Agrippina was domineering and attempted to influence her son’s rule. She was angered by the more moderate advice of Nero’s advisors, his former tutor Seneca and the commander of the Praetorian Guard, Burrus. Services, Working Scholars® Bringing Tuition-Free College to the Community. Lucrezia Borgia was an Italian noblewoman and daughter of Pope Alexander VI. Caesar Augustus, or Octavian, became the first emperor of the Roman Empire after Julius Caesar died. Full search Subject Nero, Emperor of Rome, 37-68. Perseus provides credit for all accepted All other trademarks and copyrights are the property of their respective owners. Suetonius was a Roman historian who is known for writing a series of short biographies of the twelve Caesars. He was killed in 1945. Our experts can answer your tough homework and study questions. i. After the Great Fire, Nero resumed plans for the Domus Aurea. Cross-references in general dictionaries to this page Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus was probably born about 69 AD, a date deduced from his remarks describing himself as a "young man" twenty years after Nero's death. Why did Suetonius write The Lives of the... How Space Exploration Affects Culture & Society, Historical Methodology: Evidence and Interpretation, What is Historical Research? 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Until the year 59, Nero was described as a generous and reasonable leader. Nero was born at Antium, nine months after the death of Tiberius, 1 upon the eighteenth of the calends of January [15th December], just as the sun rose, so that its beams touched him before they could well reach the earth. Twenty years later, according to Tacitus, Christians in Rome were prominent enough to be persecuted by Nero, and it was known that they were devoted to Christus, whom Pilate had … He spent lavishly and behaved inappropriately. In order to finance this project, Nero needed money and set about to get it however he pleased. By 64, the scandalous nature of Nero’s artistic antics may have begun to cause controversy, but the public’s attention was diverted by the Great Fire. By 58, Nero had dismissed Acte and fallen for Poppaea Sabina, a noblewoman who was married to a member of the Roman aristocracy. After Ahenobarbus died in 48 A.D., Agrippina married her uncle, the emperor Claudius. With this accusation, persecution and torture of the Christians began in Rome. Suetonius: The Lives of the Twelve Caesars; An English Translation, Augmented with the Biographies of Contemporary Statesmen, Orators, Poets, and Other Associates. Hide browse bar He eliminated capital punishment, lowered taxes and allowed enslaved people to bring complaints against their masters. Other rivals were executed in the ensuing years, allowing Nero to reduce opposition and consolidate his power. with the additional restriction that you offer Perseus any modifications you make. The blaze began in stores at the southeastern end of the Circus Maximus and ravaged Rome for 10 days, decimating 75 percent of the city. Contents/Summary. 9.1", "denarius"). Click anywhere in the In 68, he committed suicide when the empire revolted. His place of birth is disputed, but most scholars place it in Hippo Regius, a small north African town in Numidia, in modern-day Algeria. He took the name Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, and ascended to the throne at the age of 17. https://www.biography.com/political-figure/nero. ("Agamemnon", "Hom. Subjects. This text was converted to electronic form by optical character recognition and has been proofread to a low level of accuracy. He recruited another governor, Servius Sulpicius Galba, to join him and to declare himself emperor. Although accidental fires were common at the time, many Romans believed Nero started the fire to make room for his planned villa, the Domus Aurea. Nero was born as Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, the son of Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus and Agrippina, who was the great-granddaughter of the emperor Augustus. Fed up with his mother’s interference and no longer content with her removal from the palace, Nero took matters into his own hands. Nero Emperors > Rome > Biography. When Burrus died and Seneca retired in the year 62, Nero divorced Octavia and had her killed, then married Poppaea. Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License. Agrippina also tried to assert her authority in Nero’s private life. changes, storing new additions in a versioning system. J. Eugene Reed. Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index. One army commander was executed for badmouthing him at a party; another politician was exiled for writing a book that made negative remarks about the Senate. Whether or not Nero started the fire, he determined that a guilty party must be found, and he pointed the finger at the Christians, still a new and underground religion. He is very loyal to all of his friends and family, unlike many of the other emperors. Your current position in the text is marked in blue. Your current position in the text is marked in blue. Agrippina was murdered in 59 at Nero’s command. Even Nero’s own bodyguards defected in support of Galba. These new policies resulted in the Pisonian conspiracy, a plot formed in 65 by Gaius Calpurnius Piso, an aristocrat, along with knights, senators, poets and Nero's former mentor, Seneca. Ancient sources say that Nero considered evacuating the island, but this proved unnecessary as the Roman commander on the island Gaius Suetonius Paulinus massed a … The country was peaceful under Augustus's rule. A notorious reputation precedes her, and she is inextricably, and perhaps unfairly, linked to the crimes and debauchery of her family. When did Suetonius write The Life of Augustus? He killed his mother, persecuted Christians and is said to have "fiddled while Rome burned.". Click anywhere in the "use strict";(function(){var insertion=document.getElementById("citation-access-date");var date=new Date().toLocaleDateString(undefined,{month:"long",day:"numeric",year:"numeric"});insertion.parentElement.replaceChild(document.createTextNode(date),insertion)})(); Subscribe to the Biography newsletter to receive stories about the people who shaped our world and the stories that shaped their lives. His Napoleonic Code remains a model for governments worldwide. Although he and Octavia remained married, Nero began living openly with Acte as his wife in spite of his mother’s protests. As Roman emperor, Nero’s reign was lavish and tyrannical. See Matt. Nero was born as Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, the son of Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus and Agrippina, who was the great-granddaughter of the emperor Augustus. The Twelve Caesars - Chapter 6, Nero Summary & Analysis Suetonius This Study Guide consists of approximately 35 pages of chapter summaries, quotes, character analysis, themes, and more - everything you need to sharpen your knowledge of The Twelve Caesars. They planned to assassinate Nero and crown Piso the ruler of Rome. He returned to his palace, but his guards and friends had left. An assassination ended his reign on the Ides of March. Enter a Perseus citation to go to another section or work. Bibliographic information. He spent exorbitant amounts of money on artistic pursuits and around 59 A.D., began to give public performances as a poet and lyre player, a significant breach of etiquette for a member of the ruling class. She persuaded him to name Nero as his successor rather than his own son, Britannicus, and to offer his daughter, Octavia, as Nero’s wife, which he did in 50 A.D. Claudius died in 54 A.D., and it is widely suspected that Agrippina had him poisoned. When did Suetonius write The Life of Nero? Just three years later, in March, 68, the governor Gaius Julius Vindex rebelled against Nero's tax policies. Od. However, Britannicus died suddenly in 55, the day before he was to be proclaimed an adult. Current location in this text. Alexander Thomson. options are on the right side and top of the page. Italian Renaissance artist Michelangelo created the 'David' and 'Pieta' sculptures and the Sistine Chapel and 'Last Judgment' paintings. After Nero spurned his mother’s influence in both public and private affairs, she was infuriated. The plan was discovered, however, and the leading conspirators, as well as many other wealthy Romans, were executed. He was the last of the Julio-Claudian emperors. He ultimately received word that the Senate had condemned him to death by beating and so he decided to commit suicide. © 2020 Biography and the Biography logo are registered trademarks of A&E Television Networks, LLC. 21, 22. After his father’s death, his mother married his great uncle, Claudius, and persuaded him to name Nero his successor. Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military general who crowned himself the first emperor of France. Nero presented himself to the Senate to deliver a eulogy in Claudius’s honor and was named Emperor of Rome. Unable to carry out the deed by himself, however, his secretary, Epaphroditos, assisted him. The Life of Nero was written by Suetonius as part of "The Lives of the Twelve Caesars", in 121 A.D. Suetonius wrote the work while serving as Secretary for Emperor Hadrian. If you see something that doesn't look right, contact us! As he died, Nero was said to have exclaimed, ‘What an artist dies in me!' He was educated in the classical tradition by the philosopher Seneca and studied Greek, philosophy and rhetoric. But after Agrippina’s murder, Nero descended into a hedonic lifestyle that was marked not just by lavish self-indulgence but also tyranny. While these forces were defeated and Galba was declared a public enemy, support for him increased, despite his categorization as a public enemy. He wanted to marry her, but public opinion did not look favorably upon a divorce from Octavia and his mother staunchly opposed it. When did Suetonius write The Twelve Caesars? Download Pleiades ancient places geospacial dataset for this text. Early Life and Ascent to the Throne. She began championing Britannicus, then still a minor, as emperor.