Nero

Anthony Everitt & Roddy Ashworth

38 annotations • Apr 2024 – Oct 2024 • data

Preface

The people love Nero. He inspires in them both affection and respect….One can discern the reason for this popular feeling: Nero oppressed the great and never burdened the ordinary people. —Napoleon Bonaparte
He is the image of the bad ruler, cruel, vain, and incompetent. He was sexually voracious and the breaker of the most sacred taboos. He committed incest with his mother and murdered her. He set fire to Rome, his own capital. Then from a convenient vantage point he fiddled while the city burned and sang an aria about the Sack of Troy. He cleared the charred ruins of the city center and in their place built a vast palace, the Golden House. He blamed the fire on a new religious sect, the Christians, some of whom he turned into human torches to illuminate an evening at the races.
Nero did some terrible things, but the empire was well managed under his rule. He presided over a diplomatic triumph when he ended an on-and-off cold war and established a long-standing entente with Rome's rival superpower, the Parthian empire, which lay beyond the river Euphrates. He managed well a surprise insurrection in the new province of Britannia.
As emperor, he placed culture at the heart of his politics. Arts festivals, the enormously popular sport of chariot racing, and to a lesser extent gladiatorial shows and athletic games were aspects of a strategy of spectacle. They allowed the emperor to convey political messages to his subjects and to mark important events with celebrations. They were evidence of his affection for the ordinary citizen. Nero appears to have promoted a union of Greek and Roman culture.

Chapter 1

Res Gestae was not simply a self-serving account of a life, for it set out an agenda for future emperors to consider and offered some attractive policy solutions. Nero would be wise to pay attention, and his career suggests that that was exactly what he did. He admired his great-great-grandfather and felt a special link to him.
In 31 b.c., Augustus (or Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus, as he was then known) defeated his rival, Marcus Antonius (our Mark Antony) and his lover and political partner, Cleopatra VII Philopator, Queen of Egypt, in a sea battle off the promontory of Actium in northwest Greece. He was now the last man standing and had the power, if he so wished, to act as an outright tyrant. Instead he devised a new constitutional settlement that he hoped would win broad approval and enable him to rule by consent.
For nearly five centuries Rome had been a republic. Its operating rules were complicated. Male adult citizens voted candidates into public office for periods of one year. They were almost invariably drawn from a handful of highly competitive noble families. Executive authority rested with two Consuls who were heads of state and government. When their time in office was up, they usually went abroad to govern a province (as did a second tier of officials, the Praetors). The Consuls were authorized to veto each other's decisions, and ten Tribunes of the People could veto those of any public official and of the Senate, a large committee comprising all past and present officeholders.
This ramshackle constitution gave carte blanche to corrupt and quarrelsome politicians and was totally unsuitable for a complex imperial nation. In the first century b.c., a succession of powerful generals browbeat the Senate and brought the state to its knees. The last of these was Julius Caesar, who defeated the armies of the republic in a series of battles, Roman on Roman. Victory cost him his life, for he was struck down by embittered members of the Senate when in official session. His authority and his legions passed to his adoptive son and heir, Gaius Octavius (later, as we have seen, to become Augustus and Rome's first emperor), who eventually brought the strife to a close.
The essential point was that while all these powers were unusual, even exceptional, they were perfectly legal and consistent with convention. Nobody could object, and nobody did. Roman politicians could appreciate a good conjuring trick when they saw one.
Rome, the teeming capital of the known world, was unruly. Most of its inhabitants were poor and many were unemployed or could find only part-time work. They lived in squalid housing. These were the plebs, or common people, and Augustus realized that they could be pacified, even satisfied, by a program of spectacle. He boasted of the competitive and often cruel entertainments he or his supporters financed and presented: I gave three gladiatorial games in my own name and five in that of my sons or grandsons; at these games some 10,000 men took part in combat. Twice in my own name and a third time in that of my grandson I presented to the people displays by athletes summoned from all parts. I produced shows in my own name four times and in place of other magistrates twenty-three times….I gave beast-hunts of African beasts in my own name or in that of my sons and grandsons in the circus or forum or amphitheater on twenty-six occasions, when about 3,500 beasts were destroyed.

