Depending on definition of loyalty:
144-615: Initially : Four Roman legions and attempted reinforcements; 10,000–15,000+ Later : Eight Roman legions; 40,000 The Revolt of the Batavi took place in the Roman province of Germania Inferior ("Lower Germania") between AD 69 and 70. It was an uprising against the Roman Empire started by the Batavi , a small but militarily powerful Germanic tribe that inhabited Batavia , on
288-560: A successful expedition . After Agrippina's exile, Burrus and Seneca were responsible for the administration of the Empire. However, Nero's "conduct became far more egregious" after his mother's death. Miriam T. Griffins suggests that Nero's decline began as early as AD 55 with the murder of his stepbrother Britannicus, but also notes that "Nero lost all sense of right and wrong and listened to flattery with total credulity" after Agrippina's death. Griffin points out that Tacitus "makes explicit
432-454: A "literary device, utilized [by Tacitus] because [he] could see no plausible explanation for Nero's conduct and also incidentally [served] to show that Nero, like Claudius, had fallen under the malign influence of a woman." Modern scholars believe that Nero's reign had been going well in the years before Agrippina's death. For example, Nero promoted the exploration of the Nile river sources with
576-546: A "permanent" provincia in the scholarship, emerged only gradually. The acquisition of territories, however, through the middle republic created the recurrent task of defending and administering some place. The first "permanent" provincia was that of Sicily, created after the First Punic War . In the immediate aftermath, a quaestor was sent to Sicily to look out for Roman interests but eventually, praetors were dispatched as well. The sources differ as to when sending
720-405: A Roman magistrate. That task might require using the military command powers of imperium but otherwise could even be a task assigned to a junior magistrates without imperium : for example, the treasury was the provincia of a quaestor and the civil jurisdiction of the urban praetor was the urbana provincia . In the middle and late republican authors like Plautus, Terence, and Cicero,
864-622: A brief period of civil war known as the Year of the Four Emperors . Most Roman sources offer overwhelmingly negative assessments of his personality and reign. Most contemporary sources describe him as tyrannical, self-indulgent, and debauched. The historian Tacitus claims the Roman people thought him compulsive and corrupt. Suetonius tells that many Romans believed the Great Fire of Rome
1008-601: A century earlier by Augustus. Galba was proclaimed emperor. He acquitted Civilis of the treason charge and allowed him to return home. Back in Germania Inferior, however, it seems that Civilis was arrested again, this time on the order of the new governor Aulus Vitellius , acting at the urging of the legions under his command, which demanded Civilis' execution. Meanwhile, Galba disbanded the German Bodyguards Regiment, which he distrusted due to
1152-528: A defenseless position. Moreover, X Gemina would be stationed close by, to secure peace. The fate of Civilis is unknown. Dutch writers in the 17th and 18th centuries saw the rebellion of the independent and freedom-loving Batavians as mirroring the Dutch revolt against Spain and other forms of tyranny. According to this nationalist view, the Batavians were the "true" forefathers of the Dutch, which explains
1296-547: A disproportionate number of recruits to the Julio-Claudian auxilia, particularly in the cavalry : one ala and eight cohortes . They also provided most of the emperor Augustus ' elite regiment of Germanic bodyguards ( Germani corpore custodes ), which continued in existence until AD 68. The Batavi auxilia amounted to about 5,000 men, implying that for the entire Julio-Claudian period, over 50% of all Batavi males reaching military age (16 years) may have enlisted in
1440-511: A known enemy of Civilis. The battle took place near modern Nijmegen . The Batavian regiment deserted to their countrymen, giving a blow to the already feeble morale of the Romans. The Roman army was beaten and the legions forced to retreat to their base camp of Castra Vetera [ de ] (modern Xanten ). By this time, the Batavians clearly had the upper hand. Even Vespasian , who
1584-477: A majority of people in Rome's provinces venerated, respected, and worshipped gods from Rome proper and Roman Italy to an extent, alongside normal services done in honor of their "traditional" gods. The increasing practices of prorogation and statutorily-defined "super commands" driven by popularis political tactics undermined the republican constitutional principle of annually-elected magistracies. This allowed
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#17327757147371728-483: A massive Roman army led by the Roman general Quintus Petillius Cerialis eventually defeated the rebels. Following peace talks, the Batavi submitted again to Roman rule, but were forced to accept humiliating terms and a legion stationed permanently on their territory, at Noviomagus (modern day Nijmegen, The Netherlands ). The Batavi were a sub-tribe of the Germanic Chatti tribal group who had migrated to
1872-419: A military crisis occurred near some province, it was normally reassigned to one of the consuls; praetors were left with the garrison duties. In the permanent provinces, the Roman commanders were initially not intended as administrators. However, the presence of the commander with forces sufficient to coerce compliance made him an obvious place to seek final judgement. A governor's legal jurisdiction thus grew from
2016-479: A multitude of laws had been passed on how a governor would complete his task, requiring presence in the province, regulating how he could requisition goods from provincial communities, limiting the number of years he could serve in the province, etc. Prior to 123 BC, the senate assigned consular provinces as it wished, usually in its first meeting of the consular year. The specific provinces to be assigned were normally determined by lot or by mutual agreement among
2160-512: A new Leader was in the making." However, David Shotter noted that, despite events in Rome, Nero's step-brother Britannicus was more prominent in provincial coinages during the early 50s. Nero formally entered public life as an adult in AD 51 while 13 years old. When he turned 16, Nero married Claudius' daughter (his step-sister), Claudia Octavia . Between the years AD 51 and AD 53, he gave several speeches on behalf of various communities, including
2304-432: A praetor became normal: Appian reports 241 BC; Solinus indicates 227 BC instead. Regardless, the change likely reflected Roman unease about Carthaginian power: quaestors could not command armies or fleets; praetors could and initially seem to have held largely garrison duties. This first province started a permanent shift in Roman thinking about provincia . Instead of being a task of military expansion, it became
2448-486: A process which saw the republic return to "normality": he shared the fasces that year with his consular colleague month-by-month and announced the abolition of the triumvirate by the end of the year in accordance with promises to do so at the close of the civil wars. At the start of 27 BC, Augustus formally had a provincial command over all of Rome's provinces. That year, in his "first settlement", he ostentatiously returned his control of them and their attached armies to
2592-442: A public enemy. Nero prepared himself for suicide , pacing up and down muttering Qualis artifex pereo ("What an artist the world is losing!"). Losing his nerve, he begged one of his companions to set an example by killing himself first. At last, the sound of approaching horsemen drove Nero to face the end. However, he still could not bring himself to take his own life, but instead forced his private secretary, Epaphroditus, to perform
