History UsefulNotes / Nero

* NotBloodSiblings: His first wife was his step-sister([[KissingCousins and cousin-once-removed]]) Claudia Octavia. While popular [[UnwantedSpouse Nero hated being marrying to her]] and eventually managed to divorce her.

* As mentioned below, Nero appears as a genderbent Saber servant in the ''[[Anime/FateEXTRALastEncore Fate/EXTRA Last Encore]]'' original anime based on the ''VideoGame/FateExtra'' video game.

* GenderBender: in the ''VideoGame/{{Fate}}'' series, Nero is a blonde, sword-wielding woman. She is immensely popular. How popular? Do a Google image search for Nero Claudius, you;'ll get more than a dozen pictures of the Fate Nero before you get to one of the actual emperor.

* BeardOfEvil: He had a neckbeard[[note]]pretty similar to the one associated by antisocial geeks nowadays[[/note]], and he was at least a ruthless emperor who is often subject to HistoricalVillainUpgrade in fiction.

Nero (born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, 15 December 37 – 9 June 68 AD) was a notorious [[UsefulNotes/TheRomanEmpire Roman Emperor]] and among UsefulNotes/{{Augustus}}, UsefulNotes/{{Caligula}}, Hadrian, Marcus Aurelius, and Constantine the Great is one of the most famous. Note that much of his infamy - similarly to Tiberius and Domitian - is handed down to us by how much the elite of ancient times hated him. In particular, the fact Nero loved to [[FunPersonified strum his lyre, host grand parties, and pined to become a gladiator]] was altogether against the morals of the kind of people who recorded history at the time. [[WrittenByTheWinners Further to this, he became one of Christianity's earliest and most infamous villains.]] It's worth bearing in mind when reading about how apparently despicable he was.

Nero's early reign was decent, but after five years he started to become more preoccupied with leading a decadent life. He drank and ate a lot and immersed himself in perverted sexual behaviour, both with men and women. The emperor fancied himself a wonderful poet, singer and lyricist, so much even that he supposedly [[WhileRomeBurns played the lyre during the Great Fire of Rome]] in 64 AD and even lit the city on fire personally.[[note]]Nowadays, history presumes that both fires (yes, there were ''two'' Great Fires of Rome) were caused by bad city design and some spilled coals in a tenement section of the city.[[/note]] After the disaster Nero ordered the construction of a large palace, the ''Domus Aurea'' ("Golden House") on the destructed area of Rome, with a 40 meter high statue of himself. Nero also persecuted Christians and blamed them for the Great Fire. [[RefugeInAudacity He had many of them tied up on poles next the road, then covered in tar and set on fire, so they could function as street lighting during parties]].

After Nero's death his name lived on in infamy, not least because everyone at the time not in his personal circle absolutely hated him. The aristocratic pagan writers of his day and the subsequent centuries loathed him for his affronts to Roman dignity -- particularly his love of acting and the stage, [[TheWickedStage seen as low pursuits]] -- and the Christians who took charge 300 years later identified him with ''evil'' on account of his persecutions of the early Christians.[[note]]The Roman common people (whose accounts have not survived) were probably less negative at first, but he quickly fell out of their good graces too on account of high taxes, bad management, and stupid moves like building his ridiculously lavish palace after the Great Fire rather than using that wealth to rebuild the city as well as sending a load of sand to Rome instead of wheat.[[/note]] He is still seen as the prime example of a bad and mad emperor, while at the same being perhaps the most famous Roman emperor to the general public (save perhaps UsefulNotes/{{Augustus}}). More recent historians have started to doubt whether Nero's reputation [[WrittenByTheWinners wasn't just the result of some serious badmouthing]]. By all accounts the guy was cruel, unhinged, and dangerously power-hungry, but several of the stories about him are certainly false.

* GenderBender: in the ''Franchise/{{Fate}}'' series, Nero is a blonde, sword-wielding woman. She is immensely popular. How popular? Do a Google image search for Nero Claudius, you;'ll get more than a dozen pictures of the Fate Nero before you get to one of the actual emperor.

* HistoricalVillainUpgrade: One of the real classic cases. He may have been a bad guy in many regards, but he wasn't remotely as evil as movies like ''Film/QuoVadis'' and ''Sign Of The Cross'' depict him. Tacitus mentions that Nero actually was quite active in providing good fire relief measures to the poor. Mary Beard also noted that in the Year of the Four Emperors of 68 CE, there were many people who claimed to be "Nero", which does make one wonder why anyone would want to claim to be Nero returned to life, if the man was so unpopular.

* FalseFlagOperation: Both at the time and later he was blamed for starting the Fire of Rome to justify his rebuilding process, and these accusations led to him scapegoating the Christians to quell said accusations. In reality he was innocent, [[NotHelpingYourCase but some of his behavior afterwards gave credence to the theory]].

* MyBelovedSmother: His mother Agrippina is generally portrayed as very controlling, if not just straight-up incestuous (due to accusations leveled at her by Tacitus after her death), explaining why he eventually kills her.

Nero's death would kick off the Year of the Four Emperors, the first Roman civil war in which four Emperors ruled in succession: Galba, who ruled for just one year, Otho and Vitellius, who didn't make it past even one year, and Vespasian, who would rule the empire for a decade, establish the Flavian Dynasty of Roman emperors and is credited with bringing political stability to Rome following the chaotic reigns of his predecessors.

Nero's death would kick off the Year of the Four Emperors, the first Roman civil war in which four Emperors ruled in succession: Galba, who ruled for just one year, Otho and Vitellius, who wouldn't make it past even one year, and Vespasian, who would rule the empire for a decade, establish the Flavian Dynasty of Roman emperors and is credited with bringing political stability to Rome following the chaotic reigns of his predecessors.

