Nero. From Prince Charming to Beast

Lucius Anyaeus Seneca lived from 4 BC. to 65 AD. He was a Roman philosopher who first introduced Stoicism to Ancient Rome. Seneca's father, Lucius Anei the elder, was from the Spanish city of Corduba. Having moved to Rome, he served as a horseman. He sought to give his children a good education so that they could build a career in politics.

Life path

Nero's future teacher was interested in philosophy from his youth. He was a follower of Papirius, Fabian, Sotion. Subsequently, Seneca became interested in politics and became a lawyer. However, this did not last long. Seneca interrupted his career and left the country due to serious illness. He went to Egypt for treatment. There he wasted no time. Regularly visited and communicated with scientists. There he wrote his first compositions. Seneca returned to Rome already as a famous speaker and writer. Having received a public position, the philosopher brought his works to the Senate and the Emperor. However, no one shared his views, and as a result Seneca was sent into exile to Corsica.

Here he also had something to do. Seneca observed the heavenly bodies. His views on the world change somewhat. He writes his famous works - “Phaedra”, “Oedipus”, “Medea”.

Nero and Seneca met thanks to the latter's mother. It was through her efforts that the philosopher was returned from exile and became the boy’s mentor. Nero's teacher had a great influence on his student. This can be judged by the first years of his reign, when Nero became stronger and richer and did a lot for his people. Some financial reforms took place, and the power of the Senate strengthened.

Seneca dreamed of creating an ideal society. For this, a highly moral ruler was needed. In this regard, he took his role as a mentor very responsibly. A year after Nero’s accession, his teacher read him his treatise “On Mercy.” It talked about the difference between an ideal ruler and a tyrant.

Nero's tutor soon lost power over the emperor. His dreams were not destined to come true. Seneca tried to get on with his life and did nothing to interfere with his former student. However, this did not save him. A few years later he was accused of conspiracy. This only played into the hands of the emperor, and he ordered Seneca to die. The philosopher committed suicide.

Works of Seneca

Nero's teacher was a unique and amazing person. Unfortunately, many of his works have not survived or have reached us only partially.

Among his works, the most famous were the treatises “On Mercy” and “On Benevolence.” Letters to Lucilius are considered one of the best. They are sermons about some events from the life of Seneca.

The philosopher dedicated the dialogues “On the Blessed Life” and “On Anger” to his brother. He wrote 12 books, which contained 10 treatises. “Consolation to Marcia” is a kind of collection of advice for mothers who have lost sons. "Consolation to Helvia" was written during the exile. Seneca wrote “Consolation on the Death of a Brother” for Polybius - in the hope that the latter would help him return to Rome.

Lucius Dominicius Ahenobarbus, the future Neuron, was born in Antium (a city in central Italy) on December 15, 37 during the reign of Gaius Caligula. Suetonius states that "Nero was born exactly at the rising of the sun and was thus marked by its rays." Young Lucius recognizes an unhappy and inconsolable childhood. He is a descendant of a very ancient and famous family, his father Gnaeus Dominitius Ahenobarbus, the closest relative of the Julio-Claudians, was of great importance in the Senate and at court. Lucius Agrippina the Younger's mother was the daughter of Germanicus, nephew and adopted son of Emperor Tiberius. Nero was not yet two years old when his mother became a participant in a conspiracy directed against Guy Caligula. On October 27, 1939, the plot was discovered and the conspirators were executed. Agrippina was exiled, and all her possessions were confiscated. Separated from his mother, Lucius, who had barely learned to walk, was taken into the house of his aunt Dominitia Lepida, his father's sister, where he lived until he was two years old. In 40, his father dies, Lucius is not even three years old. After the death of Caligula and the accession of Claudius, brother of Germanicus, to the throne, the mother returns from exile. Young Nero did not find the tenderness he so needed among his teachers. The only ones who really cared for him and showed their affection were his nurses. Lying will become a means for him to avoid punishment from his educators and to obtain at least a little tenderness from his loved ones. His emotional dissatisfaction, depression, barely restrained aggressiveness fostered duplicity, increased mistrust and cunning. To hide his real feelings, he becomes secretive, insincere and false. The dynastic intrigues, greed and cruelty of those who revolve around the little boy contribute to the strengthening of hatred. By the age of seven he is already an established egoist. Teenage Nero will be flattered by those around him. He gives unbridled rein to his whims. Only his mother could stop him. This contrast between a child devoid of tenderness and a teenager who is flattered and ingratiatingly smiles will only worsen his psychiatric imbalance. His character was cowardly and pleasure-loving, constantly anxious, possessed by delusions of grandeur. Ancient authors present him as unhappy, weak, and often failing. Thus, the “barbarism” of his nature, to use the expression of Suetonius, who devotes a significant place to Nero’s cruelty in his biography, does not at all prevent this man “with hidden vices” from experiencing moments of real euphoria. The list of his vices, compiled by Suetonius, represents a man thirsting for pleasure, a sensual nature, expansive and absent-minded. He enjoyed walking through the streets of Rome, he liked to break into shops and stores, destroying everything there and emptying them, getting into a fight, or better yet, provoking it. The life of the ruler of Rome was riddled with fear. Fear inherited from his father, a dubious environment, endless, unforeseen, despotic tyranny accompanied him. The fear that lived in him from early childhood killed the feeling of pity that was characteristic of him at the beginning of his reign, sharpened the cunning of his mind and destroyed the last remorse. To summarize this chapter, I must summarize the facts I have laid out. At the beginning of his life, the future Nero fell victim to improper upbringing; the psychological misfortunes that befell the young boy's head did their job - they raised an egoist. “What goes around comes around.” Of course, one cannot completely write off the bestial cruelty and arrogant hypocrisy that Nero did not part with throughout his life, but, of course, the upbringing factor plays a dominant role in this.

Mother's murder

A young man gains the throne thanks to a conspiracy orchestrated by his mother. Nero became the eldest son of Claudius, after which, as Tacitus and Suetonius claim, Agrippina poisoned her husband.

Agrippina's influence on society was so impressive that Nero tried to weaken it by any means. In the spring of 59, he makes the final decision to get rid of the one who has always annoyed him, after several unsuccessful murder attempts (unsuccessful poisonings, a ceiling that was supposed to collapse on the empress), Nero orders the sailor Anicetus to kill his mother.

Nero pretended that the death of his mother plunged him into grief. On his own behalf, he sent a message to the Roman Senate, in which he accused his mother of attempting to seize power and an attempt on his life, and stated at the same time that she had committed suicide. The text of this shameful document was composed for Nero by his mentor Seneca.

Tacitus writes:

“Having indirectly condemned the times of Claudius, Nero laid the blame for all the outrages that happened during his reign on his mother, arguing that her death would serve the good of the people. Moreover, he also told about the unfortunate incident on the ship. But was there anyone so stupid as to believe that it was accidental? Or that a lone assassin was sent to Nero by a woman who survived a shipwreck with a weapon to fight his way through the armed forces and the imperial fleet? That is why hostile talk was no longer aroused by Nero, since there were not enough words of condemnation for his inhumanity, but by Seneca, who composed this message and put statements of this kind into it.” (Tacitus, Ann., XIV , 11)

Very soon, and for quite a long time, for several months, Nero will be tormented by painful remorse. He himself admitted that he was haunted by the ghost of his mother. In the eyes of the people, Nero with the “conspiracy” looked quite funny, and in order to quickly end the bad mood among the people, he had to throw money, benefiting the crowd.

Returning to Rome, Nero “proud of his victory and his general slavish servility, uncontrollably indulged in all the passions inherent in him, which until that time, if not suppressed, then to a certain extent were restrained by at least some respect for his mother.” (Tacitus, Ann., XIV ,13)

Thus, from the year 59, Nero embarked on the path of the most unbridled tyranny, which naturally led him to death and to the fall of the entire house of Julio-Claudians, who were the rulers of Rome for almost a hundred years.

If at the beginning of his reign Nero still somehow took into account public opinion, then later he completely ignored it.

Nero and love

In his love life, Nero strove for carnal pleasures, completely devoid of sophistication. Married three times, he had many mistresses. And of his three wives he loved only Poppea, his second wife. Among the legends, there is one concerning an incestuous relationship with mother Agrippina. In 62, Nero incurred universal hatred by reprisal against his first wife, the virtuous Octavia, daughter of Claudius and Messalina. Octavia, who enjoyed great love among the people, was accused of adultery, expelled from Rome and killed.

Nero's wife was Octavia's rival Poppea Sabina, who had everything except an honest soul. Beautiful, depraved, cruel and hypocritical - she was a match for Nero, who loved her madly, but three years later, in a fit of anger, he accidentally killed her by kicking her. Nero did not limit his love affairs only to women. His love for young men led him to the point that he once raped a young man named Aulus Plautius; a wedding ceremony is also known with the boy Sporus, whom he made a eunuch, and who, according to rumors, looked like Poppaea, who had already died before the conclusion of this strange marriage. Nero celebrated the wedding with him, as required by the ritual.

Nero and art

Despite all the extravagance, Nero, although he had a bestial nature, showed a great inclination towards art; he drew knowledge from others, but also sought to leave his mark. Tacitus emphasizes that “from an early age he used the vivacity of his mind in the direction of: carving, engraving, drawing, singing, taming and breaking horses. Sometimes he composed and recited his own poems, which shows his culture.” Nero showed a certain interest in the sciences of nature with the aim of preserving it - he undertook trips outside the empire to study the environment, and in philosophy, mainly the Stoics, including Seneca. He loved conversations with sages to train his mind and sharpen his reaction skills. Nero was especially fond of singing and playing the cithara, although his voice was hoarse and weak, he was irresistibly drawn to the theater and to the public. This was an emperor for whom the actor's shop was more desirable than power. He cared more about success in public than about maintaining his power. Nero longed to perform in public. This was unheard of, because the Romans treated the theater with contempt. For the first time Nero dared to speak in public in Naples. It was at this time that an earthquake occurred; according to some reports, the theater shook, but this did not stop Nero, and he sang to the end; according to others, the theater collapsed after the performance, when there were no more spectators left in it. (Svet., Ner., 20; Tacitus, Ann., XV, 34)

Wanting more than anything to perform in Rome, Nero instituted special games every five years in which actors would compete in singing and a jury would determine the winner. Nero wanted to be a candidate along with other actors. Tacitus talks about this fact, unheard of in Roman history:

“Even before the five-year competition began, the Senate, to prevent national disgrace, offered Nero a reward for singing and, in addition to it, a wreath for the winner in eloquence, which would save him from the dishonor associated with performing on the theatrical stage.

