Nero the Beast of the Roman Empire

37 CE Nero (Tiberius Claudius Nero Domitianus Caesar) (d. June 6, 68 CE), the fifth Roman emperor.

Nero was born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus in Anzio, Roman Emperor (from 54 CE to 68 CE) – great-great-grandson of Augustus and step-brother to Britannicus. Ahenobarbus (Nero) was the son of Agrippina the Younger, fourth wife of Claudius Nero Germanicus, who had adopted him just before his death. Eventually the Senate deposed Nero, who committed suicide on June 6, 68. With his death, the Julio-Claudian Dynasty (Julius Caesar - Claudius) ended.

One of his tutors was Lucius Annaeus Seneca (Seneca the Younger), who, with the praetorian prefect Sextus Afranius Burrus became very powerful in the empire, often being the power behind Nero’s throne. In 67, while travelling in Greece, Nero demanded that the Olympic Games be held in his honour. Nero was himself a competitor, and won every single event.

He was known for his cruel and tyrannical rule. Suetonius tells us that Nero notoriously castrated a boy, Sporus, and 'married' him in a bizarre wedding ceremony. Thinking of Nero, Juvenal pointed out that "never was an ugly youth cruelly castrated in the palace of a tyrant". He also had Doryphoros, a young man, become his 'husband', and raped the Vestal Virgin, Rubria. It is thought that the author of The Revelation of St John referred to "the Beast" by the number 666 because he knew that he could be punished for referring in a hostile manner to the emperor Nero as The Beast ...

Categories: ancient-rome, biography