BRITANNICUS.
A.D. 54-55
Britannicus and Acte.--Indignation of Agrippina.--Otho and
Senecio.--Perplexity of Nero's ministers.--They determine to connive
at Nero's new connection.--Agrippina is greatly enraged.--Her furious
invectives.--She becomes calm again.--Agrippina changes her
policy.--Nero rejects his mother's advances.--His treatment of
her.--He makes her a present of jewelry.--Agrippina is enraged.--Nero
resolves to subdue his mother.--His plan.--Pallas dismissed.--His
withdrawal.--Agrippina's bitter reproaches.--Her threats.--She declares
that she will cause Nero to be deposed.--Probable character and meaning
of these threats.--The game of "who shall be king?"--Nero's orders
to Britannicus.--The song which Britannicus sung.--Nero resolves to
resort to poison.--Pollio and Locusta.--The plan at first fails.--A
second attempt.--A second preparation.--Mode of administering the
poison.--Britannicus dies.--Agrippina's agitation and distress.--Effect
produced by the poison.--Remedy.--The interment of Britannicus.--The
storm.--Nero's proclamation.
The occasion which led to the first open outbreak between Agrippina
and her son was the discovery on her part of a secret and guilty
attachment which had been formed between Nero and a young girl of
the palace whose name was Acte. Acte was originally a slave from
Asia Minor, having been purchased there and sent to Rome, very
probably on account of her personal beauty. She had been
subsequently enfranchised, but she remained still in the palace,
forming a part of the household of Agrippina. Nero had never felt
any strong attachment for Octavia. His marriage he had always
regarded as merely one of his mother's political manoeuvers, and
he did not consider himself as really bound to his wife by any tie.
He was, besides, still but a boy, though unusually precocious and
mature; and he had always been accustomed to the most unlimited
indulgence of the propensities and passions of youth.
The young prince, as is usual in such cases, was led on and
encouraged in the vicious course of life that he was now beginning
to pursue, by certain dissolute companions whose society he fell
into about this time. There were two young men in particular whose
influence over him was of the worst character. Their names were Otho
and Senecio. Otho was descended from a very distinguished family,
and his rank and social position in Roman society were very high.
Senecio, on the other hand, was of a very humble extraction--his
father being an emancipated slave. The three young men were,
however, nearly of the same age, and being equally unprincipled and
dissolute, they banded themselves together in the pursuit and
enjoyment of vicious indulgences. Nero made Otho and Senecio his
confidants in his connection with Acte, and it was in a great
measure through their assistance and co-operation that he
accomplished his ends.
When Seneca and Burrus were informed of Nero's attachment to Acte,
and of the connection which had been established between them, they
were at first much perplexed to know what to do. They were men of
strict moral principle themselves, and as Nero had been their
pupil, and was still, while they continued his ministers, in some
sense under their charge, they thought it might be their duty to
remonstrate with him on the course which he was pursuing, and
endeavor to separate him from his vicious companions, and bring him
back, if possible, to his duty to Octavia. But then, on the other
hand, they said to each other that any attempt on their part really
to control the ungovernable and lawless propensities of such a soul
as Nero's must be utterly unavailing, and since he must necessarily,
as they thought, be expected to addict himself to vicious
indulgences in some form, the connection with Acte might perhaps be
as little to be dreaded as any. On the whole, they concluded not to
interfere.
Not so, however, with Agrippina. When she came to learn of this new
attachment which her son had formed, she was very much disturbed and
alarmed. Her distress, however, did not arise from any of those
feelings of solicitude which, as a mother, she might have been
expected to feel for the moral purity of her boy, but from fears
that, through the influence and ascendency which such a favorite as
Acte might acquire, she should lose her own power. She knew very
well how absolute and complete the domination of such a favorite
sometimes became, and she trembled at the danger which threatened
her of being supplanted by Acte, and thus losing her control.
Agrippina was very violent and imperious in her temper, and had long
been accustomed to rule those around her with a very high hand; and
now, without properly considering that Nero had passed beyond the
age in which he could be treated as a mere boy, she attacked him at
once with the bitterest reproaches and invectives, and insisted that
his connection with Acte should be immediately abandoned. Nero
resisted her, and stoutly refused to comply with her demands.
