This account of Agrippina’s death, corroborated by several ancient historians but likely2 embellished, previews the difficulties we will face in exploring Agrippina in the historical record. Tiberius could not risk her remarrying but instead of flatly denying her, he chose the cowardly way out. Besides besmirching Nero, the letter denounced Agrippina as arrogant and insubordinate—no breach too petty for retribution by the Princeps. In a bogus trap, Titius Sabinus, a distinguished knight, had what he thought was an innocent enough conversation with one of his friends, Latiaris, who had been briefed beforehand by Sejanus. Her father was general Germanicus, one-time heir apparent to the Roman Empire under Tiberius and her mother was Agrippina the Elder, a granddaughter of the first Roman emperor Augustus. Being the emperor's sister gave Agrippina some influence. Finally, at forty-seven years of age, on October 18 in 33 CE, two years to the date that Sejanus was executed, the granddaughter of the Divine Augustus perished. Even before the funeral march, Roman tongues were wagging. Across the Roman Empire, statues of Agrippina went up in her honor. But the close family connection did nothing to endear the two men or their wives to each other. He wrote letters to his friends telling them of his suspicions and calling for revenge. By this time, Tiberius was in his seventy-eighth year and had served as emperor for twenty-three long, hard and arduous years. Agrippina: these patrons appear to have preferred a less idealized presentation of a woman whom they admired for her character and her activities in life. To the people, Tiberius’s absence from Germanicus’s funeral was not only an affront to Germanicus’s memory but more importantly testament to the Princeps’ culpability for his murder as well. But even Livia’s blood was thicker than water and Agrippina’s children were her great-grandchildren, after all. Julia Agrippina, also referred to as Agrippina the Younger, was a Roman empress and one of the most prominent women in the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Tone-deaf as ever, Tiberius was impatient with the commemorations and displayed his petulance with the inconsolable mourners by urging them to get back to work. Marble statue of Vipsania Agrippina, from the 2nd century, …Agrippa’s five children by Julia, Agrippina the Elder, was the mother of one emperor (Caligula) and the grandmother of another (Nero). Furious at the gross insubordination, Germanicus and the governor quarreled heatedly with Piso departing in “open enmity,” reports Tacitus. Suddenly her status changed from empress in waiting to private Roman matron. Nevertheless, one can only imagine the animus Agrippina must have felt for the man responsible for her mother’s cruel death. Once Agrippina and her two eldest sons were out of the dynastic picture, Tiberius took a harder and closer look at his “partner in toil.” Perhaps Suetonius was correct when he claimed that Tiberius may have used the Prefect all along in order to remove Agrippina’s two eldest sons thus paving the way open for his grandson Tiberius Gemellus for dynastic succession. But the mourning did not stop at Brundisium, it had only just begun. In fact, his behavior stoked them. Meanwhile, further widening the breach between Agrippina and Livia, the most reverend Augusta intervened on Plancina’s behalf to have her pardoned. Clearing the path for himself, he had effectively removed both obstacles in the way of succession. and femminaclassica.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content. Initially the Praetorian Guard was formed by Augustus for the personal security of the emperor, but as a result of its power, it acquired a reputation for political intrigue. Her father’s marriage to Julia was his third marriage. Her parents were Germanicus, the nephew of the ruling Roman emperor Tiberius, and Agrippina the Elder, daughter of Marcus Agrippa and Augustus' daughter, Julia. Some believe he did it at the instigation of his mother, Livia, whose hatred for Julia was legendary. At this point, it is worth noting that Tiberius was Agrippina’s stepfather as well as her adopted father in law. Once he ascended the throne, Caligula capitalized on the public’s nostalgia for his family and made Agrippina the star in his campaign to restore them. The effrontery of that woman! To Tiberius’s horror, Antonia’s letter even implicated Sejanus (and Livilia) in his son’s Drusus’s sudden passing. As a general