Camp Gagnon - The Monster Who Burned Rome: The True Story of Emperor Nero

Episode Date: October 15, 2025

Who was Emperor Nero, and was he the most insane leader? Today, we take a closer look at the crazy life of one of history’s most brutal emperors. We’ll explore the early life of Nero, his adoption by Agrippina and Claudius, Nero’s rise to power, the murder of Agrippina the Younger, Nero’s downfall, and other fascinating topics...WELCOME TO History CAMP! 🏕️Shoutout to our sponsor: RelayJoin the Relay App community HERE: http://www.joinrelay.app/camp👕🧢 GET YOUR CAMP DRIP HERE: http://camp-rd.com🎟️ 🎫 Comedy Tour Tickets Here: https://markgagnonlive.com🎩👽 Daily Dose Of History Here: https://www.dailytodayinhistory.comTimestamps:0:00 Who Is Nero3:07 The Birth of Nero + Adopted By Agrippina & Claudius6:22 Agrippina Covers Up The Death of Claudius7:50 Nero Takes Over as Emperor11:54 The Murder of Agrippina The Younger16:32 Nero’s Obsession w/ Performance20:20 The Great Fire of Rome24:26 Nero’s Dream Palace27:28 Nero’s Fallout w/ The Senate29:57 The Downfall of Nero31:59 Nero’s Death + Year of 4 Emperors34:00 The Erasure of Nero36:02 The Scholars Give Their Thoughts#history #battle #podcast #rome

Rome is at its peak. Three continents have been conquered. Wealth is flooding in from every direction, and the empire pans the throne to a 16-year-old war. Not a warrior, not a statesman, a child propped up by his ruthless mother, Agrippina, who schemed, seduced, and maybe even poisoned her way to get him there. At first, Nero played the part,

lowering taxes, showed mercy, promised to rule like Augustus, but underneath, he didn't crave power. He craved applause. He wanted to be adored as an artist. That hunger turned deadly. He plotted the murder of his own mother. He was blamed for setting Rome on fire.

He scapegoated Christians and burned them alive as human torches. And when it all collapsed, Nero's final words weren't about his empire. They were. What an artist dies and me. Today, we will be going through the rise, the rain, and the fall of the notorious Mr. 666 himself, Emperor Nero. So, without further ado, sit back, relax, and welcome to History Camp. What's up, people, and welcome back to History. My name is Mark Gagnon, and thank you for joining me in this beautiful tent.

Every single week I sit in this very place, and we explore the most interesting, fascinating, controversial stories from all history throughout all time, forever. Yes. Trying to uncover all the secret teachings of all the most noble and innoble. Is it a noble a word? The most innoble men, the baddest dudes in all of history. We do deep dives, and we go through all the stories, even the dark stuff, even the cryptic occult stuff. Yes, that's what you'll find in this very place. And as always, I'm not alone.

Someone's got a fair out how to work these cameras. I have my friend Christos Paccadacados. What's up? I didn't even ask you something, Christo. See, you jump in, you cut me off and you interrupt me every single episode. I've had enough. And the people commenting on this great program are pissed off, all right? So, I'm sorry about that, guys. You didn't have to see that. We don't have time to be jibber-jabron, all right? Put a lid on it. I mean, literally, your bald head is scaring me. We're going to be talking about Nero. doing these kinds of topics just make me into a tyrant. I become a bad guy when I've researched these terrible people in history. And Nero's no different. You'd probably see in our episode

that we did on Killegula. He shocked Rome by being unpredictable and crazy. And Nero would set it a blaze, literally, just a boy raised on ambition, manipulation, and he would become one of history's most controversial dudes ever. Yes, this is the rise and unraveling of Nero. He's only 16, and he's suddenly put on the throne of the world's greatest empire, not because he was supposed to because he earned it, but because his mom schemed. And some say, allegedly, I don't want to be, I don't want the estate of Agrippina to sue me,

even murdered to get him there. Rome's at its peak. You got continents bowing down, just wealth pumping in, and Nero is at the helm. And for a brief time, it seemed like Nero was doing a good job, right? He was generous and he was nice, and, you know, he promised a lot.

to the people of Rome, but beneath this promise was a flaw. He didn't want legacy or power. He didn't even really want the throne, some would say, but he wanted something that few emperors have ever craved so deeply. Authentic applause. Yeah, Nero was probably a stand-of-comedian. Really, that's what he's supposed to be, and instead he just became the emperor of the greatest empire ever seen on the planet Earth. and in 14 years this young ruler became one of history's most infamous people ever, right? The same hands that once, you know, hesitated over a death warrant would later plot the perfect method to kill his own mom. What went wrong? How does this happen to a guy?

