Claudia Octavia

On June 9, 53 AD, Nero married Claudia Octavia. There marriage was no pleasant. Tacitus: "Claudia Octavia is an aristocratic and virtuous wife." Obviously, this deviated from what Nero wanted in a wife. On one occasion, Nero, angry and filled with rage, tried to strangle Octavia. The biggest issue was that Octavia couldn't bear a child for Nero, meaning no heir to the throne. Eventually, Nero begin having affairs with various women, one woman was a freedwoman, Poppaea Sabina. Poppaea became pregnant with Nero's child, and Nero and her divorced Octavia and banished her from the kingdom. But the backlash for this move was insane. Many Roman citizens loved Octavia and protested, carrying statues of her through the city. Nero briefly considered remarrying Octavia. He wondered if the only reason the people saw him as their leader was because of Octavia and her connection with past royal families. Instead, he had her killed, hoping this would instill fear and show his leadership in and to the people. On June 8, 62 AD, Octavia was put to death in a traditional Roman suicide ritual.