Was Nero actually a bastard? | EUROtoday
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“WASHINGTON became the court of Nero, “stated Claude Malhuret, senator of the Allier on March 4, earlier than the Senate, castigating” an incendiary emperor, submissive courtiers, a buffoon under ketamine [Elon Musk, NDLR] responsible for the purification of the public service ”. A speech to international repercussions. But treating someone nouro, is it really a huge insult? Let’s break the suspense immediately: yes, but not necessarily for the reasons that we believe.
A black legend surrounds this emperor whose reign was nevertheless significantly quick (somewhat over 13 years, from 54 to 68). Your uncle, Sunday historian, certainly already advised you the time when, within the final years of his reign, obsessed together with his actual property mission for Rome, Nero misplaced his nerves and set hearth to his personal metropolis to rebuild it as he appeared. But the emperor is harmless. He has a concrete alibi: he was on trip.
“During the fire, which lasts six days, Néron rests in Antium, a small city away from Rome, where he is looking for a little freshness. But he returns as quickly as possible when he learns the disaster. He takes charge of the rescue management, the extinction of the fires, the accommodation of people who no longer had a house, etc. », Rectifies Alain Rodier, author of a biography on Nero (The true story of NeroLes Belles Lettres, 2013).
A tumultuous coming to power
What annoys Nero’s contemporaries is his more than whimsical personality. Next to it, Donald Trump looks very smooth. “It is a complex personality. He is a refined man who loves art, beautiful things and who is hypersexualized. He was very likely bisexual and loved, in the evening, to disguise himself as a woman and survey the streets of Rome in dress, ”says Alain Rodier.
Nero was not that a nice melancholy poet, however: he commanded the murders of – in disorder – his wife, his mother, several of his advisers and anyone who stood against him or was suspected of conspiracy.
His coming to power is already tumultuous. It all starts when Nero is 3 years old. On the death of his father, his mother, Agrippine, place him under the protection of his uncle, the emperor Claude. He married Agrippine, adopts Nero and makes him his heir, thus dismissing his own younger son Britannicus. Years pass, and Nero is now perceived as the legitimate successor. But this status does not last long: Agrippine, eager to definitively establish the power of her son, poisons Claude. In 54, at only 17 years old, Néron thus accesses the throne of Rome.
Nero kills his mother and women
Nero owes everything to his mother. However, he will order his assassination. “It was she who did the whole lot to have the emperor designated. But she needed to control in her place nearly and took up a variety of house within the early years. Nero, underneath the recommendation of Seneca, decides to exile it to maintain management of energy, ”provides Alain Rodier.
The emperor prefers to categorise the case and make it disappear for good. Pretending to need to reconcile along with her, he invitations her to a celebration and presents her a ship for the return. But it’s a rigged ship, designed to dislocate and drown it. Agrippine, an actual arduous -to -cook, manages to hitch the shore. Understanding that he can not eliminate it by crafty, in March 59, in his residence in Baïes, Néron subsequently charged his troopers to go slaughter his mom. At the Centurion who got here to kill him, Agrippine presents his stomach and shouts: “Strike in the belly. »»
Suetonius, a historian of antiquity, says that, before his inert body, Nero can not help examining it at length, lifting its members, commenting on its constitution, oscillating between fascination and horror. Then, panicked, he runs through the streets of Rome, shouting that he is the victim of a plot, hoping to return the situation to his advantage. “Once once more, Néron is contrasting, some sources say that he makes nightmares for days,” adds Alain Rodier. Not to mention the fact that he commands the assassination of his two wives …
Designated public enemy number one
These murders also mark the start of a slow descent into hell. Nero becomes unpredictable, cruel and increasingly disconnected from reality. We accuse him of being more interested in pleasures and of shipping the affairs of the Empire between two orgies. While gold flows in waves in its banquets, anger rumbles in Rome.
Revolts burst out, immediately suffocated in the blood: death sentences, spectacular executions, organized terror. The fire that ravages the city in 64 only makes tensions worse. To finance the reconstruction, the emperor punctuates his subjects even more heavily. Has his own palate not been spared from the flames? Never mind: he orders the construction of an even greater palace, a sanctuary to his glory. Thus the Domus Aurea was born, a sumptuous house where everything, from floor to ceiling, sparkle with gold.
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Answer
“His whimsical, extravagant, spending side, added to the combination of the self-cold murders of his own mother and his women, leaves a disastrous image. He ended up being appointed public enemy by the Senate, ”says Alain Rodier. In 68, its popularity is at its lowest. Accredited, abandoned by all, the fallen emperor prefers to kill himself rather than undergo the unworthiness of a public execution.
But at the fateful moment, he hesitates, trembles, steps back. Unable to wear the fatal blow, he implores his faithful spaphrodite freed to guide his hand. The dagger sinks into her throat. Before collapsing, this theater enthusiast would have whispered these last words that remained famous: “What an artist perished with me! »»
https://www.lepoint.fr/eureka/neron-etait-il-vraiment-un-salaud-14-03-2025-2584720_4706.php