February 12

On This Day In Roman History, February 12

Tiberius Claudius Germanicus, the heir to Claudius and the Julio-Claudian dynasty, is born on February 12, 41 CE. Just yesterday I discussed his death which happened a day before his 14th birthday, when he would be eligible to eclipse his older step-brother Nero as Emperor. Britannicus, as he would later be known, was toted around in the public limelight from a very early age by Claudius. He went to public games with his father and even rode in the same chariot where Claudius is recorded as saying "Good luck, my boy!" in order to incite the crowd to cheer the same. 

Did you know?

Nero received the toga virilis at the early age of 13. This was due to him being irregularly tall and built for his age. Britannicus would not receive his until his 14th birthday, which would put Nero's rule at risk. Unfortunately for Britannicus, his 14th birthday would not come (as I mentioned yesterday) with his death being at the hands of the same poisoner who was hired to murder Claudius. This poisoner, who was named Locusta, was of Gaullic origins and made up a famous trio of ancient poisoners along with Canidia and Martina. 

Pictured: Britannicus, son of the Roman emperor Claudius. Detail of a statue of his mother Messalina. Marble, ca. 45 AD. Former royal collections; seized during the French Revolution, photo by Gautier Poupeau, via Wikimedia Commons. 

This is the same statue I pictured yesterday but from a different angle. Visiting this in the Louvre is on my bucket list! 

Opinion

Today's opinion is going to be a little shorter today, seeing as I am covering essentially the same exact topic as yesterday. Regardless, welcome to my daily opinion! Today I would like to venture to say it is my opinion that Britannicus would have been just as bad as Nero, if not worse. They were raised under pretty similar conditions and obviously in the same times. They would have inherited identical states. They were both largely influenced by the same group of individuals and both had pretty competitive and identical schooling. While I still like to root for the underdog, and in this case the murdered underdog, I think both of these individuals would not have been good Emperors. 

Sources 

  Barrett, A. (1996). Agrippina: Mother of Nero. London: Batsford.

  Tacitus, C., Yardley, J., & Barrett, A. (2008). The annals: the reigns of Tiberius, Claudius, and Nero. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

   S., Graves, R., & Grant, M. (1979). The twelve Caesars. Harmondsworth: Penguin.

Further Reading:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Locusta
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toga#Varieties
http://www.roman-emperors.org/britty.htm

Special Thanks: Michael Houghan