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Updated 5928± 08 12 2024 [2007-10-25]
One
or Two Comets During Nero’s Reign?
…and
Some Dated Events Anchored Upon Those Observations.
Abstract:
It is almost impossible to correctly translate any text authored by another first hand witness unless the observed event can be exactly recapitulated. Nevertheless, even second or third hand translations are helpful in a pursuit towards finding out the facts of an event. Through careful study and using the best available tools the conscientious student may step by step arrive ever closer to a correct understanding of the truth.
The present study makes it clear
that there are two comets being associated with Nero’s reign, the first
one during the time of Claudius’ poisoning, and the second one
about three months before Nero killed his mother. I find this relationship
between the comet and Nero’s mother curious, considering especially that Nero’s
mother was indeed largely running the show behind the scenes in
As spin-offs of this study of Nero’s comets etc. I have been able to discover what I believe are the correct years for the following events:
1)
the
first time during Nero’s reign when the Quinquennial games were celebrated
[October 3 or 5 through 12, 46 CE;]
2) Nero’s matricide [March 19, 47 CE;]
3)
the great earthquake in
4)
the
death of Nero’s first wife Octavia [early 48 CE;]
5)
Nero’s daughter’s birth and death [March(?) and June(?), 48 CE;]
6)
Nero’s burning of
7)
the
second time during Nero’s reign when the Quinquennial games were celebrated
[October 3 or 5 through 12, 50 CE;]
8) Seneca’s death [October, 50 CE;] and
9)
the
death of Nero’s wife Poppaea [October, 50 CE.]
In addition I find that the
dates given in the apocryphical book “The Epistles of Paul the Apostle to
Seneca, with Seneca’s to Paul” may well fit the present chronology.
Said Epistles are generally believed to be a late fraud without authentic
origin. As best I can tell said belief is based primarily upon the fact that
the several exactly dated letters in said book find no correspondence with
conventional but erroneous chronologies, which also find little or no
correspondence with any verifiable celestial events. Accordingly, it may
well be possible that these Epistles of Paul and Seneca are in fact authentic
documents from the beginning.
Considerations:
Were
there one or two comets during the reign of Nero?
It has been suggested [cf. Kronk and Conte] that two distinct and
separate comets during the reign of Nero were seen and referenced by Seneca,
Suetonius, Tacitus, etc., however…
The advice of Babilus, the
astrologer referenced by Suetonius, was supposedly the beginning of Nero’s
“sacrifice of illustrious persons.” Accordingly, this makes the “blazing star,”
referenced by Suetonius relative to the first occation when such an omen /
comet within Nero’s de facto reign was observed, became an excuse for
the “sacrifice of illustrious persons.” At the very same time, by the very same
passage of Suetonius, this same “blazing star” is also the last omen / comet
prior to the death of Seneca.
Tacitus makes it clear that
Seneca, who was one among the Piso conspirators, was killed very soon after
Nero was informed of said conspiracy. (Piso’s conspiracy was discovered and
averted the very same day when Nero was to have been killed by the
conspirators.)
Notice what happened – and
what did not happen! - “at the close of
th[at] year,” which Tacitus is talking
about:
“47. At the close of
the year [49 CE] people
talked much about omens presaging impending evils: [They talked about] Powerful[1] lightning flashes[2] never[3], [4] having been more
frequent[5] and a comet[6]
constellation[7], in conjunction[8] with Nero’s continuous[9] shedding of aristocratic blood, [which events had begun at the time of that most
recent comet at the close of 46 CE three years before and a mere three months
before Nero killed his mother.”] (My translation.)
Some further deductions
aiming at dating some of the events during Nero’s reign:
Suetonius makes it clear
that “Nero’s continuous shedding of aristocratic blood” had its beginning very shortly
after “a comet” was observed. The comet was seen in the lunar month at the end
of 46 CE and the beginning of 47 CE. Suetonius states that: “It became [Nero’s]
practice to appoint Consuls for a period of six months.”
Tacitus indicates that the
comet was seen during “Nero's fourth consulship with Cornelius Cossus”
(Tacitus, Cornelius, Annals XIV:20.)
Then there are two
consulships: 1) “Caesonius Paetus and Petronius Turpilianus” (Tacitus,
Cornelius, Annals XIV:29,) and “Publius Marius and Lucius Asinius” (Tacitus,
Cornelius, Annals XIV:48.)
