[Born at Antium, in Latium, A.D. 37. Died near Rome, 68. Aged 31.]
When we desire to express in a word the height of sanguinary cruelty and
atrocious tyranny, the name of Nero at once occurs to us. He was the son
of Domitius Ahenobarbus, and of the infamous Agrippina, through whose
intrigues he was adopted by Claudius, to the exclusion of his own son,
as successor to the throne. Nero’s government, at first moderate and
prudent, soon degenerated into fearful licentiousness. He poisoned
Britannicus, the son of Claudius; he assassinated his mother; he
divorced and murdered his wife Octavia, the daughter of Claudius, in
order to marry the beautiful and depraved Poppæa; he set fire to Rome,
and put many Christians to death, on the pretence that they had caused
the conflagration; he killed Poppæa by a brutal kick, and he ordered
executions and perpetrated wrongs of all kinds, and without number. The
Roman world was at length tired of this monster; an insurrection broke
out in Gaul; and Galba, the governor of Spain, was proclaimed Emperor.
Rome followed the example of the provinces, and rose in insurrection.
Nero took to flight, and gave himself a mortal wound, when he heard the
trampling of the horses on which his pursuers were mounted. It is said
that in his youth he was instructed in many branches of knowledge--that
he wrote poetry, and had some skill in music. His criminal career may
possibly have been the result of furious insanity--we think, at least of
a lunatic, when we read that Nero appeared on the Roman stage as an
actor, and played the fiddle whilst the city was burning.
[From the marble in the Louvre. The circlet round his head was worn by
him to imitate the rays of the sun; the holes for the rays are
observable. No. 36A, the bust crowned with laurel, is from the Statue
Gallery of the Vatican.]
36A. NERO--CLAUDIUS CÆSAR DRUSUS. _Roman Emperor._
37 (_outside_). TIBERIUS--CLAUDIUS NERO CÆSAR. _Roman Emperor_, A.D.
14-37.
[Born, B.C. 42. Died at Misenum, A.D. 37. Aged 79.]
Son of Titus Claudius Nero, and of Livia, whose second husband was
Augustus. The successor of his stepfather and the husband of Julia the
daughter of Augustus. During his earlier years of rule he governed with
moderation and justice; but, growing suspicious of those around him, he
patronized a detestable class of men who acquired infamy in the state
under the title of “Delatores,” or “Informers,” and by establishing in
its utmost extent the law of _læsa majestas_ (high treason) obtained
opportunity to the shedding of some base, and of much honourable blood.
He also became a religious persecutor, unfilial, hateful of the rising
glory of other men, and sensual. He quitted Rome, A.D. 26, and never
returned to the city. He took up his residence in the delicious island
of Capreæ, lying off the Campanian coast. Mean, timid, irresolute,
insincere: yet wise in his generation, with some penetration and
political skill. He wrote a brief commentary of his life. His youthful
name has been immortalized by Horace. In the reign of Tiberius and in
the year 33, Jesus Christ suffered crucifixion in Judea, under the
condemnation of Pontius Pilate.
38 (_outside_). CLAUDIUS I.--TIBERIUS CLAUDIUS DRUSUS NERO GERMANICUS.
_Roman Emperor_, A.D. 41-54.
[Born at Lyons, in Gaul, B.C. 10. Died A.D. 54. Aged 64.]
Fourth in the series of Roman Emperors. Called to the throne in his
fiftieth year, upon the murder of his nephew Caligula. Branded as a
tyrant, but ought rather to be pitied for his weakness, timidity,
vacillation, and utter helplessness. He was the sport of the wicked, and
the victim of his own wretched feebleness. Unfortunate in every relation
of life. His third wife was the notorious Valeria Messalina; his fourth,
his own niece, the shameless Agrippina, who prevailed upon the
half-witted Emperor to disinherit his offspring in favour of her son
Nero, and who afterwards caused the unhappy Claudius to be poisoned. The
rule of this Emperor, when left to himself, is described as mild and
popular; but he had seldom the advantage of independent action, and in
the hands of others he was robbed of moral will. Fond of building,
Claudius raised the Claudian aqueduct. He wrote Greek as well as Latin,
and composed some works on history, besides memoirs of his own life.