[2] In addition to the three documented Pseudo-Neros, Suetonius refers to imperial edicts forged in the dead Nero's name that encouraged his followers and promised his imminent return to avenge himself on his enemies.
Belief in Nero's survival may be attributed in part to the obscure location of his death, although, according to Suetonius, Galba's freedman Icelus saw the dead emperor's body and reported back to his master.
Nero was also denied the lavish burial that was accorded to popular emperors and members of the imperial family, which may have left those plebeians who loved him dissatisfied and suspicious.
[6] Tacitus may have been referring to such prophecies in veiled language when he wrote of the rumors that circulated about Nero after his death, which had contributed to the belief that he had survived.
The return of Nero may have inspired the author of the Book of Revelation when he wrote about the eschatological opponent called the Beast, which is mortally wounded and then miraculously heals.
Nero's successor Galba probably assigned Lucius Nonius Calpurnius Asprenas with the task of hunting down the impostor on his way to take up the governorship of the province of Galatia and Pamphylia.
[11] With information provided by naval captains that the Pseudo-Nero had attempted to seduce to his side, Asprenas ordered his soldiers to storm the ship and kill the impostor.