Agrippina the Younger | Roman Empress, Nero’s Mother

Agrippina the Younger was the last wife of the Emperor Claudius and mother of Nero.
She was born sometime between c.7 November 15 to 6 November 16 CE, and died on 19th or 23rd March 59 CE. Her position enabled her to have a very strong influence on Roman Government.

Great Grandaughte of Augustus.
Mother of Nero.
Fourth and last wife of Claudius
- And also his niece. They were married on 1 January 49 CE until his death on 13 October 54 CE.

Although Augustus' notorious wife, Livia Drusilla, was more infamous, Agrippina became the first Empress of Rome to achieve real power in a man’s world.
The Roman Historians Tacitus, Suetoniusand Cassius Dio all described her as an ambitious, manipulative woman who could be ruthless.
Her early childhood taught her how to navigate the machinations of the Roman Court but didn’t save her from Exile in 39 CE on the island of Ventotene by Caligula. She was released after his death in 41 CE.
Her third marriage to the Emperor Claudius, and later when her son Nero became Emperor, catapulted her to the top of Government in Rome.
Agrippina cultivated close ties with Court Figures, Senior Commanders in the Legions, and Foreign Embassies and their Rulers.
However, she was finally brought down by the very person she elevated to power, her son Nero.
When Nero became Emperor in 54 CE, he set about to eliminate her influence, initially by drowning and finally in 59 CE, he had his own mother assassinated in her villa in Misenum.