Nero’s Despotism
In 62 Nero reintroduced the charge of verbal treason (earlier in his reign he had agreed to put an end to such charges) against 03Antistius Sosianus (fl.56-70), who was accused of reading out his satirical verses on the emperor at a dinner party. In 59 02Clodius Thrasea (fl.42-66), a Roman senator noted for his principled opposition to Nero, had openly showed his disgust with the obsequiousness of the Senate after the reading of the emperor’s letter justifying the murder of Agrippina. He now further irritated Nero by proposing exile for Sosianus rather than death, and the Senate agreed.
The first eight years of Nero’s reign were generally marked by good government, Seneca and Burrus having encouraged Nero to indulge his artistic tastes, racing interests, and sexual passions, thereby drawing his attention away from their personal management of the state. This all changed when Burrus died in 62. Nero appointed two praetorian prefects, Faenius Rufus (fl.55-65) and Ofonius Tigellinus (c.59; fl.39-69). Seneca, without Burrus and no longer able to rely on the Praetorian Guard, was forced to retire. The loss of his three most important restraints – Agrippina, Seneca and Burrus – meant that Nero was free to pursue his whims.
Tigellinus worked his way into Nero’s favour by encouraging and participating in the emperor’s worst vices, particularly his night revels around the taverns, brothels and back streets of Rome. Tigellinus became Nero’s procurer; whatever Nero wanted, Tigellinus would organise.
An early action by Tigellinus was to begin the undermining his colleague, Faenius Rufus, by suggesting that he had been a friend of Agrippina. He also drew Nero’s attention to Faustus 57Cornelius Sulla Felix (40; fl.47-62), the son-in-law of Claudius, now in exile in Massilia (=Marseilles), and Rubellius Plautus (29; fl.55-62), the great-grandson of Tiberius, in Asia, pointing out the former’s proximity to the legions on the Rhine, and the latter’s closeness to the armies of Nero’s commander in the East, Corbulo. Hints of armed insurrection prompted Nero to order the execution of both men.
Under pressure from Poppaea, another strong-willed woman, Nero divorced Octavia and married Poppaea. Octavia was banished, but false rumours that she was going to be reinstated led to public demonstrations in her favour. Nero accused her of adultery with the freedman Anicetus and treason. She was put to death and Anicetus, an accomplice in the murder of Agrippina, was conveniently banished.
In 63 senators and knights were forced to compete in the arena, and Nero’s stage performances went on tour. He sang on stage at Neapolis (Naples) and went on to Beneventum, from where he planned to continue to Achaea. Problems in Rome forced his return and brought the notorious Banquet of Tigellinus which was held on barges surrounded by brothels and taverns erected in the middle of Marcus Agrippa’s Lake on the Campus Martius (Field of Mars).
On the evening of 18 July 64 a fire broke out in Rome that burned for six days and nights and resulted in the destruction of three-quarters of the city. Nero was away in the East at this time and he quickly returned as soon as the news reached him. He opened the Field of Mars and the Vatican Gardens to refugees and arranged food and shelter for them. Despite his generosity to the survivors, it was not long before rumours began to circulate that Nero was responsible, it being generally known that he wanted to replace older parts of the city with buildings more fitting to the grandeur of Rome.
To deflect the blame from himself Nero singled out the Christians of Rome as scapegoats, having selected a few renegades who were willing to confess to the crime. Jews were not included because they had a sort of protected status for a long time. Some of the Christians were dressed in animal skins and torn to pieces in the Circus Maximus; others were used as torches to illuminate twenty-four hour construction.
Nero, having spent much of the treasury prior to the fire, had trouble raising the funds to repair Rome. Temples across Italy were looted and the wealth of the rich was confiscated via threats that sometimes resulted in death. He rebuilt temples and other places of importance that had been destroyed, added a huge arena close to the present Vatican City and a large artificial lake that later was the site of the Colosseum. He named his new palace the Domus Aurea, Golden House, because of all the gold, precious stones and ivory it contained.
In the year after the fire, with his wife Poppaea pregnant, he flew into a rage and kicked her in the belly and she died shortly afterwards. He was apparently grief-stricken until he spotted a young slave, Sporus, who looked uncannily like Nero’s late wife. Nero had him castrated and went through a marriage ceremony with him. Soon, however, Nero married another young slave, Pythagoras. It was said that Nero acted as husband to Sporus and wife to Pythagoras. He also formed a homosexual attachment to the actor Paris, who was put to death when it became apparent that he was a far better actor than the emperor. During this time, however, Nero had a more conventional relationship with Statilia Messalina (c.33; fl.65-68), whom he married a year later after having forced her husband to commit suicide.
No one at this time could be certain of how wide the field of Nero’s potential rivals really was. Family ties were obviously important but as Julio-Claudian connections had become increasingly tenuous it was now apparent that a member of any distinguished family could become a threat.
Finally the discontent of the political elite with Nero’s rule broke out in a conspiracy that involved many senators and knights, supported by Faenius Rufus. The plot was betrayed and Nero took revenge. His victims included 17Calpurnius Piso (fl.40-65), after whom the conspiracy is named, Marcus 02Ostorius Scapula (cos.59), son of the former governor of Britain, and Gaius 03Petronius Arbiter (c.39; fl.62-66), Nero’s elegantiae arbiter (judge of elegance).
Several Stoic politicians: Seneca, 02Clodius Thrasea, 13Marcius Barea (fl.52-65) and 02Annaeus Lucanus (=Lucan; 25; fl.60-65) also perished. Helvidius Priscus (fl.56-70+), Thrasea’s son-in-law, was expelled from Italy. The Stoic emphasis on liberty – political and intellectual – objected to tyranny, if not to monarchy, and showed their opposition to Nero’s rule without resorting to violence. Some nineteen persons including Faenius were killed and thirteen exiled.
In 66 Tiridates, during his journey to Rome for his coronation by Nero, was accompanied by Corbulo’s son-in-law 01Annius Vinicianus. Outraged by the trials and suicides, Vinicianus planned to kill Nero at Beneventum, but was discovered and executed. Although this conspiracy was a minor affair compared to that of the previous year, from this moment on Nero systematically replaced his most important commanders in the provinces. 11Sulpicius Scribonius Proculus (fl.58-67) and 12Sulpicius Scribonius Rufus (fl.58-67), commanders of the armies in Lower and Upper Germania, were forced to commit suicide and replaced by and 03Fonteius Capito (cos.59) and 02Verginius Rufus (82; fl.63-97) respectively; 02Plautius Silvanus (cos.45) was recalled from Moesia and replaced by 04Pomponius Pius; Corbulo was recalled and forced to commit suicide in 67. However, the commands in Syria and Judaea went to men of proven experience, 20Licinius Mucianus (cos.65) and the future emperor Vespasian (69; fl.30-79).
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