Julia Agrippina (6 November AD 15 – 23 March AD 59), also referred to as Agrippina the Younger, was
Roman empress
This is a list of Roman and Byzantine empresses. A Roman empress was a woman who was the wife of a Roman emperor, the ruler of the Roman Empire.
The Romans had no single term for the position: Latin and Greek titles such as '' augusta'' (Greek ...
from 49 to 54 AD, the fourth wife and niece of Emperor
Claudius
Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (; 1 August 10 BC – 13 October AD 54) was the fourth Roman emperor, ruling from AD 41 to 54. A member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, Claudius was born to Nero Claudius Drusus, Drusu ...
.
Agrippina was one of the most prominent women in the
Julio-Claudian dynasty
, native_name_lang=Latin, coat of arms=Great_Cameo_of_France-removebg.png, image_size=260px, caption= The Great Cameo of France depicting emperors Augustus, Tiberius, Claudius and Nero, type= Ancient Roman dynasty, country= Roman Empire, estates=* ...
. She was the daughter of the Roman general
Germanicus
Germanicus Julius Caesar (24 May 15 BC – 10 October AD 19) was an ancient Roman general, known for his campaigns in Germania. The son of Nero Claudius Drusus and Antonia the Younger, Germanicus was born into an influential branch of the Patric ...
and
Agrippina the Elder
Agrippina "the Elder" (also, in Latin, , "Germanicus's Agrippina"; – AD 33) was a prominent member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. She was the daughter of Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa (a close supporter of the first Roman emperor, Augustus) and ...
, granddaughter of
Augustus
Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pri ...
(the first
Roman emperor). Her father, Germanicus, was the nephew and heir apparent of the second emperor,
Tiberius
Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus (; 16 November 42 BC – 16 March AD 37) was the second Roman emperor. He reigned from AD 14 until 37, succeeding his stepfather, the first Roman emperor Augustus. Tiberius was born in Rome in 42 BC. His father ...
. Agrippina's brother
Caligula
Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (31 August 12 – 24 January 41), better known by his nickname Caligula (), was the third Roman emperor, ruling from 37 until his assassination in 41. He was the son of the popular Roman general Germanicu ...
became emperor in 37 AD. After Caligula was assassinated in 41 AD, Germanicus' brother Claudius took the throne. Agrippina married Claudius in 49 AD.
Agrippina functioned as a behind-the-scenes advisor in the affairs of the Roman state via powerful political ties. She maneuvered her son
Nero
Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus; 15 December AD 37 – 9 June AD 68), was the fifth Roman emperor and final emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, reigning from AD 54 un ...
into the line of succession. Claudius became aware of her plotting, but died in 54; it was rumoured that Agrippina poisoned him.
[Tacitus, ''Annals'' XII.66; Cassius Dio, ''Roman History'' LXI.34; Suetonius, ''The Lives of Twelve Caesars'', Life of Claudius 44; Josephus is less sure, Josephus, ''Antiquities of the Jews'' XX.8.1.] Agrippina exerted a commanding influence in the early years of Emperor Nero's reign, but in 59 she was killed. Both ancient and modern sources describe Agrippina's personality as ruthless, ambitious, violent and domineering. Physically she was a beautiful and reputable woman; according to
Pliny the Elder
Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/2479), called Pliny the Elder (), was a Roman author, naturalist and natural philosopher, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the emperor Vespasian. He wrote the encyclopedic '' ...
, she had a double canine in her upper right jaw, a sign of good fortune.
Family
Agrippina was the first daughter and fourth living child of Agrippina the Elder and
Germanicus
Germanicus Julius Caesar (24 May 15 BC – 10 October AD 19) was an ancient Roman general, known for his campaigns in Germania. The son of Nero Claudius Drusus and Antonia the Younger, Germanicus was born into an influential branch of the Patric ...
. She had three elder brothers,
Nero Caesar,
Drusus Caesar
Drusus Julius Caesar (c. AD 8 – 33) was the adopted grandson and heir of the Roman emperor Tiberius, alongside his brother Nero. Born into the prominent Julio-Claudian dynasty, Drusus was the son of Tiberius' general and heir, Germanicus. Afte ...
, and the future emperor Caligula, and two younger sisters,
Julia Drusilla
Julia Drusilla (16 September AD 16 – 10 June AD 38) was a member of the Roman imperial family, the second daughter and fifth child of Germanicus and Agrippina the Elder to survive infancy. She was the favorite sister of Emperor Caligula, wh ...
and
Julia Livilla
Julia Livilla ( – ) was the youngest child of Germanicus and Agrippina the Elder and the youngest sister of the Emperor Caligula.
Life
Julia Livilla was the youngest great-granddaughter of Emperor Augustus, great-niece and adoptive grandda ...
. Agrippina's two eldest brothers and her mother were victims of the intrigues of the Praetorian Prefect
Lucius Aelius Sejanus
Lucius Aelius Sejanus (c. 20 BC – 18 October AD 31), commonly known as Sejanus (), was a Roman soldier, friend and confidant of the Roman Emperor Tiberius. Of the Equites class by birth, Sejanus rose to power as prefect of the Praetorian Guar ...
.
She was the namesake of her mother. Agrippina the Elder was remembered as a modest and heroic matron, who was the second daughter and fourth child of
Julia the Elder
Julia the Elder (30 October 39 BC – AD 14), known to her contemporaries as Julia Caesaris filia or Julia Augusti filia (Classical Latin: IVLIA•CAESARIS•FILIA or IVLIA•AVGVSTI•FILIA), was the daughter and only biological child of August ...
and the statesman
Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa
Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa (; BC – 12 BC) was a Roman general, statesman, and architect who was a close friend, son-in-law, and lieutenant to the Roman emperor Augustus. He was responsible for the construction of some of the most notable buildi ...
. The father of Julia the Elder was the emperor Augustus, and Julia was his only natural child from his second marriage to
Scribonia, who had close blood relations with
Pompey the Great
Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (; 29 September 106 BC – 28 September 48 BC), known in English as Pompey or Pompey the Great, was a leading Roman general and statesman. He played a significant role in the transformation of ...
and
Lucius Cornelius Sulla
Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix (; 138–78 BC), commonly known as Sulla, was a Roman general and statesman. He won the first large-scale civil war in Roman history and became the first man of the Republic to seize power through force.
Sulla had t ...
.
Germanicus, Agrippina's father, was a very popular general and politician. His mother was
Antonia Minor
Antonia Minor (31 January 36 BC - 1 May 37 AD) was the younger of two surviving daughters of Mark Antony and Octavia Minor. She was a niece of the Emperor Augustus, sister-in-law of the Emperor Tiberius, paternal grandmother of the Emperor Calig ...
and his father was the general
Nero Claudius Drusus
Nero Claudius Drusus Germanicus (38–9 BC), also called Drusus the Elder, was a Roman politician and military commander. He was a patrician Claudian on his birth father's side but his maternal grandmother was from a plebeian family. He was the ...
. He was Antonia Minor's first child. Germanicus had two younger siblings; a sister, named
Livilla
Claudia Livia (Classical Latin: CLAVDIA•LIVIA; c. 13 BC – AD 31) was the only daughter of Nero Claudius Drusus and Antonia Minor and sister to Roman Emperor Claudius and general Germanicus, and thus paternal aunt of emperor Caligula and ...
, and a brother, the future emperor Claudius. Claudius was Agrippina's paternal uncle and third husband.
