268 The Empire. R O 
to increase her son’s popularity, by giving him Seneca for 
a tutor. 
In the 12th year of Claudius’s reign, she persuaded him 
to restore liberty to the Rhodians, of which he had de¬ 
prived them some years before; and to remit the taxes of the 
city of Ilium, as having been the progenitor of Rome. At 
length her imperious temper began to grow insupportable to 
him, and he was heard to declare, when heated with wine, 
that it was his fate to suffer the disorders of his wives, and 
to be their executioner. This expression sunk deep on her 
mind, and engaged all her faculties to prevent the blow. 
Her first care was to remove Narcissus, whom she hated 
upon many accounts, but particularly for his attachment to 
Claudius. This minister, for some time, opposed her de¬ 
signs ; but at length thought fit to retire, by a voluntary 
exile, into Campania. The unhappy emperor, thus exposed 
to all the machinations of his insidious consort, seemed en¬ 
tirely regardless of the danger that threatened his destruction. 
His affection for Britannicus.was perceived every day to in¬ 
crease, which served also to increase the vigilance and jea¬ 
lousy of Agrippina. She now, therefore, resolved not to 
defer a crime which she had meditated a long while before; 
namely, that of poisoning her husband. She for some time, 
however, debated with herself in. what manner she should 
administer the poison ; as she feared too strong a dose 
would discover her treachery, and one too weak might fail 
of its effects. At length she determined upon a poison of 
singular efficacy to destroy his intellects, and yet not sud¬ 
denly to terminate his life. As she had been long conver¬ 
sant in this horrid practice, she applied to a woman called 
Locusta, notorious for assisting on such occasions. The 
poison was given to the emperor among mushrooms, a dish 
he was particularly fond of. Shortly after having eaten, he 
dropped down insensible; but this caused no alarm, as it 
was usual with him to sit eating till he had stupified all his 
faculties, and was obliged to be carried off to his bed from 
the table. However, his constitution seemed to overcome 
the effects of his potion, when Agrippina resolved to make 
sure of him : wherefore she directed a wretched physician, 
who was her creature, to thrust a poisoned feather down his 
throat, under pretence of making him vomit; and thus dis¬ 
patched him. 
The reign of this emperor, feeble and impotent as he was, 
produced no great calamities in the state, since his cruelties 
were chiefly levelled at those about his person. The list of 
the inhabitants of Rome at this time amounted to six mil¬ 
lions eight hundred and forty-four thousand souls. The 
general character of the times was that of corruption and 
luxury: but the military spirit of Rome, though much re¬ 
axed from its former severity, still continued to awe 
mankind. 
Claudius being destroyed, Agrippina took every precau¬ 
tion to conceal his death from the public, until she had set¬ 
tled her measures for securing the succession. A strong 
guard was placed at all the avenues of the palace, while she 
amused the people with various reports; at one time giving 
out that he was still alive ; at another, that he was recover¬ 
ing. In the meanwhile, she made sure of the person of 
young Britannicus, under a pretence of affection for him. 
At last, when all things were adjusted, the palace gates were 
thrown open, and Nero, accompanied by Burrhus, prefect 
of the praetorian guards, issued forth to receive the con¬ 
gratulations of the people and the army. The cohorts then 
attending, proclaimed him with the loudest acclamations. 
He was carried in a chariot to the rest of the army ; wherein 
having made a speech proper for the occasion, and pro¬ 
mising them a donation, in the manner of his predecessors, 
he was declared emperor by the army, the senate, and the 
people. 
Nero’s first care was, to show r all possible respect to the 
deceased emperor, in order to cover the guilt of his death. 
His obsequies were performed with a pomp equal to that 
of Augustus: the young emperor pronounced his funeral 
oration, and he was canonized among the gods. 
M E. The Empire. 
Nero, though but 17 years of age, began his reign with 
the general approbation of mankind. As he owed the em¬ 
pire to Agrippina, so in the beginning he submitted to her 
directions with the most implicit obedience. On her part, 
she seemed resolved on governing with her natural ferocity, 
and considered her private animosities as the only rule to 
guide her in public justice. Immediately after the death of 
Claudius, she caused Silanus, the pro-consul of Asia, to 
be assassinated upon very slight suspicions, and without 
even acquainting the emperor with her design. The next 
object of her resentment was Narcissus, the late emperor’s 
favourite; a man equally notorious for the greatness of his 
wealth and the number of his crimes. He was obliged to 
put an end to his life by Agrippina’s order, though Nero re¬ 
fused his consent. 
This bloody onset wduld have been followed by many 
severities of the same nature, had not Seneca and Burrhus, 
the emperor’s tutor and general, opposed. These worthy 
men, although they owed their rise to the empress, were 
above being the instruments of her cruelty. They, there¬ 
fore, combined together in an opposition ; and, gaining the 
young emperor on their side, formed a plan of power, at 
once the most merciful and wise. The beginning of this 
monarch’s reign, while he continued to act by their counsels, 
has always been considered as a model for succeeding prin¬ 
ces to govern by. The famous emperor Trajan used to say, 
“ That for the first five years of this prince all other govern¬ 
ments came short of his.” 
In the mean time, Agrippina, who was excluded from any 
share in government, attempted, by every possible method, 
to maintain her declining power. Perceiving that her son 
had fallen in love with a freed-woman, named Acte, and 
dreading the influence of a concubine, she tried every art to 
prevent his growing passion. However, in so corrupt a 
court, it was no difficult matter for the emperor to find other 
confidants. The gratification of his passion, therefore, in 
this instance, only served to increase his hatred for the em¬ 
press. Nor was it long before he gave evident marks of his 
disobedience, by displacing Pallas her chief favourite. It was 
upon this occasion that she first perceived the total declen¬ 
sion of her authority; which threw her into the most un¬ 
governable fury. In order to give terror to her rage, she 
proclaimed that Britannicus, the real heir to the throne, was 
still living, and in a condition to receive his father’s empire, 
which was now possessed by an usurper. She threatened 
to go to the camp, and there expose his baseness and her 
own, invoking all the furies to her assistance. These men¬ 
aces served to alarm the suspicions of Nero; who, though 
apparently guided by his governors, yet had begun to give 
way to his natural depravity. He, therefore, determined 
upon the death of Britannicus, and contrived to have him 
poisoned at a public banquet. Agrippina, however, still 
retained her natural ferocity: she took every opportunity of 
obliging and flattering the tribunes and centurions. Where¬ 
upon Nero commanded her German guard to be taken from 
her, and obliged her to lodge out of the palace. He also 
forbade particular persons to visit her, and went himself but 
rarely and ceremoniously to pay her his respects. She now, 
therefore, began to find, that, with the emperor’s favour, she 
had lost the assiduity of her friends. She was even accused 
by Silana of conspiring against her son, and of designing to 
marry Plautius, a person descended from Augustus, and mak¬ 
ing him emperor. A short tune after, Pallas, her favourite, 
together with Burrhus, were arraigned for a similar offence, 
and intending to set up*Cornelius Sylla. These informations 
being proved void of any foundation, the informers were 
banished; a punishment which was considered as very in¬ 
adequate to the greatness of the offence. 
As Nero increased in years, his crimes seemed to increase 
in equal proportion. He now began to find a pleasure in 
running about the city by night, disguised like a slave. In 
imitation of the emperor’s example, numbers of profligate 
young men infested the streets likewise; so that every night 
the city was filled with tumult and disorder. However, 
tire 
