raetorian cohorts in favor of her son.

Accordingly at noon of the day on which Claudius died, when all
things were ready, the palace gates were thrown open and Agrippina
came forth with her son, accompanied by Burrus and by other
attendants. The cohort on duty was drawn up under arms at the palace
gates. Burrus presented Nero to them as the successor of Claudius,
and at a signal from him they all responded with shouts and
acclamations. Some few of the soldiers did not join in this
cheering, but looked on in silence, and then inquired of one
another what had become of Britannicus. But there were none to
answer this question, and as no one appeared to proclaim Britannicus
or to speak in his name, the whole cohort finally acquiesced in the
decision to which the majority, at the instigation of Burrus, seemed
inclined. A sort of chair or open palanquin was provided, and Nero
was mounted upon it. He was borne in this way by the soldiers
through the streets of the city, escorted by the cohort on the way,
till he reached the camp. As the procession moved along, the air was
filled with the shouts and acclamations of the soldiers and of the
people.

When the party arrived at the camp Nero was presented to the army,
and the officers and soldiers being drawn up before him he delivered
a brief speech which Seneca had prepared for the occasion. The
principal point in this speech, and the one on which its effect was
expected to depend, was a promise of a large distribution of money.
The soldiers always expected such a donative on the accession of any
new emperor,--but Nero, in order to suppress any latent opposition
which might be felt against his claims, made his proposed
distribution unusually large. The soldiers readily yielded to the
influence of this promise, and with one accord proclaimed Nero
emperor. The Senate was soon afterward convened, and partly through
the influence of certain prominent members whom Agrippina had taken
measures to secure in her interest, and partly through the general
conviction that as things were the claims of Britannicus could not
be successfully maintained, the choice of the army was confirmed.
And as the tidings of what had taken place at the capital gradually
spread through Italy and to the remoter portions of the empire, the
provinces, and the various legions at their encampments, one after
another acquiesced in the result, both because on the one hand they
had no strong motive for dissenting,