XI.
Claudio Nerone L. Antistio consulibus cum in acta principum iurarent magistratus, in sua acta collegam Antistium iurare prohibuit, magnis patrum laudibus, ut iuvenilis animus levium quoque rerum gloria sublatus maiores continuaret. secutaque lenitas in Plautium Lateranum, quem ob adulterium Messalinae ordine demotum reddidit senatui, clementiam suam obstringens crebris orationibus, quas Seneca testificando, quam honesta praeciperet, vel iactandi ingenii voce principis vulgabat.
11.
Nero was consul in the new year with Lucius Antistius Vetus, whom he dispensed, [as equal in rank], from swearing allegiance to his own acts as emperor, when the moment came for all magistrates to take the oath of obedience. Warm was the approval of the fathers for this liberality, who hoped that his youthful temper, stimulated by the renown acquired by even small deeds, would aim also at greater goals. He next showed leniency in restoring to the senatorial order Plautius Lateranus, demoted from his rank for adultery with Messalina, and gave solemn promises of moderation under his rule in several speeches, to which Seneca attracted public attention by having the emperor deliver them, either to prove the soundness of his teachings or to parade his stylistic ingenuity.
XII.
Ceterum infracta paulatim potentia matris delapso Nerone in amorem libertae, cui vocabulum Acte fuit, simul adsumptis in conscientiam [M.] Othone et Claudio Senecione, adulescentulis decoris, quorum Otho familia consulari, Senecio liberto Caesaris patre genitus. ignara matre, dein frustra obnitente, penitus inrepserat per luxum et ambigua secreta, ne senioribus quidem principis amicis adversantibus, muliercula nulla cuiusquam iniuria cupidines principis explente, quando uxore ab Octavia, nobili quidem et probitatis spectatae, fato quodam, an quia praevalent inlicita, abhorrebat, metuebaturque, ne in stupra feminarum inlustrium prorumperet, si illa libidine prohiberetur.
12.
On a different note, the control of the mother over Nero was gradually declining. He had fallen in love with a former slave named Acte and become the intimate friend of two personable young men about town, Marcus Salvius Otho, whose father was an ex-consul, and Claudius Senecio the son of a freedman of the imperial household. Nero’s passion for Acte, unknown at first to the mother, then opposed to no avail, had gradually wormed its way deeply into his heart, spurred by lust and the mystery surrounding their secret trysts and unopposed even by the older of his closest associates, since the young girl, while satisfying his urges, created no problem for anyone. Either by some quirk of fate or the fascination of forbidden pleasures, he recoiled with abhorrence from Octavia, his wife, noble though she was and of proven virtue. It was also feared that, if his fascination was thwarted, he might break out uncontrollably to debauch women from families of the upper class.
XIII.
Sed Agrippina libertam aemulam, nurum ancillam aliaque eundem in modum muliebriter fremere, neque paenitentiam filii aut satietatem opperiri, quantoque foediora exprobrabat, acrius accendere, donec vi amoris subactus exueret obsequium in matrem seque [Se]necae permitteret, ex cuius familiaribus Annaeus Serenus simulatione amoris adversus eandem libertam primas adulescentis cupidines velaverat praebueratque nomen, ut quae princeps furtim mulierculae tribuebat, ille palam largiretur. tum Agrippina versis artibus per blandimenta iuvenem adgredi, suum potius cubiculum ac sinum offerre contegendis quae prima aetas et summa fortuna expeterent. quin et fatebatur intempestivam severitatem et suarum opum, quae haud procul imperatoriis aberant, copias tradebat, ut nimia nuper coercendo filio, ita rursum intemperanter demissa. quae mutatio neque Neronem fefellit, et proximi amicorum metuebant orabantque cavere insidias mulieris semper atrocis, tum et falsae. forte illis diebus Caesar inspecto ornatu, quo principium coniuges ac parentes effulserant, deligit vestem et gemmas misitque donum matri, nulla parsimonia, cum praecipua et cupita aliis prior deferret. sed Agrippina non his instrui cultus suos, sed ceteris arceri proclamat et dividere filium, quae cuncta ex ipsa haberet.