Under this last consulship
Tacitus reports that , “An earthquake too demolished a large part of
However Seneca reports that
an “earthquake took place upon the
Nones of February, in the consulate of Regulus and Virginius, and brought great
slaughter and desolation upon
Thus between the 46/47
comet and the February 5 earthquake in
"23. During the
consulship of Memmius Regulus and Verginius Rufus, Nero welcomed with something
more than mortal joy the birth of a daughter by Poppaea, whom he called
Then follows the consulship
of “Caius Lacanius and Marcus Licinius” during which “A disaster... happened to
this city [
Then Tacitus states: “At
the close of the [Julian] year people talked much:…” (Tacitus, Cornelius,
Annals XV:47.)
Next is the consulship of
“Silius Nerva and Atticus Vestinus” (Tacitus, Annals, Book 15:48,) during
which:
“Piso expired...” (Tacitus,
Annals, Book 15:59.)
"Then followed the
destruction of Annaus Seneca…” (Tacitus, Annals, Book 15:48, 60-64.)
Which brings us to at least
the beginning of 50 CE [actually October 50 CE (cf. below.)]
“1.
FORTUNE soon afterwards
made a dupe of Nero… 2. Nero… had triremes assigned them and crews
specially selected to promote speed… It happened, too, that the quinquennial games were being celebrated
for the second time… 4. Meanwhile the Senate, as they were now on the eve of the quinquennial contest… 6. After the conclusion of the games Poppaea
died from a casual outburst of
rage in her husband, who felled her with a kick when she was pregnant… 13. A year of shame and of so many evil deeds heaven
also marked by storms and pestilence. Campania was devastated by a hurricane, which destroyed everywhere country-houses,
plantations and crops, and carried its fury to the neighbourhood of Rome, where a terrible plague was sweeping away all classes of human beings with out any such
derangement of the atmosphere as to be visibly apparent... That same year
levies of troops were held in Narbon Gaul, Africa and Asia, to fill up the
legions of Illyricum, all soldiers in which, worn out by age or ill-health,
were receiving their discharge… 14. In the consulship of Caius Suetonius and Lucius Telesinus,” (Tacitus,
Annals, Book 16:1, 2, 4, 6.)
The
Quinquennial games are reportedly
celebrated from the 3rd or 5th through the 12th
of October. But what year? What year was the first time for these games of
Nero?
“20.
In Nero's fourth
consulship with Cornelius Cossus
for his colleague, a theatrical entertainment to be repeated every five years
was established at
I
have already concluded that “Nero’s fourth consulship with Cornelius Cossus”
occurred within the last half of 46 CE. Accordingly, “the quinquennial
games were being celebrated for the second time” four
years later, i.e. in October, 50 CE.
It seems that some
confusion is being generated by the previously available translations of
Tacitus’ Annals: The words “At the close of the year…” are being erroneously associated
with “a comet… appeared.” Confusion is also generated by the word translated
“always” in Tacitus statement: “A comet
too appeared, for which Nero always[10] made propitiation with noble blood.” The only way to resolve these issues is to
go to the source, the original Latin text of Tacitus, and see what it really
says - and what it does not necessarily say - is it not?
It follows that Seneca’s
reference to a prior celestial event is in re to an event associated with the
Emperor preceding Nero, i.e. the comet at the end of Claudius Caesar’s reign in
39 CE. Since Nero had already been appointed as Claudius’ de jure successor
at that time - though he had not been officially and finally presented as such
to the people and was not yet the de facto Emperor of Rome - the first
comet seen during the de jure reign of Nero is technically the one seen
in 39 CE. The second, but the first of his de facto reign, is the one in
46/47 CE. I see no evidence necessitating the presence any additional comet
during the reign of Nero, do you?
Seneca:
The first
comet referenced by Seneca (associated with Claudius’ reign, 39 CE:)
Seneca’s
original Latin text:
“[28,3]
Fecit hic cometes, qui Paterculo et Vopisco consulibus apparuit, quae ab
Aristotele Theophrastoque sunt praedicta; fuerunt enim maximae et continuae
tempestates ubique, at in Achaia Macedoniaque urbes terrarum motibus prorutae
sunt.” (Quaestiones Naturales, Liber VII DE COMETIS:[28,3])
Gary W. Kronk quoting a translation of Seneca’s Latin
text above:
“Seneca said, "The comet which appeared in the
consulship of Paterculus and Vopiscus did what was predicted
by Aristotle and Theophrastus: for there were very violent and continuous
storms everywhere, and in
Achaia and Macedonia
cities were destroyed by earthquake." ” Quaestiones
Naturales (63), book 7, pp. 262–3, 270–1, 286–9. Cf. Cometography, Vol. 1, Kronk, Gary W.
