ALEXANDER THE GREAT

KRISTINE MAE P. ERNO

Alexander was born on the sixth day of the ancient

Greek month of Hekatombaion, which probably
corresponds to 20 July 356BC, although the exact date
is not known,[11] in Pella, the capital of the Kingdom of
Macedon.[12] He was the son of the king of
Macedon, Philip II, and his fourth wife, Olympias, the
daughter of Neoptolemus I, king of Epirus.[13][14]
[15]

Although Philip had seven or eight wives, Olympias

was his principal wife for some time, likely a result of

giving birth to Alexander.[16]
Several legends surround Alexander's birth and
childhood.[17] According to the ancient Greek
biographer Plutarch, Olympias, on the eve of the consummation of her marriage to Philip,
dreamed that her womb was struck by a thunder bolt, causing a flame that spread "far and
wide" before dying away. Some time after the wedding, Philip is said to have seen himself,
in a dream, securing his wife's womb with aseal engraved with a lion's image.[18] Plutarch
offered a variety of interpretations of these dreams: that Olympias was pregnant before her
marriage, indicated by the sealing of her womb; or that Alexander's father was Zeus.
Ancient commentators were divided about whether the ambitious Olympias promulgated the
story of Alexander's divine parentage, variously claiming that she had told Alexander, or that
she dismissed the suggestion as impious. [18]
On the day Alexander was born, Philip was preparing a siege on the city of Potidea on the
peninsula of Chalcidice. That same day, Philip received news that his
general Parmenion had defeated the combined Illyrian and Paeonian armies, and that his
horses had won at theOlympic Games. It was also said that on this day, the Temple of
Artemis in Ephesus, one of the Seven Wonders of the World, burnt down. This led Hegesias
of Magnesia to say that it had burnt down because Artemis was away, attending the birth of
Alexander.[14][19] Such legends may have emerged when Alexander was king, and possibly at

his own instigation, to show that he was superhuman and destined for greatness from
conception.
MARCUS JUNIUS BRUTUS

ERICA E. MARAVILLAS

Marcus Junius Brutus (/bruts/; early June 85 BC

23 October 42 BC), often referred to as Brutus, was a
politician of the lateRoman Republic. After being adopted
by his uncle he used the name Quintus Servilius
Caepio Brutus, but eventually returned to using his
original name
Marcus Junius Brutus Minor (Classical Latin: [mar.ks
ju.ni.s bru.ts m.nr]) was the son ofMarcus Junius
Brutus Maior and Servilia Caepionis. His father was killed
by Pompey the Greatin dubious circumstances after he
had taken part in the rebellion of Lepidus; his mother was
the half-sister of Cato the Younger, and later Julius Caesar's mistress.[2] Some sources refer
to the possibility of Caesar being his real father,[3] despite Caesar's being only 15 years old
when Brutus was born.
Brutus' uncle, Quintus Servilius Caepio, adopted him in about 59 BC, and Brutus was
known officially for a time as Quintus Servilius Caepio Brutus before he reverted to using his
birth-name. Following Caesar's assassination in 44 BC, Brutus revived his adoptive name in
order to illustrate his links to another famous tyrannicide, Gaius Servilius Ahala, from whom
he was descended.[4][5]
Brutus held his uncle in high regard[6] and his political career started when he became an
assistant to Cato, during his governorship of Cyprus.[7] During this time, he enriched himself
by lending money at high rates of interest. Brutus was also active in the province of Cilicia,
in the year before Cicero was proconsul there; Cicero documents how Brutus profited from
money lending to the provincials in his Letters.[8] He returned to Rome a rich man, where he
married Claudia Pulchra.[9] From his first appearance in the Senate, Brutus aligned with

the Optimates (the conservative faction) against the First Triumvirate of Marcus Licinius
Crassus, Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus and Gaius Julius Caesar.

GAIUS CASSIUS LONGINUS

JAY-ANN E PEDORES

Gaius Cassius Longinus (Classical

Latin: [ga.i.s kas.si.s l.g.ns];
October 3, before 85 BC October 3,
42 BC) was aRoman senator, a leading
instigator of the plot to kill Julius Caesar,
[1]
and the brother in-law of Marcus Junius
Brutus.