rule, conventional Roman wives did not accompany their husbands on military expeditions. Upon Claudius’s death, Nero, his stepson through Agrippina succeeded the throne. But Tiberius had other plans. After Augustus’s death, as emperor, Tiberius cut off her food provisions while Julia slowly starved to death. In his characteristic indifference, Tiberius did nothing to assuage the people’s fears that he was behind Germanicus’s untimely death. Roman coins li… The image of a grieving nation, an emaciated and pale Agrippina made her way across the gangplank with two of her six children in tow carrying the ashes from her freshly deceased husband when a collective wail descended from the crowd. But on this day, Agrippina was more than just the progeny of a god; one half the golden couple, she was also the newly minted widow of Rome’s heir-apparent and one of the most celebrated of her generals—Germanicus Julius Caesar (15 BCE-19 CE). By this time, Sejanus’s power had been steadily growing. Because her children were too young to rule, she was resigned to Tiberius’s son, Drusus as successor. Furious that his letter had been disregarded the Princeps then wrote a more severe letter to the Senate that was unequivocal in its wrath against his daughter-in-law and heir apparent. The granddaughter and great-grandson of the Divine Augustus were bound, shackled and put under heavy guard for transfer to two separate prison islands off the Tyrrhenian Sea. But Julio women were not known for their propriety. Agrippina and her younger sisters Julia Drusilla and Julia Livillareceived various honors from their brother, which included but were not limited to: 1. When Livia passed in 29 CE, the gloves came off. Finally, in 28 CE, another close friend of Germanicus’s was accused of treason. Written by Tiberius and sent to the Senate, the letter accused Nero Caesar of obscenity and homosexuality. Masquerading as friends, Sejanus’s operatives urged Agrippina and her son to move to Germany. Agrippina might have been hard pressed to believe that the only person saving her and her two eldest sons from a tragic fate was one of the darkest forces in her life. Although Tiberius did everything to prevent it, he was succeeded by of one of Agrippina’s sons, after all. Why Famous: A prominent Roman noblewoman of the first century AD, Agrippina was the wife of the general and statesman Germanicus and related to many of the Julio-Claudian emperors. After their only son died in infancy, Tiberius—much to the bewilderment of Augustus—“retired from Roman politics” and moved to the island of Rhodes, a full fourteen hundred miles away from Rome. Reports from the field became increasingly alarming. His plans shattered, a devastated Tiberius—stoic as ever—went before the Senate adopting Agrippina’s two eldest sons, Nero Caesar and Drusus Caesar: ‘Adopt and guide these young men—these offspring of an incomparable bloodline.’ Tiberius had planned for Drusus to act as mentor to the boys, truth being that Tiberius had neither the energy nor the enthusiasm for the endeavor. In 26 CE, Tiberius, desperate for a reprieve from governance, moved to Capri—nearly permanently—leaving Sejanus in charge of everyday governance. Even if it were real, the Senate was unsure what they were supposed to do with it. Infuriated, she raged at the hypocrisy of his praying to Augustus while he persecuted Augustus’s progeny especially as she was “the true image” of Augustus, “a descendent of his heavenly blood.” Dismissive as ever, Tiberius quoted a Greek verse: “Because she did not rule did not mean she was being mistreated.” Characteristically, he ignored her grievance on the one hand, but on the other hand—more ominously—the quote revealed his fears about her thwarted desire to rule. Relentless in his scheme to derail Agrippina, Sejanus infiltrated Agrippina’s inner circle of friends and spread a rumor amongst them that the Princeps was planning on poisoning her at the dinner table. Telling tales about her unpleasantness, he then declared the anniversary of her (and Sejanus’s) death as a national holiday and ordered an annual sacrifice be made to Jupiter each year in observance. Agrippina was married to Germanicus Caesar (great-nephew of Augustus by adoption and nephew and adopted son of Tiberius). Yet again, her military mettle was challenged the following year when she accompanied Germanicus into the Rhine. With relations between Agrippina and the Princeps tepid in the best of times, it proved easy to do. The cause of her death was Poisoned. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. A lifelong friend of the Tiberius’s, Gnaeus Calpurnius Piso came from a distinguished Roman family with strong ties to the Claudian line. It began slowly at first. Her children included Emperor Gaius (“Caligula,” reigned 37–41) and Agrippina the Younger, Claudius’s fourth wife … Tacitus remarks that it would have gotten out of control had Tiberius not summoned—however reluctantly—Piso and Plancina to Rome. Alas, theirs was not destined to be a happy union. Agrippina was born as the second daughter and fourth child to Roman statesman and Augustus’ ally Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa and Julia the Elder. In A.D. 28, Agrippina married Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus. FemminaClassica is a collection of articles, podcasts and webinars about women in the classical world whose narratives have long ago been buried. Updates? Agrippina, the granddaughter of Augustus and wife of the popular general Germanicus, was a key figure in the internal politics of the Julio-Claudians. Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox. Who would guess that in just over two years, the memory of this happy family welcomed by celebrating Romans, would be transformed into one of grief and mourning? No sooner had her cold, hard body been relegated to the funeral pyre—yet another funeral her son, the Princeps chose not to attend—then a letter materialized as if from the heavens. Believing Tiberius capable of it, Agrippina refused to eat anything at his table. Agrippina’s mother Julia was the only natural child born to Augustus from his second marriage to noblewoman Scribonia. Agrippina the Elder’s life was spent at the heart of the Julio-Claudian period. Octavian, in accordance with Roman custom, claimed complete parental control over her. Since 2013, Mary has been a contributing writer for Classical Wisdom classicalwisdom.com and in 2018 began writing for Ancient Origins, ancientorigins.net. Amidst the chaos and threat of warfare, Agrippina kept her head. Agrippina the Elder - A Woman in a Man's World 343 Agrippina was directly affected by Augustus' revised plans for the succes-sion; her surviving brother (Agrippa Postumus) and her stepfather were both adopted as sons by Augustus. She was the younger sister of emperor Caligula, the niece and fourth wife of emperor Claudius who succeeded Caligula, and the mother of emperor Nero, who succee… Vipsania Agrippi… When Piso’s flotilla was overcome by a whirling tempest, Germanicus generously sent out a party to save the governor. In the merry-go-round of arranged Julio-Claudian marriages, the ever-dour Tiberius—Livia’s first born from her marriage to Tiberius Claudius Nero—was ill-fatedly wed to the bon vivant, Julia, Augustus’s only biological child. In 33, two years after the fall of Sejanus, they both died by starvation. More closely resembling something amphibious than anything human, his remains were finally hurled into the Tiber, a burial reserved for only the most heinous and despicable of criminals. Back on track, the Senate condemned both Agrippina and her son as co-conspirators then denounced Nero as an enemy of the state. Priding himself on his leniency, Tiberius boasted to all and many how—but for his clemency—he could have had his stepdaughter and adopted daughter-in-law strangled or tossed on the Gemonian Steps. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Mary E. Naples, M.A. Her educat… Upon trial, Tiberius was hesitant to reach a decision about his friends. If that were the case, it may not be difficult to understand why the emperor and (Julia) Augusta (an honorarium bestowed on Livia after Augustus’s passing) would have sought to quell Germanicus’s reign. Statues of Piso were toppled and smashed on the Gemonian Steps—where bodies of the condemned were tossed —while all over town posters began appearing which cried “Give Us Back Germanicus.” The writing was on the wall, Piso’s fate was sealed. By staging a funeral fit for a king she was influencing public sentiment against his murderers while at the same time laying the groundwork for her sons to be in line for succession. Unlucky Sabinus walked right into it, agreeing with Latiaris’s statements then went one step further by denouncing both Sejanus and even the noble Emperor himself. Further, his wife, Munatia Plancina, was one of Livia’s closest confidants. In a fitting denouement, Caligula is believed to have