Emma Southon | AGRIPPINA: Empress, Exile, Hustler, Whore

Great-granddaughter of Augustus. Great-niece of Tiberius. Sister of Caligula. Wife of Claudius. Mother of Nero.

The story of Agrippina – at the centre of imperial power for three generations – is the story of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, and of Rome itself,  at its bloody, extravagant, chaotic, ruthless and political height.

In her own time, she was recognised as a woman of unparalleled power.

Beautiful and intelligent, she was portrayed as alternately a ruthless murderer and helpless victim, the most loving mother and the most powerful woman of the Roman empire, using sex, motherhood, manipulation and violence to get her way, and single-minded in her pursuit of power for herself and her son.

This book follows Agrippina as a daughter, born in Cologne, to the expected heir to Augustus’s throne,  as a sister to Caligula who raped his sisters and showered them with honours until they attempted rebellion against him and were exiled, as a seductive niece and then wife to  Claudius who gave her access to near unlimited power, and then as a mother to Nero who adored her until he had her killed.

 

From  the camps of Germany during a mutiny, through senatorial political intrigue, assassination attempts and exile to a small island, to the heights of imperial power, thrones and golden cloaks and games and adoration, Agrippina scaled  the absolute limits of female power in Rome. Her biography is also the story of the first Roman imperial family – the Julio-Claudians, and of the empire itself.

 

Emma Southon has a PhD in Ancient History from the University of Birmingham and researches sex, the family, gender and religion. She holds a long running obsession with the bad guys of the Roman empire, has a cat called Livia, blogs at Agrippinilla.com and tweets at @NuclearTeeth.