Agrippina the Younger emerges from history as an ambitious political strategist and a ruthless killer. Her rise to power is remarkable: Her mother and father were murdered when she was a child and her own brother, the emperor Caligula, abused and exiled her. And yet, Agrippina developed an impressive web of political alliances—securing a return to the center of Roman politics by her early 30s.

Patriarchal Rome, however, forbid her from wielding formal power—a barrier Agrippina surmounted by first securing a marriage to the emperor Claudius and then maneuvering her teenage son, Nero, into the line of succession. Ancient sources seem to both admire Agrippina’s power and guile while also questioning her methods and expressing suspicion at the many convenient deaths that paved the way for her ascendance as Roman empress.

Historian Colin Elliott leads a fascinating exploration of Agrippina and the complexities of her legacy—forever intertwined with the rise and fall of Nero­—and how she impacted the history of ancient Rome.

Elliott is an associate professor of history at Indiana University and host of the weekly Pax Romana Podcast, which shares engaging stories and sources from the Roman Empire with a popular audience.

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