One - 1st
or 2nd? - of the comets referenced by Seneca:
"We have
seen a comet, a blazing radiance in the sky, spread out its hostile torch where
slow Boötes guides his wagon in the endless turning of the night."
(Seneca, Lucius Annaeus, Octavia, scene II, lines 230–4. [Quoted out of
private email from Kronk, Gary W. with an excerpt out of his Cometography, Vol. 1.])
“OCT. Let the stormy
seas seek cordial companionship with the stars and let fire mingle with water,
let the very heavens descend and take the place of grim Tartarus, let balmy
light amicably join hands with hideous darkness, and bright clear day ally
itself with the dewy night, before my mental tenderness could harmonize with
the impious disposition of that wicked husband of mine. I am ever mindful of my
murdered brother, I wish that the ruler of the heavenly gods would make ready
to cut short with his lightnings, the terrible life of that cruel emperor—that
deity, who so often shakes the earth with his frightful thunderbolts and
terrifies our very souls with his awful igneous displays and novel wonders
(fresh prodigies). But I have witnessed of late a blazing phenomenal splendor in the heavens,6 a comet that has exposed to my view
its ominous fiery torch, (tail) just where slow-moving Boötes, stiff as it were
with the Arctic cold, drives his wagon at each turn of the night continually; behold, the very atmosphere seems polluted with the
horrible breath of that cruel ruler. The angry stars actually seem to be
threatening the people with some fresh disasters, whom that impious potentate
holds in domination.” (Lucius
Annaeus Seneca, Octavia,
translated, with notes, by Watson Bradshaw.
“...uidimus caelo iubar
qua plaustra tardus noctis alterna uice
regit Bootes, frigore Arctoo rigens:”
(L. ANNAEI SENECAE OCTAVIA: lines 231-4)
Re Seneca’s
“last comet… this recent comet…” (associated with Nero’s reign, 46/47 CE:)
"This last comet
ran across half the sky in only six months." Seneca added, "this recent comet started its motion in the
north and passing through the west it arrived in the southern region and its
orbit passed out of sight as it was rising." (Seneca, Lucius Annaeus, Quaestiones
Naturales, (63), book 7, pp. 262–3, 270–1, 286–9 [Quote out of private
email from Gary W. Kronk.])
Suetonius:
Re “a
blazing star” and the subsequent conspiracies of Piso [in which Seneca was also
implemented and then killed] and of
Vinicius:
“XXXVI. Nor did he proceed with less cruelty against those who were not of
his family. A blazing star, which is vulgarly supposed to portend destruction to
kings and princes, appeared above the horizon several nights successively 610. He felt great anxiety on account of this
phenomenon, and being informed by one Babilus, an
astrologer, that princes were used to expiate such omens by the sacrifice of
illustrious persons, and so avert the danger foreboded to their own persons, by
bringing it on the heads of their chief men, he resolved on the destruction of
the principal nobility in Rome. He was the more encouraged to this, because he had
some plausible pretence for carrying it into execution, from the
discovery of two conspiracies against him; the former and more
dangerous of which was that formed by Piso 611, and discovered at Rome; the other was that of Vinicius 612, at Beneventum.”
“610 (return) This comet, as
well as one which appeared the year in which Claudius died, is described by
Seneca, Natural. Quaest. VII. c. xvii. and xix. and by Pliny, II. c. xxv.”
“611 (return) See Tacitus, Annal. xv.
49-55.
“612 (return) The sixteenth book of
Tacitus, which would probably have given an account of the Vinician conspiracy,
is lost. It is shortly noticed by Plutarch.”
(The Lives of the Twelve Caesars by C. Suetonius
Tranquillus; NERO CLAUDIUS
CAESAR:XXXVI, The Translation of Alexander Thomson, M.D.)
“XXXVI. Nec
minore saeuitia foris et in exteros grassatus est. stella[11]
crinita[12], quae
summis potestatibus exitium portendere uulgo putatur, per continuas noctes oriri
coeperat. anxius ea re, ut ex Balbillo astrologo didicit, solere reges
talia ostenta caede aliqua illustri expiare atque a semet in capita procerum
depellere, nobilissimo cuique exitium destinauit; enimuero multo magis et quasi
per iustam causam duabus coniurationibus prouulgatis, quarum prior maiorque
Pisoniana Romae, posterior Viniciana Beneuenti conflata atque detecta est.
