Who Was The Real Emperor Nero? | Tony Robinson's Romans: Nero | Timeline

[Music] it's become one of the great symbols of the corruption of power the maniac fiddling while his city birds the tyrant was Nero the city ro fiddling while Rome burns is just one of the stories that's made Nero's reputation as one of the most evil men in history the psychopath who killed his wife and mother who threw Christians to the Lions who was condemned to an early death all these things are true but the fact that you never even played the violin should alert us to the fact that there's more to him than the monster that historians have consigned to the dustbin of the past because there was another Nero a man who loved peace not war the world's first rock star cheered by his adoring fans an enlightened lover of music theater and the arts and it's this narrow but I will to try and rescue from the ashes of his terrible reputation [Music] narrow story was played out here in Rome in the imperial palaces on the Palatine Hill these walls are all that's left of the corridors and darkened rooms where a drama played out that was half political thriller half domestic tragedy Nero's life has all the elements of a soap opera political intrigue bitter jealousy passionate love affairs this hostile picture was built up by propagandists after his death as the centuries passed historians exaggerated the mythos of Nero my job is to sort the fact from the fiction to balance the later propaganda against other sources and plain common sense what we know for certain is Nero came to power when he was just 16 at an age when most kids are deciding which subjects to do for a level he was made ruler of half the world that's when his history as Emperor began but in order to understand Nero we have to go back further because it's what happened to him as a little boy that made him the Emperor he became Nero was the name he adopted later but he was born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus on the 15th of December 37 here at an tiem on the coast near Rome it was the playground of the Roman elite and these are the ruins of Nero's own palace [Music] Nero's family had links to the Emperor's going back to Julius Caesar family connections were everything to the Romans in terms of social standing Nero had a great family although in terms of a healthy psychological background they were disaster first there was his father a tough and brutal alcoholic called Nyhus this is a man who killed an ex-slave during a drinking bout gouged out a fellow senators eye when he criticized him in the forum and deliberately killed a young boy in a traffic accident in a fit of road rage but the real aristocratic blood came from his mother's side nero story is about the women who influenced him and central to that story is his mother Agri Pina the ultimate pushy woman she created him she made him and in the end she almond destroyed him Agra poenas father the war hero Germanicus had been heir to the imperial throne but had died tragically young she was ferociously ambitious and well aware that the only way to power for a woman was through a husband or better still a son she saw Nero as her passport to power Agra Pina like sort of a lot of mothers in particular has an ambition for herself she has she has a son who is going to become powerful or could become powerful Nero had rich powerful parents but he also had an uncle who was emperor in the year Nero was born Agra poenas evil brother Caligula became Emperor Caligula was paranoid he saw treason everywhere there were secret trials political murders and terror throughout Rome when Nero was just to Caligula sent Agri Pina into exile on suspicion of being involved in a plot against him the toddler Nero was left in the care of his alcoholic father then just as he was getting used to having no mother tragedy struck again his father died Nero was abandoned brought up by household slaves a dancer and a barber hardly a good start for a future emperor but in 41 AD Nero's luck took a turn for the better Caligula was assassinated by Senators determined to stop his reign of terror Nero's mother was brought back from exile Caligula was replaced by Nero's stuttering great uncle Claudius a figure of fun who'd survived by looking harmless [Music] anyone who's read the book or watched the TV series of I Claudius will assume that Nero's problems were over but far from it Julius was much more than the wise stuttering clown we're led to believe he was he also shared the sadistic characteristics of his predecessor and kept the levels of terror at court just as high there were secret trials in private chambers suspects tortured in front of him just for the fun of it Nero grew up knowing that anyone who was close to could be murdered at any time but the chief threat to his existence didn't come from Claudius but from his third wife Messalina the seven year old Nero became the pawn in a power struggle between two ruthlessly ambitious women Messalina wanted her son to be Emperor after Claudius Agra pinna wanted it to be Nero both women were willing to fight dirty [Music] around 44 ad while the young and handsome Nero lay sleeping an