raud, nor
deceit; she had Seneca recalled from exile and appointed tutor of her
child. She removed from office the two commanders of the pretorian
guard, who were creatures of Messalina, and in their stead she had
elected one of her own, a certain Afranius Burrhus. She laid pitfalls
for Britannicus and surrounded him with spies, and in the year 50, by
dint of much intrigue and many caresses, she finally succeeded in
having Claudius adopt her son. But this whole story is merely a
complicated and fantastic romance, embroidered about a truth which in
itself is comparatively simple. Tacitus himself tells us that
Agrippina was a most exacting mother; that is, a mother of the older
Roman type--in his own words, _trux et minax_. She did not follow the
gentle methods of the newer education, which were gradually being
introduced into the great families, and she had brought up her son in
the ancient manner with the greatest simplicity. It is well to keep in
mind, furthermore, that neither Britannicus nor Nero had any right to
the throne of Claudius. The hereditary principle did not yet exist in
the imperial government: the senate was free to choose whomsoever it
wished. To be sure, up to that time the choice had always fallen upon
a member of the Augustan family; but it had only been because it was
easier to find there persons who were known and respected, who
commanded the admiration of the soldiers in distant regions, and who
had received a certain preparation for the diverse and often difficult
duties of their office. And it was precisely for this reason that
Augustus and Tiberius had always sought to prepare more than one youth
for the highest office, both in order that the senate might have a
certain freedom of choice, and also that there might be some one in
reserve, in case one of these young men should disappoint the hopes of
the empire or should die prematurely, as so many others had died. That
she should have persuaded Claudius to adopt her son does not mean,
therefore, that she wished to set Britannicus aside and give the
advantage to Nero. It merely proves that she did not wish the family
of Augustus to lose the supreme power, and for this reason she intended
to prepare not only one successor, but two possible successors, to
Claudius, just as Augustus had for a long time trained both Drusus and
Tiberius.

[Illustration: Britannicus.]

In order to understand how wise and reasonable the conduct of Agrippina