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Nero. c 65 AD. Bronze. SESTERTIUS. 23.98g. Rome. Laureate bust ofNero to right, legend around. Roma seated with Victory & parazonium. good Extremely Fine. S# 1961

The most affordable sestertius of this ruler. S# 1961. Lovely style to portrait, nearly full detail remaining.

NERO 54 ~ 68 AD

“For Nero, in fact, spent the rest of his life so disgracefully, that it is disgusting to record the existence of anyone of this kind, let alone that he was ruler of the world.” Aurelius Victor, Book of the Caesars (5).

Nero is one emperor of whom everyone has heard. Books and films portray him as a monster - a self-indulgent monarch who burned Rome to provide space for his country mansion, who murdered his mother and led a life of great extravagance. The truth behind this image is more complex. The real Nero was indeed a cruel man, but curiously he was also a great patron of the arts.

A gradual change came over Nero’s reign as the years progressed. Under the guidance of Seneca and Burrus, the beginning was marked by prudence and moderation. After the death of Burrus in 62, however, Seneca slipped into the background. The dominant figures became Poppaea and Ofolinus Tigellinus - the new Commander of the Praetorian Guard and the one who came to be known as the evil genius behind Nero’s later actions. Treason trials were resumed, and as money began to run short, taxes were raised, the coinage was debased, and wealthy men and their estates confiscated as a source of easy revenue.

The Great Fire which savaged Rome in 64 further damaged Nero’s reputation. Although he organised relief measures, opened public buildings as temporary shelters and provided cheap grain, people became convinced that Nero had started the fire himself in order to clear land for his new Golden House. This view was not helped by a rumour that Nero watched the fire from the Tower of Maecenas, and sang a song while in his regular stage costume. This gave rise to the famous story that he fiddled while Rome burned - if he did anything, it would have been to accompany himself on the lyre.

In spite of the excesses of his administration, much good was also accomplished. Massive building projects were undertaken, and during his reign we see a flourishing of architecture, literature and music. Finally, the military success of his generals led to the closing of the doors of Janus - an event only allowed in times of world peace.

Continual and repressive taxation led to an uprising by the governor of Gaul, and this was to prove Nero’s undoing. Relations with the senate began to deteriorate, and Nero openly planned to flee. He was hiding in his villa when soldiers arrived to arrest him - self pitying to the last, he exclaimed “What an artist the world is losing!” before stabbing himself in the neck. In the crisis of June 68, Nero failed to realise that he still commanded wide popular support. Had he stood firm, all might have been well - an emperor who ran before he was pushed only had himself to blame.