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Julia Agrippina (in latin: '''Iulia Agrippina''', PIR2 I 641), most commonly known as ''' Agrippina Minor''' or '''Agrippina the Younger''' ( November 6 , 15 – March 59 ), was the daughter of Germanicus and Agrippina Major . She was sister of Caligula , great granddaughter of Augustus , granddaughter of Julia The Elder and Marcus Agrippa , great-niece of Tiberius , niece and wife of Claudius , and the mother of Nero . LIFE She was born at Oppidum Ubiorum on the Rhine , afterwards named in her honour Colonia Agrippinae (modern Cologne , Germany). This occurred because early in her life she gave the areas around Oppidum Ubiorum to veterans from the army and to give to the army gained great honour and recognition as she did not forget to give to those who had served Rome. With the support of the army Agrippina was beginning to gain power already. First marriage Agrippina's first marriage was to consul Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus . From this marriage she gave birth to Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus , who would become Roman Emperor . Her husband died in January, 40 . Caligula's court While still married to her first husband, Agrippina participated openly in her brother Caligula's decadent court, where, according to some sources, at his instigation she prostituted herself in a palace. While it was generally agreed that Agrippinilla, as well as her sisters, had ongoing sexual relationships with their brother Caligula, incest was an oft-used criminal accusation against the aristocracy, because it was impossible to refute successfully. As Agrippina and her sister became more problematic for their brother, Caligula sent them into exile for a time, where it is said she was forced to dive for sponges to make a living. In January, 41 , Agrippina had a second marriage to the affluent Gaius Sallustius Crispus Passienus . He died between 44 and 47 , leaving his estate to Agrippina. Third marriage As a widow, Agrippina was courted by the freedman Pallas as a possible marriage match to her own uncle, Emperor Claudius , and became his favourite councillor, even granted the honor of being called Augusta (a title which no other queen had ever received). They were married on New Year's Day of 49 , after the execution of Claudius's previous wife Messalina due to her part in a failed coup attempt. As his wife, she commanded Roman legions, and Celtic captives assumed that she, as well as Claudius, was the martial leader and bowed before her throne with same degree of respect as they accorded the emperor. Agrippina then proceeded to persuade Claudius to adopt her son, thereby placing Nero in the line of succession to the Imperial throne over Claudius's own son, Britannicus . A true Imperial politician, Agrippina did not reject murder as a way to win her battles. Many ancient sources credited her with poisoning Claudius in 54 with a plate of poison mushrooms, hence enabling Nero to quickly take the throne as emperor. Nero's reign Nero and his mother had an incestuous relationship, and she would become angry with him whenever he was with Claudia Octavia, his wife or Poppaea Sabina. He grew sick of his mother's ways and ordered his men to have her killed. Little did he know of the difficulty of this situation. He attempted in vain to poison her many times. He attempted to sink a boat she was on, except she swam back to shore from the sea. He finally just hired his men to have her murdered. SEE ALSO APPEARANCES IN FILM/TELEVISION The character of Agrippina the Younger has been portrayed by various actresses in different movies and television mini series over the years. To mention a few, there's Gloria Swanson in the 1956 movie Nero's Mistress, Barbara Young in the BBC TV series I, Claudius, Ava Gardner in the 1985 epic mini series A.D. Anno Domini, Frances Barber in the 2003 Masterpiece Theater production Boudica and Laura Morante in the 2004 TV mini series Imperium: Nero. REFERENCES Ancient
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