The reign of Emperor Nero. Sex life in ancient Rome

Nero is the emperor of Ancient Rome.

Nero was born in 37. His father was Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus (i.e. "Redbeard"), who died shortly after the birth of his son. His mother was Agrippina, the eldest great-granddaughter of Augustus. She remarried Emperor Claudius, who adopted Nero and then gave him his daughter Octavia as his wife. Nero's teacher was the famous philosopher Seneca.

In 54, when Claudius was killed, Nero became emperor under the name of Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus. In the early years of his reign, being very young, Nero was completely influenced by Agrippina, Seneca and Burrus. The first years of his reign were quite mild. Nero showed an immoderate attraction to performing on stage as a singer and in the arena as a gladiator. He forced even senators and horsemen to participate in gladiatorial battles. Nero's true inclinations were a passion for spectacle and wild debauchery.

In 58, Nero became close to Poppaea Sabina, who at that time was married to Otho, a friend of Nero. However, this was not a hindrance for the emperor. He achieved the divorce of Otho and Poppaea, he himself divorced Octavia and married Poppaea. At the instigation of his new wife, Nero ordered the murder of his mother, who interfered too actively in the affairs of the state.

Nero tried three times to poison Agrippina, but this was unsuccessful because she was taking theriac, an antidote. He sent a freedman to stab her to death and even tried to bring down the ceiling and walls of her room while she slept. However, she managed to avoid death. Then Nero invited her to take a trip on a ship, which was supposed to collapse on the way. But Agrippina was almost the only one who managed to escape. Nero was furious, he openly ordered her to be killed. Agrippina, seeing the soldiers, realized her fate. She asked to be stabbed in the stomach, thereby making it clear that she deeply repented of giving birth to such a son.

Nero also killed his own aunt, Domitia Lepida, whose inheritance attracted him so much.

« Nero suffers from remorse after killing his mother,” reproduction of a painting by John William Waterhouse, 1878.

In the early 60s, Nero's behavior changed dramatically. In 62, his long-time mentor, Burr, died. The emperor practically removed himself from government. This period is known as the period of despotism and arbitrariness. Was a large number of executions that were not spared ex-wife Nero - Octavia. Sabina's second wife was also killed while pregnant with Nero's child. Nero's old political opponents were also executed.

At the same time, persecution began in Rome against followers of a new religion - Christianity.

Nero gradually began to move away from governing the country, his interests increasingly focused on art. He loved to sing songs, composed plays and poems, and enjoyed participating in poetry competitions and chariot sports.

Nero and Seneca, monument in Cordoba, Spain. Sculptor - Eduardo Barron

In 64, apparently on the orders of Nero himself, Rome was set on fire. The Emperor watched the fire from the Maecenas Tower. The flame gave him incredible pleasure. At the same time, Nero recited a poem of his own composition, “The Fall of Troy.” The fire raged for five days. Four of the city's fourteen districts were completely burned out, and seven were heavily damaged. Nero allowed people who were left homeless into his palaces.

In memory of the fire, Nero founded a palace - the “Golden Palace of Nero”, which was never completed. The center of the entire structure was a 35-meter statue of Nero, called the “Colossus of Nero.” Although, allegedly, Nero was not involved in the fire, it was still necessary to find the extreme ones who could be blamed for organizing the fire. Christians became so extreme that they were accused of setting the city on fire. A wave of pogroms and executions swept across Rome.

Added to this disaster of Rome was the plague, which claimed the lives of 30 thousand people. It was also unsuccessful foreign policy Nero. In 61, the Iceni tribe led by Queen Baudicca rebelled in Britain. As a result of this uprising, Roman cities were devastated, about 80 thousand Romans, as well as their allies, died. In 62, in Armenia, the Roman army under the command of Caesennius Petus was surrounded by the Parthians and disarmed. In 65, the top of the Roman aristocracy, led by Piso, plotted against Nero. However, it was revealed. Everyone who participated in the conspiracy, by order of the emperor, had to commit suicide. By the way, among them were the poet Lucan and the philosopher Seneca. In 66, new participants in the conspiracy were executed - Frazeya Pet and Barea Soran.

