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Index
The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
NERO
ne'-ro (Neron):
I. NAME, PARENTAGE AND EARLY
II. AGRIPPINA'S AMBITION FOR NERO
Her Nine Measures for Bringing Him to the Throne
III. NERO'S REIGN
- Quinquennium Nerohis
- Poppea Sabina (58 AD)
- Poppea and Tigellinus
- Great Fire (July, 64)
- Persecution of Christians
- Conspiracy of Piso (65 AD)
- Nero in Greece (66 AD)
- Death of Nero
IV. DOWNFALL AND CHARACTER
- Seven Causes of Downfall
- Character
V. "NERO REDIVIVUS"
VI. NERO AND CHRISTIANITY
- Nero and the New Testament
- Neronian Policy and Christianity
LITERATURE
The fifth Roman emperor, born at Antium December 15, 37 AD, began to reign
October 13, 54, died June 9, 68.
I. Name, Parentage and Early Training.
His name was originally Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus but after his adoption
into the Claudian gens by the emperor Claudius, he became Nero Claudius Caesar
Germanicus. His father was Enaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus ("Brazen-beard"), a man
sprung from an illustrious family and of vicious character. His mother was
Agrippina the younger, the daughter of Germanicus and the elder Agrippina, sister of
the emperor Caius (Caligula) and niece of the emperor Claudius. On the birth of
the child, his father predicted, amid the congratulations of his friends, that
any offspring of himself and Agrippina could only prove abominable and
disastrous for the public (Suet. Nero vi:
detestabile et malo publico). At the age of three the young Domitius lost his
father and was robbed of his estates by the rapacity of Caius. In 39 his mother
was banished for supposed complicity in a plot against Caius. Nero was thus
deprived of his mother and at the same time left almost penniless. His aunt,
Domitia Lepida, now undertook the care of the boy and placed him with two tutors, a
dancer and a barber (Suetonius vi). On the accession of Claudius, Agrippina
was recalled, and Nero was restored to his mother and his patrimony (41 AD).
II. Agrippina's Ambition for Nero.
She cared little for her son's moral education, but began immediately to train
him for high position. She aimed at nothing less than securing the empire for
Nero. With a view to this she must gain influence over her uncle, the emperor
Clandius, who was very susceptible to female charms. At first the path was by no
means easy, while the licentious empress, Messalina, was in power. But on the
fall and death of Messalina (48 AD)--for which Agrippina may have
intrigued--the way seemed opened. With the assistance of the emperor's freedman, Pallas,
Agrippina proved the successful candidate for Claudius' affections. She how felt
secure to carry out the plans for the elevation of her son:
Her Nine Measures for Bringing Him to the Throne
(1) She secured his betrothal to Octavia, the daughter of Claudius, having
previously, by the villainy of Vitellius, broken off the engagement between
Octavia and Lucius Silanus (ibid., xlviii). Later, Nero married this unfortunate
lady.
(2) Vitellius again obliged by securing a modification of Roman law so as to
permit a marriage with a brother's (not sister's) daughter, and in 49 Agrippina
became empress.
(3) In the meantime she had caused Seneca to be recalled from banishment and
had entrusted to him the education of Nero for imperial purposes.
(4) The adoption of her son by Claudius (50 AD).
(5) She next secured early honors and titles for Nero in order to mark him out
as Clandins' successor.
(6) She caused Britannicus, Claudius' son, to be kept in the background and
treated as a mere child, removing by exile or death suspected supporters of
Britannicus.
(7) Agrippina was farsighted and anticipated a later secret of Roman
imperialism--the influence of the armies in the nomination of emperors. For this cause
she took an active interest in military affairs and gave her name to a new
colony on the Rhine (modern Cologne). But she did not forget the importance of
securing the praetorian guard and Burrus the prefect.
(8) She persuaded Clandins to make a will in favor of her son. All was now
ready. But Claudius did not like the idea of excluding his son Britannicus from
power, and murmurs were heard among the senate and people. Delay might prove
fatal to Agrippina's plans, so
(9) Claudius must die. The notorious Locusta administered poison in a dish of
mushrooms, and Xenophon, Agrippina's physician, thrust a poisoned feather down
Claudius' throat on the pretense of helping him to vomit. Burrus then took Nero
forth and caused him to be proclaimed imperator by the praetorians.
