Why did he change his name?

Question

The Roman emperor Nero, who according to legend watched Rome burn while playing the fiddle, changed his name. He changed into Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, but he was originally named Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus. I guess I have two questions now. One, and this is the most pertinent one, why did he change his name and two, did he really watch Rome burn while playing the fiddle?

Answer 1

**NAME:   Nero was first named Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus.  He was the son of Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus and Agrippina the younger, who was the daughter of Germanicus.

In 39, his mother was banished by Caligula, her brother, and in 40, his father died and his inheritance was then seized.

After Caligula died, Agrippina was recalled from exile, and in 49, she married her uncle, Emperor Claudius and persuaded him to adopt Nero. Nero's name became Nero Claudius Caesar Drusus Germanicus; and he took precedence over his younger adoptive brother Britannicus. In 58, he married Octavia, Claudius' daughter.

  

In 54, after Agrippina poisoned Claudius, Nero took the throne, and became Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus.

**FIDDLE:  Although Nero did consider himself a musician, mostly on the Lyre, it is impossible that Nero "fiddled" while Rome burned:  The violin was not invented until about 15 centuries later. In fact, the legend that Nero "fiddled" while Rome burned itself began centuries after Nero's time, in referring to how Nero fiddled away his time on frivolous pursuits. As a noun, "fiddle" came to refer to a violin, but as a verb, "fiddle" originally meant either to avoid one's responsibilities, or to commit fraud. The verb form of fiddle was what was originally meant about what Nero was doing when the great fire of Rome began; it later came to mean that he was playing the violin.

Answer 2

An adoption was not uncommon for a member of the imperial family, and a name change often was part of the adoption. For example, a man might adopt his nephew.

(This didn't necessarily mean that he raised the nephew and was called "daddy;" the nephew could be in his forties and several times married. Through adoption the nephew could become the man's heir and carry on the family name.)

Nero's new name included the names of preceding emperors (Claudius and Caesar Augustus) and an uncle (?), Germanicus, who had been much loved by the Romans.

Caesar Augustus was the adopted son of Julius Caesar. He chose to call himself "Augustus" because it sounded so grand.

Answer 3

I think you'll find that the Rome burning thing really means that Nero was not interested in the running of the country - he was to preoccupied with himself.

As far as name changing is concerned - I didn't know he did!

Answer 4

No. You answered your own question when you said "According to legend."

The violin had not been invented yet. Who cares why he changed his name?