2736-406: A reaction from the senate, which reacted with laws to rein in the governors. After initial experimentation with ad hoc panels of inquest, various laws were passed, such as the lex Calpurnia de repetundis in 149 BC, which established a permanent court to try corruption cases; troubles with corruption and laws reacting to it continued through the republican era. By the end of the republic,
2880-695: A recurrent defensive assignment to oversee conquered territories. These defensive assignments, with few opportunities to gain glory, were less desirable and therefore became regularly assigned to the praetors. Only around 180 BC did provinces take on a more geographically defined position when a border was established to separate the two commanders assigned to Hispania on the river Baetis . Later provinces, once campaigns were complete, were all largely defined geographically. Once this division of permanent and temporary provinciae emerged, magistrates assigned to permanent provinces also came under pressures to achieve as much as possible during their terms. Whenever
3024-463: A substantial body of Roman legion infantry were eliminated. The governor of the province, Gaius Suetonius Paulinus , assembled his remaining forces and defeated the Britons . Although order was restored for some time, Nero considered abandoning the province. Julius Classicianus replaced the former procurator, Catus Decianus, and Classicianus advised Nero to replace Paulinus who continued to punish
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#17327757147373168-514: A theatre. At Subiaco, Lazio , near Rome he had 3 artificial lakes built, with waterfalls, bridges and walkways for the luxurious villa. He stayed at the Villa of Nero at Olympia, Greece , during his participation at the Olympic Games of AD 67. According to Suetonius , Nero had his former freedman Anicetus arrange a shipwreck, which Agrippina managed to survive. She then swam ashore and
3312-553: A tribune and a centurion of the Praetorian Guard. According to Tacitus, many conspirators wished to "rescue the state" from the emperor and restore the Republic . The freedman Milichus discovered the conspiracy and reported it to Nero's secretary, Epaphroditus . As a result, the conspiracy failed and its members were executed, including Lucan , the poet. Nero's previous advisor Seneca was accused by Natalis; he denied
3456-685: A wisdom and moderation quite alien to his character", and that he "held our liberties in his hand and respected them". Modern scholarship generally holds that, while the Senate and more well-off individuals welcomed Nero's death, the general populace was "loyal to the end and beyond, for Otho and Vitellius both thought it worthwhile to appeal to their nostalgia ". Nero's name was erased from some monuments, in what Edward Champlin regards as an "outburst of private zeal". Many portraits of Nero were reworked to represent other figures; according to Eric R. Varner, over 50 such images survive. This reworking of images
3600-519: Is often explained as part of the way in which the memory of disgraced emperors was condemned posthumously, a practice known as damnatio memoriae . Champlin doubts that the practice is necessarily negative and notes that some continued to create images of Nero long after his death. Damaged portraits of Nero, often with hammer blows directed to the face, have been found in many provinces of the Roman Empire, three recently having been identified from
3744-512: Is unclear whether Nero took his own life. With his death, the Julio-Claudian dynasty ended. Chaos would ensue in the year of the Four Emperors . According to Suetonius and Cassius Dio, the people of Rome celebrated the death of Nero. Tacitus, though, describes a more complicated political environment. Tacitus mentions that Nero's death was welcomed by senators, nobility, and the upper class. The lower class, slaves, frequenters of
3888-551: The lex Gabinia which gave Pompey an overlapping command over large portions of the Mediterranean. The senate, which had long acted as a check on aristocratic ambitions, was unable to stop these immense commands, which culminated eventually with the reduction of the number of meaningfully-independent governors during the triumviral period to three men and, with the end of the republic, to one man. During his sixth and seventh consulships (28 and 27 BC), Augustus began
4032-472: The Tiber . Returning, Nero sought a place where he could hide and collect his thoughts. An imperial freedman, Phaon , offered his villa, 4 mi (6.4 km) outside the city. Travelling in disguise, Nero and four loyal freedmen , Epaphroditus , Phaon , Neophytus , and Sporus , reached the villa, where Nero ordered them to dig a grave for him. At this time, Nero learned that the Senate had declared him
4176-538: The United Kingdom . The civil war during the year of the Four Emperors was described by ancient historians as a troubling period. According to Tacitus, this instability was rooted in the fact that emperors could no longer rely on the perceived legitimacy of the imperial bloodline, as Nero and those before him could. Galba began his short reign with the execution of many of Nero's allies. One such notable enemy included Nymphidius Sabinus , who claimed to be
4320-569: The Year of the Four Emperors at its peak, it would take some time before Rome could produce an effective counterattack. Moreover, the eight Batavian auxiliary units of Vitellius' army were on their way home and could be easily persuaded to join the rebellion for an independent Batavia. This was an important reinforcement. Apart from being veteran troops, their numbers were greater than the combined Roman troops stationed in Moguntiacum ( Mainz ) and Bonna ( Bonn ). In September 69, Civilis initiated
4464-538: The delta of the river Rhine . They were soon joined by the Celtic tribes from Gallia Belgica and some Germanic tribes. Under the leadership of their hereditary prince Gaius Julius Civilis , an auxiliary officer in the Imperial Roman army , the Batavi and their allies managed to inflict a series of humiliating defeats on the Roman army, including the destruction of two legions . After these initial successes,
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4608-509: The lyre while Rome burned "is at least partly a literary construct of Flavian propaganda ... which looked askance on the abortive Neronian attempt to rewrite Augustan models of rule". Tacitus suspends judgment on Nero's responsibility for the fire; he found that Nero was in Antium when the fire started, and returned to Rome to organize a relief effort, providing for the removal of bodies and debris, which he paid for from his own funds. After
4752-405: The proconsuls of Africa Proconsularis and Asia through those governed by consulares and correctores to the praesides . The provinces in turn were grouped into (originally twelve) dioceses , headed usually by a vicarius , who oversaw their affairs. Only the proconsuls and the urban prefect of Rome (and later Constantinople) were exempt from this, and were directly subordinated to
4896-577: The Batavi regiments helped Vitellius defeat Otho's forces at the Battle of Bedriacum . The Batavi troops were then ordered to return home. But at this point news arrived of the mutiny of general Titus Flavius Vespasianus , commander of forces in Syria, whose own massive army of five legions was soon joined by the legions on the Danube . Vitellius' governor in Germania Inferior, desperate to raise more troops, lost
5040-420: The Batavi regiments were withdrawn from Britain in 66, Civilis and his brother (also a prefect) were arrested by the governor of Germania Inferior on false accusations of treason. The governor ordered the brother's execution, and sent Civilis to Rome in chains for judgement by the Roman emperor Nero . (The difference in treatment indicates that the brother was still a peregrinus , i.e. a non-citizen subject of
5184-448: The Empire, a popular legend arose that Nero had not died and would return . After his death, at least three leaders of short-lived, failed rebellions presented themselves as " Nero reborn " to gain popular support. Nero was born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus on 15 December AD 37 in Antium (modern Anzio ), eight months after the death of Tiberius . He was an only-child, the son of the politician Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus and Agrippina