III. Nero's Reign.
- Quinquennium Neronis:
Nero's reign falls into three periods, the first of which is the celebrated
quinquennium, or first 5 years, characterized by good government at home and in
the provinces and popularity with both senate and people. Agrippina, having
seated her son on the throne, did not purpose to relinquish power herself; she
intended to rule along with him. And at first Nero was very devoted to her and had
given as watchword to the guard, "the best of mothers" (Tacitus, Annals xiii.2;
Suetonius ix). This caused a sharp conflict with Seneca and Burrus, who could
not tolerate Agrippina's arrogance and unbounded influence over her son. In
order to detach him from his mother they encouraged him in an amour with a Greek
freedwoman, Acre (Tac. Ann. xiii.12). This first blow to Agrippina's influence
was soon followed by the dismissal from court of her chief protector Pallas. She
now threatened to bring forth Britannicus and present him as the rightful heir
to the throne. This cost Britannicus his life, for Nero, feeling insecure
while a son of Claudius lived, compassed his death at a banquet. A hot wine cup was
offered Britannicus, and to cool it to taste, cold water was added which had
been adulterated with a virulent poison. The victim succumbed immediately. All
eyes fastened on Nero in suspicion, but he boldly asserted that the death was
due to a fit of epilepsy--a disease to which Britannicus had been subject from
childhood. Such was the fate of Agrippina's first protege. She next took up the
cause of the despised and ill-treated Octavia, which so incensed her son that he
deprived her of her guards and caused her to remove from the palace. Agrippina
now disappears for the next few years to come into brief and tragic prominence
later. Seneca and Burrus undertook the management of affairs, with results
that justified the favorable impression which the first 5 years of Nero's reign
made upon the Roman people. Many reforms were initiated, financial, social and
legislative. These ministers treated Nero to counsels of moderation and justice,
dictating a policy which left considerable activity to the senate. But
perceiving the bent of his evil nature, they allowed him to indulge in low pleasures
and excesses with the most profligate companions, thinking, perhaps, either that
the young ruler would in this way prove less harmful to the public, or that,
after sowing his wild oats, he would return to the serious business of
government. But in both ways they were sorely disappointed, for Nero, having surrendered
himself to the basest appetites, continued to go from excess to excess. He
surrounded himself with the most dissolute companions, conspicuous among whom were
Salvius Otho and Claudius Senecio.
- Poppea Sabina (58 AD):
The former had a wife as ambitious as she was unprincipled, and endowed,
according to Tacitus, with every gift of nature except an "honorable mind." Already
divorced before marrying Otho, she was minded to employ Otho merely as a tool
to enable her to become Nero's consort. With the appearance of Poppea Sabina,
for such was her name, opens the second period of Nero's reign. She proved his
evil star. Under her influence he shook off all restraints, turned a deaf ear to
is best advisers and plunged deeper into immorality and crime. She allowed, if
not persuaded, Nero to give her husband a commission in the distant province of
Lusitania. Her jealousy could tolerate no possible rival. She plotted the
death of Agrippina to which she easily persuaded Nero to consent. This foul crime
was planned and carried out with the greatest cunning. Anicetus, admiral of the
fleet, undertook to construct a vessel that would sink to order. Nero invited
his mother to his villa at Baiae at the Quinquatrus celebration. After the
banquet she was persuaded to return to Bauli by the vessel prepared. But the plan
did not succeed, and Agrippina saved herself by swimming ashore. She pretended to
treat the matter as an accident, sending a freedman to Nero to inform him of
her escape. Anicetus, however, relieved Nero of the awkward position by
pretending that Agrippina's freedman had dropped a dagger which was considered proof
enough of her guilt. Deserted by her friends and slaves except one freedman, she
was quickly dispatched by her murderers. Nero gave out that she died by suicide
(Suetonius xxxiv; Tacitus, Annals cxli-cxlviii).