Agrippina was fired with indignation and rage. She filled the palace
with her complaints and criminations. She accused Nero of the basest
ingratitude toward her, in repaying the long-continued and faithful
exertions and sacrifices which she had made to promote his
interests, by thus displacing her from his confidence and regard, to
make room for this wretched favorite, and of falseness and
faithlessness to Octavia, in abandoning her, his lawful wife, for
the society of an enfranchised slave. Agrippina was extremely
violent in these denunciations. She scolded, she stormed, she
raved--acting manifestly under the impulse of blind and
uncontrollable passion. Her passion was obviously blind, for the
course to which it impelled her was plainly very far from tending to
accomplish any object which she could be supposed to have in view.
At length, when the first fury of her vexation and anger had spent
itself, she began to reflect, as people generally do when recovering
from a passion, that she was spending her strength in working
mischief to her own cause. This reflection helped to promote the
subsiding of her anger. Her loud denunciations gradually died away,
and were succeeded by mutterings and murmurings. At length she
became silent altogether, and after an interval of reflection, she
concluded no longer to give way to her clamorous and useless anger,
but calmly to consider what it was best to _do_.
She soon determined that the wisest and most politic plan after all,
would be for her to acquiesce in the fancy of her son, and endeavor
to retain her ascendency over him by aiding and countenancing him in
his pleasures. She accordingly changed by degrees the tone which she
had assumed toward him, and began to address him in words of favor
and indulgence. She said that it was natural, after all, at his time
of life, to love, and that his superior rank and station entitled
him to some degree of immunity from the restrictions imposed upon
ordinary men. Acte was indeed a beautiful girl, and she was not
surprised, she said, that he had conceived an affection for her. The
indulgence of his love was indeed attended with difficulty and
danger, but, if he would submit the affair to her care and
management, she could take such precautions that all would be well.
She apologized for the warmth with which she had at first spoken,
and attributed it to the jealous and watchful interest which a
mother must always feel in all that relates to the prosperity and
happiness of her son. She said, moreover, that she was now ready and
willing to enter into and promote his views, and she offered him the
use of certain private apartments of her own in the palace, to meet
Acte in, saying that, by such an arrangement, and with the
precautions that she could use, he could enjoy the society of his
favorite whenever he pleased, without interruption and without
danger.
Nero very naturally reported all this to his companions. They of
course advised him not to believe any thing that his mother said,
nor to trust to her in any way. "It is all," said they, "an artful
device on her part to get you into her power; and no young man of
pride and spirit will submit to the disgrace of being under his
mother's management and control." The young profligate listened to
the counsels of his associates, and rejected the overtures which his
mother had made him. He continued his attachment to Acte, but kept
as much as possible aloof from Agrippina.
He desired, however, if possible, to avoid an open quarrel with his
mother, and so he made some effort to treat her with attention and
respect, in his general bearing toward her, while he persisted in
refusing to admit her to his confidence in respect to Acte. These
general attentions were, however, by no means sufficient to satisfy
Agrippina. The influence of Acte was what she feared, and she well
knew that her own power was in imminent danger of being undermined
and overthrown, unless she could find some means of bringing her
son's connection with his favorite under her own control. Thus the
calm that seemed for a short time to reign between Nero and his
mother was an armistice rather than a peace, and this armistice was
brought at length to a sudden termination by an act of Nero's which
he intended as an act of conciliation and kindness, but which proved
to be in effect the means of awakening his mother's anger anew, and
of exciting her even to a more violent exasperation than she had
felt before.
It seems that among the other treasures of the imperial palace at
Rome there was an extensive wardrobe of very costly female dresses
and decorations, which was appropriated to the use of the wives and
mothers of the emperors. Nero conceived the idea of making a present
to his mother, from this collection. He accordingly selected a
magnificent dress, and a considerable quantity of jewelry, and sent
them to Agrippina. Instead of being gratified with this gift,
however, Agrippina received it as an affront. She had been so long
accustomed to consider herself as the first personage in the
imperial household, that she regarded all such things as rightfully
her own; and she consequently looked upon the act of Nero in
formally presenting her with a small portion of these treasures, as
a simple impertinence, and as intended to notify her that he
considered all that remained of the collection as his property, and
thenceforth as such subject to his exclusive control. Instead
therefore of being appeased by Nero's offering she was greatly
enraged by it. The angry invectives which she uttered were duly
reported to the emperor, and his indignation and resentment were
aroused by them anew, and thus the breach between the mother and the
son became wider than ever.
[Illustration: THE JEWELRY.]
