#Agrippina the Younger

[notaclassicist]

YES like can we stop demonizing crossdressing and threesomes and instead focus on nero castrating a person who looked exactly like his wife and murder victim who were by the way the same person and who also simultaneously looked exactly like his mother and other murder victim who were by the way the same person???

u know its v sad that mainstream media abt ancient rome doesn't actually delve into their weird kinks. like they present corrupt emperors as sexually deviant ofc they always do but no one dares imagine what kind of truly bizarre shit ancient romans, esp nobility, gotten off to. no one but meeeee

[diioonysus]

history + last words

[uncleclaudius]

Statues of Agrippa and Augustus side by side on the Cologne City Hall. It was Agrippa who first settled the Germanic tribe of the Ubii in the area and the settlement was known as Ara Ubiorum.

Agrippa's granddaughter Agrippina the Younger was born in the town, which became an important military base, in 15 AD when her father Germanicus was campaigning against the Germans. In 50 AD on Agrippina's urging Claudius promoted it to the Colony and it was renamed Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium. Her statue is also featured on the city hall, a short space from these two.

[cesareeborgia]

↳ family trees + Julio-Claudian dynasty (limited to the main figures)

requested by anonymous

[gwydpolls]

Time Travel Question 15: The Library of Alexandria (Latin Edition)

If you have any non-Library of Alexandria lost works suggestions or more library of Alexandria items, please pop them in below for future polls.

[garland-on-thy-brow]

[Kirk Freudenburg: Petronius, Realism, Nero, in Cambridge Companion To The Age Of Nero.]

Hello.

[wyrmsfornerves]

hi i would die to read agrippina the younger's memoirs actually

[karaviav]

Seneca x Agrippina

aka an historically inaccurate depiction of how the roman empire could've been saved (doomed forbidden romance) ((took some liberties with their designs))

[joannerenaud]

The Lady Serena review

I think, quite possibly, this was the first ever historical romance I’d ever read. Little did I know that it was written by Virginia Coffman— yes, THE Virginia Coffman, Gothic novelist extraordinaire, who was to become one of my favorite authors. In the late 1970s, under the pseudonym of Jeanne Duval, she wrote two historical novels set in ancient Rome, specifically against the reign of the Emperor Nero. I was so obsessed with this book, I read it over and over and over again. Years passed, and I lent it to a friend, who was much less enthused about it than I was. Then I read other negative reviews, and I began to think this book wasn’t so hot, and I was viewing it through rose-colored Nostalgia Goggles. Had the suck fairy come for Lady Serena?

Anyway, at last I decided to sit down and reread it. The back copy sells it as a lurid bodice-ripper about a Vestal Virgin, Serena, who has a forbidden romance with Tigellinus, Nero’s dark and sinister prefect of police. It definitely has bodice-ripper elements, but compared to many romances of the time, like The Flame and the Flower or The Wolf and the Dove, it is a masterpiece of subtlety and nuance.

Serena, a proud, practical aristocrat who’s taken vows as one of Vesta’s sacred priestesses, is increasingly tempted by Tigellinus’s masculine charms as she finds herself pulled into palace intrigue— specifically, she is called to tend to a sickly Emperor Claudius, who dies shortly after, from a surfeit of poisoned mushrooms or… possibly something else? Soon, she’s caught up in a shadowy conspiracy and a power struggle between the impulsive, lovable but erratic young emperor Nero, and his competent and frightening mother Agrippina. The depiction of these historical characters is so good, so assured and so accurate, and so free of the usual nonsense from Suetonius, it’s as if Coffman had actually met them. It’s impressive work.

The first half of the book has this languid, beautifully written atmospheric slow burn going on, which is very typical of Coffman— but the ending is exciting and cinematic, complete with battles at sea, riots, chariot chases and a gripping palace showdown. As for Tigellinus, the hero— he’s fine. He felt a bit undercharacterized— I felt that he and Serena needed a few more scenes together, but given how abysmally low the standards of romance heroes from the 1970s were, I didn’t mind him. The sex scenes are pretty short and not especially detailed, but that also seems pretty typical for the time. I did not especially buy the romance at first, but I felt much more convinced by the end, after the couple had been on the run together (which is always one of my favorite tropes).

