Agrippina the Younger

The Ancients

History Hit

History

4.7 • 3.5K Ratings

🗓️ 26 July 2020

⏱️ 57 minutes

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Summary

Agrippina the Younger (AD 15 - 59) was one of the most prominent women in the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Born during a time of radical political change in the Roman Empire, she had a very powerful pedigree. Great granddaughter of Augustus. Niece of Tiberius. Daughter of Germanicus. Sister of Caligula. She was also a wife of the Emperor Claudius and the mother of the infamous Nero. Today she is remembered as one of the most notorious women of ancient Roman history, thanks largely to her negative portrayal in the works of Cassius Dio, Suetonius and Tacitus. But how much of what they say is true? Joining me to help sort the fact from the fiction is Carey Fleiner, Senior lecturer in Classical Roman History at the University of Winchester. A brilliant communicator, Carey convincingly explains how the material record reveals a very different Agrippina to the infamous power-hungry murderess depicted by Roman writers. This was a fantastic chat and it was great to have her on the show to chat all things Agrippina.

A couple of clarifications from parts of the interview:

Agrippina was 22 when she gave birth to Nero.

Suetonius included the remark 'I have swords as well as islands'

Gaius Sallustius Crispus Passienus was the name of Agrippina's second husband. He had been prominent during the reign of Tiberius (not Julius Caesar)

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Agrippina the Younger, she is one of the most remarkable women of the Julio Claudian dynasty,
0:08.4	the daughter of the Fanger Manicus, the sister of the crazed Caligula, the wife of the Emperor
0:15.0	Claudius, and of course the mother of the infamous Nero.
0:20.4	And it's fair to say that the sources have not been kind to Agrippina the Younger, the
0:24.6	woman who supposedly masterminded the death of the Emperor Claudius with poison mushrooms
0:29.9	and of course the poisoned feather.
0:32.9	But what is the fact in this portrayal?
0:35.2	What do we believe is the truth and what do we believe is the fiction?
0:39.3	Well joining me to answer this question is Kerry Fleiner.
0:43.2	Kerry is a fantastic classicist and medievalist and she is also a brilliant communicator, so
0:49.0	it was an absolute pleasure to have her on the show to explain all things Agrippina.
0:54.7	Here's Kerry.
1:00.9	Kerry, it's great to have you back.
1:03.9	It's good to be back and there are very different circumstances but that's alright.
1:07.9	Well I'm a very different circumstances indeed but history goes on and I've been very much looking forward to this.
1:13.9	Agrippina the Younger, this is a woman who seems to have fallen victim to the writings of later Roman historians.
1:20.9	Oh he's not even later Roman historians, her bad press actually begins during her lifetime there.
1:25.9	There are writings from her lifetime.
1:28.9	She's an interesting figure to study because you've got this bad press on the one hand and these historians on the one hand and who they're writing for.
1:36.9	And on the other hand you've got a material record that tells a completely different story.
1:40.9	So it's a matter of looking at her or any other strong Roman woman and putting together a collection of sources looking at very different sources to figure her out, to piece her together.
1:53.9	And who are these Roman sources?
	...

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