But Nero, answering that he does not need any concessions or support from the Senate and that, competing on equal terms with his rivals, he will achieve well-deserved glory according to the impartial verdict of the judges, first appears before the public with a recitation of poetry, then at the request of the crowd, who insisted, In order for him to show all his talents, he again goes on stage, strictly observing all the rules accepted by the kifareds: do not sit down to rest, do not wipe off sweat with anything other than the clothes in which he is dressed, do not allow discharge from the mouth and nose. Finally, by bending his knee, he expressed his deepest respect for the audience with a hand gesture, after which, pretending to be worried, he froze, awaiting the judges' decision.

The Roman mob, accustomed to reacting to the actors’ gestures that they liked, burst into rhythmic exclamations of delight and applause. One might have thought that she was overcome with jubilation, however, these people, indifferent to public dishonor, perhaps, were truly sincerely rejoicing.

But for people who came from the distant cities of Italy, which still remained harsh and preserved ancient customs, people who were unaccustomed to the unbridledness that reigned in Rome, it was difficult to look calmly at what was happening around them. They also could not cope with the shameful duty of clapping their hands, their inept hands quickly got tired, they knocked out the rhythm of the more dexterous and experienced ones, and they were often struck by the praetorians, placed between the rows so that not a single moment was filled with discordant shouts or idle silence.

It is known that many horsemen, making their way through the narrow entrances among the pressing crowd, were crushed, and others who had to sit in the theater all day and night suffered from destructive diseases.

But it was even more dangerous not to be present at this performance at all, since many spies obviously, and even a large number of them, secretly remembered the names and faces of those entering, their friendly and unfriendly mood. According to their reports, small people were immediately condemned to execution, and noble people were subsequently overtaken by the emperor’s hidden hatred at first.” (Tacitus, Ann., XVI, 4–5)

Great Fire of Rome

In 64, a terrible disaster struck Rome: a huge fire broke out and raged for nine days. A significant part of the city burned out completely.

The strangest thing is that there were people who interfered with putting out the fire, and there were also those who, as Tacitus writes, “openly threw burning torches into houses that were still untouched by fire, shouting that they were following orders, either in order to rob unhindered, or really by someone else’s will.” (Tacitus, Ann., XV, 38)

Rumors spread among the people accusing Nero of setting fire to Rome, supposedly in order to build a new one on the site of the old city and call it by his own name.

“And so Nero, in order to overcome rumors, found the guilty and subjected to sophisticated executions those who, with their abominations, had brought upon themselves universal hatred and whom the crowd called Christians.” (Tacitus, Ann., XV, 44)

Nero, who rushed through life without a rudder and without sails, did not care at all about governing the state. He acted as if the whole world existed for his personal pleasure. His life was filled to the brim with revelry, debauchery, wastefulness and unbridled cruelty. It seemed that Nero had set himself the goal of completely exhausting the great Rome, which was a colossally rich state.

Palace of Nero

“Money extortions devastated Italy, ruined the provinces, allied peoples and states called free. The spoils were also taken from the gods, for the temples in Rome were robbed and their gold was taken from them.” (Tacitus, Ann., XV, 45) Nero once declared: “Let us act in such a way that no one has anything left!” (Svet., Ner., 32)

“Most of all, Nero was wasteful in buildings. From the Palatine to Exquiline itself, he built a palace, first calling it Prohodny, and then, after a fire and restoration, Golden. Its vestibule was so high that it contained a colossal statue of Nero 120 feet high (about 36 meters), its area was such that the triple portico on each side was a mile long, inside there was a pond like a sea, surrounded by buildings like mountains, and then fields of motley arable land, pastures, forests, and vineyards, and on them there are many livestock and wild animals. In the chambers, everything was covered with gold, decorated with precious stones and mother-of-pearl shells; in the dining rooms, the ceilings were made of pieces, with rotating slabs to scatter flowers, with holes to diffuse aromas. The main hall was round and rotated with the sky day and night. Salty and sulfuric waters flowed in the baths. And when such a palace was completed and consecrated, Nero only said in praise to him that now, finally, he would live like a human being.” (Svet., Ner., 31) This is the palace of Nero, built in the center of Rome.

Narrating about this terrible time, Tacitus writes: “Slavish patience and streams of blood shed within the country oppress the soul and fetter it with sorrow.” (Tacitus, Ann., XVI, 16)

Revolt against Nero and his death

Nero's mind-boggling outrages eventually exhausted the patience of the Romans, and in 68 a rebellion arose against him.

“This began with Gaul, led by Julius Vindex, who was the propraetor of this province. Nero had long been predicted by astrologers that sooner or later he would be overthrown, then he said his famous words: “Let us feed ourselves on the craft!” - in order to justify his practice of kifareda.

He learned about the Gallic uprising in Naples on the day on which he once killed his mother. He reacted to this calmly and carelessly: it might even seem that he rejoiced at the opportunity to plunder the richest provinces by the right of war. He immediately went to the gymnasium, watched the wrestling competitions with enthusiasm, new reports arrived at dinner, but he remained cold and only threatened that bad things would happen to the rebels. And then for eight whole days he did not send out any orders, letters, or instructions, consigning the whole matter to oblivion. Finally, outraged by the new offensive edicts of Vindex, he sent a message to the Senate, calling for revenge for him and for the fatherland, but he himself did not appear, citing a sore throat. Most of all, he was offended that Vindex called him a trashy kifared and called him not Nero, Ahenobarbus (red-bearded). Compelled by more and more new news, he finally, in trepidation, set off for Rome. When he learned that Galba and Spain had abandoned him, he collapsed and, in mental exhaustion, lay for a long time as if dead, without saying a word, and when he came to his senses, he tore his clothes, beating himself on the head, and loudly exclaimed that everything was already over. it's over.

At the very beginning of the uprising, they say, Nero cherished the most monstrous plans, but fully consistent with his character. He wanted to kill all the provincial rulers and military leaders as accomplices and like-minded people of the conspiracy, slaughter all the exiles and all the Gauls living in Rome, give the Gallic provinces to be torn to pieces by the troops, poison the entire senate at feasts, set fire to the capital, and release wild animals into the streets to make it more difficult was to be saved. Having abandoned these plans - not so much from shame as from uncertainty of success - and convinced that war was inevitable, he dismissed both consuls ahead of schedule and one took their place, citing the prophecy that only a consul could conquer Gaul.

In preparation for the campaign, Nero first of all took care to assemble carts for transporting theatrical utensils, and to cut the concubines accompanying him like men and arm them with axes and shields, like Amazons. Then he announced a military recruitment for the city tribes, but no one fit for service showed up. Then he demanded from the owners a certain number of slaves and selected only the best from each owner's servants.

Meanwhile, news came that the rest of the troops had also mutinied. Nero, having learned about this during the feast, tore up the report, overturned the table, smashed two of his favorite goblets on the floor and, taking the poison in a golden casket from Lukusta, went to the Servilian Gardens. He sent the most reliable freedmen to Ostia to prepare ships, and he himself began to beg the praetorian tribunes and centurions to accompany him in flight. But they either evaded or outright refused.

He postponed further thoughts until the next day. But in the middle of the night he woke up and saw that his bodyguards had left him. Jumping out of bed, he sent for his friends, and having received no answer from anyone, he himself went to their chambers. All the doors were locked, no one answered, he returned to the bedroom - the servants had already fled from there, even the sheets were carried away, stealing the casket with poison. He rushed to look for the gladiator Spiculus or any other experienced killer in order to accept death at his hands, but he found no one. “Do I really have neither friend nor foe?” he exclaimed and ran out, as if wanting to throw himself into the Tiber.

But the first impulse passed, and he wished to find some secluded place to collect his thoughts. The freedman Phaon offered him his estate between the Solana and Nomentan roads, four miles from Rome. Nero, as he was, barefoot, in only a tunic, throwing on a dark cloak, wrapping his head and covering his face with a scarf, jumped onto his horse, with him there were only four companions, among them - Dispute.

From the very first steps, the impact of the earthquake and the flash of lightning made him tremble. From the nearby camp he could hear the screams of soldiers wishing him dead. Having galloped to the turn, Nero and his companions released their horses. Through the bushes and thorns, along a path laid through the reeds, laying clothes under his feet, the emperor with difficulty made his way to the back wall of the villa. The same Phaon advised him to hide for the time being in the pit from which the sand was taken, but he refused to go underground alive. While waiting for a secret passage to the villa to be dug, he scooped up water from some puddle to drink with his palm and said: “This is Nero’s drink!” His cloak was torn by thorns, he picked off the thorns sticking out from it, and then on all fours, through a narrow dug passage, he reached the first closet and there he threw himself onto the bed, onto a skinny bedding, covered with an old cloak. Everyone from all sides begged him to quickly escape from the threatening shame. He ordered that a measure be taken from himself and a grave be dug from it before his eyes, pieces of marble collected that could be found, and water and firewood brought to deal with the corpse. With every order, he sobbed and kept repeating: “What a great artist is dying!”

While the emperor hesitated, a fast walker brought a letter to Phaon, snatching the letter, Nero read that the Senate had declared him an enemy and was looking for him to execute. In horror, he grabbed the two daggers he had taken with him, tasting the edge of each, then hid it again, making excuses that the fateful hour had not yet come. Either he persuaded Sporus to start screaming and crying, then he asked someone to help him meet death by example, then he scolded himself for indecisiveness with these words: “I live vilely, shamefully - it doesn’t suit Nero, it doesn’t suit me - you need to be reasonable in It’s such a time - come on, take heart!”

The horsemen who were tasked with capturing him alive were already approaching. Hearing them, Nero said in awe:

“- The horses galloping rapidly, the tramping sound amazes my ears.” - And with the help of his adviser on petitions, Epaphroditus, he plunged a sword into his throat. He was still breathing when the centurion burst in, and, pressing his cloak over the wound, pretended to want to help him. All he could answer was “Too late!” - and: “Here it is, loyalty!” – and with these words he gave up the ghost.

