one out of three roman subjects was a slave legally defined as the owner's property like an animal or house. merchandise that only the elite could afford. the patrician and senatorial classes the wealthy accounted for less than one percent of the population. early histories recount the young emperor's antics he is sent to have roamed the city at night in disguise doing gaijin thieving and violence. did nero enjoy being close to his subjects. the fact is that throughout his reign he did everything to earn rome's love because he knew that only the people's devotion secured his hold on power. is a professor of ancient history at the university of tubingen. a specialist in the early roman empire is looking for the man behind the myth of nero. he doesn't trust