How does someone go from being too gentle to, you know, kill someone to try to killing his own mom? Well, if you want to understand Nero, we got to go all the way back to his mama, Agrapina the Younger. And she wasn't just ambitious. She was one of the all-time master manipulators to ever live, who literally played politics like it was chess, the Chris Jenner of her day. Allegedly, I don't want to get sued, okay? December 15th, 37 AD, a child is born,

in a little coastal town known as Antium. Ancient writers, obsessed with omens, recorded that sunlight torched the baby before he even drew his first breath. Suttonius tells us that various predictions followed his birth, which were basically prophetic of the turbulent life that was going to come for young Nero. And those predictions would prove, in hindsight, to be extremely accurate. He wasn't named Nero yet. I mean, that's a name you got to earn. He was born Lucius, Domitius, Ahen, Barbius. And violence

seemed woven into his very bloodline. His father was notorious for being cruel. And his mother, Agrippina the younger, sister to the Emperor Caligula, was no ordinary Roman family, right? This was the epicenter of imperial power and deadly politics. So when Nero was barely three years old, his world changed. His father suddenly dies. And his uncle, Caligula, swiftly confiscates their entire family's inheritance, security and stability in this young Nero's life gone overnight. Agrippina was exiled for her political maneuvering, and the young Nero was placed under the watchful eye of his grandmother, basically living in like a quasi-house arrest timeout thing.

Sotonyus, one of the historians of the day, tells us that his tutors during this period were a dancer and a barber, revealing just how desperate their circumstances were. The future emperor of Rome spent his formative years watching how quickly everything could just get taken away from him. But here's the thing about Agrippina. She was not finished, not even close.

when Claudius became emperor in 41 AD, Agrippina saw her chance. Claudius basically recalled her from exile and restored Nero's inheritance. Then in 49 AD, she pulled off a masterful play. Marriage to Claudius himself. And what followed was maybe the most brilliant thing she ever did. In 50 AD, she convinced Claudius to adopt this 13-year-old boy, Nero. And just like that, the boy went from the child of, you know, like a, a, widow learning from a dancer and a barber to literally being the imperial heir. And more crucially,

this positioned him ahead of Claudius's biological son, Britannicus, in the secession line. From this exile to future emperor in just a few years, Nero learned some lessons about power. He saw just how rapidly fortune could reverse and how little security anyone actually had. I mean, he literally took the secession line from the guy's actual kid. So he saw, like, yo, I just screw this guy over. If I screw people over, I can get ahead in life. But Agrippina still wasn't satisfied with this. She systematically eliminated rivals and actually, like, forged these alliances

so that her son can become emperor. Most critically, she worked to marginalize Britannicus, whose blood connection to Claudius made him the obvious alternative to, you know, the adopted son, Niro. And then came October of 54 AD. Claudius dies suspiciously. What's up, people? Let's take a break really quick,

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the show. Most contemporaries believe that Agrippina poisoned him with mushrooms, though the definitive proof is elusive, but we can speculate, right? What we do know is that Agrippina prepared for this moment like a commander. She kept Claudius's death secret for crucial hours, using that time to position all of her pieces. When the palace gates finally opened, Nero is presented to the Praetorian Guard by their commander, loyal to none other than Agrippina. This lady's bad. She's so bad, she's good. I mean, that's a, that's a chess move and a half, dude. The earliest coins reveal the actual dynamic of what's going on. They depict Agrippina's profile larger than Nero.

with hers like prominently featured on the flip side of the coins. And this is, I mean, like a not so subtle visual of who actually controlled the empire. On the one side of the coin, you had little old Nero. On the flip side, you got a big old fat agrippina. And here is what's actually tragic. This partnership contained a contradiction, right? The same mother who basically orchestrated her son's rise would eventually become the biggest obstacle to his independence. And when that confrontation actually came, Nero would demonstrate that he learned too many lessons about how power actually works.

