For my topic I chose Nero. Nero was a famous Roman Emperor who was murderously insane. He was born December 15, 37 A.D. with the birth name Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus. His father, Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus, was a consul of Rome and his mother, Agrippina the Younger, was the sister to Emperor Caligula. Nero was still young when his father died and his mother was exiled from Rome by Emperor Caligula. He was raised by his aunt. Caligula who stole his inheritance. After Emperor Caligula was killed, Claudius became emperor. Claudius was fond of Nero’s mother, Agrippina, and allowed her to return back to Rome. In 49 A.D., Claudius married Agrippina and adopted Nero. Agrippina convinced Claudius to heir Nero to the throne instead of Claudius’s …show more content…
He mostly wanted to perform music and poetry in public. He saw himself more as an artist and spent lots of money on big parties. Nero started to become more of a tyrant. He had anyone he didn’t like or disagree with him murdered. He ordered Christians to be thrown to the lions as entertainment. This is when Rome’s leaders suspected he was going insane, but they knew they couldn’t do anything about it because of how powerful Nero was. He killed his second wife, Poppaea, by kicking her in the stomach. In 64 A.D., a fire randomly swept across Rome. People believe Nero played the lyre and sang while watching Rome burn and he started the fire to clear room for his new palace. Nero needed someone to blame for the fire and he chose the Christians. They were killed by being burned alive, crucified, and being thrown to dogs. Nero’s palace, the Domus Aurea, was built where the fire had cleared Rome. It covered 100 acres of Rome and had a 100 feet tall bronze statue of himself, Colossus of Nero, at the entrance. After 14 years of ruling Rome, the senate tried to arrest Nero. On June 9, 68 A.D., he committed suicide outside of Rome after he found out the senate was coming to arrest
The play The Tragedy of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare showcases many characters and events that go through many significant changes. One particular character that went through unique changes was Julius Caesar. The 16th century work is a lengthy tragedy about the antagonists Brutus and Cassius fighting with the protagonists Octavius, Antony, and Lepidus over the murder of Julius Caesar. Although the play’s main pushing conflict was the murder of Julius Caesar, he is considered a secondary character, but a protagonist. Throughout the theatrical work Julius Caesar’s actions, alliances, character developments, and internal and external conflicts display his diverse changes.
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
Tragic Hero in Julius Caesar A tragic hero is the character whose actions deeply affect the other characters and who creates a series of events that eventually lead to the character’s downfall and the downfall of his loved ones. Such a hero possesses a flaw in character that influences his actions and thinking and especially his judgments. In logically determining who the hero in Julius Caesar is, one simply must find the one character who fits the above guidelines. Marcus Brutus is the only one, and, thus, he is the tragic hero.
Would an honorable man murder his best friend? In William Shakespeare’s play The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, Caesar started as an innocent citizen of Rome, but soon made his way to the throne. Caesar started bettering Rome, but certain men accused him of becoming too ambitious. The conspirators, the men against Caesar, brutally murdered him because of his “ambition”. Marcus Brutus was Caesar’s supposed best friend but led the revolt against him. Brutus is characterized in the play as being gullible, noble, and naïve.
The notorious Caligula ruled the Roman Empire from 37 AD until 41 AD as a tyrant who in due time became a villain. Although Caligula was an intelligent and amusing young man he also had a cruel and darker side that would in modern times, leave people to question his mental stability. His weird and unusual actions would reinforce this idea, such as him wanting and having his counterparts look up to him and worship him as a god because he considered himself a divine one. He would force both men and women to have sex with him and would commit incest with his sisters. Although incest was acceptable in that time, it is an action that is highly frowned upon in modern day. One considerable reason for the madness behind Caligula’s reign could be due to a disease called megalomania. German pacifist Ludwig Quidde made this term known and described it as “the point of regarding oneself as divine; disregard for all limits of law and all the rights of other individuals; brutal cruelty without purpose or reason” (qtd. in Winterling 2). However this would not have bothered Caligula. He enjoyed having food that was covered in gold leaf and drinking from vinegar that had dissolved pearls inside of it. He also thought enough to want to hold a ceremony to crown his horse and make him apart of his consul. Caligula indulged in the excitement and torture of execution. The victims of these senseless crimes were often Roman senators. He even removed two from his office because they forgot his birthday. Although he was in the position of high authority, author of The Lives of the Twelve Caesars: Caligula, Suetonius stated a clear explanation for his behavior that “he was insane” (qtd. in Winterling 7).
