Agrippina the Younger Syllabus Notes PDF

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Exam Notes for Agrippina the Younger...

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ROME: AGRIPPINA THE YOUNGER 1.

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Historical context.................................................................................................................................................................................... 1 1.1

Geography, topography and resources of Rome and the Roman Empire..................................................................1

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Overview of Roman social and political structures; principate...................................................................................2

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Role of imperial women in Roman society..........................................................................................................................4

Background and rise to prominence................................................................................................................................................. 4 2.1 Family, background and status........................................................................................................................................................4 2.2 Early life, ambitions and marriages..............................................................................................................................................5

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Career......................................................................................................................................................................................................... 6 3.1 Basis of her power and influence: patronage.............................................................................................................................6 3.2 Role during the reign of Gaius (Caligula), including exile.....................................................................................................6 3.3 Role during the reign of Claudius...................................................................................................................................................8 3.4 Role and changing relationship with Nero during his reign..............................................................................................10 3.5 Relationships with other members of the imperial court: Seneca, Burrus and imperial freedmen...................10 3.6 Impact of her personality on career: public image...............................................................................................................11 3.7 Attempts on her life..........................................................................................................................................................................13 3.8 Death: motives, manner and impact of death..........................................................................................................................14

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Evaluation............................................................................................................................................................................................... 14 4.1 impact and influence on her time................................................................................................................................................14 4.2 Assessment of her life and career................................................................................................................................................14 4.3 Legacy....................................................................................................................................................................................................15 4.4 Ancient and modern images and interpretations of Agrippina the Younger...............................................................15

1. Historical context 1.1 Geography, topography and resources of Rome and the Roman Empire Geography and Topography  Rome is situated on the west coast of Italy about half way down the Italian peninsula. The Apennine mountain range runs its entire length and the west coast are crossed by rivers such as the Po, Arno (north) and the Tiber (through).  To the east is the Adriatic Sea, to the west the Tyrrhenian Sea, and to the south the Ionian Sea. Human intervention was needed to establish proper port facilities.

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Rome is located in the region of Latium. The river Tiber gave access to sea inland and settlement began around a group of seven hills close to the river, where the only island Tiberina made bridging the river possible.

The empire has been won my various means, chiefly military conquest. To ancient people, Rome meant both the city and its empire. The empire covered a vast area centring on the Mediterranean and extended into continental Europe in the north to Greece and Asia in the East; to Egypt and Africa in the south and to Spain in the west. o After increasing territorial hold in their region, by 265 BC has gained control of greater Greece, and the Punic Wars extended Roman control to Spain in the west. By 168 BC Rome had extended control into Greece and fifty years later formed Asia. o By the time of Julius Caesar’s death, the Roman empire extended from Spain, to Syria in the east, to Gaul and modernday Belgium, into Greece to the southern coast of the Black Sea. o By Augustus’ death, the empire had grown to include Egypt, north part of the Black sea and even north west Germany. When Agrippina married Claudius, Roman control had crossed the English Channel into Britain. Resources Imperial control brought Rome great responsibilities and the burden of military control. However, it also brought Rome great wealth and trade became a crucial part of the Roman way of life.  The Apennines were heavily wooded and there was no shortage of marble, stone and clay. The higher humidity of northern European provinces provided good pasturage and were the source of valuable minerals.  From the distant east (India) came silk, spices, jewels and perfumes. From Britain, Gaul and Spain were the metals lacking in Italy such as lead, copper and tin. From Asian provinces came pottery, glass, dyes and resin and from Africa came ivory and wild animals.  From Italy itself came olive oils and wine, but most importantly Rome was able to import the all-important grain supplies needed to feed its massive population from Egypt. The Roman control of Egypt meant that it was able to dominate the papyrus market.  The slave trade was also big business in the empire, coming from many of the conquered territories such as Thrace. 

