[A.D. 48-54]

After her Claudius destroyed also his own slave for insulting one of the prominent men.

[A.D. 49 (a. u. 802)]

After a little he married his niece Agrippina, mother of Domitius, who was surnamed Nero.  She had beauty and had been in the habit of consulting him constantly and being in his company alone because he was her uncle, though she was rather more free in her conduct toward him than would properly become a niece. [And for this reason he executed Silanus, feeling that he was plotting against him.] [Yet Silanus was regarded as an upright man and was honored by Claudius to the extent of receiving triumphal honors while still a boy, being betrothed to the emperor’s daughter Octavia, and becoming praetor long before the age ordained.  He was allowed to give the festival that fell to his lot at the expense of Claudius, and during it the latter asked some favors of him as if he were himself the mere head of some party[12] and uttered any shouts that he saw other people wished him to utter.  Yet in spite of all this Claudius had become such a slave to the women that on their account he killed both his sons-in-law.]

On the heels of this occurrence Vitellius came forward in the senate with a declaration that the good of the State required Claudius to marry.  He indicated Agrippina as a suitable person in this emergency and suggested that they force him to the marriage.  Then the senators rose and came to Claudius and “compelled” him to marry.  They also passed a decree permitting Romans to wed their nieces, a union formerly prohibited.

[-32-] As soon as Agrippina had become settled in the palace, she gained complete control of Claudius; for she possessed in an unusual degree the quality of savoir faire.  Likewise she won the devotion of all those who were at all fond of him, partly by fear and partly by benefits conferred. [At length she caused his son Britannicus to be brought up as if he were no relation of the emperor.  The other child, who had betrothed the daughter of Sejanus, was dead.  She made Domitius at this time son-in-law of Claudius and later actually had him adopted.  She accomplished these ends partly by causing the freedmen to persuade Claudius and partly by seeing to it beforehand that the senate, the populace, and the soldiers should always concur to favor her demands.  This son Agrippina] was training for the assumption of imperial office and was having educated under Seneca.  She gathered for him an inconceivable amount of wealth, omitting not one of the most humble and least influential citizens in her search for money, paying court to every one who was in the least degree well-off and murdering many for this very reason.  In addition, she destroyed out of jealousy some of the foremost women and put to death Lollia Paulina because the latter had cherished some hope of being married to Claudius.  As she did not recognize the woman’s head when it was brought to her, she opened with her own hand the mouth and inspected the teeth, which had certain peculiarities.