In 67, Nero traveled to Greece, where he performed publicly as an actor, singer and athlete, for which he was awarded many awards. Nero gave Greece freedom. In 68 the emperor returned to Rome. During this period, the propraetor of Northern Gaul, Gaius Julius Vindex, who was outraged by the cruelty and extravagance of Nero, began to gather troops. He wanted to overthrow the emperor and give power to the elderly ruler of Spain, Galbu. Nero also began to prepare for the campaign, collecting funds for the war using the most extortionate measures, for example, he raised the price of bread several times. However, all other troops soon rebelled. The soldiers stopped obeying the emperor.

Nero was forced to commit suicide, but since he did not have enough willpower to do so, he began to look for a soldier or gladiator in the palace so that he would stab him with a sword. There were only slaves in the palace. Nero with the words: “I have neither friends nor enemies?” ─ jumped out of the palace with the thought of rushing into the Tiber. However, he did not dare. Nero returned to the palace and found his freedman there. He advised him to go to a country villa 4 miles from the city. Nero did just that. Four faithful servants went with him. He ordered them to dig a grave for him. Soon a courier arrived who informed Nero that the Senate had declared him an enemy of the people and intended to publicly execute him. Nero could not kill himself; his will kept leaving him. Soon the sound of hooves was heard. He realized that they were coming to arrest him. Nero, with the help of his secretary, cut his own throat. When the horsemen entered the villa, they saw the emperor lying in blood. He was still alive. One of the riders tried to stop the bleeding, but it was too late. Nero died with the words: “This is loyalty!”

What is remarkable about the Roman emperor Nero (37-68). He lived a short but stormy life. It was filled with palace intrigues, tyranny, despotism, persecution of Christians, and a passion for poetry and music. This man sought absolute power, which provoked a confrontation in the Senate. It was immoderate vanity and unjustified cruelty that caused the death of the 30-year-old ruler. They tried to forget his name, but the fifth Roman emperor was a very colorful and extraordinary figure. The memory of him has not faded over the centuries; This ambitious personality still arouses great interest among people today.

Power struggle

It must be said right away that the future emperor himself did not fight for power. He was a teenager and had neither political weight nor relevant experience. His mother Julia Agrippina, better known as Agrippina the Younger (15-59), dreamed of dressing the young man in purple. She had sister Caligula and was the granddaughter of Tiberius.

It was by the will of her grandfather that in 28 she married Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus. The groom was 45 years old at the time of the wedding, and the bride was only 13, but such a marriage did not bother anyone. In 37, the couple had a son, who was named Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus. It was he who went down in history as the Roman Emperor Nero.

Roman Emperor Nero, reigned 54-68

Emperor Tiberius died on March 16, 37, and Lucius Domitius was born on December 15 of the same year, that is, already during the reign of Caligula. The boy's mother and her two sisters were constantly at the emperor's court, and the boy himself lived with his father in a villa near Rome.

Agrippina the Younger early years revolved in an atmosphere of general suspicion, intrigue and struggle for power. And, having given birth to a son, she immediately got used to the idea that he should become an emperor. The obstacle to this goal was brother Caligula dressed in purple.

In the year 38, on June 10, the emperor's beloved sister Julia Drusilla left this world. She died at the age of 21 from some contagious disease. Her husband Marcus Aemilius Lepidus was appointed by the emperor as his heir during Drusilla's lifetime. And Agrippina the Younger decided to use the current situation to her advantage.

She took on the task of organizing the conspiracy and attracted the third sister, Julia Levilla, to her side. Both sisters became lovers of Lepidus, planning to make him emperor. After this, Agrippina the Younger planned to marry Lepidus, and since he had no children, her son would become the only legal heir.

But in 1939 the conspiracy was discovered. Lepidus was executed, and Emperor Caligula exiled his unfaithful sisters to the Pontine Islands, located west of Italy. At the same time, all the sisters’ property went to the treasury, and the women themselves were forbidden to give water and food. They found themselves on the islands without any means of subsistence. The young women had to survive on their own. They fished, dived to the seabed, collected shells and sponges and sold them.