Early life
Little is known of Gaius Cassius' early life, apart from a story that he showed his dislike of
despots while still at school, by quarreling with the son of the dictator Sulla.[2] He studied
philosophy at Rhodes under Archelaus and became fluent in Greek.[3] He was married
to Junia Tertia (Tertulla), who was the daughter of Servilia Caepionis and thus a half-sister
of his co-conspirator Brutus. They had one son, who was born in about 60 BC. [4] In 53 BC he
took part in the Battle of Carrhae lost by Marcus Licinius Crassus against theParthians.

Civil war
Cassius returned to Rome in 50 BC, when civil war was about to break out between Julius
Caesar and Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus. Cassius was elected tribune of the Plebs for
49 BC, and threw in his lot with the Optimates, although his brother Lucius
Cassius supported Caesar. Cassius left Italy shortly after Caesar crossed the Rubicon. He
met Pompeyin Greece, and was appointed to command part of his fleet.
In 48 BC, Cassius sailed his ships to Sicily, where he attacked and burned a large part of
Caesar's navy.[5] He then proceeded to harass ships off the Italian coast. News of Pompey's
defeat at the Battle of Pharsalus caused Cassius to head for the Hellespont, with hopes of
allying with the king of Pontus, Pharnaces II. Cassius was overtaken by Caesar en route,
and was forced to surrender unconditionally.[6]

Caesar made Cassius a legate, employing him in the Alexandrian War against the very
same Pharnaces whom Cassius had hoped to join after Pompey's defeat at Pharsalus.
However, Cassius refused to join in the fight against Cato and Scipio in Africa, choosing
instead to retire to Rome.

GAIUS JULIUS CAESAR

COLEEN L. EBOL
Gaius Julius Caesar[b] (Classical Latin: [a.i.s ju.li.s kae

.sar]
; 13 July 100 BC [1] 15 March 44 BC)[2] was
a Roman statesman, general and notable author of Latin prose.
He played a critical role in the events that led to the demise of
the Roman Republic and the rise of the Roman Empire. In 60
BC, Caesar, Crassus, and Pompey formed a political
alliance that was to dominate Roman politics for several years. Their attempts to amass
power through populist tactics were opposed by the conservative ruling classwithin
the Roman Senate, among them Cato the Younger with the frequent support of Cicero.
Caesar's victories in the Gallic Wars, completed by 51 BC, extended Rome's territory to
the English Channel and the Rhine. Caesar became the first Roman general to cross both
when he built a bridge across the Rhine and conducted the first invasion of Britain. These
achievements granted him unmatched military power and threatened to eclipse the standing
of Pompey, who had realigned himself with the Senate after the death of Crassus in 53 BC.
With the Gallic Wars concluded, the Senate ordered Caesar to step down from his military
command and return to Rome. Caesar refused the order, and instead marked his defiance
in 49 BC by crossing the Rubicon with a legion, leaving his province and illegally
entering Roman Italy under arms.[3] Civil war resulted, and Caesar's victory in the war put
him in an unrivaled position of power and influence. After assuming control of government,
Caesar began a programme of social and governmental reforms, including the creation of
theJulian calendar. He centralised the bureaucracy of the Republic and was eventually
proclaimed "dictator in perpetuity", giving him additional authority. But the underlying
political conflicts had not been resolved, and on the Ides of March (15 March)
44 BC, Caesar was assassinated by a group of rebellious senators led by Marcus Junius
Brutus. A new series of civil wars broke out, and theconstitutional government of the

Republic was never fully restored. Caesar's adopted heir Octavius, later known
as Augustus, rose to sole power after defeating his opponents in the civil war. Octavius set
about solidifying his power, and the era of the Roman Empirebegan. Much of Caesar's life is
known from his own accounts of his military campaigns, and from other contemporary
sources, mainly the letters and speeches of Cicero and the historical writings of Sallust. The
later biographies of Caesar by Suetonius and Plutarch are also major sources. Caesar is
considered by many historians to be one of the greatest military commanders in history.
GAIUS OCTAVIAN

HEZIEL S. CERVAS

Gaius Octavian is a character in

the HBO/BBC2 original television series Rome, played
by Max Pirkis as a child in season one and the
beginning of season two, and in the rest of the second
season he is played by Simon Woods. He is portrayed
as a shrewd, if somewhat cold, young man, with an
understanding of the world, people, philosophy, and
politics that go well beyond his years. Despite this he is very power hungry, unaccomplished
and uses the accomplishments of his male relatives in order to further his political career.
The basis for this character is the early life of Augustus, the first Roman Emperor.

