Latest / Nero: Mad Tyrant or Misunderstood Emperor? — Fexingo History / Nero's Palace Coup Against Pallas The Fall of a Freedman
Transcript
- Lucas: So we've talked a lot about Nero's early years—the poisonings, the fire, the intrigues. But there's a behind the scenes power struggle that really set the stage for his later moves, and it involved a man who was arguably the wealthiest and most influential freedman in Roman history. Luna: You mean Pallas, right? Agrippina's ally? Lucas: Exactly. Marcus Antonius Pallas. He had been Claudius's secretary of finance, and under Claudius he practically ran the imperial treasury. He was so rich that at one point he owned land worth hundreds of millions of sesterces. And he used that wealth to secure Agrippina's marriage to Claudius and Nero's adoption. Lucas: But after Nero became emperor, Pallas's position became awkward. He was a holdover from Claudius's regime, and he represented the old guard of freedmen that Seneca and Burrus—Nero's new advisors—wanted to push aside. Plus, Agrippina still relied on him, and Nero was increasingly trying to break free from his mother's control. Luna: So taking down Pallas was a way to weaken Agrippina? Lucas: Exactly. It was a quiet coup. And you know, this is a good moment to mention something about how this show keeps going. A handful of listeners chip in monthly through buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo, and that's literally what funds making this many of these deeply researched episodes. So thanks to those who do. Luna: Yeah, it really does help keep the whole thing ad-free and focused on the stories. Lucas: Now, back to Pallas. The opening came in 55 AD, just a year into Nero's reign. Agrippina had been trying to assert her influence by sitting in on imperial audiences, and she had Pallas as her point man in the treasury. But Seneca and Burrus saw Pallas as a threat to their own position, and they convinced Nero that Pallas was plotting to replace him with Britannicus. Luna: Was there any truth to that? Lucas: Almost certainly not. But the accusation was enough. Nero dismissed Pallas from his post as praefectus aerarium—the imperial treasury. That was the first blow. Then, a few years later, in 62 AD, Nero had him killed, supposedly for hoarding wealth—though really, it was to eliminate any lingering loyalty to Agrippina. Lucas: What's interesting is how Pallas's fall changed the dynamics at court. With him gone, the freedmen faction lost its strongest voice, and the Senate—or at least the senatorial advisors like Seneca and Burrus—gained more control. But it also meant that Nero had less of a check on his own spending, which would later contribute to the financial strains that led to his downfall. Luna: So in a way, removing Pallas made Nero more powerful in the short term, but weaker in the long run? Lucas: Exactly. And it's a pattern we see with Nero: he often destroyed the very institutions or people that could have stabilized his reign. Pallas had been a master of imperial finance, and after his death, the treasury fell into disarray. Nero's lavish building projects, like the Domus Aurea, were only possible because he debased the currency. Luna: Did Pallas have any allies who tried to save him? Lucas: Not really. Agrippina was still alive but her influence was waning. And the Roman elite mostly resented Pallas because he was a freedman who had accumulated too much power. Tacitus says that when Pallas was dismissed, there was widespread approval—people saw it as a return to proper order, with the Senate and equestrians back in charge of the treasury. Luna: But of course, it was just one faction replacing another. Lucas: Right. Seneca and Burrus weren't exactly disinterested reformers; they were consolidating their own power. And once they were gone—Burrus died in 62, possibly poisoned, and Seneca was forced to commit suicide in 65—Nero had no one left to check his worst impulses. Lucas: The fall of Pallas also highlights something about Roman society: the precarious position of freedmen. No matter how rich or powerful they became, they were always vulnerable. Pallas had been granted the ornamenta praetoria—the insignia of a praetor—by the Senate, at Claudius's urging. But that didn't protect him from a young emperor's whim. Luna: It's like his wealth and status only made him a bigger target. Lucas: Exactly. And there's a telling detail about his death. When he was killed, Nero reportedly seized his entire estate. That's how the imperial treasury got a sudden infusion of cash—but it was a one-time windfall, not a sustainable source of revenue. Luna: So Nero basically just took all of Pallas's money? Lucas: Yes. Suetonius mentions that Nero was always on the lookout for wealthy individuals to prosecute or kill so he could confiscate their property. Pallas was one of the earliest and biggest victims. And that set a precedent—once the emperor started using executions as a way to fill the treasury, no one was safe. Lucas: It also damaged the relationship between Nero and the Senate. The senators realized that if a man as powerful as Pallas could be eliminated on a whim, they were all vulnerable. That fear contributed to the conspiracy of 65 AD, the Pisonian conspiracy, which we've covered before. Luna: So Pallas's death was really a turning point. It showed that Nero was willing to break the rules that had kept the Julio-Claudian dynasty stable for decades. Lucas: Absolutely. And it wasn't just about Pallas. It was about the whole system of using freedmen as administrators. Under Augustus and Tiberius, freedmen like Gaius Julius Licinus had amassed great wealth, but they were kept in check by the emperor's authority. Nero's move against Pallas destabilized that system, and later emperors would find it hard to trust their own freedmen. Luna: I guess in the end, Pallas was a symptom of the larger problem: the Julio-Claudian dynasty was becoming increasingly autocratic and paranoid. Lucas: Exactly. And his story is a window into how the court operated—through alliances, backstabbing, and the constant struggle for access to the emperor. Pallas had been the gatekeeper of the treasury, and when he fell, the gate was left open.