essay

Question 1

Paragraphs?

Answer 1

intro
family links
strategic marriage
nero
patronage/political alliances
sexual relationships
murder 
conclusion

Question 2

Family Links: topic sentence

Answer 2

Agrippina supposedly used her family links to key political figures and her family bloodline of both the Julio and Claudian bloodline, which were Rome’s two greatest families, to access great amount of power and influence.

Question 3

Family Links: Links

Answer 3

She was the sister, wife and mother of an emperor. Her brother became Emperor Gaius (Caligula), her uncle and later husband became Emperor Claudius and her son Nero, would also become Emperor.

Question 4

Family Links: germanicus

Answer 4

Agrippina was the daughter of Germanicus who provided her with popular support. Suetonius describes Germanicus as being someone who was courageous, handsome and someone who could of won respect and affection by the people. Through this, Agrippina was able to use the favourable reputation of Germanicus among the people for her own status, supported by Barrett.

Question 5

Family Links: nero

Answer 5

Furthermore, Agrippina perhaps gained the most power during the reign of Nero, using and controlling him to run the state under her influence

Question 6

Family Links: brother and relatives

Answer 6

It can also be seen that she may have had multiple ‘close’ relationships with some of her brothers and relatives to gain status.

Question 7

Family Links: concluding sentence

Answer 7

Family links gave Agrippina considerable power and influence in Ancient Rome, utilizing it to her greatest extent for her prestige.

Question 8

Strategic marriages: topic sentences

Answer 8

It can be seen that Agrippina’s marriages, arranged by her family when she was younger, and Agrippina herself, allowed her to access considerable power and influence.

Question 9

strategic marriage: first marriage

Answer 9

Her marriage to Domitius Ahenobarbus was a union, which gave her connections to a wealthy and upper class family and resulted in the birth of her son, Nero. Ahenobarbus provided her with protection and security; during the time attacks were being made on her family

Question 10

Strategic marriage: Claudius

Answer 10

. However, it was after her marriage to Emperor Claudius that she was able to form personal and political alliances and access a great amount of power. She was able to gain influence over the Praetorian Guard, replacing the prefects with a man loyal to her, Burrus and frequently appeared on coins. Tacitus reports that Pallas supported this marriage and initially supported Agrippina’s opinions and desires.

Question 11

Startegic marriage: last sentence

Answer 11

This marriage allowed Agrippina to arguably access the most amount of power held by any other Roman woman.

Question 12

Nero: topic sentence

Answer 12

Imperial woman played a key role in determining succession, receiving an opportunity to wield power and influence through their son. Therefore, Agrippina’s maneuvering of her son, Nero, into power became her prime preoccupation

Question 13

Nero: way to get him emperor

Answer 13

Agrippina’s marriage to emperor Claudius allowed Nero to be adopted into the family and become the emperor’s heir. As Claudius passed away, Nero’s early years as Emperor allowed Agrippina to gain power and influence, having control over her seventeen-year-old son.

Question 14

Nero: After his succession/symbolic powers

Answer 14

After his succession, he showed Agrippina with a number of honours, appointed her as priestess of the cult of the divine Claudius who had been deified, granted two lictors, and was allowed to travel in the covered carpetum, which were an act of great significance and status. The most significant of Nero’s actions were featuring Agrippina on Roman coins, as she had been during Claudius’ reign. These were all symbolic powers

Question 15

Nero: real power

Answer 15

. But, she was also able to exercise real power, such as removing of the threats of her position and attending a session of the Senate when they were attempting to change the laws passed during Claudius’ reign. As Bauman states, “Agrippina had achieved the unthinkable; she had attended a meeting of the senate.”

Question 16

Nero: last sentence

Answer 16

Nero provided Agrippina with power and influence due to her manipulation of her son, as Suetonius reports that Nero turned all his public and private affairs to Agrippina’s management.