5328-724: The Gods help the braver side. — Gaius Julius Civilis The tribe of the Cananefates was living in lands between the Batavians and the North Sea . The inducements used by Civilis to instigate rebellion are not known, but the Cananefates, led by their chief Brinno, attacked several Roman forts, including Traiectum (Utrecht) . With most of the troops in Italy fighting in the civil war, the Romans were caught off guard. Flaccus, commander of
5472-556: The Iceni to his daughters, was denied. When the Roman procurator Catus Decianus scourged Prasutagus' wife Boudica and raped her daughters, the Iceni revolted. They were joined by the Celtic Trinovantes tribe and their uprising became the most significant provincial rebellion of the 1st century AD. Under Queen Boudica, the towns of Camulodunum (Colchester), Londinium (London) and Verulamium (St. Albans) were burned, and
5616-513: The Ilians; the Apameans (requesting a five-year tax reprieve after an earthquake); and the northern colony of Bologna , after their settlement had suffered a devastating fire. Claudius died in AD 54; many ancient historians claim that he was poisoned by Agrippina. Shotter has written that "Claudius' death...has usually been regarded as an event hastened by Agrippina, due to signs that Claudius
5760-574: The Latin word provincia . The Latin term provincia had an equivalent in eastern, Greek-speaking parts of the Greco-Roman world . In the Greek language, a province was called an eparchy ( Greek : ἐπαρχίᾱ , eparchia ), with a governor called an eparch ( Greek : ἔπαρχος , eparchos ). The Latin provincia , during the middle republic, referred not to a territory, but to a task assigned to
5904-602: The Rhine frontier. Still, Cerialis' army was a massive one and posed a serious threat to the rebels. On the news of the approaching army, Julius Tutor, one of Civilis' allies, surrendered. The "imprisoned" legions, I Germanica and XVI Gallica , capitulated. They were disgraced and no longer had the confidence of Rome. The I Germanica was disbanded and its legionaries were added to the VII Gemina in Pannonia. XVI Gallica
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6048-483: The Rhine legions had been punished by Galba for their actions against the rebel Vindex of Gallia Lugdunensis . Vespasian was winning the war and Civilis was helping him to become emperor by preventing at least the two legions besieged in Castra Vetera, loyal to Vitellius, from coming to his rescue. Flaccus and his commanders did not want to risk a second military gaffe and decided to wait for instructions. When
6192-489: The Rhine legions, sent auxiliary troops to control the situation. The result was another disaster for the Romans. Civilis assumed the role of mastermind of the rebellion and defeated the Romans near modern Arnhem . Flaccus ordered the V Alaudae and the XV Primigenia legions to deal with the rebels. Accompanying them were three auxiliary units, including a Batavian cavalry squadron, commanded by Claudius Labeo ,
6336-548: The Rhine legions. He was aware of Roman military tactics which gave him ideas on how to defeat them. The first action was to set up a decoy and Civilis induced a rebellion outside of Batavia and fragment the Northern Roman army. Let Syria, Asia Minor, and the East, habituated as it is to despotism, submit to slavery... Freedom is a gift bestowed by nature even on the dumb animals. Courage is the peculiar excellence of man, and
6480-536: The Roman Empire, or rather a subdivision of the imperial dioceses (in turn subdivisions of the imperial prefectures ). A province was the basic and, until the Tetrarchy (from AD 293), the largest territorial and administrative unit of the empire's territorial possessions outside Roman Italy . During the republic and early empire, provinces were generally governed by politicians of senatorial rank, usually former consuls or former praetors . A later exception
6624-477: The Roman legionaries and their German auxiliaries erupted in serious fighting on at least two occasions. At this juncture, the Roman Empire was convulsed by its first major civil war for a century, the Year of the Four Emperors . The cause was the fall of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. The descendants of Augustus had enjoyed the automatic and fervent loyalty of ordinary legionaries in the frontier armies, but Galba possessed no such legitimacy in their eyes. Supreme power
6768-522: The Younger . His mother Agrippina was the sister of the third Roman emperor Caligula . Nero was also the great-great-grandson of former emperor Augustus (descended from Augustus' only daughter, Julia ). The ancient biographer Suetonius , who was critical of Nero's ancestors, wrote that emperor Augustus had reproached Nero's grandfather for his unseemly enjoyment of violent gladiator games. According to Jürgen Malitz, Suetonius tells that Nero's father
6912-403: The Younger, the aunt that Nero had lived with during Agrippina's exile; Marcus Junius Silanus , a great-grandson of Augustus; and Narcissus . One of the earliest coins that Nero issued during his reign shows Agrippina on the coin's obverse side; usually, this would be reserved for a portrait of the emperor. The Senate also allowed Agrippina two lictors during public appearances, an honor that
7056-495: The administrative regions of Ancient Rome outside Roman Italy that were controlled by the Romans under the Roman Republic and later the Roman Empire . Each province was ruled by a Roman appointed as governor . For centuries, it was the largest administrative unit of the foreign possessions of ancient Rome. With the administrative reform initiated by Diocletian , it became a third level administrative subdivision of
7200-558: The administrative successes of these years. Malitz writes that in later years, Nero panicked when he had to make decisions on his own during times of crisis. Nevertheless, his early administration ruled to great acclaim. A generation later those years were seen in retrospect as an exemplar of good and moderate government and described as Quinquennium Neronis by Trajan . Especially well received were fiscal reforms which among others put tax collectors under more strict control by establishing local offices to supervise their activities. After
7344-485: The affair of Lucius Pedanius Secundus , who was murdered by a desperate slave, Nero allowed slaves to file complaints about their treatment to the authorities. Outside of Rome, Nero had several villas or palaces built, the ruins of which can still be seen today. These included the Villa of Nero at Antium, his place of birth, where he razed the villa on the site to rebuild it on a more massive and imperial scale and including
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#17327757147377488-416: The arena and the theater, and "those who were supported by the famous excesses of Nero", on the other hand, were upset with the news. Members of the military were said to have mixed feelings, as they had allegiance to Nero but had been bribed to overthrow him. Eastern sources, namely Philostratus and Apollonius of Tyana , mention that Nero's death was mourned as he "restored the liberties of Hellas with
7632-592: The arrangements during this period is contained in the Notitia Dignitatum (Record of Offices), a document dating from the early 5th century. Most data is drawn from this authentic imperial source, as the names of the areas governed and titles of the governors are given there. There are however debates about the source of some data recorded in the Notitia , and it seems clear that some of its own sources are earlier than others. Some scholars compare this with
7776-486: The auxilia. Thus, the Batavi, although just about 0.05% of the total population of the empire in AD 23, supplied about 4% of the total auxilia, i.e. 80 times their proportionate share. They were regarded by the Romans as the best and bravest ( fortissimi , validissimi ) of their auxiliary, and indeed of all their forces. In Roman service, they had perfected a unique technique for swimming across rivers wearing full armour and weapons. Gaius Julius Civilis (not his given name)
