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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;kevin McGonigal, post: 4499178, member: 72790&quot;]If you were to conduct a &quot;man-in-the-street&quot; interview with passersby&nbsp; and ask them, &quot;Do you know the names of some Roman Emperors&quot;, you would, no doubt, get the names, from some of the folks you asked, of a few of the better known ones. Perhaps those interested in Biblical or religious history might name Augustus, Tiberius or perhaps Constantine. Those in Britain might name Claudius or Hadrian&nbsp; and many would answer with Julius Caesar although, technically, he is not usually considered to have been an emperor. But you can almost guarantee that one of the Roman emperors would be frequently mentioned, maybe more than any other, Nero Caesar Augustus Drusus Germanicus, or just plain, Nero. If you went further and asked them what they know about him you would get answers like &quot;He&#039;s the one who killed his mother, burned down most of Rome and fed all those Christians to the lions&quot;. A few of the more literate interviewees might throw in killing his brother and his long time tutor along with his very pregnant wife. Not exactly an encouraging Vita for a job interview.</p><p><br /></p><p>Of course most historians discount the more lurid biographies of the Roman emperors such as have been left to us by the likes of Tacitus, Suetonius and Dio Cassius, all of whom would have done well today for writing the scripts of daily TV soap operas. But Hollywood and TV have done a very good job of presenting Nero, thanks to those biographies, as a monster, and to be honest, it does seem difficult not to see him as a warped, even depraved individual whose reign for Rome was disastrous</p><p><br /></p><p>There are biographies out there (and no shortage of them) which paint Nero as a kind of dual personality. The early part of his reign shows him to be sensitive young man, a starving artist type, wanting g to be loved for his artistic talents but constantly being ordered about, nagged, criticized&nbsp; and hectored by one of the most domineering woman of Roman History, Agrippina the Younger. The defense for Nero argues that he tried to be the dutiful son of Agrippina but that he drew the line at not sharing the power to rule, even with &quot;the best of mothers&quot;. When she threated to pull a Claudius or Britannicus on him if he did not, he acted in self defense. That he killed his pregnant wife, Poppaea, seems doubtful as he and she seemed to get on well with each other. It is true that he ordered the forced suicide of his teacher and advisor, Seneca, but he may actually have been involved in a plot to overthrow Nero.</p><p><br /></p><p>What had him seen in a really bad light was his love of all things Greek. He tried introducing a more Hellenic tone to the &quot;games&quot; but the Roman mob much preferred slaughter to athletics and poetry recitals and the upper class were scandalized that an emperor would race chariots in a public venue. The mob did not seem to mind that, though. What they did mind was a terrible fire that some thought Nero took advantage of for some urban renewal projects. That Nero started the Great Fire of 64 AD is discounted by modern historians and even ancient historians were aware that Nero was not even in the city when it started and that he did yeoman&#039;s work trying to aid the suffering victims. Still, all the new construction on the fire swept hills did not go over well. What Christians are very&nbsp; much aware of is that Nero launched a persecution of the early Christian Church in Rome to deflect any possible suspicion of the fire on him. How much of a persecution there was is debatable. Early Christian apologists may have exaggerated the scope and magnitude of the event for didactic purposes.</p><p><br /></p><p>When matters began going downhill with the Jewish rebellion in the East, Nero lost much of his popularity with the average Roman and when several governors in the provinces came to believe Nero had a hit list, with their names on it, they struck first and Nero, abandoned by the Praetorian Guard, decided to die by his own hand, thus depriving Rome of such a great artist, as he himself believed.</p><p><br /></p><p>Of his coinage, there is an abundance, most of it from the latter part of his reign with respect to his silver and gold as he reduced the weight and fineness of both in 64 AD. Gold and silver from before that reduction are scarce. His bronze coinage is abundant, again from the latter part of his reign. Below are some examples of his coinage. On the top from the left, is an As from 65 AD. On the reverse is the temple of Janus, whose doors were closed only in time of peace. Interestingly, the temple had doors but no roof. Nero was supposed to have been proud that he was a ruler who was able to close those doors, if only for a year or so. The coin is Sear 1974. Next is a big Dupondius of about 67 AD showing SECVRITAS. Sear 1968 Third from the left is another Dupondius with Roma seated of 67 AD. Sear 1966 The fourth coin is an aureus of 65 AD, of reduced weight, 6.95 grams. Sear 1927. Supposedly it was issued as part of the Neronian Games.</p><p><br /></p><p>On the bottom row, again from the left, is a Nero tetradrachma from Antioch, Syria 14.3 grams. Next is an Alexandria tetradrachma with a bust of Alexandria on the reverse weighing in at 13.25 grams. The third from the left is not a denarius. It is Latin Language didrachma of Caesaraea of 7.17 grams from about 60 AD It is Sear 2055. On the reverse is a portrait of Claudius, the adoptive father of Nero. The last is a tetradrachma of an uncertain Syrian mint again showing Nero on the obverse and Claudius on the reverse. Sear 2053.</p><p><br /></p><p>If you have any opinion on Nero as a &quot;bad emperor&quot; or any coins with him on them please share with our readers.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1115776[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]1115777[/ATTACH][/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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