Agrippina the Younger and Related Topics

Bust, Naples National Archaeological Museum

Claudius

21 links

The fourth Roman emperor, ruling from AD 41 to 54.

A coin of Herod of Chalcis, showing him with his brother Agrippa of Judaea crowning Claudius. British Museum.

Aureus of Claudius, struck at the Lugdunum (Lyon) mint, dated 41–42. The depiction on the reverse meant to commemorate the "reception of the emperor" (imperator receptus) at the Praetorian Camp and the protection the Praetorian Guard afforded Claudius in the days following the assassination of Caligula. Issued over a number of years in both gold and silver, these type of coins were struck to serve as part of the annual military payments Claudius had promised the Guard in return for their role in raising him to the throne. Caption: TI. CLAVD. CAESAR AVG. P. M., TR. P. / IMPER. RECEPT.

Claudius issued this denarius type to emphasize his clemency after Caligula's assassination. The depiction of the goddess Pax-Nemesis, representing subdued vengeance, would be used on the coins of many later emperors. Caption: TI. CLAVD. CAESAR. AVG. P. M., TR. P. X. P. P., IMP. XVIII / PACI AVGVSTAE Pax-Nemesis standing right holding caduceus over serpent.

Bronze head of Claudius found in the River Alde at Rendham, near Saxmundham, Suffolk (British Museum). Potentially taken from the Temple of Claudius in Colonia Victricensis during the Boudican revolt.

The Porta Maggiore in Rome: remains of aqueducts Aqua Claudia and Aqua Anio Novus

Portrait of Claudius, Altes Museum, Berlin

Messalina holding her son Britannicus, Louvre

The Death of Messalina by Georges-Antoine Rochegrosse, 1916

Sculpture of Agrippina crowning her young son Nero (c. AD 54–59)

Claudius depicted as the Roman god Jupiter

A statue of Claudius in the Wesgha tal-Muzew, Mdina, Malta

Many authors contend that he was murdered by his own wife, Agrippina the Younger.

Nero

19 links

The fifth Roman emperor and final emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, reigning from AD 54 until his death in AD 68.

An aureus of Nero and his mother, Agrippina, c. 54. Caption: NERONIS CAES MATER AGRIPP. AVG. DIVI CLAVD. / NERONI CLAVD. DIVI F. CAES. AVG. GERM. IMP. TR. P. – EX SC

Emperor Nero being instructed by Seneca, work by Spanish sculptor Eduardo Barrón

Coin of Nero and Poppaea Sabina Billon tetradrachm of Alexandria, Egypt, 25 mm, 12.51 gr. Obverse: radiate head right; ΝΕΡΩ. ΚΛΑΥ. ΚΑΙΣ. ΣΕΒ. ΓΕΡ. ΑΥ. Reverse: draped bust of Poppaea right; ΠΟΠΠΑΙΑ ΣΕΒΑΣΤΗ. Year LI = 10 = 63–64.

The Fire of Rome by Hubert Robert (1785)

A marble bust of Nero, Antiquarium of the Palatine.

An 1815 illustration of the alleged tomb of Nero; actually tomb of proconsul Caius Vibius Marianus.

Apotheosis of Nero, c. after 68. Artwork portraying Nero rising to divine status after his death.

Head of Nero from an oversized statue. Glyptothek, Munich

A circa 18th century woodcut of the historian Josephus (c. 37–100) who accused other historians of slandering Nero.

Nero was born at Antium in AD 37, the son of Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus and Agrippina the Younger, a great-granddaughter of the emperor Augustus.

Caligula

18 links

The third Roman emperor, ruling from 37 to 41.

Marble portrait of Caligula from the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Portrait of Agrippina the Elder, Caligula's mother

Caligula Depositing the Ashes of his Mother and Brother in the Tomb of his Ancestors, by Eustache Le Sueur, 1647

A denarius of Gaius Caligula. Caption: C. CAESAR AVG. GERM. P. M. TR. POT.

The Vatican Obelisk was first brought from Egypt to Rome by Caligula. It was the centerpiece of a large racetrack he built.

The hull of one of two ships recovered from Lake Nemi during the 1930s. This massive vessel served as an elaborate floating palace for the Emperor.

Map of the Roman Empire and neighboring states during the reign of Gaius Caligula (37–41 AD).

Ruins of the Temple of Castor and Pollux in the Forum Romanum. Ancient resources as well as recent archaeological evidence suggest that, at one point, Caligula had the palace extended to annex this structure.

Caligula and Roma Cameo depicting Caligula and Roma, a personification of Rome

Roman sestertius depicting Caligula, c. AD 38. The reverse shows Caligula's three sisters, Agrippina, Drusilla and Julia Livilla, with whom Caligula was rumoured to have carried on incestuous relationships. Caption: C. CAESAR AVG. GERMANICVS PON. M. TR. POT. / AGRIPPINA DRVSILLA IVLIA S. C.

