Nero (54 - 68 AD)
Family
Son of Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus and the younger Agrippina (daughter of
Germanicus and Agrippina the elder).
Principal Events (Foriegn)
- Armenian and Parthia crisis (begun in 51, resolved in 66)
- Revolt of Boudiccea in Britain (60-61)
- Revolt in Judaea (66, not resolved until 72, with the fall of the
Masada)
Principal Events (Domestic)
- Murder of Britannicus by Nero(son of Claudius and Messalina) (55)
- Murder of Agrippina, mother of Nero (by Nero) (59)
- Execution of Ocatvia, Nero's first wife, by order of Nero (62)
- Death of Burrus, praetorian prefect who had managed the day to day
affairs of government since the death of Claudius (62), Ofellius
Tigellinus becomes one of the praetorian prefects
- Great fire at Rome (64)
- Persecution of the Christians (64)
- Conspiracy of Piso against Nero (65)
- Death of Poppaea Sabina, Nero's second wife as the result of physical
abuse by Nero while she was pregnant (66)
- Execution of Corbulo (commder of Roman forces in the east since
54) (66)
- Tour of Greece (66-67)
- Great conspiracy and death of Nero (68)
Outlines of Policy
It is very hard to know just what Nero was really responsible for
(save the deaths of family members). In the first years of his reign,
two advisers, Burrus and Seneca, appear to have been responsible for
the basic running of the government, and after the death of Burrus
(followed by shortly thereafter by the retirement of Seneca), basic
adminstration seems to have fallen to Tigellinus and freedmen in the
imperial house (one of whom, Helius, was left in charge of imperial
affairs while Nero was in Greece). The serious revolts in Britain and
Judaea stem, at least in part, from the inability of these advisers to
ensure good government in the provinces.
Further Reading
Tacitus, Annals, 13-16;
Suetonius, Nero;
Cassius Dio, History of Rome, 61-63;
A. Garzetti, From Tiberius to the Antonines;
M. Griffen, Nero.