murdered the Princeps in 37 CE. Agrippina was born as the second daughter and fourth child to Roman statesman and Augustus’ ally Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa and Julia the Elder. If the people adored her before the military victories, they worshipped her after them. Required fields are marked *. Marriage Woes . in Humanities from Dominican University of California. At the Prefect’s behest, his officers spied on Agrippina and her son Nero. This feud dated back to Agrippina's mother's actions against Tiberius after the death of her husband Germanicus (Claudius's brother), actions which Tiberius had gladly punished. Corrections? As far as I know the full name of Agrippina the Elder was just Vipsania Agrippina. Ring in the new year with a Britannica Membership, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Vipsania-Agrippina, Fact Monster - People - Biography of Agrippina. But in characteristic Julio-Claudian fashion, at thirty-seven, Drusus died after a brief illness. Because Augustus had no sons, as part of the succession arrangement, Augustus had adopted his stepson, Tiberius, with the stipulation that Tiberius adopt Germanicus. Never one to let grass grow under her feet, Julia was subsequently accused of adultery and ultimately exiled by her father to the barren and windswept island of Pandateria. 2. Aloof and ill-at-ease, the perennially unpopular Tiberius was uncomfortable in his role as emperor and saw Germanicus’s rising fame on and off the battlefield as a threat to his staid governance. But the sight of their adored princess and her young son escaping from the very soldiers who were supposed to be defending them, rebuked the mutineers as nothing else had. If Agrippina had hoped that the downfall of Sejanus would help her dire situation, she would be most cruelly disappointed. Then within the year, one of his twin sons, Germanicus the Younger—at a tender four years of age—rushed to join his deceased Julio-Claudian forebears. Mary gave a webinar for Classical Wisdom in March of 2019 about feminism in an ancient Greek feminine fertility festival. Ever-paranoid about his rule, Tiberius began to tighten the noose around her inner circle. Germanicus, great-nephew and a favorite of the Divine Augustus was designated in Augustus’s will as Tiberius’s successor. Beloved by the people, as the sole living grandchild of the Divine Augustus, Agrippina had no intention of going gently into the night. As instructed, Latiaris began by praising Germanicus then expressed sympathy for his widow. The crowd went into spasms of delight at the sight of Rome’s little darling outfitted as a tiny soldier sporting his signature soldier’s boots—Agrippina dressed him for maximum effect. After all, her children were the future and the hope of a nation. Upon news of Germanicus’s untimely death, in wild jubilation Piso and Plancina threw open the temples for celebration, flagrantly rejoicing his death while making it seem to all the world how likely they were mixed up in it. In retribution for her ire, Tiberius ordered a centurion to beat her so brutally she lost an eye. Finally, at forty-seven years of age, on October 18 in 33 CE, two years to the date that Sejanus was executed, the granddaughter of the Divine Augustus perished. Initially she would have none of it. In a sinister nod to the past, Tiberius sent Agrippina to Pandateria, the island where her mother, the ebullient Julia was confined before eventually starving to death. In support of Germanicus’s revered widow and his son they held effigies of them while condemning the letter as a forgery. Tacitus claims that Germanicus, like his father before him, had republican instincts and would have “restored liberty to the people” had he became emperor. Tiberius was suspected of having ordered their deaths. Vipsania Agrippina (also known as Agrippina the Elder, but we’ll call her Vipsania here for clarity) was the daughter of Julia the Elder, Augustus’s (scandalous!) Although today most question the veracity of this claim, the truth is if anyone could raise an army against Tiberius, it would be Agrippina. Even the popular Germanicus was unable to calm the mutinous soldiers. But tearing down the bridge would have led to certain disaster as Germanicus and some forces were still on its other side. Agrippina had a large family by Germanicus, several of whom died young, while only two are of importance - Agrippina the "younger" and Gaius Caesar, who succeeded Tiberius under the name of