Stories about Nero are too numerous to recount in detail. He engineered the murders of his wives and his own mother when their presence became inconvenient. He accused any political opponents of treason. After the great fire at Rome - which he is unjustly credited for setting -- he built a new palace for himself over the ruins; his magnificent "Domus Aurea" was a dramatic example of selfishness when the fire left so many in need and so much need of rebuilding Rome itself. To divert suspicion away from himself, he accused the Christians -- who had also lost their homes in the fire -- of arson; many were condemned to the arena. He performed on the public stage and raced in events at the Circus, activities unsuited to the dignity of a patrician, let alone an emperor. He even competed in an Olympic event which -- of course -- he won. Further alienating the Romans, he left control of Rome in the hands of a few freedman.
There were a few military accomplishments during Nero's reign, namely, campaigns against the Parthians in Asia and suppression of Queen Boudicca's revolt in Britain.
Nero probably made enemies more quickly than any other individual. When plots to assassinate him failed, he retaliated in cruel ways. His extravagance, his cruel nature, and his paranoia -- resulting from the assassination plots -- alienated him from both citizens and soldiers. He forced a popular general to commit suicide, which led more to consider rebellion in the provinces. Eventually, revolts in Gaul and Africa forced the general Galba and other military men to switch their allegiance officially from the emperor to the Senate and the Roman people. Confronted with these events, Nero chose suicide, lamenting his own death as, more than anything else, a loss to the arts!
Upon Nero's death, Rome fell once more into civil war. There was a quick succession of emperors in less than a year, until the generals named as emperor one of their own, Vespasian.
Meet the emperors face-to-face here in A Portrait Gallery
Sources:
The Oxford Classical Dictionary
http://www.roman-emperors.org
-- J.Jahnige, November 2003 (revised 2006)
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