AD 59
Nero murders his mother

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It is not the first death for which Nero is responsible, and it will certainly not be the last, but none earns him greater infamy than the killing of his mother. Agrippina was herself responsible for poisoning Claudius and bringing Nero to power, so there is some rough justice in her fate. Nero engineers an 'accident' at sea, but Agrippina, a strong swimmer, survives and soldiers have to be dispatched to kill her. There appears to be a mixture of love and loathing in Nero's relationship with his mother, who is even rumoured to have seduced her son on one occasion in order to get her own way.

'Let him kill me, only let him rule.'
Agrippina's response to a fortune-teller who reputedly foretold that she would be murdered by her son

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