Roman Emperor from 54 to 68, and the last in the Julio-Claudian dynasty, Nero, full name Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, infamously known as the Emperor who ‘fiddled while Rome burned’ and as an early persecutor of Christians, committed suicide on this day in AD 68. Abandoned by his friends and loyalists, he had previously called for a gladiator or anyone else adept with a sword to kill him, crying, “Have I neither friend nor foe?” when no one responded. Upon learning he had been declared public enemy by the senate, Nero had prepared himself for suicide, muttering Qualis artifex pereo (“What an artist dies in me”), but losing his nerves, he had begged one of his companions to set an example by killing himself first. Not able bring himself to take his own life, Nero had later forced his private secretary, Epaphroditus, to slit his throat. Nero’s final words had been “Too late! This is fidelity!’
His rule is often associated with tyranny and extravagance, and he was known for executing people he perceived as enemies, including his own mother. His death ended the Julio-Claudian Dynasty, sparking a brief period of civil wars known as the Year of the Four Emperors.
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