the case of
Claudius.

But which one of the two youths was it best to choose, Claudius's son
by blood or his son by adoption? Nero was chosen as the result of the
unrighteous ambition of Agrippina, so Tacitus says. It is very
probable that Agrippina was more eager to see her own son at the head
of the empire than to see Britannicus there; but this does not seem to
have been the real reason of her choice, for it could not have been
otherwise, even if Agrippina had detested Nero and had cherished
Britannicus with a maternal affection. Nero was four years older than
Britannicus, and therefore he had to be given the preference over the
latter. It was a very bold move to propose that the senate make a
youth of seventeen emperor; it would have been nothing less than folly
to ask that they accept a thirteen-year-old lad as commander-in-chief
of the imperial armies of Rome.

Through the help of Seneca and Burrhus, the plan developed by Agrippina
was carried out with rapidity and success. On the thirteenth of
October, after matters had been arranged with the troops, the doors of
the imperial palace were thrown open at noon; Nero, accompanied by
Burrhus, advanced to the cohort which was on guard. He was received
with joyous welcome, placed in a litter, borne to the quarters of the
pretorians, and acclaimed head of the army. The senate grudgingly
confirmed his election. There resulted in Rome a most extraordinary
situation: a youth of seventeen, educated in the antique manner, and,
though already married, still entirely under the tutelage of a strict
mother, had been elevated to the highest position in the immense
empire. He was ignorant of the luxury, pleasure, and elegance which
were becoming general in the great families; outside of a lively
disposition and docility toward his mother, he had up to this point
shown no special quality, and no particular vice. Only one peculiarity
had been noticed in him: he had studied with great zest music,
painting, sculpture, and poetry, and had made himself proficient in
these arts, which were considered frivolous and useless for a Roman
noble. On the contrary, he had neglected oratory, which was held a
necessary art by an aristocracy like the Roman, whose duty it was to
use speech at councils, in the tribunals, and in the senate, just as it
used the sword on the fields of battle. But the majority believed that
this was merely a passing caprice of youth.

[Illustration: Statue