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Agrippina was the first daughter and fourth living child of Agrippina the Elder and Germanicus. [2]She had three elder brothers, Nero Caesar, Drusus Caesar, and the future emperor Caligula, and two younger sisters, Julia Drusilla and Julia Livilla.
Nero was born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus on 15 December AD 37 in Antium (modern Anzio), eight months after the death of Tiberius. [3] [4] He was an only-child, the son of the politician Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus and Agrippina the Younger.
Nero and Acte's relationship reduced Agrippina's sway over her son and therefore her influence on the Empire. Agrippina's increasing efforts to separate Nero from Acte served only to increase his fondness for her; and the ensuing conflicts led Nero to take absolute control of the Empire and, eventually, to order his mother's assassination.
Nero was the great-nephew and adopted son of Claudius; his mother Agrippina, in addition to being married to Claudius, was the daughter of Claudius' brother Germanicus. The other recurring relationship between emperor and successor is that of stepfather/stepson, a relationship not by blood but by marriage:
Whereas the elder Agrippina's son failed to become emperor, the younger Agrippina's son, also named Nero, succeeds. In a contrast, Tacitus has Agrippina the Elder merely standing on a bridge waving the soldiers passing by, whereas her daughter eclipses her by presiding over a military tribunal and accepting gifts from foreign ambassadors. [52]
Having become emperor, Nero's relationship with his mother began to deteriorate as the two vied for power. [35] The next year, Britannicus died as well, during a banquet where Octavia, Nero, and Agrippina were all present. [36] [37] Octavia and Agrippina were shocked at Britannicus' sudden illness, which Nero attributed to epilepsy.
Nero (on the left), saluting Tiberius (seated, on the right) (detail of the Great Cameo of France).. Nero's mother Agrippina believed her husband was murdered to promote Drusus the Younger as heir, and feared that the birth of his twin sons would give him a motive to displace her own sons.
In favouring Nero, Claudius sealed the fate of his son and perhaps his own. Ominously for Agrippina, Seneca and Burrus did not complain: either they had been bought off or regarded Britannicus' death as inevitable given his relationship with Nero. Instead, they concentrated on growing their influence with the new emperor. [48] [25]