Tacitus Annals XIV, sections 1-13

1.1 - Gaio Vipstano C. Fonteio consulibus diu meditatum scelus non ultra Nero distulit, vetustate imperii coalita audacia et flagrantior in dies amore Poppaeae, quae sibi matrimonium et discidium Octaviae incolumi Agrippina haud sperans crebris criminationibus, aliquando per facetias incusare principem et pupillum vocare, qui iussis alienis obnoxius non modo imperii sed libertatis etiam indigeret. cur enim differri nuptias suas?

When Gaius Vipstanus and Gaius Fonteius were consuls, Nero did not put off his long thought of crime any longer, his boldness established by the age of his rule and more passionate day by day with love of Poppaea, who not hoping for marriage for herself and divorce for Octavia with Agrippina safe, with frequent accusations, sometimes through jokes she accused the emperor and called him a ward, because, exposed to the commands of others he not only lacked power but also freedom. For why do you put off your marriage?

1.2 - formam scilicet displicere et triumphales avos. an fecunditatem et verum animum? timeri ne uxor saltem iniurias patrum, iram populi adversus superbiam avaritiamque matris aperiat. quod si nurum Agrippina non nisi filio infestam ferre posset, redderetur ipsa Othonis coniugio: ituram quoquo terrarum, ubi audiret potius contumelias imperatoris quam viseret periculis eius immixta. haec atque talia lacrimis et arte adulterae penetrantia nemo prohibebat, cupientibus cunctis infringi potentiam matris et credente nullo usque ad caedem eius duratura filii odia.

Obviously my beauty and my ancestral triumphs displease (you). Or does my fertility and true mind? You are afraid that a wife would reveal at the very least the injustices of the senators and the anger of the people against the arrogance and greed of your mother. Because if Agrippina is not able to bear a daughter-in-law unless they are hostile to her son, she (poppaea) herself would be returned to marriage with Otho: she would go anywhere on earth, where she would rather hear insults against the emperor than see them mixed up in his dangers. No one opposed these things and others, which penetrated through tears and the skill of an adultress, because everyone desired his mothers power would be broken and no-one believed that the hatred of her son would go as far as murder.

2 - tradit Cluvius ardore retinendae Agrippina potentiae eo usque provectam ut medio diei, cum id temporis Nero per vinum et epulas incalesceret offerret se saepius temulento comptam et incesto paratam; iamque lasciva oscula et praenuntias flagitii blanditias adnotantibus proximis, Senecam contra muliebres inlecebras subsidium a femina petivisse, immissamque Acten libertam quae simul suo periculo et infamia Neronis anxia deferret pervulgatum esse incestum gloriante matre, nec toleraturos milites profani principis imperium.

Cluvius asserts that Agrippina was carried away by passion for retaining power to such an extent that in the middle of the day, when Nero was growing heated through wine and banquets at that time, she offered herself frequently, adorned with drunkenness and prepared for incest; and now with those nearby noting wanton kisses and flatteries Seneca sought help against womanly charms from a woman, and the freedwoman Acte was summoned so that, anxious at the same time due to her own danger and Nero's infamy she might report that, with the mother boasting, the incest was widely published, and the soldiers would not tolerate the command of an unholy emperor.

3.1 - igitur Nero vitare secretos eius congressus, abscendentem in hortos aut Tusculanum vel Antiatem in agrum laudare quod otium capesseret. postremo, ubicumque haberetur, praegravem ratus interficere constituit, hactenus consultans, veneno an ferro vel qua alia vi. placuitque primo venenum. sed inter epulas principis si daretur, referri ad casum non poterat tali iam Britannici exitio; et ministros temptare arduum videbatur mulieris usu scelerum adversus insidias intentae; atque ipse praesumendo remedia munierat corpus. ferrum et caedes quonam modo occultaretur nemo reperiebat; et ne quis illi tanto facinori delectus iussa sperneret metuebat.