Chapter 2

As the years passed, the question of the succession inevitably loomed. Although his powers were in theory personal to him, the princeps decided that heredity was the only sure guarantee of political stability. Otherwise Rome's incurably competitive politicians would fight among themselves for the throne and very probably set off another civil war. Julia had produced a plenitude of heirs, but the fates had other ideas. First of all, a nephew and then two of Julia's sons died in their late teens or early twenties, while a third suffered from some kind of personality disorder and was deemed unfit to rule. Fortunately, Augustus's wife, Livia, had had a first marriage to a certain Tiberius Claudius Nero, both of whom were members of one of Rome's most ancient clans, the Claudii.
Girls married in their early teens, sometimes before puberty and as early as eleven years (a kind husband might delay sexual relations for a year or two). One consequence was that their schooling was rudimentary and would come to an abrupt end with the arrival of a spouse. Divorce was a fairly straightforward matter. A wife simply took back her dowry and left her husband's house, often returning to her father's care. The procedure was socially respectable, but a couple was wise to consider the consequences for the two families on the breakup of their alliance. Although the minimum age for men to marry was fourteen, they were usually in their twenties before they did so. Because of the large age gap, they tended to die long before their wives, who could remarry if they chose or be guided by a guardian. However, many widows were at last able to live merrily, free of interference from their male relatives.
Tiberius, tired and aging, did not seek the throne, but after Augustus's death, he implemented his wishes out of a gloomy sense of duty. Despite the fact that he had a son of his own, he appointed Germanicus to major foreign commands. Germanicus was young and attractive, in contrast to the melancholy princeps, but he was not a very talented general. However, he and his wife, the elder Agrippina, were a glamorous and (for an imposed union) devoted couple and very popular with the army. Agrippina accompanied her husband to the Rhine frontier and then to Asia, with a growing tribe of children. On one occasion her decisiveness rallied discouraged troops: she staved off panic and saved the day by acting as if she were their commander. She was evidently the dominant personality in the partnership. From a traditional Roman's point of view, she behaved like a man. This was the height of impropriety.
In public, Livia was the model of a Roman matron, dressing plainly and (we are told) making her husband's clothes. She took care not to offend custom and practice. Actually, she was very active behind the scenes. She was always at Augustus's side. He often consulted her and wrote notes for himself of her thoughts on topics he intended to raise. Livia was officially released from male supervision and proved to be a good businesswoman—with copper mines in Gaul, estates in Asia, properties throughout Italy (including a brickworks, papyrus marshes, vineyards, and arable farms), and granaries in Egypt. She became very rich in her own right.
When her son assumed the purple, he was irritated to find that she had fingers in many political pies and often warned her to "remember that she was a woman and must not interfere in affairs of state." Caligula liked her but called her "Ulysses in a frock" (Ulysses, the Latin form of the name Odysseus, was the hero of Homer's epic The Odyssey, and a byword for cunning).

Chapter 3

One of the curiosities of an elite Roman's life was a propensity to kill himself when he faced adverse circumstances.
In the world of Greece and Rome suicide was often seen as a respectable, even a virtuous act. Men and women killed themselves in many different ways and from very different motives. Among the upper classes and in the army there existed what might be called a culture of suicide.
Passienus was the type of man who was on the best of terms with those he loathed—until they were safely dead. Caligula thought he was a friend and asked him in confidence whether he had ever slept with his sister as he himself had with his. Passienus was in a spot. If he said no, he would have criticized the princeps by implication; if yes, he would have shamed himself and admitted a crime. He cleverly replied "Nondum" (Not yet). Referring to Caligula's silence about the persecution of his family when he was living with Tiberius on Capri and his cruelty when princeps, he coined a famous epigram: "There never was a better slave nor a worse master."
He understood the flaws in human character, including (one suspects) his own. He was fond of saying, "We leave the door against flattery ajar, just as we do with a mistress. If she gives it a push, we're delighted, and even more so if she forces it open."
It is impossible to understand Rome, and in particular how the empire was run, without recognizing that, like other communities in the ancient world, it was a slave society—or, more precisely, a slave-dependent society.
However, a tentative explanation does suggest itself, which fits the facts albeit unsupported by direct evidence. It derives from Claudius's personality, or rather his personality as perceived. He was eccentric, absent-minded, and fearful. It was easy to change his mind. He understood his reputation and acted up to it. In a murderous age he knew that survival lay in not being a threat to anybody.

