Nero to Tacitus, the source of conflict between Nero and his mother was Nero's affair with Poppaea Sabina. In "Histories" Tacitus writes that the affair began while Poppaea was still married to Rufrius Crispinus, but in his later work "Annals" Tacitus says Poppaea was married to Otho when the affair began. In "Annals" Tacitus writes that Agrippina opposed Nero's affair with Poppaea because of her affection for his wife Octavia. Anthony Barrett writes that Tacitus' account in "Annals" "suggests that Poppaea's challenge drove [Nero] over the brink." A number of modern historians have noted that Agrippina's death would not have offered
Poppaea Sabina the Elder Sabina and Asiaticus had been lovers, she directed her creature Suilius to accuse Asiaticus of treason and the pair of adultery. Asiaticus was tried in the emperor's private chambers, but instead of a guilty plea was allowed to commit suicide. Meanwhile, Messalina had agents harass Poppaea Sabina with threats of prison which led to her own suicide. Poppaea Sabina the Elder Poppaea Sabina the Elder was an aristocratic woman who lived during the Principate. During her lifetime she was famed for her beauty, but as Ronald Syme writes, her "fame and follies have been all but extinguished by her homonymous