As late as the 5th century, many people believed Nero would come back from the dead. At least three Nero impostors emerged leading rebellions.

lost_in_time [none/use name] · 6 hours ago

As late as the 5th century, many people believed Nero would come back from the dead. At least three Nero impostors emerged leading rebellions.

miz [any, any] · 5 hours ago

so what I'm getting from this is that Nero tried to help the working classes and was demonized and deposed by the Roman ownership class for it, who then lied about him profusely

RiotDoll [she/her, she/her] · 2 hours ago

Nero was a proper piece of shit.

But the caesars at that point still ruled via popular mandate, or at least the optics thereof. More like military support supplemented by acts that placated the greater citizenry, because the aristocrats carried the torch of getting their oligarchy back for a while. The shadow of augustus was pretty long.

But you never got soldiers hollering "imperator" at you without being a huge fucking genocidal scumbag so it came with the job - he's not some misunderstood saint.

UlyssesT [he/him] · 3 hours ago

It's possible he promised such things the way promises the world to his followers, too, with a similar self-aggrandizing grotesque spectacle all the while.

As late as the 5th century, many people believed Nero would come back from the dead. At least three Nero impostors emerged leading rebellions.

As late as the 5th century, many people believed Nero would come back from the dead. At least three Nero impostors emerged leading rebellions.

Nero Redivivus - Wikipedia