Agrippina's husband escaped the emperor's wrath. He continued to live with his son in the villa, but died in 40. All his property went to the treasury, and little Lucius Domitius was given to be raised by his aunt Domitia Lepida the Younger. However, in January 41, Caligula was killed, and his uncle Claudius came to power. New ruler returned the disgraced sisters from exile, but Agrippina had neither money nor property left.

Agrippina the Younger - mother of Nero

Then her uncle married Agrippina to a wealthy Roman citizen, Gaius Sallust. Gradually, life improved for the woman and her son, but this couple aroused the enmity of Messalina, Claudius’s wife. This smart lady began to look at Agrippina as a rival, and began to consider her son a rival to her son Britannicus.

In 47, Guy Sallust died, and Agrippina the Younger became the heiress of a huge fortune. Soon a circle of people who were dissatisfied with Messalina formed around her. And the latter took a lover, Gaius Silius, and organized a conspiracy against Claudius. It was discovered, and Messalina and Guy were executed. After this, Emperor Claudius married Agrippina. This happened in January '49. The new wife was 33 years old at that time.

In 50, the ruler of Rome adopted Lucius Domitius, and he received a new name: Nero Claudius Caesar Drusus Germanicus. Now he began to be considered the legitimate heir of the emperor and could rightfully dress himself in purple. But the mother did not calm down; she married her son in 53 to the daughter of the emperor Claudia, and removed Britannica away from the court.

In October 54, the Emperor of the Roman Empire died. The Praetorians immediately proclaimed the 16-year-old son of Agrippina the Younger as the new emperor. With the acquisition of enormous power, the young man began to be called Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, and the dream of his not yet old mother finally came true.

Reign of Nero (54-68)

The reign of the fifth Roman emperor can be divided into two stages: the first stage is characterized first by his submission to his mother, and then by more or less reasonable rule. The second stage is tyranny towards one’s associates and extravagance. And the logical ending was the loss of power and the tragic death of a very young man.

Having taken the reins of power in his hands, Nero, due to his youth, was not ready for independent political activity. Therefore, the empire was actually ruled by Agrippina the Younger. However, her unlimited power caused discontent among a certain part of her subjects. This public began to weave intrigues, trying to set the emperor against his mother. However, the crowned young man did not follow the lead of the conspirators. He alienated them from himself, and in 55, by order of the emperor, Britannicus was poisoned as a contender for the throne.

From 55 to 60, Nero established himself as a quite worthy ruler. He cared about welfare ordinary citizens and strengthened personal power through popularity with the people. Taxes were reduced by 2%, trade duties were abolished for merchants who imported food by sea. Folk gymnasiums and theaters were built. An all-out fight against corruption has begun.

Gold coin depicting Nero and his mother Agrippina the Younger

At the same time, the confrontation with his mother escalated. The emperor wanted independence, and Agrippina the Younger tried in every possible way to take care of him. Then the son decided to poison his mother, but 3 attempts were unsuccessful. After that, they tried to drown the woman, but she swam and dived perfectly. And then Nero ordered the mother to be slaughtered without any ceremony. She was stabbed to death in March 1959 by sent assassins, and her body was immediately set on fire. The people were told that the woman had committed suicide.

But the murder of a mother is a personal matter, and it did not affect state affairs in any way. However, the ruler's behavior began to gradually change for the worse. In 62, a period of severe despotism and imperial tyranny began. In this year, Nero married Poppaea Sabina for the second time, and his first wife was executed.

After this, the heads of political opponents rolled as a result trials by insulting the imperial majesty. Christians were also persecuted. The new religion was professed mainly by representatives of lower social strata. The emperor patronized them in every possible way in the first years of his reign, but now Christians were deprived of all state protection.

Accusing the most of treason different people and by putting them to death, the ruler of Rome abandoned current state affairs. He became interested only in executions, spectacles and art. The emperor fell into poetry and sports. Now, after 2 thousand years, it is difficult to say whether Nero was the best poet, musician and athlete. But at that time, he always won at various poetry, music competitions and sports competitions.