Antonia Minor was a daughter to
Octavia the Younger
Octavia the Younger ( la, Octavia Minor; c. 66 BC – 11 BC) was the elder sister of the first Roman Emperor, Augustus (known also as Octavian), the half-sister of Octavia the Elder, and the fourth wife of Mark Antony. She was also the great-gran ...
by her second marriage to triumvir
Mark Antony
Marcus Antonius (14 January 1 August 30 BC), commonly known in English as Mark Antony, was a Roman politician and general who played a critical role in the transformation of the Roman Republic from a constitutional republic into the autoc ...
, and Octavia was the second eldest sister and full-blooded sister of Augustus. Germanicus' father,
Drusus the Elder
Nero Claudius Drusus Germanicus (38–9 BC), also called Drusus the Elder, was a Roman politician and military commander. He was a patrician Claudian on his birth father's side but his maternal grandmother was from a plebeian family. He was th ...
, was the second son of the Empress
Livia
Livia Drusilla (30 January 59 BC – 28 September AD 29) was a Roman empress from 27 BC to AD 14 as the wife of Roman emperor, Emperor Augustus Caesar. She was known as Julia Augusta after her formal Adoption in ancient Rome, adoption into the J ...
Drusilla by her first marriage to praetor
Tiberius Nero, and was the emperor
Tiberius
Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus (; 16 November 42 BC – 16 March AD 37) was the second Roman emperor. He reigned from AD 14 until 37, succeeding his stepfather, the first Roman emperor Augustus. Tiberius was born in Rome in 42 BC. His father ...
's younger brother and Augustus's stepson.
In the year 9, Augustus ordered and forced Tiberius to adopt Germanicus, who happened to be Tiberius's nephew, as his son and heir. Germanicus was a favourite of his great-uncle Augustus, who hoped that Germanicus would succeed his uncle Tiberius, who was Augustus's own adopted son and heir. This in turn meant that Tiberius was also Agrippina's adoptive grandfather in addition to her paternal great-uncle.
Birth and early life
Agrippina was born on 6 November in AD 15, or possibly 14, at Oppidum Ubiorum, a Roman outpost on the
Rhine
), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland
, source1_coordinates=
, source1_elevation =
, source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein
, source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland
, source2_coordinates=
, so ...
River located in present-day
Cologne
Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...
,
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
. A second sister Julia
Drusilla
Drusilla is a female given name deriving from the Roman cognomen Drusilla.
History
The name has its origin from the Latin cognomen (and later praenomen) ''Drusus'' which itself derived from the Greek ''drosos'' (dew). The diminutive "illa" t ...
was born on 16 September 16, also in Germany.
As a small child, Agrippina travelled with her parents throughout Germany (15–16) until she and her siblings (apart from Caligula) returned to Rome to live with and be raised by their maternal grandmother Antonia. Her parents departed for
Syria
Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
in 18 to conduct official duties, and, according to Tacitus, the third and youngest sister was born en route on the island of Lesbos, namely Julia Livilla, probably on March 18. In October of AD 19, Germanicus died suddenly in
Antioch
Antioch on the Orontes (; grc-gre, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου, ''Antiókheia hē epì Oróntou'', Learned ; also Syrian Antioch) grc-koi, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου; or Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπ ...
(modern
Antakya
Antakya (), historically known as Antioch ( el, Ἀντιόχεια; hy, Անտիոք, Andiok), is the capital of Hatay Province, the southernmost province of Turkey. The city is located in a well-watered and fertile valley on the Orontes Rive ...
,
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...
).
Germanicus' death caused much public grief in Rome, and gave rise to rumours that he had been
murder
Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person wit ...
ed by
Gnaeus Calpurnius Piso and
Munatia Plancina
Munatia Plancina (died 33 AD) was a Roman noblewoman who lived during the reigns of Augustus and Tiberius. She was the wife of the governor of Syria, Gnaeus Calpurnius Piso. The couple was accused of poisoning Germanicus, the nephew and adopted s ...
on the orders of Tiberius, as his widow Agrippina the Elder returned to Rome with his ashes. Agrippina the Younger was thereafter supervised by her mother, her paternal grandmother Antonia Minor, and her great-grandmother, Livia, all of them notable, influential, and powerful figures from whom she learnt how to survive. She lived on the
Palatine Hill
The Palatine Hill (; la, Collis Palatium or Mons Palatinus; it, Palatino ), which relative to the seven hills of Rome is the centremost, is one of the most ancient parts of the city and has been called "the first nucleus of the Roman Empire." ...
in
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
. Her great-uncle Tiberius had already become emperor and the head of the family after the death of Augustus in 14.
Marriage to Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus
After her thirteenth birthday in 28, Tiberius arranged for Agrippina to marry her paternal first cousin once removed
Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus and ordered the marriage to be celebrated in Rome. Domitius came from a distinguished family of
consular rank. Through his mother
Antonia Major
Antonia the Elder. (born August/September 39 BC) was a niece of the first Roman emperor, Augustus, being the eldest daughter of Octavia the Younger and her second husband, the Triumvir Mark Antony. She married Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus and be ...
, Domitius was a great nephew of Augustus, first cousin to Claudius, and first cousin once removed to Agrippina and Caligula. He had two sisters;
Domitia Lepida the Elder
Domitia (ca. 8 BC-June 59) was the oldest child of Antonia Major and Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, and the oldest granddaughter to triumvir Mark Antony by Octavia Minor, a great-niece of the Roman Emperor Augustus, second cousin and sister-in-la ...
and
Domitia Lepida the Younger
Domitia Lepida (c. 5 BC – AD 54) was a Roman aristocrat, related to the imperial family. She was mother of Valeria Messalina, wife of the Emperor Claudius. Lepida was a beautiful and influential figure. Like her sister, she was also very wealth ...
. Domitia Lepida the Younger was the mother of the Empress
Valeria Messalina
Valeria Messalina (; ) was the third wife of Roman emperor Claudius. She was a paternal cousin of Emperor Nero, a second cousin of Emperor Caligula, and a great-grandniece of Emperor Augustus. A powerful and influential woman with a reputation ...
.
Antonia Major was the elder sister to Antonia Minor, and the first daughter of Octavia Minor and Mark Antony. According to Suetonius, Domitius was a wealthy man with a despicable and dishonest character, who, according to Suetonius, was "a man who was in every aspect of his life detestable" and served as consul in 32. Agrippina and Domitius lived between
Antium
Antium was an ancient coastal town in Latium, south of Rome. An oppidum was founded by people of Latial culture (11th century BC or the beginning of the 1st millennium BC), then it was the main stronghold of the Volsci people until it was conquere ...
and Rome. Not much is known about the relationship between them.
Reign of Caligula
Public role and political intrigues
Tiberius died on March 16, AD 37, and Agrippina's only surviving brother, Caligula, became the new emperor. Being the emperor's sister gave Agrippina some influence.
Agrippina and her younger sisters
Julia Drusilla
Julia Drusilla (16 September AD 16 – 10 June AD 38) was a member of the Roman imperial family, the second daughter and fifth child of Germanicus and Agrippina the Elder to survive infancy. She was the favorite sister of Emperor Caligula, wh ...
and
Julia Livilla
Julia Livilla ( – ) was the youngest child of Germanicus and Agrippina the Elder and the youngest sister of the Emperor Caligula.
Life
Julia Livilla was the youngest great-granddaughter of Emperor Augustus, great-niece and adoptive grandda ...
received various honours from their brother, which included but were not limited to
* receiving the rights of the
Vestal Virgin
In ancient Rome, the Vestal Virgins or Vestals ( la, Vestālēs, singular ) were priestesses of Vesta, virgin goddess of Rome's sacred hearth and its flame.
