eated into
the gardens of Asiaticus, which more than anything else were the cause of
her ruin.]

[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 Agrip