Therefore Nero avoided her secret meetings, (and) praised (her) as she went away to her gardens at Tusculum or her field at Antium to take relish in leisure. Finally wherever she might be held, having thought her most serious he decided to kill her, considering only so much as whether with poison, or a sword, or some other force. And at first poison pleased him. But if (poison) were given at the emperor's banquets, it could not be put down to chance since Britannicus had already died in such a way. And it seemed difficult to try to corrupt the woman's servants, (as she was) alert against plots from (her) use of wickedness, and had herself strengthened her body by taking antidotes in advance. No-one (could) find any way in which sword and slaughter might be hidden; and he was afraid that anyone chosen for that great crime would reject their orders.

3.2 - obtulit ingenium Anicetus libertus, classi apud Misenum praefectus et pueritiae Neronis educator ac mutuis odiis Agrippinae invisus. ergo navem posse componi docet cuius pars ipso in mari per artem soluta effunderet ignaram: nihil tam capax fortuitorum quam mare; et si naufragio intercepta sit, quem adeo iniquum et sceleri adsignet quod venti et fluctus deliquerint? additurum principem defunctae templum et aras et cetera ostentandae pietati.

Anicetus, the freedman, offered an idea - the prefect of the fleet at Misenum, and the tutor of Nero's childhood and hated with mutual loathing for Agrippina. Therefore he explained that a ship could be built, part of which having slipped on the sea itself by design, would pour her out unawares. Nothing so fit for accidents as the sea; and if she were killed by the shipwreck, who would be so unfair as to assign to a crime something which the wind and waves committed? The emperor will be able to create a temple for the dead woman, and altars, and other things for showing duty.

4.1 - placuit sollertia, tempore etiam iuta, quando Quinquatruum festos dies apud Baias frequentabat. illuc matrem elicit, ferendas parentium iracundias et placandum animum dictitans quo rumorem reconciliationis efficeret acciperetque Agrippina facili feminarum credulitate ad gaudia. venientem dehinc obvius in litora (nam Antio adventabat) excepit manu et complexu ducitque Baulos. id villae nomen est quae promunturium Misenum inter et Baianum lacum flexo mari adluitur. stabat inter alias navis ornatior, tamquam id quoque honori matris daretur: quippe sueverat triremi et classiariorum remigio vehi.

The cunning plan pleased him, and the time was useful, when he was attending the festival of Quinquatrus at Baiae. He lured his mother there, frequently saying that the tantrums of parents must be endured and their mind(s) must be pleased in order that he might create the rumour of reconciliation and that Agrippina might accept with please from the simple gullibility of women. He received her meeting her as she came at last onto the shores (for she was arriving from Antium) with a hand and an embrace, and led her to Bauli. That is the name of the villa which is washed by the bay between the promontory at Micenum and the lake at Baiae. A more decorated ship was standing among the others, as if it were also given in his mother's honour: Indeed she had been accustomed to be carried by trireme and naval oarsmen.

4.2 - ac tum invitata ad epulas erat ut occultando facinori nox adhiberetur. satis constitit extitisse proditorem et Agrippinam auditis insidiis, an crederet ambiguam, gestamine sellae Baias pervectam. ibi blandimentum sublevavit metum: comiter excepta superque ipsum conlocata. iam pluribus sermonibus modo familiaritate iuvenili Nero et rursus adductus, quasi seria consociaret, tracto in longum convictu, prosequitur abeuntem, artius oculis et pectori haerens, sive explenda simulatione, seu periturae matris supremus aspectus quamvis ferum animum retinebat.

And then she had been invited to feasts in order that night might be used for hiding wickedness. There was no doubt that a traitor existed and Agrippina, when she heard about the treachery, (it is) uncertain whether she believed it, was carried by the vehicle of a sedan chair to Baiae. There flattery relieved her fear: she was received kindly and placed above himself (at dinner). Now Nero with many speeches, in the casual manner of his youth, and again serious, as if he were communicating serious things, when the banquet was drawn out at length, he followed her as she left, sticking (close) with closer eyes and chest, whether completing the pretence, or if the final sight of his soon-to-die mother held back his mind, although wild.

