10 Facts About Emperor Nero

1. He had a difficult childhood.

Emperor Nero was born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus on December 15th, 37 AD. Though he came from a wealthy, elite family with excellent connections, his childhood was fraught with turmoil. His mother, Agrippina, was exiled when he was just two years old, and his father, Domitius, a violent drunk, died when he was three. Afterwards, his inheritance was seized, and he was sent to live with his aunt.

2. Nero’s mother may have poisoned Emperor Claudius to secure his throne.

Nero’s luck began to change when Claudius became emperor after Caligula’s murder in 41 AD. Agrippina was recalled from exile and ended up marrying Emperor Claudius in 49 AD. Claudius adopted Nero and named him as his heir, seeming to prefer him over his biological son Brittanicus. In October 54 AD, when Nero was 16, Claudius died, supposedly due to a dinner of bad mushrooms. 

But a large number of Romans suspected foul play. It was no secret that Claudius and Agrippina’s marriage had soured in recent years, and according to rumours, the emperor was considering restoring Britannicus as his successor. Had she poisoned her husband to ensure Nero’s place on the throne? Unfortunately, we will never know for sure, but thanks to her manoeuvrings, Nero became emperor on October 13th, 54 AD, at the tender age of sixteen.

3. He liked to disguise himself and party with common people.

During the early years of his rule, Nero was a wildly popular emperor with Romans seeing him as a “man of the people.” Unlike his predecessors, the young man was far more accessible, often attending chariot races and games where he’d chat with his subjects like any other knowledgeable punter. But Nero also had a reckless side, spending his evenings drinking with friends and stumbling between bars and brothels. To move about Rome’s seedy underbelly undetected, the young emperor would don clever disguises. This soon led to trouble with Nero regularly getting into drunken brawls with men who had no idea who they were scrapping with. Once a man of senatorial rank was forced to kill himself after unwittingly beating the emperor in a fistfight.

4. He had his mother assassinated. 

Roman historians Cassius Dio, Suetonius, and Tacitus all claimed that Nero had his mother assassinated after becoming fed up with her overbearing nature. The story goes that Nero initially tried to kill Aggripina by staging a shipwreck. He invited her to a festival in the resort town of Baiae, transporting her on a boat designed to sink when she was aboard. 

The attempt failed, however, and Aggripina was able to swim to shore. When news reached Nero about the failed scheme, he sent his assassins to her villa to finish the job. It is said that she faced her sword-wielding attackers and pointed to her belly, instructing them to “Strike here, for this bore Nero." 

5. He gifted the head of his former wife to his new bride.

When Nero ascended the throne, his mother arranged a marriage with his stepsister and cousin, Octavia. Their union was never a happy one, however, and eight years in Nero divorced her, citing “bareness.” Twelve days later he married his mistress Poppae, but, knowing the Roman public was still sympathetic to Octavia, decided to have his former wife executed. As a belated wedding present, the emperor had his ex’s head delivered to his new bride.

6. He was accused of starting the Great Fire of Rome…  

On July 19, 64 AD, a fire broke out near the Circus Maximus. The flames soon spread throughout the city, decimating 10 of the capital’s 14 districts, leaving hundreds dead and nearly 200,000 people homeless. In the immediate aftermath, Nero displayed strong leadership, pumping his own money into reconstruction efforts and was even seen leading search parties for survivors.

But public opinion of Nero quickly soured when rumours spread that he had started the fire to make room for his new palace—the “Domus Aurea.” Plans for this sprawling compound included a banquet hall with a revolving rotunda to shower guests with perfumed flower petals and a 100-foot statue of himself, the Colossus of Nero. To fund the project, Nero raised taxes, seized valuables from temples, and devalued the currency. Aware his subjects were turning against him, the emperor decided to pin the fire on a young, much-maligned religious sect quickly spreading throughout Rome: Christians.

7. ….so he blamed it on Christians. 

The Christians were an easy scapegoat for Nero, as they were already viewed with suspicion by Roman citizens for their refusal to worship the traditional pantheon. So he spread the rumour that they had somehow started the fire and embarked on a ruthless campaign against them. He had their leader, Peter, crucified. More gruesome public executions followed with reports claiming he dressed Christians in animal skins before setting wild beasts on them. 

Others said he covered disciples in tar and set them alight to entertain guests at his parties. His reign of terror was so horrific that for hundreds of years Christians believed Nero would somehow return as the antichrist. 

8. He married an enslaved boy. 

In 65 AD, Nero’s wife, Poppea, died due to pregnancy complications. Some historians claim that Nero kicked her in the stomach following a fight, but this is unconfirmed. Subsequently, the emperor’s mental state unravelled, and his behaviour became increasingly erratic. Soon after her funeral, he fell in love with a servant boy named Sporus, who bore an uncanny resemblance to Poppea. As some form of bizarre tribute, he had the boy castrated and married him, issuing strict instructions that Sporus now be referred to as Empress.

9. He competed in the Olympics. 

In 67 AD, Nero competed in the Olympics. Traditionally, only Greek citizens were allowed to participate, but they made an exception for the ruler of the largest empire in the Western world. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Nero performed suspiciously well at the games, winning a staggering 1,800 victory wreaths in events ranging from chariot racing to lute playing, singing, and acting.

10. His death was as chaotic as his reign. 

By June of 68 AD, the Roman public had finally had enough of Nero’s antics, and the Senate declared him an enemy of the state. Abandoned by his guards, it is said that he disguised himself as a beggar and headed for the villa of one of his few remaining supporters. Despite evidence that the Senate intended to spare him, Nero was convinced that he would be executed and ordered the handful of servants who stayed with him, Sporus included, to start digging his grave. When officials finally caught up with him, Nero tried to stab himself in the throat, crying out, “Like an artist, I die.” Reports claim, however, that he was unable to inflict the fatal wound and asked a companion to do it instead. One of the officials tried to stem the bleeding but to no avail. “Too late! But ah - what fidelity!” he supposedly proclaimed as he died. It was a suitably confused, violent, and messy end to the tumultuous reign of one of Rome’s most chaotic leaders.