d--darting out at the assassins from
beneath the pillow. Others said that it was in his infancy that this
occurrence took place, and that there were two serpents instead of
one, and that they guarded the life of their charge lying with him
in his cradle. One of the historians of the time states that neither
of these stories was really true, but that they both originated in
the fact that Nero was accustomed to wear, when a boy, a bracelet
made of a serpent's skin, small and of beautiful colors,--and
fastened, as they said, around the wearer's wrist with a clasp of
gold.

However the fact may be in respect to Messalina's allowing her
jealousy of Agrippina to carry her so far as to make direct attempts
upon his life, there is no doubt that she lived in continual fear of
the influence both of Nero and of his mother, on the mind of the
emperor; and Agrippina was consequently compelled to submit to many
indignities which the position and the power of Messalina enabled
her to impose upon her enemies and rivals. At length, however, the
fall of Messalina, and the entire revolution in the situation and
prospects of Agrippina which was consequent upon it, changed
altogether the position of Nero. It might have been expected, it is
true, even after the marriage of Claudius with Agrippina, that
Britannicus would have still maintained altogether the highest place
in the emperor's regard, since Britannicus was his own son, while
Nero was only the son of his wife. But Agrippina was artful enough
to manage her indolent and stupid husband just as she pleased; and
she soon found means to displace Britannicus, and to raise Nero in
his stead, to the highest place, in precedence and honor. She
persuaded Claudius to adopt Nero as his own son, as was stated in
the last chapter. She obtained a decree of the Senate, approving and
confirming this act. She then removed Britannicus from the court and
shut him up in seclusion, in a nursery, under pretense of tender
regard for his health and safety. In a word, she treated Britannicus
in all respects like a little child, and kept him wholly in the
background; while she brought her own son, though he was but little
older than the other, very prominently forward, as a young man.

In those ancient days as now, there was an appropriate dress for
youth, which was changed for that of a man when the subject arrived
at maturity. The garment which was most distinctively characteristic
of adult age among the