Mother

The morning of 13 October 54 found the palace seized by feverish activity, totally concealed from the unsuspecting public outside its walls. By noon everything was in place. ¹ The hours since Claudius’ death would have given Burrus sufficient time to ensure a loyal cohort of guards on duty (although, in the event, they seem to have been taken somewhat by surprise). Seneca used the time to prepare the statements that the young Nero would make to the senate and the praetorians, and to invest them with sufficient elegance and earnestness to guarantee a good first impression. Also, while praetorian support was crucial in the first few days, the adherence of the legions stationed on the frontiers was needed to ensure the continuing viability of the new regime. After Tiberius’ death, the praetorian prefect Macro had made sure that formal notice of Caligula’s take-over was despatched immediately to provincial legati. On Claudius’ death, Agrippina in a sense assumed Macro’s old role and she would similarly have recognized the need for haste, to forestall the risk of any move by Britannicus’ supporters. In the early days of the new reign Agrippina had a reputation for writing regularly to foreign nations, to client kings and to provincial governors. There can be little doubt that it would have been she who carried out this task on the first crucial morning of her son’s accession. ²