The Reign of Nero Trivia Quiz

Answer: Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus

Many Roman Emperors became known by nicknames following their ascension. Caligula (proper name: Gaius Caesar Germanicus) was named by the army at a young age, Caligula meaning 'Little Boots'. Nero was the son of Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus and given the prenom Lucius.

The family name of Ahenobarbus was gained because the male (one hopes not the females) members traditionally had fiery red beards. In Roman times slaves had one name, freedmen two and free citizens three or more. It was common for a freedman to adopt his patrons name and pass it on to his children.

Answer: Seneca

Lucius Annaeus Seneca was famous as a playwright, philosopher and orator and was made tutor to the young Nero, staying with the Emperor through the first 7-8 years of his reign. As Nero broke away from his authority figures Seneca fell from favour until he felt he had no option but to offer his resignation. In 65CE he was forced to commit suicide after being accused of conspiring against his former student. Surrounded by his family he bled himself in his bath.
Sextus Africanus Burrus was another major advisor of Nero's reign, dying in 62CE. Initially Burrus was sponsored by Agrippina the Younger (the mother of Nero) but later acquiesced to her murder. This act did not slow his fall from grace and at the time of his death had lost most of his power.
Gaius Cornelius Tacitus is most famous as a historian and his 'Annals' cover the period from the ascension of Tiberius to the death of Domitian. Serving as consul in 97CE and later as the governor of Asia he probably died in 117CE.
Gaius Ofonius Tigellinus was the choice to replace Burrus and Seneca. He was a sinister figure, hated and feared by most of the Senate because of his delight in using the treason laws for personal gain.

Answer: Acte

Nero was initially married to Octavia, daughter of Claudius and Messalina, at the age of fifteen. His bride, a tender thirteen-year-old, was trapped in the marriage by strong traditions and neither of them was able to appreciate the marital relationship. Octavia was very popular with the people and Nero's divorce from her led to mobs rising up in Rome to support her. After framing her for adultery, Nero had her murdered in prison.
Poppaea Sabina was reputedly a great beauty and already twice married. She became his mistress during his marriage to Octavia but was held in check by Burrus and Seneca. She pushed hard for Octavia's removal and her marriage to Nero because of her pregnancy. She wished to be married to guarantee the legitimacy of her child. In the end the child was a girl, and died a few months after birth. Poppaea became pregnant a second time but complications from pregnancy led to her death in 66CE.
Agrippina the Younger (Nero's mother) influenced and guided her son for many years. She hoped to govern the Empire through her son but Nero began to break away and the more Agrippina tried to hold him back the more he rebelled. Her murder was arranged and carried out in 59CE. There is no evidence of improper sexual relations between Nero and his mother, although Suetonius records that Nero's first mistress bore a striking resemblance to his mother.
Acte was the slave girl who Nero loved. She was a quite unfitting consort for such a noble Roman, but matters became worse when Nero threatened to take Acte to the island of Rhodes and live with her there. He tried to force the consuls to testify that Acte was of royal descent (from the Attalid family) instead of a slave from Asia. Little else is known about Acte, her age was likely to be about 25, a little older than Nero, and she had been freed a few years earlier. A few historians have suggested that she was Christian, but no proof of this has been found.

Answer: 64CE

The Great Fire of Rome gutted the city and burnt for almost a week. Only after 6 days was it brought under control. As the firefighters rested, the flames started up again in property belonging to Tigellinus. After a further 3 days of fire, the blaze was ended. Of Rome's fourteen districts only four escaped unscathed and three were completely destroyed including the Circus Maximus.
55CE marks the death of Britannicus. In myth, Nero frees a famous posioner Locusta and then had Britannicus murdered.

Answer: In the resort of Antium

The story of the fire has been distorted over time until the myth of Nero and his fiddle has become the dominant one. In reality Nero was out of the city, as was his habit at that time of year. The message about the fire reached him a few hours after it began and he immediately returned to the city to help with the fire-fighting efforts. Somewhat surprisingly, Rome had a large number of fire-fighters, around 7,000 of them.

The system was implemented under Augustus and by Nero's time consisted of freedmen. The idea that the fire was started by Nero, or under the orders of Nero, was a popular one amongst historians of the time, only Tacitus refrained from blaming Nero. That idea has been largely rejected by modern historians.

The cost of rebuilding and rehousing was too great for him to burn it himself and the area in which he built his new palace was not, as often stated, on the site of the fire but several miles away.

Answer: The Christians

By the time of Nero's reign Christianity had reached Rome, but was little more than a small sect and had been deemed too small to be worth persecuting. Unfortunately for them the fire had to be blamed on someone and the Christians were first in line. They did not help themselves by preaching that the kingdom of God was about to arrive on Earth and cleansing fire would rain down on their enemies.

As Rome was the centre of the world, the fire was seen as the Christians' attempt to try and bring about their paradise. Nero had to be sure that the fire was not seen as divine punishment for his actions, and thus decided that the Christians would have to carry the blame.

Answer: The supression of Boudicca's revolt

Nero was uninterested in the military, but at least he did have the foresight to appoint talented commanders. These were the people who were to fight over his empire following his death. The revolt of Boudicca was a major problem for the Romans, a revolt there could have removed Roman presence from Britain. The revolt lasted several months, but was eventually put down by Suetonius Paullinus, the Roman military governor of Britain.
The Battle of Milvian Bridge allowed Constantine to rise to the position of sole Emperor of the Roman Empire in 312CE. It was at this battle that he believed he saw a vision from Christ, and this made him an ardent supporter of Christianity. This allowed the religion to spread throughout the Empire without fear of persecution.
The Battle of Actium was in 31BCE, between Octavius (later Augustus) and Anthony and Cleopatra. Winning this battle allowed Octavius to establish dominance throughout the Empire.

Answer: Chariot Racer

Nero loved the arts and games more than anything else. He often held performances for senators in which he sang and played the lute. More than music however, he loved to race chariots and took steps to compete in both national and international competitions.

He traveled to Greece to compete in the Olympics and took part in 1,808 musical and chariot competitions. He won all 1,808. Most impressively he managed to win the chariot race at the Olympics despite falling off his chariot and having to be helped back on board.

Answer: Assisted suicide

Nero was betrayed by Nymphidus who arranged for his guards to be absent and for Nero to be murdered. Nymphidus aimed to replace him with Galba, and bribed the Praetorians accordingly. Nero, however, managed to escape from the city but was convinced to stay nearby by Pharon, one of his freedman.

This delay cost Nero his chance to escape to Egypt and perhaps try and rally the Eastern legions to his cause. As the soldiers closed in on his villa he went outside to supervise the digging of his own grave.

He then, with the help of Epaphroditus, plunged a dagger into his own neck. He was only thirty. His body was claimed by his first love, Acte, and placed in his family tomb.

Answer: Galba

Nero's failure to leave an heir marked the end of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. The year following his death saw four different Emperors, Galba, Otho, Vitellius and finally Vespasian. The civil war began when several legions refused to acknowledge the Emperor Galba (a common occurrence - legions tended to favour making their commanders Emperor). Galba was unpopular and his vindictiveness towards Nero's memory and supporters did not win him any new friends.

He reacted to the news of the legions' desertions by trying to secure his own dynasty through adoption, unfortunately this alienated Otho, a prominent senator, who overthrew him. Vitellius and his legions moved towards Rome and, following a victory at the Battle of Bedriacum, convinced Otho to commit suicide. Unfortunately for him the legions in the East (Syria and Judaea) united behind Vespasian who slowly moved through Egypt to Rome and became the fourth new Emperor in a year.