Death of agrippina nero

In the end, she married the newly divorced uncle of Lucius, Passienus Crispus, who was also a descendant of the historian Sallust. He was a wealthy orator and ensured Agrippina enough protection while young Lucius was growing. In 47 CE, however, Crispus died, and Agrippina inherited his immense wealth — Suetonius suggests Agrippina herself poisoned him but, as usual, this cannot be proven. A year later Messalina was executed, and Claudius declared he did not intend to marry again.

Since they were closely related, the Roman Senate passed a special law to allow Claudius to marry Agrippina. Tacitus suggests that it was Agrippina who manipulated Claudius into making Nero his heir, however, the choice may have seemed sensible to Claudius since his biological son, Tiberius Britannicus, was younger than Nero and suffered from epilepsy. As fierce she may have been, she convinced Claudius to recall Seneca 4 BCE — 65 CE from his exile — the emperor had exiled him earlier in his reign — and put Nero under his watch, along with the newly nominated praetorian prefect Afranius Burrus.

Aged 63, Claudius died in 54 CE. Nero succeeded Claudius with no opposition; the late emperor was extremely hated by the Senate and so the accession of young Nero was considered the start of a new, golden age. Agrippina, as the mother of the new emperor, became more and more prominent; she even started appearing on the obverse of some coins along with the emperor himself. At first, she was hesitant, yet her son was unfortunately able to talk her out of her fears. Some accounts claimed that Anicetus had set up some way for the ship to take on water, while others wrote that accomplices among the crew threw their own weight against the sides of the ship in an attempt to make it tip over.

In any event, some crewmen were apparently in on the plot, for Tacitus claimed that one woman was beaten to death with oars when she was mistakenly identified as Agrippina. Nevertheless, the real Agrippina survived, wounded but still mobile, and managed to dive into the water and swim for safety. The ancient historians, with their love for artistry, claimed that when the soldiers readied their weapons to strike her down, Agrippina directed them to stab at her womb. Home Articles Did You Know? Sign in.

Log into your account. A group of Armenians had come before Nero to make a plea. All froze, except for Seneca. Thinking quickly, he whispered to Nero to go down and meet his mother, and kindly re-direct her.

They avoided causing insult, but the incident proved a turning point in the relationship between mother and son. Nero distanced himself from Agrippina, and Seneca and Burrus took over her role as his chief advisors. The resulting coolness created tension between them.

It eventually escalated into an open fight, with Agrippina shouting abuse at her son, and declaring that Britannicus, her step-son, was the rightful and worthy heir to the throne. She threatened to use her influence to sway the Roman legions to support of Britannicus.

It was an ironic shift of loyalty for Agrippina, who had greatly mistreated Britannicus when he was only a boy of around ten or twelve. She had practically imprisoned him in his own room and kept him from seeing his father.

Nero obviously did not take the threat lightly, and arranged the poisoning of Britannicus. Nero became increasingly paranoid after the murder. Seneca and Burrus still tempered him some, but were most concerned with their own safety. Rightfully so, for eventually they were both implicated in plots. Seneca committed suicide rather than face execution by his former student. Without their steadying influence, Nero became even wilder, ordering many executions, including that of his wife, Octavia, sister of Britannicus.

Anicetus surrounded the house with a guard; he broke down the door and dragged off the slaves in his way, until he came to the door of her room. A few servants were standing here, the others having panicked in terror when the soldiers burst in.

There was a little light in the room and one of the slave girls; Agrippina had become more and more worried, because no one had come from Nero, not even Agerinus. Their appearance would have been different if things had gone well; now there was loneliness and sudden sounds and the evidence of a final evil deed.

After the Murder Everyone agrees on the facts so far. She was cremated that night on her dining couch with a minimal funeral. As long as Nero was emperor the place was not enclosed nor earth raised over it. Eventually, because of the concern of her household a small tomb was placed on the road to Misenum near the villa of Julius Caesar the Dictator, which overlooks the bay from the top of the cliff. As the pyre was set alight, one of her freedmen, surnamed Mnester , killed himself with a sword; no one knows whether it was from love of his mistress or because he feared his own murder.

Many years before Agrippina had believed this was how she would die and had she had ignored the information. After the Murder Credible writers provide horrible facts: he could not wait to see the dead body; he held her limbs; he criticised some and praised others; being thirsty during all this he had drinks.

The psychological after-effects Only when Nero had finally committed this crime, did he realise how terrible it was. For what remained of the night, he was silent, often rising up in fear and, senselessly, waiting for daybreak as if he expected it to bring his death.

But then, at the suggestion of Burrus, the centurions and tribunes arrived to flatter him and this gave his some hope. They seized his hand and congratulated him on his having escaped this unexpected danger and his mother's criminal attempt on his life.

Then they went to the temples and, following their example, the nearest towns of Campania indicated their joy with sacrifices and official visits to Nero. The psychological after-effects However, he could never, not at the time nor afterwards, bear the knowledge of his crime, although soldiers, senate and people supported him with their congratulations ; he often confessed that he was hunted by his mother's ghost and harrassed by the whips and burning torches of the Furies.

He even tried to have a ceremony performed by the Magi in order to call up her ghost and ask forgiveness. In fact on his trip through Greece he did not dare to join in the Eleusinian mysteries, because the herald announces that the sinful and wicked must be removed from the intiation rites.

The 'official story' So he left for Neapolis and sent a letter to the Senate, which, in summary, said that the would-be assassin Agerinus, one of Agrippina's closest freedmen, had been arrested with the sword, and that with her guilt of planning this act, she had paid the penalty.

He dug up some charges from her past and added these: she had hoped to share the power of the empire; she had attempted to get the praetorian cohorts to swear allegiance to her, a woman; and she had aimed to bring disgrace on the senate and people of Rome.

Nero added that, when she was unable to achieve this, she became hostile to the army, senate and people, and opposed the gifts of money and made plans to endanger leading citizens. He recalled how hard he had worked to prevent her from breaking into the senate house and giving her answers to foreign nations. Also he indirectly criticised the time of Claudius, transferring many of the crimes of that reign to his mother, asserting that her removal was due to the good fortune of the state.

Indeed he told the story of the shipwreck; but who was stupid enough to believe that it was accidental, or that a shipwrecked woman had sent one man with a weapon to break through an emperor's guards and fleets? So people did not criticise Nero, who had passed all criticism by this savage crime, but Seneca because he wrote such a confession in this speech. Spineless senators and indifferent deities However, the leading nobles remarkably competed with each other in decreeing votes of thanks and sacrifices at every altar; the Festival of Minerva — the time when the plots had been revealed — was to be celebrated with annual games; a golden statue of Minerva should be set up in the senate house next to statue of Nero himself; the birthday of Agrippina would be included in the list of unlucky days.

Thrasea Paetus had usually let pass previous votes of thanks in silence or with brief agreement; this time he left the senate-house in silence, causing danger to himself, without making it any easier for others to win their freedom. There appeared also the frequent, pointless omens. A woman gave birth to a snake, and another was killed by a thunderbolt in her husband's arms. Then the sun suddenly became dark and the fourteen districts of the city were struck by lightning.

In order to increase the unpopularity of his mother and to suggest that his reign was more lenient with her gone, he recalled home from exile two noble women, Junia and Calpurnia , with two ex-praetors, Valerius Capito and Licinius Gabolus , whom Agrippina had formerly banished.

He also allowed the ashes of Lollia Paulina to be brought back and a tomb to be built for them. Nero now cancelled the punishment of Iturius and Calvisius , whom he had himself temporarily exiled.