Editing Nero (section)

===Later years===
In AD 65, [[Gaius Calpurnius Piso (conspirator)|Gaius Calpurnius Piso]], a Roman statesman, organized a [[Pisonian conspiracy|conspiracy against Nero]] with the help of [[Subrius Flavus]] and [[Sulpicius Asper]], a tribune and a centurion of the Praetorian Guard.{{sfn|Tacitus, ''Annals''|loc=[[s:The Annals (Tacitus)/Book 15#49|15.49]]}} According to Tacitus, many conspirators wished to "rescue the state" from the emperor and restore the [[Roman Republic|Republic]].{{sfn|Tacitus, ''Annals''|loc=[[s:The Annals (Tacitus)/Book 15#50|15.50]]}} The freedman Milichus discovered the conspiracy and reported it to Nero's secretary, [[Epaphroditus (freedman of Nero)|Epaphroditus]].{{sfn|Tacitus, ''Annals''|loc=[[s:The Annals (Tacitus)/Book 15#55|15.55]]}} As a result, the conspiracy failed and its members were executed, including [[Marcus Annaeus Lucanus|Lucan]], the poet.{{sfn|Tacitus, ''Annals''|loc=[[s:The Annals (Tacitus)/Book 15#70|15.70]]}} Nero's previous advisor [[Seneca the Younger|Seneca]] was accused by Natalis; he denied the charges but was still ordered to commit suicide, as by this point he had fallen out of favor with Nero.{{sfn|Tacitus, ''Annals''|loc=[[s:The Annals (Tacitus)/Book 15#60|15.60–62]]}}

Nero was said to have kicked Poppaea to death in AD 65, before she could give birth to his second child. Modern historians, noting the probable biases of Suetonius, Tacitus, and Cassius Dio, and the likely absence of eyewitnesses to such an event, propose that Poppaea may have died after miscarriage or in childbirth.<ref>Rudich, Vasily (1993)  ''Political Dissidence Under Nero''. Psychology Press. pp. 135–136. {{ISBN|9780415069519}}</ref> Nero went into deep mourning; Poppaea was given a sumptuous [[state funeral]] and [[Imperial cult (ancient Rome)#Divus, deus and the numen|divine honors]], and was promised a temple for her cult. A year's importation of incense was burned at the funeral. Her body was not cremated, as would have been strictly customary, but embalmed after the Egyptian manner and entombed;<!--Please don't link to [[Mausoleum of Augustus]] or [[Tomb of the Julii]]--> it is not known where.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Counts |first=Derek B |date=1996 |title=Regum Externorum Consuetudine: The Nature and Function of Embalming in Rome |jstor=25011039 |journal=Classical Antiquity |volume=15 |issue=2 |pages=189–202 |doi=10.2307/25011039 |issn=0278-6656 }} See p. 193 n. 18 ("we should not consider it an insult that Poppaea was not buried in the Mausoleum of Augustus, as were other members of the imperial family until the time of Nerva") and p. 196 n. 37 (citing Pliny, ''Natural History'', 12.83 for the funeral's lavishness).</ref>

In AD 67, Nero married [[Sporus]], a young boy who is said to have greatly resembled Poppaea. Nero had him castrated and married him with all the usual ceremonies, including a dowry and a bridal veil. It is believed that he did this out of regret for his killing of Poppaea.{{sfn|Cassius Dio|loc=62.28}}<ref>{{cite book |last=Suetonius |editor1-first=Robert A |editor1-last=Kaster |chapter=Nero |title=Studies on the Text of Suetonius' 'De Vita Caesarum' |year=2016 |publisher=Oxford University Press |doi=10.1093/oseo/instance.00233087 |isbn=978-0-19-875847-1}}</ref>