who was adopted in AD 49 and renamed Nero Claudius Caesar as a result. Two years later, in 43, Claudius was granted the honorific "Britannicus" by the senate as a reward for his conquest of Britain. The emperor never used the name himself, but allowed his son to inherit it. This is the name by which the boy became known to posterity. Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus, a Roman historian writing from the late first century, says that Claudius adored Britannicus, carrying him around at public events, and "would wish him happy auspices, joined by the applauding throng." During his father's marriage to Messalina Education Britannicus was tutored by Sosibius, who was a close associate of Publius Suillius Rufus and a friend of his mother. He was educated alongside Titus Vespasianus, the future emperor of Rome. They were brought up together and taught similar subjects by the same tutors. In 47, Sosibius gave Claudius a reminder of the power and wealth which threatened the Emperor's throne. His tutor then, as part of his mother's contrivances, told the emperor of Decimus Valerius Asiaticus's involvement in the murder of Caligula and of his growing popularity in Rome. Sosibius went on, saying Asiaticus meant to rally Roman legions in Germany against the throne. Asiaticus was apprehended immediately, and brought to Rome in chains. Sullius successfully pursued charges against other equestrians in the Senate. According to Cassius Dio, Asiaticus was put to death as a favor to Messalina for his property (the Gardens of Lucullus). It was later voted by the Senate that Sosibius be given a million sesterces for giving Britannicus the benefit of his teachings and Claudius that of his counsel (i.e. for his involvement in the case against Asiaticus). Fall of Messalina Britannicus took part in the celebrations of Rome's 800th anniversary (in the year 48). It was the sixth ever Ludi Saeculares ("Secular Games") and sixty-four years since the last one held in the summer of 17 BC by Augustus. Britannicus' father was there, as was Lucius Domitius and his mother Agrippina, the last two surviving descendants of Germanicus. Claudius watched the young nobility, including Britannicus and Domitius, enact the Battle of Troy in the circus. Tacitus says Domitius was greeted with more enthusiasm than Britannicus. The games were seen as the introduction of Agrippina and Domitius to public life, and Britannicus' mother Messalina must have been aware of this and envious