[ Journals ] 1 The Mad Emperor

　　Recently a group of historians from all over the world announced its list of the ten greatest tyrants of all time. The unanimous choice for number-one tyrant was Nero, the third-century Roman emperor.
　　The deranged ruler may have picked up many of his sadistic tendencies from his immediate ancestor. His widowed mother, Agrippina, was the sister of Caligula, the gleeful and insane ruler who tortured and murdered hundreds of Romans. Agrippina married the emperor Claudius. She convinced him to disinherit his natural son, Brittannicus, and make Nero his successor. She then severed Claudius poison mushrooms before he could change his mind.
　　Nero’s tyranny was most brutally expressed in his treatment of his own family. Upon ascending the throne at the age of 16, he committed his first recorded murder. He gave his rival, Brittannicus, a fatal potion to drink during a meal. The other guests were alarmed at the youth’s death spasms, but Nero called it “an epileptic fit” and calmly went back to eating.
　　The Nero dealt with his mother. After she started meddling in governmental matters, he sent her out for a sail on a sabotaged boat. When she survived her ordeal, Nero had her executed.
　　Nero’s marriage also reflected his bloodthirsty personality. His first marriage, to his 13-year-old stepsister, ended when he had her banished and then murdered. He killed his second wife when she scolded him for coming home late. He obtained his third and final wife by having her husband eliminated.

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I. Summarize

　　This article is talking about the tyrant, Nero, and his tyranny. Nero, the third century Roman emperor, may have picked up of his immediate ancestor. His mother’s brother, Caligula, was the gleeful and insane ruler who tortured and murdered hundreds of Romans. And his mother poisoned Nero’s stepfather after she make sure Nero would be the successor. And Nero was sadistic to treat his family. For example, he killed his stepbrother when he was 16; killed his first and second wife just cause something made him unhappy. And he also killed his mother, who made him to be the successor of his stepfather.


II. Vocabulary words and phrases

i. new words/phrases
tyrant
1. in ancient Greece, a ruler who had seized power without legal right to it
2. any person who exercises power in a cruel way
unanimous
1. acting together as a single undiversified whole
2. in complete agreement
deranged
- driven insane
immediate ancestor
insane
1. afflicted with or characteristic of mental derangement
2. very foolish
tendency
1. a general direction in which something tends to move
2. a characteristic likelihood of or natural disposition toward a certain condition or character or effect
gleeful
- full of high-spirited delight
successor
1. a person who follows next in order
2. a thing or person that immediately replaces something or someone
ordeal
1. a severe or trying experience
2. a primitive method of determining a person's guilt or innocence by subjecting the accused person to dangerous or painful tests believed to be under divine control
eliminate
1. do away with
2. kill in large numbers
3. terminate, end, or take out

ii. useful words/phrases
fatal
1. bringing death
2. having extremely unfortunate or dire consequences; bringing ruin
pick up…
- to acquire by study or experience
convince somebody to Verb
- to bring (as by argument) to belief, consent, or a course of action
scold somebody for something


III. The reason I chose this article

　　I chose this article because the name “Nero.” My favorite rock music drummer’s name is Nero, too. After I read this article, I was wondering whether he now this mad emperor or not. I think maybe he knew it! Because rock’n’roll drummers always look crazy when they play drums. And this article was from one of my extra reading materials that teacher gave me before the CUEE. So, this is my second time to read this article and find out it is still interested me.