13.
As for Agrippina, in true womanly fashion she was besides herself that a freedwoman should be her rival and a maid her daughter-in-law, with other similar grievances added thereto. She refused to wait for her son to recover his senses through repentance or satiation, but the more she stormed the more Nero’s obsession with Acte intensified, until the violence of his passion removed all deference for his mother and he placed himself entirely under Seneca’s guidance. Annaeus Serenus, one of Seneca’s closest friends, had served as a shield during the first phase of Nero’s relation by pretending to be enamored of the same girl, and had often made it appear that the gifts the prince had furtively given to his mistress were coming from him. At this point, Agrippina’s behavior towards her son underwent a radical change: she tried to mollify him with smooth talk, even offering the privacy of her bedroom in hiding the gratifications his developing manhood and highest rank demanded. More that that, she acknowledged her earlier inopportune strictness and offered to hand over to him her resources, which almost equalled those of the imperial exchequer. Just as she had not long before been excessive in her severity, so she was now overly indulgent. The change did not go unnoticed by Nero. Those close to him were suspicious and strongly advised him to fear the wiles of a woman always insidious, and now false as well. One day, as Nero happened to be examining the wardrobe in which former spouses and mothers of princes had shone forth, he chose a dress with jewels to match and sent it as a gift to his mother, grudging no expense, since he wanted to offer, without being solicited, something special, coveted by other women. Agrippina, however, cried out for all to hear that her stock of clothes was not improved by such gifts, but that she was excluded from all the rest and that her son was only partaking with her all that he had received from herself.
XIV.
Nec defuere qui in deterius referrent. et Nero infensus iis, quibus superbia muliebris innitebatur, demovet Pallantem cura rerum, quis a Claudio impositus velut arbitrium regni agebat; ferebaturque, degrediente eo magna prosequentium multitudine, non absurde dixisse ire Pallantem, ut eiuraret. sane pepigerat Pallas, ne cuius facti in praeteritum interrogaretur paresque rationes cum re publica haberet. Praeceps posthac Agrippina ruere ad terrorem et minas, neque principis auribus abstinere, quo minus testaretur adultum iam esse Britannicum, veram dignamque stirpem suscipiendo patris imperio, quod insitus et adoptivus per iniurias matris exerceret. non abnuere se, quin cuncta infelicis domus mala patefierent, suae in primis nuptiae, suum veneficium: id solum diis et sibi provisum, quod viveret privignus. ituram cum illo in castra; audiretur hinc Germanici filia, in[de] debilis Burrus et exul Seneca, trunca scilicet manu et professoria lingua generis humani regimen expostulantes. simul intendere manus, adgerere probra, consecratum Claudium, inferno[s] Silanorum manes invocare et tot inrita facinora.
14.
Naturally, there were some who in reporting her words to Nero made them appear worse than they were, and he, irritated against those who encouraged such conceit in his mother, removed Pallas from the office assigned to him by Claudius, which virtually put him in control of the empire. It was said that when the dismissed freedman was leaving the palace accompanied by a vast train of hangers-on, Nero had rather amusingly remarked that Pallas was on his way to swear an oath about his honesty in office. Indeed, Pallas had arranged as a condition that he would not have to answer any questions pertaining to his past conduct and that all his dealings with the state would be considered closed. Upon that, Agrippina in her fury erupted into dreadful menaces. Unconcerned about her words reaching Nero’s ears, she declared that Britannicus was now of age, the genuine offspring of his father, worthy of assuming the imperial power, now in the hands of an adopted interloper, yielding it only to abuse his mother. She did not hold back from exposing all the abominations of that wretched house, first and foremost her own marriage and the poisoning of her husband. She was thankful to the gods and herself for one thing, she said, that her stepson was alive. With him she would go to the camp of the Praetorian Guards, and let the daughter of Germanicus be heard on one side and on the other the two men demanding dominion over mankind, the impaired Burrus, of course, with his crippled arm and the banished Seneca wagging his schoolmasterly tongue. In so spouting abuse, she would raise her arms to heaven and invoke the divinity of Claudius, the avenging spirits of the Silani from beyond the grave, and the innumerable crimes she herself had committed to no purpose.
