How Did Nero Build The Roman Empire

The Roman leader Nero slit his own throat on June 9th, 68 C.E. after receiving word that the Senate had declared him a public enemy. He was 30 years old. In the beginning of 68 C.E. Gaius Vindex led a rebellion against Nero, Rome’s current emperor, that could have been easily stopped had Nero not given up so soon. Nero did not put put up much of a fight during his fall, and was easily overtaken by the rebels, proving that anyone with an army backing them up could become emperor of Rome. Afterwards, Sulpicius Galba was put in charge of Rome but ruled poorly, marking the start of the Year of Four Emperors. Among the many Roman politicians alive in 68 C.E. was Nero, the emperor of Rome at the time. Among the other important people alive during
First off, Nero was draining Rome’s finances with his lavish living style. Secondly, his armies were restless. Nero was more interested in singing in the opera and playing the lyre than military conquest. Also, he did not have a successor. He had no children, so if he were to be overthrown, the Julio-Claudian dynasty would be permanently destroyed and an outside member would have to claim the throne. When the rebellion started, Nero hesitated to take any action other than making himself sole
He did not, however, intend on restoring the authority of the republic and even announced that he was no longer going to be a servant of Nero. With this, he also stated that he was attacking the Senate and not Nero. He said this because he knew that, even if the rebellion succeeded in ousting Nero from the throne, the armies would not be loyal to any new emperor and they would keep their loyalty within the Julio-Claudian dynasty. He also had many supporters, primarily people struggling to pay their taxes and also an enemy of Nero, Salvius Otho. One of the battles fought by Vindex in the rebellion was against Verginius Rufus, a loyal asset of Nero. They fought at Vesontio, but at first upon meeting each other Rufus and Vindex debated whether or not they should even fight in the first place. They eventually did, resulting in a bloody massacre of Vindex’s men by Rufus. Unable to live with himself, Vindex committed suicide. After this victory, Rufus’s soldiers wanted him to become an imperator, but out of his loyalty to Nero he refused this offer and gave the Senate time to name the