Sensitive and handsome, Nero (37 – 68 AD / reigned 54 – 68 AD) started out well as emperor. But his early promise gave way to wild extravagance and murder. His rule ended as violently as it had begun.

Rome experienced some of its greatest economic and cultural dynamism under Nero's rule, and yet he's called everything from a murderous psychopath to a depraved tyrant. Is it time to reexamine this ...