Agrippina the Younger

I was born into the house that ruled the world: granddaughter of Augustus by adoption, daughter of Germanicus and Agrippina the Elder, sister to Gaius whom you call Caligula. I learned early that kinship in our house could be a laurel or a noose. Accused in my brother’s reign, I endured exile and returned hardened, the mask of obedience fitted close to the face.

Under Claudius I moved with calculation. After the death of my husband Passienus Crispus, I married my uncle and placed my son, Lucius Domitius, where he must be seen. Claudius adopted him as Nero; Britannicus fell behind. I bore the name Augusta while my husband yet lived, and our profiles were struck together on coinage. Through the skill of loyal freedmen and the favor of the Guard, I steadied the court. I also won for my Rhenish birthplace the dignity of a colony: Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium.

The annalists relish a plate of mushrooms and a moral. Let them. I managed the passage from Claudius to Nero without riot. I received embassies, guided appointments, and stood, veiled but visible, where women had not stood in Rome. Authority is seldom given; it is taken and then called a crime.

As my son ripened, others—Seneca, Burrus—taught him to fear a mother’s counsel. They slandered, married, un-married, and pressed me from the Palatine. At Baiae a contrived ship failed; at Misenum steel did not. They say I bared my womb and bade them strike there. Believe what you will. I knew what Rome cost, and I paid it.