Chapter 4

Callistus argued for Lollia, mainly on the grounds of her wealth. Also she had no children of her own and was sterile. This would solve the stepmother problem. Stepmothers were universally held to favor their own children by an earlier marriage and to act cruelly toward their new husband's progeny. In a word, Lollia would be no trouble, which suited Callistus's do-nothing theory of government.
Relations with the Senate swiftly improved after the entrance of Agrippina on the political stage in 49. She brought a new professionalism to government and a genuine willingness to consult. Before announcing a new measure, she would operate behind the scenes to win consent. It was possible to disagree with Agrippina without risking one's life.
She suffered from a rare condition known today as Anton's syndrome. The main symptom is that patients deny their loss of vision. Harpaste insisted that she could still see. "The story sounds incredible, but I assure you that it is true," remarked Seneca. "She keeps asking her attendant to change her quarters; she says that the rooms are too dark."
Harpaste's illness reminded Seneca of a contradiction in his own life that he was never able to resolve—namely, between being rich and being good: You can see clearly that what makes us smile in Harpasté's case happens to all the rest of us; nobody understands that he himself is greedy, or that he is covetous. Those who accept that they are blind ask for a guide, while we wander about without one, saying: "I am not self-seeking; but it's simply not possible to live in Rome in any other way. I am not extravagant, but just living in the city is extremely expensive."
Seneca was the most brilliant of the trio. He studied at a philosophical school in Rome, which was less interested in theory than in the practical application of Stoic principles, especially where they overlapped with old-fashioned republican values. These were expressed, for example, in two Latin words packed with meanings for the patriot: pietas (loyalty, duty, filial and religious piety, respect) and virtus (manliness, bravery, excellence, character).
Agrippina knew that Nero needed to be educated to avoid the mistakes made by her brother, Caligula, that had led to the breakdown of relations with the Senate and the military. A princeps who had not mastered the techniques of persuasion, of addressing large groups effectively, would not last long. But while Agrippina insisted that the art of rhetoric should be instilled into her son, she vetoed a related subject, philosophy.
Seneca's method as a teacher was imaginative and enlightened, even by today's standards. He had recently published an essay On Anger, in which he discussed how best to manage privileged children: By freedom a boy's spirit grows, by oppression it is crushed. If he is praised and led to expect well of himself, he improves. However, this technique can breed insolence and hot temper; so we must guide him between the two extremes, using now the bit, now the spur.
Instruction was also offered in controversiae, or disputations. In these exercises, a fictional law was stated and a dilemma posed. Here is an example. Law: A son who strikes his father shall have his hands amputated. Dilemma: A tyrant summons a man and his two sons to his citadel. He orders the young men to beat their father. One of them throws himself off a high place and dies. The other beats his father, as he has been told. Later he becomes a friend of the tyrant and takes the opportunity to assassinate him. He receives a reward for the deed, but his hands are to be cut off. His father defends him in court. Boys were called on to speak for one side of the case or the other. Ingenuity in argument was expected. This is a pity, for whereas the suasoriae dealt with real-life situations from the past, the controversiae tended to be artificial and irrelevant to the concerns an orator was likely to encounter on his daily round.
One of the Mouseion's senior officials was Chaeremon; he was superintendent of an offshoot collection of the library stored in the immense temple of Serapis, a popular Greco-Egyptian deity. Something of a polymath, he was the author of a history of Egypt and published research on comets, Egyptian astrology, and hieroglyphs. Most abstruse of all was his treatise on expletive conjunctions (conjunctions that connect two thoughts that are not expressed in the same sentence). He was a well-known Stoic, whom a wit ribbed gently for his austere principles: "You won't be so keen on dying if you live a life of luxury. It is much easier to give things up when you don't have many things."
This is an instructive incident. Nero's taste for dissolute diversions will have been discussed not only among his teachers. We can speculate that Seneca raised the subject with Agrippina, who will not have been amused. Now that he was an adult, her son was proving to be a typical Ahenobarbus. She will have been especially worried by his potential for making shady friends at the Circus.
Nero was a clever boy. From his childhood he turned his "lively mind" to artistic interests. Tacitus reports that he carved, painted, sang, and wrote verses showing that he had in him "the rudiments of culture." There was nothing out of the ordinary about this. Upper-class Romans were expected to participate in cultural activities. In addition to their native Latin, they spoke and read Greek fluently and wrote verses in the manner of the great poets of old. Some, like Claudius himself, produced prose histories. Others, like Seneca, might compose essays on philosophical or ethical topics or carefully studied letters to friends which (of course) they took care to publish. Authors would meet at public readings of their work.
However, all these artists and authors were strictly amateurs. It did not do to take the life of the imagination too seriously. Nero disagreed with the dilettante approach of cultured Romans like Titus. As he grew up he became increasingly convinced of the superiority of Greek civilization
Nero appears to have found Seneca's teaching of oratory dull; too much time was spent on his tutor's own work and too little on the masterpieces of the craft from earlier eras. Perhaps in search of expressive force, he turned to the writing of poetry. He discovered a gift for expressing himself rapidly and without effort.
Such evidence as we have indicates that Nero was not allowed to pursue his passion for the races nor for dramatic or musical performances, although he was not prevented from versifying. We have too little material to offer a psychological portrait, but it does appear that a conflict existed between the boy who was training for the role of princeps and the one whose dearest wish was to be a creative artist. As his life unfolded, it would become clearer which course it was to follow—duty, or desire, or (daringly) both at once.

Chapter 5

Most poisonings appear to have been carried out by women, who, if we can trust the satirist Juvenal, "would happily see their husbands die to save their puppy's life." Clearly they are being stereotyped, but their subordinate position and lack of agency make it equally clear that some deployed poison to redress the unequal balance of power.

Chapter 6

Being a woman, Agrippina did not possess imperium, the constitutional authority to tell people what to do. It was a grave weakness. She was obliged to govern indirectly, and she did so in the main through three men. The freedman Pallas was in her pocket (and possibly her bed), and as libertus a rationibus he controlled the imperial finances, both the state treasury and the private fiscus. She had persuaded her husband to appoint Burrus as sole commander of the Praetorians, who guaranteed the security of the dynasty.
Finally, another of her placemen, Seneca, was promoted from tutor to political adviser. According to the ancient sources, he did not sponsor legislation in the Senate and held no official post. He was one of a select group of semiofficial amici principis, or friends of the emperor. It seems that he and Burrus exercised power according to the confidence the emperor had in them. Nero liked and respected Seneca and for a long time did as he was told.