nero.

 

Reads like a masala movie, right? And what about that infamous fire of Rome, the one where he fiddled? Some believe he wanted to raze parts of Rome to make room for new constructions he had in mind. Others question that since one of his own palaces too got destroyed. Regardless of the truth, Nero decided he wouldn’t take the blame. And his scapegoats became the Christians of Rome, many of who were tortured and killed setting of one of the worst pogroms of the era.

 

His extravagances and the cost of rebuilding (burnt) Rome forced him to raise taxes, a measure that made him very unpopular. So he decided to increase taxes farther away, in Israel. That move, in turn, set off a revolt in Israel, which was then crushed brutally by the Romans.

 

Is this why historians paint such a negative picture of the man? Was he really worse than other despots of the era? Or has history been written by the descendants of massacred Christians and Jews, with an axe to grind?

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