Rushi Joshi Global
Nero/Rome
Nero’s Accomplishments/Failures Throughout history, many leaders have had a great impact on the societies that they ruled over. In most cases, these leaders have had both accomplishments as well as failures. One such ruler was the emperor Nero most well-known for the burning of Rome, killing/assassinations of opponents and family members and persecuted Christians. All of these facts were failures but indeed, he did have some accomplishments such as reducing taxes. One of Nero’s many failures was the burning of Rome in A.D. 64. According to PBS the fire lasted an astounding 6 days and 7 nights burning 10 out of the 14 districts in Rome. Much of what is known about the great fire of Rome came from the historian Tacitus, who claimed that Nero watched Rome burn while merrily playing his fiddle. It was said by Tacitus that Nero started the fire on order to build Rome to his liking and to gain more power over the senate. It was also said that Nero was playing the fiddle on his balcony while watching the city burn but this is false since the fiddle wasn’t even created, it was created centuries later. Some say that he was singing while watching Rome burn but others say he was out of town and when he heard of the fire he came to help people he even
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They were blamed for the fire in Rome supposedly started by Nero and used as scapegoats, since Nero did not want the blame and his name to be ridiculed. The Roman Empire was also in decline and Nero blamed them for the decline and all the invasions from surrounding peoples. He put gas on them and burnt them for fun. He also blamed them for social and economic problems killing them. This could be called genocide but he wasn’t wiping out a race but a religion. Christians were crucified and burnt as previously stated and used as torches at night all because Nero could not admit his
Some of them could have even been used as scapegoats. Yet how does one become a scapegoat? Could someone out there have that much hatred and anger to blame one person for the faults of many? Is the need for blame significant? Does desire lead to hatred and evil?
He cooled his temper by watching chariot racing, wrestling bouts and acting and singing competitions which was ‘appalling’ to the people of Rome. All of his executions were directed towards political opponents and unlike his immediate predecessors there is no reason to believe he enjoyed their deaths (Dennison, 2012). This however is very subjective as there are primary sources like Suetonius and Tacitus that say the opposite of this, that Nero did enjoy the executions of his rivals death. Nero reacted harshly to accusations of treason against himself and the senate and because of this people, if caught trying to overturn him, were exiled and executed ("Nero", 2017). One of the people Nero had executed was Seneca, Neros former tutor and mentor ("Who is Nero? Everything You Need to Know", 2017). By Nero executing his rivals, he made people scared to overturn him and changed future beliefs of emperors. It changed future emperors beliefs because they had less tolerance for conspirators making Nero an
Jews have been persecuted throughout all of history. A deep seated hatred has existed in many nations against them. Throughout history Jews could not find a resting place for long before they are thrown out of over 80 countries including England, France, Austria and Germany (Ungurean, 2015). Deicide is one of the reasons why Jews are hated. It is said that Jews are the responsible party for the killing of Jesus. The gospels describe Jews delivering Jesus to Roman authorities while demanding that he be crucified and his blood be on their children (Schiffman, n.d.). As a result Jews are held accountable for the death of Jesus and they are hated by many.
Augustus, during his reign as emperor proved effective in ruling through the ideas he implemented to solidify his country. Tacitus stated “nullo adversante” which translates into English “Wholly unopposed” (http://janusquirinus.org/Quotes/QuotesHome.html) this identifies the effectiveness of his reign and the strength he had politically over Rome. Important actions such as the creation of religious and moral reforms, the constitutional agreement and the implementation of the building programme all succeeded in creating stability within the Roman Empire.