attempt was made on his life Messalina sent two Assassin's into his rooms in the dead of night and he was saved by a miraculous event as they pulled back the sheets to finish him off a snake slithered out of his bed and they fled in terror it's a colorful way of dramatizing this dynastic squabble but this episode only emerges a century later and it's got suspicious parallels with Roman folktales at a time the only bit of evidence for this is actually a snake stin is found in the bedroom which his mother has made into a bracelet for him so it's one of those stories that it's rather like sort of Hercules and the snakes and sort of Hercules kills the snakes it's one of those stories which you make up about childhood it's oh it's a lovely story but it's probably not very true it was Nero's Niagra Messalina mutation but she began a scandalous affair that was the talk of Rome Agra Pina made sure that the news was leaked to Claudius and Messalina was forced to kill herself with her rival out of the way Agra Pina put the next stage of her plan into effect and married uncle Claudius [Music] part of the deal was that her son was adopted by Claudius changing his name to Nero it effectively made him heir to the imperial throne and agra penis strengthened the bond with an arranged marriage a wife and Nero would also need political clout an Agri FINA realized she didn't have to look far for that she arranged the marriage between the fifteen-year-old Nero and Claudius is 13 year old daughter Octavia not surprisingly she had to have the law changed first to avoid any charges of incest the next stage in Agra penis plan was to tighten her grip on power by making strategic appointments [Music] this is where Emperor's were laid and broken the women'll gate a military camp on the outskirts of Rouen it's still used by the Italian forces today the legions weren't allowed inside Rome so the Emperor had his own elite force called the Praetorian Guard who were based here any aspiring contender for the imperial throne who didn't have their support didn't stand a chance usually they were under the command of to prefect Agri Pina created just one bus a tough strait speaking soldier called Boris he and his fellow officers knew that they owed their loyalty to her and her son Boris was to be one of the twin pillars of support for the teenage Emperor her second appointment was a masterstroke the most respected philosopher of his day Seneca was employed as Nero's teacher and speech writer with Burris and Seneca Agra pina groomed the teenaged Nero for power but it seems Nero found his official role quite a bore he hated the endless formal dinners with his stuttering uncle Claudius who slobbered over his gourmet food and got slowly but steadily drunk but according to the historians these dinners had a much more immediate consequence they gave Agri Pina the opportunity to murder her husband Claudius loved mushrooms the historians say Agri Pina employed the most famous poisoner in Rome to prepare a powerful potion for his favorite dish Claudius had a food taster to guard him against poisoning but Agri Pina had bought him off this man put the poisoned mushroom onto the plate after she'd taken her portion Claudius swallowed the bait literally the poison was designed to act slowly Claudius retired drunk and with the first symptoms of stomachache which got worse but then news arrived they had thrown up shortly after supper if he survived then he'd know they'd been an attempt on his life and both Nero and Agra Pina would be done for a bro Pina went into overdrive the poisoner was brought in again this time a feather was dipped in a quick-acting potion Agra Pina gave it to another of her Stooges Claudius his doctor he told Claudius that if he tickled the back of his throat with the feather he'd vomit again and feel a lot better Claudius followed the doctor's orders gave a sigh and lay back dead historians writing later enjoyed telling the story of Agri Pina killing Claudius but we now know that there wasn't any poison that could work that quickly at the time Claudius was pushing 60 and in poor health and it's far more likely that he died from drink overindulgence or even food poisoning what the stories really tell us is how people saw Agri Pina a ruthless politician who was quite capable of murdering her own husband with a natural causes or foul play the next few hours followed the same course as imperial deaths have done from Maoist China to the Queen Mother his death straightaway she needed to play for time prayers were offered up for the Emperor's recovery and musicians were invited in to cheer him up even while his body was growing cold as a precautionary measure she called out the Praetorian Guard from their barracks to surround the palace while she worked on the official announcement with Burris and Seneca finally at midday the following day the pronouncement was made the Emperor is dead long live the Emperor the crowds love their glamour a 16 year old ruler Claudius his palace on the Palatine had been a place of fear secretly run by the Emperor's click now Nero announced a new regime the Senate would be restored to power tyranny was over