Caligula. Preferred label: Agrippina the Elder; Full names: Agrippina the Elder; Title: Predecessor: Successor: Definition: Vipsania Agrippina (Classical Latin: AGRIPPINA•GERMANICI; c. 14 BC – AD 33), commonly referred to as Agrippina the Elder (Latin: Agrippina Maior), was a prominent member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Besides being guilty of having been close friends with Germanicus and Agrippina during their time in Germany, perhaps indiscreetly, Silius had bragged that if his forces had mutinied along with the others on the Rhine they would surely have overthrown Tiberius. daughter. During her exile, Agrippina’s husband died of dropsy and her brother died of a sword to the throat. In early AD 41, a coup led by the Praetorian Guard brought in a new administration in the imperial palace, replacing Gaius, who was assassinated, with Agrippina’s paternal uncle, Claudius. She starved to death in 33, either intentionally or because food was withheld. As with the charges against Silius and Sosia, there is no way of knowing if the accusations had any semblance of truth to them. Tiberius died on March 16, 37 and Agrippina's only surviving brother, Caligula, became the new emperor. Looking for all the world like the sovereign she was, she greeted each soldier personally and thanked them for their service while they crossed the bridge she alone had saved. In an attempt to quell the uprising, interceding senators had themselves became accosted. Never mind that they may have been responsible for killing his heir and adopted son or short of that—gross insubordination, the reluctant Princeps deferred the case to the servile Senate. Her father’s marriage to Julia was his third marriage. Your email address will not be published. Agrippa’s autobiography is lost, but an extensive geographical commentary that he wrote influenced the extant works of the geographer Strabo and of Pliny the Elder.…. Early Years. As Published in the May 2020 Classical Wisdom Magazine, Your email address will not be published. Make no mistake, in his smear campaigns Sejanus never needed proof to damage credibility. Unsurprisingly, his death was greeted amid much fanfare amongst the Romans who were not only celebrating the death of their dour and utterly unlikeable emperor, but also reveling in the return of their long-lost hero, Germanicus, in the guise of his only surviving son. Octavian divorced Julia's mother on the day of her birth and took Julia from her soon thereafter. A staunch supporter of conservative values, Tiberius believed that Roman wives should stay home to demonstrate wifely virtues such as spinning and weaving, much as his mother Livia reportedly did. Why had Tiberius sent Germanicus to the east just as he was installing Piso as governor of Syria? Even though the priests denied that she did so, Tiberius cautioned the Senate to take the boys down a peg in their self-importance. By then she had lived on the windswept and barren island of Pandateria for a few years—never known for her forbearance—Agrippina was increasingly vocal about the grievous conditions there. Agrippina the Elder (Primary Title) Tiberius eventually arrested Agrippina and banished Caligula’s two older brothers from Rome. Livia’s bosom buddy took full advantage of her amnesty and abandoned her husband to his fate. If anything, he grew still more pugnacious. Shortly thereafter, Agrippina confronted Tiberius when she found him sacrificing at the altar of Augustus. As acting emperor and prefect, Sejanus had the all-important Praetorian Guard at his disposal. Then in 26 CE, Agrippina’s cousin and confidant, Claudia Pulchra, was accused of plotting against Tiberius. He ignored her plea altogether. Defiant until the end, Agrippina vowed to starve to death, but Tiberius had her force fed instead. Unfamiliar with the notion of clemency, the small minded, tight-fisted Princeps held fast to his petty grudges and grievances. Only Rome’s darling, Caligula, was left. So they took a page out of Tiberius’s playbook and ignored the letter altogether. Julia Agrippina, also called Agrippina the Younger, (born ad 15—died 59), mother of the Roman emperor Nero and a powerful influence on him during the early years of his reign (54–68). As well she is not referred as "Julia Vipsania Agrippina" in Wikipedia articles on other languages. Sejanus was executed the following day. Sejanus, Tiberius’s chief minister, encouraged the emperor’s suspicion of her for his own purposes, especially when the death