NERO: TYRANT OR HERO?
One of the most common images of Emperor Nero is that of him standing on the top of a roof fiddling as Rome burned. Although this is just a story shared throughout time it has lead many historians to question whether Nero was really a compassionate emperor or a physiologically damaged tyrant. Nero was born in 37 A.D and although not being born into royalty received the crown at the young age of seventeen,. (Channel, 2014). Due to his overbearing mother and his mentors, Lucius Annaus Seneca and Sextus Burrus, Nero lived a very controlled childhood which is believed to have made him the power hungry and art focused man he became. Being heavily guarded and controlled during his younger years made him a good man who cared for the lower class and what was best for his city but after the passing of his mentors and mother he became a tyrant focused on the arts and power at his reach.
One of the most common images of Emperor Nero is that of him standing on the top of a roof fiddling as Rome burned. Although this is just a story shared throughout time it has lead many historians to question whether Nero was really a compassionate emperor or a physiologically damaged tyrant. Nero was born in 37 A.D and although not being born into royalty received the crown at the young age of seventeen,. (Channel, 2014). Due to his overbearing mother and his mentors, Lucius Annaus Seneca and Sextus Burrus, Nero lived a very controlled childhood which is believed to have made him the power hungry and art focused man he became. Being heavily guarded and controlled during his younger years made him a good man who cared for the lower class and what was best for his city but after the passing of his mentors and mother he became a tyrant focused on the arts and power at his reach.