Page "Agrippina the Younger" Paragraph 49

According to Tacitus, in 58, Nero became involved with the noble woman Poppaea Sabina.

With the reasoning that a divorce from Octavia and a marriage to Poppaea was not politically feasible with Agrippina alive, Nero decided to kill Agrippina.

Yet, Nero did not marry Poppaea until 62, calling into question this motive.

Additionally, Suetonius reveals that Poppaea's husband, Otho, was not sent away by Nero until after Agrippina's death in 59, making it highly unlikely that already married Poppaea would be pressing Nero.

Some modern historians theorize that Nero's decision to kill Agrippina was prompted by her plotting to set Gaius Rubellius Plautus ( Nero's maternal second cousin ) or Britannicus ( Claudius ' biological son ) on the throne.