- Poppea and Tigellinus:
Nero no longer made any secret of taking Poppea as his mistress, and, under
her influence, bid defiance to the best Roman traditions and plunged deeper into
dissipation. In 62 AD matters grew much worse by the death of the praetorian
prefect, Burrus. Seneca lost in him a powerful ally, and Poppea gained in one of
the new prefects, Sofonius Tigellinus, a powerful ally. She succeeded in
causing Seneca to retire from the court. Next she determined to remove Octavia. A
charge of adultery was first tried, but as the evidence proved too leaky, Nero
simply divorced her because of barrenness. Then Anicetus was persuaded to confess
adultery with her, and the innocent Octavia was banished to the island of
Pandateria, where a little later she was executed at Poppea's orders and her head
brought to her rival (62 AD). Poppea was now empress, and the next year bore a
daughter to Nero, but the child died when only three months old. Two years later
Poppea herself died during pregnancy, of a cruel kick inflicted by Nero in a
fit of rage (65 AD). He pronounced an eulogy over her and took a third wife,
Statilia Messalina, of whom he had no issue.
Nero, having by his extravagance exhausted the well-filled treasury of
Claudius (as Caius did that of Tiberius), was driven to fill his coffers by
confiscations of the estates of rich nobles against whom his creature Tigellinus could
trump the slightest plausible charge. But even this did not prevent a financial
crisis--the beginning of the bankruptcy of the later Rein empire. The provinces
which at first enjoyed good government were now plundered; new and heavy taxes
were imposed. Worst of all, the gold and silver coinage was depreciated, and
the senate was deprived of the right of copper coinage.
- Great Fire (July, 64):
This difficulty was much increased by the great fire which was not only
destructive to both private and state property, but also necessitated the providing
thousands of homeless with shelter, and lowering the price of corn. On July 18,
64, this great conflagration broke out in Circus Maximus. A high wind caused it
to spread rapidly over a large portion of the city, sweeping before it
ill-built streets of wooden houses. At the end of six days it seemed to be exhausted
for lack of material, when another conflagration started in a different quarter
of the city. Various exaggerated accounts of the destruction are found in Roman
historians:
of the 14 city regions 7 were said to have been totally destroyed and 4
partially. Nero was at Antium at the time. He hastened back to the city and
apparently took every means of arresting the spread of the flames. He superintended in
person the work of the fire brigades, often exposing himself to danger. After
the fire he threw open his own gardens to the homeless. The catastrophe caused
great consternation, and, for whatever reasons, suspicion seemed to fix upon
Nerio. Rumor had it that on hearing the Greek verse, "When I am dead let the earth
be wrapped in fire," he interrupted, "Nay rather, while I live" (Suetonius
xxxviii); that he had often deplored the ugliness of the city and wished an
opportunity to rebuild it; that he purposely set it on fire in order to find room for
his magnificent Domus Aurea ("Golden House"); that when the city was burning he
gazed upon it from the tower of Maecenas delighted with what he termed "the
beauty of the conflagration"; that he recited in actor's costume the sack of Troy
(Suetonius xxxviii; Tacitus, Annals xv.38). In spite of all these reports Nero
must be absolved of the guilt of incendiarism.
- Persecution of Christians:
Such public calamities were generally attributed to the wrath of the gods. In
the present case everything was done to appease the offended deity. Yet, in
spite of all, suspicion still clung to Nero "Wherefore in order to allay the rumor
he put forward as guilty (subdidit reos), and afflicted with the most
exquisite punishments those who were hated for their abominations (flagitia) and called
`Christians' by the populace. Christus, from whom the name was derived, was
punished by the procurator Pontius Pilatus in the reign of Tiberius. This noxious
form of religion (exitiabilis superstitio), checked for a time, broke out
again not only in Judea its original home, but also throughout the city (Rome)
where all abominations meet and find devotees. Therefore first of all those who
confessed (i.e. to being Christians) were arrested, and then as a result of their
information a large number (multitude ingens) were implicated (reading
coniuncti, not convicti), not so much on the charge of incendiarism as for hatred of
the human race. They died by methods of mockery; some were covered with the skins
of wild beasts and then torn by dogs, some were crucified, some were burned as
torches to give light at night .... whence (after scenes of extreme cruelty)
commiseration was stirred for them, although guilty and deserving the worst
penalties, for men felt that their destruction was not on account of the public
welfare but to gratify the cruelty of one (Nero)" (Tacitus, Annals xv.44). Such is
the earliest account of the first heathen persecution (as well as the first
record of the crucifixion by a heathen writer). Tacitus here clearly implies that
the Christians were innocent (subdidit reos), and that Nero employed them
simply as scapegoats. Some regard the conclusion of the paragraph as a
contradiction to this--"though guilty and deserving the severest punishment" (adversus
sontes et novissima exempla meritos). But Tacitus means by sontes that the
Christians were "guilty" from the point of view of the populace, and that they merited
extreme punishment also from his own standpoint for other causes, but not for
arson. Fatebantur does not mean that they confessed to incendiarism, but to
being Christians, and qui fatebantur means there were some who boldly confessed,
while others tried to conceal or perhaps even denied their faith.
