Nero's Ideas of Pleasing the People

Nero had definitely come up with some interesting ideas. For example within the circuses and theaters there would normally be a large number of soldiers (Praetorian Guard) present, but Nero did not think that this gave the people a sense of freedom and at the end of 55 A.D. he had them removed from the games. This turned out to be a bad move because of the rival gangs and fights. The following year the soldiers were reinstated. Nero was not pleased with killing unless it was deserved. In 57 A.D. he built a wood amphitheater for games, gladiator fights, and wild beast shows but he did not allow fighting to the death, even if those fighting were convicted criminals. It wasn’t long before the crowd cried for blood and Nero had to change his policy. Nero soon became very suspicious and a bit paranoid. If he even suspected that someone was hostile to him in any way, he was ready to order their death, but he would not execute someone unless they committed some sort of treason. He did not like to execute people and when he was asked to sign an execution warrant, he would sigh "How I wish I never learned to write." It is interesting that Seneca also did not like the idea of Roman executions. One situation that disturbed Seneca was in 61 A.D., when the city prefect Lucius Pedanius Secundus (a fellow Spanish citizen) was murdered by one of his slaves. According to Roman law (in case of a slave uprising) not only the murderer himself but every other slave in the house had to be killed. Lucius owned four hundred slaves including women and children. Though many protested against the slave executions Nero enforced the law.

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