Agrippina the Younger to more modern sources, it is possible (but exceedingly convenient) that Claudius died of natural causes; Claudius was 63 years old. Agrippina was named a priestess of the cult of the deified Claudius. She was allowed to visit senate meetings, watching and hearing the meetings from behind a curtain. In the first months of Nero's reign Agrippina controlled her son and the Empire. She lost control over Nero when he began to have an affair with the freed woman Claudia Acte, which Agrippina strongly disapproved of and violently scolded him for. Agrippina began to support Britannicus in her attempt to
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