Britannicus Updates, Photos, Bio & Fun Facts

Posts about Britannicus
will appear here soon…

Check out more celebrity profiles of Rising Stars and superstars like Renée Zellweger, Elisabeth Moss or Carole Baskin. Find fun facts about their age, birthday, star sign, height, relationships and career highlights. Scroll through categories like Entertainment and Society or discover more celebrities that have left a lasting impact on the world of entertainment.

Biography

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 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 his sister Octavia, and soon eclipsed him as Claudius' heir. Following 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 a poisoning on Nero's orders—as Claudius' natural son, he represented a threat to Nero's claim to the throne.