Nero died in the thirty-second year of his life on the very day (June 7) on which he once killed his wife Octavia.” (Svet., Ner., 40-57)

On the same day, a new emperor was proclaimed - Galba from the Sulpice family. The Yulio-Claudian dynasty faded into oblivion.

conclusion

This was Nero. After a childhood devoid of family affections and maternal love, at the age of 17 he received the Empire. He was overthrown and killed when he was barely thirty years old. He was young, loved youth and sophistication in art. He was extravagant and expansive, a mediocre actor, real or fictitious, destroyed without the slightest regret. Some of Nero's crimes were useless and disgusting: the murder of his mother and Seneca, his old teacher. A funny comedy turned into a tragedy.

List of used literature:

Cornelius Tacitus, Annals.

Suetonius, Life of the 12 Caesars.

Eugene Sizek, Nero, Rostov-on-Don, 1998.

E.V. Fedorov, Imperial Rome in faces, Smolensk, 1998.

Emperor Nero is considered one of the most terrible rulers in history and this is true, but in the first years of his reign he was not like that. Nero did a lot of good for the people and the country, then an amazing metamorphosis occurred to him, turning him into a monster.

The boy lived near the Great City in a house surrounded by hanging gardens. In the evenings, the servants carried the boy’s bed out to the portico and set up a table with fruit and soft drinks. The boy loved to look at the sunset, and then, when it got dark, at the bright stars in the sky. Below, in the gardens, musicians played quiet, pleasant melodies; servants, walking silently, lit lamps, the boy read poems of unsurpassed Greek poets. Sometimes he even cried with emotion before the divine power of the muses. He would like nothing more than to become a poet, and in secret he was already composing poems.
At the age of eleven, he was assigned a teacher known for his intelligence, education and eloquence. Oddly enough, this mentor was also rich and noble. He was amazed at the child’s talents and the purity of his soul. “This is from the gods,” he thought. - Talent and goodness are two threads that connect a person with the gods. And he is obliged to take care of them, otherwise fate will be cruel to him. I must help the boy keep the sacred fire in his soul.”
The boy soon appreciated the care and attention of his teacher: he understood his thoughts and desires, and he felt good with him.
But childhood is over. When the boy was seventeen years old, he became the ruler of the Great City and the Great Country. From Britain to the Black Sea, from the Danube to Africa, his word moved hundreds of thousands of people; on his orders, cities were built and destroyed; he could take the life of anyone, and no one dared to object to him. On the contrary, everyone praised the name of Nero, the new emperor of Rome.
The Roman people, who had seen all sorts of emperors - wise and foolish, merciful and cruel, far-sighted and narrow-minded, looked closely at the new ruler. Nero seemed to live up to the best hopes of the Romans. Arrests and executions, common under his predecessors, have almost ceased. They said that when the death sentence was brought to the emperor for signature, he refused to sign it for a long time and only did so under pressure from the senators. Putting his signature, Nero sighed heavily: “How I wish I didn’t know how to write...”.
Taxes were reduced, the development of crafts and trade was encouraged; The economy of the empire, ruined by previous emperors, was gradually improving. As a token of gratitude, the Senate expressed gratitude to Nero on behalf of the people and decided to reward the ruler of Rome. The emperor rejected the honorary award: “I will receive it when I deserve it.”
Nero's hobbies were harmless and harmless: he was keenly interested in art, participated in singing competitions, and played in the theater. The Romans wildly applauded the emperor, secretly laughing at his eccentricities. Nobody seriously recognized his talents. He really sang better than other competitors, but the winner’s laurel wreath was waiting for the emperor in advance, regardless of the quality of his singing. He played tragic roles amazingly, but the audience applauded him at the most inopportune moments of the action, without thinking about what he was playing and how he was playing. The people did not want to see an artist in Nero; he always remained an emperor for them.
At the same time, Nero’s artistic pursuits lowered his authority in the eyes of the people: they began to talk about the young emperor with disdain. He ruled wisely and mercifully, observed the laws, but he noticed contemptuous grins on the faces of the senators, and the people composed mocking songs about him.
Only one person understood Nero - his former teacher Seneca. He approved of his pupil's government activities and rejoiced at his success in art. Seneca was especially admired by Nero's kindness, which many regarded as weakness. Seneca dedicated his essay “On Mercy” to him, in which he argued that this quality is the most important for a ruler.
Nero felt natural and calm only with Seneca - only with him could he openly discuss his problems. Seneca's advice was also useful for the empire, so Nero appointed Seneca to the highest position in the state - the post of consul. In addition to power and honor, the consulate provided large incomes; Seneca, who already had a huge fortune, became the richest man in the empire.
– Who, if not you, is worthy of power and wealth? - Nero said to his mentor - If not you, then who can manage all this fairly and wisely? There are thieves around who have made millions of fortunes by robbing the state and the people; villains who achieved power through heinous crimes! These scoundrels cannot even properly manage their wealth, which does not bring happiness to anyone, including themselves. Are you not worthy of a higher position than these scoundrels?
Reading the decree appointing Seneca to the Senate, Nero expected to hear some murmurs. Nothing like this. The emperor saw something like approval in the eyes of the senators. The ruler appointed a person close to him to a lucrative position - everything is clear, everyone does this. But Seneca himself, of course, was not forgiven for his rise; the number of his enemies and envious people increased.
Seneca's activities as consul further increased hatred of him. He demanded that officials serve society, and considered the achievement of personal benefits to be a secondary matter. He declared the main principles of power to be caring for and helping ordinary citizens. He even treated his slaves humanely.
-Are they different creatures than us? - asked Seneca. - No, they are our comrades. They admire the same sky, breathe the same air, live and die like us.
Seneca called all people citizens of the Earth, regardless of their origin, positions and titles:
– The Universe, which embraces the whole world, forms a unity: we are parts of a single body. Nature created us related to each other, since she created us from the same matter and for the same purposes.
Seneca's enemies sarcastically whispered that it was not difficult to sympathize with the poor, having such wealth as his, and one could talk about love for one's neighbor, owning thousands of slaves. Seneca replied that poverty is hard for a person, and rarely can anyone remain a person in poverty. And in general, it is easier to teach the rules than to live by the rules.
- When I can, I will live as I should. While I am still fighting with my vices. If I lived according to my teaching, who would be happier than me? But even now there is no reason to despise me for my good words and for my heart full of pure thoughts,” he explained.
However, they did not want to listen to his explanations. Bitterness against the consul grew, robbers and murderers were hated less than Seneca. The emperor's attempts to stand up for his mentor only added fuel to the fire.
Hopeless melancholy gripped Nero. He, in turn, began to hate the Romans. All attempts to awaken good feelings in them failed. They received their greatest joy from deceiving and stealing from their neighbors. They were delighted when the animals in the circus tore the unfortunate slaves to shreds - and fell asleep in the theater during the tragedy of Aeschylus.
The emperor became gloomy; Now he had outbursts of rage, his quirks became not so harmless. At night he walked around Rome and, unable to contain his anger, beat up rich loafers returning from night orgies, self-satisfied townspeople hurrying home from brothels, as well as beggars and drunkards, ready to do any meanness for a small coin. And none of them tried to resist Nero, did not remember their human dignity. They shouted, “Long live the Emperor!” as he beat them.
Then Nero came up with an even more offensive joke: he gathered a detachment from the courtiers and began to rob the houses of these same courtiers at night; Moreover, the next morning the emperor sold the things taken from him at night to the owner of the robbed house. And as before, no one was indignant: everyone pretended that they were delighted with the emperor’s nightly amusements.
“There are no chaste and pure people in the world.” “The majority only hide their vices and cunningly disguise them,” Nero said bitterly, turning to Seneca.
- Both me and you? - asked Seneca.
“You are the only exception, and I must be part of the general rule,” Nero sighed...
One day the emperor read a poem about the fire of Troy to his courtiers. The bored, sour faces of the listeners irritated the emperor. Stopping reading, he asked:
- Not interested?
- Very interesting! What magnificent poems! - the courtiers exclaimed falsely.
Rabies seized Nero.
- I see that you are not interested. This is because you can’t imagine how a big city is burning,” the emperor said very calmly, holding back his internal trembling. “I will help you feel the tragic charm of the poem... The chief of the city guard comes to me!” That's it, my dear, Rome should burn. Today now! Why are you staring at me? Or did you not understand the emperor's order? Fulfill!
Nero looked around at the courtiers to see if anyone would object? They were amazed and silent. Then the cleverest of them came to his senses and shouted:
- Glory to the Emperor!
- Glory to the Emperor! – the others echoed.
- Well, let this damned city burn along with its hated inhabitants! – Nero concluded with bitterness.
Rome burned for seven days. People died in the fire, and every night on the balcony of the imperial palace Nero read a poem about the fire to the courtiers. Looking at their burning houses, they finally felt the tragic power of the verse.
The Romans, shocked by the terrible disaster, for the first time dared to rebel against Nero. The senators, who did nothing to prevent the fire, advised the emperor, fearing popular anger, to declare religious fanatics - Christians - to be the culprits of the tragedy. The mass executions of these unloved sectarians calmed Rome.
After the fire, hatred of Seneca reached its peak. There were rumors that, at the instigation of Christians, he persuaded the emperor to set fire to the city, and some claimed that they saw Seneca running around Rome with a torch and setting fire to houses. The townspeople simply longed for the death of Seneca or, in extreme cases, his expulsion from the eternal city. And he himself no longer wanted to be in Rome and serve the emperor. Seneca submitted his resignation, which was accepted by Nero.
Depressed and embarrassed, Nero said goodbye to his former teacher. Seneca was also gloomy. Both were silent, and what did they have to talk about now?
“I will not allow any harm to come to you!” - Nero blurted out.
– Are these your parting words? – Seneca smiled bitterly and left the palace.
The emperor spent that evening completely alone, no one knew what he was doing...
After leaving Rome, Seneca lived on his estate near the city. He reasoned that if they wanted to kill him, they would find him wherever he was hiding.
At first, Seneca often recalled how he first saw Nero fifteen years ago, how interesting it was with him then, how they walked along the terraces of the hanging gardens and talked about everything in the world.
Now everything has changed. In his own possessions, Seneca felt like in a fortress with ruined walls. Despite the fact that he had not committed a single evil act in his entire life, he had more enemies than a notorious villain. Talking with one of the few friends who came to visit him, Seneca said in annoyance:
“It is foolish to worry, fearing what may or may not happen, such as fire, landslides and other disasters, which, although they sometimes happen, do not constantly threaten us. We must beware of what is constantly ready to strike us - expect some kind of evil from people every day! Thunder thunders before the storm rises; the building foreshadows its destruction with a crash; smoke heralds a fire, but danger from people creeps up unexpectedly, and the greater it is, the more carefully it is hidden. You can't trust people's kind faces. They only have human faces, but at heart they are animals!
All his life Seneca believed in fate; he did not try to deceive her, because he knew that it was useless. He was not afraid of death, but he was sorry that his thoughts would die with him. Not knowing how much time he had left, Seneca was in a hurry: he wanted to write down his thoughts in the hope that someone would read them after his death and think about them.
“The law of fate does its right, no one’s prayer touches it, neither suffering nor good deeds will change it,” Seneca hastily wrote down. – Everything in nature is subject to strict necessity, everything is controlled by an incomprehensible force that makes trees grow, rivers flow, and gives life to people. This power is inside every person and how can he fight it? You can call this force differently: God, nature, fate. But she rules the world. She leads those who want to follow her, and drags those who resist. Therefore, everyone should go their own way, accepting everything that falls along the way. It was lucky - good! But the appearance of happiness is deceptive and its moment is short. If trouble happened, it means it had to happen and there is no point in grumbling! We must endure adversity calmly and courageously, because they cannot affect the main thing - the human soul. She is a true blessing. Happy is the person with an elevated soul, cleansed of the evil that was in it. He carries goodness and happiness within himself, and does not expect this from life. When people realize that they are all part of a great whole, and each has a particle of the Universe, then they will begin to live like brothers, as it should be!”
He believed that this would happen someday, although he would not see it. In general, Seneca was grateful to fate for giving him the opportunity to live the life that he lived. And fate again gave him a gift - a few months of peace. During this time, he managed to think and write down a lot, and now he was calm...
And the emperor indulged in pleasure. After Seneca left, he seemed to have forgotten everything that his mentor taught him. Nero's orgies caused consternation even among seasoned Romans. Unbridled debauchery flourished in the emperor's palace. In order to please Nero, senators and nobles tried to keep up with him, fathers brought him their daughters, and husbands brought their wives. Handsome boys from noble families willingly went to serve the emperor, knowing that the shortest path to prosperity ran through his bedroom.
The luxury of the imperial court overshadowed the luxury of the courts of the legendary eastern rulers. One day Nero ordered the construction of a new palace for himself, despite the fact that the old one was spacious and beautiful. When the palace was built as soon as possible, Nero invited the entire top of Roman society to a housewarming party. Shocked and depressed, they examined the emperor's new home. The length of the palace was about a kilometer, the walls were decorated with gold and ivory; Flowers fell from the ceiling and incense splashed: sea and spring water bubbled in the pools, cold in some, heated in others.
Nero looked at the faces of the Roman patricians, pale with envy, and said with a sigh:
- Finally, I will live like a human being!
The Romans shuddered. The satisfied emperor smiled.
Nero now did not consider any expenses to satisfy his whims. State taxes increased, and the distant provinces of the empire were mercilessly plundered.
The number of dissatisfied people grew, but the emperor did not tolerate the slightest resistance to his desires - thus, executions became commonplace. And many citizens decided to take advantage of the favorable situation to settle scores with their own enemies: the imperial office was inundated with denunciations. Surprisingly, along with the increase in repression, respect for Nero increased. In the exclamations of “Glory to the Emperor!” sincere notes began to sound.
...Seneca had not been at court for a year, but the former consul was not forgotten - denunciations were received against him regularly. Nero tore them apart, but more and more reports came. Soon the conspiracy was discovered in the Senate, and it turned out that the conspirators were in contact with the disgraced consul. Then other conspiracies were uncovered, and again Seneca’s name was mentioned in the investigation materials.
Nero thought about it. He knew his former mentor well and understood that he would never fight for power and form conspiracies. But Seneca's ideas were certainly dangerous for the state. The contrast between the philosopher’s concepts of justice and the realities of public life was too great.
The more Nero thought about it, the more irritated he became. Didn't he live in accordance with Seneca's demands? And what? He became everyone's laughing stock because of this crazy dreamer! Seneca’s ideas only bring harm and bring confusion to the state! How many conspirators came out against the emperor after reading the writings of this old eccentric! It would be nice to send Seneca somewhere to the outskirts of the empire... However, this is useless, he has such great fame that his words will be heard from everywhere.
Nero could not decide what to do with Seneca, and meanwhile the incriminating material accumulated. It was noticed that the emperor stopped denouncing his former teacher. And Seneca’s enemies concluded: the time has come! The Senate accused the disgraced consul of treason, which was tantamount to a death sentence. Everyone was waiting for the emperor's decision, and Nero, after a long internal struggle, approved the verdict.
But Seneca knew nothing - his enemies made sure that news from Rome did not reach him. The philosopher lived calmly on his country estate among magnificent nature, and his soul was filled with quiet joy. Never had he felt so keenly and piercingly how amazing and beautiful the world is! Previously, Seneca understood this with his mind, now he understood it with his heart - and he was happy that he had the opportunity to live in this world!
Seneca was not afraid of death, or rather, he prepared for it as an inevitable event. Death is rest, peace, liberation from suffering. Life and death are inseparable companions, because in order to continue life on Earth, living things must die, making room for those who replace them.
And yet, upon receiving the news of his death sentence, Seneca was shocked. However, he did not succumb to despair: wasn’t he the one who said that fate is inexorable and loves to deliver unexpected blows? One could, of course, beg Nero for leniency, to replace the execution with exile or imprisonment. However, Seneca did not want to spend the rest of his life in exile or prison. They live there with hope for the best, and if there is none, is it worth continuing a life deprived of freedom? There was only one way out: to take his own life, without waiting for the shame of a public execution.
Having made this decision, Seneca calmly and thoroughly began to prepare for death. Calling in lawyers, he made the necessary arrangements for his property and drew up a will, then put his archives in order and wrote farewell letters to friends. On the day he himself appointed, Seneca said goodbye to his relatives, household members and even slaves, lay down in a bath of warm water and opened his veins. He felt almost no pain; his soul—peaceful, light—slowly and imperceptibly left his body...
Having learned about the death of Seneca, the emperor laughed and his laughter was terrible. The only person Nero loved and respected died. People didn't mean anything to him anymore.
The emperor's relatives were the first to suffer. Nero couldn’t stand them: they were always up to some kind of intrigue, squabbled, and were at enmity with each other and with the whole world. Nero began to destroy them according to an alphabetical list, and next to the names of those destroyed he put a note: “Ceased to be among the living.”
Then repression fell on the Roman nobility. The emperor published lists of people he disliked, and placed a large reward on the head of each of them. In the mornings, people now came to the imperial palace with baskets containing severed heads. The executioners, who had lost their earnings, grumbled dissatisfiedly, however, the emperor did not leave them without work. One day, on his usual morning outing, he noticed a man standing on the sidelines with a dissatisfied and sullen look.
- Who is this? And why does he have such a gloomy face? – asked Nero.
- This is Pet Trazey. He is known for his gloomy disposition. Nothing in life pleases him, he is not happy with anything.
– If he doesn’t like life so much, why should he live? - said the emperor, and Petus Trazeus was executed for lack of love for life.
And Nero continued to execute Christians for ambitious claims to possessing the truth and for violent fanaticism. Nero, brought up on the great Greek culture, was not touched by the semi-literate sermons of these sectarians; he did not believe in their calls for universal brotherhood, combined with a fierce struggle against all other teachings.
- Christians are dangerous - they want undivided power over the minds of people, and then... I shudder, thinking about it. The only thing I like about their teaching is the statement about achieving eternal bliss through suffering. It turns out that by destroying Christians, I open the way to bliss for them. I can imagine how many thanks are being sent to me in heaven! - said Nero, scheduling the next executions of followers of Christian teaching.
Despising everyone and everything, the emperor did not hide this. In the old days, he dressed in luxurious clothes, changing them every day. Now he constantly wore the same old robe. In it, Nero visited the Senate, received ambassadors, went out to the people, and participated in holidays.
Mocking the Romans, he ordered Rome to be renamed Neronopolis, and the month of April, in which he was born, to Neronius, saying that if there are Julius and Augustus in the calendar, then why not Nero?
Stung by the emperor’s behavior, the Romans secretly scolded him and planted caricatures of Nero and dirty poems about him in the imperial office. But he was absolutely not offended by these antics - Nero could not be offended by the ridicule of those whom he deeply despised.
The emperor was warned about the possibility of a rebellion, they said that he could lose power.
“Art will feed me,” Nero grinned in response.
And the riot really broke out. It was raised by the rich and noble Romans, whom the emperor did not have time to exterminate. They fled to the distant provinces of the empire, but they did not feel safe there either. Out of fear, they began to act: they elected a new emperor and bribed troops. The rebel legions marched on Rome.
Nero could still suppress the rebellion, but to do this he had to become the kind of emperor whom the soldiers would follow, to whom the people would submit. But Neronne wanted to follow no rules of the human society he despised. Despite the approach of the rebellious legions, he led his old way of life, and then the enemies decided that he was not capable of resistance. When the troops approached Rome, an uprising broke out against the emperor. Emboldened senators declared Nero an enemy of the Fatherland and the people, and even the emperor’s personal guard went over to the side of the rebels.
Only now and only for a moment did he become afraid. He ordered his slaves to saddle their horses and fled from the city. But the roads were already blocked, and the chase was hot on the heels of the deposed emperor. Realizing that death was inevitable, Nero decided that he would not give the Romans the pleasure of trying and executing him.
Stopping in the middle of the road, he took a knife from a slave and tried to inflict a fatal blow on himself. Nero's small retinue was silent. On the faces of those around him he saw fear, anxiety, expectation, but not sympathy. Then he hit himself with a knife and fell onto the dusty road. The pain could be endured, but Nero groaned angrily and feigned unbearable suffering. The sight of the dying emperor was so pitiful that the slaves began to cry.
Irony flashed in Nero's blue-gray eyes:
– What a great actor is dying! – he croaked.
The crowd moved away, and Nero managed to notice the official who had come to arrest him.
“We’re late,” Nero said barely audibly, his lips twitching in a grin.
His body began to beat in agony and a few minutes later he died.

