The failed ship mechanism, Acerronia and survival
Annals 14.5: read the assigned Latin, work through language and interpretation, then practise with explained responses.
Section P2-TACITUS · Tacitus, A Murder Ship Miscarries
Exam scope and assessment notes
Original teaching foundations for the 2026–2028 syllabus. Six prescribed texts have passage-specific sequences; all 693 printed vocabulary rows have been reconciled into 692 distinct records, with additional number, comparison and compound-verb practice. Linked teaching and lexical self-checks do not certify mastery. Complete line-by-line annotation, further translation and scansion practice, qualified Latin-teacher review, full timed papers and human marking remain outstanding. Open the assigned edition alongside these lessons: public ancient texts can differ in spelling, punctuation or editorial readings from the prescribed prose anthology. Practice explanations are formative, not Cambridge questions, marks or predicted grades. Cambridge has announced withdrawal; the last assessment is June 2028, in administrative zones 3, 4, 5 and 6 only. Confirm entry with your centre.
Before you begin
- Read the assigned Latin alongside this guide
- Use case, verb and clause evidence before literary interpretation
Work on paper. Try each question before revealing help, and explain why your method works.
Quick readiness check
What should distinguish passage evidence from wider context?
What you will learn
- Trace the mechanism's failures and distinguish the three companions' outcomes
- Explain clear weather, mistaken identity and Agrippina's silent escape
Read this assigned passage
Annals 14.5. Keep your assigned edition open. These original guides use the underlying ancient text; check differences against the prescribed anthology and your teacher's reading.
Trace mechanism and people
A clear starry night and calm sea undermine a natural-storm explanation. The weighted roof falls, killing Crepereius Gallus, while the strong couch structure protects Agrippina and Acerronia. The planned breakup does not follow as intended; confusion and mixed knowledge among participants obstruct coordination.
Attempts to tip the vessel are also divided. Acerronia announces that she is Agrippina in hope of help and is killed; Agrippina remains silent, less recognised, receives a shoulder wound and escapes by swimming, then small-boat assistance to her residence. Different outcomes must not be collapsed into ‘everyone drowned’ or ‘everyone escaped’.
Read the irony and endpoint
Nando is an ablative gerund describing swimming as a means; it does not mean that someone else must swim her. Silence and speech create a sharp identity contrast: the claim that should attract rescue instead attracts the killers.
The calm setting, failed mechanism and surviving intended victim expose the gulf between a controlled scheme and its outcome. Chapter 14.5 ends with Agrippina's return. Her subsequent decisions and eventual death elsewhere in the book are wider context, not events within this prescribed endpoint.
Sources for this lesson
Pause and explain
Does Agrippina die by the end of the prescribed chapter 14.5?
Worked example
Why does Acerronia's identity claim fail as a rescue strategy?
Show the worked solution
- She presents herself as the emperor's mother.
- The attackers are trying to kill that person.
- Agrippina's silence instead reduces recognition.
Answer The claimed identity attracts the very violence aimed at Agrippina. It therefore produces tragic reversal rather than rescue, while the intended target's silence contributes to her escape on the narrated facts.
Try a topic test
Choose Easy, Normal or Difficult. Save your answers and open worked review after finishing.
Test this topic →From guided practice to a new situation
Write your answer and reasoning first. Use a hint only if you are stuck. The model solution is for self-checking; your written work is not automatically marked.
Guided: Assign outcomes to Crepereius, Acerronia and Agrippina.
Give me a hint
Keep roof, identity claim and escape separate.
Compare my reasoning
- Crepereius is killed by the roof.
- Acerronia is killed after claiming the target's identity.
- Agrippina escapes with a wound.
Crepereius dies in the collapse, Acerronia dies after her identity claim, and Agrippina survives with a wound and returns home. Those distinct outcomes are essential to explaining why the designed killing attempt miscarries.
Look for these in your work
- Assigns first outcome
- Assigns second outcome
- Assigns survival
Independent: Explain how calm weather affects the supposed accident story.
Give me a hint
Compare the setting with the planned disguise.
Compare my reasoning
- The sea and night are calm.
- A normal storm is not narrated.
- The constructed failures therefore remain suspicious.
The calm setting weakens a storm-based explanation and sharpens the contrast with the intended accident disguise. A response cannot introduce rough weather to make the plan's cover story seem true.
Look for these in your work
- Uses setting
- Rejects invented storm
- Explains irony
Application: A response ends this extract with Agrippina's later murder. Correct it and explain the proper use of context.
Give me a hint
Stop at the stated chapter endpoint.
Compare my reasoning
- Chapter 5 records her survival and return.
- Later death occurs elsewhere.
- Label it as wider context if relevant.
The extract ends with Agrippina alive at her residence. Her eventual death can be relevant wider context, but cannot replace this range's failed attempt or be presented as its narrated final event.
Look for these in your work
- Uses endpoint
- Distinguishes later event
- Labels context
Common mistakes
- Inventing a storm
- Saying the mechanism works completely
- Moving Agrippina's later death into chapter 5
What can you explain now?
Does Agrippina die by the end of the prescribed chapter 14.5?
Compare with the explanation
No, she returns to her residence
The endpoint records her escape, despite the failed attempt and her wound.
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Make it stick
Does Agrippina die by the end of the prescribed chapter 14.5?
If you needed the solution, close it and solve the problem again from a blank page. A correct answer is stronger when you can explain the reason for each step.