This Week In History From Vcoins

Interesting this week, as always...


11/2 55 AD Britannicus dies at dinner after being poisoned by Nero. Britannicus was about to turn 14 when his father Claudius died. Claudius had married Agrippina and adopted Nero as his child, and soon after his death, Nero claimed the throne for himself. Since Britannicus could claim it only a few months after his fourteenth birthday, he was a threat to Nero. On his sister's birthday, on 11 February 55 AD, Nero hired a man to poison him. Britannicus had a taster to see his beverages were not poisoned, but everything was carefully planned. The drink was not poisoned when the man tasted it, but it was extremely hot for Britannicus, so when he asked for water, he was poisoned to death. The party had to go on, so Nero said Britannicus suffered from epilepsy, moved his corpse and buried him secretly.
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15/2 44 BC Caesar refuses Marc Antony's offer to crown him a king. Although Caesar attributed himself many titles throughout his career as emperor, he refused to be crowned as king when Marc Antony offered it. He had been named dictator perpetuus a few days before when Antony offered him a diadem at a public festival, which he refused, apparently because Romans didn't want him to accept to be king.
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16/2 364 AD Jovian accidently dies in his tent, perhaps by asphyxiation Jovian had been chosen emperor eight months before his death, after Saturninus Secundus Salutius had declined the throne, due to his age. His first act was to sue for peace in the war against Shapur II. This was seen by his people as a weakness from their new emperor. On the few months he was an emperor, he also reestablished Christianity as the favored religion of the Empire. While going to Constantinople to consolidate his political position, he died on his tent, at Dadastana. The causes of his death are unknown, though some historians think it might have been because of indigestion after having eaten too much, and others claim it was because of poisonous fumes from his warming fire.