Instead of an epilogue

According to ancient Roman historians, the name of Nero was remembered with respect among the people, and the magnificent tomb of this emperor was always decorated with fresh flowers. Legends of Nero's return were told for almost three centuries after his death.
Only his relatives looked after Seneca’s grave, and a few admirers sometimes came there; Soon this grave was abandoned and forgotten. Later, a simple brick pillar was installed in its intended place, which few people paid attention to.

In the first five years of the reign of Nero (ruled 54-68), successor of the Emperor Claudius, we see neither the ferocity nor the abominations that disgraced the next period of his reign and made his name the nickname of all disgusting despots.

The reason that the first years of Nero's reign were relatively good should be considered not his character, but the position of the parties into which the imperial court was divided. Nero's mother fought for influence over her son with his advisers Seneca and Burr. She placed him on the throne to rule in his name, and it soon became clear what position she wanted to occupy. Agrippina was not content with directing the actions of her son, but wanted to flaunt to everyone that she ruled the state. When Nero had to appear officially in public, she always accompanied him; often she sat on the stretcher with him; sometimes Agrippina was carried in a stretcher, and the emperor walked nearby on foot in her retinue. She wanted to be present at the meetings of the Senate; She could not appear at the curia; therefore, the senators were summoned to meetings in the palace, and she listened to the meetings from another room, separated only by a curtain. Agrippina gave audiences to foreign ambassadors, sent written orders to the rulers of the province and the kings subject to Rome. She ordered the minting of a coin on which she was depicted together with Emperor Nero.

Agrippina and Nero. Statue from the 50s. according to R.H.

Seneca and Burr

The advisers of the young emperor, the brave, honest prefect of the praetorians Burrus and the scientist, affable, fought against Agrippina's lust for power; Thanks to their efforts, during the first five years of Nero's reign the Roman people enjoyed good administration and justice, and many useful orders were made. The Senate gained quite a lot of influence over affairs; improvements were made in legal proceedings and tax collection; there were no lese majeste trials; appeal from legal tribunals to the emperor was limited or difficult; bribery of judges has decreased; peaceful people were protected from the treachery of accusers, taxes were transformed; abuses of power by provincial rulers were severely punished; private law has been improved by many good laws. Both in Rome and in the provinces, the people initially praised Nero's government. The state owed this good order of administration and legal proceedings to the prudence and energy of Burrus and Seneca, whose advice Emperor Nero followed for a long time, partly out of habit of respecting them, partly out of dislike for his mother. True, they had to buy their influence over him by providing complete freedom to his debauchery: even then he indulged unbridled in voluptuousness. At first, Nero was not completely devoid of good impulses; he sometimes showed modesty, generosity, and dislike for despotism; Seneca says that once, when signing his death warrant, he said that he wished he could not write.

Emperor Nero. Bust

But Nero was spoiled from childhood; his character was given a fantastic direction; the only goal of life for him was the unbridled satisfaction of vanity, sensuality, and all sorts of whims of arbitrariness; Nero's mind was lively; he had some aptitude for the fine arts; at another time, under different circumstances, he could have been a good emperor; but in childhood they did not care to restrain his frivolity and vanity; When Seneca became Nero’s tutor, his vices had already drowned out all the germs of goodness in him and distorted his mind and character. Nero had neither serious thoughts nor self-control; he did not want to acquire solid information; he liked only the fine arts, which for a statesman can only be entertainment and cannot be a serious matter: Nero loved to do stone carving, draw, sing, write poetry, and ride horses. Having barely reached adolescence, he took a position in which it is difficult even for a mature, experienced person to avoid harmful mistakes, temptations, and seductions; and the young emperor with ardent passions, who grew up in luxurious surroundings, accustomed to unbridled indulgence in debauchery, was, of course, completely incapable of maintaining himself in this position judiciously. Seneca and Burrus cannot be praised for the fact that at the beginning of Nero's reign, when he still showed some respect for them, they did not try to keep him from his vices. Seneca and Burrus were convinced that efforts to curb his voluptuousness would be in vain, that any attempt of this kind would only serve as the cause of their downfall, and did not interfere with what they could not prevent, caring only that Nero’s debauchery and wild fantasies would not harmed the state.

Assassination of Britannicus

With her hot character and lust for power, Agrippina could not be content with a secondary position; she wanted to have complete dominion over her son, to direct the choice of his advisers, to share with him court and government honors. When he began to alienate his wife, against whom he had a hostile mood from the very beginning, and surrendered to the influence of the beautiful freedwoman, Acts, his mother began to reproach him for this not out of moral indignation - she herself still had a love affair with the freedman Pallant - but out of annoyance at that the freedwoman became her rival in dominion over her son, that the slave played the role of her daughter-in-law. Nero responded to her reproaches by taking away financial management from her lover Pallant, and after a while sent him to prison, where he lost his life. Agrippina, in a fit of anger, began to threaten that she would reveal to the people the crimes with which she paved the way for her son to the throne and said that the true and legitimate heir to his father’s power was Britannicus, who was then fourteen years old. For this, Nero took away her honorary guard and forced her to leave the imperial palace. Frightened by the threat expressed in anger, he decided to end the life of the innocent boy so that his mother would not transfer the rank of emperor to this rival. He demanded poison from Locusta; she fulfilled this order so well that Britannicus, to whom the poison was served at the imperial dinner, immediately fell to the floor and, having made only a few convulsive movements, died (55). The dinner party, including Agrippina and Nero's wife Octavia, looked for several minutes in stupefaction at this terrible incident; but Nero said that Britannicus's death was the natural result of an epileptic disease, and the feast continued. That same night, the body of the murdered Britannicus was burned without any honor on the Campus Martius. In Rome at that time everyone was already talking about the vile debauchery and violent tomfoolery of Nero. They said that he, disguised as a slave, walked through the streets at night with a crowd of scoundrels, entered dens of debauchery, brazenly insulted respectable people and women, and knew no limits in drunkenness and dirty debauchery. These furies of vulgar passions showed what a terrible time would come when he broke the barriers to his despotism, which now, due to his youth and habit, still left unbroken.

Murder of Agrippina by Nero

These barriers collapsed when the libertine Nero was entangled in her nets by a new mistress, Poppaea Sabina, and led him further and further along the road of debauchery and villainy. She was of a noble family, rich, very pretty, intelligent, voluptuous and ambitious; she had long been thinking about shining at court, where there was so much luxury and pleasure; she was the wife of a Roman horseman, with her coquetry she lured Otho, one of the companions of Nero’s adventures, into a love affair with her, managed to force Otho to marry her and thereby paved the way for herself to become closer to the emperor. Once, at a drunken feast with the emperor, Otho began to praise the beauty of his wife; Nero had a burning desire to see her. When he saw it, he fell passionately in love. Otho was sent by the ruler to Lusitania, Poppea became Nero's mistress. But this was not enough for her ambition; she wanted to become the emperor’s wife and entangled him with her cunning with the greatest skill. In order to inflame Nero's passion, she even resorted to such a bold trick that she praised Otho and pretended to want to live with him again. But Agrippina and Octavia stood in her way; only through their corpses could she reach the throne. Tacitus describes in vivid terms how Poppaea, with tears, coquetry, and ridicule, irritated Nero against his mother, how Agrippina, in order to avert her fall, came in a voluptuous costume to her son, flushed with wine, thinking of seducing him; Tacitus says that only the words of Acta, who entered at this time, prevented incest. Emperor Nero believed Poppea's suggestions that Agrippina wanted to take his life and came to the terrible intention of getting rid of the mother who was bothering him by murder. He knew that all the descendants of Germanicus enjoyed the sympathy of the people and the praetorians; the more terrible Agrippina seemed to him.

Agrippina the Younger, mother of Nero

Pretending to be a loving and respectful son, he invited his mother to Bailly, where he went on holiday. In Baiae, Anicetus, the former tutor of Nero, and now the commander of the fleet stationed at Misenum, lured Agrippina onto a magnificent ship, which was built in such a way that part of it would fall off and crush or drown Agrippina. Seeing off his mother, Nero tenderly hugged her; she entered the ship at nightfall; but the plan failed: she received only a slight wound and was saved by the devotion of one of the women of her retinue. A boat arrived and transported Agrippina to Lake Lucrinskoe, from where she moved to a neighboring villa. Nero was in despair at the failure of the business that had been so skillfully conceived. His passion for Poppea drove him to the end. It was necessary to come up with a new way to get rid of the mother. Ingenuity was helped by chance: one of Agrippina’s freedmen was arrested; a dagger was found under his clothes. This served as evidence of intent to kill the emperor. Anicetus with reliable people went to the villa where Agrippina was, broke into her bedroom and killed her. Having received a blow to the head with a stick, she opened her body in front of the centurion’s sword raised at her, said “stab here” and fell pierced by many blows (59). This reward was given to Agrippina by her son, for whom she burdened herself with so many crimes. Nemesis did her job terribly. The corpse was burned that same night; They didn’t collect the ashes, they didn’t even cover them with earth. At the blazing fire of Agrippina, her freedman Mnester took his own life. Subsequently, one of Agrippina’s servants built a small burial mound in her memory on the Misenum road. They say that she once asked the star fortune-tellers about the fate of Nero, who was still a child at that time. They answered: “He will reign and kill his mother,” and she said: “Let him kill me, as long as he reigns.”

Tormented by his conscience, Nero left for Naples. From there he sent the Senate a letter drawn up by Seneca, which said that Agrippina had plotted to kill him, and when the attempt failed, she took her own life; the letter accused her of cruelty and lust for power, saying that her death was useful to the state. After hearing the letter, the Senate decided that all temples should offer thanks to the gods for the salvation of the emperor. Nero, encouraged by such devotion, soon returned to Rome; there they greeted him with all kinds of honors and showed delight: he rewarded the people for their diligence with games and gifts. Nero drove away dark thoughts from himself with continuous cheerfulness.

