Britannicus

Family: Julio-Claudian · Role: son · First appears: Claudius 27

Britannicus was born on the twentieth day of Claudius’s reign and in his second consulship, the son of Claudius and Messalina. While he was still underage, Claudius intended to give him the manly habit because of his stature.

His brother Nero treated him as a rival, attempting to persuade Claudius that Britannicus was “nothing but a changeling.” Later, out of envy for Britannicus’s sweeter voice and fear of the respect held for Claudius’s memory, Nero employed Locusta to prepare poison and had it given to Britannicus during supper; he collapsed after tasting it and was buried the following day in a mean and hurried manner during violent storms. Britannicus and Titus had been close, and Titus was thought to have tasted the fatal potion as well; afterwards, he erected a golden statue of Britannicus in the Palatium and dedicated an ivory equestrian statue to him.

Relationship record

Life events

• Britannicus was born.(Claudius 27)
  • “Britannicus was born upon the twentieth day of his reign, and in his second consulship.”
• Claudius intended to give Britannicus the manly habit before he came of age.(Claudius 43)
  • With: Claudius
  • “And intending to give him the manly habit, while he was yet under age and a tender youth, because his stature would allow of it”
• Nero employed Locusta to prepare poison for Britannicus.(Nero 33)
  • With: Nero Locusta
  • “He employed for this purpose a woman named Locusta”
• Nero ordered Locusta’s poison given to Britannicus during supper.(Nero 33)
  • With: Nero Locusta
  • “he commanded the potion to be brought into the eating-room and given to Britannicus, while he was at supper with him.”
• Britannicus collapsed after tasting the poison and was buried soon afterward.(Nero 33)
  • With: Nero
  • “The prince had no sooner tasted it than he sunk on the floor”
• Nero buried Britannicus in a mean and hurried manner.(Nero 33)
  • With: Nero
  • “He buried him the following day, in a mean and hurried way, during violent storms of rain.”
• Britannicus died after taking a fatal potion.(Titus 2)
  • “the fatal potion which put an end to Britannicus’s life”
• Titus erected a golden statue and dedicated an ivory equestrian statue to Britannicus.(Titus 2 · 📍 Palatium)
  • With: Titus
  • “he afterwards erected a golden statue of him in the Palatium, and dedicated to him an equestrian statue of ivory”

Claudius 27

• parent: Claudius “He had children by three of his wives: by Urgulanilla, Drusus and Claudia; by Paetina, Antonia; and by Messalina, Octavia, and also a son, whom at first he called Germanicus, but afterwards Britannicus.”
• parent: Messalina “He had children by three of his wives: by Urgulanilla, Drusus and Claudia; by Paetina, Antonia; and by Messalina, Octavia, and also a son, whom at first he called Germanicus, but afterwards Britannicus.”

Claudius 43

• parent: Claudius “Often, when he happened to meet Britannicus, he would embrace him tenderly, and express a desire ‘that he might grow apace,’ and receive from him an account of all his actions:”

Nero 6

• rivals with Nero “to strangle him, as Britannicus’s rival”

Nero 7

• siblings with Nero “For he attempted to persuade his father that his brother, Britannicus, was nothing but a changeling”

Nero 33

• enemies with Nero (Nero attempted to poison Britannicus.) “He attempted to poison Britannicus, as much out of envy because he had a sweeter voice, as from apprehension of what might ensue from the respect which the people entertained for his father’s memory.”
• parent: Claudius (Britannicus is identified as the son of Claudius through the reference to his father's memory.) “He attempted to poison Britannicus, as much out of envy because he had a sweeter voice, as from apprehension of what might ensue from the respect which the people entertained for his father’s memory.”
• rivals with Nero (Nero's envy of Britannicus's voice indicates rivalry.) “He attempted to poison Britannicus, as much out of envy because he had a sweeter voice,”
• enemies with Locusta (Locusta administered poison intended to kill Britannicus.) “He employed for this purpose a woman named Locusta, who had been a witness against some persons guilty of like practices. But the poison she gave him, working more slowly than he expected, and only causing a purge,”

Titus 2

• friends with Titus “They were so familiar, that Titus being next him at table, is thought to have tasted of the fatal potion which put an end to Britannicus’s life, and to have contracted from it a distemper which hung about him a long time.”
• with Titus (Titus commemorated Britannicus with statues.) “In remembrance of all these circumstances, he afterwards erected a golden statue of him in the Palatium, and dedicated to him an equestrian statue of ivory;”

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Extracted from the original text of The Lives of the Twelve Caesars. Made with Rho MD.