But we'll get to that later. Here's what might surprise you about Nero. For the first five years, people really liked him. He was actually a really effective emperor. He was popular amongst the people. And his administration actually was really stable. From 54 to 59 AD, Nero's government was guided by kind of like a board. you could say. It was his mother Agrippina, the philosopher Seneca, if you've ever read Stoicism.

He's like one of the fathers of Stoicism, and the Praetorian commander Burrus. This period became renowned for its governance and its legitimate sort of political accomplishments. And the young emperor's initial policies demonstrated a lot of political savvy, right? He provided Claudius with a magnificent funeral, and he proclaimed he would, quote, rule according to Augustus's principles, invoking Rome's most revered emperor at the time. So everyone heard this, and they were like, great, this guy sounds awesome. He likes Augustus. We like Augustus. Everything's going to be good. Nero implemented reforms that actually addressed the actual problems of the day. Basically, people under the prior emperors, if you would snitch on someone or sell them out, you could get

paid heavily. And so you kind of created like a Gestapo-type state. And he stopped that completely. And then he started distributing like cash to citizens and provided annual salary. for the actual senators that were working within the government, and perhaps maybe most notably, his administration displayed just amazing restraint regarding imperial violence. So when young Nero had to authorize his first execution, Sotonius, the historian of the time,

recorded him saying, quote, how I wish I had never learned to write. And now whether this was an actual, like, sort of human response or like a shrewd political calculation, We don't know, but what we do know is that it resonated with people that, you know, at the time, we're very weary of, you know, this imperial brutality that they'd become so accustomed to. The government brought a ton of, you know, changes to Roman life. So capital punishments restricted. Taxes are just reduced in general. Slaves are granted new protections against like masters that would, you know, beat them and abuse them. There were, you know, far fewer secret trials.

and the treason law, which had claimed many senators actually under Claudius, basically were just, you know, thrown out. And during this period, Nero really showed an interest in culture. So he established like poetry contests, like legit, like slam poetry was back, dude, and the theater was popping. And, you know, we didn't have to see people killing each other and, you know, these gladiator games that people got accustomed to. He was like, let's go to the theater.

Let's watch a play. He personally recited his poetry in public and actually offered audiences access to like imperial entertainment, which at this point in Roman history was very rare. So as a result, everyone's feeling happy. The economy goes crazy. So the provinces were peaceful. The treasury starts getting an insane amount of wealth. And for like a little period of time, Rome seemed to have actually like achieved the ideal balance between, you know, the government and the authority. but then also like actual responsible civic response or like civic uh you know benefit to the people right so like

you have a strong government but low taxes everyone's happy now here's the thing about having a great support system is that it only works if you want to be supported if you actually listen to the people that are guiding you and nero as he's getting into his 20s starts to get tired of all the guidance the very success of the arrangement created the conditions for its own destruction. So as Nero got more confident and things were going better in the empire, his advisors seemed unnecessary to him. And the stage was set for a confrontation that would basically change everything. In 59 AD, everything changes.

Agrippina the younger, the mother of Nero, the woman that put him in power in the first place, is murdered. And this is when everything goes off the rails. And it wasn't some impulsive explosion of rage or an argument that went sideways. It was the culmination of a power struggle that had intensified as Nero increasingly resented his mom and her attempts to basically control the empire as well as his personal life. So according to Tacitus, the situation had reached this moment where basically Tacitus tells us that, quote, Nero began to avoid private meetings with his mother. and eventually decided to kill her, debating only whether by poison, the dagger, or some other form of violence.

Think about that. This isn't just like a heat of the moment like, oh, I hate you mom. Like he didn't just go a white boy and like punch a wall. No. Nero literally sat down and he thought about the best way to get rid of his own mother, right? And he had options. He had people that would do it. He thought about them.

