Agrippina the Elder

Also known as: Agrippina · Family: Julio-Claudian · Role: granddaughter of Augustus · First appears: Augustus 64

Agrippina the Elder was the daughter of Marcus Agrippa and Julia, granddaughter of Augustus, and sibling to Caius Caesar, Lucius, Agrippa, and Julia. In the time of Augustus, she married Germanicus, “his sister’s grandson.” Augustus commended her talent while warning her to avoid affectation in writing and speech: “But you must be particularly careful, both in writing and speaking, to avoid affectation.”

Germanicus and Agrippina had nine children. Two died in infancy and another a few years later; the surviving children included the daughters Agrippina, Drusilla, and Livilla, and the sons Nero Caesar, Drusus Caesar, and Caligula.

Under Tiberius, Agrippina complained with unusual freedom, after which he ceased speaking to her. He accused her of seeking refuge with the statue of Augustus or the army, banished her to Pandataria, ordered a centurion to beat out one of her eyes, and had her mouth forced open when she tried to starve herself. She persisted in starving herself and died soon afterwards; Tiberius then attacked her memory and persuaded the senate to mark her birthday as an unlucky day.