But why were the Christians selected as scapegoats? Why not the Jews, who were
both numerous and had already offended the Roman government and had been
banished in great numbers? Or why not the many followers of the oriental religions,
which had proved more than once obnoxious?
(1) Poppea was favorable to Judaism and had certainly enough influence over
Nero to protect the Jews; she was regarded by them as a proselyte and is termed
by Josephus (Ant., XX, viii, 11) theosebes, "god-fearing." When the populace and
Nero were seeking victims for revenge, the Jews may have been glad of the
opportunity of putting forward the Christians and may have been encouraged in this
by Poppea. Farrar (Early Days of Christianity, I, chapter iv) sees "in the
proselytism of Poppea, guided by Jewish malice, the only adequate explanation of
the first Christian persecution."
(2) Closely connected with this was doubtless the observation by the Roman
government that Christianity was an independent faith from Judaism. This may first
have been brought home to the authorities by the trial of Paul before Nero, as
suggested by Ramsay (Expositor, July, 1893). Judaism was a recognized and
tolerated religion, a religio licita, and Christianity when divorced from Judaism
became a religio illicita and punishable by the state, for Christianity first
rose "under the shadow of licensed Judaism" (sub umbraculo licitae Judeorum
religionis:
Tertullian, Apol., xxi).
(3) As Christianity formed a society apart from Roman society, all kinds of
crimes were attributed to its followers, Thyestean feasts, nightly orgies,
hostility to temples and images. These flagitia seemed summed up in odium humani
generis, "hatred for the human race."
(4) They were easily selected as being so numerous and making most progress in
a line opposed to Roman spirit; compare ingens multitudo (Tacitus, Annals
xv.44; Clemens Rom., Cor 1:6, polu plethos; compare also "great multitude" of
Revelation 7:9; 19:1).
(5) No doubt, too, early Christian enthusiasm was unequivocal in its
expressions, especially in its belief of a final conflagration of the world and its
serene faith amid the despair of others.
- Conspiracy of Piso (65 AD):
In the meantime Tigellinus' tyranny and confiscations to meet Nero's expenses
caused deep discontent among the nobles, which culminated in the famous
conspiracy at the head of which was C. Calpurnius Piso. The plot was prematurely
betrayed by Milichus. An inquisition followed in which the most illustrious victims
who perished were Seneca the philosopher, Lucan the poet, Lucan's mother, and
later Annaeus Mela, brother of Seneca and father of Lucan, T. Petronius Arbiter,
"the glass of fashion." Finally, "Nero having butchered so many illustrious
men, at last desired to exterminate virtue itself by the death of Thrasea Paetus
and Barea Soranus" (Tacitus, Annals xvi.21 f).
- Visit to Greece (66 AD):
Having cleared every suspected person out of the way, he abandoned the
government in Rome to a freedman Helius, and started on a long visit to Greece (66-68
AD), where he took part in musical contests and games, himself winning prizes
from the obsequious Greeks, in return for which Nero bestowed upon them
"freedom." Nero was so un-Roman that he was perfectly at home in Greece, where alone he
said he was appreciated by cultured people. In the meantime the revolt of
Vindex in Gaul commenced (68 AD), but it was soon quelled by Verginius Rufus on
account of its national Gaulic character. Galba of Hither Spain next declared
himself legatus of the senate and the Roman people. Nero was persuaded to return to
Rome by Helius; he confiscated Galba's property, but his weakness and
hesitancy greatly helped the cause of the latter.
- Death of Nero:
Nymphidius Sabinus, one of the prefects, won over the guard for Galba, by
persuading the irresolute emperor to withdraw from Rome and then told the
praetorians that Nero had deserted them. Nero was a coward, both in life and in death.