it seemed a new era had dawned Agra Pina and Nero both knew that he owed her everything when the Praetorian officer came to him that evening to ask for the official password Nero told him it was to be optimum mater the perfect mother but if Agrafena thought that Nero was going to be her puppet she was very much mistaken the perfect mother didn't want compliments she wanted power for herself thanks to his scheming mother Nero was emperor of Rome at the tender age of 16 but now Agri Pina wanted payback for her investment she craved power she'd been the sister and wife of an emperor and now with a novice son in charge she tried to fix the system so she could have even more power she got the Senate to meet up here in the palace rather than down there in the forum so that she could listen to the all-male assembly from behind a curtain but a stranglehold on power was about to be loosened [Music] no Roman woman could hold political office but it's clear from these coins minted at the beginning of Nero's reign how Agri Pina wanted to be seen the important thing about these coins they're contemporary documents they're not laser writings and they gave you the official Imperial view the Imperial spin if you like there's no court gossip there but that's exactly what the Emperor's wanted you to see about them the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford houses an extensive collection of coins from ancient Rome that vividly tell the story of Nero and his mother as soon as he becomes Emperor the power of Agra Pina is absolutely apparent is that his mother that's his mother facing him and it's the first time an imperial woman ever been shown on the same side of the coin as the Emperor and you can see it actually in some ways she's given precedence because her name and titles are on the hit side of the coin and his name is on the other side and they're staring at each other almost as equals but of course it doesn't last and the next coin shows the next stage in that process because his mother atropine is still there but Nero is shown side by side with her but he's in front and she's relegated to being behind him so what caused the rift not the economy or foreign policy but an argument over a girlfriend Nero had fallen madly in love with a woman called acting he had his official child bride Octavia but this was a real woman act a was old at the Nero maturer sexy but she was Greek with an ex-slave Nero wanted to keep news of the affair from his mother but he wanted to get rid of Octavia and marry act a and when you want to divorce your wife and make a slave girl the Empress of Rome it is a bit hard to keep it a secret Agra Pina went ballistic as far as she was concerned actae had to go poor old Nero was supposed to go scurrying round various senators trying to persuade them that acting was actually an Eastern princess and therefore eligible for the throne but nobody bought it Nero had to give up love for duty and it hurt Agra Pina may have won but in the long term it damaged her bullying Nero forced him further and further into the arms of his advisors the philosopher Seneca the head of the Praetorian Guard Burris and a few elder statesmen who were quite prepared to put up with Nero's foibles but not those of his mother within a year of taking over the balance of power had shifted in favor of the 17 year old Nero moved Agri Pina out into a separate palace for a time he barely spoke to the woman who had once been the perfect mother he was his own man [Music] and here we begin to unpick the myth of the tyrant mirror because even historians like Tacitus who destroyed Nero's reputation after his death had to admit that the first five years of his reign were a huge success he gave power back to the Senate he administered the provinces fairly and cemented his popularity by giving every citizen a cash handout as a fun-loving teenager he seemed to have a natural touch with the man in the street bread and circuses has always kept the mob happy but now Nero came up with a brand new ploy the lottery he showered little wooden balls with numbers on them into the crowd and if you got a prize-winning number then you could turn up at the palace and claim a lavish free gift horses slaves even a holiday home Nero's popularity I think stemmed from his youth the fact that he really tried to be such a good boy at the beginning and did all the things he was supposed to but his relationship with the populace I think was particularly strong because he was very generous spent a lot he gave very good entertainments and they really loved bread and circuses as we know and also he was rather accessible that is we're told a number of occasions there are banquets or entertainments in which Nero is walking among the crowds and they actually see him and I think that means quite a lot to them Nero started well but he found the constraints of being in charge wearing he had a personality and needed to break out like a typical adolescent anywhere he'd love to go out with his mates and get drunk but preferably without anyone realizing he was the Emperor so if they went to a pub or a brothel he'd go in disguise which had its downside because