agrippina the younger essay

Personality Agrippina The Younger Historical Context Roman Social and political structures Imperial Family Emperor From the time of Augustus, exercised total control over * Political * Military * Economic * Religious affairs Family Members of the Juio-Claudian family enjoyed considerable power and influence Upper Classes Consular Came from noble families – senators who had achieved office of consul and were respected because of their experience and authority

Julia Augusta Agrippina, or more commonly, Agrippina the Younger was a Roman empress consort and one of the most distinguished women of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. In her earlier years, Agrippina, as well as her mother and older brother, were remorsly mistreated by Emperor Tiberius, who was only a stepson of Augustus. She would have learned at her mother's knee to despise usurpers who were not direct descendants of Augustus. Historians have long suspected that a childhood spent steeped in fear and

Agrippina the Younger had a fairly difficult but calculated life, she had many key times in her life that both assisted her life and others that significantly impacted her during this time. Agrippina was born into royalty, given opportunities for power, and readily looking for ways to gain power and influence, while also having to deal with deaths, murder plots and criticism. Agrippina the Younger during AD 28 after her 13th birthday, was given an arranged marriage by Tiberius to Gnaeus Dominitus

unfairly, as devious manipulators, are Cleopatra VII Philopater and Agrippina the Younger. These women shattered the ultimate glass ceilings, through methods that were at times morally questionable,

Julia Agrippina, more commonly known as Agrippina the Younger, had an impeccable pedigree, along with great ambition that helped her dominate the political world of her time. She was born into a Julio-Claudian family background that shaped and influenced the woman Agrippina the Younger became. Throughout her life her actions and ambitions were heavily critiqued as they went against the social norms and expected role of women of her time. Motivation: Agrippina the Younger found inspiration and motivation

During her time, Agrippina the Younger was able to achieve unprecedented recognition and transcended the boundaries of imperial women to establish herself as a political player. Through her marriage to the Emperor Claudius, she formed a co-ruling alliance that allowed her to manipulate the order of succession to aid her son Nero in becoming Princeps. To a negligible extent, historians agree with Ferrero’s interpretation of Agrippina. Where Ferrero praises Agrippina’s personality, both ancient and

Despite their similarities, there were a number of differences between Cleopatra and Agrippina The Younger. The primary difference between these two women was what they actually did with their power. While Cleopatra was able to make significant changes to Egypt with the power that she held, the primary result of Agrippina’s acquisition of power and influence was her son, Nero, becoming Emperor. The dominant viewpoint held by the majority of historians is that Nero’s time as Princeps did not benefit

ever. Nero was born in 37 A.D. as Lucius Domitus Ahenobarbus. His parents were Gnaeus Domitus Ahenobarbus and and Agrippina, who was the great-granddaughter of the emperor Augustus. The philosopher Seneca educated Nero in the classical tradition and studied Greek, philosophy and rhetoric. In 48 A.D. Ahenobarbus died and Agrippina married her uncle, the emperor Claudius. Agrippina persuaded him to name Nero as his successor rather than his own son, Britannicus, and to offer his daughter, Octavia

changed to Nero in 49 AD when Lucius’s mother Agrippina married Emperor Claudius. Historians have read that Nero's fate was inevitable. His real father, Gnaeus Domitius, who died when Nero was three, was extremely violent. It is written that Gnaeus once deliberately ran over a young boy with his chariot as he drove through a local village. When his friends congratulated him upon hearing of the birth of his son, Nero’s father said that anything born to Agrippina and him would be unlikeable and a disaster

Agrippina the Younger’s three marriages were significant in her rise to prominence as they all served her political advancement; protection from enemies, fortune and eventually, power in politics. Her first marriage was to Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus, a man seventeen years her senior, described as a “wholly despicable character” (Suetonius). Her second marriage was to Gaius Sallustius Passienus Crispus, cut short by his death, but gaining her immense fortune. Her third and final marriage was to her