Still Agrippina did not yet dare to attempt her greatest scheme, unless Lusius Geta and Rufius Crispinus were removed from the command of the prætorian cohorts; for she thought that they cherished Messalina's memory and were devoted to her children. Accordingly, as the emperor's wife persistently affirmed that faction was rife among these cohorts through the rivalry of the two officers, and that there would be stricter discipline under one commander, the appointment was transferred to Burrus Afranius, who had a brilliant reputation as a soldier, but knew well to whose wish he owed his promotion. Agrippina, too, continued to exalt her own dignity; she would enter the Capitol in a chariot, a practice, which being allowed of old only to the priests and sacred images, increased the popular reverence for a woman who up to this time was the only recorded instance of one who, an emperor's daughter, was sister, wife, and mother of a sovereign. Meanwhile her foremost champion, Vitellius, in the full tide of his power and in extreme age (so uncertain are the fortunes of the great) was attacked by an accusation of which Junius Lupus, a senator, was the author. He was charged with treason and designs on the throne. The emperor would have lent a ready ear, had not Agrippina, by threats rather than entreaties, induced him to sentence the accuser to outlawry. This was all that Vitellius desired.
The Greek stands ready in the workroom; the English is served. Both faces will read together.
Agrippina — a candidate entry Burrus — a candidate entry Messalina — a candidate entry Rufius — a candidate entry Vitellius — a life
The Annals, Tacitus — translated by Alfred John Church & William Jackson Brodribb, 1876
Perseus Digital Library — Tacitus, The Annals (Church & Brodribb translation) · Alfred John Church & William Jackson Brodribb (1876); Perseus Project digital edition
license: public-domain (the Church & Brodribb translation, 1876); Perseus digital edition CC BY-SA, attribution recorded per ops/corpus-staging/SOURCES.md pattern