A great tragedy happened in Rome on the night of July 19, 64. A fire broke out, which in its scale became one of the largest in history " eternal city" The fire started at night in retail stores in the south-eastern part of the city. By morning the fire engulfed almost the entire city. During these tragic hours the emperor was not in Rome; he was in one of his villas in the suburbs.

In this regard, a version arose that the capital of the empire was set on fire on the orders of Nero. Allegedly, he decided to rebuild Rome, and in order to do it quickly, he ordered it to be set on fire wooden buildings. During the fire, the emperor was not far from Rome on a hill and watched terrible tragedy With safe distance.

However, the Roman historian Publius Cornelius Tacitus (55-120) gives a different interpretation of the events. At the time of the fire, he was a 9-year-old boy and was in Rome, so the tragedy occurred before his eyes. The historian writes that, having learned about the fire, Nero immediately went to Rome, organized rescue teams with his own money, and placed the homeless people in his own palaces and supplied them with food. That is, according to Tacitus, who was an eyewitness, the emperor did everything to save the city and its inhabitants.

Fire in Rome in 64

The flames consumed the “eternal city” for 5 days. Up to 70% of the buildings burned down. To restore former greatness, we needed a lot of money. Therefore, the entire empire was subject to a one-time tribute and a new beautiful city with stone buildings was quickly erected.

The emperor did not forget himself. A palace was founded, called the “Golden Palace of Nero”. However, it was not possible to complete this grandiose structure. The construction was abandoned in 68 immediately after the death of the ruler of Rome. As for the fire, those responsible were quickly found. Christians were accused of deliberately setting fire to the “eternal city.” They began to be captured and executed en masse. Moreover, the executions themselves were extremely sophisticated and took place spectacularly.

At the same time, the Senate's hidden opposition to Nero began. The emperor took away all privileges from the senators and deprived them of real power. Therefore, a conspiracy arose, headed by the wealthy Roman citizen Gaius Calpurnius Piso. But among the conspirators there was a traitor. He betrayed everyone, and mass arrests immediately took place. Piso committed suicide and the other conspirators were executed.

After this, the emperor became extremely suspicious. He withdrew from government affairs and entrusted his responsibilities to temporary workers. At the same time, throughout the country there were large-scale construction projects. They even began to dig a canal across the Isthmus of Corinth. All this required big money, and they were given to the provinces. They began to become poor, and this resulted in large-scale discontent, which became fatal for the emperor.

Opposition to the ruler of Rome began in March 68. Gaius Julius Vindex expressed sharp dissatisfaction with the emperor. He was governor of Gaul (Northern France) and raised his legions against Nero. He was supported by the governor of Spain, Servius Sulpicius Galba. And the governor of Upper Germany, Lucius Verginius Rufus, took a wait-and-see attitude.

Galba's legions united with the Gallic legions and marched on Rome. The soldiers proclaimed Galba himself emperor. But the Senate declared the newly-minted Caesar an enemy. However, the popularity of the latter began to grow rapidly. Even the Praetorian Guard took his side. In this situation, the Roman Emperor Nero fled from his palace in Rome. He decided to reach the eastern provinces that were loyal to him and gather an army there.

But the ruler managed to reach only the southern outskirts of the “eternal city”. In the Servilian Gardens (garden and palace complex), the retinue left the emperor and fled. He had to return to the Roman palace: he could not go alone to the eastern provinces.

Only slaves remained in the palace; even the guards shamefully fled, leaving the emperor to his fate. Then the debunked ruler decided to commit suicide by throwing himself on the sword. However, he did not have the will to do it himself, and armed people There were no people around who could help.

While wandering around the palace, the emperor eventually came across a freedman. He advised me to go to a country villa. Nero had no choice but to follow this advice. Accompanied by 3 slaves and a secretary, he reached the villa and ordered his grave to be dug.

While they were digging it, a courier from the Senate appeared. He said that the senators declared the emperor an enemy of the people and decided to publicly execute him. After that, all that was left was to take his own life. But the ruler of Rome again did not have the will to do this. Only when riders on lathered horses appeared at the gates of the villa to arrest the dethroned emperor did he, with the help of his secretary, cut his throat. At the same time, Nero uttered the phrase: “What a great artist is dying!”