The Vestals were unlike any other public priesthood. They were chosen before puberty ...
s, such as the freedom to view public games from the upper seats in the stadium;
* being honoured with a new type of coinage, depicting images of Caligula and his sisters on opposite faces;
* having their names added to motions, including loyalty oaths (e.g., "I will not value my life or that of my children less highly than I do the safety of the Emperor and his sisters") and consular motions (e.g., "Good fortune attend to the Emperor and his sisters)".
Around the time that Tiberius died, Agrippina had become pregnant. Domitius had acknowledged the paternity of the child. On December 15, AD 37, in the early morning, in Antium, Agrippina gave birth to a son. Agrippina and Domitius named their son Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, after Domitius' recently deceased father. This child would grow up to become the emperor Nero. Nero was Agrippina's only natural child. Suetonius states that Domitius was congratulated by friends on the birth of his son, whereupon he replied "I don't think anything produced by me and Agrippina could possibly be good for the state or the people".
Caligula and his sisters were accused of having incestuous relationships. On June 10, AD 38, Drusilla died, possibly of a fever, rampant in Rome at the time. He was particularly fond of Drusilla, claiming to treat her as he would
his own wife, even though Drusilla had a
husband
A husband is a male in a marital relationship, who may also be referred to as a spouse. The rights and obligations of a husband regarding his spouse and others, and his status in the community and in law, vary between societies and cultures, ...
. Following her death Caligula showed no special love or respect toward the surviving sisters and was said to have gone insane.
In 39, Agrippina and Livilla, with their maternal cousin, Drusilla's widower
Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, were involved in a failed plot to murder Caligula, a plot known as the ''Plot of the Three Daggers'', which was to make Lepidus the new emperor. Lepidus, Agrippina and Livilla were accused of being lovers. Not much is known concerning this plot and the reasons behind it. At the trial of Lepidus, Caligula felt no compunction about denouncing them as adulteresses, producing handwritten letters discussing how they were going to kill him. The three were found guilty as accessories to the crime.
Exile
Lepidus was executed. According to the fragmentary inscriptions of the
Arval Brethren
In ancient Roman religion, the Arval Brethren ( la, Fratres Arvales, "Brothers of the Fields") or Arval Brothers were a body of priests who offered annual sacrifices to the Lares and gods to guarantee good harvests. Inscriptions provide eviden ...
, Agrippina was forced to carry the urn of Lepidus' ashes back to Rome.
Agrippina and Livilla were exiled by their brother to the
Pontine Islands
The Pontine Islands (, also ; it, Isole Ponziane ) are an archipelago in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the coast of Lazio region, Italy. The islands were collectively named after the largest island in the group, Ponza. The other islands in the archipe ...
. Caligula sold their furniture, jewellery, slaves and freedmen. In January of AD 40, Domitius died of
edema
Edema, also spelled oedema, and also known as fluid retention, dropsy, hydropsy and swelling, is the build-up of fluid in the body's Tissue (biology), tissue. Most commonly, the legs or arms are affected. Symptoms may include skin which feels t ...
(dropsy) at Pyrgi. Lucius had gone to live with his second paternal aunt Domitia Lepida the Younger after Caligula had taken his inheritance away from him.
Caligula, his wife
Milonia Caesonia
Milonia Caesonia (died AD 41) was Roman empress as the fourth and last wife of the emperor Caligula from their marriage in AD 39 until they were both assassinated in 41.
Life Early life
The daughter of Vistilia, Milonia was born toward the begin ...
and their daughter
Julia Drusilla
Julia Drusilla (16 September AD 16 – 10 June AD 38) was a member of the Roman imperial family, the second daughter and fifth child of Germanicus and Agrippina the Elder to survive infancy. She was the favorite sister of Emperor Caligula, wh ...
were murdered on January 24, 41. Agrippina's paternal uncle, Claudius, brother of her father
Germanicus
Germanicus Julius Caesar (24 May 15 BC – 10 October AD 19) was an ancient Roman general, known for his campaigns in Germania. The son of Nero Claudius Drusus and Antonia the Younger, Germanicus was born into an influential branch of the Patric ...
, became the new Roman emperor.
Reign of Claudius
Return from exile
![Messalinaandbritannicus](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1c/Messalinaandbritannicus.jpg)
Claudius lifted the exiles of Agrippina and Livilla. Livilla returned to her husband, while Agrippina was reunited with her estranged son. After the death of her first husband, Agrippina tried to make shameless advances to the future emperor
Galba
Galba (; born Servius Sulpicius Galba; 24 December 3 BC – 15 January AD 69) was the sixth Roman emperor, ruling from AD 68 to 69. After his adoption by his stepmother, and before becoming emperor, he was known as Livius Ocella Sulpicius Ga ...
, who showed no interest in her and was devoted to his wife
Aemilia Lepida
Aemilia Lepida is the name of several ancient Roman women belonging to the ''gens Aemilia''. The name was given to daughters of men belonging to the Lepidus branch of the Aemilius family. The first Aemilia Lepida to be mentioned by Roman historian ...
. On one occasion, Galba's mother-in-law gave Agrippina a public reprimand and a slap in the face before a whole bevy of married women.
Claudius had Lucius' inheritance reinstated. Lucius became more wealthy despite his youth shortly after
Gaius Sallustius Crispus Passienus
Gaius Sallustius Passienus Crispus was a prominent figure in the Roman Empire during the first century. He held the consulship twice, and was stepfather of the future emperor Nero.
Background
Suetonius reports that Passienus was born at Visellium ...
divorced Lucius' aunt, Domitia Lepida the Elder (Lucius' first paternal aunt) so that Crispus could marry Agrippina. They married, and Crispus became a step-father to Lucius. Crispus was a prominent, influential, witty, wealthy and powerful man, who served twice as consul. He was the adopted grandson and biological great-great-nephew of the historian
Sallust
Gaius Sallustius Crispus, usually anglicised as Sallust (; 86 – ), was a Roman historian and politician from an Italian plebeian family. Probably born at Amiternum in the country of the Sabines, Sallust became during the 50s BC a partisan o ...
. Little is known on their relationship, but Crispus soon died and left his estate to Nero.
In the first years of Claudius' reign, Claudius was married to the infamous Empress Valeria Messalina. Although Agrippina was very influential, she kept a very low profile and stayed away from the imperial palace and the court of the emperor. Messalina was Agrippina's second paternal cousin. Among the victims of Messalina's intrigues were Agrippina's surviving sister Livilla, who was charged with having adultery with
Seneca the Younger
Lucius Annaeus Seneca the Younger (; 65 AD), usually known mononymously as Seneca, was a Stoic philosopher of Ancient Rome, a statesman, dramatist, and, in one work, satirist, from the post-Augustan age of Latin literature.
Seneca was born in ...
. Seneca was later called back from exile to be a tutor to Nero.
Messalina considered Agrippina's son a threat to her son's position and sent assassins to strangle Lucius during his siesta. The assassins left after they saw a snake beneath Lucius' pillow, considering it as bad omen. It was, however, only a sloughed-off snake-skin in his bed, near his pillow. By Agrippina's order, the serpent's skin was enclosed in a bracelet that the young Nero wore on his right arm.