** However, Australian novelist Stephen Dando-Collins boldly claims in his [[BlatantLies totally accurate]] book on the Great Fire of Rome that the people persecuted were not Christians, but worshippers of the goddess [[Myth/EgyptianMythology Isis]]. Never mind that Isis was reasonably popular in Roman times, and therefore her cult did not die out until the rise of Christianity in the 4th century.

** However, Australian novelist Stephen Dando-Collins boldly claims in his [[BlatantLies totally accurate]] book on the Great Fire of Rome that the people persecuted were not Christians, but worshippers of the goddess [[Myth/EgyptianMythology Isis]]. Never mind that Isis was reasonably popular in Roman times.

* {{Trumplica}}: How he is depicted in ''WesternAnimation/Animaniacs2020''.

* He appeared in ''WesternAnimation/TheStorykeepers'', which is set in 64AD.

He was adopted by Emperor Claudius on behalf of his new wife Agrippina The Younger, who was Nero's mother (and UsefulNotes/{{Caligula}}'s [[VillainousLineage sister]]). In 54 AC Claudius was poisoned by Agrippina, making Nero his successor. As emperor, Nero immediately made sure nobody stood in his way. He poisoned his adoptive and step brother Britannicus in 55 AD, ordered the execution of his first wife Claudia Octavia and in 59 AD even the woman who placed him on his throne: mother Agrippina. In 65, he beat his second wife Poppaea to death while she was pregnant with their child.

After Nero's death his name lived on in infamy, not least because everyone at the time not in his personal circle absolutely hated him. The aristocratic pagan writers of his day and the subsequent centuries loathed him for his affronts to Roman dignity--particularly his love of acting and the stage, seen as low pursuits--and the Christians who took charge 300 years later identified him with ''evil'' on account of his persecutions of the early Christians.[[note]]The Roman common people--whose accounts have not survived--were probably less negative at first, but he quickly fell out of their good graces too on account of high taxes, bad management, and stupid moves like building his ridiculously lavish palace after the Great Fire rather than using that wealth to rebuild the city as well as sending a load of sand to Rome instead of wheat.[[/note]] He is still seen as the prime example of a bad and mad emperor, while at the same being perhaps the most famous Roman emperor to the general public (save perhaps UsefulNotes/{{Augustus}}). More recent historians have started to doubt whether Nero's reputation [[WrittenByTheWinners wasn't just the result of some serious badmouthing]]. By all accounts the guy was cruel, unhinged, and dangerously power-hungry, but several of the stories about him are certainly false.

* EvilMatriarch: His mother Agrippina the Younger is typically depicted as this, likely having killed his predecessor and wanting to rule through him.

* In ''ComicBook/SensationComics'' #39, ComicBook/WonderWoman encounters a [[LostTribe lost Roman colony]] ruled a [[HistroricalCharactersFictionalRelative descendant of Nero]] who is just as decadent as his ancestor.

* ''WesternAnimation/Animaniacs2020'': In the segment “Rome, Sweet Rome”, Nero is portrayed as a {{Trumplica}}. He breaks into a MajorGeneralSong which is later joined by the Warners, describing things about Nero that also apply to UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump, but then they mention golf sabbaticals and tweets, causing Yakko to question if they’re still talking about Nero.

* ''WesternAnimation/Animaniacs2020'': In the segment “Rome, Sweet Rome”, Nero is portrayed as a {{Trumplica}}. He breaks into a parody of “I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major General” which is later joined by the Warners, describing things about Nero that also apply to UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump, but then they mention golf sabbaticals and tweets, causing Yakko to question if they’re still talking about Nero.

[[folder:Film]]

* One of Medusa's crocodiles in ''WesternAnimation/TheRescuers'' is named afer Nero.

* Nero appears in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/GarfieldAndFriends'', where Garfield tells the story of the cat who invented lasagna. In the story, Nero is depicted as a VillainousGlutton who imprisons (or in some cases, executes) bad chefs. When the cat's owner (the cat and the owner being {{Expy}}s of Garfield and Jon) is thrown in prison, the cat appeals to the Emperor's appetite, claiming Jon is an excellent chef (even though he isn't) which persuades the Emperor to give him a chance. The cat's idea is that [[NotSoDifferent cats and emperors are very much alike]], lazy, greedy people who like to be waited on, so he figured the Emperor would like what ''he'' likes, and directs his owner to make what is eventually called lasagna. It works; the Emperor loves it, and pardons the man.

* FamousLastWords:
** ''Qualis artifex pereo'' ("What an artist dies in me").
** Alternately, ''Sero, haec est fides'' ("Too late. This is fidelity").

* ''ComicBook/{{Asterix}}'': In ''Asterix and the Secret Weapon'' Cacofonix leaves the Gauls' village and says: "Qualis artifex pereo" ("A great artist leaves with me"). This is a ShoutOut to Nero's LastWords before he committed suicide.

He was adopted by Emperor Claudius on behalf of his new wife Agrippina The Younger, who was Nero's mother (and UsefulNotes/{{Caligula}}'s [[InTheBlood sister]]). In 54 AC Claudius was poisoned by Agrippina, making Nero his successor. As emperor, Nero immediately made sure nobody stood in his way. He poisoned his adoptive and step brother Britannicus in 55 AD, ordered the execution of his first wife Claudia Octavia and in 59 AD even the woman who placed him on his throne: mother Agrippina. In 65, he beat his second wife Poppaea to death while she was pregnant with their child.