Jan 22 2009
Agrippina - Mother of Nero
With a mother like this, how could the infamous emperor Nero have turned out otherwise? Following the history of Agrippina one would be justified to ask that question. Agrippina the younger was the great grand daughter of Augustus, sister of Caligula, wife of Claudius and mother of Nero. Until the age of 18 she didn’t live in Rome but in a Roman outpost in Germany near what is - today - Cologne.
The later emperor Nero was her son from her first marriage. When Caligula became emperor in 37, she started to live in Rome and, as his sister, to gain political influence. It’s also the first time she got into trouble for furthering her own ambitions. She was involved in a plot to topple Caligula, but was lucky to only be exciled and deprived of her rank and wealth. She went to live on the Pontine Islands and to make a living by diving for sponge.
After Caligula was murdered, Claudius, who was also Agrippina’s uncle, became emperor. He allowed her to return to Rome and reinstated her fortune. Agrippina was widowed and began to make advances on Claudius. She wanted to secure the succession to the throne for her son Nero and managed to seduce Claudius into marrying her and adopting Nero as his son and successor over his own natural son Britannicus. Agrippina then systematically removed or ordered to be killed anyone who stood in her way. Claudius regretted his acts and when he started to favour his own son again, Agrippina poisoned him with mushrooms.
After his death, Nero became emperor just as Agrippina had planned. For the first months of his reign, she had her 17 year old son under control, but soon she lost influence when he fell under the spell of his mistress of whom Agrippina disapproved. She herself started to support Britannicus. Nero got wind of her manipulations and had her banned from Rome in 57. He also had Britanncius killed for good measure.
Feeling the thread of his mother’s power and influence despite her being removed from Rome, he plotted to have her killed. Tacitus is a source of the vastly controversial accounts of what happened. What seems to be clear is the fact, that she must have had more lives than the proverbial cat. A collapsible boat was involved in one attempt. Agrippina, a strong swimmer form her sponge diving days, survived. She also survived a ceiling over her bed which was contructed to collapse and suffocate her as well as three attempts to poison her. Finally he had her stabbed to death and frameed the incident as a suicide. None of the accounts can be relied upon as being the truth as they vary widely, but it is certain that Agrippina died of a violent death in 59.