[2] coniurati e uinculis triplicium catenarum dixere causam, cum quidam
ultro crimen faterentur, nonnulli etiam imputarent, tamquam aliter illi non
possent nisi morte succurrere dedecorato flagitiis omnibus. damnatorum liberi
urbe pulsi enecti que ueneno aut fame; constat quosdam cum paedagogis et
capsaris uno prandio pariter necatos, alios diurnum uictum prohibitos quaerere.” (C. Suetonius Tranquillus, De Vita Caesarum
(ed. Maximilian Ihm))
Notice:
The paragraphs within The Twelve Caesars by Suetonius
are not arranged in a strict chronological order! For example Suetonius is
giving reference to the same conflagration of
Events in the latter half of 46 CE or first half of
47 CE:
“20.
In Nero's fourth consulship with Cornelius Cossus for his colleague…” (Tacitus,
The Annals, Book XIV:20.)
“22… A brilliant comet now appeared. The general belief is that a comet means
a change of emperor. So people speculated on Nero’s successor as though Nero
were already dethroned.”
(Tacitus, The Annals of Imperial
Another
translation: “22. A comet meantime blazed in the sky, which in popular opinion always portends revolution to
kingdoms. So people began to ask, as if Nero was already
dethroned, who was to be elected.
In every one's mouth was the name of Rubellius Blandus, who inherited through
his mother the high nobility of the Julian family. He was himself attached to
the ideas of our ancestors; his manners were austere, his home was one of
purity and seclusion, and the more he lived in retirement from fear, the more
fame did he acquire. Popular talk was confirmed by an interpretation put with
similar credulity on a flash of lightning. While Nero was reclining at
dinner in his house named Sublaqueum on the Simbruine lake, the table with the
banquet was struck and shattered, and as this happened close to Tibur, from
which town Plautus derived his origin on his father's side, people believed him
to be the man marked out by divine providence; and he was encouraged by that
numerous class, whose eager and often mistaken ambition it is to attach
themselves prematurely to some new and hazardous cause. This alarmed Nero, and he wrote a letter to Plautus, bidding "him consider the
tranquillity of
“XXII.
Inter[13]
quae[14],
[15]
sidus[16] cometes[17] effulsit[18]...” (Tacitus,
Cornelius, Annales, Liber XIV:22)
“29. In the consulship of Caesonius Paetus and Petronius
Turpilianus…”
(Tacitus, The Annals, Book XIV:29.)
Subsequent events – Events occurring during and
after the latter half of 49 CE:
Re the burning of
(Seneca
died in 50 CE (Conventionally dated to AD 65.))
“33. In the year of the consulship
of Caius Lacanius and Marcus Licinius… [49 CE ‑ conv. AD 64]” (Tacitus,
The Annals, 15:33)
“38. A
disaster followed, whether accidental a or treacherously contrived by
the emperor, is uncertain, as authors have given both accounts, worse, however,
and more dreadful than any which have ever happened to this city by the violence of
fire.” (Tacitus,
The Annals, 15:38)
“41. …the beginning of this
conflagration was on the 19th of July, the day on which
the Senones captured and fired
“47. At the close
of the year [49 CE] people talked
much about omens presaging impending evils: [They talked
about] Powerful[19]
lightning flashes[20] never[21], [22] having been more
frequent[23]
and a comet[24]
constellation[25], in conjunction[26] with Nero’s continuous[27] shedding of aristocratic blood [since the time of that most recent comet not quite 2
years before.”] (My translation.)
“XLVII. Fine anni vulgantur
prodigia imminentium malorum nuntia: vis[28] fulgurum[29] non[30] alias[31] crebrior[32] et[33] sidus[34] cometes[35], sanguine inlustri semper[36]
Neroni expiatum[37];” (Tacitus,
Cornelius, Annales, Liber XV:47)
Notice re the original text vs. the translations
above and below: There is a colon after the word ‘nuntia’ in the Latin text that
apparently does not find its counterpart in any of the translations below! That
which follows the colon is the subject matter of that which “at the close of
the year people talked much about,” is it not? Missing the significance of the
colon makes it appear as though the subject matter of what “the people talked
much about” had occurred “at the close of the year” in spite of the fact that
the Latin text does not necessarily imply such a situation, does it not? Isn’t
it quite in harmony with the Latin text to translate said passage as above? At
any rate, the above translation is in harmony with the sequence of events as
best I am able to determine within, whereas the translations below calls for
yet another comet during the reign of Nero – and there is no known astronomical
records to support such an event, is there?!
