Emperor Nero Essay With Outline

Emperor Nero

(AD 37-AD 63)

Nero was born in 37 AD in Antium, near Rome. He was the only son of Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus and Agrippina the Younger, sister of Emperor Caligula. He was the nephew of the emperor Claudius. When his father died, his mother married his uncle and persuaded him to name Nero

his successor. When Claudius died: 54 AD, Nero was pronounced emperor. At the time he was only 17. He declined his mother’s attempts to control him and soon after killed her. After her death, he felt free and decided to spend lavishly and behaved inappropriately. He began executing opponents and Christians and committed suicide in 63 AD.

Early Life and Ascent to the Throne

Nero was born as Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, the son of Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus and Agrippina, who was the great-granddaughter of the emperor Augustus. He was traditionally educated in the Roman way by the philosopher Seneca and studied Greek and philosophy.

In 54 A.D., Emperor Claudius was poisoned by Agrippina so that Nero could become emperor. Nero delivered a speech to the Senate in Claudius’s honour and was named Emperor of Rome. He took the name Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, and ascended to the throne at the age of 17.

Agrippina’s Influence

Agrippina was domineering and attempted to influence her son’s rule.

She was angered by the more moderate advice of Nero’s advisors, his former tutor Seneca and the commander of the Praetorian Guard, Burrus.

Agrippina also tried to assert her authority in Nero’s private life. When Nero began an affair with Claudia Acte, a former slave, and threatened to divorce Octavia, Agrippina advocated for Octavia and demanded that her son dismiss Acte. Although he and Octavia remained married, Nero began living openly with Acte as his wife in spite of his mother’s protests.

After Nero spurned his mother’s influence in both public and private affairs, she was infuriated. She began championing Britannicus, then still a minor, as emperor. However, Britannicus died suddenly in 55, the day before he was to be proclaimed an adult. It is widely assumed that Nero poisoned Britannicus, although Nero claimed that he died from a seizure. Even after Britannicus had died, Agrippina tried to agitate the public against Nero, and Nero banished her from the family

palace.
By 58, Nero had dismissed Acte and fallen for Poppaea Sabina, a noblewoman who was married to a member of the Roman aristocracy. He wanted to marry her, but public opinion did not look favorably upon a divorce from Octavia and his mother staunchly opposed it. Fed up with his mother’s interference and no longer content with her removal from the palace, Nero took matters into his own hands. Agrippina was murdered in 59 at Nero’s command.