The debauchery and debauchery of Nero

After the death of Agrippina, Nero, freed from all embarrassment, gave himself up to entertainment and perversions more shamelessly than before and added new humiliations to all types of prevailing immorality, the source of which was his penchant for vulgar arts. Nero publicly appeared as a master of driving horses at races in the circus; rode through the streets in a fantastic costume and, stopping, showed the people his art of singing and playing the cithara; He set up a theater in the palace for games, which he called juvenalia (games of young people), and with gifts he persuaded impoverished noble people to participate in these performances, that is, to share with him the craft of an actor, which, according to Roman concepts, was shameful. The feeling of shame weakened among the people. Horsemen and senators were not ashamed to drive horses at races in the circus, to show their fencing skills before the people in gladiatorial fights and in battles with wild animals; men and women of the upper class, voluntarily or under duress, appeared on stage in the roles of actors and actresses, sang, danced, that is, according to Roman concepts, they dishonored themselves. At first, only a select audience was allowed to attend these performances, in which the emperor showed his art; then Nero ceased to be ashamed and appeared on the stage of public theaters in Naples and other cities.

In the valley, near the Vatican Hill, a special circus was set up for horse racing in which the emperor participated; At first, only selected spectators were allowed there, then Nero began to invite the whole people. He persuaded Roman horsemen with gifts to participate in gladiatorial fights and forced people of all classes to participate in performances that he gave at the palace theater and in the imperial gardens. Tacitus says: “Neither nobility, nor high positions, nor gender, nor age freed one from the compulsion to play in Greek or Latin plays, to dance perverted obscene dances, to sing vulgar songs. Even noble women took on this dishonorable craft. In the grove that Augustus built around an artificial lake intended for theatrical battles on the water, Nero built hotels where the people were treated to food and wine; money was distributed to the spectators to feast there, and honest people went there out of fear, libertines - with joy. Debauchery and all sorts of dishonest acts became more and more commonplace, and the long-begun decline in morals began to show itself unbridled. People competed with each other in perverted debauchery, and it was dangerous not to participate in it. Finally, Emperor Nero himself appeared on stage and began to play the cithara. The warriors and centurions loudly expressed their approval, and the young horsemen, called “Augustanians” (“Augustanians,” i.e., imperial friends), glorified the divine appearance and voice of the emperor. For these services they were awarded honors.” Even Burr and Seneca praised the emperor’s stage talent, although they probably grieved in their hearts over such humiliation. Nero was also engaged in writing poetry, gathering people who also knew how to write them more or less skillfully, and these poets supplemented the scraps of poetry that he managed to come up with, so that the correct poems and stanzas came out. The emperor summoned philosophers to his dinners and amused himself by inciting them to argue among themselves and move from disputes to squabbles. As if to humiliate the Greek national games, Nero staged an imitation of the Olympic ones (perhaps on the occasion of the fifth anniversary of his reign); He called these games Neronia. Here, as at Olympia, there were gymnastic and musical competitions, as well as chariot competitions. It goes without saying that in all these competitions the reward was assigned to Nero. At this festival the Romans wore Greek dress; it began to become fashionable after that. The Romans got used to dishonoring themselves with all sorts of humiliations, all kinds of debauchery. Nero formed a special society of talented young debauchees of the equestrian class to applaud himself; they applauded according to the musical beat, as was done in Alexandria and other Greek cities. They were divided into "choirs"; with their art they acquired such favor from Nero that the emperor took them with him on all his trips and, of course, rewarded them in every possible way.

Execution of Nero

At first, Nero was more concerned only with his vulgarities, interfering little in state affairs, and his reign was not so much oppression as a disgrace for the Romans; but in the second half of his reign, Rome had to drink to the dregs and the cup of suffering, like a cup of shame. Like Caligula, having exhausted all the reserves of money in the treasury through extravagance, he began to resort to all sorts of methods of robbery in order to obtain funds to continue his fun. The lèse-majesté trials, accompanied by executions, resumed and reached a terrifying proportion. The vile informers have again taken up their craft. Wealth, education, intelligence have become qualities that are disastrous for people; honesty has become a crime. The beginning of this period was marked by the death of the praetorian prefect, Burrus (62). Tacitus leaves it unclear whether he died of natural causes from a throat disease or was poisoned. After his death, Nero divorced Octavia and married Poppaea, and he stubbornly opposed this intention of Nero, therefore in Rome they believed that his death was violent. Zephanius Tigellinus, one of the most vile people of that time, was appointed his successor. He was of low birth, paved his way to honors by participating in the debauchery and atrocities of Nero, became an inseparable companion of the emperor's orgies and now became the main executor of his ferocious orders.

Soon after, two noble people were killed: Rubellius Plautus, a follower of Stoic philosophy, who strictly adhered to the rules of honesty and morality, living alone with his wife and a few servants in Asia on his estate, and Cornelius Sulla, a descendant of the dictator Sulla, married to Antonia, daughter of Claudius , and exiled to Massalia under the pretext that he was plotting against Nero. They were killed without any trial, and their heads were brought to Rome for desecration. The accusation against Plautus was that he, proud of his wealth and kinship with the imperial family, had formed an intention against the life of the emperor; Sulla was accused of inciting the Gauls to revolt, wanting to get rid of poverty. The Senate decided to hold a celebration of thanksgiving to the gods for eliminating the dangers and crossed out the names of those killed from the list of senators. Seneca saw that the emperor was becoming hostile to him, and retired from state affairs. But he was rich and famous, so Nero remained convinced that he should be executed. Octavia, whom the emperor divorced, was loved by the people for her modesty and noble qualities. At the instigation of the new Empress Poppea, fictitious charges were brought against her, she was exiled to the island of Pandataria, and there they killed her on the orders of Nero, cutting her arteries in a bath filled with hot water (June 62). She was then twenty years old. Her head was brought to Poppea. All of Rome was sad, but the Senate decided to thank the gods for saving the emperor. Holidays, which were formerly expressions of joy, now began to be appointed on the occasion of public disasters, says Tacitus.

Feast of Tigellinus

From that time on, Nero crossed all boundaries in his shameless debauchery. Surrounded by libertines and libertines who encouraged him, completely mired in vulgar sensual pleasures, he did incredible vile and absurd things. State revenues were spent on insane extravagance; there were few of them and it was necessary to rob people. Nero staged performances and fantastic processions, in which he was a singer and harpist; the audience had to admire his beautiful voice; the emperor gave luxurious feasts, in the organization of which Tigellinus and a very talented man were his excellent assistants Petronius, called the “feast manager” (Arbiter). Nero gave holidays to the people, at which he treated the entire population of Rome at tables placed throughout the streets and squares.

The feast of Tigellinus, held on the water, is famous. A huge raft was made for the feasters on Lake Agrippa; this raft was moving across the lake. The dishes served to those dining on the raft were prepared from the rarest and most expensive delicacies brought from all over the state. The rest of the guests - nobles and noble women, slaves, gladiators, public women, all indiscriminately feasted under tents set up around the lake and in the groves adjacent to it; they feasted until late at night and, drunk, indulged in unbridled debauchery. The women who were here did not refuse their caresses to anyone. Tacitus says: Nero debauched himself so shamelessly that one had to believe that there was no more vileness left that was more disgusting. But a few days later the emperor held a celebration at which he showed even more disgusting shamelessness.

Fire of Rome under Nero

Having dishonored himself and the Romans with his bestial voluptuousness and his artistic stupidity, Nero acquired the reputation of such an extravagant and villain that a terrible fire (64) was attributed to him, which destroyed most of the city of Rome, the most respected temples, a mass of marvelous creations of Greek art, and plunged the majority of the city's population into poverty. The fire started in the shops of the circus, which was located near the Palatine and Caelian hills. These were shops that sold oil and other flammable materials; the wind fanned the flames, it spread first across the lowlands, then engulfed the hills, and spread along them with uncontrollable force to the northern lowlands; the streets of Rome were narrow, crooked, the upper floors of the houses were wooden, the flames spread like a boundless sea of ​​fire. Only on the sixth day did they manage to stop the fire at the foot of the Esquiline. Then the fire intensified again and consumed buildings on the eastern side of the Campus Martius for another three days. Of the fourteen regions (regiones) of Rome, only four survived. Three were completely burnt; in the remaining seven, only a few half-burnt houses remained.

Having described in vivid colors this terrible fire of Rome and the misfortunes of countless people who lost all their property, were left homeless, tormented by hunger, Tacitus says: “No one dared to put out the fire, because from many they heard prohibitions to put out and threats, and many others before their eyes They set fire to everyone's houses, throwing firebrands, and shouted that they knew on whose instructions they were setting the fire; perhaps they did this in order to rob, perhaps they acted on orders.” The fire broke out on the very day on which, according to legend, Rome was burned by the Gauls (July 19). “It was natural that such a terrible event greatly aroused the imagination of the people and gave rise to the most implausible rumors. Some of them have reached us, and it is easy for the newest defenders of Nero to refute those news about the fire of Rome that are implausible. From this they conclude that Nero was not to blame for the fire. Hermann Schiller even found people guilty of slander against Nero: in his opinion, the aristocrats, who were already forming a conspiracy called Pizonov, spread the rumor that Nero was to blame for this fire; they slandered him in order to arouse hatred of him among the people.

Nero was then in Antia and returned to Rome only when the flames had already engulfed the palace and the adjacent gardens of Maecenas; he distributed bread to the people who were wandering homelessly in despair, he ordered the hasty construction of temporary buildings to shelter people from bad weather; but although he cared to mitigate the misfortunes of the mass of the population, they said that the fire was lit on his orders. There was a rumor that during the worst time of the fire, Nero, dressed as a harp player, sang poems on the stage of his theater, or on the Maecenas tower, which described the destruction of Troy. The despot emperor was so extravagant that he was considered capable of anything. They said that he set Rome on fire in order to build a new city on its ruins, which would be called Neronia, and that, in addition, he had to destroy the old palace out of a desire to build a new, more magnificent one. This was believed all the more because the new palace, built by him after the fire on the site of the previous one, surpassed all the buildings of ancient Rome in vastness and splendor. Nero's "Golden Palace", dazzling with the brilliance of its decorations, consisted of several buildings standing far from each other and connected by colonnades; in the vast area covered by them there were meadows, artificial lakes, vineyards, and groves. In the courtyard in front of the main building stood a bronze statue of the sun god, 120 feet high. The architects in charge of the buildings, Sever and Celer, overcame all the difficulties presented by the nature of the area, without retreating from any expense. The impression made by the enormous size of the palace is conveyed by Martial’s famous epigram: “Rome becomes one house; Romans, move to Veii, if this palace does not swallow Veii too.”