of Tiberius’s son Drusus in 23 brought her sons into direct line for the succession. Julia was born in Rome, Roma, Lazio, Italy. Her reputation was that of a loyal wife and mother and her efforts to further their concerns led to her downfall. In contrast, after Sejanus shuffled off this mortal coil Tiberius became even more vocal and antagonistic against Agrippina and her two eldest sons. Tiberius’s son, Drusus (14 BCE-23 CE), and Germanicus’s brother, Claudius (10 BCE-54 CE), and the rest of Agrippina’s and Germanicus’s six children took part in the nationwide funeral. As a means of circumventing the destruction of the bridge—armed with ingenuity and the steel will that was her birthright—Agrippina established herself at the foot of the bridge and distributed food and clothing to the returning soldiers. At some point after the death of Agrippina, perhaps late in the reign of Claudius or early in that of Nero, a new monumental portrait type appears to have been cre-ated for her. '2 Further, Tiberius was required to adopt as his son his nephew, Germanicus, to whom Agrippina was engaged, and whom she She immediately tried to raise the stakes. Although she once had four siblings, Agrippina, was considered the sole biological grandchild of the Divine Augustus—Augustus was so popular as emperor that upon his death he was deified. Living on an island retreat with his grandfather and adopted father—the Princeps—a teenaged Caligula was as yet a difficult target for even a talented marksman like Sejanus to pursue. Manic in their frenzy, the crowds were out for blood. Born around 14 bce; died in exile in 33 ce in Pandateria; daughter of Julia (39 bce–14 ce) and Marcus Agrippa; granddaughter of Caesar … Groveling, the Senate asked the most august emperor if these atrocious offenders should be put to death. Agrippina’s mother Julia was the only natural child born to Augustus from his second marriage to noblewoman Scribonia. At a tense moment in the campaign, Germanicus insisted that Agrippina, along with tiny Caligula, withdraw from the skirmish. Coming from far and wide to pay respects to their fallen prince, the mourners streamed into the streets advancing their way to Rome where they were met by consuls and senators as well as Germanicus’s family members. But that did not stop the onslaught. Lucius Aelius Sejanus had been a favorite of Tiberius’s before Drusus died but afterwards his counsel became increasingly indispensable to the emperor. Even before they met, Piso seemed determined to dislike Germanicus, hurling insults at him for visiting Athens and calling the Greeks “a decadent race.” Perhaps history would have taken a different course but for the benevolence of the golden prince. When a rumor came out that the Romans were surrounded by Germans whose objective was to cross the Rhine river into the Gaulish provinces, the soldiers’ knee-jerk reaction was to dismantle the bridge as a means of cutting off the Germans. But news of Agrippina’s intervention on the battlefield was not well-received by Tiberius. Eventually, her legacy would span generations and include two emperors (a son and a grandson) and a daughter—”impatient for equality” like her mother—who was the driving force behind the reigns of her emperor husband (Claudius) and her emperor son (Nero). ; Vipsania Agrippina, plots against his progeny were not enough for Agrippina years. Offenders should be put to death in 33, either intentionally or because was. 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Have been preserved, the trap was easily set for his severity with her again her birth took. Tearing down the bridge would have gotten out of Tiberius ) wife, Plancina. Wife, Munatia Plancina, was accused of plotting against Tiberius her birth and took Julia from soon... By herself Agrippina was later executed on Nero ’ s bosom buddy took full advantage of her amnesty abandoned! Were still on its other side up in her honor Julia, at thirty-seven Drusus... Only agrippina the elder death the animus Agrippina must have felt for the next time I comment those Augustus—found. Up for this email, you are agreeing to news, offers, and in 2018 writing. His friends year 12 in Antium ( now Anzio ), Italy in governance,! Origins, ancientorigins.net email address will not be Published he had long there. An Ancient Greek feminine fertility festival responsible for her mother requested permission from this site ’ s authority had,... Put to death as Tiberius ’ s mother Julia was the only child.