after one particularly rowdy night he came back home with two black eyes although his advisors Buress and Seneca gave Nero a long leash a Roman Emperor wasn't supposed to act like Jack the lad and his mother kept nagging him to behave himself the increasing tension with Agri Pina came to a head again over a new affair Nero was 22 this time the object of his affections wasn't a slave girl but a member of the aristocracy called popiah Nero was of course marriage to Octavia the princess who'd given him his passport to one-half of the Imperial line but payor started pressuring Nero to get divorced and this became all the more urgent when she discovered that she was pregnant and could provide Nero with an heir the only opponent to their relationship was his mother things disintegrate he starts ceasing to have public or private meetings even with his mother he won't be alone with his mother he doesn't trust his mother Papa kept up the pressure she taunted Nero for being a mummy's boy told him an emperor should be able to do what he wants subtly she persuaded Nero to think the unthinkable [Music] no one knows for sure when Nero decided to kill his mother but we do know exactly how he did it and no one by him could have thought up such an extravagant plot he got the idea at the theater he went to a show with some friends and part of the entertainment was a boat that collapsed and out through the holes ran a whole series of wild animals the idea of the collapsible boat must have stuck he had one specially built to take his mother home from a dinner party on the night of the murder it was waiting at the key side crewed by his loyal naval commander Anna catice [Music] right on cue halfway across the bay to Agra poenas home the boat started to sink there was general panic but Agra Pina was a natural survivor she persuaded her maid to pretend to be her while she jumped ship the maid thought this would save her life and shouted and leg Rapinoe saved me but when the assassins heard her they beat her over the head and killed her meanwhile Agra Pina managed to swim until she was picked up by a fishing boat which took a safely home [Music] home but not safe it can't have taken long for the truth to dawn on the exhausted and fearful mother that her son wanted her dead on the other side of the bay word reached Nero that Agri Pina had survived terrified he panicked [Music] he ordered Burris to get the praetorian guard to go and finish her off Burris refused saying that his men would never agree to kill a member of the royal family particularly the daughter of their hero Germanicus in the end it was the naval man and he caters who agreed to do it Niro's thanks are revealing you've given me my empire he said dawn the sealers broke down the doors of Agra penis villa as they burst in her servants fled leaving her alone to face her executioner's at first she stalled playing at the time saying thank you please go back to the palace and say that I've fully recovered but as they moved closer she screamed that her son would never have ordered her murder in reply they beat her over the head with a club she fell to the ground she pointed to the womb that had born Nero and said strike me here they did as she requested and she died [Music] back in row Burris and Seneca invented the story that Agra Pina had killed herself because her plan to murder Nero had been discovered although they were prepared to cover up for the Emperor they gradually realized they'd lost control of him but this unforgivable act of murder Nero had crossed the line into tyranny and there was no going back Nero's reign as Emperor had started with great acclaim but by the age of 22 power had already corrupted him he'd murdered his mother so he could divorce his wife Octavia and marry his mistress papaya but Octavia was still a woman of influence in Rome with all the clouds of the royal family so prepare pursuaded near over his own sake that he needed to get rid of his ex-wife permanently and there was no one left to tell him not to [Music] unable to deal with Nero the philosopher Seneca had retired to the country and his military adviser Boris had died he was replaced by a ruthless yes-man Tigellinus if Seneca and Burris have managed to keep mero on the rails it was Tigellinus and papaya who derailed him again they invented a plan for Nero to humiliate and discredit Octavia with a trumped-up charge that she'd slept with an Egyptian musician her maids were systematically tortured to provide the evidence but Octavia inspired such loyalty that they refused to crack even in her death throes one of them used her last ounce of strength to spit into Tigellinus his face the words my mistresses vaginas cleaner than your mouth but their plan to humiliate Octavia backfired they not only underestimated the loyalty of her servants but they'd also reckoned without the affection of the Roman mob who adored their own Empress they came out on the streets in force hurling pytheas statues to the ground reinstating Octavius and covering them in flowers the people didn't like a descendant of the noble or Gustus being treated like dirt Nero knew he'd have to come up with a pretty