Tiberius Claudius Caesar Britannicus, usually called Britannicus, was the son of Roman Emperor Claudius and his third wife, Valeria Messalina. 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 stepbrother would later be married to Britannicus' sister Octavia and soon eclipsed him as Claudius' heir. After his father's death in October 54, Nero became emperor. 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' biological son, he represented a threat to Nero's claim to the throne.
Detail of Britannicus from a c. 45 AD statue with him and his mother
A sestertius issued to commemorate Britannicus' birth
Messalina holding her son Britannicus, Louvre
Bust of the young Nero
Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus was a Roman emperor, ruling from ADÂ 41 to 54. A member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, Claudius was born to Drusus and Antonia Minor at Lugdunum in Roman Gaul, where his father was stationed as a military legate. He was the first Roman emperor to be born outside Italy.
Bust, Naples National Archaeological Museum
Bust of Claudius's mother, Antonia Minor
A coin of Herod of Chalcis, showing him with his brother Agrippa of Judaea crowning Claudius, AD 43.
Detail from A Roman Emperor 41 AD, c. 1871.