Pisonic conspiracy

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The Pisonian conspiracy of April 65 was an attempt by members of the Roman Senate aristocracy to assassinate Emperor Nero . However, the conspiracy was exposed before it was carried out. It is named after Gaius Calpurnius Piso .

The situation in 65

After his mother Agrippina was murdered , Nero felt free to live out his dream of being an artist. While under the influence of his mother he was still urged to keep himself publicly away from passions of this kind, he was now working on his career as an actor, musician and poet. He appeared publicly as a kitharot , especially in his favorite city, Neapolis (Naples), wrote poetry and even had his own racecourse built near Rome, where he and other aristocratic car drivers could indulge their passion without hindrance.

Many of these hobbies were promoted by Nero's advisors Seneca and Burrus , without provoking much public attention or even anger against the activities of the emperor. But after Burrus' death and Seneca's retreat into private life in 62, this reluctance ended. The new Praetorian prefect Tigellinus supported the emperor's passions regardless of any conventions, which led to growing indignation, especially in the ranks of the senators. The princeps behavior violated any tradition and any sense of class, and that was intolerable for the tradition-conscious men in the Senate.

The planning

The conspirators were among the senators, who refused to condone the princeps' improper conduct, and among the Praetorians, who had never forgiven Nero for the murder of Agrippina, who was popular in their ranks. The goal was the murder of Nero and at the same time the proclamation of a worthy successor. The attack was planned for the Neronian Festival in 65, as further mockery of traditional traditions was to be expected there. In addition, Poppaea's new pregnancy raised fears that the birth of an heir to the throne would make Nero's behavior even more excessive and unbearable.

The conspirators were not interested in the assassination of Nero to restore the republic , even if many people from the circle of the old republican aristocracy were among the conspirators; it was simply a matter of enthroning a successor who would be able to replace Nero and at the same time respect the wishes and will of the Senate.

The choice fell on Gaius Calpurnius Piso , who came from the republican aristocracy and had been a suffect consul under Claudius . He played a leading role in the society of Rome, although he was neither one of Nero's advisors, nor had any great political ambition. He was considered generous and friendly, even towards strangers. Like Nero, he exhibited his artistic talent, albeit amateurish, in private circles, which, however, was still considered acceptable from the point of view of the conspirators. In contrast to the Princeps, he even corresponded to the male ideal of beauty of the time.

The execution of the attack was discussed for a long time. The best opportunity to kill Nero was when he was staying at the Villa Pisos on the Gulf of Naples. Piso rejected this plan and referred superficially to the violation of the hospitality law; in fact, when Nero died, he probably wanted to be as close as possible to the center of the action in Rome. Because of his now flaring ambition, Piso feared the claims of L. Junius Silanus , a distant relative of Augustus , who many senators found more attractive because of his stricter lifestyle.

The conspirators agreed to assassinate Nero in April 65 during the Ludi Ceriales . The act was to be carried out in a similar way to the murder of Caesar : During the circus games, Nero would leave his new palace, the Domus Aurea , to watch the races. Plautius Lateranus , known for his physical strength, was supposed to fall at Nero's feet as a supplicant in order to then hold him. The other assassins among the Praetorians would then murder the princeps. Piso and Claudia Antonia , daughter of Emperor Claudius , were to wait nearby for Lucius Faenius Rufus , who was to take him to the Praetorian camp, where he would be proclaimed the new Princeps.

The failure

The failure of the conspiracy, if one takes the following episode as an example, is due to the inadequate secrecy of the intentions.

“The Senator Flavius ​​Scaevinus, who had just been conferring with Piso's closest confidante Natalis for many hours, aroused the curiosity of his freedman Milichus with his eloquent farewell mood; he renewed his will once again and showered the staff of his household with surprising last wills and gifts. When his master's dagger had to be sharpened again, Milichus became suspicious and discussed the strangeness of the day with his wife. His realistic companion persuaded him to bring his observations forward to the court as soon as possible. Soon he was standing in front of Nero and spreading everything he knew. "

- Jürgen Malitz : Nero . Verlag CH Beck, p. 86.

As a result, the two suspects Natalis and Scaevinus, whom Milichus had reported, were arrested and interrogated. They could not withstand the sight of the torture instruments and named the actual conspirators, but possibly also uninvolved persons. Nero was particularly pleased that Seneca's name was also mentioned. The freedwoman Epicharis , who was also initiated into the conspiracy, remained silent even under the torture and escaped further agony by strangling herself.

A state of emergency was declared in Rome and regular troops patrolled everywhere in the streets, supplemented by Germanic bodyguards. One of them stood out in breaking the conspiracy: the Praetorian prefect Faenius Rufus, one of the most important co-conspirators, but who had not yet been suspected. He didn’t change a face when Subrius Flavus gestured to him during interrogation to attack the Nero standing next to him.

Piso himself remained inactive during these hours. He did not respond to the suggestion of confidants to risk everything by appealing to the army and the people of Rome. Instead, he waited in his garden for the arrest team, guarded by recruits and soldiers with little work experience. In his will, he tried to protect his wife, Satria Galla, whom he had turned away from one of his friends. Eventually he was arrested and executed. Because of this behavior, the historian Tacitus felt that he was completely wrongly appointed as a candidate for the office of Princeps.

Seneca had no part in the conspiracy, according to Tacitus, as he had long since withdrawn from public life and always avoided anything that might have caught Nero's attention. However, a correspondence made known by a co-conspirator led Nero to believe that his old teacher had been privy to the conspirators' plans. In it he was confirmed by Tigellinus and Poppaea. The Praetorian officer Gavius ​​Silvanus was supposed to deliver the death sentence to Seneca, himself a co-conspirator. Since he did not dare to read Seneca the death sentence himself, he sent a sergeant to his house. Following the example of Socrates , Seneca spent the last hours of his life in philosophical conversation and eventually committed suicide.

In total, the conspiracy cost the lives of at least nineteen men and women, and thirteen had to go into exile. Nero made the Praetorians a generous gift of money for their loyalty, which had become dubious. He bestowed ornamenta triumphalia , the robe of a victorious general, on the three men who, in his opinion, had the main merit in the suppression of the conspiracy : Tigellinus, Nerva and the consul Petronius Turpilianus .

The aftermath of the Pisonian conspiracy was still felt in 66, when Senator Thrasea Paetus stayed away from the Senate in protest against Nero's behavior and policies, was charged with high treason and finally forced to commit suicide. Another well-known victim in this series was Petronius , also a former teacher of Nero. His hostility to Tigellinus led to the fact that he was accused of participating in the Pisonian conspiracy and was also forced to commit suicide. Unlike the stoic Thrasea Paetus, however, he spent his last hours in light conversation and left the world in his will a list of Nero's latest vices and sexual preferences.

After the suppression of the Pisonian conspiracy, no serious resistance to Nero's rule has survived until the Vindex was raised in 68.

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