Portrait of Agrippina the Younger (15-59 AD), by unknown artist • WIKIMEDIA COMMONS Great-granddaughter of Augustus, daughter of General Germanicus, grand-niece of Tiberius, sister of Caligula, wife of Claudius and mother of Nero, Agrippina the Younger was the noblest woman in Rome. Despite this, her sex prevented her from exercising power. Unless you manipulate men enough to successfully govern through them... The imperial household's nest of vipers Agrippina the Younger was born on November 6, 15 AD. AD at Ara Ubiorum (Cologne). His father then commanded the eight Roman legions of 48,000 men stationed on the border of Germany, along the Rhine. Her mother, Agrippina the Elder, was the favorite granddaughter of Emperor Augustus. Agrippina the Younger did not grow up in a loving, uneventful home. From 17 to 19, his parents went on a mission to the eastern provinces. The little girl remained in Rome with her older brothers. She probably lived with her grandmother Antonia and must have been close to her uncle Claude. When her widowed mother returned to Rome claiming that Emperor Tiberius had poisoned her husband Germanicus in Syria, Agrippina was 4 years old. At her age, she no doubt felt the poisonous atmosphere that suffocated her family. In the nest of vipers that was the imperial house, she took Livia as an example, once she became a teenager. The Empress-Mother dominated the political scene. She was the backstage mistress of the Palatine, the most powerful woman, the only truly untouchable. Although the girl did not like him, she longed to be like him. As an adolescent, Agrippina looked to Empress Mother Livia as an example. Mistress behind the scenes of the Palatine, she was the most powerful woman, the only truly untouchable. Barely marriageable, Agrippina was married by Tiberius to Cnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus. This cousin of the imperial family was a good match, except for the fact that he was 20 years older than him and that he was considered a cruel man. However, this marriage shielded Agrippina from the vicissitudes of the Domus Augusta (the Imperial House), as she watched helplessly as her brothers and mother were infamously exiled at the Emperor's instigation. An influential woman On March 16, 37, his destiny changed. Tiberius, the tyrant of her childhood, was dead, and it was Agrippina's brother, Caligula, who took the purple. The new emperor intended to reign surrounded by his sisters. He devised new oaths for senators:“I will not be more attached to myself or to my children than I am to Caligula and, immediately after him, to his sisters. Such honors for young princesses were a real innovation in Rome. Caligula was the first emperor to openly assume the monarchical dimension of the principate. Agrippina tasted for the first time the pleasure of being an influential woman. And as happiness never comes alone, she became pregnant. Agrippina immediately understood that being the mother of a boy descended directly from the Emperor Augustus through women was a chance for her. Withdrawn to her villa in Antium, on the Tyrrhenian coast, she gave birth to little Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus. The future emperor Nero was born with the dawn of December 15, 37. Agrippina immediately understood that being the mother of a boy descending in a straight line from the emperor Augustus through women was a chance for her. Caligula had no children; hers could become her successor, thus making her the empress-mother, following the example of Livia. Eager to know her son's fate, she summoned mages to her bedside. They made terrible predictions:the little boy would reign, but would kill his mother. Determined, she answered:"Let him kill me, provided he reigns!" Agrippina would henceforth dedicate her life to the conquest of power. But who did she really want it for? For her or for her son? Returning to court life, the young woman watched her brother sink into his tyrannical perversions. She foresaw the revolts to come and took the lead with her brother-in-law Lepidus. Supported by the legate of Germania, Gaeticulus, they imagined a conspiracy unfortunately discovered and suppressed in blood. Agrippina thought of carrying Lepidus to the throne and reigning through him, probably as a wife, before imposing her son on the purple. Instead, the conspirator was executed, while she herself was exiled to the island of Pontia. A propaganda expert A year and a half later, in 41, the praetorians revolted in turn. Caligula was assassinated and Uncle Claudius, brother of Germanicus, brought to power. In his great leniency, the new princeps recalled to Rome the exiles of his predecessor. Agrippina took her son back from her sister-in-law and looked for a new husband, because her husband had died