Persecution of Christians under Nero

Renewing the city, they built it according to a better plan than the previous building. The streets were made wide and straight, the houses were built of stone and less tall. The volume of the city was increased; squares, colonnades, fountains, pools gave the city beauty. The construction of houses was accelerated by benefits and rewards. But no matter how hard Nero tried to mitigate the consequences of the great misfortune, the people continued to think that the city was burned at his will. This rumor led Nero to a new vile crime. Tacitus conveys the matter this way: in order to divert popular hatred from himself to others, Nero accused the followers of the new religion, called Christians, of setting the city on fire; their faith was considered one of the Jewish sects, and the Roman people despised and hated these people because they kept to a special circle (in the words of Tacitus, “for their hatred of people”) and because they stubbornly avoided any participation in the Roman worship. Many of them were persecuted, found guilty and sentenced to death. And to cover the costs of the insane splendor of the new palace and the construction of the city, the provinces were given over to systematic plunder. To decorate the new Rome, the best works of art were taken from the Greek cities.

“By putting Christians to death,” says Tacitus, “they subjected them to desecration: they were sewn into animal skins and given to be torn to pieces by dogs, or crucified on a cross, or, smeared with tar, lit at nightfall so that they burned like night torches. For this spectacle, Nero opened his gardens, arranged games in the circus, and intervened in the crowd dressed as a chariot driver, or rode among the people in a carriage. Therefore, pity was aroused for people who, even if they were guilty, were subjected to unheard-of punishment; his ferocity made him think that they were being sacrificed not to the common good, but to the cruelty of one person.”

Torches of Nero (Lamps of Christianity). Nero's persecution of Christians. Painting by G. Semiradsky, 1876

Based on this extremely important news from Tacitus for the history of Christianity, the persecution of Christians carried out by Nero after the fire of Rome is called the first persecution of the Christian religion. The legend added many details to the words of Tacitus. - Foreigners who lived in the area where the fire started, of course, could easily be suspected of arson; It was natural that Nero and his courtiers took advantage of this suspicion in order to divert the hatred of the people, aroused by the fire, from the emperor to people whom the people did not like. It is also very possible that, given the dissatisfaction of the followers of the Mosaic Law with their fellow tribesmen who accepted a different confession, some Jews could say something about Christians that could be used to build an accusation against them. But there was hardly any desire on the part of Nero or the Roman administration to persecute the faith of Christians. The fact that Christians were subjected to persecution and death under Nero was a matter of political calculation, which took advantage of the hostility of the people towards them.

Tacitus also provides details about the monetary oppression that was caused by the fire. He says: “To gain money, the government robbed Italy, ruined the provinces, allied peoples, free cities. Even the temples that survived in Rome were robbed: gold was taken from them, donated by the Roman people in former times from booty and according to promises made during various happy and unfortunate events. From Asia, from Achaia, the emperor’s representatives, the freedman Akrates and the philosopher Secundus Carinatus, took away not only expensive things donated to the temples, but also golden images of the gods.”

Piso's Conspiracy

The demoralized population of Rome endured all the ferocity and vileness of Nero, without making any serious attempt to overthrow the disgusting villain. Finally, the cup of patience was apparently overflowing. A conspiracy was hatched, the purpose of which was to kill Nero at the circus games on the festival of Ceres (65). The head of the conspiracy was Gaius Calpurnius Piso, a very rich nobleman of an affable character. The conspirators hoped for the assistance of the Praetorians; one of the commanders of this army, Fenius Rufus, took part in the conspiracy out of envy of Tigellinus. Piso's accomplices wanted to elevate him to the throne. So, even they considered the restoration of the republic to be impossible, and the conspiracy was directed only against the monarch, and not against the monarchy. Among the conspirators were people from the most distinguished senatorial and equestrian families; those few republicans who still remained among the Romans also joined him. Most of the conspirators behaved timidly, and in general the whole matter was conducted unreasonably, so the course of the conspiracy serves as proof of the incapacity of the then Roman society for enthusiasm and energy. The execution of the plan was delayed for a long time; its participants involved many people in their plan; the freedman of one of the most important conspirators denounced Nero, and he subjected all the guilty and suspects to fierce persecution. The weapon of persecution was Tigellinus; Poppea excited her husband to act mercilessly. Most of those accused behaved cowardly, blaming friends and relatives in order to save themselves from death; this made it easier for Nero to pursue and gave him the opportunity to execute all people unpleasant to him. Only the woman, the freedwoman of Epicharides, showed strength of character: the most terrible tortures could not force any confession from her. Fenius Rufus tried to wash away the guilt from himself with the blood of his accomplices.

Death of Seneca

Among those killed in the Piso conspiracy case were another famous person, the poet Mark Annaeus Lucan. Seneca had long become a burden to his former pupil. Lucan was his nephew, an ambitious man, insulted by Nero and remaining faithful to the old way of thinking: his poem “Pharsalia” is imbued with love for republican institutions, for strict morality in home life. Seneca's friendship with Piso and Lucan was found to be sufficient proof of his complicity in the conspiracy; Seneca cut his arteries and with a courageous death made amends for the timidity with which he had often humiliated himself in life. Only a few have earned the fame of such courage as he did: the majority, until the last minute, dishonored themselves with cowardice or flattery. Executions and exiles relieved the tyrant emperor of many noble citizens whom he suspected of hostility, or whose wealth he wanted to seize. Confiscations gave Nero the means to reward his soldiers, informers and other assistants; The Senate decided to thank the gods for saving the emperor.

The death of Poppaea Sabina and the death of Thrasea Peta

While numerous executions were carried out every day, Nero organized games, poetry and oratorical competitions, and feasted, celebrating his salvation. The celebrations were interrupted by the death of Poppaea Sabina, but only briefly. City rumor, reported by Tacitus, said that the empress, who was about to give birth, died from a kick given to her by her husband. Her body was embalmed; the funeral was solemn, an incredible mass of incense was burned at it, the ashes were taken to the imperial tomb, and whoever did not want to participate in the service of the deified libertine was accused of lese majeste. Nature seemed to want to help the despot in exterminating the Romans: a widespread disease appeared in the capital, from which 30,000 people died.

Piso's conspiracy aroused Nero's suspicions against scientists. Tigellinus supported this feeling in him and directed his hostility especially towards the adherents of Stoic philosophy, who constituted the only opposition in the Senate to the prevailing servility. Their leader was Publius Clodius Thrasea Paetus, a man of ancient Roman strict morality; sometimes he openly contradicted shameful proposals in the Senate, and if he found this impossible, he remained silent, and his very silence was an eloquent censure of the vulgar servility of the Senate. Finally, he decided not to see the shame and retired from political life. He was a Republican like Cato, whose life he described. Dissatisfied Roman nobles gathered with him. His nobility, education and impeccable honesty gained him great influence on public opinion, especially in the provinces where the corruption of morals had not yet completely drowned out the love for virtue, justice, and humanity.

Nero had long been afraid of killing the influential and cautious Thrasea Petus; he even seems to have tried to gain his support; but, a man of strong character, Thrasea rejected Nero's courtesies. Finally it was decided to kill him. Tigellinus' son-in-law Capito Cossucianus accused him of malice; the evidence was, according to Cossucianus, facts of this kind: Thrasea avoids attending the oath to the emperor, given at the beginning of each year; does not participate in prayers for Emperor Nero; makes no sacrifices for his welfare and for the preservation of his heavenly voice; he has not attended the Curia for three years; he excites the people to discontent; in the provinces and in the army they read the Roman “Daily Acts” (something like a newspaper) only in order to find out what Thrasea Petus did not participate in; from all his actions it follows that he despises religion and laws. Thrasea Peta's friend, the Stoic Barea Soranus, was accused of the same crimes. The Senate, intimidated by the formidable appearance of the praetorians stationed at the forum, did not dare to resist and condemned Thrasea, Soranus and Soranus’s daughter Servilia to death, as an accomplice in their father’s malicious intent. As a special favor, they were given the freedom to choose the death they wanted. When the sentence was announced to Thrasea Petu, he was talking with another philosopher about the relationship of the soul to the body. He cut his arteries (66). His son-in-law Helvicius Priscus was exiled.

Armenian king Tiridates in Rome

By the death of Thrasea, a man of ancient Roman strength of character, the last delay to the full development of tyranny and shamelessness was removed. The Roman people at this time admired the holidays that Nero organized on the occasion of the arrival in Rome of Tiridates, a descendant of the Parthian kings, who came with a brilliant retinue to Rome to ask for his confirmation in the rank of king of the Armenians. He bowed his knees before the emperor, paying him homage as to the god Mithra; Nero placed a diadem on the head of the kneeling king and celebrated with games and all sorts of fun the golden days of his liberation from all opponents and the eastern king’s worship of him.

This triumph was brought to Nero by Domitius Corbulo, who, in those days of the dominion of all infamies, renewed the glory of Roman arms in the East and restored the power of Rome over Armenia. Soon after, Nero thanked Corbulo by killing him. The famous commander had such power in his hands and enjoyed such respect that he could easily have taken the throne from the libertine, hated by everyone. The brave warrior was a loyal subject and even sent his son-in-law Annius to Rome with Tiridates as a hostage to his devotion to the emperor. But he did not thereby ward off the suspicion of Nero and the envy of his servants. Nero believed that he wanted to seize the throne, summoned him to himself during his trip to Greece and gave the order to kill him as soon as he came ashore. Coming ashore at Cenchreae, Corbulo listened to this order and plunged a sword into his chest, exclaiming: “deserved by me!” (67).

