Back to the full dot-point answer
NSWAncient HistoryQuick questions
Section III (Personalities): Agrippina the Younger
Quick questions on Agrippina the Younger's public image and propaganda: 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 imperial coinage under Claudius (AD 50 to 54)?Show answer
The coinage of AD 50 to 54 marks the visible elevation of Agrippina to a status approaching the emperor's.
What is imperial coinage under Nero (AD 54 to 56)?Show answer
The opening of Nero's reign produced the most striking coins in Agrippina's career.
What are the Sebasteion at Aphrodisias?Show answer
The Sebasteion (a complex of imperial reliefs in the Carian city of Aphrodisias in western Asia Minor) preserves the most important sculptural evidence for Agrippina's public image.
What is the carpentum?Show answer
The carpentum was a two-horse covered carriage previously restricted to the Vestal Virgins (for religious processions) and to triumphators. It had been granted to Antonia Minor by Caligula and shown on his coinage.
What is colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium (AD 50)?Show answer
Agrippina's birthplace at Ara Ubiorum was elevated to colonial status and named for her in AD 50. The colony was settled with veterans of the Rhine legions. Agrippina was its patron.
What is the Lyon inscription?Show answer
A bronze tablet from Lyon (the Lugdunum Tablet, CIL XIII.1668) preserves the text of Claudius's speech to the Senate of AD 48 on admitting Gauls to the senate. The speech is the basis for Tacitus's version in Annals 11.23 to 11.25. Agrippina is not the subject but the tablet shows how Claudian imperial pronouncement (in which Agrippina shared) was disseminated.
What are inscriptions?Show answer
Latin inscriptions across the empire honoured Agrippina. The most important categories:
What are jugate portraits?Show answer
Imperial aurei and denarii of these years show overlapping portraits of Claudius and Agrippina on the obverse. Claudius in front wears a laurel wreath; Agrippina behind wears a corn-ear crown (corona spicea). The arrangement was new in Roman imperial coinage.
What is the corn-ear crown?Show answer
The corona spicea associated Agrippina with Ceres (Demeter), the goddess of grain and fertility. Livia had been depicted as Ceres on the Ara Pacis; the image meant nurturer of the state and abundance. Antonia Minor had used similar iconography.
What is the legend AGRIPPINA AVGVSTA?Show answer
Simple and direct. The reverse typically showed standard imperial themes (Salus, Pax, the legend SPQR).
What is provincial coinage?Show answer
Cities in Asia Minor issued coins with Agrippina's portrait alongside Claudius's. The mint at Ephesus produced cistophori with the legend AGRIPPINA AVGVSTA AVG.
What is first aurei and denarii?Show answer
Jugate portraits with Nero in front, Agrippina behind, but with the legend on the obverse naming Agrippina: AGRIPP. AUG. DIVI CLAUD.
What is nero alone?Show answer
Agrippina disappears from imperial obverses. The visible eclipse on the coins matches her political fall after the Britannicus poisoning and her expulsion from the palace.
What is agrippina crowning Nero?Show answer
A relief from the South Portico, dated to the early years of Nero's reign, shows Agrippina (identified by inscription) crowning Nero with a laurel wreath. Agrippina is the same size as Nero, wears a cornucopia drapery, and is the active figure. The relief is the visual analogue of the AD 54 coinage.
What is agrippina and Claudius?Show answer
Another relief shows Claudius and Agrippina in marriage iconography, with Claudius taking her hand (dextrarum iunctio) in a formal pose.