In 47, Crispus died, and at his funeral, the rumour spread around that Agrippina poisoned Crispus to gain his estate. After being widowed a second time, Agrippina was left very wealthy. Later that year at the
Secular Games
The Saecular Games ( la, Ludi saeculares, originally ) was a Roman religious celebration involving sacrifices and theatrical performances, held in ancient Rome for three days and nights to mark the end of a and the beginning of the next. A , sup ...
, at the performance of the Troy Pageant, Messalina attended the event with her son Britannicus. Agrippina was also present with Lucius. Agrippina and Lucius received greater applause from the audience than Messalina and
Britannicus
Tiberius Claudius Caesar Britannicus (12 February AD 41 – 11 February AD 55), usually called Britannicus, was the son of Roman emperor Claudius and his third wife Valeria Messalina. For a time he was considered his father's heir, but that ...
did. Many people began to show pity and sympathy to Agrippina, due to the unfortunate circumstances in her life. Agrippina wrote a memoir that recorded the misfortunes of her family (casus suorum) and wrote an account of her mother's life.
Rise to power
After Messalina was executed in 48 for conspiring with
Gaius Silius
Gaius Silius (died AD 24) was a Roman senator who achieved successes as a general over German barbarians following the disaster of the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest. For this achievement he was appointed consul in AD 13 with Lucius Munatius Planc ...
to overthrow her husband, Claudius considered remarrying for the fourth time. Around this time, Agrippina became the mistress to one of Claudius' advisers, the Greek
freedman
A freedman or freedwoman is a formerly enslaved person who has been released from slavery, usually by legal means. Historically, enslaved people were freed by manumission (granted freedom by their captor-owners), emancipation (granted freedom a ...
,
Marcus Antonius Pallas. At that time Claudius' advisers were discussing which noblewoman Claudius should marry. Claudius had a reputation that he was easily persuaded. In more recent times, it has been suggested that the Senate may have pushed for the marriage between Agrippina and Claudius to end the feud between the Julian and Claudian branches. This feud dated back to Agrippina's
mother's actions against Tiberius after the death of Germanicus, actions which Tiberius had gladly punished.
Claudius made references to her in his speeches: "my daughter and foster child, born and bred, in my lap, so to speak". When Claudius decided to marry her, he persuaded a group of senators that the marriage should be arranged in the public interest. In Roman society, an uncle (Claudius) marrying his niece (Agrippina) was considered incestuous and immoral.
Marriage to Claudius
Agrippina and Claudius married on New Year's Day, 49. This marriage caused widespread disapproval. This may have been a part of Agrippina's plan to make her son Lucius the new emperor. Her marriage to Claudius was not based on love, but on power. She quickly eliminated her rival
Lollia Paulina
Lollia Paulina, also known as Lollia Paullina[black magic
Black magic, also known as dark magic, has traditionally referred to the use of supernatural powers or magic for evil and selfish purposes, specifically the seven magical arts prohibited by canon law, as expounded by Johannes Hartlieb in 145 ...]
. Claudius stipulated that Paulina did not receive a hearing and her property was confiscated. She left Italy, but Agrippina was unsatisfied. Allegedly on Agrippina's orders, Paulina committed suicide.
In the months leading up to her marriage to Claudius, Agrippina's maternal second cousin, the
praetor
Praetor ( , ), also pretor, was the title granted by the government of Ancient Rome to a man acting in one of two official capacities: (i) the commander of an army, and (ii) as an elected '' magistratus'' (magistrate), assigned to discharge vario ...
Lucius Junius Silanus Torquatus
Two noblemen, an uncle and nephew, who shared the name Lucius Junius Silanus Torquatus and were descendants of the Roman Emperor Augustus, lived during the 1st century AD.
Elder Silanus
Silanus (died 49), was the third born son to Aemilia Lepi ...
, was betrothed to Claudius' daughter
Claudia Octavia
Claudia Octavia (late 39 or early 40 – June 9, AD 62) was a Roman empress. She was the daughter of the Emperor Claudius and Valeria Messalina. After her mother's death and father's remarriage to her cousin Agrippina the Younger, she became ...
. This betrothal was broken off in 48, when Agrippina, scheming with the consul
Lucius Vitellius the Elder
Lucius Vitellius (before 7 BC – AD 51) was the youngest of four sons of procurator Publius Vitellius and the only one who did not die through politics. He was consul three times, which was unusual during the Roman empire for someone who was ...
, the father of the future emperor
Aulus Vitellius
The gens Vitellia was a family of ancient Rome, which rose from obscurity in imperial times, and briefly held the Empire itself in AD 69. The first of this gens to obtain the consulship was Aulus Vitellius, uncle of the emperor Vitellius, in AD ...
, falsely accused Silanus of incest with his sister
Junia Calvina Junia Calvina was a Roman noblewoman who lived in the 1st century AD.
Biography
The daughter of Aemilia Lepida and Marcus Junius Silanus Torquatus, consul in 19, Calvina belonged to two patrician houses: the ''gens Aemilia'' and ''gens Junia'' ...
. Agrippina did this hoping to secure a marriage between Octavia and her son. Consequently, Claudius broke off the engagement and forced Silanus to resign from public office.
Silanus committed suicide on the day that Agrippina married her uncle, and Calvina was exiled from
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
in early 49. Calvina was called back from exile after the death of Agrippina. Towards the end of 54, Agrippina would order the murder of Silanus' eldest brother
Marcus Junius Silanus Torquatus
Marcus Junius Silanus Torquatus was a Roman senator. He was consul in AD 19, with Lucius Norbanus Balbus as his colleague.
Biography
Silanus was a descendant of the noble Roman house of the Junii Silani. His grandfather was Marcus Junius Silanus ...
without Nero's knowledge, so that he would not seek revenge against her over his brother's death.
Empress of Rome
![CLAUDIUS & AGRIPPINA RIC I 81-2510311](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a9/CLAUDIUS_%26_AGRIPPINA_RIC_I_81-2510311.jpg)
On the day that Agrippina married her uncle Claudius as her third husband/his fourth wife, she became empress. She also was a stepmother to
Claudia Antonia
Claudia Antonia (Classical Latin: ANTONIA•CLAUDII•CAESARIS•FILIA (edd), ''Prosopographia Imperii Romani saeculi I, II et III'', Berlin, 1933 - A 886) (c. AD 30–AD 66) was the daughter and oldest surviving child of the Roman Emperor ...
, Claudius' daughter and only child from his second marriage to
Aelia Paetina
Aelia Paetina or Paetina (fl. early 1st century AD) was the second wife of the Roman Emperor Claudius. Her biological father was a consul of 4 AD, Sextus Aelius Catus, while her mother is unknown.
Family
She was born into the family of the A ...
, and to the young Claudia Octavia and Britannicus, Claudius' children with Valeria Messalina. Agrippina removed or eliminated anyone from the palace or the
imperial court who she thought was loyal and dedicated to the memory of the late Messalina. She also eliminated or removed anyone who she considered was a potential threat to her position and the future of her son, one of her victims being Lucius' second paternal aunt and Messalina's mother
Domitia Lepida the Younger
Domitia Lepida (c. 5 BC – AD 54) was a Roman aristocrat, related to the imperial family. She was mother of Valeria Messalina, wife of the Emperor Claudius. Lepida was a beautiful and influential figure. Like her sister, she was also very wealth ...
.
Griffin describes how Agrippina "had achieved this dominant position for her son and herself by a web of political alliances," which included Claudius chief secretary and bookkeeper Pallas, his doctor Xenophon, and Afranius Burrus, the head of the Praetorian Guard (the imperial bodyguard), who owed his promotion to Agrippina. Neither ancient nor modern historians of Rome have doubted that Agrippina had her eye on securing the throne for Nero from the very day of the marriage—if not earlier.