during his relegation. She married a wealthy lawyer named Passienus. The young woman rebuilt her network of friends, to whom she extolled the merits of her son, in whose veins the blood of Augustus flowed. His propaganda was working. During the Trojan games of 47, Lucius and Britannicus, the son of Claudius and Messalina, paraded before the people. The Romans showed more love for Agrippina's son than for Claudius. This did not fail to stir up the dangerous jealousy of Messalina. But the young empress, very inexperienced in politics, was soon executed for a dark story of adultery. The Emperor Claudius therefore found himself a widower, and Agrippina was recently widowed again. Pallas, a freedman of the imperial family, no doubt very close to Agrippina, made it his duty to bring the uncle and niece closer together. Which of the three initiated the marriage project? Probably not Claude. It is not impossible that Agrippina and Pallas were lovers. They could have conceived this marriage with the emperor together to get a little closer to power, because Pallas was himself one of Claude's trusted men. The freedman convinced his boss that Agrippina would be the right wife. Noble and intelligent, she could be a wise support. The imperial marriage was announced by a special decree of the senate, since unions between uncle and niece were normally incest. But this time, reason of state demanded it. Agrippina was the first emperor's wife to bear the nickname Augusta (empress title) during her husband's lifetime. At 33, Agrippina became the First Lady of the Empire. Her noble birth convinced Claude to offer her privileges:she was the first emperor's wife to bear the nickname Augusta (title of empress) during the lifetime of her husband. She obtained the right to move in carpentum , an honorary float usually reserved for ceremonies. She then demanded to be greeted as the emperor by anyone who passed her. Finally, she participated in the triumph of Claude celebrating his victory over the Bretons. Never had an Empress paraded at a military event. For the first time in the history of Rome, a couple was in power. Foresighted, Agrippina nevertheless prepared for the future by imposing her son as the successor of Claudius, to the detriment of Britannicus. To this end, she urged her husband to adopt her son. This one took the name of Nero while he became administratively the eldest son of the emperor. Poisonous mushrooms Far from being satisfied with the pomp of the palace, Agrippina gave her political opinions on everything. She was her husband's right arm for almost five years. But Claude began to rebel against his growing authority. As he closed in on Britannicus, the young woman took the lead. She poisoned him at dinner with a dish of mushrooms he loved. This decision was certainly not taken lightly, because she had a certain affection for Claude who, as a child, made her jump on his knees. But she couldn't risk having her dreams of power confiscated. A wife repudiates herself, not a mother. Her goal was to be Empress Mother. She was ready to make any sacrifice to achieve this. On the morning of October 13, 54, while the empress was holding Britannicus crying in the room of the barely deceased Claudius, Nero was acclaimed by the praetorian guard and recognized as emperor by the senate. Agrippina certainly had blood on her hands, but she was still Empress. That evening, when the tribunes of the praetorium asked the password of the night watch to the emperor, he exclaimed "optima mater" , the “best mother”. He knew full well that he owed the purple to the all-powerful Agrippina. The Empress then took the reins of power with relish. At 17, Nero preferred partying to affairs of state. Very quickly, this too perfect mother had coins minted on which she appeared alongside her son as the true mistress of power:the legend in her name was on the obverse and that of the emperor, rejected on the reverse. Unheard of! Drunk with power, Agrippina became so menacing that her son grew to hate her and drove her out of the palace six months after her accession. Always more eager to govern, Agrippina asked her son to bring together the senate at the palace. She could thus listen to the sessions hidden behind a curtain and impose her decisions on Nero. That a woman could enjoy such power scandalized the men of the court. The philosopher Seneca, very close to the young princeps , and the praetorian prefect Burrus soon set him against his mother. Drunk with power, Agrippina became so menacing that her son grew to hate her and drove her out of the palace six months after her accession. Resentment consumed them for years. In 59, Nero, in love with the imperious Poppea, resolved to assassinate his mother to free himself forever from her psychic influence. After a