The arriving soldiers rushed to the dying man, hoping to save him by stopping the bleeding. But he croaked: “This is loyalty” and died. This is how the fifth emperor of the Roman Empire, Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, ended his life ingloriously. This tragedy happened on June 9, 68. Together with the death of this man, the Julio-Claudian dynasty was interrupted.

And just recently, only 3 women buried the formidable ruler: his mistress and two nurses. No one else wanted to get involved with the body of the deceased. He was wrapped in white clothes, burned, and the ashes were placed in the Domitian family tomb on Pincius Hill in Rome.

Some of today’s youth will answer: “Yes, just for fun!” And it won't be so far from the truth. It is much more interesting how such characters end up on the historical stage in the first place.

Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus (“red-bearded”) came from an ancient plebeian family. His ancestors took an active part in public life, occupied prominent government positions. Nero's father, by order of Emperor Tiberius, married Augustus's granddaughter, Julia Agrippina. In 37, after nine years of marriage, the couple had a boy. His father believed that nothing could be born between him and Agrippina except “horror and grief for humanity” (according to Suetonius). After Tiberius, Caligula, Nero's uncle and brother of his mother Agrippina the Younger, became emperor. There is an assumption that Nero and the sisters were in an open relationship, without trying to justify them with the authority of the gods, as the Egyptian pharaohs did. Caligula then accused the sisters of conspiracy and exiled them to islands in the Tyrrhenian Sea, where they fed themselves by diving for sponges on the seabed.

In 41, the Praetorians killed Caligula and installed his uncle Claudius as emperor, who survived only because he pretended to be an idiot. Nero's mother returned from exile. Her husband had already died by then. Claudius married Agrippina and Gaius Sallust Passienus Crispus, who twice became consul in Rome. The famous Messalina, the wife of Claudius (see above), tried to destroy Agrippina and Nero, but the matter did not work out. Meanwhile, in 47, Gaius Sallust died, and in 48, Claudius executed Messalina and her lover for preparing a conspiracy. A year later, Emperor Claudius and thirty-three-year-old Agrippina got married. She was a beautiful and respected, but ruthless, ambitious, despotic and domineering woman “with wolf fangs,” in the words of Pliny the Elder.

Agrippina became the center of intrigue. Under her influence, Claudius adopted Nero in 50. Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus became known as Nero Claudius Caesar Drusus Germanicus. Seneca, returned from exile, became the teacher of the young heir to the imperial throne. Claudius began to grow cold towards Agrippina, and at the end of 54 he died after eating mushrooms offered by Agrippina. Sixteen-year-old Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, supported by the Praetorians, became emperor.

Within a short time, the young emperor was free from the influence of his mother and his advisors. He remarried, and his mother was killed on his orders.

In 55–60 Nero got busy state affairs, trying to be known good ruler. Bail, fines, and attorney's fees were limited. He began to defend freedmen. During the campaign against corruption, many were arrested officials. Taxes were reduced. Nero built public gymnasiums, several theaters, and began to entertain the people with gladiator fights and other performances. On the foreign policy front, Nero had to deal with the Parthians and Armenians, and suppress revolts in Britain and Judea.

In 62, a period of despotism and tyranny began - executions “without measure and indiscriminately of anyone and for anything” became commonplace. A public administration Nero began to prefer arts and sports. He won victories in poetry and music competitions, and in chariot competitions.

On the night of July 18-19, 64, a terrible fire started in Rome. It is customary to blame Nero, who seemed to be observing the disaster from a safe distance, playing the lyre and reciting a poem about the death of Troy. According to other sources, Nero organized rescue teams at his own expense and, after a five-day fire, did a lot to help the fire victims. Christians were blamed for the arson. Nero was one of the first persecutors of Christians, who believed that over time he would rise as the Antichrist. Nero developed a plan for the construction of the city, which was to be protected from possible future fires. By collecting additional one-time tribute from the provinces, Rome was quickly rebuilt. The Golden Palace of Nero and the Colossus of Nero - a thirty-five-meter statue of the despotic emperor - were born.

