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Section III (Personalities): Agrippina the Younger
Quick questions on Agrippina the Younger's marriages and rise to prominence: HSC Ancient History
15short Q&A pairs drawn directly from our worked dot-point answer. For full context and worked exam questions, read the parent dot-point page.
What is marriage to Cnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus (AD 28)?Show answer
Tiberius arranged Agrippina's first marriage when she was about 13 years old. Cnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus was a senator about 30 years older, descended from Octavia (Augustus's sister) and Mark Antony. The Domitii Ahenobarbi were one of the great Republican gentes.
What is birth of Lucius Domitius (15 December AD 37)?Show answer
The future emperor Nero was born at Antium on 15 December AD 37, ten months after Caligula's accession. Suetonius records the omens: an astrologer predicted he would rule and kill his mother; she replied (in Suetonius's version), "Let him kill me, provided he becomes emperor."
What is honours under Caligula (AD 37 to 39)?Show answer
Caligula succeeded Tiberius on 16 March AD 37 and immediately elevated his three sisters.
What is the conspiracy of Lepidus and the exile (AD 39)?Show answer
The honours collapsed in AD 39 with the conspiracy of Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, the widower of Drusilla (who had died in AD 38 and been deified as Diva Drusilla). Lepidus conspired with the governor of Upper Germany, Gnaeus Cornelius Lentulus Gaetulicus, against Caligula. Caligula uncovered the plot during a journey to the Rhine.
What is death of Domitius Ahenobarbus (AD 40)?Show answer
Cnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus died of dropsy in AD 40 while Agrippina was in exile. His estate was seized by Caligula.
What is second marriage to Gaius Sallustius Passienus Crispus (around AD 41 to 42)?Show answer
Passienus Crispus was a wealthy senator, twice consul (AD 27 and AD 44), and one of the most distinguished orators of the period. He had previously been married to Domitia, sister of Agrippina's first husband Domitius Ahenobarbus.
What is manoeuvring at Claudius's court (AD 48 to 49)?Show answer
Claudius's third wife Valeria Messalina, mother of Britannicus and Octavia, fell from power in AD 48 after her public "marriage" to the consul-designate Gaius Silius during Claudius's absence at Ostia. Narcissus (Claudius's freedman secretary) ordered her execution.
What is modern interpretations?Show answer
Anthony Barrett (Agrippina: Sex, Power and Politics in the Early Empire, 1996) treats the pre-Claudian career as a slow accumulation of dynastic resources: family prestige under Tiberius, political honours under Caligula, financial wealth under Claudius. Each setback is followed by a stronger return.
What is vestal rights?Show answer
The Senate decreed that the three sisters (Agrippina, Drusilla, Julia Livilla) should have the rights and privileges of the Vestal Virgins. Suetonius (Caligula 15) records the unprecedented honour.
What is inclusion in the oath?Show answer
"I will hold neither myself nor my children dearer than Gaius and his sisters" was the new senatorial oath of allegiance (Suetonius, Caligula 15).
What is coinage?Show answer
A sestertius of AD 37 to 38 shows the three sisters on the reverse as the personifications Securitas, Concordia, and Fortuna. Agrippina (eldest) is Securitas.
What is public statues?Show answer
Agrippina and her sisters were depicted in public.
What is conflating the marriages?Show answer
Three husbands (Domitius Ahenobarbus, Passienus Crispus, Claudius) with three different political contexts.
What is forgetting the exile?Show answer
AD 39 to 41 in the Pontian Islands. The reversal of fortune is a major theme.
What is confusing the children?Show answer
Agrippina had only one son, Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus (later Nero), by her first husband.