Nero

He married his stepsister Claudia Octavia in 53 AD. He was, however, unhappy with her and became romantically involved with Poppaea Sabina, the wife of his friend and future emperor Otho. He divorced Octavia and married Poppaea in 62 AD. Poppaea died in 65 AD while pregnant with her second child. At that time it was widely reported that Nero had kicked her to death though modern historians postulate that Poppaea may have died because of complications of miscarriage or childbirth.

He became involved with a married woman, Statilia Messalina, in 65 AD. Nero drove her husband to suicide so that he could marry her. The marriage took place in 66 AD.

In 67, Nero ordered a young freeman, Sporus—who bore an uncanny resemblance to Poppaea Sabina—to be castrated so that he could marry him.

Nero was born as Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus on 15 December 37, in Antium near Rome, as the only son of Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus and Agrippina the Younger.

Ahenobarbus died in 48 AD following which Agrippina married her own uncle Claudius who was the emperor. Claudius adopted Lucius Domitius and gave him the name Nero Claudius Caesar Drusus Germanicus. Agrippina then persuaded Claudius to proclaim Nero the heir to the throne.

Nero attained the age of 14 in 51 AD and was proclaimed an adult. He was appointed proconsul and began taking an active part in the governance. He started addressing the Senate and was featured in coinage.

Claudius died in 54 AD. Many historians believe he was poisoned to death by Agrippina in order to pave the way for her son to ascend the throne. Nero became the emperor, and aged just 17, he was the youngest emperor until that time.

His mother was a highly ambitious and domineering woman and she tried to influence him greatly during the initial years of his reign. The other major influences in his life were his tutor Lucius Annaeus Seneca and the Praetorian Prefect Sextus Afranius Burrus who developed a dislike for the overbearing Agrippina.

For the first few years of his rule Nero proved to be a reasonable leader. He lowered taxes, was empathetic towards slaves, and eliminated capital punishment. He also strived to become a more independent leader and paid more heed to the advice of the wise Seneca than to his mother.

However, things started changing soon after. Tired of his mother’s interference in his public and private life, Nero had her murdered in 59 AD. His trusted advisor Burrus died in 62 AD and Seneca retired from public life. Around this time accusations of treason against Nero and the Senate began to surface, and a defensive Nero executed a number of people including his rivals Pallas, Rubellius Plautus and Faustus Sulla.

Over the next few years he eliminated several others of his rivals and consolidated his power. His reputation as a reasonable leader greatly diminished because of his tyrannical behavior.