Drama Based on Nero's Life - Term Paper Example

Drama based on Nero's Life - for ics in Translation This is a drama that is focused on Nero’s life as emperor a crown that he had taken when he was just a young boy but had now grown to a man of mature age. The aim of this paper is to create a dramatic retell of Nero’s life. Two men were responsible for guiding Nero through his youth, did this with a unity of purpose that is seldom found where authority is shared, their accomplishments were different but the two men had equal influence over the emperor, this men were Afranius Burrus and Annaeus Seneca. Burrus had the discipline and manners of a soldier while Seneca was a man with eloquence and dignified courtesy. Old men had not failed to observe that Nero was the first emperor who needed the eloquence of another man. When Nero was done morning the death of his father he entered the senate, taking to the senate and trying to explain his boyhood. Nero: my boyhood… has not had the taint of civil wars nor domestic feuds, I bring with me no hatred no since of wrong nor a desire for vengeance. He then started to structure his future government and said (in matters concerning judgment and his house) Nero: I will not be the judge in all cases nor will I confine the accuser and the accused in these same walls, I will not net the power of few people grow dangerously formidable. In my house there should be nothing venal and nothing open o intrigue, my establishment Agrippina was however opposed to this, she stood behind the senate hidden by a curtain that shut her out of sight but she could still hear the senate and the emperor discussing their matters. Within the same year the emperor talking to the senate Nero: I require a statue of my father, and that the consular decorations be conferred on my guardian Asconius Labeo, I do not want any statues of myself that are made of solid gold and silver. Senate man: your honor we have made arrangements or year to start from the mont5h that you were born, December to be precise Nero: no I prefer to retain January as the first month of the year, this is due to its commencement and the old sacred associations of January, I also would want to cancel the prosecution of senator Carinas celer and that of the knight Julius Densus. In the year of his consulship with lucius Antistius he forbade his colleague to extend an oath of obedience to imperial registration to his own enactments, this was received with warm praise by the senators. He had however done this in the hope that the youthful spirit elated with the glory that he would win at the trifles would follow on to nobler aspirations (Tacitus 154). The emperor showed a sign of mercy when he reinstated the rank of Plautius Lateranus who had been degraded for adultery with Messalina. The emperor’s mother’s love was weakened when Nero fell in love with a freedwoman called Acte and took into his confidence Claudius Senecio and Otho who were two men of fashion. The first who had descended from a family of consular rank, the emperor had found a girl who gratified his desires as he loathed his wife Octavia who was born of a rich family. His mother found out eventually ad ravaged with a woman’s fury at the thought of having a slave for a rival, she would not wait for her son’s repent and reproached him, and he then went ahead and he put himself under the guidance of Seneca after throwing the respect for his mother. Nero was so affected by the affection that his mother had for Britannicus that he redoubled his hate for him; he went ahead and poisoned his brother while they wer4e having dinner. When the poison hade penetrated his entire flame he lost his voice and breath Nero: this is a common occurrence from periodical epilepsy my brother was infected with the disease when he was still an infant, his sight and senses will return in time. Nero had offered a huge insult to the boyhood of his brother, making him the first victim of dishonor. After the haste burial Nero: I apologize for the quick burial, may I remind you that it was the practice of our ancestors too withdraw from the view of nay grievous and untimely death, I have now lost a brother’s help and all my remaining hope is centered on the state, and all tenderness should be shown by the people and the senate towards a prince who is now the sole survivor of a family born to the highest greatness Nero was seated over his cups, at the time Paris entered wearing a gloomy expression Paris: there has been some evidence that your mother has been joined by Burrus to bring you down, He then went through all the evidence. Nero: anyone much more a parent must be allowed defense there are no accusers who are forthcoming and we only have the word of a single person from an enemy’s house and this night with its darkness and prolonged festivity and everything savoring of recklessness and folly is enough to refute. Pallas and Burrus were then accused of conspiring to raise Cornelius Sulla to throne, The promoter of the prosecution was Paetus, But the proved innocence of Pallas did not please men so much as the man was arrogant. When his accomplices’ were called to testify, were called, he replied that back at home he indicated his desires only by a gesture or a nod, or, if further explanation was necessary, he used writing, so as not to disgrace his precious voice in such company. Burrus, though accused, gave his verdict as one of the judges. The prosecutor was sentenced to exile, and the account-books in which he was reviving forgotten claims of the exchequer, were burnt (Tacitus 194). In the year, which Nero was under the consulship of Caius Fonteius and Caius Vipstanus Nero committed a long meditated crime, he fell in love with a woman named Poppaea, when his mother learnt of Nero’s passion for the woman; she started offering herself to Nero while he was intoxicated. Nero came to learn of this and that his solders were loosing faith in him since he was committing a crime, Incent was at that, time was notorious though the people did not embrace it (Tacitus 34). The woman had no hope of her getting married to Nero or even think of Nero divorcing his current wife for her while Nero’s mother was still alive. So Nero sort the advice of his counsel on the best method of getting to killing his mother, they then came up with the perfect plan to kill Agrippina; Anicetus (a freedman): a vessel can be constructed your honor, which a part of it might be a contrivance is detached when out at sea such that she will be