Agrippina: Sex, Power, and Politics in the Early Empire

by Anthony A. Barrett

Agrippina the Younger attained a level of power in first-century Rome unprecedented for a woman. According to ancient sources, she achieved her success by plotting against her brother, the emperor Caligula, murdering her husband, the emperor Claudius, and controlling her son, the emperor Nero, by sleeping with him. Modern scholars tend to accept this verdict. But in his dynamic biography - the first on Agrippina in English - Anthony Barrett paints a startling new picture of this influential woman.
Drawing on the latest archaeological, numismatic, and historical evidence, Barrett argues that Agrippina has been misjudged. Although she was ambitious, says Barrett, she made her way through ability and determination rather than by sexual allure, and her political contributions to her time seem to have been positive. After Agrippina's marriage to Claudius there was a marked decline in the number of judicial executions and there was close cooperation between the Senate and the emperor; the settlement of Cologne, founded under her aegis, was a model of social harmony; and the first five years of Nero's reign, while she was still alive, were the most enlightened of his rule. According to Barrett, Agrippina's one real failing was her relationship with her son, the monster of her own making who had her murdered in horrific and violent circumstances. Agrippina's impact was so lasting, however, that for some 150 years after her death no woman in the imperial family dared assume an assertive political role.

Genres: History, Biography, Nonfiction, Ancient History, Roman History, Classics, Research

352 pages, Hardcover

First published June 5, 1996

About the author

Anthony A. Barrett is Distinguished University Professor Emeritus at the University of British Columbia and visiting professor at the University of Heidelberg.

Reviews

[Jeff Lanter · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I review Roman History books, I feel like I should preface them by saying, this book may only be for you if you're interested in this field. That is certainly the case with this book on Agrippina.
She is depicted as an overly sexual manipulator with no shame and a strong thirst for power in ancient sources and this book tries to sort through this inaccurate depiction and figure out what the real Agrippina was like. All in all, I think the author does well with this task though this book is not easily approachable unless you have a good knowledge of Roman History.

Barrett jumps from ancient author to author and while he tries his best to explain all of the historical characters, it is very hard to follow if you don't know your Britannicus from your Germanicus. This book actually starts off a little hard to follow and gets bogged down in details of obscure family members, but after that, things really click. I agreed with most the author's assertions and he helped me better understand people like Claudius who I never knew what to make of after only reading ancient sources about him. I thought Barrett did a good job of not going too far with any crazy interpretations or assertions and used ancient sources effectively to support his opinions. I love this period of Roman History and Nero in particular fascinates me. I don't know that I like Agrippina, but I feel like I understood her better and could start to see why she and her son did not get along as well as many might have expected. This is likely to be the only biography of Agrippina in English for a long time because it is well-written and the subject is so obscure. That makes Agrippina: Sex, Power, and Politics in the Early Empire worth hunting down if you're interested in her, Nero, or Claudius.

[Hazelpeanutz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Agrippina is driven by her love for her son, Nero, and by the lust for power, and they both do increasingly evil things. Eventually, they do something so evil that there's no going back.
She's very snarky towards specific traditions, and very direct. All the things she goes through eats away at her slowly till she finally has enough and just creates her own path regardless of the consequences.

5 Stars

[Isaac Clemente ríos · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantástico repaso a la figura histórica de Agripina. Señalados claramente los puntos oscuros de las fuentes primarias, siempre se ofrecen una o varias alternativas para que el lector piense por su cuenta.

Lo mejor: cómo el autor reconoce en la literalidad de las fuentes el sentimiento de la opinión pública de la antigüedad con respecto a determinadas situaciones.

Claro en la exposición, entretenido de leer y con altísimo nivel de detalle en cuanto a las conspiraciones, nombres, resultados de los juicios, e interpretaciones políticas. Se nota el trabajo de cotejo de los registros, la iconografía y la numismática.

Si sólo se puede leer un libro para conocer a Agripina la menor, es este.

Mi nota: 9/10

[Liz Davidson · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent source of information about Agrippina, with good hints on where to look next.

[Nina · Rating 1 out of 5]

ruined my life

[Liquidlasagna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kirkus Reviews

One of history's most notorious monsters is rehabilitated as a politically successful woman whose power and reputation in first-century Rome fell victim to Roman sexism.

Barrett begins with a brief history of powerful Roman women before Agrippina, including her great-grandmother Livia, wife of the first Roman emperor, Augustus. Much of this section is overly familiar, reading at times like a recap of I, Claudius.

