It was as if he had some kind of youthful death wish. He almost had his eyes knocked out in one of the fights and could easily have been killed. But once he was out on the town, he became completely reckless, and didn’t care what risks he took. He was still trying to keep up the pretence that he could behave as an emperor was expected to.
#Quest for infamy humble how to#
He seemed to be scared of being found out and he learned how to use the Thapsia plant to conceal the bruises he acquired during his escapades (Pliny Natural History 13.126). But for the first few years he did what he was told by day, then did what he wanted by night. Later on, Nero was to rid himself of all these old people. It was obvious that he hated being confined to the palace, where his mother and senior advisers would lecture him by day about what he should be doing to be a good emperor.
Every evening he would, like a hoodied youth today, put on a wig or a cap to try to conceal his identity and head out to experience the thrill of the dangerous street life that filled Rome at night. And he felt the need to break them constantly. He felt compelled to break not just some rules but every rule, whether it related to sexual behaviour, property rights or the use of violence. So long as the behaviour was relatively contained, it was seen as a way for young men to let off steam before settling down to the serious business of adult life (young women, needless to say, had a very different set of attitudes applied to them). As Cicero once said, whoever would condemn such behaviour would be very harsh indeed. The Romans could be fairly forgiving of their sons and do not seem to have been overly concerned if they sometimes drank too much, got into the occasional fight, or had sex with prostitutes. They revealed an almost psychopathic love of violence and a complete disdain for all the normal rules of behaviour. The moment darkness fell, the young emperor seemed incapable of resisting these sinister pranks. They would probably have dismissed his nocturnal activities, as well as his lust, extravagance and cruelty, as the mere follies of youth, were it not for the fact that they seemed to be an ingrained part of his character. He had become emperor when only sixteen and people may have been prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt at first. It was said that there were so many marauding gangs that at night Rome became like a city captured by the enemy (Suetonius Nero 26).
When it became well known that the emperor himself was indulging in such a wanton crime spree, many others began to copy his example. Once safely back at his palace, he would auction off his booty to the highest bidder, making the imperial residence a marketplace for stolen goods. Nero would even break into shops and steal from them. Nero later forced the man to commit suicide. One victim who had the nerve to fight back managed to overpower the emperor and pummelled him to within an inch of his life. If any resisted, Nero stabbed them and threw their bodies into the sewers. The emperor lurked in the shadows until an unsuspecting victim passed by and then leapt out and violently assaulted him. This was before the Great Fire of AD 64 – which he was accused of starting himself – when the streets of the old city were narrow, twisting and dark. EVIDENCE Chapter I NERO’S MUGGINGS AND OTHER VIOLENT CRIMEĪt night the emperor Nero used to disguise himself as a slave and go wandering in the streets and the taverns of Rome.
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