BRITANNICUS  , son of the

Roman emperor Claudius by his third wife Messallina, was born probably A.D . 41 . He was originally called Claudius Tiberius Germanicus, and received the name Britannicus from the senate on account of the conquest made in Britain about the time of his birth . Till 48, the date of his mother's execution, he was looked upon as the heir presumptive; but Agrippina, the new wife of Claudius, soon persuaded the feeble emperor to adopt Lucius Domitius, known later as Nero, her son by a previous marriage . After the accession of Nero, Agrippina, by playing on his fears, induced him to poison Britannicus at a banquet (A.D . 55) . A golden statue of the young prince was set up by the emperor Titus . Britannicus is the subject of a tragedy by Racine . Tacitus, Annals, xii . 25, 41, xiii . 14-16; Suetonius, Nero, 33; Dio Cassius lx . 32, 34; works quoted under NERD .