Before his death, Augustus, the first emperor of Rome, spent much time ensuring his heirs would inherit his power. Unfortunately, most of his efforts failed spectacularly: some of his own children died in random freak accidents, while others were exiled from Rome for a variety of reasons. Near the end of his life, his stepson, Tiberius was the only remaining candidate to inherit the throne. Since the next emperor was most definitely not his first choice, he made sure to also line up the third emperor. He made Tiberius adopt Germanicus as his legal son (even though he already had a son). He also married Germanicus to his own granddaughter Agrippina, to solidify their connection. This ensured that Germanicus would become the third emperor of Rome, and Agrippina, as a princess, was protected.
Beloved
Ancient writers, tended to hate Tiberius and love Germanicus. In fact, Germanicus and his wife Agrippina were known as Rome’s perfect little darlings. To the Roman people, they were the embodiment of Roman virtue. He earned the name Germanicus from his campaigns against the Germans (he was born Nero Claudius Drusus), and he was loyal to his wife, Augustus’ granddaughter. Agrippina was a devoted wife who followed her husband on his military assignments. She would give birth to 9 children, 6 of whom would make it past infancy. She was the perfect Roman woman in every way. They were beloved, and she knew it.
Perhaps one of the most interesting anecdotes about her is the army mutiny of 15 CE. Tiberius refused to decommission the soldiers who had served out their required years in the army and the soldiers were enraged. The situation was getting out of control and Germanicus could do nothing to stop it. That’s when Agrippina stepped in, or rather, out. Heavily pregnant (with Agrippina the Younger), Agrippina the Elder made a very loud exit from the Roman camp announcing that as the beloved Augustus’ granddaughter and their princess, she no longer felt safe in the camp full of Roman soldiers. She was going to go straight to the Germans and ask for their protection instead. The Roman soldiers were shocked, and immediately felt ashamed. They ended their mutiny and Germanicus was able to regain control. He had the main mutiny leaders executed, and everything went back to normal. Although she did send most of her children to Rome afterwards.
Poison
Eventually, Tiberius sent Germanicus to Syria, and away from Rome. Germanicus did not have a great time in Syria and did not get along with the other officials there. In the midst of this, he fell gravely ill. With our modern understanding of germs, it’s not that surprising that the man could have contracted one of perhaps a few dozen different deadly illnesses. But the Roman world had no understanding of this. They did, however, strongly believe in magic and poisons. And the fact that Tiberius was known to send people away from Rome when he intended to have them killed off… well, things looked very suspicious. Germanicus certainly believed he was being poisoned/cursed, and so did Agrippina. Germanicus died in 19 CE, in Antioch; and Agrippina blamed Tiberius.
After the death of her husband, Agrippina the Elder returned to Rome in clear mourning. When her ship arrived to Italy, she waited off-shore for a bit (probably waiting for a larger crowd to gather) and then landed. She walked off the ship holding her husband’s urn with her head bowed, and her children with her. The woman was very clearly in mourning, but she was also using the imagery to gain support for herself. One of Rome’s darlings had been poisoned, and she wanted revenge.
Politics
Over the next 15 years, she would play the politics of influence. She used male proxies in the senate to do her bidding. She constantly put forth her two eldest sons, Nero and Drusus III, and made them as popular as her husband was. Tiberius did not have a great reputation and he hated playing to the crowd, and his situation was made worse by his Praetorian Prefect, Sejanus. Sejanus did everything he could to isolate Tiberius and to be made his heir. Drusus II (Tiberius’ own son) punched Sejanus once, and then “mysteriously” died a few days later. Obviously, Sejanus was already starting to pick off heirs to the throne. Sejanus was also quite busy attacking Agrippina and her allies in any way he could.