1.2 Overview of Roman social and political structures; principate Political Structure and the Principate Politics before the Principate  Roman Monarchy: the last King of Rome was Lucius Tarquinius Superbus (Tarquin). o Roman people revolted during Tarquin’s reign, and he was eventually overthrown and sent into exile. o Rome refused to accept a monarchy as its political system.  Roman Republic: after the expulsion of Tarquin, Rome became a Republic. o Instead of a king, the city had 2 magistrates (elected annually) called consuls. o Other magistrate offices were created to manage different aspects of the government (e.g. aediles, quaestors, praetors and tribunes).  It was expected that Roman men pursuing a political career would move through each office to become a consul. The sequence of offices was known as the cursus honorum.  The senate was an advisory body that contained members from the patrician class (noble/elite class) Brief History: End of the Republic  As the Rome gained more territory, large armies were needed to control its provinces. Generals become more important and gradually began asserting political power, such as Julius Caesar.  Later in the republic, some Romans began ignoring the cursus honorum and demanded offices before they were eligible. Republican politics also became more violent, with political figures recruiting bands of violent followers.  49 BCE: Civil war broke out in Rome between the supporters of Caesar and Pompey’s senate-backed supporters. Caesar won the civil war and became dictator until assassination by senatorial conspirators in 44 BCE.  After his death, his adopted son, Octavian (later known as Augustus) and Mark Antony (one of Caesar’s close allies) agreed to divide the empire between them. However, Mark Antony became involved with Cleopatra and Octavian used this to wage a propaganda campaign against Mark Antony.  31 BCE: Octavian and Antony fought at the Battle of Actium. Octavian won, becoming the undisputed ruler of Rome. The Principate:  Between 27 and 23 BC, Augustus established the principate after defeating Antony in a civil war for control of the Roman world. It was continued by the Julio-Claudians until AD 69, and then by others until AD 312.  He was regarded as having brought peace and stability throughout the empire after almost a century of civil strife, the prosperity which he maintained for four decades by his power, authority, popularity, propaganda and reforms. Consequently, he was given extraordinary powers and privileges, however he did not abuse his position and did not set himself up as dictator, living modestly and ruling tactfully.  The principate is a form of government lead by a Princeps or ‘first man/citizen’. The term was used to describe Roman rules from the time of Augustus. Note Princeps and emperor are used synonymously although anachronistic.  Although not hereditary, Augustus believed that if loyalty could be transferred to a member of his own family on his death then civil war could be averted, and so hoped that a Julian (direct descendant of himself as the ‘son’ of Julius Caesar would succeed him. However his adopted son, Tiberius (a Claudian) eventually succeeded him.  The J-C family became a powerful dynasty providing the next three Princeps: Gaius (Caligula), Claudius and Nero.  Much of the history of the Julio Claudian dynasty is marked by intrigue and violence, one of the reasons being the absence of an accepted rule of succession within the imperial family. Also, an increasingly significant element in the succession was

the support given by the Praetorian Guard (elite troop within army that guarded imperials) and its prefects or commanders. Political structure:  The J-Cs retained the Principate, which retained the underlying structures of the Republic: The Senate, magistrates and the assemblies.  Citizens (men) followed the ladder of offices (cursus honorum) to reach the Senate and perhaps consulship. Ten tribunes, elected by plebeians, had the power of veto over magistrates and were sacrosanct while in office. Their influence could be overridden by the Princeps. Position Number Min. age Duties Quaestor 20 30 Financial and administrative duties in Rome and provinces, paymaster for army on campaign. Became Senators after a term of office. Aedile 4 38 Maintained temples, streets, public buildings, water supply, markets and grain dole. Arranged festivals and games. Praetor 8 40 Legal duties, were supreme judges in civil legal cases Consul 2 42 Civil and military. Assigned as governor (proconsul) after term. Social structure Roman society was extremely class conscious, a strict hierarchy with clear upper and lower class with no middle class. Most Romans were born into a particular social group and had limited means to improve their social status. Main factors determining a person’s place in society included: citizenship status, place of birth, wealth, country or city dweller.  In Republican times, society was divided mainly into the patricians, a small group of families of noble birth (being able to trace their ancestry to original clans) who held political power, and the plebeians, the majority who were denied access to this power. By Julio-Claudian times, most of the barriers had been removed and were linked by marriage, and political, military and most religious offices were open to all citizens.  Social distinction between families of the two groups were marked by the membership of the Senate. Senatorial families which produced a consul or chief magistrates were further distinguished as nobiles. There were numerous divisions in the social structure, reinforced by legal and political privileges. Upper classes: Emperor Exercised total control over political, military economic and religious affairs in empire. Imperial Family  Members of the Julio-Claudian family, with considerable power and influence Consulars  Usually from noble families and were senators who achieved the office of consul and respected due to experience and authority. Senators  Hereditary, limited to those with a property qualification of 1 million sesterces. Served the emperor in offices throughout the empire, gaining wealth from large estates. Senatorial Class  Included both wealthy patricians and plebeians. Within this elite group was an even more elite group known as nobiles. Over time, the same families tended to dominate the political scene, wielding great power. Equestrians  Emerged as the middle class. Not hereditary – based on a property qualification of 400k sesterces and gained wealth through public office, trade and banking.  Served the emperor in roles including procurators, praetorian prefects or military officers (served as cavalry), commanders of the fire service and in charge of grain supply. Outnumbered senators.  Became Rome’s businessmen. Though extremely wealthy, few entered the senate. Freedmen  Ex-slaves who acquired wealth from trade, banking, manufacturing and land dealings. Could be granted freedom by their owners, or it could be purchased. Children of freedmen were counted as freeborn.  Restrictions were placed, being unable to attain senatorial or equestrian rank, hold magistracies or priestly offices, nor could they serve in the legions.  An alternate career path could be found in the imperial bureaucracy, the imperial cult and in business and commerce. Some became extremely wealthy.  The most powerful were those concentrated in the imperial bureaucracy. Under Claudius, freedmen such as Pallas and Narcissus supervised the main branches. Lower Classes  The lower classes included poor freeborns, ordinary freedmen (manumission) and slaves, with great diversity such as important distinction between city dwellers (plebs urbana) and country dwellers (plebs rustica). City dwellers usually had better employment opportunities with more access to public life and entertainment.  Another feature was the collegia. Most members of the plebs would have belonged to a guild of craftsmen, and as a member might pay dues to help provide him with meals and a decent burial.  The urban poor had hard lives, living often in squalid conditions with the barest essentials. Their occupations varied including legal advisers, doctors, actors, engineers, small businessmen, craftsmen and traders.