Bust of Caligula from Palazzo Massimo in Rome

Fanciful Renaissance depiction of Caligula

Marble bust of Caligula with traces of original paint beside a plaster replica trying to recreate the polychrome traditions of ancient sculpture.

Quadrans celebrating the abolition of a tax in AD 38 by Caligula.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Woods|first1=David|title=Caligula's Quadrans|journal=The Numismatic Chronicle|issn=0078-2696|year=2010|volume=170|pages=99–103|jstor=42678887}}</ref> The obverse of the coin contains a picture of a Pileus which symbolizes the liberation of the people from the tax burden. Caption: C. CAESAR DIVI AVG. PRON[EPOS] (great-grandson of) AVG. / PON. M., TR. P. III, P. P., COS. DES. RCC. (probably Res Civium Conservatae, i.e. the interests of citizens have been preserved)

Roman gold coins excavated in Pudukottai, India, examples of Indo-Roman trade during the period. One coin of Caligula (AD 37–41), and two coins of Nero (AD 54–68). British Museum. Caption: C. CAESAR AVG. PON. M., TR. POT. III, COS. III. - NERO CAESAR. AVG. IMP. - NERO CAESAR AVG. IMP.

Bust of Caligula from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City

The Assassination of the Emperor Caligula, by Lazzaro Baldi

Gaius had two older brothers, Nero and Drusus, and three younger sisters, Agrippina the Younger, Julia Drusilla and Julia Livilla.

Messalina

17 links

The third wife of Roman emperor Claudius.

Messalina in a coin minted in Crete, c. AD 42

A bust believed to be of Messalina, in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence

Messalina guides the dragon chariot in the triumph of Claudius

Messalina working in a brothel: etching by Agostino Carracci, late 16th century

Peder Severin Krøyer, Messalina, 1881, Gothenburg Museum of Art

Messalina, Eugène Cyrille Brunet (1884), Museum of Fine Arts of Rennes

Hans Makart's painting of Charlotte Wolter in Adolf Wilbrandt's tragedy, Arria und Messalina

Her mother's brother, Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus, had been the first husband of the future Empress Agrippina the Younger and the biological father of the future Emperor Nero, making Nero Messalina's first cousin despite a seventeen-year age difference.

The Great Cameo of France, a cameo five layers sardonyx, Rome, c. AD 23, depicting the emperor Tiberius seated with his mother Livia and in front of his designated heir Germanicus, with the latter's wife Agrippina the Elder; above them float the deceased members of their house: Augustus, Drusus Julius Caesar, and Nero Claudius Drusus

Julio-Claudian dynasty

14 links

The Julio-Claudian dynasty comprised the first five Roman emperors: Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, and Nero.

Coin of Kushan ruler Kujula Kadphises (circa AD 30/50-80). Obv Laureate "Julio-Claudian" style head right. Rev Kujula Kadphises seated right, raising hand; tripartite symbol to left.

Nero (Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus) was a great-great-grandson of Augustus and Livia through his mother, Agrippina the Younger.

Octavia the Younger

13 links

The elder sister of the first Roman Emperor, Augustus (known also as Octavian), the half-sister of Octavia the Elder, and the fourth wife of Mark Antony.

Virgil reading Aeneid, Book VI, to Augustus and Octavia, by Taillasson

Today's appearance of the Porticus Octaviae.

She was also the great-grandmother of the Emperor Caligula and Empress Agrippina the Younger, maternal grandmother of the Emperor Claudius, and paternal great-grandmother and maternal great-great-grandmother of the Emperor Nero.

Antonia Minor

13 links

The younger of two surviving daughters of Mark Antony and Octavia Minor.

She was a niece of the Emperor Augustus, sister-in-law of the Emperor Tiberius, paternal grandmother of the Emperor Caligula and Empress Agrippina the Younger, mother of the Emperor Claudius, and maternal great-grandmother of the Emperor Nero.

Julia Livilla

11 links

Julia Livilla (c.

During the reign of Caligula, coins were issued depicting his three sisters, Agrippina, Drusilla and Livilla

Julia Livilla was the youngest great-granddaughter of Emperor Augustus, great-niece and adoptive granddaughter of the Emperor Tiberius, sister of the Emperor Caligula, niece of the Emperor Claudius, and through her eldest sister Agrippina the Younger, maternal aunt of the Emperor Nero.

Julia the Elder

10 links

The daughter and only biological child of Augustus, the first Roman Emperor, and his second wife, Scribonia.

Inscribed dedication to Julia, daughter of Augustus, Roman, set up about 15–12 BC. From the sanctuary of Athena at Priene, western Asia Minor. British Museum

Julia, from Guillaume Rouillé's Promptuarii Iconum Insigniorum

Julia was also stepsister and second wife of the Emperor Tiberius; maternal grandmother of the Emperor Caligula and the Empress Agrippina the Younger; grandmother-in-law of the Emperor Claudius; and maternal great-grandmother of the Emperor Nero.