He planned all of it meticulously. This is premeditated murder. Now sources tell us that they initially considered poison, but rejected it because Agrippina had grown watchful for foul play and had antidotes just basically set up as a precaution, which I think also kind of lends itself to the idea that maybe she murdered Claudius. Because if she's like, oh man, they might poison me. It's like, well, why are you even thinking about poison? Basically, the ultimate solution here came from Anacetus, a freed man who'd been Nero's childhood tutor. And his proposal was simple. Construct a vessel designed to collapse at sea and make her death basically just seem like an accident. And the execution was just insanely incompetent despite the, you know, lethal outcome.

Nero basically invited his mom to celebrate the festival of Minerva at his villa. And he used this public celebration to kind of mask what he was actually trying to do. But when the boat that was supposed to collapse, you know, they actually built a mechanism that would make the boat sink. The mechanism failed. And Agrippina survived just by swimming ashore. And then the emperor was forced to abandon this whole story of the accident. He basically then dispatched assassins to complete what this boat contraption ultimately failed to do. The cover story was pretty pathetic.

Officials in the Roman government claimed that she'd committed suicide. after allegedly plotting against Nero. And no one really believed it, but the fear of, you know, the political fallout basically stopped anyone from speaking out. So when the murder attempt didn't go well, they said it was a suicide. Sounds like Epstein to me.

I don't know. I don't want to put conspiracies into it, but you can see where this is going, right? What basically comes after this reveals just how this single act, like, basically change Nero's relationship with society as a whole, right? I mean, killing your own mom violates the most sacred human values,

like specifically Roman values. I mean, you know how much how, you know how much Italians love their mama, you know? And the fact that this guy was willing to kill his own mom, I think really indicates a shift in Nero's brain. And either the fact that he was willing to do it or the fact that he did do it fundamentally changed who he was as a person. And though the Senate was compelled to praise Nero and, condemn Agrippina, this was done with some obvious reluctance and many people were just praising

him out of fear. More significantly, Agrippina's death really took the last, you know, effective constraint off of Nero and what he was willing to do. And with his mom gone, he no longer faced any type of pressure from, you know, her political ambitions or her desire for legacy or like the family name or any of her attempts to actually control his life. And this new freedom was more of a curse than a blessing and allowed for his worst impulses to actually just come out unchecked. And with that, the halcyon years were finished. Now, the halcyon years just refers to the first five years of Nero's reign where things were relatively calm. It actually is a Greek word that was, you know, put on retroactively, often from, you know, Greek mythology where, you know, Kingfisher would actually calm the seas while nesting.

And it kind of symbolized Agrippina, basically calming her son while. kind of setting up this empire. Now, in the place of these halcyon years was this emperor who'd proven that he would do anything to anyone to preserve his autonomy and ultimately his freedom. Now, the question wasn't whether or not he would kill again. The question was just who was going to be next. Now, what's interesting about Nero's pivot after this moment is that he's now completely untethered. He's completely unleashed and fully at the disposal of whatever his interests are. And it seems that his interests were always artistic and he was seeking applause from everyone within the empire. And as a result, he immersed himself in poetry and music and

chariot racing into the theater. And these were activities that a lot of like really scandalized a lot of like the Roman aristocracy at the time because these are occupations typically for, you know, the enslaved or public entertainers. And he himself actually felt, you know, that he was beloved by the lower classes and many of them actually liked him and look this wasn't like a rich guy's hobby like nowadays you might have like you know a president that paints or you know an emperor somewhere that loves basketball but at this point in time no one had done that and nero wasn't treating this like a little side hobby this was like his passion and he trained rigorously to be a professional performer and his commitment to like the arts and artistic excellence went far

beyond just like a casual hobby. He followed this rigorous routine, expected typically of like professional performers, and that included a diet and physical exercise in order to strengthen his voice. And he practiced constantly and really approached his craft with like the dedication of someone whose life dependent on it. And as a result, his theatrical performances shocked people, I mean, maybe more than anything. I mean, think about it. Public performance placed the emperor in a position where he could be judged purely on artistic merit rather than political authority. And these appearances required rehearsal and preparation and a genuine commitment to actually, you know, crafting this skill. And the social implications really created a huge fissure

within Roman society. So the senatorial class viewed his performances as degrading to the emperor. This is not stately. And it might actually be dangerous to social stability. And common people, however, really liked it. They thought that these performances were amazing and unprecedented. and really gave the average person access to, you know, the emperor. And this popular support provided Nero crucial political backing that sustained him even as his relationships with the high brass of Roman society actually deteriorated. And what's interesting is that the immediate gratification of the applause from the audience offered some relief to Nero from like the constant political pressure.