Character history
Born to one of the most powerful families in Rome, the Julii, Octavian is the only son and
youngest child of Atia of the Julii. His father died when he was young and was subsequently
brought up by his mother and his older sister, Octavia. At the beginning of the seriesRome,
Octavian is mere adolescent and his mother has him travel across a barren land with only a
few slaves to take a white horse (brought to Rome by Timon), as a gift, to his great-uncle.
However, along the way his slaves are killed and he is kidnapped by some Gaulish
brigands. He is rescued by Titus Pullo and Lucius Vorenus and with them, they recover the
golden eagle from Pompey's men and return it to Octavian's great-uncle, Julius Caesar.
Caesar is extremely impressed with the young boy's strength, intelligence and common
beliefs about the Plebeians.

Octavian returns to Rome, accompanied by Pullo and Vorenus under the command of Mark
Antony, Atia's lover, and is taken home to his mother. He demonstrates a large
understanding about the state of Rome and its politics. As the result of the rebellion, the Julii
family and their allies prepare to commit suicide. Upon being asked who he would wish to
kill him, Octavian states that, "I can take care of myself." Caesar returns to Rome and the
Julii family are spared, leaving many of the other nobility to ask them for protection. In the
rebellion, , and although it would seem that Octavian suspects his mother is involved, he
says nothing.

Pompey

GERALDINE J. ARAEZ
Pompey's family first gained the position of Consul in 141 BC.
Pompey's father, Gnaeus Pompeius Strabo, was a wealthy landed
Italian provincial from Picenum, one of the novi homines (new men).
Pompeius Strabo ascended the traditional cursus honorum,
becoming quaestor in 104 BC, praetor in 92 BC and consul in 89 BC,
and acquired a reputation for greed, political double-dealing and
military ruthlessness. He supported Sulla's
traditionalist optimates against the popularist general Marius in
the first Marian-Sullanwar.[3]

He died during the Marian siege against Rome in 87 BC, either as a casualty of pandemic
plague, or struck by lightning, or possibly both. [3] In Plutarch's account, his body was
dragged from its bier by the mob.[4] His twenty-year-old son Pompey inherited his estates,
his political leanings and the loyalty of his legions.
Roman statue of Pompey, at the Villa Arconati a Castellazzo di Bollate (Milan, Italy). It was brought
there from Rome in 1627 by Galeazzo Arconati.

Pompey had served two years under his father's command, and had participated in the final
acts of the Marsic Social War against the Italians. He returned to Rome and was prosecuted
for misappropriation of plunder: his betrothal to the judge's daughter, Antistia, secured a
rapid acquittal.[5]

For the next few years, the Marians had possession of Italy.[6] When Sulla returned from
campaigning against Mithridates in 83 BC, Pompey raised three Picenean legions to
support him against the Marian regime of Gnaeus Papirius Carbo.[7]
Sulla and his allies displaced the Marians in Italy and Rome: Sulla, now Dictator of Rome,
was impressed by the young Pompey's self-confident performance. He addressed him
as imperator and offered him his stepdaughter, Aemilia Scaura, in marriage. Aemilia
already married and pregnant divorced her husband and Pompey divorced Antistia.
[8]

Though Aemilia died in childbirth soon after, the marriage confirmed Pompey's loyalty and

greatly boosted his career.

Marcus Aemilius Lepidus (triumvir)

JOEY E. PEDORES

Marcus Aemilius
Lepidus (Latin: MAEMILIVSMFQNLEPIDVS),[1] (born c.
89 or 88 BC, died late 13 or early 12 BC)[2] was
a Romanpatrician who was triumvir with Octavian (the
future Augustus) and Mark Antony, and the
last Pontifex Maximus of the Roman Republic. Lepidus
had previously been a close ally of Julius Caesar.
Though he was an able military commander and proved a useful partisan of Caesar,
Lepidus has always been portrayed as the weakest member of the triumvirate. He typically
appears as a marginalised figure in depictions of the events of the era, most notably in
Shakespeare's plays. While some scholars have endorsed this view, others argue that the
evidence is insufficient to discount the distorting effects of propaganda by his opponents,
principally Cicero and, later, Augustus.
Lepidus joined the College of Pontiffs as a child. He started his cursus honorum as triumvir
monetalis, overseeing the minting of coins, from c. 6258 BC. Lepidus soon became one
ofJulius Caesar's greatest supporters. He was appointed as a praetor in 49 BC, being
placed in charge of Rome while Caesar defeated Pompey in Greece.[3] He secured Caesar's
appointment as dictator, a position Caesar used to get himself elected as Consul, resigning
the dictatorship after eleven days. Lepidus was rewarded with the position of Proconsul in
the Spanish province of Hispania Citerior.

