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NERO

(Lat. Nero)

The fifth Roman emperor and the last from the family of the Caesars. Born L. Domitius Ahenobarbus during the reign of his uncle the emperor Gaius (Caligula), as the son of Agrippina, great-granddaughter of Augustus, he was adopted by his mother’s uncle and husband, the emperor Claudius, and received the name Nero Claudius Caesar Germanicus. Nero was married to Claudius’ daughter Octavia and preferred in the succession to Claudius’ natural son, the young Britannicus. Nero ruled from 54 c.e. until his suicide in the year 68. He died trying to escape Rome after he had been declared public enemy by the Senate. Upon his death the line of the Julio-Claudian emperors came to an end, largely because Nero had himself seen to the execution of other members of the family whom he imagined potential rivals.

Nero’s reign began quite well. Its first five years are considered a time of excellent government. Sources, ancient and modern, disagree as to whether the success was attributable to Nero himself, to his mother Agrippina, or to his advisors, the philosopher Seneca and the praetorian prefect Burrus. Probably under the guidance of Seneca, Nero was careful to recognize senatorial prerogatives in certain areas of civil administration and particularly in respect to juridical administration. Good relations with the Senate prevailed for much of Nero’s reign.

Nero followed the Julio-Claudian foreign policy as established by Augustus. Persistent harassment on the eastern frontier by Parthia was checked by the appointment of the experienced general Domitius Corbulo to an extraordinary post over governors of the eastern provinces. Corbulo’s generals were successful in asserting Roman arms and Corbulo was able to negotiate a solution to Roman-Parthian rivalry over Armenia. Under Nero’s reign Roman troops were detailed to Judea to suppress the Zealots, whose guerrilla activities resulted in death and property loss for both Jew and Gentile in Judea, and whose seizure of Jerusalem brought appeals from Jewish leaders for a restoration of order. After the defeat of troops under Cestius Gallus, governor of Syria, Corbulo’s lieutenant, the future emperor Vespasian, was dispatched at the head of Roman legions to prosecute the Jewish War.

Nero’s popularity at Rome declined after the deaths of Seneca and Burrus, for which he himself may have been ultimately responsible. The new praetorian prefect Tigellinus encouraged Nero in his behavioral excesses and cruelty. The emperor’s extreme philhellenism and image of himself as a great artist in the Greek sense further contributed to continued extreme behaviors and lack of esteem with the upper classes at Rome. Paranoia about plots to overthrow his rule resulted in the execution of various generals and senators, further destroying Nero’s credibility as a ruler. Only the common people whose favor was bought by “bread and circuses” seemed to continue to proclaim Nero as emperor.

Nero’s popularity was further damaged by the great fire of 64, which reduced to ruin three of the city’s 14 regions and heavily damaged eight others. It was rumored that Nero was somehow involved, in an attempt to provide land for the great palace complex he wanted to build at the south end of the Forum. Despite Nero’s efforts to lay blame for the fire on Christians, the rumors and the emperor’s unpopularity grew. Cruel punishments were exacted from the Christians for their alleged crime, including Nero’s use of Christians as living torches to illumine races at the Vatican Circus, an act which according to Tacitus met with disgust from the senatorial class.

Whether Nero’s actions toward the Christians at Rome can be properly defined as a “persecution” has engendered debate among religious scholars, Roman historians, and students of Roman law. Were the Christians prosecuted as criminals guilty of arson? Were their punishments a result of the power of a Roman magistrate, in this case the highest Roman magistrate — the emperor — to exercise coercitio (“force”) against a criminal? Was the charge of maiestas (“treason”) applied in this as in so many other prosecutions in the early Empire? Was this the first instance of persecution suo nomine (“for the sake of the name itself”) — in other words, simply because they were Christians? The evidence is unavailable for any definite conclusion, but that this action was confined to the Christians at Rome and did not extend to Christians elsewhere in the Empire makes unlikely the latter option. The time of the Christian persecutions per se simply had not yet arrived, and even Nero’s excessive cruelty does not make it so.

Bibliography. M. T. Griffin, Nero: The End of a Dynasty (London, 1984); H. Mattingly, Christianity in the Roman Empire (1954, repr. New York, 1967); B. H. Warmington, Nero: Reality and Legend (London, 1969).

John F. Hall

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NERO

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)