Nero

(Nero Claudius Caesar Drusus Germanicus). Born A.D. 37; died 68. Roman emperor from 54, of the Julio-Claudian dynasty.

In the first years of his reign Nero ruled in concert with the Senate and was guided by Burrus, prefect of the praetorian guard, and by the philosopher Seneca. Later he instituted a policy of repressions and confiscations, which angered not only the senatorial elite (Piso’s conspiracy of A.D. 65) but other strata as well. Among Nero’s victims were his closest relatives, including his mother, and many such prominent people as Seneca, the poet Lucan, and the writer Petronius. In 68 the provincial governors Vindex and Galba rebelled against Nero. Abandoned even by the praetorians, Nero fled Rome and en route committed suicide. Historical sources portray Nero as narcissistic, cruel, and debauched, more engrossed in his “artistic” pursuits than in affairs of state, which he entrusted to his freedmen and court favorites.

(also Lake Rostov), a lake in Yaroslavl Oblast, RSFSR. It has an area of 54.4 sq km, a length of approximately 13 km, and a width of up to 8 km. Its depth averages 1–1.3 m; the maximum depth is 3.6 m. The bottom is covered with a thick layer of sapropel. Lake Nero is fed mainly by snow. The water level fluctuates by 3.2 m, with the highest levels occurring in April and May, and the lowest in October. The lake freezes in late October or in November; the ice breaks up in April. A total of 18 tributaries empty into the lake, the largest being the Sara River. Flow from Lake Nero is regulated by a dam with a sluice at the source of the Kotorosl’ River (a tributary of the Volga). There is local navigation on the lake and fishing for European bream, perch (Perca fluviatilis), and pike. The city of Rostov (Iaroslavskii) is on Lake Nero.