BRITANNICUS, son of the emperor Claudius, and of his third wife Messalina, was born probably 42 A.D., though th λ exact date cannot be determined. He was originally called Claudius Tiberius Germanicus, and received the name Britannicus on account of the conquests made in Britain about the time of his birth. Till 48 a.d., the date of his mother’s execution, he was looked upon as the heir to the imperial dignity, but Agrippina, the new wife of Claudius, soon persuaded the feeble emperor to pass him over and adopt her son by a previous marriage, Lucius Domitius, known later as Nero. After the accession of Nero, Agrippina, whose lover, Pallas, had been banished, threatened to stir up revolt against the new emperor, and excited his fears against Britannicus. Poison was administered to the young prince, at first without effect, but a stronger dose given at the banquet table was instantaneously fatal. The murdered boy, for he had barely completed his fourteenth year, was buried on the evening of the day in which he died. The pile was erected on the Campus Martius amidst a deluge of rain, which washed the plaster and paint from the livid and distorted face of the corpse.