In 65, Nero managed to prevent a conspiracy against his power. Of the forty people, about twenty were executed or forced to commit suicide. This group included Nero's former teacher - the philosopher Seneca, the famous poet Petronius, and a number of senators.

Nero didn't have a good time with his offspring. The daughter who was born died at the age of several months. And Poppaea’s pregnant wife died after being hit in the stomach with a boot from her drunken husband. He openly celebrated weddings with his lovers, imitating the corresponding Roman ritual. Debauchery at the Roman imperial court reached its climax.

Things were not going well in the state in the best possible way. Even before the fire, there was a plague in the empire. The restoration of Rome required enormous funds. In 67, construction of a canal across the Cornifian Isthmus began. The governors of a number of provinces opposed the emperor, each claiming his place and being supported by subordinate legions. The imperial court virtually fled, and the palace security also evaporated. The Emperor could not find a soldier or gladiator who could stab him with a sword. He did not dare to rush into the Tiber. Accompanied by his most devoted servants, he reached a suburban villa, where the servants dug a grave for him. Finally, the courier reported that the Senate declared Nero an enemy of the people and decided to put him to public execution. With the words: “What a great artist is dying!” Nero tried to accomplish his plan. Only the approach of the horsemen forced him to cut his throat - and then with the help of his secretary. Nero in 68 was just over thirty years old.

Ordinary Romans knew little about Nero’s “arts.” They remembered that he reduced taxes (“and under Stalin, taxes were reduced”) and “thinned out” the ruling stratum. The upper strata are tired of trembling before the tyrant and despot. The Julio-Claudian dynasty is over. Four contenders for the throne fought for a year, and a new dynasty - the Flavians - was founded by Vespasian. Over the next twenty years, several self-proclaimed False Nerons were executed. The imperial throne ceased to be transferred only on the basis of family ties, and subsequently began to be sold. The Roman Empire went for four centuries to a tragic denouement in 476.

Name: Nero

Age: 30 years

Place of Birth: Lazio, Italy

A place of death: Rome, Italy

Activity: Roman Emperor

Family status: was married

Nero - biography

Full name - Nero Claudius Caesar Drusus Germanicus is known as Nero. Birth name: Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus.

When the news of Nero’s birth was reported to his father, he exclaimed: “From me and Agrippina nothing can be born except horror and grief for mankind!”

Agrippina was the sister of Emperor Caligula, who did not hesitate to visit her bedroom. So the biological father of the newborn, who later received the name Nero, could well have been the cruel madman himself. And as we know, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree...

Having conceived a plot to kill her brother and put her son on the throne, Agrippina did not know about the traitor. Her accomplices were executed, and Caligula sent her sister into exile. Nero remained in Rome with his father Guy Domitius, and when the old man died, the boy was sent to be raised by his aunt, where he fully experienced poverty and deprivation.

When Caligula was finally killed, his uncle, Claudius, took the throne. He returned his niece to Rome. The emperor's depraved wife, Messalina, suspected that Agrippina could achieve the transfer of the throne from Claudius to Nero, bypassing their own son Britannicus. She sent assassins to little Nero, but they never decided to carry out the “delicate” assignment.

When Nero was 10 years old, his mother began to approach Claudius. After Messalina’s unsuccessful attempt to overthrow her husband, Afippina seduced Claudius - and achieved her goal: the emperor married her, and a little later adopted her and declared 13-year-old Nero as his heir. Four years later, the young man stood at the head of Rome.

However, the 17-year-old young man could not drive. He indulged in feasts and orgies, having sex with boys and married women. Once he raped a vestal priestess, which would have been unacceptable. The historian Suetonius wrote: “His impudence, lust, licentiousness, and cruelty were at first invisible, like youthful hobbies, but even then it was clear that these vices were from nature, and not from age.”

