Roman Emperor (Principate) Antony's daughter who was also Augustus' niece, Germanicus Julius Caesar. Germanicus married Vipsania Agrippina, Agrippa's daughter by Julia and Tiberius's stepdaughter, and had by her one surviving son, Gaius "Caligula" ("Little Boots"), and a daughter, Julia Agrippina, whose third husband was Germanicus's brother by blood, Claudius (she was his fourth wife); Agrippina had already borne a son, Lucius, whom Claudius adopted under the name Nero"' in 40; Nero married Claudius's daughter Claudia Octavia in 53. The year 69 is often called the "Year of the Four Emperors" because it saw four usurpers successively claim the purple robe. The fourth Emperor,
Claudia Acte became emperor in 54 AD, after his great-uncle/stepfather died—apparently poisoned, in the belief of contemporary historians, by his niece/wife, Agrippina, Nero's mother. A year into Nero's reign, encouraged by Seneca the Younger and Burrus, and against Agrippina the Younger's wishes, Nero took Acte as his mistress. Seneca especially was concerned that his young student would not be satisfied with his wife, Octavia, and might indulge in risky sexual exploits. This made Acte appear a safe outlet and a source of separation from Agrippina. Seneca and Burrus were on uneasy terms with Agrippina and were nervous about her political influence and