Preview

Different Interpretations of Agrippina the Younger

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
614 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Different Interpretations of Agrippina the Younger
With reference to sources, assess the different interpretations of Agrippina the Younger

Sources from ancient historians tend to be more hostile towards Agrippina because she was a woman and she stepped outside the expected role of a Roman matron. In contrast to this, modern historians consider the context of her time and approach her with a neutral attitude. However, most of the historians present her according to three main stereotypes- the seducer and murderer of Claudius, the scheming and dominating mother figure or the imperial woman who goes beyond her matronly and aristocratic role.
Tacitus, an ancient historian, was the closest to Agrippina's time and was hostile towards her since he disliked the principate, instead favouring the senate to be in power. He portrayed Agrippina as a deceptive, ill- mannered woman and is highly- critical when he relates her many schemes and intrigues in her pursuit of power not only for the men in her life, but also, and more despicably, for herself, as can be seen in the following quote from The Annals.
‘From this moment the country was transformed. Complete obedience was accorded to a woman – and not a woman like Messalina who toyed with national affairs in order to satisfy her appetites. This was a rigorous, almost masculine despotism. In public Agrippina was austere and often arrogant. Her private life was chaste – unless power was to be gained. Her passion to acquire money was unbounded. She wanted it as a stepping stone to supremacy.'
This, however, is not highly out of the ordinary, for a writer of his time, as the role of the Roman matron was not to strive for political success herself, but to support her husband in his achievements. Agrippina disregarded the status quo and thus became the target for many slanderous exaggerations through representation in ancient writings, and became the epitome of all that was evil in woman.
Moral purpose is never absent from Tacitus' mind in his writings and virtue

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Agrippina was the mother of the Emperor Nero. Her influence on politics and her ambition dates back to his birth and spans till the time her powers began to decrease, and eventual assassination in 59 AD. Nero was 17 at the time he succeeded Claudius. In the early years of his reign, Agrippina held great influence over her son and political affairs. However her downfall began in his inaugural address, when she was indirectly denounced by Nero, who later began to rely on others, such as Seneca, Burrus and Poppaea Sabina.…

    • 854 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Agricola’s pre-military life and early military life affected his attributes and shaped his future to give the qualities for success. Before his first birthday the Emperor ordered for the death of his senator father because of his refusal to prosecute the Emperor’s second cousin, this left Agricola fatherless with only the support of his mother to nurture him to maturity and an early influential reference of what happens to those who don't obey their superiors.…

    • 599 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    “To be effective in politics a woman needed a husband, brother or son to act for her” Levick…

    • 706 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    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 uncle, Emperor Claudius, giving her the political power she craved, just as her mother did before her.…

    • 1125 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Tacitus stated that Agrippina’s “passion to acquire wealth was unbounded”. This is indeed indicative of the general consensus of ancient sources toward her, with greed, manipulation and ambition forming the central tenets of her character. Her marriages played a central role in fulfilling her idealistic goals, in the process, propelling her into the public consciousness.…

    • 661 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Agrippina was related to the Claudian ‘gens’, one of the oldest and most illustrious patrician families with imperial connections. Her father Germanicus had risen through the cursus honoroum to two consulships and the proconsulships of Germany and Gaul. Germanicus’s brother was the brother was the future Claudian emperor, Claudius. Agrippina’s family lineage was therefore immensely prestigious. Her mother is quoted twice by Tacitus asserting her descent from the blood of the divine Augustus. According to revisionist Barret, Agrippina would have learnt from her mother in her formative years a powerful sense of her important place in the scheme of things.…

    • 633 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    agrippina the younger

    • 664 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Agrippina the Younger was an Empress. Her rank in Roman society was higher than that of her husband, as she was the sister of an emperor, Caligula. Because she was so high up, she was allowed to attend senate meetings and watch and listen behind a curtain. Agrippina murdered and deceived many people throughout her life. The first of these was her second husband, who it is suspected Agrippina poisoned. She then convinced Claudius, her Uncle to marry her, in order that her son, Nero, would become Emperor. Just 4 years after her marriage to Claudius, she murdered him so that Nero became the Emperor of Rome.…

