Emperor's personal life
Nero was born in Antium, in Italy, on A.D. Dec. 15, 37, to his mother, Agrippina the Younger, and his father, Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus. His father, a former Roman consul, died when he was about 3 years old, and his mother was banished by the Emperor Caligula, leaving him in the care of an aunt. His name at birth was Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus. After the murder of Caligula in A.D. Jan. 41, and the ascension of Emperor Claudius shortly afterward, mother and son were reunited. His ambitious mother would go on to marry Claudius (who was also her uncle) in A.D. 49, and she saw to it that he adopted her son, giving him a new name that started with "Nero." His tutors included the famous philosopher Seneca, a man who would continue advising Nero, far into his reign. The newly adopted son would later take the hand of his stepsister, Octavia, in marriage, and become Claudius' heir apparent, the emperor choosing him over his own biological son, Britannicus. In the first two years of Nero's reign, his coins depicted him side by side with his mother. She managed for him all the business of the empire, received embassies and sent letter to various communities, governors and kings. An influential woman indeed. Nero and his mother appear to have had a falling out within about two years of his becoming emperor. Her face stopped appearing on Roman coins after A.D. 55, and she appears to have lost power in favor of Nero's top advisers, Seneca and Burrus. They fell out further when Nero began cheating on his wife; a marriage Agrippina had worked hard to arrange. Officially, the reason given for Nero's orders to kill his own mom in A.D. 59. was that she was plotting to kill him. Nero, not trusting his Praetorian Guard to carry out the killing, ordered naval troops to sink a boat that she would be sailing on. This first attempt failed, with his mother swimming to shore. Nero then ordered assassins to do the job directly. Nero, much to his relief, found his actions applauded. The senators said that they believed his life was at risk and congratulated him on killing his own mother. Seneca himself wrote Nero's report on the murder to the Senate. Nero would go on to marry the already pregnant Poppaea Sabina in a year A.D. 62, and she would give birth to their daughter (who lived only about three months) in January, A.D. 63. He took the death of their infant daughter hard and had the baby deified. In A.D. 65, while Poppaea was pregnant again, she died. Ancient writers say Nero killed her with a kick to the belly.

Nero's influence on the Empire
After the death of Claudius in A.D. 54., Nero, with the support of the Praetorian Guard and at the age of 17, became emperor. Seneca wrote a remarkable accession speech, where Nero promised to uproot the corruption that plagued Claudius’ court and return powers to the Senate. And while others had promised this before, incredibly, Nero actually stuck to his words; reversing egregious laws, and restoring authority to the Senate. The death of Agrippina appears to have marked an important change in Nero's rule, as he paid less attention to his advisors. The emperor had always dreamed of racing chariots and singing in public, but Seneca and Burrus had kept his worst excesses under control, by having him practice in private. Now, rebranding himself as Apollo (the sun god of chariots and song), he began paving the way towards his public debut. More festivals and public celebrations of the emperor followed, many bringing Greek traditions to Rome, much to the annoyance of the Roman elite, but to the delight of the plebeian class. On the night of A.D. July 18, 64, a fire started in the Circus Maximus that would burn out of control, raging for six days, leaving little of the city untouched. Historians agree that Nero was not playing a fiddle as Rome burned, but at the time it occurred, Nero was at Antium. He immediately returned to Rome to oversee relief efforts (while ancient writers tend to blame Nero for starting the fire, this is far from being certain, because much of Rome was made with combustible material, and the city was overcrowded). After the flames died down Nero apparently tried to cast blame on the Christians, at the time a fairly small sect. While it is not known whether Nero started the fire, he did take advantage of the space it cleared. He started work on his new palace called the "Domus Aurea" (golden house), which was said, at the entranceway, to have included a 120-foot-long (37 meter) column that contained a statue of him.
The troubles in the Empire
Nero's rule would have its share of bloodshed in places throughout the empire. In Britain, in A.D. 60, the Iceni Queen Boudica rose in rebellion after she was flogged and her daughters raped by Roman soldiers. Her husband, King Prasutagus, had made a deal with Claudius that would see him rule as a client-king. Upon his death in A.D. 59, the officials appointed by Nero ignored it, seizing Iceni land. At first, Boudica was successful, overrunning a number of Roman settlements and military units. Ancient sources say that Nero considered evacuating the island, but this proved unnecessary as the Roman commander on the island Gaius Suetonius Paulinus massed a force of 10,000 men and defeated Boudica at the Battle of Watling Street. Britain wasn't the only place where Rome had military trouble during Nero's reign. In the east, Rome fought, and essentially lost, a war with Parthia, having to give up plans to annex the kingdom of Armenia, which served as a buffer between the two powers. Additionally a rebellion in Judea in A.D. 67, near the end of Nero's reign, would eventually lead to the siege of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 and the destruction of the Second Temple. Back at home, there had been growing discontent with Nero, fueled by the Great Fire and concerns over his behavior. Growing increasingly paranoid, Nero tasked Tigellinus with uprooting the plotters, which he took as a license to wipe out his enemies, with even Seneca, who was eventually driven to commit suicide. In A.D. 66, not long after the death of his second wife and child, Nero embarked on a trip to Greece, which had been under Roman control for about two centuries by his time. Nero took part in several Greek festivals, taking home 1,808 first prizes for his artistic presentations. The Greeks also agreed to postpone the Olympic Games by one year so that Nero could compete in them. Shotter notes that Nero was so happy with the results of his trip to Greece that he rewarded the Greeks their "freedom," essentially tax exemption. However, the trip to Rome acted as a distraction from events back in Rome. Nero repeatedly ignored letters warning him of emerging rebellions back home, and having taken Tigellinus with him, Nero was even losing control of the Praetorians. It was only when Helius showed up in person that Nero decided to return, taking his time to indulge in Rome’s only ever artistic triumph. When he finally arrived back in Rome, he hardly ever spoke to anyone directly, lest he damage his singing voice, and when he did eventually summon the senate, rather than discussing the rebellion raging in Gaul, he gave them a lecture on musical instruments.

Emperor's demise
By A.D. 68, the problems Nero faced had piled up. He had killed his mother, first wife and, by some accounts, his second. Additionally, the rebuilding of Rome, not to mention the construction of his "golden house," was putting a financial strain on the empire. This forced him to raise taxes wherever he could and even take religious treasures, and Nero's support began to crumble. In April of 64, a Roman governor in Gaul named Gaius Iulius Vindex, renounced Nero and declared his support for Galba, then in Spain, for Emperor. Although Vindex killed himself after his forces were defeated by German legions in May, it was enough to undo Nero. Not long afterward, the Praetorian Guard, the force charged with guarding the Emperor himself, renounced their support for Nero and the now former Emperor was declared an enemy of the people by the Senate on June 8. The following day, he killed himself, and his long-time mistress Acte, was by his side and ensured Nero a decent burial in the family tomb of the Domitii on the Pincian Hill in Rome. After Nero's death, the Roman Empire plunged into chaos as a succession of short-lived Emperors tried to gain control of the empire. Nero still had a considerable deal of popular support and one of these Emperors, Otho, even renamed himself "Nero Otho". People also refused to believe that Nero was actually dead, various rumors circulated about Nero's death and, because of them, many believed or pretended to believe that he was still alive. As a result, over the years, many impersonators of the late Emperor appeared.