5.1 - noctem sideribus inlustrem et placido mari quietam quasi convincendum ad scelus dii praebuere. nec multum erat progressa navis, duobus e numero familiarium Agrippinam comitantibus, ex quis Crepereius Gallus haud procul gubernaculis adstabat, Acceronia super pedes cubitantis reclinis paenitentiam filii et reciperatam matris gratiam per gaudium memorabat, cum dato signo ruere tectum loci multo plumbo grave, pressusque Crepereius et statim exanimatus est: Agrippina et Acceronia eminentibus leste partibus ac forte validioribus quam ut oneri credere protectae sunt.

the gods provided night lustrous with stars and calm with a placid sea as if in order to expose the crime. the ship had not gone far out, with two of the number of her household slaves accompanying Agrippina out of whom Crepereius Gallus was standing not far from the rudders (and) Acerronia was lying at the feet of the reclining (Agrippina) and recalling with joy the repentance of the son and the restored favour of the mother, when the signal was given the roof of the area collapsed with much weight, and Crepereius was crushed and immediately died; Agrippina and Acerronia were protected by the standing walls of the bed (which) were also by chance too strong to yield to the weight.

5.2 - nec dissolutio navigii sequebatur, turbatis omnibus et quod plerique ignari etiam conscios impediebant. visum dehinc remigibus unum in latus inclinare atque ita navem submergere: sed neque ipsis promptus in rem subitem consensus, et alii contra nitentes dedere facultatem lenioris in mare iactus. verum Acerronia, imprudentia dum se Agrippinam esse utque subveniretur matri principis clamitat, contis et remis et quae fors obtulerat navalibus telis confictur: Agrippina silens eoque minus adgnita (unum tamen vulnus umero excepit) nando, deinde occursu lenunculorum Lucrinum in lacum vecta villae suae infertur.

and the destruction of the ship did not follow, with everyone in an uproar and because the ignorant majority also got in the way of the guilty people. Finally, it seemed to oarsmen to incline on one side and so sink the ship: but (there was) no ready agreement amongst them in the sudden matter, and others, striving against (them) gave the opportunity for a gentler lying on the sea. But Acerronia, while foolishly shouting repeatedly that she was Agrippina in order that help be brought to the Emperor's mother, was finished by poles and oars and naval weapons which chance had offered: Agrippina, silent, and by that less recognised (although she received a single wound to the shoulder) by swimming, then by meeting small boats, having been carried into the Lucrine lake was brought to her villa.

6 - illic reputans ideo se fallacibus litteris aceitam et honore praecipuo habitam, quodque litus iuxta non ventis acta, non saxis impulsa navis summa sui parte veluti terrestre machinamentum concidisset; observans etiam Acerroniae necem, simul suum vulnus aspiciens, solum insidiarum remedium esse, si non intellegerentur; misitque libertum Agerinum qui nuntiaret filio benignitate deum et fortuna eius evasisse gravem casum; orare ut quamvis periculo matris exterritus visendi curam differret; sibi ad praesens quiete opus. atque interim securitate simulata medicamina vulneri et fomenta corpori adhibet; testamento Accerroniae requiri bonaque obsignari iubet, id tantum non per simulationem.

There (Agrippina) considering that for this reason she was summoned by false letters and she was held with special honour, and because the shore was nearby and the ship was not driven by winds, and not struck by rocks, (and) it collapsed from its highest part like a mechanism on dry land; also observing Acerronia's death, (and) at the same time noticing her wound, (considering that) the only cure for treacheries was if they were not understood; and she sent her freedman Agerinus to announce to the son that by the kindness of the Gods and her fortune she had escaped a serious disaster; she begged that although terrified by his mother's danger he should put off concern for seeing her. at present there was a need for calmness for her. And meanwhile in the pretence of safety she applied medicine to the wound and poultices to her body; she ordered Acerronia's will to be found and her goods to be sealed - that alone not in pretence.