In the Ancient Roman times which was a very chaotic time period, with many different power struggles that led to some of the best and worst people ruling the Roman Empire Over the ages different emperors made their way to the throne, whether they killed to get there or inherited it from their parents, they all left distinct marks although some left bigger marks than others. The three considered the worst emperors, are Nero, Caligula, and Commodus (Champlin, E, 2003). Out of the three worst Roman emperors, the worst was Caligula because of the hideous crimes he committed compared the Commodus and Nero
Trajan was the second of the five good emperors. He was considered Optimus Princeps or “best emperor” because he not only renewed the Titus-Nerva oath of protecting senators’ lives, he also respected the people. For instance, Pliny stated that “Trajan behaved as one of us, just like a private citizen” and so he gained the respect of the roman people. Furthermore, he gained even greater respect from the people as he allowed for freedom of speech. Not only did Trajan have a great relationship with the Roman Senate and people, he also benefited the Empire tremendously. He was able to extend the Roman Empire into Dacia, Arabia, and Parthia and his wars with the Parthian Empire allowed him to take over the areas of Armenia and Mesopotamia. Moreover, Trajan’s campaigns resulted in the largest Roman Empire that the world would see. Trajan also made possible the building of the Alcantara Bridge, making travel easier in the Roman province of Spain. Nerva, Trajan’s predecessor, was unable to benefit the Roman Empire in a great fashion, and so he is considered only a...
Nero's patronage of Greek art was viewed as indicative of his imperial excesses and derelictions of duty rather than a cultural appropriation. Nero spent recklessly both in the building of public works but also in the building of his personal palace.1 He relied on the resources of the empire to fund his extravagance, insofar that following the great fire in 64CE he was forced to debase the currency in order to fund rebuilding.2 Nero most likely was simply devoid of any financial and administrative sense, as it was believed that the only pleasure he derived from possessing riches was spending it, and those who kept account of their expenditures were miserly.3 He moreover was...
In conclusion, Augustus has written his personal account and presented himself as popular and successful leader. He did many things that helped society as well as did many things that did nothing long term. Augustus may have done things for only the betterment of himself but they did pay off when it all came to an
...multifaceted system which people of greater experience even had difficulty controlling. Even though he developed the arts it wasn’t worth the amount of human suffering and deaths that occurred during his time. Ultimately the government system was set up to prevent civil war, but it eventually did collapse into civil war because Nero failed the system and the Roman people.
Throughout the ages, Nero has been viewed as a rogue and a disgrace to the Roman Empire, thanks to unreliable primary sources. Because of this, Nero is now renowned world wide as the man who hated Christians, the man who killed Jesus and the man who wanted nothing but to satisfy his own desire of personal gain. This, though was not the case.
Julius Caesar was the most powerful dictator in his time. He created the Senate, and as the Roman Empire grew, the Senate grew. He also built new buildings and expanded the Roman Empire. He allowed immigrants
Augustus Caesar’s had a huge impact on Western Civilization. He molded Rome into being a peaceful place. He changed Rome. He made it bigger and more glorious. He created things that we still use today like currency and the postal service. He was good to the people of Rome, and because of his kindness he was worshiped by most of the Roman’s and after his death considered a
During the Black Death most people thought that Jews were the cause of the plague. The were easy to blame because many people thought that they practiced witchcraft. Europeans started to persecute the jews and the hoped that the black plague would end. Some villages formed authorities to protect them , but the Jewish people couldn’t free all the hatred and violence. Eventually the Jews fled
After Augustus's death, his successors had varying degrees of effectiveness and popularity. Caligula – bloodthirsty and mentally unstable Claudius – conqueror of Britannia, and Nero – uninhibited spender and disinterested ruler, all were in Augustus's dynasty. After Nero's suicide in the face of assassination in 68 c.e., the principate was held by four different Emperors in the span of 18 months.
During the first half century after the crucifixion of Jesus, the Roman government including governors in the eastern provinces took no active measures against Christians. The attitude of the higher Roman authorities had always been that Christianity was merely a sect of Judaism, and as such, were entitled to share in its privileges as a recognized religion. In 64 A.D. this attitude suffered a severe alteration. On July 19, 64 A.D. occurred the great fire of Rome. Half a million people were left homeless. Popular rumor persistently asserted that the fire was started by incendiaries acting under the orders of the Emperor Nero. It was said that Nero wanted the city burnt down so he could build a new city which was to be re-named after himself. Nero felt that something must be done to deflect the public indignation against him. To do this he contrived that accusations should be brought against the Christians. So Nero began an aggressive persecution of the Christians in Rome. Those who confessed their guilt were brought to trail. During these trials a great number of other Christians were uncovered and were also brought to trial. Oddly enough, these people were not charged with starting the great fire of Rome, but rather for “hatred of the humankind.”