While he had the means of easily crushing Galba, he was revolving plans of
despair in his Servilian gardens, whether he should surrender himself to the mercies
of the Parthians or to those of Galba; whether Galba would allow him the
province of Egypt; whether the public would forgive his past if he showed penitence
enough. In his distraction a comforter asked him in the words of Virgil, "Is it
then so wretched to die?" He could not summon the courage for suicide, nor
could he find one to inflict the blow for him:
"Have I then neither friend nor foe?" Phaon a freedman offered him the shelter
of his villa a few miles from Rome. Here he prepared for suicide, but with
great cowardice. He kept exclaiming, "What an artist I am to perish!" (Qualis
artifex pereo, Suet. xlix). On learning that he was condemned to a cruel death by
the senate, he put the weapon to his throat and was assisted in the fatal blow
by Epaphroditus his secretary. A centurion entered pretending he had come to
help: "Too late--this is fidelity," were Nero's last words. His remains were laid
in the family vault of the Domitii by his two nurses Ecloge and Alexandria and
his concubine Acte (Suetonius L). Thus perished on July 9, 68 AD the last of
the line of Julius Caesar in his 31st year and in the 14th of his reign.
IV. Downfall and Character.
- Seven Causes of Downfall:
The causes of his downfall were briefly:
(1) his lavish expenditure leading to burdensome taxation and financial
insecurity;
(2) tyranny and cruelty of his favorites;
(3) the great fire which brought dissatisfaction to fasten suspicion on Nero
and the consequent enlargement of his private abode at the expense of the
city--especially the Golden House;
(4) the unpopular measure of the extension of Roman franchise to Greece and
favored foreigners;
(5) the security engendered by the success with which the conspiracy of Piso
was crushed;
(6) the discovery of another "secret of empire," that an emperor could be
created elsewhere than at Rome, that the succession of emperors was not hereditary
but rested with the great armies, and
(7) the cowardice and weakness which Nero displayed in the revolt which led to
his death.
His reign is memorable for the activity of Seneca, the great fire, the
persecution of Christians, the beginning of the bankruptcy of the later Roman empire,
the Armenian disaster of Paetus (62 AD) retrieved by Corbulo and the
humiliation of Parthia, the outbreak of the insurrection in Judea (66 AD), which ended in
the destruction of Jerusalem.
- Character:
Nero ranks with Gaius for folly and vice, while his cruelties recall the worst
years of Tiberius. Very effeminate in his tastes, particular about the
arrangement of his hair and proud of his voice, his greatest fault was inordinate
vanity which courted applause for performances on non-Roman lines. He neglected his
high office and degraded Roman gravitas by zeal for secondary pursuits. Nero,
like his three predecessors, was very susceptible to female charms. He was
licentious in the extreme, even to guilt of that nameless vice of antiquity--love
of a male favorite. His cruelty, both directly and through his instruments, made
the latter part of his reign as detestable as the quinquennium had been
golden. He loved the extravagant and luxurious in every exaggerated form. He was a
weakling and a coward in his life, and especially in his death. Of his personal
appearance we are told his features were regular and good; the expression of his
countenance, however, was somewhat repelling. His frame was ill
proportioned--slender legs and big stomach. In later years his face was covered with pimples.
V. "Nero Redivivus."
It seems as if there was something lovable even about this monster, which led
a freedman to remain faithful to the last, and his two old nurses and cast-off
concubine to care affectionately for his remains, and for a long time there
were not wanting hands to strew his grave with spring and autumn flowers and to
display his effigy (Suet. lvii). But, whether from the strange circumstances of
his death, or the subsequent terrible confusion in the Roman world, or from
whatever cause, there soon arose a belief that Nero had not really died, but was
living somewhere in retirement or had fled among the Parthians, and that he was
destined in a short time to return and bring great calamity upon his enemies or
the world (quasi viventis et brevi magno inimicorum malo reversuri:
Suetonius lvii). This belief was a force among the Parthians who were ready to
take up arms at the report of a pseudo-Nero (Tacitus, History i.2). In the
confusion of the year of the four emperors, Greece and Asia were disturbed by the
report of the advent of Nero (Tac. Hist. ii.8), and the historian promises to
mention the fortune and attempts of other pseudo-Neros. This belief was taken up
by the Jews and amalgamated with their legend of Antichrist. In Ascension of
Isaiah 4 (1st century AD), the Antichrist is clearly identified with Nero:
"Belial shall appear in the shape of a man, the king of wickedness, the matricide."
