The History of Christianity / Consisting of the Life and Teachings of Jesus of Nazareth; the Adventures of Paul and the Apostles; and the Most Interesting Events in the Progress of Christianity, from the Earliest Period to the Present Time.

by John S. C. Abbott

St. Peter was led across the Tiber to the quarter inhabited by the Jews, and was crucified on the top of Mount Janiculum. As they were preparing to nail him to the cross in the ordinary manner, he said that “he did not merit to be treated as was his Master,”and implored them to crucify him with his head downwards. His wish was granted.[168]

Nero had a half-brother, Britannicus, the son of Claudius and his own mother Agrippina. Legitimately, he was entitled to the throne rather than Nero. The tyrant became jealous of Britannicus. He was invited, with his mother and his sister Octavia, to a supper in the palace of Nero. A goblet of poisoned wine was placed before him: he drank, fell into convulsions, and died in the arms of his mother. Nero reclined listlessly upon a sofa, and, as he witnessed his agonizing convulsions, said “he did not think much was the matter with Britannicus; that it was probably merely a fainting-fit.” When it appeared that the prince was really dead, he ordered the body to be immediately removed and burned; while the entertainment went on undisturbed. It was a tempestuous night. Floods of rain were falling, and a tornado swept the city, asthe funeral-pyre of the young prince blazed in the Campus Martius.

“The appointments for his burial,” writes Tacitus, “had been prepared beforehand. His ashes were entombed in the Campus Martius during such tempestuous rains, that the populace believed them to be denunciations of the wrath of the gods against the deed. Nero, by an edict, justified the hurrying of the obsequies, alleging that it was an institution of their ancestors to withdraw from the sight such as died prematurely, and not to lengthen the solemnity by encomiums and processions.”

The vast estates of Britannicus, consisting of palaces, villas, and other property, were seized by Nero, and divided among his partisans to purchase their support.

Agrippina understood full well that Britannicus had been poisoned by his brother Nero; but she feigned to be deceived, and to believe that he died accidentally in a fit. Agrippina was another Messalina. She hated Nero, and determined to secure his death. Nero hated her, and was plotting day and night how he might kill her, and yet not expose himself to the charge of being the murderer of his mother. They both affected the most cordial relations in their social intercourse, and addressed each other in the most endearing epithets.

Agrippina was immensely rich, had numerous and powerful partisans, and had formed the plan of effecting the assassination of Nero, and of placing upon the throne one of her favorites, Rubellius Plautus. Nero, whose suspicions were ever active, received some intimations of this plan. The following ingenious device he adopted to rid himself of his mother: He caused a vessel to be constructed with more than regal splendor, but so arranged, that, by the withdrawal of a few bolts, the heavy canopy which overhung the royal couch would fall with a fatal crash; and at the same time planks would give way, which would cause the vessel immediately to founder.

Agrippina was residing at her magnificent country-seat at Antium, near Rome. Nero invited his mother to an entertainment, such as only a Roman emperor could provide, at Baiæ,near Naples. It is probable that the mother was somewhat deceived by the marvellous affection manifested for her by her son. She accepted his invitation. She was conveyed to Baiæ in a sedan. Nero met her upon her approach, embraced her affectionately, and led her to the villa of Bauli, washed by the sea, where her reception was as magnificent as imperial wealth and power could give. Agrippina was assigned a seat by the side of her son. He loaded her with caresses, amused her with anecdotes, and honored her by pretending to seek her counsel upon the most serious affairs of state.

It was a late hour when the banquet came to a close. Nero conducted his mother to the beach, and assisted her into the imperial barge, which, driven by three banks of oars, was appointed to convey her to Antium. It was a brilliant night. The unclouded sky was resplendent with stars, while not a breath of wind rippled the polished surface of the sea. With lusty sinews the well-trained seamen pushed the barge from the shore. The hired assassins of Nero on board had made all the arrangements for the destruction of the empress, her attendants, and the seamen; while precautions had been adopted for their own escape. They had proceeded but a short distance on their voyage, when suddenly the heavy-laden imperial canopy fell, with such force as to crush to death one of the female attendants who reclined at Agrippina’s feet; but it so happened that some of the timbers fell in such a way as to protect Agrippina from serious harm, though she was slightly wounded. Instantly apprehending the treachery of her son, she had sufficient presence of mind to remain perfectly quiet. One of her maids, who was thrown into the sea, in her drowning terror cried out that she was Agrippina, and implored of them to save the mother of the prince. The assassins smote her upon the head with their oars and boat-poles, and she sank senseless in the waves. The barge soon foundered; but Agrippina floated off on a portion of the wreck. The agents of Nero, supposing they had effected their object, swam to the shore.

Agrippina, in the early dawn, was picked up by a small boat,and conveyed to her villa at Antium. Shrewdly she pretended to regard the adventure as an accident. She despatched a courier to inform her affectionate son, that, through the mercy of the gods, she had escaped fearful peril. She entreated him not to be needlessly alarmed, as she had received but a slight wound, and would probably soon be quite restored.

Nero was thunderstruck. He knew his mother too well to imagine that she was blind to the stratagem from which she had so wonderfully escaped. He felt assured that she would at once resort to some desperate measures of retaliation and of self-defence. Not a moment was to be lost. He despatched a band of assassins to Antium to break into the apartment of his mother, and with their daggers immediately to secure her death beyond all question.