But this background gains significance once Agrippina the Younger makes her appearance. Barrett persuasively argues that Roman chroniclers were unable to see Agrippina or her predecessors except through the stereotype of the politically ambitious woman: a seductive poisoner with no sense of moral bounds.

By carefully weighing the historical record, taking into account the distorting power of misogynist folklore, the author disputes such commonplaces as the idea that Agrippina murdered her husband, Claudius, and slept with her son Nero.

His Agrippina is a politically adroit consensus-builder whose influence over two emperors contributed to the most enlightened portions of their reigns.

Her diplomatic skill falters only in the handling of her teenage son, a miscalculation that leads to her execution in 54AD on his orders.

That Agrippina's murder was celebrated as a just comeuppance demonstrates the persistence of the 'age-old resentment of powerful and ambitious women.' Though Barrett draws no contemporary analogies, the reader may easily do so.

Despite the high-mindedness of his central theme, the author is always alert to the pleasures of 'juicy anecdote[s]' (such as Agrippina's supposed incest with her brother Caligula), and recounts them in full, if only to discredit them.

A scholarly yet accessible biography that largely succeeds in replacing Grand Guignol with something more satisfying: the tragedy of a natural leader born female in a society afraid to be led by women.

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Amazon

Great story presented with too many details about other unrelated characters
6/10

Agrippina is one of my favorite characters in ancient history. There are really no other stories like this. The problem with this book is the way it is written. Page after page, the author strays into information about hundreds of other Romans, many who had not a relationship with Agrippina. I found myself skipping those pages and jumping ahead to paragraphs about her.

I understand how this might have happened as much of the information about Agrippina was destroyed during her final years with Nero and after her death. Nero was apparently fearful that the popular daughter of Germanicus could help to turn the public against him. But even the murder of Agrippina by her own son turned out to be a remarkable event in history.

Quite possibly, the story of Agrippina and her family is unmatched anywhere in history......... a direct decendent of Augustus, daughter of the beloved Germanicus, mother of the Emperor Caligula, wife of the Emperor Claudius, and finally, mother of the deranged Emporer Nero.

Richard J. Bair

---

A fascinating study of an influential Roman Imperial woman
8/10

Overall, this was a very good biography of Agrippina. The author should be commended for writing a biography from the perspective of a highly influential and important woman during Imperial Rome.

The author certainly takes an academic approach to the study, and appears to have done a good job with research and use of sources.

His treatment of Agrippina seems fair and even-handed. The author does a very good job of providing the story of Agrippina, the Imperial family, and other important Romans.

My only criticism of the book is that somewhat more background about Roman society, social classes, the economy, foreign affairs was needed.

Nevertheless, the author has provided us with a very informative and entertaining biography. I will undoutedly read his newest book on Livia. I highly recommend this biography of Agrippina.

Richard Sawyer

[Michael Klein · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars really. I am fascinated by Agrippina. She seems to be a hidden fulcrum of sorts, around which the Julio-Claudian dynasty revolved. She was the granddaughter to the first Imperator of Rome, Augustus, also the beloved (and rumoredly incestuous) sister to her brother Emperor Caligula, and the niece and wife of the succeeding Emperor Claudius, as well as finally the overbearing (and also rumoredly incestuous) mother to the mad Emperor Nero. She really witnessed all the action, and was a clandestine and obfuscated main player in early Roman history. That said, I really didn't learn anything further about her than I did from Barrett's other book on Caligula, which I found a slightly smoother read than this one. The fact is, as is the case with all the ancient histories, that we really do now know who Agrippina was. But her consistently maintained seat of power, constant as the male rulers' power came and faded, is a testament to her force.

[Eirene Dekarios ♡ · Rating 3 out of 5]

I mean...okay. I'm not entirely done reading through this one since I'm using it as a study guide to aid me in writing through my own fictionalize version of these events (it's a slow process), but I get the gist enough to be able to rate this book. IMO it's not nearly as good as Emma Southon's book about Agrippina, but it serves its purpose. I don't agree with many of this dude's opinions. I'm not sure why it's even necessary to discuss whether Agrippina was beautiful or not like and?????? He also makes it very, very clear that he finds her mother, Agrippina the Elder, unpleasant. Who cares!!! Women can't catch a break with male "historians", I swear. Anyway, three stars because I got exactly what I was expecting. (I LOVE YOU EMMA ♡)

[Nada Al-Karmi · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is good as a history book on the Roman times during Agrippinaa's life. It tried its best, with the limited, lost, and corrupted sources it found, to describe these times and the way Agrippina rose to power and lost it all.

