5Nero

As an emperor and as a human, Nero was absolutely awful. His show-reel of worst moments features assassinating his mother, forcing his first wife to commit suicide, and kicking his second wife to death when she told him off for spending too much time at the games.

Fleeing the imperial palace on horseback, Nero made his way towards the villa of his freedman (ex-slave), Phaon, on the fourth milestone between the Via Nomentana and the Via Salaria. A passing soldier recognised and saluted him, scaring the emperor into venturing off-road. He made his way along the back of Phaon’s villa, scratching his face on the branches and brambles, before crawling his way inside to await news from the outside world. A few hours later it arrived, but it wasn’t what Nero wanted to hear. The Senate had declared him an enemy of the state. Nero steeled himself for suicide, but could not bring himself to do it, asking in vain for someone to show him how it’s done. Eventually, mistaking the sound of horses outside for someone sent to arrest him, he drove a dagger into his throat.

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