When Rome was on fire, Nero was playing the Sukh and Chinese whistle.
This proverb is famous about the Roman emperor Nero. Nero is also accused of setting Rome on fire, and that he did so on purpose.
Nero is called a ruthless ruler of history who murdered his mother, stepmothers and wives and married birds in his court.
At the age of sixteen, Nero became the head of an empire in 54 AD, thanks to the efforts of his mother, whose empire stretched from Spain to Britain in the north and Syria in the east.
His mother brought Nero to power
His hungry mother Agrapina put Nero on the throne in power through conspiracy and palace manipulations. Agarpina married his ‘uncle’, the Emperor Claudius, and then Nero married the king’s daughter, who became a member of the royal family as well as the king’s heir, despite the fact that the king had a son of his own.
Agarpina is claimed to have killed King Claudius by eating poisonous ‘mushrooms’ or mushrooms, but the accuracy of this tradition has not been confirmed.
Nero killed his mother
When Nero came to power, his mother, Agarpina, was his closest adviser and there was a picture of him even on Roman coins with a picture of him. But Nero assassinated his mother almost five years after he came to power, probably because he wanted more power and freedom.
The first attempt at Nero's assassination of his mother was unsuccessful. Nero invited his mother to a ceremony on the beach and then decided to send her back to a ship that was intended to sink, but survived the assassination attempt. Nero then accused his mother and sent people to kill her.
Why did Nero kill his mother?
Speaking on a BBC radio program, Professor Maria Wyke, an expert on ancient Rome, said: "Nero 's mother was very authoritative and, according to tradition, went so far as to try to keep her son in his arms. She did not even refrain from having sex with her son.
According to him, there is no historical evidence that Nero and his mother had sex, but according to tradition, the executor who put Nero, when he reached Agarpina, pointed at his stomach and said he was there. The knife should be struck ‘where Nero’s sin is brewing’.
According to Maria, Nero saw an atmosphere of power struggle in his youth, which had a profound effect on his personality and thinking.
Marriages and assassinations of power in the Roman Empire
“We’re talking about the first century, when the Roman Empire stretched from Britain in Europe to Syria in Asia,” Maria Wieck said, referring to the period in which Nero gained consciousness. But this huge empire was destabilized and passed by an independent head of state, the Senate. Augustus, the first emperor of the Roman Empire, introduced the idea of equality among those in power in the empire.
In the system introduced by Augustus Caesar, the first Roman emperor, they wanted to keep power behind the same family of Julius Claudius Caesar. This resulted in a power struggle within the family. In order to gain power, family marriages, child adoptions, divorces, deportations, deportations and all sorts of tactics were used to deflate your opponent.
Nero's grandmother was imprisoned during the reign of Tiberius, the second Roman emperor. Nero's mother was exiled during the reign of the third king. During the reign of Claudius, Nero's mother returned and married the king, who was also an 'uncle', to establish herself in the royal family.
According to Shamsha Malik, a professor at the University of Southampton in the UK, who appeared in a BBC radio program on the personality and character of Nero, Claudius IV, emperor of the Roman Empire, ruled from 41 to 54 AD. In the last days of his reign, Claudius relied more on his wives, including Nero's mother, Agarpina.
According to Shishma Malik, one of these wives, a very famous woman, wrote in the history books about Musalina that she spread cleanly for her disciples around Claudius. She is said to have had a ‘physical relationship’ with Senators and did not care for her status to satisfy her speed. History shows that she had a great influence on Claudius.
Comparing the times of Nero and Claudius, Shishma Malik says that he was surrounded by a number of good people in the early days of Nero, including a rector named Seneca and Afrika Bruce. Seneca was a philosopher and author of Nero's speeches.
Nero had his wives killed
When Nero became embarrassed by his first wife, Octavia, he expelled her and ordered her to be killed.
Afterwards, Nero fell in love with Popia and they married. When Popia was pregnant, Nero killed her one day in a fit of rage.
Golden age
The first five years of Nero's rule are considered to be a golden age for the Romans.
In ancient Rome, the Senate was the administrative and advisory body. Nero gave more power to the Roman Senate, kept Roman forces with him, and gained popularity among the general public by running sports competitions. But these early achievements were hampered by horrific violence and barbarism during the rest of Nero 's reign.
Because of his role, Nero became a symbol of evil and ugliness in history and literature.
According to Professor Shishma Malik, in his early days, Nero assured the Senate that the neglected way in the Senate of Claudius in his time would not happen and that the importance of this institution in the affairs of the state would be restored.
Nero also confirmed that salaries would be paid to the Pretorian Guard of the Roman Army on time.
In those early days, Nero left much of Rome's business to the Senate.
