How did Nero help the empire?

Answer 1

Rome and the Parthian (Persian) Empire clashed over the Kingdom of Armenia, which was a client state of Rome and which the Parthians tried to take control of. Nero negotiated compromise a peace deal whereby the king of Armenia would be a Parthian prince, but he would have to be appointed by Rome, thus ensuring Roman dominance in the area. This peace deal lasted for 50 years and was a great success for Nero. It avoided costly wars with the Parthians which could have involved attacks of the Roman province of Syria and other Roman provinces in the east. It made Nero popular in the eastern provinces of the Roman Empire and with the Parthians. Nero also sent dealt with the Great Jewish Revolt by putting Vespasian in charge of the Roman legions and sending him to Judea to put down the rebellion, which was accomplished after his death.

Nero pursued policies which favoured the poorer classes. He considered abolishing indirect taxes because of complaints that the poor were taxed too harshly. He was warned that this would ruin the treasury, so he decided to reduce the tax rate from 4.5% to 2.5% instead. He also published the previously secret state tax records. He put restrictions of the amount to be paid for fines and bail and on the fees of layers.

Nero favoured the freedmen. He opposed a bill to give patrons the right to revoke the freedom of freedmen in case of misconduct. However, he approved a bill which established collective punishment of all slaves in a household for a crime committed by one slave.

There were allegations that Nero set Rome to fire in the Great Fire of Rome of 64. However, Tacitus, who was the only author who was around at the time of the fire, said that Nero was not it Rome when it broke out and that he made great efforts to help the people affected by the fire, spent days searching for survivors without bodyguards, opened his palaces to host the homeless and bought food supplies with his money. He then made an urban plan with houses built on wider roads and faced by porticoes. He also built an enormous imperial palace, the Golden House. The costs of rebuilding Rome was immense and beyond the resources of the treasury. Therefore, Nero devalued the Roman currency for the first time in history. He did so by reducing the gold and silver content of the god and silver coins so that more coins could be issued.