Oh, I love the idea of multiple povs, and I really like the idea of young Domitian and Julia bonding during the traumatic time in Rome.
The Roman mind goes instantly to poison, but, as Emma Southon points out when discussing Livia, sometimes people just die.
Oh absolutely. But let's face it, Britannicus and Nero were in an unprecedented situation as it was - Britannicus was in fact the first biological son of a sitting Emperor who was still alive when said Emperor died. (Augustus and Caligula did not have biological sons, while Tiberius did have two but outlived both. And his grandson, Gemellus, who was supposed to be co-Emperor with Caligula didn't live long to be so once Caligula was Emperor.) Meaning that as long as Britannicus was still a kid, that might not have mattered so much because young Nero was actually very very popular (not least thanks to his mother), but by the time Britannicus died, he'd donned the toga virilis, so could quite possibly have now been seen as competition in a way he wasn't before. In the case of Livia's supposed killings, there is some divergence in the sources insinuating it or point blank accusing her. In the case of Britannicus, there's unanimous consent Nero did the deed. (Which in itself is interesting, in that you'd expect for Tacitus at least to blame Agrippina for it - he does like blaming her for a lot - but no.) Does all of this mean it couldn't have been a stroke? No. These things happen, and given all the sources are writing when Nero is already dead, there's hindsight coloring the reporting. Nero could have been as innocent as snow of Britannicus' death and they'd still have been convinced he did it because of later events.
Now, given Titus did erect a golden statue in Britannicus' memory and issued coins showing him, at a point when I doubt many surviving Romans cared one way or another what had become of Britannicus, it's probably safe to say this early death did impact him, whether or not he believed that he himself could have died on that occasion, but if you want to do, say, an episode where Titus has to question a lot of certainties he previously believed in, you absolutely could have him wonder whether this death was really what he assumed it to be, that's agood idea.
Having been watching the recent BBC documentary about new discoveries in Pompeii, you could have plotlines about the need to resettle refugees from the city, and possibly heartwarming and less heartwarming attempts to find each other
Yes, that's what I think really would belong into a series about this era - and it would keep it humane as well as human.
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The Roman mind goes instantly to poison, but, as Emma Southon points out when discussing Livia, sometimes people just die.
Oh absolutely. But let's face it, Britannicus and Nero were in an unprecedented situation as it was - Britannicus was in fact the first biological son of a sitting Emperor who was still alive when said Emperor died. (Augustus and Caligula did not have biological sons, while Tiberius did have two but outlived both. And his grandson, Gemellus, who was supposed to be co-Emperor with Caligula didn't live long to be so once Caligula was Emperor.) Meaning that as long as Britannicus was still a kid, that might not have mattered so much because young Nero was actually very very popular (not least thanks to his mother), but by the time Britannicus died, he'd donned the toga virilis, so could quite possibly have now been seen as competition in a way he wasn't before. In the case of Livia's supposed killings, there is some divergence in the sources insinuating it or point blank accusing her. In the case of Britannicus, there's unanimous consent Nero did the deed. (Which in itself is interesting, in that you'd expect for Tacitus at least to blame Agrippina for it - he does like blaming her for a lot - but no.) Does all of this mean it couldn't have been a stroke? No. These things happen, and given all the sources are writing when Nero is already dead, there's hindsight coloring the reporting. Nero could have been as innocent as snow of Britannicus' death and they'd still have been convinced he did it because of later events.
Now, given Titus did erect a golden statue in Britannicus' memory and issued coins showing him, at a point when I doubt many surviving Romans cared one way or another what had become of Britannicus, it's probably safe to say this early death did impact him, whether or not he believed that he himself could have died on that occasion, but if you want to do, say, an episode where Titus has to question a lot of certainties he previously believed in, you absolutely could have him wonder whether this death was really what he assumed it to be, that's agood idea.
Having been watching the recent BBC documentary about new discoveries in Pompeii, you could have plotlines about the need to resettle refugees from the city, and possibly heartwarming and less heartwarming attempts to find each other
Yes, that's what I think really would belong into a series about this era - and it would keep it humane as well as human.