Born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus in December of AD 37, Nero became the fifth emperor of Rome. Nero, along with Rome’s first four emperors—Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, and Claudius—made up what is called the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Nero was adopted by his great uncle Claudius to become his successor, and upon Claudius’s death in AD 54 Nero became the youngest emperor at age 16. His reign lasted nearly fourteen years, until AD 68 when he committed suicide at the age of 30.