Persuasive Essay: Nero Was Bad Emperor for Rome

📌Category: History, Roman Empire
📌Words: 884
📌Pages: 4
📌Published: 03 April 2022

Nero was the 5th emperor of Rome, reigning from 54 CE to 68 CE. He was adopted by Roman emperor Cladius at the age of 13 and ascended his way to the throne. Nero was not a good emperor for Rome because he was more focused on the arts than ruling, built himself a palace after the Great Fire, and persecuted many Christians. These three reasons would lead to his death in 68 CE, and mark the end of the Roman Empire. The first reason why Nero wasn’t a good emperor for Rome is that he was more focused on the arts than ruling. 

To start, Nero wasn’t a good emperor for Rome because he was more focused on the arts and performing than ruling Rome. Agrippina the Younger, Nero’s mother, poisoned Emperor Claudius, causing Nero to take the throne at just 16 years old. His first few years as emperor were held in the hands of Seneca, Burris, and Agrippina, allowing Nero to channel his energies in the arts. He wrote poems, starred in many plays, and played the lyre (Nero, Encyclopedia Britannica). Nero’s love for the arts damaged his reputation with the Romans, as his behavior was inappropriate for an emperor. Over the years, Nero became more tyrannical, alienating himself from Seneca, Burris, and Agrippina (Stockdale, Nancy L). After Burris died, Agrippina was killed, and Seneca retired, Nero spun out of control. He took a 15 month trip to Naples, Greece, where he played the lyre and performed in many plays. For example, he instituted a game called the Quinquennial Neronia which was an imitation of Greek festivals and consisted of musical, gymnastics, and equestrian contests (P983 Quinquennalia). In addition, Nero also freed many Greek cities from Roman domination, outraging citizens, and causing revolts. Through the course of the paragraph, it shows examples of Nero’s interests in the arts, the feelings the Roman citizens felt, and how Nero alienated himself from his family. When Nero had stability in his life, he was able to perform, but as the people around him drifted apart, Nero became unstable. As well as his interest’s in the arts, Nero built himself a palace after the Great Fire.

Another reason why Nero wasn’t a good emperor for Rome was because he built himself a palace after the events of the Great Fire. Early in the morning of June 19, 64 CE, a blaze broke out in the shops around the Circus Maximus and quickly spread throughout the city. Over the next nine days, 3 of Rome’s 14 districts were destroyed and an additional 7 were severely damaged (Nero, History.com). After the fire emblazoned Rome for four days, Rome was left in destruction. The Roman citizen’s issue with the events of the Great Fire was that their emperor was nowhere to be seen. It is even speculated that Nero was in the middle of a performance when the fire began. The citizens were even more angered when they found out that the damaged sections of Rome were being built in Nero’s favorite Greek style (Nero, Encyclopedia Britannica). Nero also built himself a palace, which he called the “Golden House” (Nero, History.com). If Nero had truly cared about ruling or cared about his citizens, Nero would have spent money to help rebuild citizens’ homes and businesses. But instead, Nero built himself a palace all for himself and left the citizens to fend for themselves. This caused Nero’s reputation to take a hit, and the citizens of Rome saw Nero’s true colors. Plots then arose surrounding the events of the Great Fire, and because the citizens were irritated with Nero’s act, they blamed the fire on him too. These examples connect to the point of the paragraph because it shows how the citizens felt about Nero’s actions during the fire and showed how over time the citizens became fed up with Nero. Finally, Nero blamed the Christians for the Great Fire and persecuted many. 

Finally, Nero was not a good emperor for Rome because he blamed and persecuted many Christians following the events of the Great Fire. After the Roman populace blamed Nero for the Great Fire, Nero deflected attention off of himself by falsely charging the Christians with guilt, and punishing them with fearful tortures. An ancient historian, Tacitus, recorded that, “Nero covered the Christians with hides of wild beasts, and worried to death by dogs. (Nero, Eyewitnesshistory)”. In addition, Nero nailed the Christians to crosses and set them on fire (Nero, Eyewitnesshistory). Little sympathy was felt for Roman citizens, as they felt that their execution was justified. Eventually, though, the Roman citizens grew tired of Nero’s act, as many citizens called him compulsive and corrupt. The Roman Senate then devised a plan to crucify Nero, but Nero fled to Greece with his remaining slaves. On June 9th, 68 CE, Nero committed suicide by slitting his throat. Over the course of his time as emperor, Nero’s reputation had been passed as a mad emperor more interested in the arts than upholding the patrician expectations of Rome (Stockdale, Nancy L).

Nero was not a good emperor for Rome because he was more focused on the arts than ruling, built himself a palace after the events of the Great Fire, and blamed and persecuted many Christians. Over time, it became clear that Nero would have rather played the lyre and performed in plays than rule Rome as emperor (Nero, Encyclopedia Britannica). Building himself a palace after the Great Fire lost a lot of respect from the Roman citizens and damaged his reputation (Stockdale, Nancy L). Finally, the persecution of the Christians caused the citizens of Rome to revolt, leading to Nero’s death. Nero’s death would lead to destruction and mark the end of the Roman Empire.

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