pire. After his descent to the throne, Nero made Seneca his Secretary of State. Seneca offered wise counsel for Nero. The Senate was very pleased with the initial years of Nero’s rule. They reasoned that the young Caesar would listen and abide by Seneca’s advice. Seneca will follow our policy and Burrus will control the Army. Franzero makes it clear that Seneca wrote many of Nero’s addresses and speeches, even the eulogy of Claudius’ funeral. His writing style and undertones were very identifiable through Nero’s voice. Many Senators would laugh and make jokes to one another regarding Seneca’s presence in Nero’s speeches. At his mother’s goading, Nero married Claudius’ daughter Octavia. She was thirteen years old. This was a political ploy instigated by Agrippina to strengthen the support for Nero. Nero detested Octavia and he increasingly became weary of his mother’s constant presence. Many Romans jokingly called Agrippina the Emperor of Rome and Nero the Empress. Nero used Seneca as protection from his mother. Nero had developed his mother’s cunning wit. After a vicious argument between son and mother, Agrippina threatened Nero with the fact that Claudius had a rival heir to the throne in Britannicus. Nero responded by having Britannicus poisoned. Nero’s relationship with his mother became very disdainful. Nero fell in love with a girl named Poppaea Sabina. Poppaea was an extraordinarily beautiful woman. Nero had thoughts of divorcing Octavia so he could marry Poppaea. His mother objected to this proposal bitterly. After the incident, Nero was consumed with the fatal thoughts of permanently ridding himself of his mother. He arranged to have his mother killed. The death plot involved two other men. They were Tigellinus and Anicetus. The first plot to kill Agrippina, a bogus shipwreck, failed. As the ship sank, Agrippina, being an excellent ...