Question 17

Patronage/Political Alliances: topic se

Answer 17

Arguably, Agrippina also gained power and influence through patronage and political alliances she established over the course of her time. The key figures who played a part in her power were Seneca, Burrus, and the freedman Pallas and Narcissus.

Question 18

Patronage/Political Alliances:pallas

Answer 18

Pallas supported her role as Claudius’ wife and influenced his decision to marry her. He pushed for the adoption of Nero into the family and gave her access to the financial affairs of the state, as Barrett reports, “Pallas’ position would have given Agrippina unique access to the financial operation of the state”.

Question 19

Patronage/Political Alliances: Burrus

Answer 19

Burrus, who later became the prefect of the Praetorian Guard because of Agrippina’s influence over Claudius, ensured her protection and added strength to her position. Burrus was able to ensure that a loyal Praetorian Guard would rally behind the new emperor, Nero after Claudius’ death. He also dissuaded Nero from immediately killing Agrippina, motivated by both loyalty and patronage of owing his position to her.

Question 20

Patronage/Political Alliances: Seneca

Answer 20

Seneca also had patronage to Agrippina by returning from exile. He became Nero’s tutor and Agrippina wished to build to her reputation and political influence by associating herself with a man of such major literary figure who would later become one of Nero’s most influential advisors

Question 21

Patronage/Political Alliances: LAst sen

Answer 21

These key figures extended Agrippina’s power and influence in the state by patronage and political alliances.

Question 22

Sexual relationships: topic

Answer 22

It is believed that Agrippina gained much of her power through sexual relationships and seduction to gain influence and status.

Question 23

Sexual r/p: Claudius

Answer 23

It is thought that she seduced her uncle, Claudius, persuading him to marry her and make Nero heir, supported by Tacitus who stated that she payed frequent visits to Claudius and won his heart. This marriage ultimately led to Nero becoming Emperor who would then be manipulated and used for Agrippina’s power in Rome

Question 24

Sexual r/p: politicians

Answer 24

Some ancient sources also accuse Agrippina of having relations with politicians to be able to influence decisions. Such as one of Claudius’ advisors, Freedman Pallas, before marriage to Claudius.

Question 25

Sexual r/p; last sen

Answer 25

By using seduction, Agrippina was able to cleverly wield power and influence for her own status in Rome.

Question 26

Murder: topic sen

Answer 26

Many sources indicate that Agrippina may have used the method of murder to access power and influence within her context

Question 27

Murder: Claudius

Answer 27

Some state that Agrippina organised the murder of her husband, Claudius, as he began to become aware of her scheming to gain power and reconciled with his true son, Britannicus, forming a threat to Nero becoming the heir/emperor. Agrippina may have ordered the poisoning of him to Locusta, the poisoner. The poisoning failed the first time but succeeded the second time when she made Xenophan, Claudius’ doctor, kill him. Tacitus reports that “while pretending to help Claudius to vomit, he put a feather dipped in a quick poison down his throat”, ultimately killing Claudius.

Question 28

Murder: Britannicus’ tutor

Answer 28

Due to the threat of Britannicus, it is also believed that she ordered his tutor to be killed to isolate Britannicus

Question 29

Murder: last sent

Answer 29

Although Agrippina herself did not commit any murder, she organized them to benefit her and increase power and influence in Ancient Rome.

Question 30

Conclusion?

Answer 30

Agrippina the Younger accessed great amount of power and influence within her context through different methods. She used her family lineage to her advantage and exploited Germanicus’ reputation to the full for her own. She married Claudius to ensure that Nero would become his next emperor and, manipulated and controlled Nero when he became emperor to pass all of his private and public affairs to her management. She made sure that she would receive patronage from those she gave favours to and formed political alliances with people who were important in the management of the state. Agrippina exploited her womanhood to seduce her uncle, Claudius, into marrying her and formed sexual relationships with politicians so she would be able to influence decisions, and finally, organized murders to benefit her and her son, when she needed to dispose threats and enemies. By using these various methods, Agrippina was able to access the most power any woman came close to in Ancient Rome.