Artistic achievement provided this accomplishment that kind of separated him from the enhanced. heritage position that he was put into. And maybe for the first time in his life, Nero was being valued for something that he'd actually done rather than just a thing that was given to him. But as a result, there's a dangerous dynamic that is kind of coming out. The emperors increased reliance on these performances and, you know, the validation of the people now was a source of identity that ultimately contributed to his political downfall. This became like an obsession with the creative that really diverted his attention from actual governance and the things that made his administration so popular. Recent scholars suggest that Nero's artistic performances kind of serve

like a deeper political purpose. They are like these attempts to connect with like Roman pop culture in ways that the traditional, you know, aristocratic politicians couldn't do. And yet this innovation came at a terrible cost to his relationship with the people above him. And then ultimately, in July 19th, 64 AD came a massive calamity that would change Nero and his reputation across Rome. The great fire. Now, the fire begins in the early morning, igniting in the shop surrounding Circus Maximus, where wooden structures and a lot of flammable, like, merchandise provided just fuel for this thing to go crazy. And the flames spread with insane speed through, like, narrow streets and these densely, densely packed buildings.

and for six days and seven nights, the fire raged uncontrollably and just caused like unthinkable amounts of destruction. Ten of Rome's 14 districts were affected, with three just completely obliterated and seven of them severely damaged. The devastation was like incomprehensible. Vast areas of this ancient city were just smoldering ruins and hundreds of thousands of people completely lost their homes. I mean, by modern standards, that would be a massive issue.

I mean, just like an unthinkable tragedy. And in ancient Roman times, I mean, this was impossible to really deal with. And the historical record actually highlights something really important. There are sources that suggest that Nero actually took decisive action during the crisis, which is contrary to later legend. Some say that he opened his own palaces and public buildings to actually shelter a lot of displaced people. He organized the distribution of grain and some supplies to actually prevent starvation. And the emperor was actually in an animal.

when the fire started and then rushed back to Rome in order to coordinate the relief efforts. Nevertheless, suspicions about the fire's origin quickly focused on the emperor himself. Many Romans believe that Nero himself had deliberately ignited the blaze in order to clear the land for this ambitious building project that he wanted to make. And the fire's outbreak near areas where Nero had planned this major construction really fueled a conspiracy. And while many modern historians kind of doubt that Nero, actually started the fire himself, his failure to effectively dispel these suspicions reveal just more poor political judgment and just a real disconnect with the public about, you know, his perception. And these rumors actually spread faster than the fire itself. And once people started saying

that Nero torched his own city, the story stuck. And confronted with these accusations and the public unrest in the face of this massive tragedy, Nero made a decision that would echo throughout history. He decided to blame a group. And that group was the Christians. The emperor's choice to basically blame the Christians for this disaster represents one of history's most consequential examples of deflecting blame onto an innocent minority class. As Tacitus puts it, Nero targeted this class hated for their abominations as, you know, convenient culprits that could basically absorb the popular anger. The Christians at the time were generally persecuted, and so he was they were like, hey, these guys did it. And people took to it pretty quickly. And this is where

things get pretty messed up. The persecution that followed was marked with just exceptional cruelty. I mean, Christians were executed in these elaborate sort of public spectacles designed to satisfy the anger of the group. And some were literally covered with the skins of beasts and torn apart by dogs, while others were crucified or doomed to the flames and burnt to serve as nightly illuminations. That's an actual quote from historical sources. And now these executions took place in Nero's gardens and were presented as almost like theatrical performances. Even Tacitus, no historical friend to Christianity per se, expressed ambivalence about these persecutions, noting that even for criminals who deserved extreme and exemplary punishment,

