§5ex Antonia maiore patrem Neronis procreauit omni parte uitae detestabilem, siquidem comes ad Orientem C. Caesaris iuuenis, occiso liberto suo, quod potare quantum iubebatur recusarat, dimissus e cohorte amicorum nihilo modestius uixit;
By the elder Antonia he begot the father of Nero, a man detestable in every part of his life; for when he went to the East as a young companion to Gaius Caesar, he killed his own freedman because the man had refused to drink as much as he was ordered, and being dismissed from the cohort of friends, he lived none the more modestly.
sed et in uiae Appiae uico repente puerum citatis iumentis haud ignarus obtriuit et Romae medio foro cuidam equiti R. liberius iurganti oculum eruit;
Moreover, in a village on the Appian Way, he deliberately ran over a boy by spurring on his beasts, and in the middle of the Roman Forum he tore out the eye of a Roman knight who was disputing with him too freely.
perfidiae uero tantae, ut non modo argentarios pretiis rerum coemptarum, sed et in praetura mercede palmarum aurigarios fraudauerit, notatus ob haec et sororis ioco querentibus dominis factionum repraesentanda praemia in posterum sanxit.
Indeed, he was of such dishonesty that he not only cheated the money-changers of the prices of goods he had bought, but also during his praetorship defrauded the charioteers of the prize money. Branded for these actions, and also prompted by his sister's jest when the leaders of the factions complained, he decreed that in future the prizes must be paid on the spot.
maiestatis quoque et adulteriorum incestique cum sorore Lepida sub excessu Tiberi reus, mutatione temporum euasit decessitque Pyrgis morbo aquae intercutis, sublato filio Nerone ex Agrippina Germanico genita.
Accused also of treason, adultery, and incest with his sister Lepida towards the end of Tiberius' reign, he escaped by the change of times and died at Pyrgi of dropsy, having acknowledged his son Nero, who was born to him by Agrippina, the daughter of Germanicus.
§6Nero natus est Anti post VIIII. mensem quam Tiberius excessit, XVIII. Kal. Ian. tantum quod exoriente sole, paene ut radiis prius quam terra contingeretur.
Nero was born at Antium nine months after Tiberius died, on the eighteenth day before the Kalends of January, just as the sun was rising, so that he was almost touched by its rays before he was touched by the earth.
de genitura eius statim multa et formidulosa multis coiectantibus praesagio fuit etiam Domiti patris uox, inter gratulationes amicorum
"negantis quicquam ex se et Agrippina nisi detestabile et malo publico nasci potuisse.
While many immediately made many terrifying predictions from his horoscope, even the voice of his father Domitius was an omen, as he denied, amid the congratulations of his friends, that anything could be born from himself and Agrippina except what was detestable and for the public ruin.
"
eiusdem futurae infelicitatis signum euidens die lustrico extitit; nam C. Caesar, rogante sorore ut infanti quod uellet nomen daret, intuens Claudium patruum suum, a quo mox principe Nero adoptatus est, eius se dixit dare, neque ipse serio sed per iocum et aspernante Agrippina, quod tum Claudius inter ludibria aulae erat.
A clear sign of the same future misfortune appeared on his naming day; for when Gaius Caesar was asked by his sister to give the infant whatever name he wished, looking at his uncle Claudius, by whom as emperor Nero was soon adopted, he said that he gave him his name. Nor did he say this seriously but as a joke, and with Agrippina rejecting it, because at that time Claudius was one of the laughing-stocks of the court.
Trimulus patrem amisit; cuius ex parte tertia heres, ne hanc quidem integram cepit correptis per coheredem Gaium uniuersis bonis.
At three years of age he lost his father; and though he was heir to a third of his estate, he did not even receive this intact, since his co-heir Gaius seized the entire property.
et subinde matre etiam relegata paene inops atque egens apud amitam Lepidam nutritus est sub duobus paedagogis saltatore atque tonsore.
And shortly after, when his mother also was banished, being almost destitute and in want, he was brought up at the house of his aunt Lepida under two tutors, a dancer and a barber.
uerum Claudio imperium adepto non solum paternas opes reciperauit, sed et Crispi Passieni uitrici sui hereditate ditatus est.
But when Claudius obtained the empire, he not only recovered his father's wealth, but was also enriched by the inheritance of his stepfather, Crispus Passienus.
gratia quidem et potentia reuocatae restitutaeque matris usque eo floruit, ut emanaret in uulgus missos a Messalina uxore Claudi, qui eum meridiantem, quasi Britannici aemulum, strangularent.