7.1 - at Neroni nuntios patrati facinoris opperienti adfertur evasisse ictu levi sauciam et hactenus adito discrimine ne auctor dubitaretur. tum pavore exanimis et iam iamque adfore obtestans vindictae properam, sive servitia armaret vel militem accenderet, sive ad senatum et populum pervaderet, naufragium et vulnus et interfectos amicos obiciendo: quod contra subsidium sibi? nisi quid Burrus et Seneca; quos expergens statim acciverat, incertum an et ante gnaros. igitur longum utriusque silentium, ne inriti dissuaderent, an eo descensum credebant ut, nisi praeveniretur Agrippina, pereundum Neroni esset. post Seneca hactenus promptius ut respiceret Burrum ac sciscitaretur an militi imperanda caedes esset.

But it was announced to Nero awaiting news of the completed crime, that she had escaped, wounded by a light blow, and so nearly was danger approached that its creator could not be doubted. Then, mad with fear and again and again declaring that she would be present, swift to vengeance, whether she would arm her servants or enflame the army, or she would get through to the senate and people by reproaching with the shipwreck and the wound and her murdered friends; what help was there for him against (this)? Nothing except Burrus and Seneca; whom, awakening, he had immediately summoned, it is uncertain whether they were aware beforehand. Therefore there was a long silence between them, so that they did not argue against (him) pointlessly, or that they believed it had descended to the point that, unless Agrippina were pre-empted, Nero would have to die. Afterwards, Seneca (acted) more readily so as to look back at Burrus and ask whether the soldiers must be ordered to slaughter.

7.2 - ille praetorianos toti Caesarum domui obstrictos memoresque Germanici nihil adversus progeniem eius atrox ausuros respondit: perpetraret Anicetus promissa. qui nihil cunctatus poscit summam sceleris. ad eam vocem Nero illo sibi die dari imperium auctoremque tanti muneris libertum profitetur: iret propere duceretque promptissimos ad iussa. ipse audito venisse missu Agrippinae nuntium Agerinum, scaenam ultro criminis parat gladiumque, dum mandata perfert, abicit inter pedes eius, tum quasi deprehenso vincla inici iubet, ut exitium principis molitam matrem et pudore deprehensi sceleris sponte mortem sumpsisse confingeret.

He (Burrus) replied that the Praetorians were bound to the whole house of the Caesars and the memories of Germanicus, (so) would dare nothing cruel against his offspring: Anicetus would do what he promised. (Anicetus), without hesitation, demanded the height of the crime. To that speech, Nero declared publicly that power was given to him that very day, and the creator of so great a gift was a freedman: he should go quickly and lead the most ready men to what had been ordered. Nero himself, when the message was heard that Agerinus, Agrippina's messenger, arrived, prepared the stage of his own accord for the crime, while he was reporting the commands threw a sword between his feet, then ordered chains to be thrown on (him) as if caught, so that he might pretend that his mother attempted the death of the emperor and that she, through shame of the discovered crime, of her own accord chose death.

8.1 - interim vulgato Agrippinae periculo, quasi casu evenisset, ut quisque acceperat, decurrere ad litus. hi molium obiectus, hi proximas scaphas scandere; alii quantum corpus sinebat vadere in mare; quidam manus protendere; questibus, votis, clamore diversa rogitantium aut incerta respondentium omnis ora compleri; adfluere ingens multitudo cum luminibus, atque ubi incolumem esse pernotuit, ut ad gratandum esse expedire, donec aspectu armati et minitantis agminis disiecti sunt. Anicetus villam statione circumdat refractaque ianua obvios servorum abripit, donec ad fores cubiculi veniret; cui pauci adstabant, ceteris terrore inrumpentium exterritis.