After 15 years of constant political manoeuvring and raising 6 children, Agrippina was exhausted. Since Tiberius was the eldest male of her “family”, she was legally under his protection/control. This meant that she could not legally marry without his involvement. She did want to remarry, to have a life partner, someone to help carry her burden. But Tiberius refused. He made her remain a widow, alone for the rest of her life. To make matters worse, she still firmly believed that Tiberius had Germanicus poisoned. He took her husband, and refused to give her another. And according to Sejanus who was beginning to whisper in her ear, he would also take her life. Sejanus convinced her that Tiberius meant to poison her at the dinner table, so she refused to eat with Tiberius. When invited over, she would arrive on time and sit politely, but she never ate. One day, an annoyed Tiberius threw an apple at Agrippina. She caught it, then put it on the table. This was a clear accusation. Tiberius did not take this lightly.
Exposed and Vulnerable
In 28 CE, Tiberius had had enough and left. He went to the island of Capri and left behind all of the politics and drama of Rome, leaving Sejanus in charge. Tiberius honestly believed that Sejanus was his only loyal ally, his only friend. Sejanus was now the only connection between the emperor and the rest of Rome. Sejanus told Tiberius what was happening in Rome, and Sejanus told the Senate what the emperor commanded. I’m sure we could all trust Sejanus to be truthful…of course not! The man was a scheming weasel who made these years even worse for everyone. And if things weren’t bad enough, Livia, Augustus’ widow and Tiberius’ mother died at the age of 75. Tiberius’ behaviour henceforth truly emphasizes how much influence Livia had on her son.
Without anybody to keep him in check, Sejanus immediately went after Agrippina’s popularity in the most horrible way. He accused Agrippina of having incestuous relations with her son Nero. The two of them managed to avoid any serious consequences, likely because it was completely made up, but it destroyed their reputations. Frustratingly, this is where our contemporary historical sources go blank. When it comes back, it’s 2 years later, and both Agrippina and Nero have been exiled from Rome and Drusus II is in a palace dungeon… somehow. Don’t ask me how or why, because literally nobody knows. Clearly Sejanus was making sure that there would be no heirs left at all, so that when Tiberius kicked the bucket, he would be the only one left to rule.
Fortunately, Germanicus’ mother, Antonia the Younger, was still around. She was a traditionalist and had always followed the “no women in politics” rule. But Sejanus had gone too far. He had officially pissed off grandma. Antonia wrote to Tiberius and told him exactly what Sejanus had been up to. Every. Single. Detail. She told him that the man was systematically erasing his entire family and would soon be over to kill Tiberius himself. Now when a grandma starts yelling at you like that, you know you’ve messed up. This finally got Tiberius off of his ass (though not off of Capri) and he had Sejanus and his entire family killed.
Torture and Death
Unfortunately for Agrippina and her sons, Tiberius still hated them and there was no Livia to intervene. They were out of Rome, and away from curious eyes. Tiberius was free to take out all of his anger on the poor Agrippina. He had her beaten regularly to the point where she lost an eye. When she couldn’t take it anymore, she committed suicide by starving herself. Drusus III also starved, though not by his own choice as he reportedly tried eating his own mattress. Nero was forced to commit suicide by the sword. By 31 CE, the three of them were dead.
Agrippina the Elder’s only remaining son, Caligula, was mistreated and eventually taken in by Tiberius and would succeed him as the emperor in 37 CE. Once Caligula returned to Rome, he immediately set to honouring his deceased parents and emphasized their greatness. Most accounts of Caligula’s reign begin with a long and detailed account of how amazing Germanicus and Agrippina the Elder were. Caligula’s reign initially began with adoration from the crowds, but unfortunately, Tiberius’ influence had poisoned the young emperor’s mind and he quickly became paranoid, quickly descending into madness.
Text: Cindy Levesque. MENAM Archaeology. Copyright 2023.
Image: Wikimedia Commons
Further Reading:
Emma Southon, 2018. Agrippina
Suetonius, The lives of the Twelve Caesars: Caligula. www.perseus.tufts.edu
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