    • 664 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Agrippina the younger who has been portrayed as the most controversial woman in all of roman history has been seen is mainly different versions by historians. Historians such as tassides portray Agrippina in a negative light but this could be due to his anti-feminist beliefs but historians such as barrette draw a positive and influential light apron Agrippina and her murder.…

    • 655 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Plato’s Republic provides insight into what Socrates believed to be the ideal society. However, Arlene Saxonhouse critiques the way he portrays women in his society, saying that he “turns women into men.” Saxonhouse goes on to explain that what Socrates does to women, he also does to philosophers by turning them into politicians. I agree with Saxonhouse’s criticism because she exposes the inconsistency in Socrates thinking, however I feel that she does not give enough notice to the overall capabilities of women in politics.…

    • 966 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Females instead of being given their own unique name such as in our day, were instead given the feminine version of the family name. For example, in the case of Gaius Julius Caesar his daughter would have the name Julia, and if he had a second daughter she too would be named Julia. Gender as in most societies in this time period carried over to politics. Only men were allowed to hold political office and vote and suffice it to say a women’s power depended on the position of her husband. However, there were circumstances in which women were able to play a backstage role in politics as shown by Livy in the stories of the Tarquin kings and Tanaquil who had a profound influence on the reign of her husband and was even able to determine his successor Servius after Tarquin’s murder. This is reiterated with the story of Tullia and the murder of her husband, sister, and king in order to promote her former brother in law now husband to the position of king (Livy 1, 47). However, this type of influence on political events by women was not typical, in fact rape in this society was even seen as eventually leading to good things as evident by the stories of Rhea Sylvia, Lucretia, and Virginia in Livy’s…

    • 560 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Clytemnestra Deception

    • 811 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Clytemnestra, a very prevalent character in Aeschlyus’ play Agamemnon, stands as a center point among the most famous speeches in the history of Greek literature. Breaking with the traditions of other plays written during this time period, Clytemnestra wields considerable political power during the time period in which women were sidelines from affairs of the state. Possessing a “male strength heart,” as stated by the watchmen in the beginning of the play, Clytemnestra not only is able to attain political control but she also has the ability to deceive those that surround her. The chorus makes the queen’s deceiving ways apparent to the audience when noting to the Herald not to take everything Clytemnestra says at face-value, for they have learned…

    • 811 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Macbeth Essay Scaffold

    • 276 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Describe her character and explain how she would not have represented a stereotypical woman in Shakespearian times.…

    • 276 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Women In Ancient China

    • 881 Words
    • 4 Pages

    However, even with disadvantages in status, citizenship, and education, women were sometimes able to influence the political system. In China, women of the imperial family often played an important role in politics, usually listening behind a screen so that they didn’t distract the men from negotiating, but telling their husbands their opinions later that night. In Rome, women weren’t allowed in places of political debate, but there were several notable women who gained a reasonable amount of power from affecting politics in the only ways available to them: birth, marriage, or murder. A legendary example would be Tullia who lived in circa 500 BC. She was the daughter of a very early Roman king, but conspired with her husband to kill her father. After she ran over her father in a carriage, her husband became the next king of Rome. (Padgett) There are various examples like this throughout Roman history: women whispering and plotting where men paid no attention, but forever changing the history of Rome with changes in kings and…

    • 881 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Medea And Feminism Essay

    • 397 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Protofeminist Or Misogynist? Medea As A Case Study Of Gendered Discourse In Euripidean Drama. 2009. Web. 15 Oct. 2015.…

    • 397 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Women wept in the presence of Marcus the Conqueror. He loved to hear them cry out in passion. It filled him with air, it fed his thirst for more, and it fueled his deep desire to drive a flag in their center claiming his omnipotence. It secured his dominance.At that moment when the women were at their most vulnerable point, they would reveal their inner most agony.The fear of living without love seemed to haunt them. He soon would learn the difference between pain and pleasure.…

    • 709 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Powerful Essays