Dio Cassius
Lucius Cassius Dio (), also known as Dio Cassius ( ), was a Roman historian and senator of maternal Greek origin. He published 80 volumes of the history on ancient Rome, beginning with the arrival of Aeneas in Italy. The volumes documented the ...
observation seems to bear that out: "As soon as Agrippina had come to live in the palace she gained complete control over Claudius."
In 49, Agrippina was seated on a dais at a parade of captives when their leader the
Celtic
Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to:
Language and ethnicity
*pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia
**Celts (modern)
*Celtic languages
**Proto-Celtic language
* Celtic music
*Celtic nations
Sports Fo ...
King
Caratacus
Caratacus ( Brythonic ''*Caratācos'', Middle Welsh ''Caratawc''; Welsh ''Caradog''; Breton ''Karadeg''; Greek ''Καράτακος''; variants Latin ''Caractacus'', Greek ''Καρτάκης'') was a 1st-century AD British chieftain of the C ...
bowed before her with the same homage and gratitude as he accorded the emperor. In 50, Agrippina was granted the honorific title of
Augusta. She was only the third Roman woman (
Livia
Livia Drusilla (30 January 59 BC – 28 September AD 29) was a Roman empress from 27 BC to AD 14 as the wife of Roman emperor, Emperor Augustus Caesar. She was known as Julia Augusta after her formal Adoption in ancient Rome, adoption into the J ...
Drusilla and
Antonia Minor
Antonia Minor (31 January 36 BC - 1 May 37 AD) was the younger of two surviving daughters of Mark Antony and Octavia Minor. She was a niece of the Emperor Augustus, sister-in-law of the Emperor Tiberius, paternal grandmother of the Emperor Calig ...
received this title) and only the second living Roman woman (the first being Livia) to receive this title.
In her capacity as Augusta, Agrippina quickly became a trusted advisor to Claudius, and by AD 54, she exerted a considerable influence over the decisions of the emperor. Statues of her were erected in many cities across the Empire, her face appeared on coins, and in the Senate, her followers were advanced with public offices and governorships. However this privileged position caused resentment among the senatorial class and the imperial family.
She went to a place outside the imperial court and listened to the
Senate
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
from behind the scenes, and even Claudius allowed her to be a separate court and decide on empire matters. Agrippina even signed government documents and officially dealt with foreign ambassadors. She also claimed
auctoritas
''Auctoritas'' is a Latin word which is the origin of English "authority". While historically its use in English was restricted to discussions of the political history of Rome, the beginning of phenomenological philosophy in the 20th century e ...
(power of commanding) and
Autokrateira (self-ruler as empress) in front of the Senate, the people and the army.
Also that year, Claudius had founded a Roman colony and called the colony ''Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensis'' or ''Agrippinensium'', today known as
Cologne
Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...
, after Agrippina who was born there. This colony was the only Roman colony to be named after a Roman woman. In 51, she was given a ''carpentum'' which she used. A carpentum was a sort of ceremonial carriage usually reserved for priests, such as the
Vestal Virgin
In ancient Rome, the Vestal Virgins or Vestals ( la, Vestālēs, singular ) were priestesses of Vesta, virgin goddess of Rome's sacred hearth and its flame.
The Vestals were unlike any other public priesthood. They were chosen before puberty ...
s, and sacred statues. That same year she appointed
Sextus Afranius Burrus
Sextus Afranius Burrus (born AD 1 in Vasio, Gallia Narbonensis; = ILS 1321. English translation died AD 62) was a prefect of the Praetorian Guard and was, together with Seneca the Younger, an advisor to the Roman emperor Nero, making him a ...
as the head of the
Praetorian Guard
The Praetorian Guard (Latin: ''cohortēs praetōriae'') was a unit of the Imperial Roman army that served as personal bodyguards and intelligence agents for the Roman emperors. During the Roman Republic, the Praetorian Guard were an escort fo ...
, replacing the previous head of the Praetorian Guard,
Rufrius Crispinus
Rufrius Crispinus was an equestrian who lived during the later Julio-Claudian dynasty. Under the Roman Emperor Claudius he was the commander of the Praetorian Guard. In 47, he suppressed a rebellion and was promoted by the Senate to the rank of ...
.
She assisted Claudius in administering the empire and became very wealthy and powerful. Ancient sources claim that Agrippina successfully influenced Claudius into adopting her son and making him his successor. Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus was adopted by his great maternal uncle and stepfather in 50. Lucius' name was changed to ''
Nero
Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus; 15 December AD 37 – 9 June AD 68), was the fifth Roman emperor and final emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, reigning from AD 54 un ...
Claudius Caesar Drusus Germanicus'' and he became Claudius's adopted son, heir and recognised successor. Agrippina and Claudius betrothed Nero to his step sister Claudia Octavia, and Agrippina arranged to have
Seneca the Younger
Lucius Annaeus Seneca the Younger (; 65 AD), usually known mononymously as Seneca, was a Stoic philosopher of Ancient Rome, a statesman, dramatist, and, in one work, satirist, from the post-Augustan age of Latin literature.
Seneca was born in ...
return from exile to tutor the future emperor. Claudius chose to adopt Nero because of his Julian and Claudian lineage.
Agrippina deprived Britannicus of his heritage and further isolated him from his father and succession for the throne in every way possible. For instance, in 51, Agrippina ordered the execution of Britannicus' tutor Sosibius because he had confronted her and was outraged by Claudius' adoption of Nero and his choice of Nero as successor, instead of choosing his own son Britannicus.
Nero and Octavia were married on June 9, 53. Claudius later repented of marrying Agrippina and adopting Nero, began to favour Britannicus, and started preparing him for the throne. His actions allegedly gave Agrippina a motive to eliminate Claudius. The ancient sources say she poisoned Claudius on October 13, 54 (a Sunday) with a plate of
deadly mushrooms at a banquet, thus enabling Nero to quickly take the throne as emperor. Accounts vary wildly with regard to this private incident and according to more modern sources, it is possible that Claudius died of natural causes; Claudius was 63 years old. In the aftermath of Claudius's death, Agrippina, who initially kept the death secret, tried to consolidate power, and immediately ordered that the palace and the capital be sealed. All the gates were blockaded and exit of the capital forbidden and she introduced Nero first to the soldiers and then to the senators as emperor.
Reign of Nero and empire control
The beginning of the power struggle between mother and son
![Nero Palatino Inv618](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fb/Nero_Palatino_Inv618.jpg)
Nero was raised to emperor and Agrippina was named a priestess of the cult of the deified Claudius. She now attempted to use her son's youth to participate in the rule of the Roman Empire. She enjoyed imperial prerogatives: holding court with the emperor by her side, being allowed to visit senate meetings from behind a curtain, and appearing as a partner to her son in the royal coins and statues. The historian
Tacitus
Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historiography, Roman historians by modern scholars.
