Tacitus wrote of him that he was equal to supreme power if he had not held it. A man described as almost priggishly upright, he surrounded himself with corrupt advisors and officials. Succeeded Nero and executed many highly placed Romans he suspected of conspiring against him. He made the mistake of refusing to pay the Praetorian guard the reward they claimed for deserting Nero and they murdered him and his adopted son in the forum seven months after he came to power.