However, the author should have taken pity on my poor brain with all those Roman names dropping. They were so many that I forgot most of them and what they did right after reading it.

So you have been warned. Read this book with caution and an Advil or nap prepared right after.

[Truls Ljungström · Rating 3 out of 5]

I termer av sakinformation, om tiden kring Agrippina Minor liv, var denna inte dålig; i termer av berättande var den värd att läsa; i termer av ny information om Agrippina Minor som person var den tyvärr inte jättedjup. Den fokuserar istället på intrigerna kring hennes liv. Om intriger är vad man söker, är denna bok läsvärd.

[Jimmy Boulton · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a little dense in places - it certainly isn't the mass-market book that it appears to want to be. But if you want a detailed, balanced and accurate account of one of Rome's most powerful and fascinating women, this is the book for you

[Artemis Ward · Rating 5 out of 5]

As always Barrett never disappoints. This is a wonderful book that gives a detailed account of Agrippina, he gives us a good look into her life, looking at all sources and analyzing them peeling back the truth from all the propaganda.

[Christina Packard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Long, but interesting. I feel it covered in detail about Aprippina's life.

[Hannah K · Rating 3 out of 5]

Exquisitely researched, incredibly dull.

[Lauralee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Agrippina has been one of the most maligned and powerful women in the Julio-Claudian dynasty. She was the great-granddaughter of Augustus, the great-niece of Tiberius, sister of Caligula, niece and wife of Claudius, and mother of Nero. Because of her family connections, it is no wonder why she has been viewed as both immensely powerful and disliked. In this biography of Agrippina, she is portrayed as a politically adept and shrewd woman. She was a proud woman and a political ally to her husband, Claudius. Her only real flaw, Mr. Barrett argues, was having Nero for a son, for he would bring about her downfall.

Agrippina was the daughter of Agrippina the Younger and Germanicus. When she was a teenager, she married Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus, with whom she bore a son, Nero. When Caligula became emperor, she and her sisters were granted the honor of Vestal Virgins. However, despite Agrippina’s status, she was later accused, along with her lover Lepidus and her sister Livilla, for plotting to kill Caligula. Agrippina and Livilla vanished into hiding.

After Caligula’s death, Agrippina’s exile ended. She married Passenius, a wealthy and powerful man. After his death, she became the last wife of her uncle, Claudius. As his wife, she became Claudius’s political partner. She was given the honorary title of Augusta. Claudius even named a Roman colony after Agrippina. She even influenced Claudius to adopt Nero and choose him over his own son Britannicus as his successor. She persuaded Nero to marry Claudius's daughter, Octavia. This made Nero’s status as heir secure. The only obstacle in her way for Nero to become Emperor was Claudius himself.

It was said that Agrippina may have poisoned Claudius with a deadly mushroom, but this is not proven. He may have died of natural causes. However, she quickly installed Nero as emperor, in case Britannicus made his claim to the throne. By having her son as emperor, Agrippina was the most powerful woman in the Roman empire. Her relationship with her eventually deteriorated. Nero, Mr. Barrett states, was a vain man and never liked to be criticized. Agrippina criticized him and never made him forget that she made him Emperor. She became a burden to her son that he later had murdered.

Overall, this was a very sympathetic biography of Agrippina. Instead of her being portrayed as the monster she has been described in ancient sources, she was a wise woman. Mr. Barrett does show the negative aspects of her character. In the biography, she can be seen as a proud and power-hungry woman. She always wants to be admired for her political achievements. She can be a domineering mother to Nero, which brought about her downfall. Still, she was a determined and tactful Empress. Agrippina: Mother of Nero read like a soap opera and it proves that the truth is often more fascinating than fiction. The biography can be a bit hard to follow and is dry at times. Still, there is enough political intrigue, drama, and backstabbing that it fascinates the reader. Mr. Barrett proves to us that Agrippina is a misunderstood historical figure who does not deserve the hatred that history has passed down to us.

[Penny · Rating 3 out of 5]

Barrett tells the story of Agrippina: sister of Caligula, wife of Claudius and mother of Nero. His premise is that Agrippina was a remarkably shrewd and powerful woman in first century Rome and had a great impact on politics. As powerful women were not approved by the historians of the time, they have portrayed her as a malign character but a reexamination of the evidence demonstrates her actual ability.