7920-463: The avenging force. Not wanting to risk a defeat, an enormous army was summoned. The legions VIII Augusta , XI Claudia , XIII Gemina , XXI Rapax , and the recently levied II Adiutrix were immediately sent to Germania. Additionally, the legions I Adiutrix and VI Victrix were summoned from Hispania and XIV Gemina from Britannia. Most parts of these legions were deployed to pacify other parts of Gaul and Germania Superior and secure
8064-523: The battle and destroyed the Batavian cavalry, but their own losses were enormous. Knowing that the Romans would come to Castra Vetera, Civilis abandoned the siege and threatened to attack Moguntiacum. The Romans were misled and rushed to the rescue of their main base in Germania Superior. In Moguntiacum they received the news of Vespasian's accession to the throne. Flaccus decided to celebrate
8208-562: The burning of Troy. Suetonius wrote that Nero started the fire to clear the site for his planned palatial Golden House . This would include lush artificial landscapes and a 30-meter-tall statue of himself, the Colossus of Nero , sited more or less where the Colosseum would eventually be built. Suetonius and Cassius Dio claim that Nero sang the " Sack of Ilium " in stage costume while the city burned. The popular legend that Nero played
8352-443: The camp, but after only a few kilometers they were ambushed by Germanic troops and destroyed. The commander and principal officers were made slaves and given as a present to Veleda , the prophetess who had predicted the rise of the Batavians. After this success, Civilis went to Colonia Agrippina ( Cologne ) and set up camp there. In the next months, he invested his time in convincing other tribes from northern Gaul and Germania to join
8496-435: The century after the Roman conquest of neighbouring Gaul trade had flourished with Roman, Gaulish and Germanic material culture are found combined in the region. They were a warlike people, skilled horsemen, boatmen and swimmers. They were therefore excellent soldier-material. In return for the unusual privilege of exemption from tributum (direct taxes on land and heads that most peregrini were subject to), they supplied
8640-468: The charges but was still ordered to commit suicide, as by this point he had fallen out of favor with Nero. Nero was said to have kicked Poppaea to death in AD 65, before she could give birth to his second child. Modern historians, noting the probable biases of Suetonius, Tacitus, and Cassius Dio, and the likely absence of eyewitnesses to such an event, propose that Poppaea may have died after miscarriage or in childbirth. Nero went into deep mourning; Poppaea
8784-459: The cithara or lyre, and whose face was similar to that of the dead emperor, appeared in 69 AD during the reign of Vitellius. After persuading some to recognize him, he was captured and executed. Sometime during the reign of Titus (79–81), another impostor appeared in Asia and sang to the accompaniment of the lyre and looked like Nero, but he, too, was killed. Twenty years after Nero's death, during
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#17327757147378928-429: The commanders; only extraordinarily did the senate assign a command extra sortem (outside of sortition). But in 123 or 122 BC, the tribune Gaius Sempronius Gracchus passed the lex Sempronia de provinciis consularibus , which required the senate to select the consular provinces before the consular elections and made this announcement immune from tribunician veto. The law had the effect of, over time, abolishing
9072-467: The consulship in exchange for a general proconsulship – with a special dispensation from the law that nullified imperium within the city of Rome – over the imperial provinces. He also gave himself, through the senate, a general grant of imperium maius , which gave him priority over the ordinary governors of the public provinces, allowing him to interfere in their affairs. Within the public and imperial provinces there also existed distinctions of rank. In
9216-467: The corruption of court favorites and freedmen, and above all to respect the privileges of the Senate and individual Senators." His respect for Senatorial autonomy, which distinguished him from Caligula and Claudius, was generally well received by the Roman Senate . Scullard writes that Nero's mother, Agrippina, "meant to rule through her son". Agrippina murdered her political rivals: Domitia Lepida
9360-482: The deaths of both his wife Claudia Octavia – supposedly so he could marry Poppaea Sabina – and his stepbrother Britannicus . Nero's practical contributions to Rome's governance focused on diplomacy , trade , and culture . He ordered the construction of amphitheaters , and promoted athletic games and contests . He made public appearances as an actor, poet, musician, and charioteer , which scandalized his aristocratic contemporaries as these occupations were usually
9504-401: The demands of the provincial inhabitants for authoritative settlement of disputes. In the absence of opportunities for conquest and with little oversight for their activities, many praetorian governors settled on extorting the provincials. This profiteering threatened Roman control by unnecessarily angering the province's subject populations and was regardless dishonourable. It eventually drew
9648-459: The domain of slaves, public entertainers, and infamous persons . However, the provision of such entertainments made Nero popular among lower-class citizens. The costs involved were borne by local elites either directly or through taxation, and were much resented by the Roman aristocracy . During Nero's reign, the general Corbulo fought the Roman–Parthian War of 58–63 , and made peace with
9792-487: The emperor. The emperor Diocletian introduced a radical reform known as the tetrarchy (AD 284–305), with a western and an eastern senior emperor styled Augustus , each seconded by a junior emperor (and designated successor) styled caesar . Each of these four defended and administered a quarter of the empire. In the 290s, Diocletian divided the empire anew into almost a hundred provinces, including Roman Italy . Their governors were hierarchically ranked, from
9936-409: The empire, while Civilis, as his name implies, had been accorded Roman citizenship , which entitled him to have his case heard by the emperor in person). While Civilis was in prison awaiting trial, Nero was overthrown in AD 68 by an army led into Italy by the governor of Hispania Tarraconensis , the veteran general Galba . Nero committed suicide, ending the rule of the Julio-Claudian dynasty , founded
10080-451: The end of the republic and was regardless in inferior status to a proconsul. More radically, Egypt (which was sufficiently powerful that a commander there could start a rebellion against the emperor) was commanded by an equestrian prefect, "a very low title indeed" as prefects were normally low-ranking officers and equestrians were not normally part of the elite. In Augustus' "second settlement" of 23 BC, he gave up his continual holding of
10224-491: The end of the republic, all governors acted pro consule . Also important was the assertion of popular authority over the assignment of provincial commands. This started with Gaius Marius , who had an allied tribune introduce a law transferring to him the already-taken province of Numidia (then held by Quintus Caecilius Metellus ), allowing Marius to assume command of the Jugurthine War . This innovation destabilised
10368-449: The evening in the palace. After sleeping, he awoke at about midnight to find the palace guard had left. Dispatching messages to his friends' palace chambers for them to come, he received no answers. Upon going to their chambers personally, he found them all abandoned. When he called for a gladiator or anyone else adept with a sword to kill him, no one appeared. He cried, "Have I neither friend nor foe?" and ran out as if to throw himself into
