Nero
Best known as: Roman emperor who fiddled while Rome burned
Occupation: Emperor
Also known as: Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus
Nationality: Italian
Religion: Polytheist
Born: December 15, 37 AD, in Antium, Latium
Died: June 9, 68 AD, in Rome, Italy
Reign: 54 - 68 AD
Short biography:
Nero was the adopted son of emperor Claudius and succeeded him as a teenager. Nero's mother Agrippina most likely poisoned Claudius so that her son could become emperor. As emperor, Nero proved to be just as cruel as his mother. Among the people he killed were Claudius's son, Britannicus, in the year 55, Agrippina herself in 59, and his wife Octavia in 62. In 64 there was a fire that destroyed half of Rome, during which, acording to some sources, Nero watched the flames engulf the city while singing a song about Troy. There is a chance Nero may have ordered the fire set, but he blamed it on Christians, starting the Roman Empire's persecution of them, which lasted for hundreds of years. In the year 65, Nero ordered a series of assassinations after a plot against him was detected. He was finally forced to commit suicide in 68 after a rash of revolts, including one led by the Praetorian Guard. Nero's ambitions included poetry and art; his last words included “What an artist the world is losing in me!”
Wife: Octavia (53-62), Poppaea Sabina (62-66)
Parents: Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus and Agrippina the Younger
Step-father: Claudius
Children: Claudia Augusta
