Nero

Also known as: Aenobarbus / Neron · Family: Julio-Claudian · Role: emperor · First appears: Claudius 27

Nero, of the Julio-Claudian faction and emperor, was born at Antium nine months after Tiberius’s death. His father, Domitius, died when Nero was three, while Caligula seized his paternal inheritance; after Agrippina the Younger was banished, Nero lived with Lepida in hardship. Following Claudius’s accession, he recovered his father’s estate and inherited that of his stepfather Crispus Passienus, while Agrippina the Younger’s recall brought him into great favour with Claudius. Messalina reportedly employed assassins against him as Britannicus’s rival.

In his eleventh year, Nero was adopted by Claudius—“Of his sons-in-law, he adopted Nero.”—and placed under the tuition of Annaeus Seneca. He testified against Lepida, married Octavia, and was acclaimed emperor by the soldiers. He buried Claudius with great ceremony and had him enrolled among the gods, but later removed the divine honour from his memory. He also honoured Domitius and, after Agrippina the Younger’s recall, maintained a close connection with Claudius’s imperial household.

During his reign, Nero was taught music by Terpnus and later employed Cluvius Rufus to announce his performances. He invited Tiridates to Rome, seated him beside himself after his obeisance, and granted him large sums; he also bestowed estates and houses on Menecrates and Spicillus, and enriched Cercopithecus Panerotes. His marriages and proposed marriages included Octavia, Acte, Sporus, Doryphorus, Poppaea Sabina, and Statilia Messalina. He divorced and executed Octavia, married Poppaea Sabina, killed her with a kick while she was pregnant, and later executed Antonia after she refused to marry him. He employed Locusta to poison Britannicus, forced Seneca to kill himself, and put Burrhus to death by poison.

After revolts led by Julius Vindex and Galba, Nero declared that he would resume the name Aenobarbus and abandon the name taken by adoption. He received word that the remaining armies had declared against him, fled to Phaon’s country-house, and, with Epaphroditus assisting, “drove a dagger into his throat.” Icelus granted his request that his body be burned whole, and Ecloge, Alexandra, and Acte deposited his remains in the Domitii family tomb. Galba succeeded him; later, Otho restored Nero’s images and statues, while Vitellius offered sacrifices to his shade.