meanwhile, when the news of Agrippina's danger had spread, as if it had happened by accident, when each man received (the news), they ran to the shore. some climbed the barrier of the breakwater, some into the nearest small boats; others were allowing as much of their body as possible to wade in the sea; some people waved their hands; the whole shore was filled with complaints, prayers, various shouts of questions or unknown replies; the huge crowd flowed there with lights, and when it was known that she was safe, they made themselves ready so as to rejoice, until they were dispersed by the sight of an armed and threatening column of men. Anicetus surrounded the villa with a cordon and, when the door was broken down, he seized those of the servants in his way, until he came to the doorway of the bedroom; a few men were standing by it, since the rest were scared away by fear of the invasion.

8.2 - cubiculo modicum lumen inerat et ancillarum una, magis ac magis anxia Agrippina quod nemo a filio ac ne Agerinus quidem: aliam fore laetae rei faciem; nunc solitudinem ac repentinos strepitus et extremi mali indicia. abuente dehinc ancilla 'tu quoque me deseris' prolocuta respicit Anicetum trierarcho Herculeio et Obarito centurione classiario comitatum: ac, si ad visendum venisset, refotam nuntiaret, sin facinus patraturus, nihil se de filio credere; non imperatum parricidium. circumsistunt lectum percussores et prior trierarchus fusti caput eius adflixit. iam in mortem centurioni ferrum destringenti protendens uterum 'ventrem feri' exclamavit multisque vulneribus confecta est.

a small light was in the room, and one of her slave-girls, while Agrippina was more and more worried because no one, not even Agerinus, (came) from her son: the appearance of a happy situation would be different; now there was desertion, and sudden noise, and the signs of dreadful evil. when, finally, her slave left, having said "you are deserting me too!" she saw Anicetus accompanied by the trierarch Herculeius and Obaritus, the naval centurion: if (she said) he had come to visit, he could announce that she was revived, but if about to carry out a wickedness, she would believe nothing about her son; he had not ordered parricide. the assassins surrounded her bed and first the trierarch shattered her head with a club. Now in death, as the centurion drew his sword, pointing to her stomach she cried "strike my womb!" and she died from her many wounds.

9 - haec consensu produntur. aspexeritne matrem exanimem Nero et formam corporis eius laudaverit, sunt qui tradiderint, sunt qui abnuant. cremata est nocte eadem convivali lecto et exequiis vilibus; neque, dum Nero rerum potiebatur, congesta aut clausa humus. mox domesticorum cura levem tumulum accepit viam Miseni propter et villam Caesaris dictatoris quae subiectos sinus editissima prospectat. accenso rogo libertus eius cognomento Mnester se ipse ferro transegit, incertum caritate in patronam an metu exitii. hunc sui finem multos ante annos crediderat Agrippina contempseratque. nam consulenti super Nerone responderunt Chaldaei fore ut imperaret matremque occideret; atque illa 'occidat' inquit, 'dum imperet.'

These things are recorded by agreement. "Did Nero gaze upon his lifeless mother and praise her physical beauty?" There are some who make the claim, and others who deny it. She was cremated that same night on a dining couch and with meagre funeral rites; nor, while Nero was ruling the state, was the ground heaped up or enclosed. Soon, by the care of her household, she received a modest tomb, by the road to Misenum and the villa of Caesar the dictator which, very high up, looks out onto the underlying bay. As the pyre burned, one of her freedmen, Mnester by name, stabbed himself with a sword - it is unknown whether through fondness for his mistress or through fear of assassination. Agrippina had believed this would be her end for many years prior and had despised it. For the astrologers, when she was asking them about Nero, had replied that it would be the case that he would be Emperor and would kill his mother; But she said "Let him kill me, as long as he is Emperor."