10512-443: The event by distributing a sum of money to the legions, but these legions were historically loyal to Vitellius, their former commander, and this act of generosity was interpreted as an offense. Flaccus was murdered and his second-in-command deserted, leaving the Roman army in a state of confusion. Civilis saw his chance and before the Romans knew what was happening, his troops besieged Castra Vetera once more. The year 70 started with
10656-736: The event that the Emperor survived. Suetonius differs in some details, but also implicates Halotus and Agrippina. Like Tacitus, Cassius Dio writes that the poison was prepared by Locusta, but in Dio's account it is administered by Agrippina instead of Halotus. In Apocolocyntosis , Seneca the Younger does not mention mushrooms at all. Agrippina's involvement in Claudius' death is not accepted by all modern scholars. Before Claudius' death, Agrippina had maneuvered to remove Claudius' sons' tutors in order to replace them with tutors that she had selected. She
10800-513: The fire an accident, as the merchant shops were timber-framed and sold flammable goods, and the outer seating stands of the Circus were timber-built. Others claimed it was arson committed on Nero's behalf. The accounts by Pliny the Elder , Suetonius, and Cassius Dio suggest several possible reasons for Nero's alleged arson, including his creation of a real-life backdrop to a theatrical performance about
10944-496: The fire, Nero opened his palaces to provide shelter for the homeless, and arranged for food supplies to be delivered in order to prevent starvation among the survivors. Tacitus writes that to remove suspicion from himself, Nero accused Christians of starting the fire. According to this account, many Christians were arrested and brutally executed by "being thrown to the beasts, crucified, and being burned alive". Tacitus asserts that in his imposition of such ferocious punishments, Nero
11088-612: The first treason trial of his reign ( maiestas trial) against Antistius Sosianus. He also executed his rivals Cornelius Sulla and Rubellius Plautus . Jürgen Malitz considers this to be a turning point in Nero's relationship with the Roman Senate . Malitz writes that "Nero abandoned the restraint he had previously shown because he believed a course supporting the Senate promised to be less and less profitable." After Burrus' death, Nero appointed two new Praetorian prefects: Faenius Rufus and Ofonius Tigellinus . Politically isolated, Seneca
11232-744: The flagship of the Roman fleet. This was a humiliation that demanded a response. Cerialis decided to wait no longer and invaded Batavia. At the outset of the rebellion, Rome was heavily preoccupied with major military operations in Judea during the First Jewish–Roman War . However, the siege of Jerusalem that began in April 70 AD was over by early September, and the war was essentially over. When Civilis heard that Jerusalem had fallen, and he realized that Rome would now bring its full resources to bear upon him, Civilis made peace. Peace talks followed. A bridge
11376-409: The goodwill of the Batavi by attempting to conscript more Batavi than the maximum stipulated in their treaty. The brutality and corruption of the Roman recruiting centurions, who were also responsible for many cases of sexual assault on Batavi boys, brought already deep discontent in the Batavi homeland to the boil. In the summer of 69, Civilis was commander of the Batavian auxiliary troops allocated in
11520-464: The governor of Hispania Tarraconensis , to join the rebellion and to declare himself emperor in opposition to Nero. At the Battle of Vesontio in May 68, Verginius' forces easily defeated those of Vindex, and the latter committed suicide. However, after defeating the rebel, Verginius' legions attempted to proclaim their own commander as Emperor. Verginius refused to act against Nero, but the discontent of
11664-530: The hostile Parthian Empire . The Roman general Suetonius Paulinus quashed a major revolt in Britain led by queen Boudica . The Bosporan Kingdom was briefly annexed to the empire, and the First Jewish–Roman War began. When the Roman senator Vindex rebelled, with support from the eventual Roman emperor Galba , Nero was declared a public enemy and condemned to death in absentia . He fled Rome, and on 9 June AD 68 committed suicide. His death sparked
11808-401: The intention of going to the port of Ostia and, from there, to take a fleet to one of the still-loyal eastern provinces. According to Suetonius, Nero abandoned the idea when some army officers openly refused to obey his commands, responding with a line from Virgil 's Aeneid : "Is it so dreadful a thing then to die?" Nero then toyed with the idea of fleeing to Parthia , throwing himself upon
11952-547: The legions of Germania and the continued opposition of Galba in Hispania did not bode well for him. While Nero had retained some control of the situation, support for Galba increased despite his being officially declared a "public enemy". The prefect of the Praetorian Guard , Gaius Nymphidius Sabinus , also abandoned his allegiance to the Emperor and came out in support of Galba. In response, Nero fled Rome with
12096-431: The list of military territories under the duces , in charge of border garrisons on so-called limites , and the higher ranking Comites rei militaris , with more mobile forces, and the later, even higher magistri militum . Justinian I made the next great changes in 534–536 by abolishing, in some provinces, the strict separation of civil and military authority that Diocletian had established. This process
12240-401: The loyalty they had given to Nero in the latter's final days. This alienated several hundred crack Batavi troops, and indeed the whole Batavi nation, who considered it a grave insult. At the same time, relations collapsed between the eight Batavi cohorts and their parent-legion XIV Gemina , to which they had been attached since the invasion of Britain 25 years earlier. The seething hatred between
12384-478: The mercy of Galba, or appealing to the people and begging them to pardon him for his past offences "and if he could not soften their hearts, to entreat them at least to allow him the prefecture of Egypt ". Suetonius reports that the text of this speech was later found in Nero's writing desk, but that he dared not give it from fear of being torn to pieces before he could reach the Forum. Nero returned to Rome and spent
12528-402: The new emperor. Nero's mother married Claudius in AD 49, becoming his fourth wife. On 25 February AD 50, Claudius was pressured to adopt Nero as his son, giving him the new name of "Nero Claudius Caesar Drusus Germanicus". Claudius had gold coins issued to mark the adoption. Classics professor Josiah Osgood has written that "the coins, through their distribution and imagery alike, showed that
12672-473: The news of Vitellius' defeat arrived, Civilis still continued the siege. He was not fighting for Vespasian, he was fighting for Batavia. Flaccus started to prepare a counterattack to rescue the besieged legions. Civilis was not going to wait until they were fully prepared and launched a surprise attack. In the evening of 1 December, his best eight cavalry cohorts attacked the Romans in Krefeld . The Roman army won
12816-469: The odds favoring the rebels. Two legions were still besieged at Castra Vetera and the rest of the Roman army was not large enough to cope with the revolt. Apart from the Batavian rebellion, the Trevirans and Lingones had declared the independence of Gaul . Julius Sabinus , the rebel emperor, managed to persuade the I Germanica and XVI Gallica to come over to his side. At Castra Vetera the situation
12960-427: The other hand normally served several years before rotating out. The extent to which the emperor exercised control over all the provinces increased during the imperial period: Tiberius, for example, once reprimanded legates in the imperial provinces for failing to forward financial reports to the senate; by the reign of Claudius, however, the senatorial provinces' proconsuls were regularly issued with orders directly from
