Pisonian conspiracy

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The conspiracy of Gaius Calpurnius Piso (65 CE) represented one of the major turning points in the reign of Nero (54-68 CE). Piso intended to have Nero assassinated and to have himself declared Emperor of Rome by the Praetorian Guard. He enlisted the aid of several prominent Senators with a loosely conceived plan in which Faenius Rufus (joint colleague of Ofonius Tigellinus, heading the Praetorian Guard) would conduct Piso to the Praetorian Camp for a formal declaration by the Guard. Either through poor planning or lack of conviction the conspiracy was rapidly revealed and Nero ordered Piso to commit suicide. The philosopher Seneca and the poet Lucan were also implicated in the plot and dealt with in a similar fashion, but their complicity has never been precisely determined.

Epicharis

Tacitus' Annales tells of a "heroine" of this conspiracy named Epicharis, a freed slave. She tried to make the officer Volusius Proculus kill Nero, but instead he told Nero of this. Epicharis was captured and tortured to reveal other members of the conspiracy, but she strangled herself on her restraints before giving up her coconspirators.

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