The Tragedy of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare is an intimate portrayal of the famed assassination of Julius Caesar and the complex inner workings of the men who committed the crime. In one particularly revealing scene, two of the men closest to Caesar, one a conspirator in his murder and one his second-in command, give orations for the deceased. Despite being simple in appearance, these two speeches do much of the work in developing and exposing the two characters in question. Though both have a love for Caesar, Mark Antony's is mixed with a selfish desire for power, while Brutus' is pure in nature, brought to a screeching halt by his overpowering stoicism. These starkly-contrasted personalities influence the whole of the play, leading to its tragic-but-inevitable end.
Emperor Nero, infamously known as one of the most malevolent, oppressive, and tyrannical leader throughout history, was the last ruler of the Julio-Claudian Dynasty. He was born outside Rome in Antium and his mother married his great uncle, Emperor Claudius, in order for her son to be the next Emperor of Rome. It wasn’t apparent that her son was to become one of the most feared and cruel leaders in Roman history from 54 CE to 68 CE. By examining his achievements and failures as an emperor, his influences and changes over the entire economic, political and social spectrum are revealed.
The novel “I Claudius” it explains the journey of Claudius’ life, and his family’s. Claudius was alive during the Julio-Claudian dynasty as emperor in 41-54AD (Julio-Claudian dynasty). The first emperor of the Julio-Claudian line was Augustus, his grandmothers newest husband, who will be explained in more details later. A couple of things that stood out in the book was Claudius’ grandmother Livia. Her life adventures directly affect Claudius and the events that preceded him. Claudius explains how there are two different types of Claudians. He makes it clear that he is of the “good apple” Claudians, however, his grandmother is under the “crab apple” Claudians. (Vincent, l Claudius)Throughout my essay, I am going to compare and contrast “I Claudius” and what really happened during those times.
His fourteen-year reign represented everything decadent about the Julio-Claudian period of the Roman Empire. His self-indulgent, cruel and violent affairs continued the economic chaos that had plagued the Roman citizenry since the days of Tiberius (Champlin, 1990). In the first five years as emperor, Nero gained a reputation for political generosity, promoting power sharing with the Senate and ending closed-door political trails. However, he generally pursued his own passions and left the ruling to his three key advisers – the Stoic Philosopher Seneca, the prefect Burrus and Nero’s mother Agrippina (Armstrong, 2012). Nero was a reckless and selfish adolescent when he ascended to Emperor, as highlighted by Suetonius within his historical scripture, ‘The Twelve
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.
Nero’s residence before his Golden House, was the Domus Transitoria. This was by now means any small living space. It was considered to be a mansion in itself. This palace linked to the Imperial Gardens of Maecenas on the Esquiline hill. It also spanned up the Velian slope beside the Forum (Grant 164). However this structure was not destroyed in the fire of 64. However it did clear out a valley behind it making room for Nero’s future house. Promptly after the fire construction was begun on Nero’s Golden House. It would continue until AD 68 (Wheeler 142). In fact the Domus Transitoria would soon become part of the new Domus Aurea.
In Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar, Brutus and Cassius are both considered honorable men by the public. But, like all traits, honor is in the eye of the beholder. Honor is defined as evidence or symbols of distinction. Those who are placed in power are often chosen because of their traits, which include being honorable. If those in power have any faults, it could diminish their position in the eyes of the public.
Throughout many of Shakespeare's plays, a tragic hero is identified; a heroic figure that possesses a character flaw that leads to his defeat. In The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, there has been controversies over who is actually the tragic hero. Many people agree that Marcus Brutus is the tragic hero. However, others argue and identify Julius Caesar as the tragic hero. After examining these two characters, a conclusion is easily drawn. Brutus is the tragic hero of this play because when a person who possesses such heroic qualities dies, it is a true tragedy.
Throughout history, the world has seen a copious amount of emperors, but Julius Caesar was a historic model to the society of Rome. According to McKay, Hill, Buckler, Crowston, Weisner- Hanks, and Perry, (2014), born in 100 B.C. to an honorable family, Caesar went to school and received an outstanding education, which he later advanced by studying in Greece with some of the famous Greek teachers we learn about today. Caesar’s first wife Cornelia was the daughter of the consul at the time, Lucius Cornelius Cinna. His original plans were to marry the daughter of a wealthy business class family, but considering he wanted to be the flamen he had to marry a patrician. Even though he fulfilled the requirements and married Cornelia, consul Cinna never
Tacitus states in his text, “The Burning of Rome,” that, “Nevertheless, for the relief of the homeless, fugitive masses he threw open the Field of Mars, including Agrippa’s public buildings, and even his own Gardens. Nero also constructed emergency accommodation for the destitute multitude. Food was brought from Ostia and neighboring towns, and the price of corn was cut,” (Tacitus, 408.) Nero taking action after the destructive fire shows him demonstrating compassion toward the people of his town. This action would help Nero build connections with his people, Nero did this for the good of the town. Without Nero demonstrating compassion, the whole city of Rome will continue to fall apart, and will never be repaired.