In fact Nero began to perceive very clearly that if he intended to
secure for himself any thing more than the empty semblance of power,
he must at once do something effectual to curb the domineering and
ambitious spirit of his mother. After revolving this subject in his
mind, he finally concluded that the measure which promised to be
most decisive was to dismiss a certain public officer named Pallas,
who had been brought forward into public life many years before by
Agrippina, and was now the chief instrument of her political power.
Pallas was the public treasurer, and he had amassed such enormous
wealth by his management of the public finances, that at one time
when Claudius was complaining of the impoverished condition of his
exchequer, some one replied that he would soon be rich enough if he
could but induce his treasurer to receive him into partnership.
Pallas, as has already been said, had been originally brought
forward into public life by the influence of Agrippina, and he had
always been Agrippina's chief reliance in all her political schemes.
He had aided very effectually in promoting her marriage with
Claudius; and had co-operated with her in all her subsequent
measures; and Nero considered him now as his mother's chief
supporter and ally. Nero resolved, accordingly, to dismiss him from
office; and in order to induce him to retire peaceably, it was
agreed that no inquiry or investigation should be made into the
state of his accounts, but every thing should be considered as
balanced and settled. Pallas acceded to this proposal. During the
whole course of his official career, he had lived in great
magnificence and splendor, and now in laying down his office, he
withdrew from the imperial palaces, at the head of a long train of
attendants, and with a degree of pomp and parade which attracted
universal attention. The event was regarded by the public as a
declaration on the part of Nero, that thenceforth he himself and not
his mother was to rule; and Agrippina, of course, fell at once,
many degrees, from the high position which she had held in the
public estimation.
She was, of course, greatly enraged, and though utterly helpless in
respect to resistance, she stormed about the palace, uttering the
loudest and most violent expressions of resentment and anger.
During the continuance of this paroxysm Agrippina bitterly
reproached her son for what she termed his cruel ingratitude. It was
altogether to her, she said, that he owed his elevation. For a long
course of years she had been making ceaseless exertions, had
submitted to the greatest sacrifices, and had even committed the
most atrocious crimes, to raise him to the high position to which he
had attained; and now, so soon as he had attained it, and had made
himself sure, as he fancied, of his foothold, his first act was to
turn basely and ungratefully against the hand that had raised him.
But notwithstanding his fancied security, she would teach him, she
said, that her power was still to be feared. Britannicus was still
alive, and he was after all the rightful heir, and since her son had
proved himself so unworthy of the efforts and sacrifices that she
had made for him, she would forthwith take measures to restore to
Britannicus what she had so unjustly taken from him. She would
immediately divulge all the dreadful secrets which were connected
with Nero's elevation. She would make known the arts by means of
which her marriage with Claudius had been effected, and the adoption
of Nero as Claudius's son and heir had been secured. She would
confess the murder of Claudius, and the usurpation on her part of
the imperial power for Nero her son. Nero would, in consequence, be
deposed, and Britannicus would succeed him, and thus the base
ingratitude and treachery toward his mother which Nero had displayed
would be avenged. This plan, she declared, she would immediately
carry into effect. She would take Britannicus to the camp, and
appeal to the army in his name. Both Burrus and Seneca would join
her, and her undutiful and treacherous son would be stripped
forthwith of his ill-gotten power.
These words of Agrippina were not, however, the expressions of sober
purpose, really and honestly entertained. They were the wild and
unthinking threats and denunciations which are prompted in such
cases by the frenzy of helpless and impotent rage. It is not at all
probable that she had any serious intention of attempting such
desperate measures as she threatened; for if she had really
entertained such a design, she would have carefully kept it secret
while making her arrangements for carrying it into execution.
Still these threats and denunciations, though they were obviously
prompted by a blind and temporary rage, which it might be reasonably
supposed would soon subside, made a deep impression upon Nero's
mind. In the first place, he was angry with his mother for daring to
utter them. Then there was at least a possibility that she might
really undertake to put them in execution, as no one could foresee
what her desperate frenzy might lead her to do. Then besides, even
if Agrippina's resentment were to subside, and she should seem
entirely to abandon all idea of ever executing her threats, Nero was
extremely unwilling to remain thus in his mother's power--exposed
continually to fresh outbreaks of her hostility, whenever her anger
or her caprice might arouse her again. The threats which his mother
uttered made him, therefore, extremely restless and uneasy.