13104-533: The period was riddled with deflation and that Nero intended his spending on public-work and charities to ease economic troubles. Nero became emperor in AD 54, aged 16. His tutor, Seneca , prepared Nero's first speech before the Senate. During this speech, Nero spoke about "eliminating the ills of the previous regime". H. H. Scullard writes that "he promised to follow the Augustan model in his principate, to end all secret trials intra cubiculum , to have done with
13248-482: The permanent seat of the government. In Italy itself, Rome had not been the imperial residence for some time and 286 Diocletian formally moved the seat of government to Mediolanum (modern Milan ), while taking up residence himself in Nicomedia . During the 4th century, the administrative structure was modified several times, including repeated experiments with Eastern-Western co-emperors. Detailed information on
13392-511: The population even after the rebellion was over. Nero decided to adopt a more lenient approach by appointing a new governor, Petronius Turpilianus . Nero began preparing for war in the early years of his reign, after the Parthian king Vologeses set his brother Tiridates on the Armenian throne. Around AD 57 and AD 58 Domitius Corbulo and his legions advanced on Tiridates and captured
13536-402: The powerful men to amass disproportionate wealth and military power through their provincial commands, which was one of the major factors in the transition from a republic to an imperial autocracy . The senate attempted to push back against these commands in many instances: it preferred to break up any large war into multiple territorially separated commands; for similar reasons, it opposed
13680-450: The provinces had been assigned to sitting praetors in the earlier part of the second century, with new praetorships created to fill empty provincial commands, by the start of the first century it had become uncommon for praetors to hold provincial commands during their formal annual term. Instead they generally took command as promagistrate after the end of their term. The use of prorogation was due to an insufficient number of praetors, which
13824-406: The public provinces, the provinces of Africa and Asia were given only to ex-consuls; ex-praetors received the others. The imperial provinces eventually produced a three-tier system with prefects and procurators, legates pro praetore who were ex-praetors, and legates pro praetore who were ex-consuls. The public provinces' governors normally served only one year; the imperial provinces' governors on
13968-492: The rebellion. The rebellion in Germania was now a real threat to the Empire. Two legions had been lost, two others (I Germanica and XVI Gallica ) were controlled by the rebels. This could not be allowed for much longer. As soon as Vespasian had the Empire in his hands and the situation in Italy under control, he decided to act. He nominated Quintus Petillius Cerialis , a close relative and experienced general, as commander of
14112-440: The reconstruction, Nero's government increased taxation. Particularly heavy tributes were imposed on the provinces of the empire. To meet at least a portion of the costs, Nero devalued the Roman currency , increasing inflationary pressure for the first time in the Empire's history. In AD 65, Gaius Calpurnius Piso , a Roman statesman, organized a conspiracy against Nero with the help of Subrius Flavus and Sulpicius Asper ,
14256-581: The recurring use of the name over the centuries. Jakarta was named "Batavia" by the Dutch in 1619. The Dutch republic created in 1795 on the basis of French revolutionary principles was called the Batavian Republic . Hence, leaders of the Revolt of the Batavi were given the status of Dutch National Heroes and their revolt against Roman rule regarded as a precursor of the 16th century Dutch revolt against Spanish rule. The painting by Rembrandt at
14400-517: The region between the Old Rhine and Waal rivers (still today called the Betuwe after them) in what became the Roman province of Germania Inferior (S Netherlands/Nordrhein). Their land, in spite of potentially fertile alluvial deposits, was largely uncultivable, consisting mainly of Rhine delta swamps. Thus the Batavi population it could support was tiny: not more than 35,000 at this time. However in
14544-486: The region occurred for nearly thirty years and what administration occurred was ad hoc and emerged from military necessities. In the middle republic, the administration of a territory – whether taxation or jurisdictrion – had basically no relationship with whether that place was assigned as a provincia by the senate. Rome would even intervene on territorial disputes which were part of no provincia at all and were not administered by Rome. The territorial province, called
14688-557: The reign of Domitian , there was a third pretender. He was supported by the Parthians, who only reluctantly gave him up, and the matter almost came to war. In Britannia (Britain) in AD 59, Prasutagus , leader of the Iceni tribe and a client king of Rome during Claudius' reign, had died. The client state arrangement was unlikely to survive following the death of Claudius. The will of the Iceni tribal King Prasutagus, leaving control of
14832-413: The remaining provinces, largely demilitarised and confined to the older republican conquests, became known as public or senatorial provinces , as their commanders were still assigned by the senate on an annual basis consistent with tradition. Because no one man could command in practically all the border-regions of the empire at once, Augustus appointed subordinate legates for each of the provinces with
14976-555: The senate settled affairs in the region by abolishing Macedonia and replacing it with four client republics. Macedonia only came under direct Roman administration in the aftermath of the Fourth Macedonian War in 148 BC. Similarly, assignment of various provinciae in Hispania was not accompanied by the creation of any regular administration of the area; indeed, even though two praetors were assigned to Hispania regularly from 196 BC, no systematic settlement of
15120-602: The senate, likely by declaring that the task assigned to him either by the lex Titia creating the Triumvirate or that the war on Cleopatra and Antony was complete. In return, at a carefully-managed meeting of the senate, he was given commands over Spain, Gaul, Syria, Cilicia, Cyprus, and Egypt to hold for ten years; these provinces contained 22 of the 28 extant Roman legions (over 80 per cent) and contained all prospective military theatres. The provinces that were assigned to Augustus became known as imperial provinces and
15264-426: The siege of Castra Vetera, the camp of the 5,000 legionaries of V Alaudae and XV Primigenia . The camp was very modern, filled with supplies and well-defended, with walls of mud, brick, and wood, towers, and a double ditch. After some failed attempts to take the camp by force, Civilis decided to starve the troops into surrender. Meanwhile, Flaccus decided to wait for the result of the war in Italy. Not long before,
15408-585: The significance of Agrippina's removal for Nero's conduct". He began to build a new palace, the Domus Transitoria , from about AD 60. It was intended to connect all of the imperial estates that had been acquired in various ways, with the Palatine including the Gardens of Maecenas , Horti Lamiani , Horti Lolliani , etc. In AD 62, Nero's adviser Burrus died. That same year, Nero called for
15552-782: The slope of the Aventine overlooking the Circus Maximus , or in the wooden outer seating of the Circus itself. Rome had always been vulnerable to fires, and this one was fanned to catastrophic proportions by the winds. Tacitus, Cassius Dio, and modern archaeology describe the destruction of mansions, ordinary residences, public buildings, and temples on the Aventine, Palatine, and Caelian hills. The fire burned for over seven days before subsiding; it then started again and burned for three more. It destroyed three of Rome's 14 districts and severely damaged seven more. Some Romans thought