It occurs again and again in both the Jewish and Christian sections of the Sib
Or (3:66; 4:117,135; 5:100,136,216 f). How far Nero was regarded by the
Christians as the historical personage of Antichrist is a disputed point. That the
common belief of the revival or advent of Nero should influence contemporary
Christian thought in days of social and political turmoil is highly probable.
Bousset (Commentary) regards the beast of Revelation 13 as Rome, and the smitten head
whose "deathstroke was healed" as Nero, and some scholars take Revelation
17:10 f as referring to Nero. The "scarlet-colored beast" of 17:3 may be intended
either for the Roman government in general or for Nero in particular. That the
number 666 (Revelation 13:18) represents in Hebrew letters the numerical
equivalent of Neron Kesar is significant, for the Jewish Christians would be familiar
with gemaTriya' (the numerical equivalent of names). See NUMBER. Compare
Farrar, Early Days, chapter xxviii,. section 5. In later times the idea of a twofold
Antichrist seems to have arisen--one for the Jews and one for the Gentiles;
compare especially Commodian, Carm. Apol. (926): "to us Nero became Antichrist, to
the Jews the other" (nobis Nero factus Antichristus, ille Judaeis). There was
an alternate theory that Nero had really been killed, but that he would rise
again (Sib Or 5:216; Augustine, De Civ. Dei, xx.19: unde nonnulli ipsum
resurrecturum et futurum Antichristum suspicantur).
VI. Nero and Christianity.
- Nero and the New Testament:
The name Nero does not occur in the New Testament, but he was the Caesar to
whom Paul appealed (Acts 25:11) and at whose tribunal Paul was tried after his
first imprisonment. It is quite likely that Nero heard Paul's case in person, for
the emperor showed much interest in provincial cases. It was during the
earlier "golden quinquennium" of Nero's reign that Paul addressed his epistle to the
Christians at Rome, and probably in the last year of Nero's reign (68 AD) Paul
suffered death near the city, though Harnack (Chronologie) places his death in
the first Neronian persecution of 64. Although the New Testament gives no hint
of a possible visit or sojourn of Peter in Rome, such a sojourn and subsequent
martyrdom are highly probable and almost certain from the early persistent
tradition, especially in Clement of Rome, Ignatius and Papias, and later in
Tertullian, Clement of Alexandria and the Liber Pontificalis (catalogue of popes). His
execution at Rome under Nero is practically certain.
- Neronian Policy and Christianity:
The first persecution to which Christianity was subjected came from the Jews:
the first heathen persecution took place under Nero. Up to this time the Roman
government had been on friendly terms with Christianity, as Christianity was
either not prominent enough to cause any disturbance of society or was
confounded by the Romans with Judaism (sub umbraculo licitae Judeorum religionis:
Tertullian, Apol., xxi). Paul, writing to the Christians of the capital, urged them
to "be in subjection to the higher powers" as "ordained of God" (Romans 13:1),
and his high estimation of the Roman government as power for the good of society
was probably enhanced by his mild captivity at Rome which permitted him to
carry on the work of preaching and was terminated by an acquittal on the first
trial (accepting the view of a first acquittal and subsequent activity before
condemnation at a second trial). But soon, whether because of the trial of Paul, a
Roman citizen, at Rome (about 63), or the growing hostility of the Jews, or the
increasing numbers and alarming progress of the new religion, the distinction
between Christianity and Judaism became apparent to the Roman authorities. If
it had not yet been proscribed as a religio illicita ("'unlicensed religion"),
neither had it been admitted as a religio licita. Christianity was not in itself
as yet a crime; its adherents were not liable to persecution "for the name."
