Roman rumour-mongers

I read Guy de la Bédoyère’s article The Women Who Built the Roman Empire (October) with great interest. However, I would like to question the assertion that Agrippina the Younger offered to sleep with her son, Nero, to try to keep a hold on power when he became emperor. It is a well-known fact that ancient Romans used sexual slurs in order to discredit their opponents, and from reading the primary sources of Suetonius, Tacitus and Cassius Dio it is clear they did not approve of Agrippina. While Suetonius suggests that she wished to sleep with Nero, and Cassius Dio says that she did, these facts can only be taken with a pinch of salt: it may have happened, but we cannot and will never know for sure. Rachel Stott, Weston- super- Mare