In the early years, the empire was actually ruled by Agrippina and Nero's mentors - Seneca and Burrus. The young ruler’s mother began to clear the courtyard of old and new enemies. Realizing that they too might fall under the next “purge,” Seneca and Burr persuaded the emperor not to approve Agrippina’s “death lists.” They used the former slave Acte as a tool to influence the young man - Nero fell in love with her so much that he was ready to do anything.

Then the mother threatened that she would return the throne to Claudius’s own son, Britannicus. In response, Nero ordered Britannicus to be poisoned. Then he ordered his poisoner Locusta to be brought to the amphitheater. The woman was stripped and tied to a pole, where, to the amusement of the crowd, she was raped by a specially trained giraffe and thrown to the lions.

The young emperor himself liked to pretend to be a beast. According to Suetonius, “in animal skin he jumped out of the cage and attacked those tied to the posts naked men and women and, having satisfied his wild lust, gave himself to the freedman Doryphoros...”

One day Nero saw the beautiful Poppaea Sabina - and lost his head. He ordered her husband to divorce her and gave her in marriage to his friend, forbidding her to share a bed with her.

Agrippina immediately felt a threat in Poppaea and offered her son, in exchange for a new mistress... herself. And she succeeded in this. But Nero still longed for Poppea's caresses. She set him a condition: either she or his wife and mother. To speed up the decision, the mistress stopped hosting Nero, and the emperor removed his mother from the court. Then Poppea demanded that he enter into a marriage, which was impossible with Agrippina alive. Nero crossed this line too.

On his orders, they tried to poison Agrippina three times, but she took the antidote. Then Nero invited her to go on a pleasure boat trip. According to the plan, in the room where the woman was sleeping, a lead ceiling was supposed to fall on her. However, the racks withstood the deadly load.

Upon learning of the failure of the “operation,” Nero panicked, but Seneca advised accusing his mother of attempting to kill him and executing her. Seeing the executioner with a knife, Agrippina asked to stab her in the stomach. By this, the woman made it clear: she bitterly regrets that she gave birth to a scoundrel. The next morning it was explained to the Senate that the emperor had almost died at the hands of his mother’s killer. Rome pretended to believe...

Now no one could stop Nero from indulging in lust and vanity. And the fame of an actor and singer meant even more to him than power. Having a hoarse and weak voice, the ruler played the lyre and sang for hours. The Romans treated singers and actors with contempt, but Nero did not care. Subsequently, he collected thousands of theaters. The guards closed the doors, and no one could leave his performances.

For the sake of art, Nero approved sports and poetry games - Neronia, held every five years. Music, gymnastics, poetry, chariot racing. .. IN last emperor always won. Even when he fell out of the chariot, the judges unconditionally gave him victory. This was the case at the Olympics, where the emperor “won” 1808 Olympic wreaths.

When Poppea became pregnant, Nero decided to get rid of his legal wife Octavia. Accusing her of infertility, he divorced her and married his mistress. Octavia was sent from Rome to the island of Pandateria, where she was killed by cutting her veins. As proof of her death, Poppea was brought the head of the unfortunate woman.

Soon Poppea gave birth to a daughter. The emperor's happiness knew no bounds; he even awarded the mother and baby the title of Augusta. The joy was short-lived: four months later the child died.

And the next year there was a huge fire in Rome. The city burned for six days, but the emperor only calmly played music. Due to his bad reputation, he was suspected of organizing the fire. Nero himself “appointed” Christians as guilty. Thus, on his orders, the Apostle Peter was crucified upside down. Other followers of Christ were nailed to the cross and set on fire. Nero ordered the installation of living torches to illuminate his feasts. Amid heartbreaking screams, the murderer calmly talked with the guests and drank wine. It was for the murder of Christians that Nero was nicknamed the Antichrist. By the way, the sum of the serial numbers of the letters in his full name gives the number bbb. And in the Book of Revelation it is said that “the beast will reign for 42 months” - Nero reigned for the same amount of time after that terrible fire.

During her next pregnancy, Poppea's psyche began to malfunction. The emperor was not going to tolerate hysterics and “shut up” her with a kick to the stomach. The woman fell, started bleeding, and had a miscarriage. A few hours later, Poppea died. From grief, Nero seemed to lose his mind. Noticing the young man Spor's resemblance to the deceased, he ordered him to be castrated and married him. Nero later married two more men, but did not castrate them, because for them he was the “wife”.

