ed. Poppaea
was goaded on by all the new friends of Nero, who wished to destroy
forever the influence of Agrippina, and by her words and deeds she
finally brought him to the point where he decided to kill his mother.

But to murder his mother was both an abominable and dangerous
undertaking, for it meant killing the daughter of Germanicus--killing
that woman whom the people regarded with a semi-religious veneration as
a portent of fortune; for she was the daughter of a man whom only a
premature death had prevented from becoming the head of the empire, and
she had been the sister, the wife, and the mother of emperors. For
this reason the manner of her taking-off had been long debated in order
that it might remain secret; nor would Nero make his decision until a
seemingly safe means had been discovered for bringing about the
disappearance of Agrippina.

It was the freedman Anicetus, the commander of the fleet, who, in the
spring of 59, made the proposal when Nero was with his court at Baiae,
on the Bay of Naples. They were to construct a vessel which, as
Tacitus says, should open artfully on one side. If Nero could induce
his mother to embark upon that vessel, Anicetus would see to it that
she and the secret of her murder would be buried in the depths of the
sea. Nero gave his consent to this abominable plan. He pretended that
he was anxious to become reconciled with his mother, and invited her to
come from Antium, where she then was, to Baiae. He showed her all
regard and every courtesy, and when Agrippina, reassured by the
kindness of her son, set out on her return to Antium, Nero accompanied
her to the fatal vessel and tenderly embraced her. It was a calm,
starry night. Agrippina stood talking with one of her freedwomen about
the repentance of her son and the reconciliation which had taken place,
when, after the vessel had drawn some distance away from the shore, the
plotters tried to carry out their infernal plan. What happened is not
very clear. The seemingly picturesque description of Tacitus is in
reality vague and confusing. It appears that the ship did not sink so
rapidly as the plotters had hoped, and in the confusion which resulted
on board, the emperor's mother, ready and resolute, succeeded in making
her escape by casting herself into the sea and swimming away, while the
hired assassins on the ship killed her freedwoman, mistaking her for
Agrippina.

In any case, it is certain that Agrippina ar