15696-471: The son of Emperor Caligula . Otho overthrew Galba. Otho was said to be liked by many soldiers because he had been a friend of Nero and resembled him somewhat in temperament. It was said that the common Roman hailed Otho as Nero himself. Otho used "Nero" as a surname and reerected many statues to Nero. Vitellius overthrew Otho. Vitellius began his reign with a large funeral for Nero complete with songs written by Nero. After Nero's death in AD 68, there
15840-515: The system of assigning provincial commands, exacerbated internal political tensions, and later allowed ambitious politicians to assemble for themselves enormous commands which the senate would never have approved: the Pompeian lex Gabinia of 67 BC granted Pompey all land within 50 miles of the Mediterranean; Caesar's Gallic command that encompassed three normal provinces. In the late Republican period, Roman authorities generally preferred that
15984-658: The task. When one of the horsemen entered and saw that Nero was dying, he attempted to stop the bleeding, but efforts to save Nero's life were unsuccessful. Nero's final words were "Too late! This is fidelity!". He died on 9 June 68, the anniversary of the death of his first wife, Claudia Octavia , and was buried in the Mausoleum of the Domitii Ahenobarbi, in what is now the Villa Borghese ( Pincian Hill ) area of Rome. According to Sulpicius Severus , it
16128-410: The temporary provinciae , as it was not always realistic for the senate to anticipate the theatres of war some six months in advance. Instead, the senate chose to assign consuls to permanent provinces near expected trouble spots. From 200 to 124 BC, only 22 per cent of recorded consular provinciae were permanent provinces; between 122 and 53 BC, this rose to 60 per cent. While many of
16272-491: The tetrarchs. Although the Caesars were soon eliminated from the picture, the four administrative resorts were restored in 318 by Emperor Constantine I , in the form of praetorian prefectures , whose holders generally rotated frequently, as in the usual magistracies but without a colleague. Constantine also created a new capital, named after him as Constantinople , which was sometimes called 'New Rome' because it became
16416-454: The throne with the backing of the Praetorian Guard and the Senate. In the early years of his reign, Nero was advised and guided by his mother Agrippina, his tutor Seneca the Younger , and his praetorian prefect Sextus Afranius Burrus , but sought to rule independently and rid himself of restraining influences. The power struggle between Nero and his mother reached its climax when he orchestrated her murder. Roman sources also implicate Nero in
16560-456: The title legatus Augusti pro praetore . These lieutenant legati probably held imperium but, due to their lack of an independent command, were unable to triumph and could be replaced by their superior (Augustus) at any time. These arrangements were likely based on the precedent of Pompey's proconsulship over the Spanish provinces after 55 BC entirely through legates, while he stayed in
16704-557: The top of this page is part of that view of the Revolt of the Batavi. In 1613 Otto van Veen also made a series of sequential paintings about the Revolt of the Batavi. Even today Batavian is a term sometimes used to describe the Dutch people; this is similar to use of Gallic to describe the French and Teutonic to describe the Germans. Roman province The Roman provinces ( Latin : provincia , pl. provinciae ) were
16848-465: The usual ceremonies, including a dowry and a bridal veil. It is believed that he did this out of regret for his killing of Poppaea. In March 68, Gaius Julius Vindex , the governor of Gallia Lugdunensis , rebelled against Nero's tax policies. Lucius Verginius Rufus , the governor of Germania Superior , was ordered to put down Vindex's rebellion. In an attempt to gain support from outside his own province, Vindex called upon Servius Sulpicius Galba ,
16992-477: The vicinity of Rome. In contrast, the public provinces continued to be governed by proconsuls with formally independent commands. In only three of the public provinces were there any armies: Africa , Illyricum , and Macedonia ; after Augustus' Balkan wars , only Africa retained a legion. To make this monopolisation of military commands palatable, Augustus separated prestige from military importance and inverted it. The title pro praetore had gone out of use by
17136-402: The word referred something akin to a modern ministerial portfolio: "when... the senate assigned provinciae to the various magistrates... what they were doing was more like allocating a portfolio than putting people in charge of geographic areas". The first commanders dispatched with provinciae were for the purpose of waging war and to command an army. However, merely that a provincia
17280-538: Was a Roman emperor and the final emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty , reigning from AD 54 until his death in AD 68. Nero was born at Antium in AD ;37, the son of Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus and Agrippina the Younger (great-granddaughter of the emperor Augustus ). Nero was three when his father died. By the time Nero turned eleven, his mother married Emperor Claudius , who then adopted Nero as his heir. Upon Claudius' death in AD 54, Nero ascended to
17424-437: Was a hereditary prince of the Batavi and the prefect (commanding officer) of a Batavi cohort. A veteran of 25 years' distinguished service in the Roman army, he and the eight Batavi cohorts had played an important role in the Roman invasion of Britain in AD 43 and the subsequent subjugation of that country (43–66). By 69, however, Civilis, the Batavi regiments and the Batavi people had become utterly disaffected from Rome. After
17568-487: Was a widespread belief, especially in the eastern provinces, that he was not dead and somehow would return. This belief came to be known as the Nero Redivivus Legend . The legend of Nero's return lasted for hundreds of years after Nero's death. Augustine of Hippo wrote of the legend as a popular belief in AD 422. At least three Nero impostors emerged leading rebellions. The first, who sang and played
17712-621: Was also able to convince Claudius to replace two prefects of the Praetorian Guard (who were suspected of supporting Claudius' son) with Afranius Burrus (Nero's future guide). Since Agrippina had replaced the guard officers with men loyal to her, Nero was subsequently able to assume power without incident. The main ancient Roman literary sources for Nero's reign are Tacitus , Suetonius and Cassius Dio . They found Nero's construction projects overly extravagant and claim that their cost left Italy "thoroughly exhausted by contributions of money" with "the provinces ruined". Modern historians note that
17856-586: Was assigned did not mean the Romans made that territory theirs. For example, Publius Sulpicius Galba Maximus in 211 BC received Macedonia as his provincia but the republic did not annex the kingdom, even as Macedonia was continuously assigned until 205 BC with the end of the First Macedonian War . Even though the Second and Third Macedonian Wars saw the Macedonian province revived,
18000-416: Was built over the river Nabalia , where the warring parties approached each other on both sides. The general agreements are unknown, but they were favourable to the Batavians, the Batavians were to renew their alliance with the Roman Empire and to levy another eight auxiliary cavalry units. The Batavian capital of Nijmegen was destroyed and its inhabitants ordered to rebuild it a few kilometers downstream, in
18144-624: Was continued on a larger scale with the creation of extraordinary Exarchates in the 580s and culminated with the adoption of the military theme system in the 640s, which replaced the older administrative arrangements entirely. Some scholars use the reorganization of the empire into themata in this period as one of the demarcations between the Dominate and the Byzantine (or the Later Roman) period. Cisalpine Gaul (in northern Italy )