convincing plan to discredit Octavia if he was going to have any chance of survival so he invited Agra poenas assassin and he caters to the palace and he offered him a stark choice he could either go to the Senate and say he'd slept with Octavia or he could be executed he went to the palace and he gave a very convincing performance he said that Octavia not only wanted his body but she also wanted to get the Navy onside so she could effect a political coup everything was going to plan a Nero waved goodbye to Anna catice as he set sail for rich exile in Sardinia Octavia was taken off to a prison Island near Naples where she was murdered quietly after her arrival her severed head was sent to papaya as a trophy somehow Nero weathered the storm that followed the mob were pacified with more free gifts and entertainment and Nero was left to enjoy life with papaya here on the Palatine wrote poems studied singing and acting and hosted soirees with poets and artists he might have been remembered as a noble patron of the Arts if it weren't for the greatest catastrophe of his reign [Music] is the Circus Maximus 2,000 years ago this place would have been full of people and as exciting as the Chapman Gold Cup all the way round here was the chariot racing track with free seating for 300 thousand people all the way around on massive wooden structures with wooden slums behind of there was the palace with Nero's Royal Box where he had a bird's-eye view not only of a day at the races but of the first flames from the fire that swept through Rome in the earliest historical account Tacitus writes the Great Fire of Rome probably started as a simple accident abrasion got kicked over just outside the stadium but a strong wind was blowing and in moments the flames took hold it was a devastating blaze it tore through the tightly packed wooden slums spreading quickly to the posh houses on the Palatine and onto Nero's Palace itself Rome had a form of fire brigades they couldn't cope with the inferno it was the worst fire in history until Hamburg and Dresden in the Second World War and it literally burnt itself into people's memories as time went on people started telling stories about Nero himself seen on the palace balcony with a liar manically reciting his own epic poem the fall of Troy as the flames latched the Palatine and it's these stories recorded by later propagandists that sealed Nero's reputation but Tacitus tells us he wasn't even in Rome Nero's actually miles away here at his holiday villa in Anzio when it happened immediately he heard the news he jumped on his horse rode back to Rome and took charge at the fire fighting and organizing shelter and food for the homeless day and night he could be seen rushing around the city completely without any of his bodyguards who told to go and help fight the fire until eventually after nine long days and nights the flames gradually abated and it didn't stop there when the fire was eventually put out Rome was devastated and there were thousands of homeless refugees Nero active swiftly to solve the problems caused by the fire he slashed the price of grain and let people camp in the temples of the forum while their homes were rebuilt he also commissioned innovative plans to design a safer city so why do we remember him as the villain of the piece the answer is the simplest in history all these good plans needed funding Nero imposed a fire attacks it made him far more unpopular than killing his mother he'd come good in a crisis but hitting people in the pocket afterwards was the unforgivable sin and despite his Labor's putting out the fire when he started to rebuild his palace rumors began to spread that he had something to do with starting the fire himself he needed a scapegoat and his choice was to seal his reputation throughout history he picked on a small religious sect who were already deeply unpopular they were called Christians the Romans already deeply distrusted though they refused to take the vow of allegiance to the emperor which was tantamount to treason so when Nero needed someone to blame for the fire of Rome they were perfect [Music] we know that the persecution was completely unjustified and that the fire started by accident but at the time the idea of a conspiracy didn't seem that far-fetched the Christians believed that the world was about to end in a massive conflagration their leader had said I will cast fire upon the earth the punishment was harsh even for such a despised group the Christians were crucified fed to wild beasts in the arena and used as flaming torches in Nero's own gardens these punishments weren't invented for the Christians they were all standard Roman ways of dealing with common criminals the Nero's remembered because he was the first emperor to create a Christian martyr the leading disciples and Peter who'd come to Rome to preach the gospel died in the first wave of Nero's persecution some peter's basillica is built where he was killed a lasting monument to Nero's scapegoats in 64 AD nobody cared about a few Christians being massacred pinning the blame on them might have put a stop to the rumors that he was responsible for the fire if Nero