mitius Ahenobarbus. In
50 A. D., Domitius was adopted by Claudius as Nero Claudius Caesar. The
following year he received the _imperium_, and was thus openly designated
as the future princeps. In 53 A. D. Nero was married to Octavia and a year
later Claudius died, poisoned, as all believed, by Agrippina, who feared
that further delay would endanger her plans.

IV. NERO, 54-68 A. D.

*The quinquennium Neronis.* Agrippina had previously made sure of the
support of the praetorians, and so the appointment of Nero to the
principate transpired without opposition. The first five years of his rule
were noted as a period of excellent administration. During that time his
counsels were guided by the praetorian prefect, Afranius Burrus from
Narbonese Gaul, and by Lucius Annaeus Seneca, the famous writer and orator
from Spain, whom Agrippina had appointed as his tutor in 49 A. D.

*Fall of Agrippina.* This epoch is also characterized by the attempt of
Agrippina to act as regent for her son and retain the influence she had
acquired during the later years of the life of Claudius. But in this she
was opposed both by Nero himself and his able advisors. In 55 A. D. Nero
caused his adoptive brother Britannicus to be poisoned, through fear that
he might prove a rival. Finally, under the influence of his mistress,
Poppaea Sabina, the wife of Titus Salvius Otho, he had Agrippina murdered
(59 A. D.). Thereupon he divorced Octavia, who was later banished and put
to death, and married Poppaea.

*The government of Nero.* Freed from the fear of any rival influence,
Nero, now twenty-two years of age, took the reins of government into his
own hands. After the death of Burrus in 62, Seneca lost his influence over
the princeps, who took as his chief advisor the worthless praetorian
prefect, Tigellinus. The Senate, whose support he had courted in his
opposition to Agrippina, now found itself without any influence; and,
since his wanton extravagances emptied the treasury, Nero was forced to
resort to oppressive measures to satisfy his needs. The sole object of his
policy was the gratification of his capricious whims. In the conviction
that he was an artist of extraordinary genius, he hungered for the
applause of the successful performer, and in 65 A. D. publicly appeared in
the theatre as a singer and musician. Nothing could have more deeply
alienated the respect of the upper classes of Roman society. Eager to
duplica