The surviving portions of his t ...
depicts her as attempting a
diarchy
Diarchy (from Greek , ''di-'', "double", and , ''-arkhía'', "ruled"),Occasionally misspelled ''dyarchy'', as in the ''Encyclopaedia Britannica'' article on the colonial British institution duarchy, or duumvirate (from Latin ', "the office of ...
with her son when she demanded that the
Praetorian Guard
The Praetorian Guard (Latin: ''cohortēs praetōriae'') was a unit of the Imperial Roman army that served as personal bodyguards and intelligence agents for the Roman emperors. During the Roman Republic, the Praetorian Guard were an escort fo ...
pledge their loyalty to her. She was also said to have tried to participate in her son's meeting with Armenian ambassadors until
Seneca
Seneca may refer to:
People and language
* Seneca (name), a list of people with either the given name or surname
* Seneca people, one of the six Iroquois tribes of North America
** Seneca language, the language of the Seneca people
Places Extrat ...
and
Burrus
''Burrus'' is a genus of shield bugs
The Pentatomoidea are a superfamily of insects in the Heteroptera suborder of the Hemiptera order. As Hemiptera, they share a common arrangement of sucking mouthparts. The roughly 7000 species under Pentat ...
stopped her.
![Nerón y Agripina](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/40/Ner%C3%B3n_y_Agripina.jpg)
In year one of Nero's reign, Agrippina guided her 17-year-old son in his rule but started losing influence over Nero when he began to have an affair with the freed woman
Claudia Acte
Claudia Acte was a freedwoman of ancient Rome who became a mistress of the emperor Nero. She came from Asia Minor and might have become a slave of the Emperor Claudius, following his expansion of the Roman Empire into Lycia and Pamphylia; or she mi ...
, which Agrippina strongly disapproved of and violently scolded him for. Agrippina began to support Britannicus in her possible attempt to make him emperor, or to threaten Nero. The panicking emperor decided on whether to eliminate his mother or his step-brother. Soon, Nero had Britannicus secretly poisoned during his own banquet in February 55. The power struggle between Agrippina and her son had begun.
Agrippina between 56 and 58 became very watchful and had a critical eye over her son. In 56, Agrippina was forced out of the palace by her son to live in the imperial residence. However, some degree of Agrippina's influence over her son still lasted several more years, and they are considered the best years of Nero's reign. But their relationship grew more hostile and Nero gradually deprived his mother of honours and powers, and even removed her Roman and German bodyguards. Nero even threatened his mother that he would abdicate the throne and would go to live on the Greek Island of
Rhodes
Rhodes (; el, Ρόδος , translit=Ródos ) is the largest and the historical capital of the Dodecanese islands of Greece. Administratively, the island forms a separate municipality within the Rhodes regional unit, which is part of the So ...
, a place where Tiberius had lived after divorcing
Julia the Elder
Julia the Elder (30 October 39 BC – AD 14), known to her contemporaries as Julia Caesaris filia or Julia Augusti filia (Classical Latin: IVLIA•CAESARIS•FILIA or IVLIA•AVGVSTI•FILIA), was the daughter and only biological child of August ...
. Pallas also was dismissed from the court. The fall of Pallas and the opposition of Burrus and Seneca to Agrippina contributed to her scaling down of authority. In mid-56, she was forced out of everyday and active participation in the governance of Rome.
[Simon Hornblower, Antony Spawforth – E.A. (edd.), ]Oxford Classical Dictionary
The ''Oxford Classical Dictionary'' (''OCD'') is generally considered "the best one-volume dictionary on antiquity," an encyclopædic work in English consisting of articles relating to classical antiquity and its civilizations. It was first pub ...
, Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...
, Oxford
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
, 2003.
While Agrippina lived in her residence or when she went on short visits to Rome, Nero sent people to annoy her. Although living in Misenum, she was always hailed as Augusta and Agrippina and Nero would see each other on short visits. In late 58, Agrippina and a group of soldiers and senators were accused of attempting to overthrow Nero, and it was said they planned to move with
Gaius Rubellius Plautus
Rubellius Plautus (33–62 AD) was a Roman noble and a political rival of Emperor Nero. Through his mother Julia, he was a relative of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. He was the grandson of Drusus (only son of Tiberius Caesar), and the great-grandson ...
. In addition, she revealed Nero's relationship with
Poppaea Sabina
Poppaea Sabina (AD 30 – 65), also known as Ollia, was a Roman empress as the second wife of the Emperor Nero. She had also been wife to the future emperor Otho. The historians of antiquity describe her as a beautiful woman who used intrigues ...
.
Death and aftermath
The circumstances that surround Agrippina's death are uncertain due to historical contradictions and anti-Nero bias. All surviving stories of Agrippina's death contradict themselves and each other, and are generally fantastical.
Tacitus's account
According to Tacitus, in 58, Nero became involved with the noble woman Poppaea Sabina. She taunted him for being a "mummy's boy." She also convinced him of the autonomy of any other emperor. With the reasoning that a divorce from Octavia and a marriage to Poppaea was not politically feasible with Agrippina alive, Nero decided to kill Agrippina. Yet, Nero did not marry Poppaea until 62, calling into question this motive. Additionally,
Suetonius
Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus (), commonly referred to as Suetonius ( ; c. AD 69 – after AD 122), was a Roman historian who wrote during the early Imperial era of the Roman Empire.
His most important surviving work is a set of biographies ...
reveals that Poppaea's husband,
Otho
Marcus Otho (; born Marcus Salvius Otho; 28 April 32 – 16 April 69) was the seventh Roman emperor, ruling for three months from 15 January to 16 April 69. He was the second emperor of the Year of the Four Emperors.
A member of a noble Etru ...
, was not sent away by Nero until after Agrippina's death in 59, making it highly unlikely that already married Poppaea would be pressing Nero. Some modern historians theorise that Nero's decision to kill Agrippina was prompted by her plot to replace him with either Gaius
Rubellius Plautus
Rubellius Plautus (33–62 AD) was a Roman noble and a political rival of Emperor Nero. Through his mother Julia, he was a relative of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. He was the grandson of Drusus (only son of Tiberius Caesar), and the great-grandson o ...
(Nero's maternal second cousin) or Britannicus (Claudius' biological son).
Tacitus claims that Nero considered poisoning or stabbing her, but felt these methods were too difficult and suspicious, so he settled on – after the advice of his former tutor
Anicetus – building a self-sinking boat. Though aware of the plot, Agrippina embarked on this boat and was nearly crushed by a collapsing lead ceiling only to be saved by the side of a sofa breaking the ceiling's fall.
[Tacitus, ''Annals'' XIV.5.] Though the collapsing ceiling missed Agrippina, it crushed her attendant who was outside by the helm.
The boat failed to sink from the lead ceiling, so the crew then sank the boat, but Agrippina swam to shore.
Her friend,
Acerronia Polla
Acerronia Polla was a servant and friend of Agrippina the Younger, the mother of Nero. She was drowned in AD 59, when an unsuccessful attempt was made at the same time to drown Agrippina. She may have been the daughter of Gnaeus Acerronius Procu ...
, was attacked by oarsmen while still in the water, and was either bludgeoned to death or drowned, since she was exclaiming that she was Agrippina, with the intention of being saved. She did not know, however, that this was an assassination attempt, not a mere accident. Agrippina was met at the shore by crowds of admirers.
[Tacitus, ''Annals'' XIV.8.] News of Agrippina's survival reached Nero so he sent three assassins to kill her.
Suetonius's account
Suetonius says that Agrippina's "over-watchful" and "over-critical" eye that she kept over Nero drove him to murdering her. After months of attempting to humiliate her by depriving her of her power, honour, and bodyguards, he also expelled her from the
Palatine
A palatine or palatinus (in Latin; plural ''palatini''; cf. derivative spellings below) is a high-level official attached to imperial or royal courts in Europe since Roman times. , followed by the people he sent to "pester" her with lawsuits and "jeers and catcalls".
