Nero

Family: Julian · Role: eldest son of Germanicus · First appears: Annals II (7)

As the eldest son of Germanicus, Nero was linked to Germanicus through a betrothal involving his daughter. At seventeen, he was recommended to the Senate by Tiberius, and his prospects were soon joined to his marriage with Julia, the daughter of Drusus. In the following Annals, the Senate granted Drusus the honors previously decreed to Nero; Nero was also counted among the great-grandchildren of Augustus, while Drusus was asked to guard and raise the children left fatherless by Germanicus. His position brought him into hostility with Sejanus and Tiberius, who pursued him as the next successor: “he assumed the office of a judge against the offspring of Germanicus, and suborned such as were to act the parts of accusers, and especially to pursue and blacken Nero, the next in succession”. Nero was exiled to Pontia, where Tiberius ordered his murder along with that of Agrippina; the material also names Agrippina the Younger as the mother of an Emperor Nero and describes Nero as the son of Nero.

In the Histories, Nero appears as an employer and patron of Petronius Turpilianus, Flavius Vespasianus, Flavius Sabinus, Patrobius, Crescens, Coenus, Lucceius Albinus, Arrius Varus, Sariolenus Vocula, Nonius Attianus, and Cestius Severus. He appointed Flavius Vespasianus to conduct the Jewish war—“The Jewish war was being conducted by Flavius Vespasianus--appointed by Nero--with three legions.”—and later sent Vespasian to conquer the districts and towns of Judaea except Jerusalem. He removed Otho to Lusitania while entrusting Poppaea Sabina to him as he planned to remove Octavia; later, Otho and Galba were his enemies, as were Vindex, Crassus, Ofonius Tigellinus, and Paetus Thrasea. Calvia Crispinilla tutored Nero in vice, while Eprius Marcellus and Marcellus were counted among his friends.

Nero’s other connections included Vitellius, who admired him and later held a funeral service in his honor—“Vitellius then gratified the rabble and scandalized all decent people by building altars in the Martian Plain, and holding a funeral service in honour of Nero.”—and Pedanius Costa, against whom Vitellius retained hostility for rising against Nero. Arrius Varus won Nero’s favor by maligning Corbulo and became a senior centurion, while Ofonius Tigellinus corrupted Nero before betraying him. The troops in Rome eventually deserted Nero and transferred their allegiance toward Galba.