festive evening of reconciliation in the imperial villa of Baiae, intended to lull Agrippina's mistrust, the emperor had her assassinated on the night of March 19 to 20. As armed soldiers from the Misenum fleet entered her villa in Bauli, Agrippina understood that the prediction of the Magi had come true. Draped in her dignity, she greeted them with these words:“Strike in the belly, where I carried this monster. » A matricide disguised as suicide The corpse of the Empress-Mother was promptly burned and buried along the road to the Bay of Naples. To make the impious matricide less abominable, Seneca and Nero invented the story of the sinking of Agrippina, which they wrote in an account of the events intended for the senate. In the official version, Nero offered the Empress-Mother a boat after the reconciliation dinner given for the Minerva feasts. The boat had unfortunately sunk not far from the Neapolitan coast. Agrippina had survived, but she was convinced that her son had wanted to kill her by drowning her. She allegedly retaliated by sending one of her slaves to stab the emperor. The fatal emissary arrested by the imperial guard would have confessed the murderous intentions of his mistress. Shame-stricken, Agrippina reportedly committed suicide. No one in Rome mourned the empress. For having been a powerful woman, she was deeply hated by misogynistic senators, as naturally were the men of their time. We preferred to close our eyes to the matricide. Later, when Nero in turn descended into tyranny, the Romans would accuse Agrippina of bringing a tyrant to power. She was finally criticized for having really been the "best mother". Find out more Agrippina. Sex, Crimes and Power, by Virginie Girod, Tallandier, 2019. Timeline 15 Agrippina the Younger was born in the garrison of Ara Ubiorum, in Germany. She is the daughter of Germanicus and Agrippina the Elder, granddaughter of Augustus.37 Caligula, Agrippina's brother, succeeds Tiberius. At the end of the year, the future emperor Nero was born, son of Cnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus.49 Agrippina marries her uncle, the Emperor Claudius. She brings Seneca, in exile, in Rome and appointed him tutor to Nero. The following year, she received the title of Augusta .54 Claude dies, probably poisoned by a dish of poisonous mushrooms served by Agrippina. The same day, the praetorians and the senate proclaim Nero emperor.59 After escaping a suspicious drowning, Agrippina is murdered in her villa in Bauli by henchmen sent by her son Nero. His corpse is very quickly cremated in the same place. Agrippina’s colony in Germania The period during which Agrippina took part in public affairs is illustrated by its relative tranquility, prosperity and good management. One of his personal accomplishments as Augusta is to found a Roman colony in Germania, in Ara Ubiorum, the place where she was born on November 6, 15 AD. The founding of a city is an exceptional and prestigious event, which no woman in the Roman world had yet achieved. The name given to this new colony, which comes under Roman law, is Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium . Prosperous city, it will become the flourishing city of Cologne, today fourth largest city in Germany. The sad fate of Britannicus February 55. During a dinner at the palace, Britannicus collapses. Calm and smiling, Nero asks the guards to take the body of his adoptive brother to his room. The latter, clearly the victim of an epileptic fit which he is accustomed to, must rest. But the young prince will never wake up... His body is hastily buried in the night. According to ancient chroniclers, the emperor had him assassinated by rivalry:son of Claude, he had the necessary dynastic legitimacy to demand his share of power. On the other hand, Agrippina might have threatened her son to favor Britannicus if he proved intractable with her. Nero would then have had the teenager poisoned to tell his mother that his emotional blackmail had no hold over him. That evening, Agrippina saw that her son was as formidable as she was and that she too was in danger. The status of empress-mother was not as secure as she would have liked... A Hasty Funeral To make sure his mother is dead, Nero goes to the villa of Agrippina, near Bauli. The slaves of the house having fled, he certainly discovered it as its assassins left it. To erase all traces of the crime, a stake is installed outside the villa; the emperor's mother is cremated there, placed on a banquet bed serving as a funeral bed. His freedman, Mnester, not bearing his loss, commits suicide. Agrippina's ashes are then buried near the road linking Baïes to Miseno. Remains known as “ tomb of Agrippina” are in present-day Bacoli, although it is uncertain whether this is actually his tomb.