When he eventually turned to murder, he first tried poison, three times in fact. She prevented her death by taking the antidote in advance. Afterwards, he rigged up a machine in her room which would drop her ceiling tiles onto her as she slept, but she once again escaped her death after she received word of the plan. Nero's final plan was to get her in a boat which would collapse and sink.
He sent her a friendly letter asking to reconcile and inviting her to celebrate the Quinquatrus at
Baiae
Baiae ( it, Baia; nap, Baia) was an ancient Roman town situated on the northwest shore of the Gulf of Naples and now in the ''comune'' of Bacoli. It was a fashionable resort for centuries in antiquity, particularly towards the end of the Roman ...
with him. He arranged an "accidental" collision between her galley and one of his captains. When returning home, he offered her his collapsible boat, as opposed to her damaged galley.
The next day, Nero received word of her survival after the boat sank from her freedman Agermus. Panicking, Nero ordered a guard to "surreptitiously" drop a blade behind Agermus and Nero immediately had him arrested on account of attempted murder. Nero ordered the assassination of Agrippina. He made it look as if Agrippina had committed suicide after her plot to kill Nero had been uncovered.
Suetonius says that after Agrippina's death, Nero examined Agrippina's corpse and discussed her good and bad points. Nero also believed Agrippina to haunt him after her death.
[Suetonius, 'The Lives of Caesars', The Life of Nero 34.]
Cassius Dio's account
The tale of
Cassius Dio
Lucius Cassius Dio (), also known as Dio Cassius ( ), was a Roman historian and senator of maternal Greek origin. He published 80 volumes of the history on ancient Rome, beginning with the arrival of Aeneas in Italy. The volumes documented the ...
is also somewhat different. It starts again with Poppaea as the motive behind the murder. Nero designed a ship that would open at the bottom while at sea.
[Cassius Dio, ''Historia Romana'' LXIII.12.] Agrippina was put aboard and after the bottom of the ship opened up, she fell into the water.
Agrippina swam to shore so Nero sent an assassin to kill her. Nero then claimed Agrippina had plotted to kill him and committed suicide. Her reputed
last words
Last words are the final utterances before death. The meaning is sometimes expanded to somewhat earlier utterances.
Last words of famous or infamous people are sometimes recorded (although not always accurately) which became a historical and liter ...
, uttered as the assassin was about to strike, were "Smite my womb", the implication here being she wished to be destroyed first in that part of her body that had given birth to so "abominable a son."
Burial
After Agrippina's death, Nero viewed her corpse and commented how beautiful she was, according to some.
[Tacitus, ''Annals'' XIV.9.] Her body was cremated that night on a dining couch. At his mother's funeral, Nero was witless, speechless and rather scared. When the news spread that Agrippina had died, the Roman army, senate and various people sent him letters of congratulations that he had been saved from his mother's plots.
Aftermath
During the remainder of Nero's reign, Agrippina's grave was not covered or enclosed. Her household later on gave her a modest tomb in
Misenum
Miseno is one of the ''frazioni'' of the municipality of Bacoli in the Italian Province of Naples. Known in ancient Roman times as Misenum, it is the site of a great Roman port.
Geography
Nearby Cape Miseno marks the northwestern end of the Bay ...
.
Nero would have his mother's death on his conscience. He felt so guilty he would sometimes have nightmares about his mother. He even saw his mother's ghost and got
Persia
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
n magicians to ask her for forgiveness.
Years before she died, Agrippina had visited
astrologer
Astrology is a range of divinatory practices, recognized as pseudoscientific since the 18th century, that claim to discern information about human affairs and terrestrial events by studying the apparent positions of celestial objects. Dif ...
s to ask about her son's future. The astrologers had rather accurately predicted that her son would become emperor and would kill her. She replied, "Let him kill me, provided he becomes emperor," according to Tacitus.
= Agrippina's alleged victims
=
* 47
** ''Passienus Crispus'': Agrippina's 2nd husband, poisoned (Suet.).
*48
** ''Messalina'': Because of the competition for the emperor's successor
* 49
** ''Lollia Paulina'': as she was a rival for Claudius' hand in marriage as proposed by the freedman Callistus (Tac. & Dio).
** ''Lucius Silanus'': betrothed to Octavia, Claudius' daughter before his marriage of Agrippina. He committed suicide on their wedding day.
** ''Sosibius'': Britannicus' tutor, executed for plotting against Nero.
** ''Calpurnia'': banished (Tac.) and/or executed (Dio) because Claudius had commented on her beauty.
* 53
** ''Statilius Taurus'': forced to commit suicide because Agrippina wanted his gardens (Tac.).
* 54
** ''Claudius'': her husband, poisoned (Tac., Sen., Juv., Suet., Dio).
** ''Domitia Lepida'': mother of Messalina, executed (Tac.).
** ''Marcus Junius Silanus'': a potential rival to Nero, poisoned (Pliny, Tac., Dio).
** ''Cadius Rufus'': executed on the charge of extortion.
** ''Tiberius Claudius Narcissus'': Because of the competition with Agrippina.
Cultural references
In music and literature
She is remembered in ''
De Mulieribus Claris
''De Mulieribus Claris'' or ''De Claris Mulieribus'' (Latin for "Concerning Famous Women") is a collection of biographies of historical and mythological women by the Florentine author Giovanni Boccaccio, composed in Latin prose in 1361–1362. ...
'', a collection of biographies of historical and mythological women by the
Florentine author
Giovanni Boccaccio
Giovanni Boccaccio (, , ; 16 June 1313 – 21 December 1375) was an Italian writer, poet, correspondent of Petrarch, and an important Renaissance humanist. Born in the town of Certaldo, he became so well known as a writer that he was somet ...
, composed in 136162. It is notable as the first collection devoted exclusively to biographies of women in western literature.
[.]
*''
Octavia'', a Roman tragedy written during the
Flavian Flavian may refer to:
* A member of the Flavian dynasty of Roman emperors, during the late 1st century AD, or their works
* Flavian Zeija, a Ugandan lawyer, academic and judge. Principal Judge of Uganda, since December 2019.
* A person named Flavian ...
period
*''Agrippina: Trauerspiel'' (1665), a German baroque tragedy by
Daniel Casper von Lohenstein
Daniel Casper (25 January 1635 in Nimptsch, Niederschlesien – 28 April 1683 in Breslau, Niederschlesien), also spelled Daniel Caspar, and referred to from 1670 as Daniel Casper von Lohenstein, was a Baroque Silesian playwright, lawyer, diploma ...
*G.F. Handel's 1709 opera ''
Agrippina'' with a libretto by
Vincenzo Grimani
Vincenzo Grimani (15 May 1652 or 26 May 1655 – 26 September 1710) was an Italian cardinal, diplomat, and opera librettist.
Biography
Grimani was born either in Venice or Mantua. He is best remembered for having supplied the libretto for Ge ...
*''Empress of Rome'' (1978), a novel by Robert DeMaria (Vineyard Press edition, 2001, )
*Agrippina is considered to be the founder of Cologne and is still symbolised there today by the robe of the virgin of the Cologne triumvirate. In the sculpture programme of the Cologne town hall tower, a figure by Heribert Calleen was dedicated to Agrippina on the ground floor.
In film, television, and radio
* The 1911 Italian film ''
Agrippina''
*''
I, Claudius
''I, Claudius'' is a historical novel by English writer Robert Graves, published in 1934. Written in the form of an autobiography of the Roman Emperor Claudius, it tells the history of the Julio-Claudian dynasty and the early years of the Roma ...
