Nero's Youth
Growing up Nero was heavily influenced not only by his two mentors but also his overpowering mother. It was believed by many that Agrippina attempted to rule through Nero, at one point even having her face put on the coin besides her son, showing that she believed she was just as important as her son (Barrett, 2008). For Nero to fall into power, Agrippina had married her husband’s, Ahenobarbus, brother, Claudius, after his untimely death. She had persuaded Claudius to make Nero the new emperor instead of his son (Channel, 2014). This manipulation made it clearly evident to Romans and historians that belonging to a royal family was much more significant than being a qualified office member. Nero became emperor at the young age of 17 which was viewed upon negatively by most senators as the standard age for holding a political position was 25. In fact he wasn’t even old enough for military service which was viewed as being an important part of an emperors position (Barrett, 2008). While being controlled by his mother, Nero was carefully watched over and taught by his two mentors, Burrus and Senaca. Burrus contributed his military experience and taught Nero the importance of character while Seneca provided him with lessons on eloquence and arts which is where Nero’s obsessions with power and arts is believed to have stemmed from (Barrett, 2008). Although Seneca was viewed as teaching him the political ways of Rome there was little sign of him actually attending the senate therefore proving he would not be well educated on what he was teaching. (Barrett, 2008)
While he was being taught by his mentors and guided by his mother, Nero was described by the public as being a generous and reasonable leader who cared for every class of Rome with some disagreeing such as Pausanias who declared him “a noble soul corrupted by improper education”(Paus 7.17.3).During this time he had eliminated capital punishment as whole, lowered taxes, cut down on personal jurisdiction and accommodated for many of the lower class. Although controlling Rome in a notable manner, Nero was encouraged by his mentors to indulge in many of his pleasures as long as it did not interfere with his rulings. Both historians Tacitus and Dio believed this was done in order to counteract with the controlling influence experienced by his mother who preferred to rule in a more old fashioned way. Although these historians agreeing with each other, Tacitus may not be completely reliable as during Nero’s reign he was only at the young age of seven therefore presenting many issues such as not understanding Nero’s motives at the time due to lack of education yet with many of his facts corroborating with other historians his information is still viable.
While he was being taught by his mentors and guided by his mother, Nero was described by the public as being a generous and reasonable leader who cared for every class of Rome with some disagreeing such as Pausanias who declared him “a noble soul corrupted by improper education”(Paus 7.17.3).During this time he had eliminated capital punishment as whole, lowered taxes, cut down on personal jurisdiction and accommodated for many of the lower class. Although controlling Rome in a notable manner, Nero was encouraged by his mentors to indulge in many of his pleasures as long as it did not interfere with his rulings. Both historians Tacitus and Dio believed this was done in order to counteract with the controlling influence experienced by his mother who preferred to rule in a more old fashioned way. Although these historians agreeing with each other, Tacitus may not be completely reliable as during Nero’s reign he was only at the young age of seven therefore presenting many issues such as not understanding Nero’s motives at the time due to lack of education yet with many of his facts corroborating with other historians his information is still viable.