Describe_Agrippinas_Role_During_Claudius'_Reign

Research Essay Personalities and their Times: Agrippina the Younger Explain Agrippina the Younger’s role during the reign of Claudius From 41AD through to 54AD, Agrippina the Younger came to dominate the politics of her time as no imperial woman had done before. Her marriage to the third Julio-Claudian emperor, Claudius, her uncle, in 49 AD, put her at the forefront of Roman politics which consequently, according to the stock scenario, brought about a “rigorous, almost masculine despotism” (Tacitus) . She amassed political power, influenced matters of the state and promoted her son, Nero, as Claudius’ successor . Thus, during the reign of Claudius, Agrippina came to play a central role in the unfolding of important events as a result of the power she gained and the actions she undertook. During the early years of Claudius’ reign, Agrippina submitted to a minimal role in public arena. After being recalled from the Pontian Islands , she stayed away from Rome, owing to the prominence of Messalina, Claudius’ third wife, who according to Tacitus, had always been infesta towards her . In fact, apart from her arrangement of Gaius’ memorial and the inheritance of her second husband’s estate, little is known from the primary sources of her activities until 48 AD, when Messalina’s bigamous marriage to Silius in an attempt to take precedence over Claudius’ sovereignty, opened the door to Agrippina . The coup attempt, among other consequences, made Claudius realise the weakness of his position as a member of the Claudian but not the Julian gens. This ‘weakness’ was compounded by the fact that he did not have a clear adult successor. Crucially, after Messalina’s execution, Agrippina became one of the few remaining descendants of Augustus and her son became one of the last legitimate males of the imperial family. Thus, the Messalina affair invited Agrippina’s role to-be in providing bloodline legitimacy to Claudius’ reign and in providing a potential successor to consolidate the Julio-Claudian dynasty. It has been suggested that the Senate may have pushed for the marriage between Agrippina and Claudius to end the feud between the Julians and Claudians , thus highlighting Agrippina’s political role in her betrothal to Claudius. Conversely, as per Suetonius, Agrippina won out through her feminine wiles: “she had a niece’s privilege of kissing and caressing Claudius, and exercised it with a noticeable effect on his passions” and even, according to Tacitus engaged in an amor inclicitus . However, taking into account Suetonius’ and Tacitus’ sensationalist tendencies, the truth is likely more political, as supported by Levick: “by marrying [Agrippina], Claudius could both right old wrongs and immeasurably reinforce his political position” . In any case, after obtaining special dispensation from the Senate for an uncle to marry his niece (previously considered incestuous), Claudius accepted Agrippina, especially on the recommendation of a close freedman, Pallas, and they were married in 49 AD. Agrippina’s marriage to Claudius marked a turning point in her career. She subsequently amassed remarkable power so much so that, as Suetonius states, Claudius came to be “dictated not so much by his own judgement but by his wives and freedmen, since he nearly always acted in accordance with their interests and desires” . Thus, as Claudius’ wife, Agrippina came to gain imperium maius and played an important part in the ensuing events. Agrippina took her place beside Claudius in his Imperial and political roles. According to Dio, she participated in the salutation, listened to discussions in the Senate standing behind a curtain, engaged in matters of finance and even expressed opinions on foreign policy. Dio also notes that her “usual tactic was to arrange approval beforehand from all sources (the ordinary people, the Praetorian Guard and the senators) and then for the freedmen to persuade Claudius of the wisdom of her advice.” Dio’s emphasis on the passivity of Claudius can be largely discounted due to contextual bias , but the implication that Agrippina brought to the marriage a keen imperial role is certainly plausible, and is also supported by archaeological evidence. The Sebasteoin relief depicting Agrippina and Claudius represents Agrippina as equal in height to Claudius and their conferriatio hand gesture suggests a strong partnership and a degree of dual imperium. This effectively emphasises the extent of Agrippina’s imperial influence and her associated role during Claudius’ reign. Accordingly, it can be argued that Agrippina played a significant part in “compensating for the innumerable deficiencies of her strange husband through her own intelligence and strength of will” . As such, Agrippina gained real power and status and played a key role in the politics of the time. However, if the ancient sources are to be believed, she not only used her power, but abused it. Neither ancient nor modern historians doubt that Agrippina used her power to secure the throne for Nero. Consequently, she came to fulfill a central role in manipulating the Julio-Claudian succession. According to both primary and secondary sources, Agrippina used a web of political alliances and clientalia whose “political views…coincided with her own” and the suppression of her rivals to consolidate her power and that of her son. She became active in endorsing the municipal support of Nero through public appearances on coins and in state events which, as intended, culminated in Claudius’ adoption of Nero as his heir in 50 AD. Hence, by the end of Claudius’ reign, Agrippina had established valuable allies, eliminated a number of enemies and gained unprecedented privileges for herself and her son including the title ‘Augusta’ and ‘Prince of Youth’ respectively. In this way, Agrippina used and abused her position to ensure Nero’s accession, marking a significant turning point in the course of Claudius’ reign. According to the sources, towards the end of his reign, Claudius began to reconsider his alliances, and came to regret his compliance to Agrippina . Furthermore, Britannicus was now reaching the age of maturity, and it is suggested that Claudius intended for his succession rather than that of Nero . Resultantly, as is alleged, Agrippina played an eminent role in the demise of Claudius. The ancient sources agree that Agrippina was guilty of murder, with few exceptions . According to Dio, “[Claudius] …was preparing to put and end to her power…[and] Agrippina, learning of this, became alarmed and made haste to forestall anything of the sort by poisoning Claudius” . By complement of Suetonius, she did so “… [by] poisoning a dish of mushrooms”. However, as Grant notes, this must be regarded as likely through not definite, “since … Agrippina had cleared the ground adequately for Nero’s succession and only had to wait” . Thus, Agrippina’s legacy as a conspirator precedes her to the extent that it is very difficult to distinguish slander from truth in the sources. Moreso, historians cannot agree about the full extent of Agrippina’s role on the reign of Claudius. Ferrero comments “during the six years that Claudius lived after his marriage with Agrippina scandalous tragedies became so rare that Tacitus, being deprived of his favourite materials, set down the story of these six years in a single book” . Thus, there are limitations with the primary sources, and, consequently the secondary sources which base their accounts on the former. Being written to entertain and teach, Tacitus, Suetonius and Dio’s works are histrionic in style and are considerably biased and unreliable. For example, Barrett claims that where Tacitus and Dio deliberately misrepresent Agrippina is where they present the Roman state as being in the thrall of a woman: this in accordance with their depiction of Claudius as a weak emperor . Notably, a lack of substantial archaeological validation for their accounts further compounds problems of reliability. Nonetheless, in assessing the role of Agrippina during Claudius’ reign, historians must use the evidence available to them, and stress inconsistencies and areas of questionable reliability as such. Through the actions she undertook and the ambitions which she satisfied, Agrippina the Younger gained “more power than Claudius himself” . This was made possible as a result of her family lineage, marriage to Claudius, the privileges she gained and the instatement of her son as Claudius’ successor. Consequently, throughout Claudius’ reign, Agrippina the Younger played a critical role in political and imperial relations, affairs and conspiracies which constitute some of the major historical events of the Julio-Claudian period.