Mother Knows Best - The Pax Romana Podcast 17

Through deft social and political maneuvers, seduction and pure survival skills, Agrippina—age 34—has won marriage to the fourth Roman Emperor Claudius, her own uncle. Into the marriage she brought her only son—a twelve year old boy who would grow up to become the great villain known as Nero. Although the emperor Claudius already had a son to succeed him—the eight year old Britannicus—he adopted Nero as his own, making Nero legally his son, and older brother to Britannicus. With this move, Agrippina’s placed her son Nero firmly in line to become the next emperor. But Britannicus, just a few years younger, would always be nipping at Nero’s heels. How did Agrippina complete her plan to make an unrivaled emperor out of Nero?

Primary Sources Referenced:

Tacitus, Annals 12.41.Suetonius, Claudius 43.