there arose a feeling of compassion. The fire had given Nero an opportunity to rebuild Rome, according to his personal vision, but it had also revealed something darker about his personality, his willingness to sacrifice innocent lives in order to preserve his own reputation and power. Now, the fire gave Nero something that he was wanted, right? Conveniently, it was a blank canvas to build his dream palace. Now, the only problem was that it was going to cost a fortune

to basically make this place that he wanted to build, and it would drive his empire towards financial catastrophe. The Domus Aureo, also known as the Golden House, embodied both Nero's vision and the excessive spending that contributed to his actual downfall. Following this great fire, he saw this as an opportunity that he could basically build this giant palace and would basically transform Rome's urban landscape. And the palace was designed to span a massive area in central Rome. Estimates range up to 300 acres, making it larger than just many ancient cities all the time. together. And it incorporated some residential quarters and artificial lakes and parks and gardens and an entertainment venue, of course, it's Nero. And it, you know, would basically have been visible from

across the city. Now, archaeological investigation have revealed sophisticated engineering that seems almost impossible for the time. I mean, there was a rotating dining room ceiling that mimicked like the stars, elaborate frescoes that almost made like an immersive, like artistic environment. There was even a hydraulic system that powered fountains and, artistic waterfalls. Even from recent excavations, they've uncovered remarkable evidence of this palace's opulence, including workshops containing rare pigments like Egyptian blue and elaborate frescoes that demonstrate the artistic ambition of the project. But with any great project, there's a cost, literally. And in this case, it was staggering. The project required confiscating vast amounts

of private property in central Rome. And it displaced numerous citizens and businesses, people who had whole shops and houses prior to the fire just gone completely. And the materials and the labor demanded enormous financial resources. And with financial resources, there's going to be increased taxation and just straight up seizing property from wealthy Romans. Now, these symbolic implications of this were maybe even more damaging than the actual financial cost, right? The sheer size of this palace occupying the prime urban real estate that, you know, could have

served a public purpose or been returned to the victims of the fire really symbolized Nero's priorities, that he wanted personal luxury over any type of civic duty. And when it was completed, Sotonyis reported that Nero said, at last, I can begin to live like a human being. Now, this is a statement that showed just how disconnected he had become from the average Roman citizen. So the emperor who once reduced taxes, but now bleeding the empire dry basically to fund his own personal architectural fantasy. And the promise of years of this, you know, fiscal responsibility were now just a memory, basically, for the average Roman. And it was now replaced by the giant golden walls of the emperor's palace. Now, all that spending exposed a crack that had been growing

within the empire. He was beloved by many regular people, but also hated by the rich and the powerful. And this divide would just further descend him into his ultimate fate. his relationship with the Senate stood in sharp contrast to the popular amongst the regular folk, right? His policies increasingly alienated the Senate through measures that really challenged what it meant to be an aristocrat.

His generous distributions early on to the people required funding through taxation and property seizures that actually hit the wealthiest Romans the hardest. And not to mention, the Senate's forced participation in praising Nero and condemning Agrippina following her murder, just further damaged the relationship that Nero actually had with the Senate.

And so as a result, Nero is creating a lot of enemies high up within Roman politics. But at the same time, he's doing all these performances, like basically right up until the fire. And then even a little after the fire, he's, you know, generous cash to the people. And, you know, he's remembering people by first name, just ordinary citizens. And Tacitus actually noted that the emperor's willingness to greet all people showed this accessibility that no one had really ever seen from a ruler. in history before. And this democratic approach really also, you know, pissed off a lot of the high-ranking Romans. Now, this disparity between the population that liked you because of all the

stuff you did for them and the Senate and the people high up within Roman society hating you created a dangerous cycle. Basically, he was dependent on mass support that, you know, he got from, you know, these extravagant gestures in order to stay popular. And so with these gestures comes a high cost, right? You have to do constant entertainment and these distributions to the people. And all of this just causes more and more, you know, pressure from the wealthy people to the common people, which once again alienated the senatorial class. And ultimately, this disparity created like three different Rome. You had the senatorial elite that hated Nero for, you know, not really doing what an emperor is supposed to do. And then you had a group of Romans that were

