Bribery and Corruption Casebook: The View from Under the Table

Preface

Corruption is not a new development for humankind. As long as there have been recorded accounts of human history, there have been stories of deceptive self-dealing and betrayal for personal gain. We need to look no further than the Roman Empire for countless examples of corruption, bribery, political dishonesty and discarded alliances. The civilization that helped establish a blueprint for modern democratic governments also created a model for just about every corruption scheme imaginable.

Take the account of Emperor Nero’s rise to power as an example. He gained the title of emperor amid rumors that his mother, Agrippina, poisoned her own husband and Nero’s stepfather, then-emperor Claudius, so her son could ascend to the throne. Nero was still a teenager at the time, and Agrippina believed she would be able to direct the course of the empire by manipulating her son. However, when Nero began asserting his own power and eschewing his mother’s influence, Agrippina turned her hopes to her stepson Britannicus. As the birth son of Claudius (although he was younger than Nero), Britannicus could challenge Nero for the throne — a threat the emperor took seriously.

As the story goes, Nero first poisoned the 15-year-old Britannicus to assert himself as Rome’s rightful leader and then arranged for his mother to be killed. After these shocking crimes, he embarked on a spree of executions to eliminate senate members he did not trust and anyone else he considered a political threat. ...