Rough Roman Memes

I mean, he was massively popular with the common people, so clearly he didn’t do all terrible things

Massively popular is an overstatement. He had some support in Rome, as would be expected by someone constantly showering the arts with money for his own vanity, but not so much that the Roman mob, itself even in the Principate era still very capable of agitating and effecting change, or at least voicing their concerns, bothered to come to his aid. He considered begging the people of Rome to forgive him his offenses, but considered it a lost cause and opted to flee instead of throwing himself at the mercy of the citizens of Rome.

He WAS popular in the eastern, Hellenized portion of the Empire, because his behavior did not violate social norms there, his prodigious spending did not burden or shock them (as they were very far from its effects), and he showered Hellenic provinces with privileges and visited them.

Neutral contemporary authors don’t really exist, so it’s hard to say, but I have a suspicion the extent of his corruption relative to other emperors was one of the things very exaggerated by his enemies.

The thing is that Nero was VERY fond of the arts - disproportionately so compared to what the Romans considered appropriate. Considering the public buildings bearing his name - including a massive statue of himself - and the fact that he grew up fabulously wealthy and spoiled without responsibilities to begin with, it's not unthinkable that his spending was out of control compared to his predecessors and successors.

I know less about the others, but I suspect a grain of salt is again warranted for crazy stories about how bad a deposed leader was.

A grain of salt is never a bad thing - but look even through modern history. Eccentric leaders are far from unknown - for a handful to have been unstable, and most with reasonable causes (Caligula with fever-induced brain damage, Nero as a spoiled rich kid, Domitian with parental neglect, Elagabalus getting power too soon) is far from unbelievable. Other Roman leaders had been deposed in the same period (Tiberius and Claudius arguably, Galba and Otho inarguably, Pertinax, Alexander Severus) and not emerged with such horrendous reputations.

Hey wait, aren’t you a history major? Am I wrong?

Yes, but also, historians always argue about things, so you can consider the opinion of any specialist to be "Well-founded, but not necessarily correct"

I was just a lowly undergrad though, I'm basically just a step above a layman lol, don't take anything I say as gospel truth