10.1 - sed a Caesare perfecto demum scelere magnitudo eius intellecta est. reliquo noctis modo per silentium defixus, saepius pavore exsurgens et mentis inops lucem opperiebatur tamquam exitium adlaturam. atque eum auctore Burro prima centurionum tribunorumque adulatio ad spem firmavit, prensantium manum gratantiumque quod discrimen improvisum et matris facinus evasisset. amici dehinc adire templa et coepto exemplo proxima Campaniae municipia victimis et legationibus laetitiam testari:

But the magnitude of it was understood by Caesar when the crime was finished. For the rest of the night he stood sometimes motionless in silence, but more often rising up in fear, and devoid of mind he awaited daylight as if it would bring his death. But the adoration of the centurions and tribunes, at Burrus' instigation, first restored him to hope, by taking his hands and congratulating him because he had escaped the unforeseen peril and the wickedness of his mother. At last his friends came to the temples and, with an example set, the neighbouring towns of Campania bore witness to their joy with sacrifices and embassies:

10.2 - ipse diversa simulatione maestus et quasi incolumitati suae infensus ac morti parentis inlacrimans. quia tamen non, ut hominum vultus, ita locorum facies mutantur, obversavaturque maris illius et litorum gravis aspectus (et erant qui crederent sonitum tubae collibus circum editis planctusque tumulo matris audiri), Neapolim concessit litterasque ad senatum misit quarum summa erat repertum cum ferro percussorem Agerinum, ex intimis Agrippinae libertis, et luisse eam poenas conscientia quasi scelus paravisset.

Nero himself was sad by a different pretence, as if incensed at his survival, and wept at the death of his mother. However, because the appearances of places do not change like the faces of men, the grave appearance of that sea and those shores presented themselves to him (and there were those who believed that the sounds of trumpets around the high hills and wails from his mother's grave could be heard), he left for Naples and sent letters to the senate, of which the main point was that Agerinus, one of Agrippina's trusted freedmen, has been found with a sword as an assassin, and she had paid the price from a sense of guilt as if she had plotted the crime.

11.1 - adiciebat crimina longius repetita, quod consortium imperii iuraturasque in feminae verba praetorias cohortes idemque dedecus senatus et populi speravisset, ac postquam frustra habita sit, infensa militi patribusque et plebi dissuasisset donativum et congriarium periculaque viris inlustribus struxisset. quanto suo labore perpetratum ne inrumperet curiam, ne gentibus externis responsa daret.

He was throwing into the mix crimes recalled from long ago, that she had hoped for a share of imperial power and that the Praetorians cohorts would swear in words to a woman - an equal humiliation to the senate and the people, and after she had been confounded, she was hostile to the soldiers, the senators and the people, and had refused donations and largess and had plotted dangerous things for illustrious men. By what great effort of his it has been achieved that she did not enter the senate house, and did not give advice to foreign people!

11.2 - temporum quoque Claudianorum obliqua insectatione cuncta eius dominationis flagitia in matrem transtulit, publica fortuna extinctam referens. namque et naufragium narrabat: quod fortuitum fuisse quis adeo hebes inveniretur ut crederet? aut a muliere naufraga missum cum telo unum qui cohortes et classes imperatoris perfringeret? ergo non iam Nero, cuius immanitas omnium questus anteibat, sed Seneca adverso rumore erat quod oratione tali confessionem scripsisset.

Also, by indirect attack on the Claudian era, he transferred every wickedness of Claudius' rule onto his mother, ascribing that she had died from the good fortune of the senate. For he also told of the shipwreck: who could be found to be so stupid that he might believe that it had been by chance? Or (that he might believe) that one man was sent by a shipwrecked woman with a spear to break through the cohorts and fleets of the Emperor? Therefore not Nero, whose monstrousness exceeded the complaints of all, but Seneca was held in poor reputation, on grounds that he had written the confession in such a speech.

