Matricide is the act of killing one's mother. As for any type of killing, motives can vary a great deal. Known or suspected matricides Cleopatra III of Egypt was assassinated in 101 BC by order of her son, Ptolemy X, for her conspiring. Ptolemy XI of Egypt had his wife, Berenice III, murdered shortly after their wedding in 80 BC. She was also his stepmother, or perhaps his mother. In AD 59, the Roman Emperor Nero is said to have ordered the murder of his mother Agrippina the Younger, sup… (More on Matricide)