plunged into the water unawares. Nero: are you certain that the plan will work? Anicetus: nothing allowed accidents more as the sea; you will then add the honor of a temple and of the shrines to the deceased lady, with other displays of affection. However their plan did not go through Nero to Seneca and Burrus: what resources do I have against all these? Accusations will come flowing in that I tried to kill her. Seneca: does the bloody deed require soldiers? Burrus: the praetorians are attached to the whole family f the Caesars and when remembering Germanicus they would not even dare salvage the deed on his offspring, it is for Anicetus to accomplish his promise. Anicetus: I am definitely to blame for the consummation of the crime Nero: go with all the speed that you can and take with you men who are ready to execute Anicetus thus took a few soldiers to her house and killed her. Nero then came to regret his actions during his mother’s burial. In Nero’s fourth consulship still maintaining Cornelius Cossus as his colleague, he established a theatrical entertainment that would be repeated every five years in Rome; this was an imitation of the Greek festival. This entertainment went without any notorious scandal taking place. People embraced this sport and praised the king for it (Tacitus 104). Nero committed many crimes during this period, he was involved in the death of Burrus this time he and his counsel used a poison, which was smeared on the victim’s neck under the pretence of the application of a remedy. His throat swelled gradually inwards in time until it closed up the passage leading to his death. Burrus had however seen through the crime and even recoiled in horror when the emperor came to visit him, the death of Burrus was a blow to Seneca's power and Nero too started to lean on worse advisers (Tacitus 104). This period saw Nero divorced his wife Octavia form him on the pretence that she was barren, he then married Poppaea. During the period of consulship under Verginius Rufus and Memmius Regulus, Nero welcomed the birth of a daughter whom he named Augusta a title that had already been given to Poppaea, within four months the infant died and this was received with much sorrow throughout the empire. Nero too was in excessive grief as he had been in joy. During this period Nero received news that there was a cave somewhere in the city that had immerse amounts of gold which was not in pure form but in the ancient form of huge masses, Nero did not wait but sent men to the caves for the mining of the gold. At the same time, extravagance increased on the strength of chimerical hope and most of the ancient wealth was wasted. However, the news turned out to be false and the bearer of the news gave to himself a glorious death instead of disgrace. Games were also taking place in the city, as was the custom now (Tacitus 104). After the conclusion of the games saw he death of Poppaea from a casual outburst which resulted in her kicking in the stomach by Nero while at the same time she was heavy with a child. She was given a descent burial where her body was not consumed by fire, but after the foreign princes’ custom resulted in a fragrant of spices, then embalmed, and consigned to the sepulcher of the julii. Her death brought grief among the public, but was a delight to those who were recalling the past thought of her shamelessness and her cruelty. This period saw the banishment of two key players in Nero’s life, Cassius and Silanus, who the senate consulted and saw fit to exile them. The emperor was to judge the region where the two would be taken. Cassius was transported to the island of Sardinia, where he was quietly left to old age. Silanus was taken to Ostia, where in pretence he was to be conveyed to Naxos. He was later confined in a town of Apulia named Barirum (Tacitus 151). Silanus endured a most undeserved calamity here, a centurion who had been sent to slay him seized him, the centurion advised him to slay his own veins, but he rejected this saying that though he was prepared to die he would not let the centurion have him do it himself. The centurion seeing this, as unarmed as Silanus was, he was a powerful man and more enraged than frightened. The centurion ordered his soldiers to overpower him so that he could slay him himself. Silanus resisted this and strike blows with the soldier who eventually overpowered him and he was then cut down by the centurion. With equal courage as that shown by Silanus Lusious Vetus, with his mother in law and daughter Pollutia submitted to their deaths. Nero hated them because they seemed a living reproach to him for the murder of the son in law to Lucius Vetus (Tacitus 154). This was the period that Nero had his hand in so many murders, he arranged the murder of Annaeus Mela, Cerialis Anicius, Rufius Crispinus, and Petronius. Nero after having murdered so many illustrious men he extirpated virtual itself by murdering Barea Soranus and Thrasea Paetus men he had hated for long, he hated Thrasea on the grounds that he had walked out while Agrippina’s case was being discussed (Tacitus 75). Many details about the last two years of Nero’s reign remain unknown. However, his years as the emperor had been filled with death, murder, and acts of unquestionable bad nature. He had taken the throne thorough crime and lived a life of crime while he was at it. From the murder of his mother to the killing of his friends, divorce to the first life and the killing of the other, shows the kind of man that Nero had turned out to be (Tacitus 54). Nero under the counsel ship of other men led the people from the Promised Land back to a land filled with war, treasury, and murder. Nero did all this while seeking the advice of his advisers who in the fear of his wrath would always tell him what he had wished to hear. His love for women including the lust that he had for his mother show what kind of ruler that Nero had chosen to be (Tacitus 94). This paper has highlighted the life of Nero from a dramatic perspective and has put emphasis in the acts or scenes, which had the greatest impact on Nero or the people themselves. This paper tells of what kind of person Nero was before he became the emperor, the kind of leader that he would have become, and the kind of leader that he chose to be. Works cited Tacitus C. The Annals: Translation based on Alfred John Church and William Jackson Brodribb. Boston: MobileReference.com, 2010. Tacitus C. The annals of imperial Rome. Stilwell: Digireads.com, 2005. Read More