While in Spain Lepidus was called upon to act to quell a rebellion against Quintus Cassius
Longinus, governor of neighbouring Hispania Ulterior. Lepidus refused to support Cassius,
who had created opposition to Caesar's regime by his corruption and avarice. He
negotiated a deal with the rebel leader, quaestor Marcellus, and helped defeat an attack by
the Mauretanian kingBogud. Cassius and his supporters were allowed to leave and order
was restored. Caesar and the Senate were sufficiently impressed by Lepdius's judicial
mixture of negotiation and surgical military action that they granted him a Triumph.

Augustus

REYMUND MIJAS
Augustus (Latin: Impertor Caesar Dv Flius Augustus;[note 1][note
2]

23 September 63 BC 19 August 14 AD) was the founder of

the Roman Empire and its first Emperor, ruling from 27 BC until
his death in AD 14.[note 3]
He was born Gaius Octavius into an old and
wealthy equestrian branch of the plebeian Octavii family. His
maternal great-uncleJulius Caesar was assassinated in 44 BC,
and Octavian was named in Caesar's will as his adopted son
and heir. He, Mark Antony, and Marcus Lepidus formed the Second Triumvirate to defeat
the assassins of Caesar. Following their victory at Philippi, the Triumvirate divided
the Roman Republic among themselves and ruled as military dictators.[note 4] The Triumvirate
was eventually torn apart under the competing ambitions of its members. Lepidus was
driven into exile and stripped of his position, and Antony committed suicide following his
defeat at the Battle of Actium by Octavian in 31 BC.
After the demise of the Second Triumvirate, Augustus restored the outward facade of the
free Republic, with governmental power vested in the Roman Senate, the executive

magistrates, and the legislative assemblies. In reality, however, he retained his autocratic
power over the Republic as a military dictator. By law, Augustus held a collection of powers
granted to him for life by the Senate, including supreme military command, and those
of tribune and censor. It took several years for Augustus to develop the framework within
which a formally republican state could be led under his sole rule. He rejected monarchical
titles, and instead called himselfPrinceps Civitatis ("First Citizen of the State"). The
resulting constitutional framework became known as the Principate, the first phase of the
Roman Empire. The reign of Augustus initiated an era of relative peace known as the Pax
Romana (The Roman Peace). The Roman world was largely free from large-scale conflict
for more than two centuries, despite continuous wars of imperial expansion on the Empire's
frontiers and one year-long civil war over the imperial succession. Augustus dramatically
enlarged the Empire, annexing Egypt,Dalmatia, Pannonia, Noricum, and Raetia; expanding
possessions in Africa; expanding into Germania; and completing the conquest of Hispania.

Marcus Aurelius

ROBERT PAUL ROBANTES

Marcus Aurelius (/rilis/; Latin: Marcus Aurelius
Antoninus Augustus;[1][notes 1] 26 April 121 17 March 180
AD) was Roman Emperor from 161 to 180. He ruled
with Lucius Verus as co-emperor from 161 until Verus'
death in 169. He was the last of the Five Good
Emperors, and is also considered one of the most
important Stoic philosophers.
During his reign, the Empire defeated a
revitalized Parthian Empire in the East: Aurelius'
general Avidius Cassius sacked the capitalCtesiphon in
164. In central Europe, Aurelius fought

the Marcomanni, Quadi, and Sarmatians with success during the Marcomannic Wars,
although the threat of the Germanic tribes began to represent a troubling reality for the
Empire. A revolt in the East led by Avidius Cassius failed to gain momentum and was
suppressed immediately.