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Slaves were also part of the lower social class; those defeated in war of free citizens who sold themselves to pay a debt. There were also instances of people being bred, having hard lives according to sources. In the time of Augustus, the slave population was estimated to be 35%, most working in agriculture and manufacture (mines and quarries), and whom upper-class Romans drew most of their wealth from. o They were also important in commerce and industry, working as labourers, domestic servants, prostitutes and gladiators. Educated slaves were valued in households for skills as tutors, doctors, secretaries etc. Despite their lack of economic and political power, the lower classes greatly outnumbered the upper classes and so various emperors saw the wisdom in keeping them content with handouts of food and lavish staged public entertainment. o This was the grain dole, which many of the plebs urbana relied on, and became an important political issue. Plebeians also provided soldiers for the army, the foundation of the J-C dynasty.

Patronage  A system which the rich and powerful (both men and women) acted as patrons of the less fortunate. The relationship was based on fides, good faith, rather than law.  Clients gave deference and respect to patrons in return for services provided, especially supporting them at election time. Patrons gave advice on legal, business and personal matters, as well as more practical help such as assisting careers and providing loans. Role of imperial women in Roman society Women of the J-C royal family were raised in the palace under strict supervision. Part of the Augustan program of reform was to restore traditional Roman values such as the importance of marriage and family. Females were expected to be modest, marry young, have large families, and as Roman matrons exhibit the feminine form of gravitas; behaving with a sense of dignity and awareness of their responsibilities. The basic function of motherhood was to shape the moral outlook of children; the ideal of womanhood was the matrona. Upper-class women enjoyed considerable freedom in terms of business in the early years of the empire. Although roles in public life were closed to them, they could acquire the rights to own, inherit and dispose of property, as well as owning slaves. Some women owned and operated businesses in shipping and trade. o At time of Augustus, women with three fatherless children (freedwomen with four) became legally independent in a status known as ‘sui iuris’. Although they played no part in politics, they still exercised considerable influence over their husbands such as Livia during the reign of Augustus. The pre-eminent role of the J-C family in providing the princeps during the early empire, meant that the women of the imperial household played a very important role in the dynastic succession. As the princeps could prefer a successor, women in the imperial family played an increasingly important role in promoting their own sons, through their influence on the princeps. The exercise of power was either through their husbands or sons, like with Agrippina or through the status of other family members even though deceased. Despite being well-educated and wealthy in their own right, he was still under the control of their male relatives… “Their sex forced them to operate behind the scenes…” (Levick) Ancient sources seem to be obsessed with the stereotype of politically ambitious women and the fear of what damage such women could do, seeing it as an inversion of the natural order. According to Barrett, it is difficult to tell form the sources how real the political influence of women like Livia and both Agrippinas were, and to what extent it was exaggerated in order to fit a stereotypical pattern.

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Education  Placed a high value on education. The women of the house generally took charge of the education of young girls, teaching them to weave and spin to undertake other useful tasks for managing a household.  The basics of reading and writing were usually taught. Tacitus tells us that the role of mothers was to “mind the house and watch over the children.”  Usually educated with brother who attended school after primary education. It is much more likely that Agrippina and her siblings were educated together in the palace.  Aristocratic families place much greater emphasis on formal education. Germanicus was a gifted orator, speaking fluent Greek and Latin and a writer of Greek comedies. Claudius wrote histories and Agrippina herself followed this literary tradition later writing her memoirs. 2. Background and rise to prominence 2.1 Family, background and status Agrippina was born into the illustrious Julio-Claudian family. Her mother, Agrippina the Elder, was the granddaughter of the emperor Augustus while her father Germanicus was son of Drusus (who was the son of Livia, the third wife of Augustus) and Antonia (a daughter of Mark Antony and the sister of Augustus).  She was the great-granddaughter of emperor Augustus  Sister of an emperor Gaius (Caligula)  Niece and later wife of Claudius  Mother of the emperor Nero (not shown on diagram)

Agrippina’s parents enjoyed high-profile positions in the J-C family. Germanicus  Germanicus had a very successful militar...