Character Catalog

An autobiography, now lost, in which Agrippina recounted her own life and that of her Julio-Claudian family. Tacitus and Pliny the Elder explicitly cited it as a source, making it one of the very rare female literary testimonies from ancient Rome.

Agrippina obtained from Claudius the elevation of her birthplace to the status of a Roman colony, which was renamed after her. This major political act permanently embedded her memory in the history of the city that would become Cologne.

Under Claudius's reign, sestertii and aurei bearing the face-to-face portraits of the emperor and Agrippina were struck across the Empire. These coins sent a clear political message: Agrippina was co-holder of imperial power.

A legal act orchestrated entirely by Agrippina: Claudius officially adopted Lucius Domitius under the name Nero Claudius Caesar Drusus Germanicus, placing him ahead of Britannicus in the line of succession. This political masterstroke was Agrippina's greatest achievement.

Upon Claudius's death, Agrippina managed the transfer of power by having Nero acclaimed by the Praetorian Guard before the emperor's death was even announced. Her mastery of the mechanisms of power allowed a succession without civil war.

Agrippina never strayed from her ambition for power, and she wanted to be co-participant in it, as an equal. She carried herself with gravity and often with arrogance, except when it suited her to be conciliatory.

It is said that when astrologers were consulted about her son's fate, Agrippina replied: 'Let him reign and let him kill me.' She bore the full weight of maternal power with the same excess as imperial power itself.

Agrippina received the title of Augusta, and coins were struck bearing her likeness. She sat beside Claudius during audiences with foreign ambassadors — something unheard of for a woman in Rome.

Agrippina, mother of Nero — the most destructive creature ever born to the human race — came into the world with two canine teeth on the right side, an omen of power and an extraordinary destiny.

A city on the Germanic Rhine where Agrippina was born in 15 AD, in the military camp of her father Germanicus. In 50 AD, she had the colony renamed Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium after herself — a name still echoed in 'Cologne' today.

The heart of imperial power on the Palatine Hill, where Agrippina resided first as the wife of Claudius, then as the mother of Nero. It was here that she orchestrated major political decisions and received ambassadors and senators.

A Tyrrhenian Sea island where Caligula exiled Agrippina in 39 AD after accusing her of conspiracy. She endured two years of humiliation there before being recalled by Claudius.

An aristocratic resort on the Bay of Naples where Nero lured his mother under the pretense of a reconciliation, then attempted to drown her aboard a rigged ship before having her murdered at her nearby villa in 59 AD.

The institution where, in 49 AD, a law was passed permitting marriage between uncle and niece in order to allow the wedding of Claudius and Agrippina. Agrippina influenced several senatorial decrees from behind the scenes of imperial power.