Of course, Nero's style of government could not help but turn society against him. Riots occurred regularly, but they were suppressed. And in March 1968 the situation changed in a fatal way for him. The governor of Gaul, Gaius Vindex, opposed Nero. For help, he turned to the governor of Spain, Servius Galba, offering him the title of emperor. Legions of rebels marched towards Rome.

At first, the Senate declared Galba an enemy of the people, but then he was supported by the emperor's personal guard. Left without cover, Nero disappeared into his luxurious palace on Palatine Hill. And when the messenger reported that the Senate had already declared him an enemy of the people, he decided to die. With the help of his secretary, he cut his own throat, exclaiming: “What a great artist is dying!”

None of the nobility wanted to bury the emperor, and only the former slave Akte, having wrapped the body of her 30-year-old lover in a shroud, set him on fire.

Of all the existing Roman emperors, the one with the most disrepute in today's perception is Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, better known as Nero. Perhaps he is considered one of the four most bloody misanthropes, which also includes Hitler, Stalin and Pol Pot. He is a lustful libertine, and a murderer of his own mother and brothers, and a persecutor of Christians, and a sadist, and a pervert, and, finally, he burned down his own capital.

We will not argue that nothing like this happened - Nero, with his inclinations, really belongs in a zoo. However, he is not as bad as he is usually portrayed, and in comparison with his predecessors such as Caligula, Tiberius, Augustus and Caesar himself, Nero was simply a harmless idiot. In particular, Nero apparently was not involved in the great fire that took place in 64 AD and became, perhaps, the greatest disaster of the eternal city in its entire centuries-old history. Let us remember that Rome in those years was the most big city on the ground, in his wooden barracks and multi-storey buildings more than a million people lived. The overcrowding was terrible, similar to today's Hong Kong or Rio de Janeiro.

The fire raged for five days and nights, affecting 10 of the city's 14 districts, with three areas completely burned. Unparalleled chaos reigned in the city. Women cried, old people and children begged for help, some were dumbfounded in horror, others rushed about, trying to help the victims, we read from Tacitus. “People didn’t feel safe anywhere, crowds filled the streets, everyone was afraid to stay in their houses. Thousands of Romans lost all their property. Of course, in the face of such a catastrophe, a culprit must be found, and a rumor spread in Rome that Nero, blinded by delusions of grandeur, had ordered the city to be burned to make way for a new palace. Nero claimed that the ugly old houses and winding streets offended his eyes, and ordered the city to be burned, writes the chronicler Suetonius (55-116). Nero sent several drunkards who lit fires in different quarters of the city, adds Cassius Dio (150-235). There are many rumors of this kind, but serious researchers refute them. As a result of the fire of Rome, Nero lost much more than he gained - after all, his palace, collection of paintings and sculptures, and just cash were lost in the fire.

Let us not forget that Nero, as emperor, was personally responsible for ensuring that his subjects had shelter and food, and the fire deprived Nero of almost all his savings. So all these legends are not history, but stories, says Nero’s most serious biographer, Philip Vandenberg. In various Hollywood films (say, Ben Hur or Quo Vadis), Nero performs dramatic operatic roles, watching as an all-consuming fire rages under his feet. Although Nero loved to dress up in the singer’s toga and may have seen in burning Rome the image of the burning Troy described in Homer’s Iliad (he had a passion for everything Greek), it is reliably known that Nero himself barely escaped the fire, so he could not to songs. And he could hardly see Rome from where he was. It is noteworthy that the first Christian authors do not blame Nero for the fire, although this would have been very beneficial for them. Only later did the legend of deliberate arson appear, which Nero allegedly wanted to attribute to followers of Christian ideas. Just at the time of the special persecution of Christians, Nero was in Greece and knew nothing about them. And although both before and after Nero, among the rulers who occupied the Roman throne, there were many worse people, although Nero abused his power less than others, he managed to be known as the most bloodthirsty of all the heroes of ancient Roman history.