Roman Empire and Nero

Moreover, in the year AD 49, Agrippina used her influence over her husband Claudius to persuade him to give Seneca the role of Praetor, after having him recalled from exile. Agrippina wanted her son Nero to have the best education and according to Cassius Dio, a Roman statesman and Historian, “Agrippina was training her son for the throne and entrusting his education to Seneca” (1925). It is also widely believed that Seneca was devoted to her and was forever grateful because of her favours, which in her eyes could have no negative impact. Further, Agrippina aligned herself with the Praetorian guard, Sextus Afranius Burrus, who were made the sole praetorian prefect in the year AD 51, after Agrippina pressured Claudius. Tacitus recalled that Burrus was “fully aware whose initiative was behind his appointment” (trans.1971) and that the power that Agrippina held, as a result of their relationship, was a great facilitator for Nero’s eventual rise to power. Both Seneca and Burrus became influential in their roles as

The military campaigns of the Caesars made Rome one of the largest empires of the ancient world. Suetonius conveys through his writings that being a good military leader and a good Caesar were synonymous. Augustus, who Suetonius thought an excellent leader, reunited the eastern and western halves of the Roman Empire ( 51) and greatly expanded Romes territory (53). Augustus “showed not only skill as a commander, but courage as a soldier” in the eyes of his contemporaries (47). On the other hand, both Caligula and Nero, considered poor leaders by Suetonius, had very limited military success and aspirations. Only once did Caligula initiate a military exploit, and it was rife with his madness. His campaign into Germany was on a whim and all he accomplished was receiving the surrender of a

Much like the ancient philosopher Socrates, Seneca the young strived to uphold the idea of ethical knowledge. Not going solely after ones desires it is better to be guided by reason to truly live a happy life. The idea of virtue and the liberal studies are the key points of Seneca’s letter “On Liberal and Vocational Studies”. In Seneca’s famous letter “On Liberal and Vocational Studies”, the only way to establish virtue is through the liberal study of wisdom. The effects of having virtue can be seen through harmony, temperance, and kindness.

Many people know the name Nero when they hear it. He is one of history’s most infamous emperors. Nero was the fifth Roman emperor of the first century. His rule began like any other. He reformed the senate and ended secret trials. He seemed as if he would be

power was quick and it was believed by many on his senate that concerning the good of Rome,

Such acts were unheard of among previous emperors and granted him a power among the general popluace that most emperors would not in see. While largely popular early on, Nero would also use his power to pursue his own accords, including being overly involved in theatrical performances, agreeing to the death sentence of his own mother and taking advantage of the Roman fire to build his own palace and

Nero and Tiberius were two leaders who were liked by the public. Both starting their reigns young, Nero and Tiberius accomplished many things. Gaining the public’s eye, Nero gave Claudius a lavish funeral and personally delivered the oration in person. He founded a colony at Antium consisting of praetorian veterans, he gave the public an immense variety of entertainments, and even introduced his own style of architecture. These accomplishments all played a role in how the public adored him. Giving the public positive ideas will gain their trust, but unfortunately, he does not keep their trust. As Nero became older, his accomplishments became less and less, he began turning into someone who was in it for the money. His turning point was when he bankrupted Rome, once this happened Nero was neither trusted or liked.

Nero is well known for his love of music and acting. He was not, however, known for being a good ruler. Nero was too focused on his own interests to rule his empire. He left that job for three crucial advisors: Seneca, Burrus, and his mother, Agrippina (History.com Staff, par. 3). Nero also did not have any experience leading an army. Nero relied heavily on his competent military generals Gnaeus Domitius, Gaius Suetonius Paulinus, and Titus Flavius Vespasianus to lead in battles (Sienkewicz, par 8). Nero had to, by law, put to

During the more early years of his reign, Nero was content to be guided by his mother, his tutor Seneca, and his prefect Burrus. He gained a reputation for political generosity, promoting power-sharing with the Senate, and ending closed-door political trials. He was even able to pursue his own passions, leaving the ruling to Seneca, Burrus, and Agrippina. Nero dreamed of abandoning the throne to fulfill his poetical and musical gifts. He often made public appearances as an actor, poet, musician, and charioteer. He developed strange religious enthusiasms and became increasingly attracted to the preachers of novel cults. Seneca, his tutor, encouraged Nero to step out of his mother’s shadow. Agrippina turned against him and, instead, promoted

It is the beginning of the first century A.D. Seneca, chief Roman tragic writer and philosopher in the time, who just came back from exile is summoned to the Roman emperor's castle by the old emperor Claudius' wife Julia Agrippina. He is assigned to tutor her son, Nero.

Nero’s rise to power was a “long road full of treachery.” (T.V.) It was also full of change such as his name he was not always know as Nero his name was Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus until his dad had died and his mom married her widowed uncle, who was the emperor of the time, and they changed it to Nero Claudius Divi Claudius Filius Caesar Agustus Germanicus. Later she convinced him to name Nero heir to the throne and allow him take his daughter Octavia as his wife. His adopted brother was reaching age to take the throne but he mysteriously died, “Many suspect that Nero poisoned him.” (biograpy.com, 2017) So, as one can see Nero was a very shady character who would stop at nothing to seize and hold the throne.

During this period of time, Nero improved Roman people’s living and promoted a more cultural life. There is no doubt that Seneca positively influenced Nero’s ruling and made Nero popular among the Romans. In Thyestes, we could also see that the attendant (who is the incarnation of Seneca) values the opinions of the public and wishes to make Atreus loved and supported by the Argos. During Nero’s later rules, Seneca lost his influence over Nero and Nero’s tyranny later swap through the Rome. Acting as either the writer of the play or the attendant of Atreus, Seneca hopes the king could govern the nation in regard to people’s expectation and affirmation, instead of relying on king’s absolute power to

At first this was puzzling. Why would a stoic such as Seneca who lives to be levelheaded write such a grotesque universe? It is possible that such stoicism had been subduing his emotions to the point of needing to write such an expressive setting, however I think it much more likely that Seneca’s representation of the plague was a representation of the dire political condition Rome was either due to Nero or Claudius (seeing as his tragedies could have been written under either). If it is assumed for theses purposes that Seneca wrote Oedipus under Nero, then we know that he had great influence but in a limited format. From what we have studied about Nero’s reign it is that being directly critical was a fruitless practice. For Seneca to write Nero as Oedipus in the devastation of Thebes would be an effective way to guide his actions. The first depiction we get of the plague that has befallen Thebes is in Act

Nero initially copied Augustus ' reign- treating the senate respectfully, granting more freedoms, using legislation almost solely to maintain and improve public order, e.g. Banning public

Nero was a person who was known to love musical instruments and forced his people to join theaters. People tried to avoid attending the theater by faking their death or finding other excuses not to come since the theater was too long and too boring. Also, Nero is seen as a person who commits bad things for specific goals as burning the entire Rome and rebuilding it into another shape that he was pleased. He was seen as an obsessive and dishonest person among the Romans because he blamed and killed the Christians for burning Rome, and he killed his own people for his own desire