Marcus Aurelius' Stoic tome Meditations, written in Greek while on campaign between 170
and 180, is still revered as a literary monument to a philosophy of service and duty,
describing how to find and preserve equanimity in the midst of conflict by following nature
as a source of guidance and inspiration.
The major sources for the life and rule of Marcus Aurelius are patchy and frequently
unreliable. The most important group of sources, the biographies contained in the Historia
Augusta, claim to be written by a group of authors at the turn of the 4th century, but are in
fact written by a single author (referred to here as "the biographer") from the later 4th
century (c. 395).[4]
The later biographies and the biographies of subordinate emperors and usurpers are a
tissue of lies and fiction, but the earlier biographies, derived primarily from now-lost earlier
sources (Marius Maximus or Ignotus), are much more accurate.[4] For Marcus' life and rule,
the biographies of Hadrian, Antoninus Pius, Marcus and Lucius Verus are largely reliable,
but those of Aelius Verus and Avidius Cassius are full of fiction. [5]

Antoninus Pius

NICO CAMUGAO

Antoninus Pius (Latin: Titus Fulvus Aelius Hadrianus Antoninus

Augustus Pius;[1][2] 19 September, 86 AD 7 March, 161 AD), also
known as Antoninus, was Roman Emperor from 138 to 161. He was
one of the Five Good Emperors in the NervaAntonine dynastyand
the Aurelii.[3] He acquired the name Pius after his accession to the
throne, either because he compelled the Senate to deify his adoptive
fatherHadrian,[4] or because he had saved senators sentenced to
death by Hadrian in his later years

Childhood and family

He was born as the only child of Titus Aurelius Fulvus, consul in 89[3] whose family came
from Nemausus (modern Nmes).[6] He was born near Lanuvium[7] and his mother was Arria
Fadilla. Antoninus father and paternal grandfather died when he was young and he was raised
by Gnaeus Arrius Antoninus,[3] his maternal grandfather, reputed by contemporaries to be a man
of integrity and culture and a friend of Pliny the Younger. His mother married Publius Julius

Lupus (a man of consular rank) suffect consul in 98, and two daughters, Arria Lupula and Julia
Fadilla, were born from that union.

Marriage and children

Some time between 110 and 115, he married Annia Galeria Faustina the Elder.[1] They are
believed to have enjoyed a happy marriage. Faustina was the daughter of consul Marcus
Annius Verus[3] and Rupilia Faustina (a half-sister to Roman Empress Vibia Sabina). Faustina
was a beautiful woman, well known for her wisdom. She spent her whole life caring for the poor
and assisting the most disadvantaged Romans.
Faustina bore Antoninus four children, two sons and two daughters.[9] They were:
Marcus Aurelius Fulvus Antoninus (died before 138); his sepulchral inscription has been found
at the Mausoleum of Hadrian in Rome.[10]
Marcus Galerius Aurelius Antoninus (died before 138); his sepulchral inscription has been found
at the Mausoleum of Hadrian in Rome.[10] His name appears on a Greek Imperial coin.
Aurelia Fadilla (died in 135); she married Lucius Lamia Silvanus, consul 145. She appeared to
have no children with her husband and her sepulchral inscription has been found in Italy.[11]
Annia Galeria Faustina Minor or Faustina the Younger (between 125130175), a future Roman
Empress, married her maternal cousin, future Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius in 146

Julius Caesar

REX JOHN P. TINACCO

Julius Caesar was born in 100BC in Rome to a well known,

but

not rich family. The young Caesar left Rome for military
service in Asia and Cilicia. When the dictator Sulla died,

he

returned, and began his political career as a prosecuting

advocate.
He travelled to Rhodes for philosophical studies and, on the way,
was kidnapped by pirates. He convinced his captors to raise his
ransom, then organised a naval force, captured the pirates

and put

them to death. He held a number of government positions

under Pompey, and was elected consul in 60 BC. In 59 BC he also became governor of
Gaul and Spain. In 55 BC he attempted an invasion of Britain. Three years later, in 52
BC, he defeated a union of Gauls. After defeating his former ally, Pompey, Caesar went
on to Egypt, where he involved himself in upholding the rule of Cleopatra, with whom he
had a son Caeserion.
He was made dictator for life in 45 BC and was called Father of his Country (Pater
Patriae). The month of Quintilis was re-named in his honour, and continues to be known
as July. He was also the author of a large body of important political writings. However,
his apparent arrogance and ambition brought him great unpopularity and the suspicion
of his peers. He made a number of political reforms, which served to give him more
power and alienate his fellow senators. In 46 BC, he gave himself the title of 'Prefect of
Morals', which meant he could hold censorial powers without being subjected to them
himself. Caesar used this power to fill the senate with his own partisans, while setting
the precedent of requiring the senate to bestow honours and titles upon him. Coins also
bore the likeness of Caesar while he was given the right to speak first at assembly
meetings. He also increased the number of magistrates and senators who could sit in
the Senate. He also tried to transform Italy into a province.

