Nero: The craziest emperor of the Roman Empire In history, there are two kinds of people who can be remembered by posterity, one is the accomplished figures of the era, they can be famous in history, and the other is the evil devil, leaving behind a reputation for eternity. The famous person we want to take you to know today is the Roman Emperor Nero, whose "deeds" are famous in world history.
This high-ranking monarch was considered extremely absurd, both in national politics and in his personal life. Nero was the fifth emperor of the Roman Empire and the last emperor of the Julia Claudian dynasty. In the available historical documents, Nero's life is rarely evaluated positively, his rule is criticized as tyranny, and his personal life rarely leaves a good impression.
However, some sources also give a different version, arguing that Nero still made some achievements in the early days of his reign. With the help of the Senate, he relatively well preserved the achievements of the previous generation's rule, and did not allow the country to undergo major changes after the new emperor took the throne.
In order to reduce the burden of ordinary people and slaves, he also abolished some exorbitant taxes and taxes, controlled the price of food in the market to a certain extent, and ensured the basic survival of civilians. Nero was also very interested in the arts, attaching importance to cultural development, building theaters, holding competitions, sponsoring various cultural events, and so on. These sources show that, at least in the early days of his accession to the throne, Nero was a qualified emperor.
Soon, however, Nero's image began to take a sharp turn. After fully seizing state power, his authoritarian rule gradually surfaced. He began to oppose the Senate, no longer listening to their opinions and suggestions, and all ministers who contradicted his ideas would be branded as dissidents, and in the end, he was basically left with only sycophants.
Some republicans in Rome could not bear him, so they secretly planned a coup d'état in the hope of overthrowing his rule. However, the coup failed due to the leaks of the betrayer, the people involved were completely purged, and the entire Roman imperial court was filled with terror. In order to maintain his dominance, Nero even extended his claws to his closest relatives.
Of the factors that threatened the throne, his own brother was of course the most dangerous, so Nero poisoned his 14-year-old brother's meal at a banquet, and when the child collapsed from poisoning, Nero sat in his place without showing the slightest remorse or love.
Nero also attacked his biological mother, made alarm bells, and murdered her, completely ignoring the relationship between mother and son, and the degree of cold-bloodedness was terrifying. Nero was obsessed with beauty, and with the power of the emperor, basically no one could escape the palm of his hand as long as it was what he liked.
The members of the Senate had a high status and prestige in Roman politics, and even if the emperors had conflicts with them in state affairs, they still adhered to the principle of courtesy. And Nero would not pay attention to these things at all, if whose wife and daughter in the senate agreed with his heart, he would only play with the occupation as he pleased, and the members would have to swallow their anger in order to survive.
In his private life, Nero's behavior can be said to be almost crazy. After ravaging the women of the royal court, Nero discovers his new prey, a boy named Sporous. This wasn't the first time Nero had seen the same sex, but this time the situation was a little different, he seemed to be genuinely in love with Sporous, and he was pampered more than anyone else had ever had.
However, Nero made a cruel act against such a lover whom he loved so deeply - castrated him. According to the literature, Nero often presented Sphorus as a woman and dressed him according to the empress's attire, nominally calling him his wife.
In addition to taking a man as his wife, Nero himself played the role of a wife, he married a slave, and asked him to constantly abuse and ravage himself, this deformed, tyrannical love perfectly interpreted Nero's crazy personality.
Nero's name has remained in the history of the world, and when people talk about Rome and him, people think and talk about not his political achievements or his moral character, but always these staggering absurd anecdotes. This cannot but be said to be the sorrow of an emperor. To sum up, Nero was one of the craziest emperors of the Roman Empire.
He had some achievements in the early years of his reign, but over time his rule became tyrannical and absurd. Ignoring the opinion of the Senate, he treated his relatives cruelly, indulged in beauty, and even castrated his beloved lovers. Nero's actions perfectly show his crazy personality. However, Nero's story also reminds us that abuse of power and madness can lead to great destruction and tragedy.
As a ruler, you should put the interests of the people first, and take justice and morality as the norm. Nero's story is a thought-provoking case that we should warn against the corruption and madness of power. Can we still learn from Nero's story in today's society? What do you think?