I must say, Barrett really doesn't make his case. Much of this is because of the distractions of the authorial voice: you can barely see Agrippina and the rest because Barrett is always in the way. He spends all his time wrangling with Tacitus, Dio, Seneca, Pliny etc -- stating what the original sources said, and then arguing why he does or does not believe them. Barrett will parse the historians at length, discussing their biases and whether or not they are paying attention to the evidence, and then immediately goes on to make sweeping statements, e.g., that Agrippina had a big impact on the senate; that she wasn't particularly pretty; that Claudius is not as passive as portrayed, etc. Based on what, if you have just debunked all the original sources? In fact, watching Barrett shadowbox became at least as interesting as learning about the imperial family itself.

The book would have benefited from more context. What is going on in the Roman empire while these family dramas are playing out? We know that Caligula was an awful emperor, for example, but what were the impacts on the empire politically, militarily, economically? Barrett assumes a certain background knowledge in his readers, e.g., that Rome successfully invaded Britain in 44 AD. The reason to care about Agrippina or any of the other prominent Romans is because of their impact on the empire, but Barrett largely leaves that out (or at very least, is directing such commentary to readers more steeped in Roman history than myself).

Also, Barrett is not great at telling a chronological story. For example, he keeps sweeping forward to discuss Agrippina and Claudius's marriage when we know from the introduction that both have prior spouses who have not yet entered the narrative. There is a family tree at the start of the book -- it is quite confusing (should have been placed in several pages, given all the overlaps among prominent families) but thank heavens it is there, as I relied on that, and my memories of watching "I, Claudius" in childhood, to keep track of the people discussed.

This is kinda a two-star review, but the world needs more authors writing about historical figures like Agrippina, so I'm staying with three stars.

[Wyn]

The mythical romantasy fad has led me to exhaustion with a certain type of superficially revisionist "take" on women in antiquity, and this was a great corrective. It is Agrippina's mastery of the System and her willingness to work all available levers of elite female power -- matrimony, family connections, the palace household, and, infamously, motherhood -- that makes her such a fascinating historical figure. Barrett understands this well. His treatment of her character is thoughtful and provides historical context and critical examination of biased sources while never losing sight of what appears to have been, whether by nature or necessity, a personality with some true Machiavellian tendencies. I did feel sometimes like the scope and chronology was ballooning out of control, but overall appreciated Barret's patience with the non-specialist, particularly in his repeating of full names and family relationships to help me make sense of the hoards of Julias.

I enjoyed this book, and yet it never delivers anything quite as tantalizing (in my mind) as Tacitus' original quote about Agrippina: “It was a tight-drawn, almost masculine tyranny: in public, there was austerity and not infrequently arrogance; at home, no trace of unchastity, unless it might contribute to power.” Perhaps that's just the inevitable void between history and myth.

[Ubiquitousbastard · Rating 3 out of 5]

More assigned reading to be reviewed by me.

Firstly, this is very dense reading. I'm a fast reader and this book still took me an entire day to read. There are so many different names and relations and Roman terms that it is very slow going, while keeping the relations straight is next to impossible without constant reference to family trees. I also think that there was perhaps too much information offered that didn't really have that much bearing on Agrippina's circumstances and could have been presented in a more concise manner.

Having said that, I was a person that was convinced that Agrippina was basically a rampant, incestuous whore that kind of deserved to be offed by her son. Barrett very methodically laid out the accusations against her and presented them alongside a picture of her built from less sensational aspects and it does now seem to me that most of what was said about her being a freak is untrue. I was kind of disappointed, because she became a real person, but it was interesting.

Overall, this was helpful in understanding how anti-woman Roman culture was, to a degree that I hadn't even fathomed before reading.

[James Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very informative and readable study. It has various sections to be purloined for A-Level students and to add to other projects. The printing quality is pretty poor - the pictures are gathered in one section of plates, which is usually done to allow for photo-quality paper, but not this time - meaning that details on coins, sculptures etc. are obscure.

Barrett allows that the arrangement into wife, daughter, niece etc. (ie by relationship to men) tends to propagate an androcentric view of Roman history, but defends this (convincingly?) on the basis that the imperial period is that way, so this is a useful model.

The material on Agrippina's reception is a little woeful (a statue in Cologne is about it), and this would have been worth expanding on.

There is a revisionist push in here to rehabilitate a woman sometimes seen as a second manipulative Messalina as a genuine partner with Claudius and responsible for the improvement in his principate and this is largely convincing, though the lack of historical details of what was done by Agrippina does lead to some speculative reasoning.

There are definitely parts of this I will want to reread.

[Ginger Heskett]

I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/14340382