Nero's Travels in Greece

The arrival of Tiridates in Rome inspired Nero with such pride that he decided to show his talents in Greece, to bring them triumph in the very homeland of art. Accompanied by his Augustans, the vain madman began to travel around Greek cities in absurd processions, organized the Olympic Games, followed by the Pythian and Isthmian Games (67). At these holidays tragedies and comedies were given; there were competitions in singing and chariot racing; the flattering Greeks, of course, each time declared Nero the winner, awarded him wreaths, and with his vulgarities he undermined the last vestiges of respect for the Roman government. Nero ordered to dig a canal through the Isthmus; but it was so difficult to break through the rocks of the isthmus that the work was soon abandoned. Rumors of unfavorable omens were spread; they began to say that the sea level in the Corinthian Gulf was higher than in the Saronic Gulf, that the sea would rush through the canal and flood Aegina and Salamis; and the plan was abandoned. In gratitude for the noisy praise of the Greeks for the performing arts and the beautiful voice of the emperor, Nero announced that he was giving freedom to all of Achaia, but took away treasures from Greek temples, ordered the destruction of monuments erected in honor of previous winners at the games, and took away the daughters and sons of the Greeks he freed in pleasure in your debauchery. Meanwhile, in Rome, Nero's freedman Gellius executed, expelled whomever he wanted, and confiscated property; silent fermentation began in Rome, and Gellius found it necessary to summon his master to the capital.

Revolt of the Western armies against Nero. The beginning of the civil war of 68-69.

The emperor triumphantly returned through Naples to Rome. The city was decorated, altars were placed along the streets, fragrances were smoked; Nero entered the capital in a triumphal procession; he wore a purple robe embroidered with gold stars, had an Olympic wreath on his head, and a Pythian wreath in his right hand; he was accompanied by warriors, horsemen, and senators, who glorified him like Hercules and Apollo. But this was his last triumph. His career was coming to an end. The propraetor of Gaul Julia Vindex, a descendant of the Aquitanian kings, stirred up his province, tormented by the terrible robbery of Nero, and not yet completely forgotten national feelings, to revolt; intending to restore the independence of Gaul and give Rome an emperor of the choice of the Gauls, he proposed to his army to overthrow Nero and enthrone the ruler of Spain, Servius Sulpicius Galba, a man of a noble and wealthy family, considered an experienced warrior and a good ruler.

The army, the majority of which were provincials, approved of Vindex's proposal. The Spanish legions also proclaimed Galba emperor; Otho, a former participant in Nero's orgies, ruler of Lusitania, joined the new emperor. But before Galba crossed the Pyrenees, a battle took place between the Gallic army of Vindex and the legions stationed on the upper Rhine. The leaders did not think about fighting at all: at the meeting in Vesoncio they agreed with each other on everything. But the Gallic and German legions began to fight among themselves, either through a misunderstanding, or out of hostility and envy. The battle was terrible; 20,000 warriors from the Vindex army lay down on the battlefield. The defeat of the Gallic legions destroyed the possibility of restoring the independence of Gaul. Vindex either fell in battle or killed himself in despair of failure and did not live to see the fall of Nero, the “bad cithara player,” as he called him.

But this sad episode did not hinder the success of Galba's cause. The Rhine legions, led by the brave Virginius Rufus, declared themselves for him. He refused to accept the imperial rank until the decision of the Senate. Senate approval was soon received. The atrocities of the extravagant Nero and the famine in Rome caused fermentation of minds. At the news that rebel troops were coming from the west and that the legions sent against them had also rebelled, the ferment turned into open rebellion. Encouraged by him, the Senate declared Nero an enemy of the fatherland and proclaimed Galba emperor. Nymphidius, the second chief of the Praetorians after Tigellinus, promised them large gifts if they obeyed the decision of the Senate, and they also proclaimed Galba emperor.

Nero, abandoned by everyone, even by the comrades of his debauchery, fled disguised to the villa of one of his freedmen; the trampling of horses was heard, Nero realized that these were horsemen sent by the Senate to look for him. (The Senate sent detachments of horsemen everywhere to look for Nero; they were ordered to bring him to Rome so that for his crimes he would be executed there “according to the old custom”). Trembling with fear, Nero ordered the freedman to stab him. As the centurion entered, he died from the freedman’s dagger, exclaiming to the one entering: “It’s too late!” (9 June 68). He was then 31 years old and was in the 14th year of his reign.

Death of Nero. Painting by V. Smirnov, 1888

Nero was the last descendant of the Juliev family, which derived itself from Aeneas and Venus; over the past two centuries, all the great events of Roman history took place with the participation of the Julians. It was natural that the mysterious death of Nero in the villa of his freedman made a strong impression on the Roman people, and that a legend arose, which also arose with the death of other dynasties: rumor said that the dynasty did not end; a rumor spread that Nero, whose sharp features could not soon disappear from the memory of the Roman people, had not died, that he had managed to escape to the East, that he would return and again take possession of the kingdom. They say that for a long time on the day of Nero’s death, his tomb in Rome was decorated with wreaths and flowers. Three times impostors appeared, posing as Nero, who had escaped death, and each found adherents. Domitian also trembled at the name of Nero. In particular, the Greeks retained their affection for the emperor, who was an enthusiastic admirer of Greek art, came to their country as an actor and harp player, and generously distributed gold and other gifts to everyone who admired his talents; they had only benefits from it, without experiencing its ferocity.

In the memory of Christians, on the contrary, the ferocity of Nero remained. The terrible persecution in which most of the first generation of Christians in the city of Rome perished inspired their coreligionists with the idea that he was the Antichrist; Christians also believed that he would return, but they thought that this return would immediately precede the second coming of Christ, that it would be a harbinger of the destruction of the present world and the beginning of the thousand-year reign of martyrs. This belief was deeply rooted in the thoughts of Christians of that time and found expression in the Apocalypse.

Seneca. Nero's tutor. Lucius Anyaeus Seneca lived from 4 BC. to 65 AD. He was a Roman philosopher who first introduced Stoicism to Ancient Rome. Seneca's father, Lucius Anei the elder, was from the Spanish city of Corduba. Having moved to Rome, he served as a horseman. He sought to give his children a good education so that they could build a career in politics. Lucius Anyaeus Seneca lived from 4 BC. to 65 AD. He was a Roman philosopher who first introduced Stoicism to Ancient Rome. Seneca's father, Lucius Anei the elder, was from the Spanish city of Corduba. Having moved to Rome, he served as a horseman. He sought to give his children a good education so that they could build a career in politics.

Life path. Nero's future teacher was interested in philosophy from his youth. He was a follower of Papirius, Fabian, Sotion. Subsequently, Seneca became interested in politics and became a lawyer. However, this did not last long. Seneca interrupted his career and left the country due to serious illness. He went to Egypt for treatment. There he wasted no time. He regularly visited the Library of Alexandria and communicated with scientists. There he wrote his first compositions. Seneca returned to Rome already as a famous speaker and writer. Having received a public position, the philosopher brought his works to the Senate and the Emperor. However, no one shared his views, and as a result Seneca was sent into exile to Corsica. Nero's future teacher was interested in philosophy from his youth. He was a follower of Papirius, Fabian, Sotion. Subsequently, Seneca became interested in politics and became a lawyer. However, this did not last long. Seneca interrupted his career and left the country due to serious illness. He went to Egypt for treatment. There he wasted no time. He regularly visited the Library of Alexandria and communicated with scientists. There he wrote his first compositions. Seneca returned to Rome already as a famous speaker and writer. Having received a public position, the philosopher brought his works to the Senate and the Emperor. However, no one shared his views, and as a result Seneca was sent into exile to Corsica.

Nero and Seneca met thanks to the latter's mother. It was through her efforts that the philosopher was returned from exile and became the boy’s mentor. Nero's teacher had a great influence on his student. This can be judged by the first years of his reign, when the Roman Empire grew stronger and richer. Nero did a lot for his people. Some financial reforms took place, and the power of the Senate strengthened. Nero and Seneca met thanks to the latter's mother. It was through her efforts that the philosopher was returned from exile and became the boy’s mentor. Nero's teacher had a great influence on his student. This can be judged by the first years of his reign, when the Roman Empire grew stronger and richer. Nero did a lot for his people. Some financial reforms took place, and the power of the Senate strengthened.

Seneca dreamed of creating an ideal society. For this, a highly moral ruler was needed. In this regard, he took his role as a mentor very responsibly. A year after Nero’s accession, his teacher read him his treatise “On Mercy.” It talked about the difference between an ideal ruler and a tyrant. Nero's tutor soon lost power over the emperor. His dreams were not destined to come true. Seneca tried to get on with his life and did nothing to interfere with his former student. However, this did not save him. A few years later he was accused of conspiracy. This only played into the hands of the emperor, and he ordered Seneca to die. The philosopher committed suicide. Seneca dreamed of creating an ideal society. For this, a highly moral ruler was needed. In this regard, he took his role as a mentor very responsibly. A year after Nero’s accession, his teacher read him his treatise “On Mercy.” It talked about the difference between an ideal ruler and a tyrant. Nero's tutor soon lost power over the emperor. His dreams were not destined to come true. Seneca tried to get on with his life and did nothing to interfere with his former student. However, this did not save him. A few years later he was accused of conspiracy. This only played into the hands of the emperor, and he ordered Seneca to die. The philosopher committed suicide

Works of Seneca Nero's tutor was a unique and amazing man. Unfortunately, many of his works have not survived or have reached us only partially. Among his works, the most famous were the treatises “On Mercy” and “On Benevolence.” Letters to Lucilius are considered one of the best. They are sermons about some events from the life of Seneca. The philosopher dedicated the dialogues “On the Blessed Life” and “On Anger” to his brother. He wrote 12 books, which contained 10 treatises. “Consolation to Marcia” is a kind of collection of advice for mothers who have lost sons. "Consolation to Helvia" was written during the exile. Seneca wrote “Consolation on the Death of a Brother” for Polybius - in the hope that the latter would help him return to Rome. Nero's tutor was a unique and amazing person. Unfortunately, many of his works have not survived or have reached us only partially. Among his works, the most famous were the treatises “On Mercy” and “On Benevolence.” Letters to Lucilius are considered one of the best. They are sermons about some events from the life of Seneca. The philosopher dedicated the dialogues “On the Blessed Life” and “On Anger” to his brother. He wrote 12 books, which contained 10 treatises. “Consolation to Marcia” is a kind of collection of advice for mothers who have lost sons. "Consolation to Helvia" was written during the exile. Seneca wrote “Consolation on the Death of a Brother” for Polybius - in the hope that the latter would help him return to Rome.