The Life and Times of Nero

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The Life and Times of Nero

Carlo Maria Franzero was born December 21, 1892 in Turin, Italy. He was educated at the University of Turin. Upon the commencement of the Second World War, Franzero fled Fascist ruled Italy for England. He worked in England as a journalist for the London Daily Telegraph during World War II and later he served as a correspondent for Il Tempo, a Roman newspaper. His expertise is Ancient Roman and Italian History. Other notable works by Franzero are The Life and Times of Cleopatra and The Life and Times of Tarquin the Etruscan.

Franzero's biography of Nero is very complex and controversial. Nero is renown as one of the most vicious, merciless, and least efficient emperors of the Roman Empire. Franzero's ultimate aim is to uncover and reveal the man behind the popular brutal and crude image. Nero is the last in the Julio-Claudian line of Emperors. Franzero's view of Nero is very unorthodox, often times in complete contradiction to that of popular opinion. He tries to reconstruct and reshape the notoriously popular image of Nero.

Nero was born December 15, 37 AD at Antium. His name was originally Lucious Domitius Ahenobarbus. His parents were Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus and Agrippina the Younger. Domitius served as consul for Rome. He was a man of execrable character. Domitius died shortly after Nero's birth in 40 AD. Agrippina was the great-grand daughter of the Emperor Augustus. Her father was the famous Roman General, Germanicus. The memory of the great general was raverred by many Romans. This extended Agrippina the power of having the reputation of a heroic father and a respectable family heritage. She would use the power of her father's reputation to its fullest for the sa...

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...duties as Emperor. He viewed himself as an artist and a religious visionary. His attempts at acting became increasingly more absurd and embarrassing for Roman Citizens. He wanted to focus instead on his writings, acting, and chariot racing. After returning home from a chariot race, Nero and Poppaea got into a fierce argument. Nero kicked Poppaea in the stomach causing a fatal hemorrhage. Poppaea's death threw Nero into a dark depression. Nero further neglected the business of tending to his empire.

Because of the deteriorating state of the empire, Nero was to blame. Gallic and Spanish legions, including the Praetorian Guard, rose against him. He fled Rome. In 68 AD, The Senate declared him a public enemy. He committed suicide shortly before his capture. His last words were: "What a great artist dies!" Nero's rule over Rome lasted about fourteen years.

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