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Nero: The End of a Dynasty (Roman Imperial Biographies) 1st Edition

by Miriam T. Griffin (Author)

19 ratings

Part of: Roman Imperial Biographies (22 books)

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Nero's personality and crimes have always intrigued historians and writers of fiction. However, his reign also illuminates the nature of the Julio-Claudian Principate. Nero's suicide brought to an end the dynasty Augustus had founded, and placed in jeopardy the political system he had devised. Miriam T. Griffin's authoratitive survey of Nero's reign incorporates both a chronological account, as well as an analysis of the reasons for Nero's collapse under the pressure of his role as emperor.

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'Nero is likely to find a wide readership, and deservedly so, since the author has taken care to make her exposition accessible to the layman.' - A. Wallace-Hadrill, Times Literary Supplement

'an important book based upon a complete mastery of the material.' - Joint Association of Classical Teachers Review

About the Author

Miriam Griffin

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Routledge; 1st edition (October 9, 1987)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 328 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0415214645
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0415214643
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.35 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 8.5 x 0.75 x 11 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,868,906 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #342 in Historical Italy Biographies
- #734 in Ancient History (Books)
- #745 in Ancient Rome Biographies

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Average User
interesting read
Reviewed in the United States on December 20, 2019
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Nuanced take on a historical figure that academia previously assumed to have all figured out.

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Chris
Biography of the Notorious Emperor
Reviewed in the United States on September 14, 2024
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The author, a historian at the University of Oxford, examines the life of one of the most notorious Roman Emperors, Nero. Nero was born into an established family -- he was the nephew of Caligula, the grand-nephew (and adopted son) of Claudius, and the great-great grandson of Augustus. His mother, Agrippina, was a domineering and power-hungry woman who married her own uncle, Claudius, when that feeble-minded man became emperor following the assassination of Caligula.

When Claudius died in 54 AD, Nero became emperor even though he was just a teenager. For the first few years, Nero pursued a conciliatory policy with the Roman Senate and his mother exerted enormous power as a virtual co-emperor, with her face even appearing on Roman coins. After a few years, however, Nero had his mother executed and began to fight more with the Senate.

Interestingly, the author argues that Nero was less interested in politics than he was in music, theatre, and sport. To the horror of the Roman aristocracy, Nero appeared in plays, performed in musical contests, and raced chariots at sporting events. Yet while these events broke elite Roman codes of decorum, they endeared Nero to the common people. Nero improved his standing with the common people even further by his building projects and dedication to ensuring a stable corn supply.

Eventually, Nero's unpopularity among the Roman elite increased to the point that there was a rebellion in the provinces. Although the author believes a stronger ruler could have suppressed what was ultimately a rather minor uprising, Nero fled and eventually committed suicide. What followed was a period of civil war and chaos, as the dynasty established by Augustus a century prior finally came to an end.

The author argues that the Roman imperial system established by Augustus had inherent instabilities. First, there was no single position of "Emperor", but rather a collection of various offices that had Augustus had taken on and then passed to his successors. For young rulers without military experience or undisputed claims to the throne (such as Nero, Caligula, and the later Domitian), the temptation to rule in a grandiose and authoritarian manner was intense. Second, because the title of Emperor did not flow to the eldest son (as in most monarchies), but instead Emperors could be adopted, there was an increasing number of potential claimants to the throne as the descendants of Augustus naturally increased. This created a situation of intense rivalry, leading Emperors to be suspicious and increasingly authoritarian.

I deduct one star because I lost interest in the author's lengthy digressions into various building projects.

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Robert C. Sellers
brilliant
Reviewed in the United States on July 11, 2018
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brilliant and helpful

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Tim N.
very disappointing
Reviewed in the United States on September 27, 2018
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I never write negative reviews but this book is almost impossible to get through. It's one of those books where you finish a page and ask yourself, "what did I just read?" The author is ALL OVER the place with this book. I've read enough ancient history in my life to appreciate the great authors and storytellers and this is absolutely not one of them.