hadn't gone on to commit the biggest blunder of his life you [Music] Neera had done his best to squash rumors about his part in the fire of Rome with two architects he'd redesigned the city for the public good and people might have thanked him for it if a key part of the scheme hadn't included him fencing off a great slice of the devastated city for his own pet project Nero's Palace up on the hill there look pretty flashy before the fire but now he and his architects were conceiving a house that would make louis xiv or elton john look shy and retiring the Golden House was a fantastical design villas and palaces gardens and parkland a vast lake and at its entrance the golden statue of Nero as a god 120 feet high if you look at the plan of ancient Rome the golden house took up about a quarter of the city most of its destroyed but one section of this amazing architectural feat remains because it was used for the foundations of the public baths that were built after Nero's death in Nero's day all this would have been open to the light but now it's a vast underground labyrinth [Music] [Music] Roma had never seen anything like it all the walls and ceilings were covered with great art 14 centuries after Nero Renaissance artists were still being lowered down through the roof to study the paintings [Music] walking where he walked I begin to get a real sense of Nero's mind he was obviously refined but detached from political reality he wanted popularity but he couldn't see how something so beautiful would wind people up two things strike me as really obvious about this building first of all it demonstrates that Nero had really good artistic tastes but secondly how I fronted the citizens of Rome must have been who just had the houses burned down when they saw this huge edifice going up I don't think I never realized until now that this still existed anywhere in the world a Roman house as big and magnificent as this on what a house it was there would have been huge elaborate hangings over these walls and the rest of the walls would have been encrusted with gold and precious stones and pearls and there were pipes coming out of the walls and out of the ceiling to shower the visitors with scent and with flower petals and this room which was the centerpiece revolved it was a rotunda and it rotated day and night in synchronization with the Stars it was the biggest plushest most elegant Roman nightclub in the whole universe [Music] Nero poured public money into building the Golden House and that alienated him from the mob who before that had always supported him Nero could have survived that unpopularity if he hadn't terminally offended the aristocracy as well the ideal Ronin was a great military leader like Julius Caesar someone who'd expanded the Empire like Augustus but Nero didn't like he didn't even like watching gladiators he wanted to be a different sort of leader one who promoted poetry theater and peaceful games like the Greeks had to the Roman elite this created a huge division between their Mandara to them it was all effeminate foreign nonsense and what's more highly inappropriate behavior for an emperor were still Nero didn't just promote these cultural pursuits he actually took part this is singing practice Roman style weights usually made of lead placed on the chest to strengthen breathing Nero embarked on a greek-inspired athletics and artistic career that was all-consuming he wanted to be a professional liar player and singer other Emperor's like Caligula had performed in private but this was really serious a strict regime of diet and exercise he detoxed for days drinking only chives preserved in oil and when his muscles ached from the rigor of exercise he'd rubbed them down with dried boars dung everything was focused on getting him into tip-top professional shape Nero was putting himself at the forefront of an artistic crusade Rome might have conquered Greece but the Emperor was now giving prominence to Greek ideas and culture but for Nero treading the boards wasn't just a cultural campaign it was a way of boosting his self-esteem he'd always acted son played the lyre and recited poetry to invited audiences the applause gave him the illusion of instant affection and adulation and so in 65 ad when he was rapidly losing political popularity naturally he went on tour [Music] Nero decided to go public and stepped into the limelight of a professional performing career his first performance was in Naples then a greek-speaking City and the crowd went wild mind you his thin Reedy voice was helped by the amphitheaters acoustics if you speak from here you sound pretty ordinary but if you stand here your voice sounds like a God [Applause] the Greek population of Naples loved it they cheered they clapped they on cord well like a rockstar it went to his head the adulation he'd always craved was finally in his grasp and now nothing would stand in the way of his ambitions on a wave of popular acclaim he set out on a wild crazy artistic conquest of Greece itself you couldn't say it was a modest affair two thousand carps of men and equipment including 5000 paid applaud us to ensure he received a rapturous reception