Research paper: Emperor Nero of the Roman Empire; "Innocent Child to Insane Tyrant"

Essay by fromage301High School, 10th gradeA+, August 2006

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Innocent Toddler to Insane Tyrant

Think of your favorite childhood memory. What were you doing, and who was with you? Would that event have been possible without your parents? Now, think of something that happened to you as a child that really upset you. Who did you run to for comfort? For most people, the answer would be either their mother or their father. Parents' actions play a huge role in their child's future. Children look up to their parents and will imitate whatever they see because, to them, their parents are perfect. In the Roman Empire, an emperor named Nero ruled from 54 to 68A.D. (Coffta). Throughout his reign, Nero acted in insane ways and treated his people cruelly. Nero's insanity and cruelty as a ruler was the result of the instability of his childhood.

Nero's parents were cruel people with evil intentions, and if it had not been for them, he may not have been as terrible a ruler as he was.

His father was a corrupt and evil man, who is described as having "a sadistic brutality and a lust that even the court of Tiberius was amazed at, and he was covetous to the point of being dishonest" (Fawaz). Nero did not have the father figure that most children have growing up. He was never able to play with his dad, and he was never able to come to him with his problems. Nero's mother, Agrippina, was just as bad, if not worse. She was dishonest and self-serving, and she would do anything to gain more power, including killing her own family members, having sexual relations with her brother, and letting Nero covet her in hopes of having better control over him (Fawaz, Wikipedia Contributors). She spoiled Nero and let him get away with whatever...