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James Kenney
So, yeah, shiver in secret delight at this monster's evil deeds, but don't forget, half of them were probably made up
Reviewed in the United States on March 17, 2015
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In our haste to depict Nero as a "Monster" (oooh, how thrilling!) let's not forget the kid was only 17 when he donned the purple, and his mother made Medea (who scattered the dismembered parts of her children on the sea to delay her erstwhile lover Jason from pursuing her after she killed his wife) look like a piker. How would YOU have done if you were suddenly handed control of the world when you were in high school? Okay, probably better than this guy, but for those who'd like to demonize him, remember, as the author says, St. Augustine, writing 350 years later, records that the Greeks and other eastern Roman provincials, believed Nero wasn't really dead and would return some day. THEY must have liked him! The truth is, Nero was the first Roman emperor to show some respect for the Eastern half of the Empire, and frankly, that half was far more civilized, more sophisticated, more valuable and much older than the West, and was the part that was destined to survive the Huns and the Goths, and endure for another 1,000 years...so maybe they weren't such bad judges of character as the popular view would have us believe.
Tacitus had an obvious motive for painting Nero in the worst possible light. Suetonius is a hack, and anyone who relies on him for evidence, a fool. Cassius Dio wrote centuries later, and is of dicey reliability at best. These are our sources!
So, yeah, shiver in secret delight at this monster's evil deeds, but don't forget, half of them were probably made up, and the other half, while ill-advised (such as ordering his best general Corbulo to commit suicide) have a twisted logic to them that the events of the Year of Four Emperors makes only too clear.
An excellent study of a difficult Emperor in a difficult position, well-organized and reasonable, even though it too subscribes to the general myth that Nero was Satan incarnate. (Or at least, his understudy.)

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Glenn S.
An ok book.
Reviewed in the United States on September 5, 2016
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The book is a bit dry. It was good as far as a source of history, but not written in a way that suited my tastes.

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2 people found this helpful

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The Keen Reader
Nero - the last Julio-Claudian
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 29, 2013
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Miriam Griffin, of the University of Oxford, has taught, researched and written extensively on the Roman Republic and Empire. I have her book on Seneca waiting for me to read in a pile of books. This study of Nero, originally published in 1984, seeks to be "a hybrid, biographical in its concentration on the Emperor's personality and problems, historical in its analysis of his fall in terms of the interaction of that personality with the political system." This seems to me to be a very sensible approach to Nero: his personality cannot be separate from his rule, yet to what extent each contributed to or impacted on the other is a point of ongoing discussion between scholars. Part I of the book covers Nero's Principate; Part II is a post-mortem on the fall of Nero. Was the failure of Nero's Principate the failure of Nero himself, or the system set up by Augustus less than one hundred years earlier? Did the end of the Julio-Claudian dynastic rule allow the strengthening of the Principate as an institution?

Nero's downfall, his fate as the last of the Julio-Claudian Princeps, the fact that a new regime justified its own ascendancy as the rightful triumph over his evil, his treatment of the Jews and the Christians; all these contributed to ancient sources being fairly unanimous in their hatred and condemnation of Nero. Any favourable sources from during his lifetime would likely have been quashed or concealed. So to write dispassionately about Nero means to take extant sources, including coinage, inscriptions, and written sources, and to try to resurrect them in the context of his own lifetime. A difficult task, by anybody's standards. Can we be sure that Agrippina hastened Claudius' end? Did Britannicus really die of an epileptic fit at a convenient moment, or did Nero kill him to remove the threat of Agrippina's support for Britannicus? Even the question of Nero's actual involvement in direct rule (certainly during the lifetimes of Burrus, Seneca and Agrippina) remains open to discussion and interpretation. So many questions; so few definitive answers. So, as any responsible author would, Ms Griffin has used the sources (in this case, primarily Suetonius, Tacitus and Cassius Dio) and interpreted them in the way that appears to offer the most likely scenario, keeping in mind the overarching inquiry regarding the relationship between Nero, his rule, and his character, and the Principate itself.

This is in no way an easy book to read, but it is hugely rewarding. A certain amount of fore-knowledge about the Principate, about Nero and his rule, about Roman legalities and procedures is required to make sense of what is largely a book which consists of analysis of actions and sources in order to judge the overarching questions noted above. While the reader may not end up agreeing with all of the author's views, there is certainly no denying her right or ability to come to the conclusions that she has. It's all grist to the mill, adding to the understanding of the reader of the Roman Principate in general, and Nero in particular. Totally recommended for a reader who already comes armed with some previous knowledge on the era.

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leo
nero
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 23, 2014
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sorry, I did not have time to read this book yet. but I have being told it is a good read...

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Nero: The End of a Dynasty (Roman Imperial Biographies) 1st Edition

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5.0 out of 5 stars interesting read

4.0 out of 5 stars Biography of the Notorious Emperor

5.0 out of 5 stars brilliant

1.0 out of 5 stars very disappointing

4.0 out of 5 stars So, yeah, shiver in secret delight at this monster's evil deeds, but don't forget, half of them were probably made up

3.0 out of 5 stars An ok book.

Top reviews from other countries

5.0 out of 5 stars Nero - the last Julio-Claudian

5.0 out of 5 stars nero

interesting read

Biography of the Notorious Emperor

brilliant

very disappointing

So, yeah, shiver in secret delight at this monster's evil deeds, but don't forget, half of them were probably made up

An ok book.

Nero - the last Julio-Claudian

nero