12.1 - miro tamen certamine procerum decernuntur supplicationes apud omnia pulvinaria, utque Quinquatrus quibus apertae insidiae essent ludis annuis celebrarentur; aureum Minervae simulacrum in curia et iuxta principis imago statuerentur; dies natalis Agrippinae inter nefastos esset. Thrasea Paetus silentio vel brevi adsenu priores adulationes transmittere solitus exiit tum senatu ac sibi causam periculi fecit, ceteris libertatis initium non praebuit. prodigia quoque crebra et inrita intercessere: anguem enixa mulier et alia in concubitu mariti fulmine exanimata; iam sol repente obscuratus et tactae de caelo quattuordecim urbis regiones.

Yet with remarkable competition among the leaders, thanksgivings were decreed at every shrine, at the festival of Minerva in which the plots had been opened the annual games were celebrated; a golden statue of Minerva was erected in the senate house and next to it an image of the Emperor; Agrippina's birthday was among the sacrilegious. Thrasea Paetus, accustomed in silence or with a brief agreement to pass over previous flatteries, then left the senate and made a reason for danger for himself, but did not offer the start of freedom for others. Omens, too frequent and pointless, interceded: a woman gave birth to a snake, and another died from lightning in her husband's embrace; Now the sun was suddenly obscured and the fourteen city districts of Rome were touched from heaven.

12.2 - quae adeo sine cura deum eveniebant ut multos post annos Nero imperium et scelera continuaverit. ceterum quo gravaret invidiam matris eaque demota auctam lenitatem suam testificaretur, feminas inlustres luniam et Calpurniam, praetura functos Valerium Capitonem et Licinium Gabolum sedibus patriis reddidit, ab Agrippina olim pulsos. etiam Lolliae Paulinae cineres reportari sepulcrumque extrui permisit; quosque ipse nuper relegaverat, Iturium et Calvisium poena exolvit. nam Silana fato functa erat, longinquo ab exilio Tarentum regressa labante iam Agrippina, cuius inimicitiis conciderat, vel mitigata.

These happened with so little concern of the gods that Nero continued his rule and wickedness for many years afterwards. Meanwhile, in order that he might intensify hatred for his mother and show his increased lenience with her gone, he returned the eminent woman Junica and Calpurnia, and the prior Praestors Valerius Capito and Licinius Gabolus, to their fatherly seats, once driven out by Agrippina. Even Lollia Paulina's ashes were brought back and he permitted a tomb to be built; He now released Iturius and Calvisius from the penalty, whom he had himself exiled some little while before. Silana had died naturally at Tarentum; she had returned there from her distant exile either because Agrippina, whose hostility had led to her fall, had become less powerful, or because her anger had lessened.

13 - tamen cunctari in oppidis Campaniae, quonam modo urbem ingrederetur, an obsequium senatus, an studia plebis reperiret anxius: contra deterrimus quisque, quorum non alia regia fecundior extitit, invisum Agrippinae nomen et morte eius accensum populi favorem disserunt: iret intrepidus et venerationem sui coram experiretur; simul praegredi exposcunt. et promptiora quam promiserant inveniunt, obvias tribus, festo cultu senatum, coniugum ac liberorum agmina per sexum et aetatem disposita, extructos, qua incederet, spectaculorum gradus, quo modo triumphi visuntur. hinc superbus ac publici servitii victor Capitolium adiit, grates exolvit seque in omnes libidines effudit quas male coercitas qualiscumque matris reverentia tardaverat.

However, Nero hesitated in the towns of Campania, worried about how he would enter the city or whether he would find the senate obedient, or enthusiasm of the commoners; in response each of the worst men, of whom no other kingdom more fertile existed, said that Agrippina's name was despised and the favour of the people was inflamed by her death: he should go unworried and experience his reverence in person; at the same time, they begged him to go ahead. And they found more ready enthusiasm than they had promised; the tribes met him, the senate were in their festival clothes, columns of wives and children arranged by sex and age, steps drawn up for shows where he went in the manner of a triumph were seen. From here the proud conqueror of state servitude entered the capitol, paid his vows and poured himself into every lust which, hardly restrained, whatever there was of respect for his mother had slowed.