XV.
Turbatus his Nero et propinquo die, quo quartum decimum aetatis annum Britannicus explebat, volutare secum modo matris violentiam, modo ipsius indolem, [le]vi quidem experimento nuper cognitam, quo tamen favorem late quaesivisset. festis Saturno diebus inter alia aequalium ludicra regnum lusu sortientium evenerat ea sors Neroni. igitur ceteris diversa nec ruborem adlatura: ubi Britannico iussit exsurgeret progressusque in medium cantum aliquem inciperet, inrisum ex eo sperans pueri sobrios quoque convictus, nedum temulentos ignorantis, ille constanter exorsus est carmen, quo evolutum eum sede patria rebusque summis significabatur. unde orta miseratio, manifestior quia dissimulationem nox et lascivia exemerat. Nero intellecta invidia odium intendit; urgentibusque Agrippinae minis, quia nullum crimen neque iubere caedem fratris palam audebat, occulta molitur pararique venenum iubet, ministro Pollione Iulio praetoriae cohortis tribuno, cuius cura attinebatur damnata veneficii nomine Locusta, multa scelerum fama. nam ut proximus quisque Britannico neque fas neque fidem pensi haberet, olim provisum erat. primum venenum ab ipsis educatoribus accepit, tramisitque exsoluta alvo parum validum, sive temperamentum inerat, ne statim saeviret. sed Nero lenti sceleris impatiens minitari tribuno, iubere supplicium veneficae, quod, dum rumorem respiciunt, dum parant defensiones, securitatem morarentur. promittentibus dein tam praecipitem necem, quam si ferro urgeretur, cubiculum Caesaris iuxta decoquitur virus cognitis antea venenis rapidum.
15.
Shaken by these outcries and conscious that the day was approaching when Britannicus would legally be of age on completing his fourteenth year, Nero turned over in his mind now his mother’s alarming rants, now the attitude of the boy himself, revealed recently by some trifling evidence, that, however, had earned him much popularity. During the festival of Saturn, among other amusements of the young men was one in which they threw dice to find out who would be king for the night, and the role fell to Nero. He, therefore, proceeded to assign to the others tasks of various kinds, none of them embarrassing, except to Britannicus whom he ordered to rise and, once in the center of the group, to sing something. He counted thereby on having the company laugh at the self-conscious youngster, unaccustomed to even sober parties, not to mention vinous ones. But he, with remarkable composure, intoned some verses that shadowed in a certain way his own exclusion from the father’s seat and from supreme power, and which elicited the compassion of the audience, more openly expressed in that the festive mood of the night promoted sincerity. Nero keenly felt disapproval and his hate intensified. As Agrippina’s tantrums were becoming more menacing and he did not dare invent charges against Britannicus or issue orders to have him killed, he opted for more secret methods by having poison prepared and kept ready for use, his instrument being Julius Pollio, a cohort tribune of the Praetorian Guard. A woman named Locusta, ill-famed as a convicted poisoner, was in his charge and since Britannicus’ attendants had been expressly chosen in precedence as men having no honesty or loyalty, he was actually given the first poison by his personal attendants, but he passed the drug by a sudden loosening of the bowels, as it was either not strong enough or diluted to prevent a sudden death. Nero, however, reacted violently to such slowness in crime and took to threatening the tribune, even ordering the execution of the poisoner, with cries that his security was being compromised, while all feared public opinion and thought of nothing but of their own defense. So, he was promised a death as rapid as that effected by the stroke of a sword: in a cubicle next to Nero’s bedroom, they prepared a quick-acting deadly mix of poisons of proven efficacy.
XVI.