Hadrian

CHARITO P. LEUTEREZ

Hadrian (/hedrin/; Latin: Publius Aelius Hadrianus Augustus;[note 1][2][note 2] 24 January,

76 AD 10 July, 138 AD) was Roman emperor from 117 to 138. Hadrian is known for
building Hadrian's Wall, which marked the northern limit of Britannia. He also rebuilt
the Pantheon and constructed the Temple of Venus and Roma. Philhellene in most of
his tastes, he is considered by some to have been a humanist, and he is regarded as
one of the Five Good Emperors. Hadrian was born Publius Aelius Hadrianus into
a Hispano-Roman family. Although Italica near Santiponce (in modern-day Spain) is
often considered his birthplace, his actual place of birth remains uncertain. However, it
is generally accepted that he came from a family with centuries-old roots in Hispania. [1]
[3]
His predecessor, Trajan, was a maternal cousin of Hadrian's father.[4] Trajan did not
officially designate an heir, but according to his wife Pompeia Plotina, Trajan named
Hadrian emperor immediately before his death. Trajan's wife and his friend Licinius
Sura were well-disposed towards Hadrian, and he may well have owed his succession

to them.[5] During his reign, Hadrian travelled to nearly every

province of the Empire. An ardent admirer of Greece, he sought to
make Athensthe cultural capital of the Empire and ordered the
construction of many opulent temples in the city. He used his
relationship with his Greek lover Antinous to underline his
philhellenism and led to the creation of one of the most popular
cults of ancient times. He spent extensive amounts of time with the
military; he usually wore military attire and even dined and slept
amongst the soldiers. He ordered military training and drilling to be
more rigorous and even made use of false reports of attack to keep
the army alert.
Upon his accession to the throne, Hadrian withdrew from Trajan's conquests
in Mesopotamia and Armenia, and even considered abandoning Dacia. Late in his reign
he suppressed the Bar Kokhba revolt in Judaea, renaming the province Syria
Palaestina. In 136 an ailing Hadrian adopted Lucius Aelius as his heir, but the latter died
suddenly two years later. In 138 Hadrian resolved to adoptAntoninus Pius if he would in
turn adopt Marcus Aurelius and Aelius's son Lucius Verus as his own eventual
successors. Antoninus agreed, and soon afterward Hadrian died at Baiae

Nero

PAUL U. EBOL
Nero (/nro/; Latin: Ner Claudius Caesar Augustus
Germanicus;[1] 15 December 37 9 June 68)[2] was Roman
Emperor from 54 to 68, and the last in the Julio-Claudian
dynasty. Nero was adopted by his grand-uncle Claudius to
become his heir and successor, and succeeded to the throne in
54 following Claudius' death.
Nero focused much of his attention on diplomacy, trade and

enhancing the cultural life of the Empire, but according to the historianTacitus he was
viewed by the Roman people as compulsive and corrupt. He ordered theatres built and

promoted athletic games. During his reign, the redoubtable general Corbulo conducted
a successful war and negotiated peace with the Parthian Empire. His general Suetonius
Paulinus crushed a revolt in Britain. Nero annexed the Bosporan Kingdom to the Empire
and began the First RomanJewish War.
In 64 AD, most of Rome was destroyed in the Great Fire of Rome, which many Romans
believed Nero himself had started in order to clear land for his planned palatial complex,
the Domus Aurea. In 68, the rebellion of Vindex in Gaul and later the acclamation
ofGalba in Hispania drove Nero from the throne. Facing a false report of being denounced
as a public enemy who was to be executed, he committed suicide on 9 June 68 (the first
Roman emperor to do so).[3] His death ended the Julio-Claudian Dynasty, sparking a brief
period of civil wars known as the Year of the Four Emperors. Nero's rule is often associated
with tyranny and extravagance.[4]He is known for many executions, including that of his
mother,[5] and the probable murder by poison of his stepbrother Britannicus.
Nero was rumored to have had captured Christians dipped in oil and set on fire in his
garden at night as a source of light.[6] This view is based on the writings of
Tacitus, Suetonius and Cassius Dio, the main surviving sources for Nero's reign, but a few
surviving sources paint Nero in a more favourable light. [7] Some sources, including some
mentioned above, portray him as an emperor who was popular with the common Roman
people, especially in the East.[8] Some modern historians question the reliability of ancient
sources when reporting on Nero's tyrannical acts. [9]