\b0 A descendant of the noble Domitius family, he was born at An
zio in 37 and was acclaimed emperor at the age of seventeen. At first he ruled in a wise and moderate way, but then became cruel and tyrannical. He built the Domus Aurea in Rome, a gigantic imperial palace that was richly decorated and furnished. He had
his mother Agrippina and wife Ottavia murdered, and kicked his second wife Poppea to death. After the famous burning of Rome (64), he proclaimed the first persecution of the Christians, during which the apostles Peter and Paul were martyred. He conquered
Armenia and carried out an important monetary reform. After the bloody repression of a conspiracy against him, he took his own life in 68 when he was declared an <<enemy of the state.>> After his death his portraits were destroyed and his name erased fr
om public monuments as an act of damnatio memoriae.\par