According to one view the Neronian persecution was a spasmodic act and an
isolated incident in imperial policy: the Christians were on this occasion put
forward merely to remove suspicion from Nero. They were not persecuted either as
Christians or as incendiaries, but on account of flagitia and odium humani generis,
i.e. Thyestean feasts, Oedipodean incest and nightly orgies were attributed to
them, and their withdrawal from society and exclusive manners caused the
charge of "hatred for society." The evidence of Tacitus (Ann. xv.44) would bear out
this view of the Neronian persecution as accidental, isolated, to satisfy the
revenge of the mob, confined to Rome and of brief duration. The other view is,
however, preferable, as represented by Ramsay (Church in the Roman Empire,
chapter xi) and E. G. Hardy (Studies in Roman History, chapter iv). Suetonius speaks
of the persecution of Christians as a permanent police regulation in a list of
other seemingly permanent measures (Nero xvi: afflicti suppliciis Christiani
genus hominum superstitionis novae ac maleficae), which is not inconsistent with
the account of Tacitus--who gives the initial step and Suetonius the permanent
result. The Christians by these trials, though not convicted of incendiarism,
were brought into considerable prominence; their unsocial and exclusive
manners, their withdrawal from the duties of state, their active proselytism, together
with the charges of immorality, established them in Roman eyes as the enemies
of society. Christianity thus became a crime and was banned by the police
authorities. Suetonius gives a "brief statement of the permanent administrative
principle into which Nero's action ultimately resolved itself" (Ramsay, op. cit.,
232). No formal law needed to be passed, the matter could be left with the
prefect of the city. A trial must be held and the flagitia proved before an order
for execution, according to Ramsay, but Hardy holds that henceforth the name
itself--nomen ipsum--was proscribed. A precedent was now established of great
importance in the policy of the imperial government toward Christianity (see,
further, ROMAN EMPIRE AND CHRISTIANITY). There ls no reason to suppose that the
Neronian persecution of 64 AD extended beyond Rome to the provinces, though no doubt
the attitude of the home government must have had considerable influence with
provincial officers. Paul seems to have gone undisturbed, or at least with no
unusual obstacles, in his evangelization after his acquittal. The authorities
for a general Neronian persecution and formal Neronian laws against Christianity
are late; compare Orosius (History vii.7, "(Nero) was the first to put to death
Christians at Rome and gave orders that they should be subjected to the same
persecution throughout all the provinces").
LITERATURE.
(a) Ancient:
Tacitus Annals xii-xvi; Suetonius Nero; Dio Cassius in Epit. of Xiphilinus 61;
Zonaras xi.
(b) Modern:
Hermann Schiller, Geschichte des rom. Kaiserreichs unter der Regierung des
Neron (Berlin, 1872); Merivale, Hist of the Romans under the Empire; Ramsay,
Church in the Roman Empire and The Expositor, 1893; E.G. Hardy, Christianity and the
Roman Government and Studies in Roman History; Mommsen, "Der Religionsfrevel
nach rom. Recht," Histor. Zeitschr., 1890; C. F. Arnold, Die Neronische
Christenverfolgung; Farrar, Early Days of Christianity; Baring-Gould, Tragedy of the
Caesars:
G.H. Lewes, "Was Nero a Monster?" in Cornhill Magazine, July, 1863; B.W.
Henderson, Life and Principate of the Emperor Nero, with important bibliography of
ancient and modern authorities (London, 1903); Lehmann, Claudius u. Nero.
S. Angus
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright Statement
These files are public domain and are a derivative of an electronic edition
that is available from Crosswire Software.
Bibliography Information
Orr, James, M.A., D.D. General Editor. "Entry for 'NERO'". "International
Standard Bible Encyclopedia".
<https://www.studylight.org/enc/isb/view.cgi?number=T6361>. 1915.
"I began to hate you, when, after murdering mother and wife, you turned out to
be a jockey, a mountebank, and an incendiary." (Tacitus ann. 15:67).
Nero - A Devotional Message
Primary Sources for the Study of the Emperor Nero are:
Tacitus, Dio Cassius, Suetonius, Christian
and Jewish Tradition, and Archaeology.
Nero
The 5th Emperor (Princeps) of Rome (54-68 A.D.)
Background
The Roman Empire beyond Italy was divided into about 40 provinces
(territories), with each province having its own governor who kept order and
collected taxes for Rome. He was either appointed by the emperor or named by the
Senate.
During the first century A.D. the Roman Empire was near its peak with a
population of 50-60 million. This was more than 1/5 of the world's population at
that time. Jesus lived and died during the period known in Roman history as the
Pax Romana or the "Peace of Rome".