Nero also tried to persuade him that there would be no "cases of terrorism" where members of the Senate had conspired against each other. According to Shamsha Malik, in the early days of his rule, Nero tried to restore the confidence of the Senate and ensure that he would be a better ruler for himself and for Rome.
According to Shishma Malik, at the same time Nero organized large-scale Greek-style games in 54 AD to please the Romans. Many things were also included in these games for the entertainment of the people, such as circuses, etc.
Matthew Nichols, a professor at St. John’s College University in the UK, confirms with historical references that Nero’s early days were considered to be the golden age of Rome. He said that even today they take many steps like the rulers in their early days, which increases their popularity among the people but gradually they become prey to their ruling style.
According to Matthew, Nero 's public popularity was largely maintained until his last days.
Highlighting the problems Nero faced during his reign, Matthew says that he was the fifth and last king of Julius Claudius' dynasty.
According to Matthew, when Nero came to power, he had many problems. Apparently, it came to power as a continuation of a stable system of transition. But there was fierce competition in the family for power, and the politics and conspiracy of the family were on the rise. In addition, there was an elite of the Senate, which must be satisfied. In addition, there were also provincial governors who had the army. Above all, the people of Rome were interested in sports and festivals.
Matthew says Nero had to balance the interests of all of them and keep them happy.
When asked that there was little difference between the empire that Nero had acquired and the empire that he left, Matthew agrees that the empire was built on the constant expansion of borders, in Nero's time. The empire did not expand, but maintaining stability was a major challenge. .
According to him, the looting was terminated due to lack of additional victory in which case it becomes more difficult to maintain stability.
Did Nero really play the whistle when Rome was on fire?
In 64 AD, Rome burned to ashes. There was a rumor that Nero, the emperor of the Empire, started the fire himself, followed by a rumor that Nero was playing the whistle when Rome was on fire.
Regarding the fire, historian Shishma Malik says that at least two historians in the second and third centuries confirm that Nero himself set Rome on fire in order to rebuild it. Nero wanted to build his famous Golden House.
But some historians use the argument in favor of Nero that he did not start the fire because his own palace was engulfed in flames.
According to Shishma Malik, another historian of the same period, Tacitus, says that it was rumored that Nero himself started the fire in the city. "It came to our notice then. Nero rebuilt the city in a much better way. Wide roads were built so that the fire could not spread so quickly again and better building materials were used.
According to Matthew, two historical sources say that Nero himself set the city on fire, arguing that when the city was on fire, Nero began to sing in special costume.
How true was it that Nero was playing the whistle when Rome was burning? Matthew says that the flute was invented in the seventh century and that there was no flute in Nero 's time. It is also said that Nero must play an instrument called Lyre.
Nero accused the Christian community of setting Rome on fire
Nero blamed the arson on the Christian elite.
Schmidt Malik says that Tacitus writes at the time that the number of members of the Christian community in Rome was very small and that the common people knew little about Christian religious beliefs and had ugly feelings about them.
That is why it was so easy to accuse Christians, which the general public easily believed.
Nero then persecuted members of the Christian community as punishment for fire. They were hanged in public, placed in front of wild dogs, burned alive at night, and the public gathered to watch.
Incomplete Nero Palace
After the fire, Nero built a magnificent palace. It is said that there was a ‘golden room’ with luxury furniture and perfume pipes installed inside the walls to perfume the room.
Extensive resources were expended on the construction of this palace but it was never completed.
In a city trying to get out of a pile of ashes, the people were unhappy with the construction of the palace, which was apparently said to be opened to them and there would be games and celebrations.
Nero turned to Greece for acting
Nero loved to play musical instruments and sing. Nero also performed on stage, and the emperor’s pastime was not a proud Roman leader in the eyes of the Senate. But Nero did not care, and took a year off to go to Greece, where he competed in theatrical performances.
Nero is said to have worn the mask of his second wife, Popia, every time he played the role of a heroine in presenting a tragic story on stage, with the apparent intention of expressing guilt and sorrow for his murder.
Dramatic death of 'enemy of the people'
By the age of 30, Nero's opposition and disrespect had grown exponentially. With the support of the army, the Senate declared Nero to be “the enemy of the people,” which meant that he somehow died, meaning that he would be killed wherever he was.
Nero security officers, who fled in the dark of night, hid in a palace on the outskirts of the city and committed suicide.
It is said that when Nero took his own life, his last words were ‘Qualis artifex pereo’. Experts say the exact meaning of Nero's last-minute words is difficult to come by, but they have different meanings:
"I am an artist even in my death"
"Which artist is dying with me?"
"I'm dying as a businessman"
Whatever the meaning of Nero's words, his last words were as dramatic as his character.
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