A report on Nero, Agrippina the Younger and Seneca the Younger

Ancient bust of Seneca, part of the Double Herm of Socrates and Seneca

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

During the reign of Caligula, coins like the one pictured here were issued depicting his three sisters, Drusilla, Livilla, and Agrippina the Younger.

Nero and Seneca, by Eduardo Barrón (1904). Museo del Prado

Messalina holding her son Britannicus (Louvre)

Manuel Domínguez Sánchez, The suicide of Seneca (1871), Museo del Prado

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

Coins of Agrippina and Claudius as the de facto co-rulers of the empire

Lodovico Lana, Death of Seneca, National Gallery of Art

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.

Marble bust of Nero. Antiquarium of the Palatine.

First page of the Naturales Quaestiones, made for the Catalan-Aragonese court

The Fire of Rome by Hubert Robert (1785)

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

Woodcut illustration of the suicide of Seneca and the attempted suicide of his wife Pompeia Paulina

A marble bust of Nero, Antiquarium of the Palatine.

Gustav Wertheimer: The Shipwreck of Agrippina (1874)

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

Plato, Seneca, and Aristotle in a medieval manuscript illustration (c. 1325–35)

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

The "Pseudo-Seneca", a Roman bust found at Herculaneum, one of a series of similar sculptures known since the Renaissance, once identified as Seneca. Now commonly identified as Hesiod

Head of Nero from an oversized statue. Glyptothek, Munich

"Seneca", ancient hero of the modern Córdoba; this architectural roundel in Seville is based on the "Pseudo-Seneca" (illustration above)

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

Baroque marble imaginary portrait bust of Seneca, by an anonymous sculptor of the 17th century. Museo del Prado

In AD 41, Seneca was exiled to the island of Corsica under emperor Claudius, but was allowed to return in 49 to become a tutor to Nero.

- Seneca the Younger

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.

- Nero

She maneuvered her son Nero into the line of succession.

- Agrippina the Younger

In the early years of his reign Nero was advised and guided by his mother Agrippina, his tutor Seneca the Younger, and his praetorian prefect Sextus Afranius Burrus, but he soon sought to rule independently and to rid himself of restraining influences.

- Nero

In 41 AD, Claudius became emperor, and Seneca was accused by the new empress Messalina of adultery with Julia Livilla, sister to Caligula and Agrippina.

- Seneca the Younger

Among the victims of Messalina's intrigues were Agrippina's surviving sister Livilla, who was charged with having adultery with Seneca the Younger.

- Agrippina the Younger

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Bust, Naples National Archaeological Museum

Claudius

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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

The Death of Messalina by Georges-Antoine Rochegrosse, 1916

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.

After his death at the age of 63, Nero, his grand-nephew and legally adopted step-son, succeeded him as emperor.

Since Claudius was the first emperor proclaimed on the initiative of the Praetorian Guard instead of the Senate, his repute suffered at the hands of commentators (such as Seneca).

Messalina

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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

She was a paternal cousin of Emperor Nero, a second cousin of Emperor Caligula, and a great-grandniece of Emperor Augustus.

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.

Within the first year of Claudius' reign, his niece Julia Livilla, only recently recalled from banishment upon the death of her brother Caligula, was exiled again on charges of adultery with Seneca the Younger.

Caligula

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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

Caligula's death marked the official end of the Julii Caesares in the male line, though the Julio-Claudian dynasty continued to rule until the fall of his nephew, Nero.

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

A brief famine of unknown extent occurred, perhaps caused by this financial crisis, but Suetonius claims it resulted from Caligula's seizure of public carriages; according to Seneca, grain imports were disrupted because Caligula re-purposed grain boats for a pontoon bridge.

Julia Livilla

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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.

Later in 41, she fell out of favour with Messalina (Claudius's third wife) and was charged by her paternal uncle Claudius for having adultery with Seneca the Younger.

Sextus Afranius Burrus

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Sextus Afranius Burrus (born AD 1 in Vasio, Gallia Narbonensis; died AD 62) was a prefect of the Praetorian Guard and was, together with Seneca the Younger, an advisor to the Roman emperor Nero, making him a very powerful man in the early years of Nero's reign.

Agrippina the Younger chose him as Prefect in 51 to secure her son Nero's place as emperor after the death of Claudius.