AHC: Nero the Great

AHC: Nero the Great

My first one of these so your challenge is to make Nero be remembered as a great emperor. What would need to be changed in regard to his personality and the policies?

After reading Nero: The End of a Dynasty by Miriam Griffin. It seems like he did have some positive aspects to his reign. He cared about lower classes more than your average Emperor and sponsored Hellenistic culture. Though to be remembered as a good emperor I believe he would need to gain the approval of the Senatorial class and have a long stable reign.

Peter Ustinov singing as Nero to set the mood:
 
I find it darkly hilarious that Alcibiades is asking this!

My take on Nero is that he reacted to the freedom he gained from his mother's death by going all excesses. I don't know if her dying earlier would have helped, or if she had had a plan for her own death it would have helped.

He also seems to have been the dude at the top who managed everyone else, rather than having his own powerbase, and the rebellion which destroyed him showed how weak this could leave you.

Of course, an heir who lived would have helped greatly, preferably a male one, as the dynasty had come to an end with him, but if there was a succession then maybe people would not have been so open to throwing themselves in to supporting the new
 
My take on Nero is that he reacted to the freedom he gained from his mother's death by going all excesses. I don't know if her dying earlier would have helped, or if she had had a plan for her own death it would have helped.

I think it might have been partly the freedom, and partly the guilt of having ordered his mother's death. No matter how terrible she was, matricide is a big deal, and I can't imagine it didn't leave Nero a bit f*&ked in the head. Similarly, there's the fact that Nero took the throne at 19. Now, people can take the throne at young ages and turn out well, but giving teenagers that kind of power can also end up poorly. I also get the feeling from Tacitus that Claudius kind of became less engaged with the empire and his heir after the whole affair with Messalina. Maybe if that gets prevented (have Messalina die before her affair becomes public, have her stay loyal, have it not get found out, etc) Claudius can give Nero more guidance before he becomes emperor. At the same time leaving Claudius alive, and preferably not married to Agrippina, would probably mean that Nero would take the throne later in life with some years of experience under his belt- a more mature, more stable Nero would be good. And throughout all this you want Agrippina dead ASAP, preferably through natural causes or an accident. The less Nero has to do with his mother's death the better.
 
I think it might have been partly the freedom, and partly the guilt of having ordered his mother's death. No matter how terrible she was, matricide is a big deal, and I can't imagine it didn't leave Nero a bit f*&ked in the head.

Okay, it's easy then. Have his mother slip in bathtub and break her neck, so Nero doesn't go crazier from guilt of killing her.
 
Right. Preferably before killing Claudius.
Yes. It might prolong Claudius life, even if his death was natural causes, and not murder.
If he died of old age or normal disease, those last months fighting with Agrippina would contribute to his exhaustion, and finish him off. I'd give him at least an extra six months.

However, there is still the matter of Britannicus. While Cladius could've died of natural causes, death of Britannicus was clearly poisoning. If Claudius lives, he is in position to protect Britannicus, and if he lives much longer, he could even make him his heir (in couple months after his father's OTL death, he'd reach adulthood). So that could mean no Emperor Nero.
 
Yes. It might prolong Claudius life, even if his death was natural causes, and not murder.
If he died of old age or normal disease, those last months fighting with Agrippina would contribute to his exhaustion, and finish him off. I'd give him at least an extra six months.

However, there is still the matter of Britannicus. While Cladius could've died of natural causes, death of Britannicus was clearly poisoning. If Claudius lives, he is in position to protect Britannicus, and if he lives much longer, he could even make him his heir (in couple months after his father's OTL death, he'd reach adulthood). So that could mean no Emperor Nero.
On the other hand, it's possible having Britannicus as a rival could drive Nero to greater accomplishments.
 

ar-pharazon

Banned
If Nero successfully does conquer Nubia and Kush and reaches the source of the Nile or at least gets close to it then I think that would be enough to consider him great.
 
I think it might have been partly the freedom, and partly the guilt of having ordered his mother's death. No matter how terrible she was, matricide is a big deal, and I can't imagine it didn't leave Nero a bit f*&ked in the head. Similarly, there's the fact that Nero took the throne at 19. Now, people can take the throne at young ages and turn out well, but giving teenagers that kind of power can also end up poorly. I also get the feeling from Tacitus that Claudius kind of became less engaged with the empire and his heir after the whole affair with Messalina. Maybe if that gets prevented (have Messalina die before her affair becomes public, have her stay loyal, have it not get found out, etc) Claudius can give Nero more guidance before he becomes emperor. At the same time leaving Claudius alive, and preferably not married to Agrippina, would probably mean that Nero would take the throne later in life with some years of experience under his belt- a more mature, more stable Nero would be good. And throughout all this you want Agrippina dead ASAP, preferably through natural causes or an accident. The less Nero has to do with his mother's death the better.

Agreed. Find a way to kill her like right after Nero's birth. Just have him raised by Claudius, or someone reasonably sane and in the Emperor's inner circle. Nero would be far better off that way...
 
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