Agrippina

In the history of the Roman Empire , there were also women who became part of history. Agrippina the Younger, also known by the name of Agripina II or Agripina Minor, was a Roman empress who lived at the beginning of the 1st century AD. She was one of the most famous women of the Julio-Claudian family , and was directly related to three emperors. Agrippina was the sister of Emperor Caligula , the fourth wife of Emperor Claudius, and the mother of Emperor Nero .

What did Agrippina do

Agrippina was a woman who little by little managed to enter the highest positions of the Roman Empire . He managed to marry Claudio to later strengthen his lineage . He was able to easily unseat Británico , the son of Claudius in order to place his son Nero in the position of heir to the empire . He made the relationship Nero with Octavia was approved and at the same time, while getting Nero rise in position, also began to plan a campaign of disrepute against the sole purpose of acquiring all the power. It was through her son that she managed to rule the entire Roman people without their realizing it.

Biography of Agripina

Agrippina the Younger , the name by which she was known, was born on November 6, year 15, in Oppidum Ubiorum . She was the daughter of the famous Germanic general and his wife Agrippina the Elder , but was raised by her grandmother Antonia in Rome. When she was only 13 years old, she married Ahenobarbus Domitius and ten years later she was able to have their son Nero . His brother Caligula became emperor, and during this time, he enjoyed royal treatment before being implicated in a plot against Caligula’s life and being exiled.

Agrippina returned to Rome after Caligula died in 41 AD, and her freedman Pallas convinced the new emperor Claudius to marry her . Agrippina apparently had an informant accuse Lollina Paulina , one of her competitors by Claudio’s hand, of practicing witchcraft , prompting her to be exiled and thereby securing her position as empress.

Later, he devoted himself to unseat a British who was the son of Claudius so that Nero could become emperor of the Roman Empire, as had convinced him to adopt him as his son. Finally, Agrippina was responsible for poisoning to Claudio for dinner and with this, Nero was finally named as emperor.

Death

Agrippina, after becoming the mother of the emperor, had a time of great power, however, it did not last long because according to history , it was her own son who was in charge of murdering her . This fact did not turn out to be an easy act to carry out because apparently, she was already suspicious about the intentions of her son and daughter-in-law. According to the story, she used to take a small dose of poison to get immunization in case they wanted to poison her.

Seeing that he could not poison her, Nero decided then to try to sink the ship in which his mother would make a trip but she was able to escape and swim to shore. In the end, she met her death in her villa located in Antium , the same place where she had given birth to the one who would become her assassin. She was killed by an aide to Nero with a sword .

Family

She was the first daughter of Agrippina the Elder and Germanicus, a man who stood out as a very popular general and politician in the Roman Empire. His father had two brothers among whom was Claudio , who would be the future emperor of Rome. She had three brothers older than her: Nerón César , Druso and Calígula and also, two sisters, Drusilla and Julia Livilla . Her first husband and Nero’s biological father, Gneo Domicio Ahenobarbus , died of edema. Her second husband ,Gaius Salustio Passienus Crispus , died poisoned.

Physical characteristics

You do not have an accurate description of the physical characteristics of Agrippina, however, statues and stories about her describe her as a woman beautiful , with big eyes and open a nose long aquiline shape and curly hair shaped column.

Personality

Agrippina was characterized by having a cruel personality , she was a very ambitious , intriguing woman and also full of debauchery . She was extremely cunning and even had a personality that matched a con artist . He had an obsession with being around “bad” men and he loved to enjoy the pleasures around him to the fullest . Conspiracies and interests stood out in his personality and he did everything possible to achieve all his goals. She was an eager , diplomatic and political woman .

Importance

Agrippina was considered one of the most important women that existed in the Roman Empire. She was seen as a worthy representative of ambition and power and through her Nero managed to establish himself as the emperor of the Roman people. With her personality, she managed to achieve the power that she sought so much and thus managed to place herself as the first empress of Rome . She was also a recognized and important diplomatic woman , perhaps the first woman who came very close to achieving absolute leadership of the Roman Empire .

Acknowledgments

There is no data on recognitions that have been made on behalf of Agrippina, however, its history remains today.

Plays

There is no data on important works that have been carried out by Agripina. For many historians, his main work was to get Nero to achieve the title of emperor in Rome.

Phrases

There are no data on important and remembered phrases that have been mentioned by Agrippina.

Presence in popular culture

Various works have been made to tell the story of Agrippina. One of them is known by the name of Memoirs of Agrippina , a work that narrates the ambition for power that he had and how he planned murder and incest so that his son Nero managed to position himself as the emperor of Rome. Several films have been made to tell his story, some of them are:

• Mio Figlio Nerone (My son Nero)
• I, Claudio
• Caligula
• Empire: Nero

Curiosities

Some curiosities about Agrippina are mentioned below:

• According to the ancient writer Pliny the Elder, Agrippina had an extra tooth in the upper right part of her jaw.
• Despite his bloody reputation, Caligula adored his sisters and in fact placed their faces on their official coins, and even inserted their names into his oaths of allegiance.
• Around AD 40, Agrippina was single and willing to socialize. She wanted to have a relationship with a man named Galba , but her advances were apparently so shameless, that he did not give it importance, in addition, he was married.
• Agrippina’s ambitions were not always out of control. In the first year of Claudius’s reign, she was very quiet and hardly attended the imperial residence.