Nero (Nero Claudius Caesar)

Nero was born in 37 A.D. and died in 68 A.D. He was Roman emperor from 54 to 68 A.D. He was the son of Agrippina, and was adopted by the Emperor Claudius. Seneca was appointed as Nero's tutor and Nero was brought up by his stepfather to be his heir. In 53 A.D. he married Octavia, Claudius' daughter. The first years of his reign were relatively calm, largely due to the influence of Seneca. Nero respected the Senate and the existing order. Poets hailed him as the initiator of a new golden age. Later he had his mother Agrippina murdered and banished his wife who had not provided him with an heir. He became increasingly tyrannical and rid himself of his more levelheaded advisers. He made eccentric public appearances as an artist and charioteer, he prosecuted citizens for treason and after the great fire in Rome in 64 A.D. threw suspicion for having started it on the Christians. The suspicion that Nero himself started the fire cannot be proved, but it indicates what his citizens thought he was capable of. However, there was no real systematic persecution of Christians, since the events which took place were restricted to the city of Rome. After the failure of plot against Nero hatched in the Senate and lead by Piso, repression increased. Uprisings in Gaul, Spain and Africa caused the Praetorian Guard to withdraw its allegiance to Nero. The Guard then declared its support for Galba as emperor and the Senate declared Nero to be hostis populi Romani (an enemy of the Roman people), upon which he committed suicide. His death marked the end of the Julian-Claudian imperial dynasty.