'' (1976) played by
Barbara Young (here called Agrippinilla).
*''
Caligula
Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (31 August 12 – 24 January 41), better known by his nickname Caligula (), was the third Roman emperor, ruling from 37 until his assassination in 41. He was the son of the popular Roman general Germanicu ...
'' (1979) and also ''
Messalina, Messalina
''Messalina, Messalina!'', also known as ''Caligula II: Messalina, Messalina'' and ''Caligula:sins of Rome'', is a 1977 Italian sex comedy and sword-and-sandal spoof.
Background
The film is not in fact a sequel nor a prequel to Tinto Brass' 1979 ...
'' (1977) played by Lori Wagner.
*''Caligula and Messalina'' (1981) played by
Françoise Blanchard
Françoise Denise Aline Blanchard (6 June 1954 – 24 May 2013) was a French actress and voice dubbing artist. Her most notable work is that of her role in the 1982 French film ''La morte vivante'', directed by Jean Rollin. Blanchard had co ...
.
*''
A.D.
The terms (AD) and before Christ (BC) are used to label or number years in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. The term is Medieval Latin and means 'in the year of the Lord', but is often presented using "our Lord" instead of "the Lord", ...
'' (1985 miniseries) played by
Ava Gardner
Ava Lavinia Gardner (December 24, 1922 – January 25, 1990) was an American actress. She first signed a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1941 and appeared mainly in small roles until she drew critics' attention in 1946 with her perform ...
.
*''
Boudica
Boudica or Boudicca (, known in Latin chronicles as Boadicea or Boudicea, and in Welsh as ()), was a queen of the ancient British Iceni tribe, who led a failed uprising against the conquering forces of the Roman Empire in AD 60 or 61. She ...
'' (2003) played by
Frances Barber
Frances Barber (née Brookes, born 13 May 1958) is an English actress. She received Olivier Award nominations for her work in the plays '' Camille'' (1985), and ''Uncle Vanya'' (1997). Her film appearances include three collaborations with Gar ...
.
*''
Imperium: Nero'' (2005) played by
Laura Morante
Laura Morante (born 21 August 1956) is an Italian film actress.
Life and career
Morante was born in Santa Fiora, province of Grosseto (Tuscany), the daughter of lawyer and playwright Marcello Morante, who was the son of Irma (née Poggibonsi) ( ...
.
*''
Ancients Behaving Badly'' (2009), History Channel documentary. Episode ''Nero''.
*''
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterr ...
'' (2016), Netflix, played by
Teressa Liane
Teressa Liane is an Australian actress. She is known for her roles as Rhiannon Bates in ''Neighbours'', as Mary Louise on ''The Vampire Diaries'', Angelica on '' Into the Badlands'' and as Agrippina in the Netflix documentary drama ''Roman Em ...
.
* Agrippina the Younger was portrayed by
Betty Lou Gerson
Betty Lou Gerson (April 20, 1914 – January 12, 1999) was an American actress, predominantly active in radio but also in film and television and as a voice actress. She is best known as the original voice of Cruella de Vil from the Disney anima ...
in the August 31, 1953, episode of the
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...
radio program ''
Crime Classics
''Crime Classics'' is a United States radio docudrama which aired as a sustaining series over CBS Radio from June 15, 1953, to June 30, 1954.
Production
Produced and directed by radio actor and director Elliott Lewis, the program was a histor ...
'' that was entitled "Your Loving Son, Nero." The episode chronicles the killing of Agrippina by her son Nero who was portrayed by
William Conrad
William Conrad (born John William Cann Jr., September 27, 1920 – February 11, 1994) was an American actor, producer, and director whose entertainment career spanned five decades in radio, film, and television, peaking in popularity when he s ...
.
*''Mio Figlio Nerone '' (1956) played by Gloria Swanson
Perspectives on Agrippina's personality
Ancient
Most ancient Roman sources are quite critical of Agrippina the Younger. Tacitus considered her vicious and had a strong disposition against her. Other sources are Suetonius and Cassius Dio.
Modern
* Girod, Virginie, ''Agrippine, sexe, crimes et pouvoir dans la Rome impériale '', Paris, Tallandier, 2015, 300 p.
* Minaud, Gérard, ''Les vies de 12 femmes d'empereur romain – Devoirs, Intrigues & Voluptés '', Paris, L'Harmattan, 2012, ch. 3, '' La vie d'Agrippine, femme de Claude'', p. 65-96.
* E. Groag, A. Stein, L. Petersen, ''Prosopographia Imperii Romani saeculi I, II et III'', Berlin, 1933
*
Scullard: A critical view of Agrippina, suggesting she was ambitious and unscrupulous and a depraved sexual
psychopath
Psychopathy, sometimes considered synonymous with sociopathy, is characterized by persistent Anti-social behaviour, antisocial behavior, impaired empathy and remorse, and Boldness, bold, Disinhibition, disinhibited, and Egotism, egotistical B ...
. "Agrippina struck down a series of victims; no man or woman was safe if she suspected rivalry or desired their wealth."
[H. H. Scullard, ''From the Gracchi to Nero: History of Rome from 133 B.C.to A.D. 68'', London, 19825, p. 303.]
*
Ferrero Ferrero (Italian: , Spanish: ) is a surname of Italian (from Piedmont) and Spanish origin that means 'smith', the person who works with iron, in parallel with surnames like Ferraro, Ferrari and Smith.
Notable people with the surname Ferrero inclu ...
: Sympathetic and understanding, suggesting Agrippina has been judged harshly by history. Suggesting her marriage to Claudius was to a weak emperor who was, because of his hesitations and terrors, a threat to the imperial authority and government. She saw it her duty to compensate for the innumerable deficiencies of her strange husband through her own intelligence and strength of will. Pages
212ff.;
276ff.
* Barrett: A reasonable view, comparing Scullard's criticisms to Ferrero's apologies. (See Barrett, Anthony A., Agrippina: Sex, Power and Politics in the Early Roman Empire, Yale University Press, New Haven, 1996.)
* Annelise Freisenbruch, ''The first ladies of Rome''
*
*
*
*
*
* McDaniel, W. B. "Bauli the Scene of the Murder of Agrippina". ''The Classical Quarterly'', Vol. 4, No. 2 (April 1910)
*
Salmonson, Jessica Amanda. (1991) ''The Encyclopedia of Amazons''. Paragon House. Pages 4–5.
* Donna Hurley
Agrippina the Younger (Wife of Claudius)
* L. Foubert, ''Agrippina. Keizerin van Rome'', Leuven, 2006.
* Opera by
G. F. Handel: ''
Agrippina''
See also
*
List of unsolved murders
These lists of unsolved murders include notable cases where victims were murdered in unknown circumstances.
* List of unsolved murders (before 1900)
* List of unsolved murders (1900–1979)
* List of unsolved murders (1980–1999)
* List of unsol ...
Notes
References
*
*
*Tacitus, ''Annales xii.1–10, 64–69, xiv.1–9''
*Suetonius, ''De vita Caesarum'' – ''Claudius v.44'' and ''Nero vi.5.3, 28.2, 34.1–4''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Agrippina the Younger
15 births
59 deaths
1st-century executions
1st-century Roman empresses
Augustae
Children of Germanicus
Family of Nero
Female murder victims
Incest
Julii Caesares
Murdered Roman empresses
People from Cologne
Unsolved murders in Italy
Wives of Claudius