Indeed, through the influence and power of his recalled and restored mother, he flourished to such a degree that a rumor spread among the common people that men had been sent by Messalina, the wife of Claudius, to strangle him while he was taking his midday nap, as a rival to Britannicus.
additum fabulae †ad eosdem dracone e puluino se proferente conterritos refugisse.
To this story it was added that they fled, terrified by a dragon showing itself from his pillow.
quae fabula exorta est deprensis in lecto eius circum ceruicalia serpentis exuuiis; quas tamen aureae armillae ex uoluntate matris inclusas dextro brachio gestauit aliquamdiu ac taedio tandem maternae memoriae abiecit rursusque extremis suis rebus frustra requisiit.
This story arose because the shed skin of a snake was found in his bed around the bolster; which, however, enclosed in a golden bracelet at his mother's wish, he wore on his right arm for some time, and at last, out of weariness of his mother's memory, threw it away, only to seek it again in vain in his final desperate straits.
§7Tener adhuc necdum matura pueritia circensibus ludis Troiam constantissime fauorabiliterque lusit.
Still tender and not yet of mature boyhood, he performed the game of Troy at the circus games with great steadiness and to great favor.
undecimo aetatis anno a Claudio adoptatus est Annaeoque Senecae iam tunc senatori in disciplinam traditus.
In the eleventh year of his age he was adopted by Claudius and handed over for instruction to Annaeus Seneca, who was already a senator.
ferunt Senecam proxima nocte uisum sibi per quietem C. Caesari praecipere, et fidem somnio Nero breui fecit prodita immanitate naturae quibus primum potuit experimentis.
They say that on the following night Seneca dreamed that he was instructing Gaius Caesar, and Nero soon proved the dream true by displaying the cruelty of his nature by the first proofs he could.
namque Britannicum fratrem, quod se post adoptionem Ahenobarbum ex consuetudine salutasset, ut subditiuum apud patrem arguere conatus est.
For he attempted to accuse his brother Britannicus before their father as being a changeling, because Britannicus had, according to custom, greeted him as "Ahenobarbus" after his adoption.
amitam autem Lepidam ream testimonio coram afflixit gratificans matri, a qua rea premebatur.
Furthermore, he crushed his aunt Lepida when she was on trial by testifying against her in person to gratify his mother, by whom the accused woman was being hard pressed.
Deductus in forum tiro populo congiarium, militi donatiuum proposuit indictaque decursione praetorianis scutum sua manu praetulit; exin patri gratias in senatu egit.
Led into the Forum as a recruit, he promised a largess to the people and a donative to the soldiers, and, a parade of the praetorians having been proclaimed, he carried a shield before them with his own hand; then he returned thanks to his father in the senate.
apud eundem consulem pro Bononiensibus Latine, pro Rhodis atque Iliensibus Graece uerba fecit.
Before him as consul, he made speeches in Latin for the people of Bologna, and in Greek for those of Rhodes and Ilium.
auspicatus est et iuris dictionem praefectus urbi sacro Latinarum, celeberrimis patronis non tralaticias, ut assolet, et breuis, sed maximas plurimasque postulationes certatim ingerentibus, quamuis interdictum a Claudio esset.
He also began his administration of justice as prefect of the city during the Latin Festival, with the most famous advocates eagerly bringing before him, not routine and brief applications as was customary, but the greatest and most numerous demands, although it had been forbidden by Claudius.
nec multo post duxit uxorem Octauiam edidit que pro Claudi salute circenses et uenationem.
Not long after, he married Octavia and exhibited circus games and a wild beast hunt for the safety of Claudius.
§8Septemdecim natus annos, ut de Claudio palam factum est, inter horam sextam septimamque processit ad excubitores, cum ob totius diei diritatem non aliud auspicandi tempus accommodatius uideretur; proque Palati gradibus imperator consalutatus lectica in castra et inde raptim appellatis militibus in curiam delatus est discessitque iam uesperi, ex immensis, quibus cumulabatur, honoribus tantum patris patriae nomine recusato propter aetatem.
When he was seventeen years old, and the death of Claudius was made public, he went out to the guards between the sixth and seventh hours, since, because of the bad omens of the whole day, no other time seemed more suitable for beginning his reign; and having been saluted as emperor before the steps of the Palace, he was carried in a litter to the camp, and from there, after the soldiers had been quickly harangued, to the senate-house, and he departed already in the evening, having refused, of the immense honors with which he was heaped, only the title of "Father of his Country" because of his age.