The only consolation for those who abhorred such evenings was that the coenatio rotunda, as the rotating hall was known, did not turn for long. ![]() On and on the parties went until, finally, they were allowed to leave. Similarly, there was no respite for Nero's guests in the rotating dining room. Nero often inflicted such performances on the people of Rome, appearing in theatres and insisting that the doors be locked so nobody could leave until he had finished. He also regarded himself as a talented musician and writer, and if there were no Christians to burn, he might then insist on subjecting his audience to his lute-strumming or interminable poetry recitals. He would then ravage them one by one, roaring like a beast as his fawning admirers applauded. One of his favourite party tricks was to dress up in the skin of a wild animal, and have himself imprisoned in a cage while helpless young men and women were tethered to posts in front of him. And to keep the party going, the bisexual Nero invited male and female prostitutes to mingle with his guests. Gorging on gallons of wine, they retired only to enjoy sex between courses. There guests would dine on the most extraordinary delicacies, including peacock, swan, stuffed sow's wombs and roasted dormice - occasionally vomiting into special-bowls to allow them to continue their culinary orgy. Exotic creatures were left free to roam the gardens.īut the piece de resistance was the rotating dining room, where Nero would stage his infamous feasts. The entrance was guarded by 120ft bronze statue of Nero, while inside the palace grounds were an amphitheatre and a complex of bath-houses. Certainly, soon afterwards, taxes were raised to fund the construction of this fabulously ostentatious palace. Some alleged that Nero had deliberately ordered the conflagration to make way for the ultimate statement of his power: the Golden House. Unsurprisingly, Nero became ever more unpopular with his people, not least after the Great Fire of Rome, which razed large swathes of the city in AD 64. Nero then married a third time, after forcing the husband of his intended bride, Messalina, to commit suicide.ĭisguising himself with caps and wigs, he delighted in creeping into the seedier quarters of Rome to beat up drunks, who would be stabbed and thrown into the sewers if they put up a fight. When she complained that he had returned home late from the races, Nero kicked his pregnant wife - and her unborn baby - to death. ![]() Poppaea became his second wife - but not for long. Soon afterwards, he cut off Octavia's head, and presented it as a trophy to his mistress, Poppaea. After divorcing her on a false charge of adultery, he banished her from Rome and had her maids tortured to death.īut this wasn't enough to satisfy Nero's bloodlust. She is believed to have conducted a lurid incestuous affair with her son to maintain control over him - but he soon tired of her constant interference and had her stabbed to death in AD 59.īefore long, it was his wife Octavia's turn. Soon, even his mother was subjected to his murderous gaze. When, less than six months into his reign, Nero suspected a plot to replace him with Britannicus, he followed his mother's example and killed his 15-year-old stepbrother with poisoned mushrooms. He also had a terrible and vengeful temper. 'It is said that he never made a journey with less than 1,000 carriages, his mules shod with silver.' 'He never wore the same garment twice,' wrote Suetonius. Then just 16, Nero was described by Suetonius as being of average height, with a prominent belly and a spotty complexion. She then had Claudius killed with poisoned mushrooms, clearing the way for her son to inherit the Empire in AD 54. She embarked on her third marriage, to the Emperor Claudius, in AD 49, and although he already had a son, Britannicus, by another wife, manipulated him into adopting Nero as his heir. ![]() ![]() Her first husband, Nero's father, died of natural causes, but she is widely suspected of murdering her second. One of history's most bloody tyrants, Nero appears to have derived much of his chilling ambition from his wealthy widowed mother, Agrippina.
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