[30] Agrippina was the niece of Claudius and their marriage was contrary to law. The senate gave permission.
[31] Appius Silanus to whom Octavia was affianced. Agrippina by a pretended charge of immorality caused him to be disgraced and the betrothal to be rescinded. At the marriage of Agrippina and Claudius, Silanus put an end to his own life.
[32] Nero.
[33] Agrippina was innocent of the death of Britannicus. The simple pyre had been prepared before and the corpse was consumed that very night in the midst of a sudden tempest.
[34] The sympathy of the people was with Britannicus. The superiority of natural over legal descent seems to have been generally acknowledged.
[35] Poppaea who became Nero’s wife in 62 A.D.
[36] Acte, the favorite concubine of Nero. Originally a slave from Asia Minor, after Nero’s infatuation she was claimed to be a descendant of King Attalus and at one time he even thought of marrying her. See Quo Vadis.
[37] Leda bore by Jupiter, who visited her in the form of a swan, two eggs from one of which came Pollux and Helen and from the other Castor and Clytemnestra.
[38] Europa was carried off to Crete by Jupiter in the form of a bull.
[39] Danae was mother of Perseus by Jupiter who visited her in the form of a shower of gold.