The Roman Emperor Nero Slideshow

The Roman Emperor
Nero Claudius Drusus Germanicus

Rise to the Throne
Because Nero was adopted by Claudius he was now Claudius's eldest son. This meant that he was now heir to the throne. Claudius, however, thought that Nero might not be a worthy heir, and as a result, Claudius was poisoned and killed by his wife. In the year 51 he was named Emperor. After becoming emperor, Nero sent his own mother away from the palace to prevent her getting any power. Later at a dinner party, he poisoned and killed his brother Britannicus, because he thought that Britannicus might get a share of the power which he decided was rightfully his.


Nero's Rule
Most likely due to his tutor, Seneca, Nero started off as a very kind and humane leader. He was well educated and studied horse-racing, singing, acting, dancing, and poetry. However, with time he grew more corrupt. He made three attempts on his mother's life, first rigging a collapsible bed to fall on her, next sinking a boat and finally hiring an assassin who stabbed her to death. He started hosting musical recitals in which nobody was allowed to leave. He went through vast quantities of public money, indulging in feasts, setting up plays, and enjoying life, which quickly brought down his reputation as a leader.
The Start of Nero
Nero was born in Anzio, Italy, on December 15th, the year 37AD. He was originally named Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, and was the son of Agrippina the Younger and Cnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus. At the age of two, his mother was banished by Caligula to the Pontian Islands. This was just a year before his father died, and soon before Caligula's death. After the death of Emperor Caligula, Claudius, who had organized Caligula's death with Caligula's own Praetorian Guard, came to power. Agrippina the Younger, Claudius's niece, was sent back to her home and married Claudius. She then persuaded him to adopt Nero, and in adoption he earned his name, Nero Claudius Drusus Germanicus. His last name was derived from his step grandfather's name, Germanicus. This may have been a strategic move on his stepfather's part because Germanicus was a highly celebrated commander in the army.
Nero's Decline, Part Two
In the wreckage of the once prosperous Rome, buildings were popping up again. A building of main focus and of much controversy would be the new palace. Nero built the new palace in the wreckage of what had once been the old one, out of a design he had made in the days before the fire, going through one tenth of the royal treasury to do so. People started accusing Nero of burning down Rome to build his new palace. Nero blamed the Christians, saying that they started the fire and that they must be responsible. He ordered them all killed.
Nero's Decline
In July AD 64, a fire started in the center of Rome, burning for 6 days. Accounts at this time claim "Four districts of the city were undamaged, three were utterly destroyed and in the other seven there remained only a few mangled and half-burnt traces of houses." As Rome burned to the ground, Nero sat upon the palace roof where the view of the fire was the best and began to sing, "The Fall of Troy." Though some historians claimed that he played the fiddle during this time, the fiddle doesn't make an appearance for hundreds of years. It was more likely that he was playing some other type of stringed instrument instead. Though people suspected that he had started the fires, he did at least make an attempt to stop them.
Downfall
As time went on, Nero was becoming distrusted by the Roman citizens, and was eventually sentenced to death by the government. He decided, instead of yielding to the brutal plans the government had for him, to commit suicide with the assistance of his secretary. His last words were

"Qualis artifex pereo." or "What an artist the world loses in me."
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