Mos habebatur principum liberos cum ceteris idem aetatis nobilibus sedentes vesci in adspectu propinquorum propria et parciore mensa. illic epulante Britannico, quia cibos potusque eius delectus ex ministris gustu explorabat, ne omitteretur institutum aut utriusque morte proderetur scelus, talis dolus repertus est. innoxia adhuc ac praecalida et libata gustu potio traditur Britannico; dein, postquam fervore aspernabatur, frigida in aqua adfunditur venenum, quod ita cunctos eius artus pervasit, ut vox pariter et spiritus [eius] raperentur. trepidatur a circumsedentibus, diffugiunt imprudentes: at quibus altior intellectus, resistunt defixi et Neronem intuentes. ille ut erat reclinis et nescio similis, solitum ita ait per comitialem morbum, quo prima ab infantia adflictaretur Britannicus, et redituros paulatim visus sensusque. at Agrippina[e] is pavor, ea consternatio mentis, quamvis vultu premeretur, emicuit, ut perinde ignaram fuisse [quam] Octaviam sororem Britannici constiterit: quippe sibi supremum auxilium ereptum et parricidii exemplum intellegebat. Octavia quoque, quamvis rudibus annis, dolorem caritatem omnes adfectus abscondere didicerat. ita post breve silentium repetita convivii laetitia.
16.
It was customary for the young princes of the imperial house to have their meals at a table apart, within sight of their elders, and to partake of the rather simple fare along with other noble youths of the same age. Britannicus dined at that table, but before eating, his food and drink were tasted by a trusted servant. Not to break with this custom without revealing the crime by a double death, the murderers adopted the following stratagem. A beverage was offered to Britannicus, harmless at this point and duly tested, but warmed up to excess; he, as expected, turned it down as too hot to drink, so cold water, with the poison in it, was added, which so deeply affected his powers that both his voice and his life were taken from him. A state of horrified amazement followed: the less prudent scattered, others with better judgement did not stir, their eyes fixed on Nero. He, resting on his couch and feigning ignorance, said that what they saw often occurred to people suffering from seizures, a disorder troubling Britannicus since his early infancy, and that he would soon revive. As to Agrippina, her terror and bewilderment, conspicuous for a moment, though she struggled to repress them, clearly proved that she was just as much in the dark as Octavia, Britannicus’ sister. She understood only too well that she had been robbed of her last support and that her stepson’s death was but the preface to her own end. Octavia also, irrespective of her young age, had learnt to hide her suffering, her affections, and all her feelings. And so, after a brief silence, gaiety returned to the feast.
XVII.
Nox eadem necem Britannici et rogum coniunxit, proviso ante funebri paratu, qui modicus fuit. in campo tamen Martis sepultus est, adeo turbidis imbribus, ut vulgus iram deum portendi crediderit adversus facinus, cui plerique etiam hominum ignoscebant, antiquas fratrum discordias et insociabile regnum aestimantes. tradunt plerique eorum temporum scriptores crebris ante exitium diebus inlusum isse pueritia[e] Britannici Neronem, ut iam non praematura neque saeva mors videri queat, quamvis inter sacra mensae, ne tempore quidem ad complexum sororum dato, ante oculos inimici properata sit in illum supremum Claudiorum sanguinem stupro prius quam veneno pollutum. festinationem exsequiarum edicto Caesar defendit, id a maioribus institutum referens, subtrahere oculis acerba funera neque laudationibus aut pompa detinere. ceterum et sibi amisso fratris auxilio reliquas spes in re publica sitas, et tanto magis fovendum patribus populoque principem, qui unus superesset e familia summum ad fastigium genita.
17.
