After the death of Nero, it was speculated that the emperor was alive and merely faked a suicide to escape from his torturers. His grave was worshipped, flowers were laid on it. There were several pretenders claiming to be Nero.
This fact suggests that Nero was in fact a ruler liked and valued by the lower classes, since the pretenders counted on a response both among the legions and among their subjects, and what is more, to some extent, their expectations were fulfilled.
