15 December: Nero

Born on this date in the year 37AD, the Roman emperor Nero, best known for fiddling while Rome burned, or did he? and being a cruel tyrant; or was he? Read on and find out.

1. Nero's mother, Agrippina the Younger, was certainly ruthlessly ambitious. She was Caligula's sister and married to Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus, consul of Rome. She'd tried to murder her brother and been exiled. Caligula was murdered in January 41 making Claudius, Agrippina’s uncle, the Roman emperor. The year before, Nero's father had died, of natural causes. Claudius allowed Agrippina to return home where she married again but murdered her second husband to get her hands on his estate. In due course, Agrippina married her uncle, Emperor Claudius, in 49 AD. Claudius died five years later and rumour had it Agrippina had killed him too by giving him poisoned Mushrooms.
2. Nero, whose birth name was Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, became emperor at the tender age of 16. He was the youngest ever Roman emperor up until that point.
3. In his early reign, he did good things - curtailed corruption, instigated singing and poetry contests over gladiatorial battles, banned capital punishment, reduced taxes and allowed slaves to bring complaints to him against unjust masters. He had advisors, who counselled him to curtail his mother's influence on him, and five years into hie reign, he had her killed.
4. Nero married several times. In 53 AD, Nero married Claudia Octavia, his stepsister. The marriage wasn't a success and so Nero started an affair with Poppaea Sabina, wife of his friend and future emperor Otho. Agrippina disapproved. She went as far as to proclaim her younger son Britannicus as heir to the throne instead. He died under suspicious circumstances, possibly poisoned by Nero. Nero divorced Octavia and banished her on the grounds of infertility and adultery, and later on had her executed. He then married Sabina. They had a daughter, who died in infancy, and Sabina died during her second pregnancy, reportedly due to Nero kicking her in the belly. In early 66 AD, Nero married Statilia Messalina after forcing her husband to commit suicide. After this, he married two men, one a slave, Sporus, and one a freedman, Pythagoras. He had Sporus castrated first. It's thought the attraction to Sporus arose because he resembled Sabina.
5. When he became emperor at 16, Nero was slim, blond and handsome, but gained weight as he grew older. We know this because, somewhat surprisingly, he didn't censor his portraits on coins. The coins also show that he was the first Roman emperor to wear a Beard. It's said he had bad eyesight and used an uncut emerald to help him see at distance, holding it up to his right eye.
6. He was a man of numerous talents. He was an athlete, a scientist and an artist. He trained as an athlete for public games which he ordered to be held every five years. Once, he raced a ten-horse chariot and nearly died after being thrown from it. His scientific interests included where the source of the Nile was, and as a collector of amber. While he sent explorers to answer these questions, he tried himself to measure the depth of the Alcyon lake which was reputed to be bottomless. His first love, however, was the arts. As well as athletic contests, he took part in acting and singing contests, and won - although he probably won because he was emperor and the judges were afraid to allow him to lose!
7. Which brings us to the fiddling while Rome burned. It's commonly said Nero started the Fire but there's no evidence for this. There is evidence to suggest he wasn't even there at the time and that he organised attempts to contain the fire and provided relief for the people who lost their homes. As for fiddling - did they even have Violins back then? Whether they did or not, if Nero played any instrument while Rome burned it would have been a type of lyre called a cithara, which had seven strings and was harder to play than a regular lyre. Nero was an acknowledged master of it and even wrote his own music - his compositions were played after his death.
8. Nero's response to the rumours that he'd started the fire was to blame it on the Christians. Hence, he was the one who started the persecution and grisly executions of people who followed the Christian faith.
9. For an emperor with such a fearsome reputation, he took little interest in military matters. He preferred diplomatic solutions to military ones, and had no desire to expand the empire; if anything, he considered making it smaller. He had serious doubts as to whether the newly acquired province of Great Britain was worth the cost of maintaining. He never visited his legions, and this proved to be his downfall - eventually the generals rebelled and appointed a new emperor.
10. Realising he was being deposed, Nero fled, and after considerable deliberation, decided his only option was to commit suicide. He couldn't bring himself to actually do it, though. In the end, he asked his private secretary to kill him, unaware that senate were actually considering reaching a compromise with him rather than having him killed. Killing him would end the Julio-Claudian dynasty as Nero was the last of the line; had he lived, there was a chance he'd produce an heir and avoid the chaos which would otherwise ensue after his death. However, when the delegation arrived, Nero was already dying. Among his last words were "What an artist dies in me," though his final words were "Too late! This is fidelity!" as one of the delegation made an unsuccessful attempt to save him. For a long time, the persecuted Christians believed Nero was not dead and would return as the Antichrist.

My Christmas Novella!

A Very Variant Christmas

Last year, Jade and Gloria were embroiled in a bitter conflict to win back their throne and their ancestral home. This year, Queen Jade and Princess Gloria want to host the biggest and best Christmas party ever in their palace. They invite all their friends to come and bring guests. Not even the birth of Jade's heir just before Christmas will stop them.

The guest list includes most of Britain's complement of super-powered crime-fighters, their families and friends. What could possibly go wrong?

Gatecrashers, unexpected arrivals, exploding Christmas crackers and a kidnapping, for starters.

Far away in space, the Constellations, a cosmic peacekeeping force, have suffered a tragic loss. They need to recruit a new member to replace their dead colleague. The two top candidates are both at Jade and Gloria's party. The arrival of the recruitment delegation on Christmas Eve is a surprise for everyone; but their visit means one guest now faces a life-changing decision.

Meanwhile, an alliance of the enemies of various guests at the party has infiltrated the palace; they hide in the dungeon, plotting how best to get rid of the crime-fighters and the royal family once and for all. Problem is, they all have their own agendas and differences of opinion on how to achieve their aims.

Not to mention that this year, the ghosts who walk the corridors of the palace on Christmas Eve will be as surprised by the living as the living are by them.

Available from Createspace, Amazon and Amazon Kindle

New!

Secrets and Skies

Jack Ward, President of Innovia, owes his life twice over to the enigmatic superhero, dubbed Power Blaster by the press. No-one knows who Power Blaster is or where he comes from - and he wants it to stay that way.

Scientist Desi Troyes has developed a nuclear bomb to counter the ever present threat of an asteroid hitting the planet. When Ward signs the order giving the go ahead for a nuclear test on the remote Bird Island, he has no inkling of Troyes' real agenda, and that he has signed the death warrants of millions of people.

Although the island should have been evacuated, there are people still there: some from the distant continent of Classica; protesters opposed to the bomb test; and Innovians who will not, or cannot, use their communication devices.

Power Blaster knows he must stop the bomb from hitting the island. He also knows it may be the last thing he ever does.

Meanwhile in Innovia, Ward and his staff gather to watch the broadcast of the test. Nobody, not even Troyes himself, has any idea what is about to happen.

Part One of The Raiders Trilogy.

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