terrified by Nero and his cruelty and, you know, this great fire that put a huge strain on the empire. And then you had a small portion that actually liked him for all the reasons we mentioned, right? He was accessible. He seemed like a regular guy. And as a result, this balancing act would eventually lead to his downfall. By 68 AD, Nero and his government was falling apart. Right? You can't keep on spending money that you don't have while making enemies of basically everyone that matters. And the financial strain of the building projects combined with You know, the alienation from the governing class created a condition for rebellion. The first serious challenge came when Gaius Julius Vindex, the governor of Gaya Lugdenesis,

declared a rebellion against Nero and his rule, basically saying that the emperor's excessive taxation and artistic obsession made him unfit to rule. And while Vindex's rebellion was ultimately crushed, it did spark some serious opposition amongst provincial governors who had completely lost faith. in Nero and his leadership. And the decisive moment arrived when Servius Sulpicius Galba, the respected governor of Hispania Terraconensis, openly declared opposition to the emperor.

And unlike Vindex, who came before him, he lacked significant military resources. Galba commanded legionary forces and possessed the political credibility basically necessary to attract broader support. And the collapse of support accelerated once it became clear that Nero could no longer rely on Praetorian Guard loyalty. You see, the Pretorian commander's decision to abandon him

reflected their recognition that his political position was completely hopeless. And this betrayal was particularly devastating because it left Nero without any military to protect himself within Rome. And confronted with military defeat and basically political isolation, Nero's response revealed both psychological frailty and just a fundamental inability to cope with serious adversity. And rather than attempting to rally the remaining forces that were loyal to him or negotiate with any of the people around him, the emperor retreated into denial and fantasy, basically. He reportedly spent his final days composing poetry and practicing musical performances even as enemy forces approached Rome.

And on June 9th, 68 AD, the circumstances of Nero's death really capture the tragic and pathetic aspects of his character. The emperor committed suicide at his freedman's villa outside of Rome, unable to face capture and the humiliation that would eventually follow. And Sotonius tells us that Nero prepared to kill himself, and as he was doing so, he cried out, What an artist perishes in me. Even at the end, he saw himself ultimately as a performer first and as an emperor second. And the final statement, I think, really captures how Nero saw himself,

primarily as an artist rather than, you know, a statesman or a political leader. And he never fully understood or even accepted the responsibilities of this imperial office. His death was reportedly assisted by his secretary, as the emperor lacked the courage himself to actually complete the act. And what followed basically put the Roman Empire into a civil war. With Nero's death, there are now multiple people that are competing for this imperial power, which began this chaotic period known as the year of four emperor. Nero's death didn't just end his reign. It just, it revealed how completely he failed to build sustainable political institutions or maintain any type of elite consensus necessary to keep power.

I mean, Nero, to really see the entire arc, he was just a boy who was put on the throne, guided by his mom, didn't even want to sign like, you know, a death warrant for a guy who had, you know, committed an offense in Rome that was going to give him, you know, the death penalty. then becomes so confident and so consumed by his ego that he killed his own mother, and then ultimately alienated everyone within the Roman Empire, and then became abandoned by everyone except a handful of the people that he had freed himself. I mean, it's just kind of the ultimate story of a bright promise that had just turned into just complete ruin.

And after Nero's death, his legacy was rewritten before Rome had even become rebuilt. So the Senate erased his monuments and his name. Many Christian writers pissed off, obviously, by the scapegoating the execution of so many Christians, painted Nero as just a figure of pure evil, eventually casting him as the Antichrist in many apocalyptic stories. You know, the term, you know, 666, many people think can be traced back to Nero himself. The famous myth of Nero fiddling while Rome burned was, in some ways, invented centuries later. But once again, the myth just kind of proves like how unlike this guy was in the years following his reign. And also kind of shows how stories can eclipse fact when history is shaped by those with a different story to tell.

But the real tragedy of Nero, in my opinion, runs deeper than these distortions. I think the reality of his life is a tragedy in and of itself. Early in his reign, he showed the actual administrative skill and won over the Roman people with, you know, his generosity. and his policies, yet his desire for applause and public validation and his inability to really balance power with responsibility led him to alienate all the important people within Rome and with his massive building projects ultimately alienated all the Roman people themselves. And that included the betrayal of those closest to him and, you know, the brutal persecution of the Christians.