The same night saw joined together Britannicus’ death and his cremation, measures having been taken in advance for his modest funeral. His ashes, however, were placed within the imperial burial site in the Campus Martius, during a diluvial downpour, that people thought betokened heaven’s revulsion against such brutal deed, even though many found the crime excusable, as they recalled the many examples of hate between brothers and the impossibility of sharing an empire inherently indivisible. Also, a number of writers have related that, for quite a few days preceding the murder, Nero had violated the innocence of Britannicus, so that his death could no longer appear as premature or detestable as it did before this revelation, even though it was carried out in haste during the sanctity of a meal, no allowance being made for the last embraces of his sisters, under the gaze of the enemy, and against the last blood of the Claudian gens, desecrated by lust before it was by poison. In an edict, Nero defended the hasty burial, citing the ancient tradition of removing from sight unripe deaths and of avoiding to extend their presence by eulogies and stately ceremonies. In respect of himself, he also said that, having lost his brother’s help, all grounds for hope rested for him on the senate and the people, whose devotion to the sole surviving prince of a family born to rule he now called upon with greater reason.
XVIII.
Exim largitione potissimos amicorum auxit. nec defuere qui arguerent viros gravitatem adseverantes, quod domos villas id temporis quasi praedam divisissent. alii necessitatem adhibitam credebant a principe, sceleris sibi conscio et veniam sperante, si largitionibus validissimum quemque obstrinxisset. At matris ira nulla munificentia leniri, sed amplecti Octaviam, crebra cum amicis secreta habere, super ingenitam avaritiam undique pecunias quasi in subsidium corripiens, tribunos et centuriones comiter excipere, nomina et virtutes nobilium, qui etiam tum supererant, in honore habere, quasi quaereret ducem et partes. cognitum id Neroni, excubiasque militares, quae ut coniugi imperatoris olim, tum ut matri servabantur, et Germanos nuper eundem [in] honorem custodes additos digredi iubet. ac ne coetu salutantium frequentaretur, separat domum matremque transfert in eam, quae Antoniae fuerat, quotiens ipse illuc ventitaret, saeptus turba centurionum et post breve osculum digrediens.
18.
Nero’s plea was soon accompanied by a flurry of incredibly generous gifts to his most affluent friends, of which some people took a dim view, suspecting these grave notables of having divided up among themselves on this occasion country estates and houses as if they were so much plunder. Others held a different view and said they were under pressure from Nero, who, conscious of his crimes, was hoping for leniency if all the most prominent people were tied to him by vast bribes. The anger of the mother, however, was not to be placated. She would hold Octavia tight against her bosom and hold secret talks with her friends. She courteously received tribunes and centurions visiting her and paid court to anyone with a noble name and virtuous reputation to match (exceptions of such kind still existed), fostering the impression that she was casting about for a party and a leader. Informed of this, Nero removed the praetorian escort she had first received as the emperor’s wife, then retained as the emperor’s mother. Also ordered to disband were the personal German guards Nero had later added for greater honor. To separate her from the crowds of courtiers frequenting the palace, he transferred her household to the house of Antonia and each time he visited her, accompanied by a dense body of centurions, he would limit his endearments to a hasty kiss and then leave.
XIX.
Nihil rerum mortalium tam instabile ac fluxum est quam fama potentiae non sua vi nixa[e]. statim relictum Agrippinae limen: nemo solari, nemo adire praeter paucas feminas, amore an odio incertas. ex quibus erat Iunia Silana, quam matrimonio C. Sili a Messalina depulsam supra rettuli, insignis genere forma lascivia, et Agrippinae diu percara, mox occultis inter eas offensionibus, quia Sextium Africanum nobilem iuvenem a nuptiis Silanae deterruerat Agrippina, impudicam et vergentem annis dictitans, non ut Africanum sibi seponeret, sed ne opibus et orbitate Silanae maritus poteretur. illa spe ultionis oblata parat accusatores ex clientibus suis Iturium et Calvisium, non vetera et saepius iam audita deferens, quod Britannici mortem lugeret aut Octaviae iniurias evulgaret, sed destinavisse eam Rubellium Plautum, per maternam originem pari ac Nero gradu a divo Augusto, ad res novas extollere coniugioque eius et imperio rem publicam rursus invadere. haec Iturius et Calvisius Atimeto, Domitiae Neronis amitae liberto, aperiunt. qui laetus oblatis (quippe inter Agrippinam et Domitiam infensa aemulatio exercebatur) Paridem histrionem, libertum et ipsum Domitiae, impulit ire propere crimenque atrociter deferre.