18288-612: Was customarily bestowed upon only magistrates and the Vestalis Maxima . In AD 55, Nero removed Agrippina's ally Marcus Antonius Pallas from his position in the treasury. Shotter writes the following about Agrippina's deteriorating relationship with Nero: "What Seneca and Burrus probably saw as relatively harmless in Nero—his cultural pursuits and his affair with the slave girl Claudia Acte —were to her signs of her son's dangerous emancipation of himself from her influence." Britannicus
18432-405: Was desperate. Food supplies had run out and the besieged legions were eating horses and mules to survive. With no prospect of a relief, the commander of the troops, Munius Lupercus, decided to surrender. The legions were promised safe conduct if they left the camp to be sacked by the rebels. All weapons, artillery material, and gold was left to plunder. V Alaudae and XV Primigenia marched out of
18576-399: Was executed by Anicetus, who reported her death as a suicide. The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece and Rome cautiously notes that Nero's reasons for killing his mother in AD 59 are "not fully understood". According to Tacitus , the source of conflict between Nero and his mother was Nero's affair with Poppaea Sabina . In Histories Tacitus writes that the affair began while Poppaea
18720-408: Was fighting Vitellius for the imperial throne, saluted the rebellion that kept his enemy from calling the Rhine legions to Italy. The Batavians were promised independence and Civilis was on his way to becoming king. For unknown reasons, this was not enough for the Batavians. Civilis chose to pursue vengeance and swore to destroy the two Roman legions. The timing was well chosen. With the civil war of
18864-425: Was for two reasons: more provinces needed commands and the increased number of permanent jury courts ( quaestiones perpetuae ), each of which had a praetor as president, exacerbated this issue. Praetors during the second century were normally prorogued pro praetore , but starting with the Spanish provinces and expanding by 167 BC, praetors were more commonly prorogued with the augmented rank pro consule ; by
19008-470: Was forced to retire. According to Tacitus, Nero divorced Octavia on grounds of infertility, and banished her. After public protests over Octavia's exile, Nero accused her of adultery with Anicetus, and she was executed. In AD 64 during the Saturnalia , Nero married Pythagoras , a freedman . The Great Fire of Rome began on the night of 18 to 19 July 64, probably in one of the merchant shops on
19152-498: Was given a sumptuous state funeral and divine honors , and was promised a temple for her cult. A year's importation of incense was burned at the funeral. Her body was not cremated, as would have been strictly customary, but embalmed after the Egyptian manner and entombed; it is not known where. In AD 67, Nero married Sporus , a young boy who is said to have greatly resembled Poppaea. Nero had him castrated and married him with all
19296-406: Was instigated by Nero to clear land for his planned " Golden House ". Tacitus claims Nero seized Christians as scapegoats for the fire and had them burned alive, seemingly motivated not by public justice, but personal cruelty. Some modern historians question the reliability of ancient sources on Nero's tyrannical acts, considering his popularity among the Roman commoners. In the eastern provinces of
19440-547: Was involved in a serious political scandal. His mother and his two surviving sisters, Agrippina and Julia Livilla , were exiled to a remote island in the Mediterranean Sea . His mother was said to have been exiled for plotting to overthrow the emperor Caligula. Nero's inheritance was taken from him, and he was sent to live with his paternal aunt Domitia Lepida , the mother of later emperor Claudius 's third wife, Messalina . After Caligula's death, Claudius became
19584-449: Was known to be "irascible and brutal", and that both "enjoyed chariot races and theater performances to a degree not befitting their position". Suetonius also mentions that when Nero's father Domitius was congratulated by his friends for the birth of his son, he replied that any child born to him and Agrippina would have a detestable nature and become a public danger. Domitius died in AD 41. A few years before his father's death, his father
19728-466: Was not motivated by a sense of justice, but by a penchant for personal cruelty. Houses built after the fire were spaced out, built in brick, and faced by porticos on wide roads. Nero also built himself a new palace complex known as the Domus Aurea in an area cleared by the fire. The cost to rebuild Rome was immense, requiring funds the state treasury did not have. To find the necessary funds for
19872-467: Was now open to whichever general was strong enough to seize it (and keep it). First, in AD 69, Galba's deputy, Otho , carried out a coup d'état in Rome against his leader. Amongst all the chaos, Galba was killed by the Praetorian Guard under Otho's command. Then Vitellius launched his own bid for power and prepared to lead the Rhine legions into Italy against Otho. Now in urgent need of the Batavi's military support, Vitellius released Civilis. In return,
20016-536: Was occupied by Rome in the 220s BC and became considered geographically and de facto part of Roman Italy , but remained politically and de jure separated. It was legally merged into the administrative unit of Roman Italy in 42 BC by the triumvir Augustus as a ratification of Caesar 's unpublished acts ( Acta Caesaris ). Nero Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( / ˈ n ɪər oʊ / NEER -oh ; born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus ; 15 December AD 37 – 9 June AD 68)
20160-613: Was poisoned after Agrippina threatened to side with him. Nero, who was having an affair with Acte, exiled Agrippina from the palace when she began to cultivate a relationship with his wife Octavia. Jürgen Malitz writes that ancient sources do not provide any clear evidence to evaluate the extent of Nero's personal involvement in politics during the first years of his reign. He describes the policies that are explicitly attributed to Nero as "well-meant but incompetent notions" like Nero's failed initiative to abolish all taxes in AD 58. Scholars generally credit Nero's advisors Burrus and Seneca with
20304-512: Was reconstituted with the name of Legio XVI Flavia Firma . Pushing down from all directions, Cerialis forced the rebels and their (now scarce) allies to retreat to the North. The rebellion was now confined to Germania Inferior. From his homeland of Batavia, Civilis tried for some time to attack the Roman army in a series of raids by land and, with the help of his fleet, in the rivers Waal and Rhine. In one of these raids, Civilis managed to capture
20448-472: Was showing a renewed affection for his natural son." He notes that among ancient sources, the Roman historian Josephus was uniquely reserved in describing the poisoning as a rumor. Contemporary sources differ in their accounts of the poisoning. Tacitus says that the poison-maker Locusta prepared the toxin, which was served to the Emperor by his servant Halotus . Tacitus also writes that Agrippina arranged for Claudius' doctor Xenophon to administer poison, in
20592-653: Was still married to Rufrius Crispinus , but in his later work Annals Tacitus says Poppaea was married to Otho when the affair began. In Annals Tacitus writes that Agrippina opposed Nero's affair with Poppaea because of her affection for his wife Octavia . Anthony A. Barrett writes that Tacitus' account in Annals "suggests that Poppaea's challenge drove [Nero] over the brink". A number of modern historians have noted that Agrippina's death would not have offered much advantage for Poppaea, as Nero did not marry Poppaea until AD 62. Barrett writes that Poppaea seems to serve as
20736-433: Was the province of Egypt, which was incorporated by Augustus after the death of Cleopatra and was ruled by a governor of only equestrian rank, perhaps as a discouragement to senatorial ambition. That exception was unique but not contrary to Roman law, as Egypt was considered Augustus's personal property, following the tradition of the kings of the earlier Hellenistic period . The English word province comes from
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