As for Serena, at first I found her underwhelming, but I grew to like her a lot. She’s pretty naive at first, but over the course of the book she proves herself to be tough, clever, observant and in some respects, ruthless— she fends off two attempted rapists, and towards the end she coolly rescues herself from a particularly sticky situation in a way that had me pumping my fist into the air. I found her arc satisfying. She does have a lot of internal conflict, about betraying her religious vows for a relationship with a man; but she still loves and reveres Vesta. How can she reconcile these two parts of herself? The senior vestal priestess, Lady Maxima, plays a key part too: it’s great to see an older woman play a major part in a historical romance, and I loved seeing how her and Serena’s relationship developed. I thought it ended in a rewarding place— and I don’t want to spoil too much more! But yes, this aspect is definitely something I could not have appreciated as much as when I was a teenager.

The Lady Serena is also interesting in that it walks a fine line between historical-novel-with-romantic-elements and historical romance proper, which I liked. There’s a lot of Gothic elements too— misty temples, flickering torches, ominous villas and cabals of sinister senators abound— which I found to be a treat. This approach is so unusual for this setting. Also, the fact that the author is really affectionate towards Rome as a place and a culture really stands out, and the research is mostly well done.

As for the downsides, the writing is lovely, but there are some repetitive bits that could have been trimmed. Some of the plotting also can feel a bit redundant. For example, there’s two attacks (one on Serena, and another on Tigellinus) by two separate guys who lost all their money betting on some sports event and who became deranged as a result. Once is fine, I guess… but twice? Really? There’s also a few typical Roman tropes that came from old movies that have since been debunked, like galley slaves (not a thing until the early modern era), or people using chariots to travel from one place to another (they were only for races and ceremonial use, not for ordinary use). There’s also all the borked nomenclature, but that’s so typical of 90% of ancient Roman romance out there, that my eyes skim over it at this point.

Anyway, even with all that said, I love this book, and I recommend it! It’s an engrossing Gothic epic set in the ancient world with a cool and competent FMC, a respectable hero, a vibrant supporting cast of characters, and some incredible action. Sadly, there’s no ebook of this available, but paper copies abound, and the curious can find it on archive.org.

[willow-lark]

absolutely devastating to me that i'll never get to read the memoirs of agrippina the younger

[wolframpant]

I, Claudius Episode 13 Old King Log

I have been too benevolent. I repaired the ruin my predecessors spread. I reconciled Rome and the world to monarchy again. By dulling the blade of tyranny, I fell into great error. By sharpening that blade I might redeem that error. Violent disorders call for violent remedies.

[agrippinaes]

anonymous requested: an edit of your favourite ancient roman figure

AGRIPPINA THE Y O U N G E R | fancast: jessica brown findlay for just a minute, she was the most powerful person in the entire western world. until she made the official announcement, she was empress and there was no emperor. and i wonder if, for a heartbeat, she considered  taking it for herself. just a single heartbeat, because she was too pragmatic and sensible and aware of the realities of the world to really try it, but just for that heartbeat, do you think she was tempted? her husband lay dead on the bed. her son was just seventeen. she was thirty-nine, and a widow for the third time. she had been a sister of the emperor, hailed by him and adored, and she had been an exile. she had been terrified for her life so many times, terrified her son would not meet adulthood. she had been worshipped in asia and adored in rome. she was the daughter of germanicus, the great-granddaughter of augustus. she had her divine blood. she had ruled the empire like no woman before her. she was agrippina augusta, the first and last. | agrippina: empress, exile, hustler, whore by emma southon, 2018

[elkanach]

agrippina the younger

i cant draw claudius for the life of me LMAOOO he looks like that one julius ceasar painting

[uncleclaudius]

Agrippina crowning her son Nero, Sebasteion, Aphrodisias, modern Turkey.

[duxfemina]

Who of the many women that surrounded Mark Antony could you see yourself being FRIENDS with? Not who you admire the most but who you'd enjoy drinks and dishing the dirt with the most

It's honestly kind of hilarious how the "Julio-Claudian" Dynasty is really a bunch of Antonians. Over half of the emperors and most of the influential women of the family are all Antonians

[baliisarda]

This is an old (I'm saying old but i's from october 2023 😭) illustration of mine but I just came across it again and wanted to share it!

(here is the original picture by the way)