A circumstance occurred about this time which, though very trifling
in itself, had the effect greatly to increase the jealousy and fear
in respect to Britannicus, which Nero was inclined to feel. It seems
that among the other amusements with which the company were
accustomed to entertain themselves in the social gatherings that
took place, from time to time, in the imperial palace, there was a
certain game which they used to play, called, "WHO SHALL BE KING?"
The game consisted of choosing one of the party by lot to be king,
and then of requiring all the others to obey the commands, whatever
they might be, which the king so chosen might issue. Of course, the
success of the game depended upon the art and ingenuity of the king
in prescribing such things to be done by his various subjects, as
would most entertain and amuse the company. What the forfeit or
penalty was, that the rules of the game required, in case of
disobedience, is not stated; but every one was considered bound to
obey the commands that were laid upon him,--provided, of course,
that the thing required was within his power.
Nero himself, it appears, was accustomed to join in these sports,
and one evening, when a party were all playing it together in his
palace, it fell to _his_ lot to be king. When it came to be the turn
of Britannicus to receive orders, Nero directed him to go out into
the middle of the room, and sing a song to the company. This was a
very severe requirement for one so young as Britannicus, and so
little accustomed to take an active part in the festivities of so
gay a company; and the motive of Nero in making it, was supposed to
be a feeling of ill-will, and a desire to tease his brother, by
placing him in an awkward and embarrassing situation--one in which
he would be compelled either to interrupt the game by refusing to
obey the orders of the king, or to expose himself to ridicule by
making a fruitless attempt to sing a song.
To the surprise of all, however, Britannicus rose from his seat
without any apparent hesitation or embarrassment, walked out upon
the floor, and took his position. The attention of the whole company
was fixed upon him. All sounds were hushed.
He began to sing. The song was a lament, describing in plaintive
words and in mournful music, the situation and the sorrows of a
young prince, excluded wrongfully from the throne of his
ancestors.[B] The whole company listened with profound attention,
charmed at first by the artless simplicity of the music, and the
grace and beauty of the boy. As Britannicus proceeded in his song,
and the meaning of it, in its application to his own case, began to
be perceived, a universal sympathy for him was felt, by the whole
assembly, and when he concluded and resumed his seat, the apartment
was filled with suppressed murmurs of applause. The effect of this
scene upon the mind of Nero, was of course only to awaken feelings
of vexation and anger. He looked on in moody silence, uttering
mentally the fiercest threats and denunciations against the object
of his jealousy, whom he was now compelled to look upon, more than
ever before, as a dangerous and formidable rival. He determined, in
fact, that Britannicus should die.
[Footnote B: By some it has been thought that the song which
Britannicus sung on this occasion was one which he had learned
before--one perhaps which he had accidentally seen or heard, and
which had attracted his attention on account of its adaptedness to
his own case; and there is a song of Ennius, an ancient writer,
which is sometimes cited as the one he sang on this occasion. Others
say that the performance was original and extemporaneous; that the
young prince, excited by his wrongs, and by the peculiar
circumstances of the occasion, gave utterance to his own feelings in
words which suggested themselves to him on the spot. To do this
would require, of course great intellectual readiness and
ability,--but the difficulty of such a performance would be somewhat
diminished by the fact, that the ancient poetry was wholly different
from that of modern times, being marked only by a measured cadence,
unconnected with rhyme.]
In considering by what means he should undertake to effect his
purpose, it seemed to Nero most prudent to employ poison. There was
no pretext whatever for any criminal charge against the young
prince, and Nero did not dare to resort to open violence. He
determined, therefore, to resort to poison, and to employ Locusta to
prepare it.
Locusta, the reader will remember, was the woman whom Agrippina had
employed for the murder of her husband, Claudius. She was still in
custody as a convict, being under sentence of death for her crimes.
She was in the charge of a certain captain named Pollio, an officer
of the Praetorian guard. Nero sent for Pollio, and directed him to
procure from his prisoner a poisonous potion suitable for the
purpose intended. The potion was prepared, and soon afterward it
was administered. At least it was given to certain attendants that
were employed about the person of Britannicus, with orders that they
should administer it. The expected effect, however, was not
produced. Whether it was because the potion which Locusta had
prepared was too weak, or because it was not really administered by
those who received it in charge, no result followed, and Nero was
greatly enraged. He sent for Pollio, and assailed him with
reproaches and threats, and as for Locusta, he declared that she
should be immediately put to death. They were both miserable
cowards, he said, who had not the firmness to do their duty. Pollio,
in reply, made the most earnest protestations of his readiness to do
whatever his master should command. He assured Nero that the failure
of their attempt was owing entirely to some accidental cause, and
that if he would give Locusta one more opportunity to make the
trial, he would guarantee that she would prepare a mixture that
would kill Britannicus as quick as a dagger would do it.
