Tiberius Claudius Caesar Brittanicus (bef. 41 - 55)

Born before 12 Feb 0041 in Rome, Italy [uncertain]

Died 11 Feb 0055 after age 13 in Rome, Italy

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Biography

Birth and Parents

Brittanicus was born 12 February in the year 41.

Tiberius Claudius Caesar Britannicus (12 February AD 41 – 11 February AD 55), usually called Britannicus, was the son of Roman emperor Claudius and his third wife Valeria Messalina.

Brittanicus' father, Emperor Claudius

Brittanicus was the son of the emperor Claudius (Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus), who was born 1 August in the year 10 BCE. Claudius in turn was born at Lugdunum in Roman Gaul, the son of Drusus and Antonia Minor; Drusus had been stationed at Lugdunum as a military legate. Afflicted with a limp and slight deafness as a child, he was excluded from public life growing up and spared being purged during the reigns of Tiberius and Caligula. The last remaining adult male of his family, he was declared emperor by the Praetorian Guard after Caligula's assassination. An able administrator, he restored the empire's finances, constructed new roads, aqueducts and canals, and began Rome's successful conquest of Britain. When Claudius died on 13 October, 54, at the age of 63, he was succeeded by his grand-nephew and legally adopted step-son, Nero. ^[1]

Nennius refers to Claudius as the second Roman emperor who came to Britain, Julius Caesar being the first. Claudius carried "war and devastation." ^[2]

48, Fall from Favor

For a time he was considered his father's heir, but that changed after his mother's downfall in 48, when it was revealed she had engaged in a bigamous marriage without Claudius' knowledge. The next year, his father married Agrippina the Younger, Claudius' fourth and final marriage. Their marriage was followed by the adoption of Agrippina's son, Lucius Domitius, whose name became Nero as a result. His step-brother would later be married to Britannicus' sister Octavia, and soon eclipsed him as Claudius' heir. Following his father's death in October 54, Nero became emperor.

Death

Britannicus, Messalina's only son by Emperor Claudius was probably murdered when he was around 14. By that time, Nero was well in power.

Some sources give the date as 11 Feb, 55.

The sudden death of Britannicus shortly before his fourteenth birthday is reported by all extant sources as being the result of poisoning on Nero's orders – as Claudius' natural son, he represented a threat to Nero's claim to the throne.

Research Notes

Claudius is named by the early British historian Nennius ^[2]

Sources

1. ↑ Wikipedia: Claudius Accessed 22 June 2022 jhd
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} Nennius, III, 21

• Wikipedia: Britannicus

Bibliography of Frequently Cited Texts

• Nennius. History of the Britons (Historia Brittonum). Translated by J. A. Giles. Project Gutenberg, 2006 Section III, The HIstory. Accessed 22 June 2022 jhd