It was an amazing time in history when the risen Jesus empowered His church to
go into all the world to preach the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ. In
fact the apostles journeyed throughout the Mediterranean world which was part of
the Roman Empire. They traveled through Roman cities on Roman roads and
everywhere that they traveled they came into contact with Rome.
Julius Caesar had a dream for Rome but he was assassinated before he could see
it fulfilled. The big problem was who would become the next emperor after his
assassination. Very few had expected the young Octavian (Augustus) to become the
chief heir and new emperor after Julius Caesar, but it was Augustus who turned
out to be the most important emperor in all of Roman history.
Augustus was very aware of what had happened with Julius Caesar, and desired to
avoid the same problems with the Roman Senate. He wanted his stepson Tiberius to
be emperor after his death and to make sure that this would happen he began to
share his power with Tiberius. When Augustus died in 14 A.D. Tiberius was easily
accepted as emperor. In fact this became the new way that emperors would be
chosen. Each emperor would choose a successor from among his family or he would
adopt someone who he thought would be fit to rule after him.
During the 200 years after the death of Augustus, four dynasties (family lines)
ruled the Roman Empire. Some of the emperors in each dynasty were somewhat moral
emperors and others were horribly cruel. Each of the four dynasties ended with a
violent overthrow of an unfit emperor.
Augustus’ family line ended in disgrace in 68 A.D. with the Emperor Nero, who
came to power when he was a young boy at the age of 17. Nero Claudius Caesar was
born in December of 37 A.D. at Antium and reigned as the fifth emperor (Princeps)
of Rome, from 54-68 A.D. under the political system created by Augustus after
Civil War had finally put an end to the Roman Republic.
Throughout the early years of his rule Nero was directed by his tutors
(including the famous writer Seneca) and there was peace throughout the Empire.
The Emperor Nero loved performing in the Theatre, races and games. He was not
respected by the senators or the army. He was criticized by the people of Rome
for being more interested in entertaining himself than in governing the empire.
However, when his main advisors had either retired, or were dead, Nero revealed
his true character. It did not take long for the people to realize that Nero was
a tyrant. In 59 A.D. Nero executed his mother, his wife, Claudius’s son
Britannicus, and several of his advisors and anyone that opposed him was
executed.
In 64 A.D. a devastating fire swept through Rome destroying everything in its
path. Everyone thought that Nero had started the fire so that he could rebuild a
more beautiful city, including his Golden House. According to the Roman
historian Suetonius, Nero sang and played the lyre while Rome burned. When Nero
felt that the rumor had turned everyone against him he found some scapegoats to
bare the blame for the fire, the Christians. He punished them severely and had
many of them burned alive or torn apart by wild beasts. It is believed that the
apostles Paul and Peter were martyred during this persecution.
There were many who sought Nero’s death and in 68 A.D. his own army rebelled
against him and various military commanders attempted to seize the throne. The
Emperor Nero was forced to flee from Rome and soon afterward he committed
suicide. He was the last emperor who was of the dynasty of Augustus (Julio-Claudian
dynasty).
The main people involved in the life of Nero were:
- Nero Himself - Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus
-
Agrippina - Nero's dominating mother
- Claudius - The emperor before Nero
-
Octavia - Claudius' daughter and Nero's first wife
- Britannicus - Claudius' son and rightful heir to the throne
-
Seneca and Burrus - Nero's trusted tutors
- Poppaea - Nero's second wife
-
Galba - General in Spain and the next emperor of Rome
Important events that happened during the life of Nero:
- The Great Fire of Rome – 64 A.D.
-
The First Imperial 'Persecution' of Christians – 64 A.D.
- The first Jewish Revolt Against Rome – 66 A.D.
The main historical sources about the life of Nero were:
- Tacitus Tacitus Publius Cornelius (55-120 A.D. approx.)
-
Suetonius Svetonius Tranquillus (70-140 A.D. approx.)
- Cassius Dio Dion Cassius Cocceianus (155-235 A.D. approx.)
-
Jewish and Christian Tradition
- Archaeology: inscriptions, coins, written text.
Bibliography on the Emperor Nero
Chronicle of the Roman Emperors
by Scarre, 240 Pages, Pub. 2012
Nero, Emperor of
Rome
Bible History Online
© Bible History Online (https://www.bible-history.com)
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