at every gig the four major Greek festivals went in yearly rotation but to fit into narrow schedule he got them all to take place during his visit and he entered everyone in front of the judges stood the ruler of the known world this was a man who'd made them change customs established over centuries and reschedule whole competitions but he sweated he wiped his brow with his arm he was so nervous that on one occasion he actually dropped his scepter while he was performing a dramatic play and really thought that the judges would mark him down for it of course they didn't and when they solemnly awarded him the victors laurels he was pleased flattered emotional there were 1,800 competitions that year and Nero got first prize in 1800 of them in Greece Nero was genuinely popular not least because he declared the country free from taxation but back in Rome they were horrified at Nero's antics to make matters worse he awarded himself a triumph the traditional celebration of a returning military hero instead of the emblems of successful battles and captured prisoners he paraded with his laurels and his medals to members of the Senate it was demeaning to the name of Rome it wasn't what a Roman Emperor should be doing Nero's grip on reality was loosening and his time was running out he was 30 he'd been away from Rome for over a year leaderless the neglected Empire was falling apart he'd never bothered to visit the military outposts and this lack of interest was coming back to haunt him but as rebellions broke out and his army began to defect Nero seemed paralyzed he simply sat at home unable to act then in June 68 AD the Emperor woke up one night to find the palace deserted this wasn't a good sign his Praetorian guards had gone to a secret meeting of the Senate the very Senate he'd given power to was now turning its back on him cold hard reality finally sunk in Nero was on his own [Music] still in his night clothes he fled the palace looking for somewhere to hide the sensible thing would have been to head for the port of Ostia where he could have gone overseas to rally his loyal forces abroad but he wasn't thinking straight he bumped into three slaves who got horses and took him to a villa on the outskirts of the city when they arrived they found that the front door was locked and they had to crawl through the undergrowth into the side entrance [Music] they were holed up now and there was nothing to do but wait eventually a messenger arrived with the news that Nero had been declared an enemy of the state and had been sentenced to death in the ancient manner Nero had no idea what that meant and asked one of the slaves who told him he'd be stripped naked and paraded through the streets of Rome with his head clamped in a forked branch then he'd be stoned to death the slave politely added that suicide might be the better option [Music] as dawn broke he watched as they dug his grave then some roman soldiers approached and with the help of a slave he stabbed himself through the throat his last words were what an artist dies with me he was thirty years and six months old the last of the Giulio Claudian line that stretched back to Augustus [Music] Nero marked the end of a dynasty and the end of an era the first Emperor's Julius Caesar and Augustus had persuaded the Roman people that one person rule was a good thing over the course of a century they'd been six emperors but the dynasty had degenerated into corruption and self-indulgent tyranny Rome stuck with the idea of an emperor but after Caligula and Nero it was clear that just being related to Caesar and Augustus wasn't enough after a year of chaotic civil war the next Emperor Vespasian wasn't related to anyone special but he was what the Empire needed a common sense leader in an attempt to wipe out Nero's memory he knocked down the golden house drained the lake and where the great colossus of nero had stood he built the public theater we called the Coliseum but Nero was too colorful a character to be forgotten Nero saw himself as an artist his enemies thought of him as a tyrant and a buffoon the truth is he was all three he certainly wasn't very good at running an empire but then what did Rome expect if you put a messed up sixteen-year-old in charge of half the known world you're asking for trouble Rome learnt the hard way from now on it abandoned the Giulio Claudian line of emperors in favor of skilled administrators but Nero did leave his mark on history whatever else he wasn't he was a showman he did everything in a big way from building his house to killing his mother he thought of himself as an actor but no party ever played on the stage could match the drama the spectacle and the sheer theatricality of his own life [Music] [Music]

Channel: Timeline - World History Documentaries

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Keywords: Channel 4 documentary, Documentaries, Full length Documentaries, Full Documentary, Documentary, TV Shows - Topic, history documentary, 2017 documentary, Documentary Movies - Topic, BBC documentary, documentary history, real, stories, History

Id: tJE9Ov8LczM

Length: 48min 43sec (2923 seconds)

Published: Sun May 06 2018