Other translations of this same passage:
“47. At the close of the year [49 CE]
people talked much about prodigies, presaging impending evils. Never were
lightning flashes more frequent, and a comet too appeared, for which Nero always[38] made propitiation with noble blood.” (Tacitus,
Annals, Book 15:47.)
“47…
omens of impending misfortune… [a comet appeared that was] atoned for by Nero, as usual[39],
by aristocratic blood….” Tacitus, The Annals of Imperial
Subsequent events – In 50 CE:
“48. Silius Nerva and Atticus
Vestinus then entered on the consulship, and now a conspiracy was planned,
and at once became formidable, for which senators, knights, soldiers, even
women, had given their names with eager rivalry, out of hatred of Nero as well
as a liking for Caius Piso…” (Tacitus,
Annals, Book 15:48.)
“Piso
expired by having the veins in his arms severed.” (Tacitus,
Annals, Book 15:59.)
“60[-64.]
…Then followed the destruction of Annaus Seneca… suicide… Then by one and the
same stroke they [Seneca and his wife Paulina] sundered with a dagger the
arteries of their arms… He was then carried into a bath, with the steam of
which he was suffocated, and he was burnt without any of the usual funeral
rites.” (Tacitus,
Annals, Book 15:48, 60-64.)
“14.
In the consulship of Caius Suetonius and
Lucius Telesinus…” (Tacitus,
Annals, Book 16:14.)
Pliny
the Elder:
“[Comet] during Nero’s principate shining almost continuously and
with a terrible glare.”
(Pliny, Natural History,
2.23.)
Another
translation provides: “Comets are never
seen in the western part of the heavens. It is generally regarded as a terrific
star, and one not easily expiated; as was the case with the civil commotions in
the consulship of Octavius, and also in the war of Pompey and Cæsar6 . And
in our own age, about the time when Claudius Cæsar was poisoned and
left the Empire to Domitius
Nero, and afterwards, while the latter was Emperor7 ,
there was one which was almost constantly seen and was very frightful. It is thought important to notice towards what part it
darts its beams, or from what star it receives its influence, what it
resembles, and in what places it shines. If it resembles a flute, it portends
something unfavourable respecting music; if it appears in the parts of the
signs referred to the secret members, something respecting lewdness of manners;
something respecting wit and learning, if they form a triangular or
quadrangular figure with the position of some of the fixed stars; and that some
one will be poisoned, if they appear in the head of either the northern or the
southern serpent.”
”6 Virgil,
Geor. i. 488 et seq., Manilius, i. 904 et seq., and Lucan, i. 526
et seq., all speak of the comets and meteors that were observed previous
to the civil wars between Pompey and Cæsar. In reference to the existence of a
comet about the time of Julius Cæsar, Playfair remarks, that Halley supposed
the great comet of 1680 to have been the same that appeared in the year 44
A.C., and again in Justinian's time, 521 P.C., and also in 1106; Elem. Nat.
Phil. ii. 197, 198. See Ptolemy's Cent. Dict. no. 100, for the opinion, that
comets presented an omen especially unfavourable to kings. To this opinion the
following passage in the Paradise Lost obviously refers; "And with fear of
change perplexes monarchs."
”7 Seneca refers
to the four comets that were seen, [1] after the death of Cæsar, [2] in the
time of Augustus, [3] of Claudius, and [4] of Nero; Quæst. Nat. i. 7. Suetonius
mentions the comet which appeared previous to the death of Claudius, cap. 46,
and Tacitus that before the death of Nero, Ann. xiv. 22.”
(Pliny the Elder, Natural
History, Book
II:23)
Conte
quoting Kronk:
“Nero was so concerned
about each of these two comet sightings…, supposing it to
be an omen of the end of his reign, that he massacred the Roman nobility in an
attempt to divert this result. …There is no record of a comet in A.D. 49,
my revised year for the burning of There
are no comet sightings in the extant Chinese records from A.D.
40 to A.D. 53, inclusive, yet Korean
astronomers recorded a comet sighting during the year A.D.
46.949… There
is no record of a comet sighting in A.D. 47… 949Kronk,
Cometography,
p. 27-28.” Conte
Jr., Ronald L., Important Dates in the Lives of Jesus and Mary.
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