Emperor who fiddled while Rome was burning

By Amal HEWAVISSENTI

Most probably, our vague impression of 'Nero of Rome' is that he "played the fiddle while the city of Rome lay ablaze." But this oft-repeated statement expressly screens Nero's personal life and implies that he was a humane ruler and lover of music and art. But he was not!

Nero Claudius Caesar was a despotic but artist ruler who registered a memorable landmark in the history of Roman art but left a poor political image in the history of Rome and perhaps, of the world. Successive generations of Roman people bore the imprint of Nero's widespread devastation.

His controversial life and senseless way of administration were directly accountable to one gradual decline of Roman empire and degeneracy of Kingship.

By this time, the Roman empire had reached the climax of its imperial power and had extended from Atlantic ocean to the Caspian sea; from the mid point of Britain to Morocco.

Nero's mother Agripina had exhibited feminine brutality at its worst in her attempt to make her son the emperor of Rome. She had arranged her third marriage with her uncle Claudius Caesar to pre-empt the tradition of his first son, Britanicus becoming the Roman emperor.

Agripina succeeded in poisoning Claudius against Britanicus (his son of the first marriage) and coaxed him into nominating young Nero Claudius Caesar as the legitimate heir to the Roman throne. Later Agripina conspired to cut off Claudius as she had sensed a possibility of Claudius rethinking his decision. However, Claudius had named Nero as heir to the throne when he died of poisoning in 54 AD. Thus Agripina placed 16 year old Nero on the throne by obtaining support from, and brifing the powerful people in the palace.

Poison - first move

Even though emperor Nero was vested with all powers of the whole Empire, he was assailed by self-doubt and insecurities about his power. His sense of instability was redoubled by his fear of Britanicus who would possibly fight fiercely some day for his rights to the throne. At a dinner in the Palace, Nero secretly mixed poison with what was in Britanicus' cup while all royalty were having meals.

As Britanicus struggled for his life, Nero enjoyed the best foods announcing that Britanicus might be under an epileptic fit and he should be promptly cared for. He had obtained the formula of virulent poison from Lokust who was an expert on poison in the empire. History records this as the first murder by emperor Nero.

Next we see that Nero becomes terrifyingly venomous towards his mother because she protests against his romance with Sophia and he wants to detach his power from mother's grip. History has it that Nero took part in a public festival on the coast and dispatched Agripina to the Palace on a special vessel which had been blueprinted to smash itself to bits in the middle of its voyage. Yet Agripina managed to save her life by swimming in spite of the accident and totally unaware of the sinister moves by her son, sent a messenger to Nero.

Nero grew agitated at the news of his mother's adventure and quickly dropped a dagger at the feet of the messenger. He shouted to his soldiers. Here he announced to his soldiers that his mother had sent a murderer to kill him. They immediately killed Agripina and the messenger.

Emperor Nero was highly taken up with chariot riding and he even organised chariot riding competitions. In almost every competition, Nero dictated victory and if ever any competitor were to win, the emperor made arrangements to deprive the rival competitor of his life.

Boundless extravagance

Numerous tales of Nero's gross mismanagement and financial extravagance abound in Roman history. Emperor Nero was often seen engaged in gambling which included unimaginable bids and he offered highly expensive gifts and favours to actors and actresses who won his special appreciation. Apart from that he frequently organised grand hunting sessions which demanded high scale State expense. He employed around thousand carts drawn by silver-shod mules for these stately cruises and personal excursions.

When the State coffers lacked enough funds to pay wages for his army, he appropriated personal property. He even assassinated wealthy businessmen in Roman-Africa simply to occupy their wealth and property. He even organised groups to plunder and loot churches in Rome.

The senate was by this time in negative attitudes to this headstrong emperor who was unnecessarily involved in competitions of drama and music. Nero Claudius Caesar had an exclusive passion for painting, moulding and rather eccentrically, writing lyrics.

The senators argued that as an emperor, Nero was acting far beneath his dignity and the empire was being increasingly undermined by his unscrupulous use of State property. The best painter selected by the emperor was Famulus who was largely responsible for the elegant art work in Nero's gold palace. Famulus who was in a Toga while he was painting on scaffoldings, gave a unique Roman identity to his arts.

Rome on fire

Yet Nero successfully managed to camouflage his frenzied merrymaking by providing free food for the public and by mounting lavish festivities for them. He was particularly popular by now among Romans because he used to steer his chariot by himself in public places.

This made people far less conscious of Nero's unbalanced and wasteful life.

It was a moonlit night in Rome in 64 AD. A conflagration which had started from a corner of the city was sweeping across portions of Rome trapping priceless buildings and property.

While the valuable artwork, buildings and property were being engulfed by huge flames reaching several metres into the sky, emperor Nero, settled comfortably on the top of a pillar, was seen singing a song depicting the fall of Troy.

According to Tacitus, a Roman historian, emperor Nero levelled all charges on Christians and condemned them to death after arresting them secretly.

In spite of who was directly responsible for setting the city of fire, Nero selected Christian' culprits' and crucified some of them; Others were brutally burned alive as candles. Nero was a spectator of all this among people and sometimes he relished sight of these tortures by keeping inside his chariot.

Emperor Nero re-erected the burnt city of Rome and made it a complete city replete with picturesque gardens, ponds, decorated roads and a gold palace. He called the new city "Nero Polis."

He erected his own statue (120 feet in height) at the city gate and his Palace was studded with gold and gems.

The public opinion was that Nero had set fire to the city to find a reasonable ground for rebuilding the city and creating a paradise for himself.

Before long, he fled the city. As the soldiers were approaching to capture him alive, Nero committed suicide.

His last words were "This death marks the end of a great artist.