In the end, Nero's legacy is really a cautionary tale, right? personal obsession and the desire for autonomy and, you know, your own ego really overtakes political wisdom and guidance. And the need for admiration silences the voice of responsibility. Even the most promising leader can become just a monster. And his rise and fall reminds us that power is a mirror. And it reflects not just the ruler, but the society that allows him to rise and fall. And that is the rise and fall. And that is the rise and fall. And that is the rise. rise and the eventual fall of the emperor Nero. I mean, what a wild guy, right?

I mean, insane story. I mean, so lame, if you ask me. It's like, dude, you got put up in, like, the ultimate rule. You were leading the Roman Empire, and you're doing a great job. I mean, how annoying must his mom have been, right? I mean, like, what was she doing that he was like, that she got to go? I mean, I would love to know more details about how she was actually controlling him. But I can't imagine that anything she was doing was actually that bad.

I mean, I don't know, it's also so, like, lame when, like, someone with all the power in the world is, like, I need to be in the theater. You know, it's like, dude, you got everything. Like, do your plays every now and again, but, like, you still got to be the emperor. Or give, like, the emperorship to someone else. Let your mom run the show and then you do your little plays. Like, he could have had it all, and instead, he chose to have nothing at all. I mean, what an absolute generational bag fumble. I don't know.

That's the way I've seen Nero. I didn't really know all the details about his love for the arts. Historically, artists with power just not good people, you know? Hitler. George Bush is a, right? Like, there's a couple of these artists. I mean, now that, you know,

I don't think George Bush is on par, but still, he's a painter, you know, and he did a whole thing in Iraq. Anyway, just read about it. Regardless, it's just like, dude, you could have had it all, and instead, you're dumb. I think he was just dumb.

He just had no ability to, like, balance. Like, okay, the rich people want me to do this, the poor people want me to do this, I can kind of strike a balance, make everyone happy, and, like, do what I was doing for the first five years. I mean, what a lame. And then killing your own mom. I mean, you've got to be demented.

I wonder if someone, like, kind of, like, pushed him to it because he doesn't seem like, he just seems like kind of like adult. He's like, oh, there's a fire. It was the Christians. Like, it's just, like, the dumbest story in history. Like, if any time in history, things are going bad, and then the guy in power doesn't take responsibility and just blames an ethnic minority,

just know that it's probably the wrong. move right like if you're just like oh these people it's their fault and they're like what it's probably it's probably the guys in power it's probably the rich people it's probably the you know the politicians so they point the finger at them don't point the finger at just a random group of people the christians of all people right the chick flay people you're gonna blame them I don't know uh Chrysos what do you think of Emperor Nero I hate to say it but sounds like a little bit of a comedian. Are you right?

Yeah. And comedians shouldn't have power. We're supposed to tell jokes and goof around, go on stage, you know, talk about her penises. This need for like acceptance from the people as opposed to running the country. Exactly. If you're put in charge of the country, now you've got to like skerk and do the country leading part. Also, general Vindex, I checked, no relation to Windex.

Nobody thought that, gracedos. But I appreciate the distinction. Anyway, what do you guys think? Did you learn anything about Emperor Nero? If you did, drop a comment. missed anything. If you're a historian or maybe you're an ancient Roman watching this program, tell me if I missed anything. Please drop a comment below. I read all of them and the top comments on here in Spotify will get free merch. Yes. Historycamp.com. You chowd all the merch there. And you can also

see me on the road, mark agnonlive.com. I'll be doing stand-up comedy. Yes. I need applause. I need the people to validate me. But fortunately for you, I'm not a politician. So it should be a good show. And I don't think any Christians will be burned at the stake. Anyway, thank you guys so much for tuning into another episode of History Camp. We do these every week, so please hit that subscribe button. It really helps out the channel, and I will see you guys in the future to talk about the past. Peace. If you've made it to the end of this episode, that's because you rock with us, and for that,

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