Nero ordered that this should immediately be done. Locusta was sent
for, and was shut up with Pollio in an apartment adjoining that of
the emperor, with directions to make the mixture there, and then to
administer it forthwith. Their lives were to depend upon the result.
The poison was soon prepared. There was, however, a serious
difficulty in the way of administering it, since a potion so sudden
and violent in its character as this was intended to be, might be
expected to take immediate effect upon the taster, and so produce an
alarm which would prevent Britannicus from receiving it. To obviate
this difficulty, Pollio and Locusta cunningly contrived the
following plan.
They mixed the poison when it was prepared, with cold water, and put
it in the pitcher in which cold water was customarily kept in the
apartment where Britannicus was to take his supper. When the time
arrived Nero himself came in and took his place upon a couch which
was standing in the room, with a view of watching the proceedings.
Some broth was brought in for the prince's supper. The attendant
whose duty it was, tasted it as usual, and then passed it into the
prince's hand. Britannicus tasted it, and found it too hot. It had
been purposely made so. He gave it back to the attendant to be
cooled. The attendant took it to the pitcher, and cooled it with the
poisoned water, and then gave it back again to Britannicus without
asking the taster to taste it again. Britannicus drank the broth. In
a few minutes the fatal consequences ensued. The unhappy victim sank
suddenly down in a fainting fit. His eyes became fixed, his limbs
were paralyzed, his breathing was short and convulsive. The
attendants rushed toward him to render him assistance, but his life
was fast ebbing away, and before they could recover from the shock
which his sudden illness occasioned them, they found that he had
ceased to breathe.
The event produced, of course, great excitement and commotion
throughout the palace. Agrippina was immediately summoned, and as
she stood over the dying child she was overwhelmed with terror and
distress. Nero, on the other hand, appeared wholly unmoved. "It is
only one of his epileptic fits," said he. "Britannicus has been
accustomed to them from infancy. He will soon recover."
As soon, however, as there was no longer any room to question that
Britannicus was dead, Nero began immediately to make preparations
for the burial of the body. The remorse which, notwithstanding his
depravity, he could not but feel at having perpetrated such a crime,
made him impatient to remove all traces and memorials of it from his
sight; and, besides, he was afraid to wait the usual period and then
to make arrangements for a public funeral, lest the truth in respect
to the death of Britannicus might be suspected by the Romans, and a
party be formed to revenge his wrongs. Any tendency of this kind
which might exist would be greatly favored, he knew, by the
excitement of a public funeral. He determined, therefore, that the
body should be immediately buried.
There was another reason still for this dispatch. It seems that one
of the effects of the species of poison which Locusta had
administered was that the body of the victim was turned black by it
soon after death. This discoloration, in fact, began to appear in
the face of the corpse of Britannicus before the time for the
interment arrived; and Nero, in order to guard against the exposure
which this phenomenon threatened, ordered the face to be painted of
the natural color, by means of cosmetics, such as the ladies of the
court were accustomed to use in those days. By doing this the
countenance of the dead was restored to its proper color, and
afterward underwent no further change. Still the emperor was
naturally impatient to have the body interred.
The preparations were accordingly made that same evening, and in the
middle of the night the body of Britannicus was buried in the Field
of Mars, a vast parade-ground in the precincts of the city. In
addition to the darkness of the night, a violent storm arose, and
the rain fell in torrents while the interment proceeded. Very few,
therefore, of the people of the city knew what had occurred until
the following day. The violence of the storm, however, which
promoted in one respect the accomplishment of Nero's designs by
favoring the secrecy of the interment, in another respect operated
strongly against him, for the face of the corpse became so wet with
the fallen rain, that the cosmetic was washed away and the blackened
skin was brought to view. The attendants who had the body in charge
learned thus that the boy had been poisoned.
On the morning after the funeral the emperor issued a proclamation
announcing the death and burial of his brother, and calling upon the
Roman Senate and the Roman people for their sympathy and support in
the bereavement which he had sustained.
At the time of his death Britannicus was fourteen years old.