What is Nero Blemishes?

Answer 1

Nero was grossly misrepresented and slandered by Roman witters because they were aristocrats. Nero was hated by the aristocracy. As with other early emperors, there was tension between the emperor and the senate and the aristocracy. As with other early emperors, Nero reduced the powers of the senate.

Nero's blemishes were egocentrism and exhibitionism (it was said that he craved for attention) eccentricity and profligacy. He loved poetry and the theatre and fancied himself as good singer and actor. He liked to sing to the lyre, recite poetry, acting and driving a chariot in public. As a hellenophile (a lover of the Greeks) he built gymnasia and theatres. He held lavish festivals and gladiatorial games. He wanted to build a canal at Corinth. The also built a massive palace which was like a mini town, the Domus Aurea (Golden House).

Nero was hated by the rich, but popular with the poor who were very upset when he died and remained loyal to him. He favoured the poor. He imposed restrictions of the amount of fines and bail and on layer fees. When there were complaints that the poor were taxed too heavily he wanted to repeal indirect taxes. However, the senate pointed out that this would bankrupt the state and he cut then from 44.5% to 2.5% instead. He made tax records, which had been secret, public. He rejected a proposal by the senate to give masters the right to revoke the freedom of freedmen.

Much had been made by the fact that Nero murdered his mother, Agrippina the Younger. However, she was described by the Romans as "ruthless, ambitious, violent and domineering" and was notorious for being manipulative and power hungry. Moreover, mother and son were engaged in a power battle. It has to be noted that it was not uncommon for close relatives in imperial or royal families in antiquity and the Middle Ages to murder each other in power struggles and that therefore, Nero's actions were not that much out of the ordinary.

In the months before her marriage with the emperor Claudius Agrippina caused the betrothal of Claudius' daughter, Claudia Octavia, to Silianus to be broken off by falsely accusing him of incest. She wanted to secure a marriage of her son Nero to Claudia Octavia. Silianus committed suicide when she got married. Later she had Silianus' brother murdered in case he would take revenge on her. She also forced Lollia Paulina, a potential rival to commit suicide. She eliminated anyone in the imperial court who was loyal to Claudius' previous and deceased wife or she considered a threat to the future of her son. Agrippina successfully manipulated Claudius into adopting her son form a previous marriage, Nero, and having him become his successor instead of his son from a previous marriage, Britannicus. Having deprived Britannicus of his heritage, she isolated him from his father and the court. She had Nero betrothed to Claudia Octavia. Claudius then regretted having married Agrippina and adopting Nero. He began to prepare Britannicus for the throne. A few months later he died. There were suspicions that he was poisoned by Agrippina.

When Nero became emperor Agrippina wanted to be the real ruler of Rome and thought that Nero was going to be her puppet. Instead, she lost control over him when he stating having an affair she disapproved of. A power struggle began. Nero's advisers, Seneca and Burrus, encouraged him to stand up to her and resist her interventions in his personal affairs and state affairs. Agrippina wanted to sit next to Nero when he received an ambassador. Nero refused to allow this because it would have caused a scandal (women were not supposed to be in the same room as men carrying out official duties). Agrippina was opposed to Nero divorcing Octavia. When her influence was reduced, she started plotting to make Britannicus emperor. Britannicus died in suspicious circumstances and Nero was suspected of murdering him. Nero forced Agrippina out of the court deprived her of her honours and removed her bodyguard (which she could have used for a coup). Nero tried to kill Agrippina though a planned shipwreck, but she survived. He then had her executed.

It was alleged that the fire of 64 AD was caused by Nero wanted to burn down Rome to make room to build a massive palace by writers who were hostile to him. There is not any actual proof that he did this. Fires in Rome were very common as it was an overcrowded city and timber was used to build houses, which were packed in alleys. There were other large fired in 69 and 80 AD.

Tacitus, a historian who lived during this period and the only one who gave details of the fire, did not suggest that Nero was an arsonist. He also said that Nero made great efforts to help the people affected by the fire. He spent days searching for survivors without bodyguards, opened his palaces to host the homeless and bought food supplies with his money. He then made an urban plan with houses built on wider roads and faced by porticoes.

Suetonius, who was not even born at the time of the fire, and Cassius Dio, who lived about 100 years after the episode, were the ones who alleged that Nero set Rome alight. According to one legend Nero played the fiddle during the fire. However, the fiddle did not exist in Nero's time.