Nero
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Bust of Nero
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Reign
| 13 October, 54 CE ? 9 June, 68 CE
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Predecessor
| Claudius
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Successor
| Servius Sulpicius Galba
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Born
| (
5-12-15
)
15 December 5
Antium
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Died
| 9 June 68
(68-06-09)
(aged 30)
Outside
Rome
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Burial
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Wives
| - Claudia Octavia
- Poppaea Sabina
- Statilia Messalina
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Issue
| Claudia Augusta
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Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus
(from birth to AD 50);
Nero Claudius Caesar Drusus Germanicus (from 50 to accession);
Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (as emperor)
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Dynasty
| Julio-Claudian
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Father
| Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus
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Mother
| Agrippina the Younger
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Nero
(
Ner? Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus
; 15 December 37 CE ? 9 June 68 CE) was the fifth and last
Roman Emperor
of the
Julio-Claudian dynasty
. He was born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus.
Nero was the
adopted
son of his grand-uncle
Claudius
. He became emperor on 13 October 54, after Claudius died. Claudius was probably
assassinated
by Nero's mother
Agrippina the Younger
. Agrippina had motive in ensuring the
succession
of Nero before
Britannicus
(Claudius' natural son) could gain power.
[1]
During his reign, Nero focused much of his attention on
diplomacy
,
trade
, and improving the
cultural
capital of the empire. He ordered the building of
theatres
and promoted athletic games.
His reign included a successful
war
and negotiated peace with the
Parthian
Empire; the suppression of a
revolt in Britain
; and the beginning of the
First Roman?Jewish War
.
In 64, most of Rome was destroyed in the
Great Fire of Rome
. In 68, the
rebellion
of
Vindex
in
Gaul
and later the acclamation of
Galba
in
Hispania
(
Spain
) drove Nero from the throne. Facing assassination, he died by
suicide
on 9 June 68.
[2]
Nero's rule is associated with
tyranny
and
extravagance
.
[3]
He is known for a number of
executions
, including those of his mother,
[4]
wife (
Claudia Octavia
) and stepbrother.
Nero is known as the Emperor who played a
fiddle
while
Rome
burned. In reality, the violin had not yet been invented, Nero wasn't in Rome at the time, and when he heard of the fire he returned to direct relief efforts.
He also
persecuted Christians
. However, some
ancient
sources show that Nero was popular with the common people during and after his reign.
In Midrash Icha Rabbah 1, Nero Caesar is not briefly mentioned as the one who ruled Rome during the Great Rebellion and died in the middle of the rebellion, while Vespasian was engaged in his attempts to conquer Jerusalem, and thus the prophecy of Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakai was fulfilled that Vespasian would reign over Caesar: After three days, Vespasian ran out of prayers in Hada Gafna, From Dascha and Labshe Had from San Didia, you brought the news that Nero and Amelichonia, the sons of Rome, died (translation: After three days, Vespasian went to swim in the Gofna. After he swam and put on one of his shoes, the news arrived that told him: Nero and Malichuch, the sons of Rome, had died).
The coin with the image of Nero Caesar is mentioned several times in the Mishnah and in the Tosefta under the name "Sela Neronit" or "Nironit" for short.
[5]
In addition, there is an article by a Sage in the Babylonian Talmud , which describes a man named Nero Caesar as the emissary of the emperor who reigned in those days, and not as the emperor himself. According to the same article, a Roman emperor sent Nero Caesar to conquer Jerusalem following a rumor from a man named Bar Kamtza , according to which the people of Judah were betraying him When Nero Caesar arrived in the Land of Israel , he shot arrows at the four winds of heaven to check which place to conquer, and all the arrows finally landed in Jerusalem . Nero concluded from this that he would win his war against Jerusalem. Later he saw a boy passing nearby and asked him about his studies, and the boy quoted He had the verse "And I gave my vengeance on Edom by the hand of my people Israel" ( Ezekiel , 25:14 ). Nero saw this as a prophecy that God would take revenge on him for the conquest of Jerusalem. Following this, Nero fled, became a convert , and one of his descendants was the Tana Rabi Meir.
[6]
His wife Poppea was presented in the sources as a sympathizer of the Jews, and in the Talmud she was even presented as Matronia
[7]
- 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)
Archived
2008-02-21 at the
Wayback Machine
- Suetonius,
The Lives of Twelve Caesars
, the Life of Nero (
c.
121)
- Nero
Nero:The Actor-Emperor
- Nero
entry in historical sourcebook by Mahlon H. Smith
- Nero
basic data & select quotes posted by
Romans On Line
Archived
2006-03-29 at the
Wayback Machine
- Nero Caesar
biographical sketch archived in
Bible History Online
- Nero
biography by Herbert W. Benario in
De Imperatoribus Romanis
- Grant, Michael.
Nero
. New York: Dorset Press, 1989 (
ISBN
0-88029-311-X
).
- Nero Claudius Drusus Germanicus
entry in the
Illustrated History of the Roman Empire
- 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
).
- Warmington, Brian Herbert.
Nero: Reality and Legend (Ancient Culture and Society)
. 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
).
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:
Nero
Wikimedia Commons has media related to
Nero
.
- ↑
Levick, Barbara. 1990.
Claudius
. Yale University Press. New Haven. p194
- ↑
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 it is 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, during his rebellion, criticized Nero's
luxuria
, both his public and private excessive spending: 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
5.49?520, Geoffrey Chaucer's
Canterbury Tales
The Monk's Tale, and William Shakespeare's
Hamlet
3.ii.
- ↑
For example, Mishna , Tractate of Tools , Chapter 17 , Mishna 1
- ↑
Babylonian Talmud , tractate Gitin , page 15, page 1 .
- ↑
See also Bezalel Ruth, page 26
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