19.
Nothing in the world is more unstable and precarious than renown for power when it is not supported by its own force. In no time at all Agrippina’s doors became deserted, no one came to see or to console her other than a few women, not certain whether attracted by love or hate. Among them was Junia Silana, whose marriage with Gaius Silius was abruptly interrupted by Messalina, as I have reported in precedence. Celebrated for her noble birth, her beauty, and her immorality, she had long been a favorite of Agrippina, but secret quarrels had ended the relationship, since Agrippina had discouraged Sextius Africanus, a young nobleman, from marrying Silana, time and again characterizing her as dissolute and well past her prime. Her desire was not to have the young Sextius to herself, rather to keep Silana’s riches from falling under the control of a husband. A chance for revenge having thus presented itself, Silana found among her dependents two accusers, Iturius and Calvisius, to bring charges against Agrippina, not the old and often heard accusations of mourning Britannicus’ death or of publicizing Octavia’s wrongs, but that she had emboldened Rubellius Plautus to entertain revolutionary designs. He was on his mother’s side almost as closely related to Augustus as Nero himself, and by his possible marriage with Agrippina he could become emperor and she regain her old influence. Iturius and Calvisius revealed the entire plan to Atimetus, a freedman of Domitia, Nero’s aunt. Delighted by the possibility of retaliation (for Agrippina and Sabina were bitter rivals), Atimetus urged Paris, a ballet dancer and also one of Domitia’s freedmen, to hurry to the emperor and denounce the plan in the most alarming terms.
XX.
Provecta nox erat et Neroni per vinolentiam trahebatur, cum ingreditur Paris, solitus alioquin id temporis luxus principis intendere, sed tunc compositus ad maestitiam, expositoque indicii ordine ita audientem exterret, ut non tantum matrem Plautumque interficere, sed Burrum etiam demovere praefectura destinaret, tamquam Agrippinae gratia provectum et vicem reddentem. Fabius Rusticus auctor est scriptos esse ad Caecinam Tuscum codicillos, mandata ei praetoriarum cohortium cura, sed ope Senecae dignationem Burro retentam. Plinius et Cluvius nihil dubitatum de fide praefecti referunt. sane Fabius inclinat ad laudes Senecae, cuius amicitia floruit. nos consensum auctorum secuturi, quae diversa prodiderint, sub nominibus ipsorum trademus. Nero trepidus et interficiendae matris avidus non prius differri potuit, quam Burrus necem eius promitteret, si facinoris coargueretur; sed cuicumque, nedum parenti defensionem tribuendam; nec accusatores adesse, sed vocem unius [et] ex inimica domo adferri: reputare[t] tenebras et vigilatam convivio noctem omniaque temeritati et inscitiae propiora.
20.
The night had already progressed far and Nero was stretching it further by continuous drinking, when Paris entered. He at other times would stimulate the indulgence of the prince, but now he chose to show a worried expression while he exposed in detail the plot to Nero, alarming him to such a degree that his first impulse was not only to kill his mother and Plautus, but also to deprive Burrus of command of the Praetorian Guard, inasmuch as he owed his position to Agrippina and in return he had become her tool. The historian Fabius Rusticus even relates that a written message was sent to Caecina Tuscus, entrusting to him control of the troops, but thanks to Seneca’s intervention Burrus was allowed to remain in office. Two other historians, Pliny the Elder and Cluvius Rufus state that Burrus’ loyalty was never suspected. Fabius Rusticus tends to approve of Seneca, thanks to whose friendship he had prospered. As to ourselves, we are determined to follow the historians if they agree, and to record any differences of opinion under their names. Nero, agitated by the desire to kill his mother, brooked no delay, until Burrus promised she would be put to death if proven guilty, but that any man, let alone a mother, was entitled to a defense. There were no official prosecutors, only a verbal charge by a single man and he from a hostile family. Burrus urged Nero to reflect that the night, its festivities, and excesses were all circumstances favoring reckless decisions without proper judgement.