Agrippina married Claudius in 49 AD. Agrippina functioned as a behind-the-scenes advisor in the affairs of the Roman state via powerful political ties. She maneuvered her son Nero into the line of succession. Claudius became aware of her plotting, but died in 54; it was rumoured that Agrippina poisoned him.
Locusta or Lucusta (died 69), was a notorious maker of poisons in the 1st-century Roman Empire, active in the final two reigns of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. She supposedly took part in the assassinations of Claudius and Britannicus.
Agrippina was an ambitious and unscrupulous woman. Yet, we should not forget that this young woman had seen her entire family decimated, while her life and the life of her son were constantly in peril. Marriage to the emperor was the only way to guarantee safety. Furthermore, Claudius profited from the marriage too.
He also murdered his second wife, the noblewoman Poppaea Sabina, by kicking her in the belly while she was pregnant. Nero's profligacy went beyond slaughtering his nearest and dearest.
The Roman Emperor Nero married his male slave Scorus in public ceremony.
After Emperor Nero allegedly kicked his second wife Sabina to death in 65 A.D., he met a slave boy named Sporus who looked like her. So Nero had him castrated and took him as his bride. Wikimedia CommonsEmperor Nero took the young boy Sporus as his bride in 67 A.D.
During this time, little is known about Agrippina the Younger, except that she was married at the age of about 13 to her much older cousin, Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus.
Agrippina exerted a commanding influence in the early years of Nero's reign, but in 59 she was killed.
By her husband Germanicus, she had nine children: Nero Julius Caesar, Drusus Julius Caesar, Tiberius Julius Caesar, a child of unknown name (normally referenced as Ignotus), Gaius the Elder, the Emperor Caligula (Gaius the Younger), the Empress Agrippina the Younger, Julia Drusilla, and Julia Livilla.
Agrippina the Younger
At different points in her life, Agrippina was the wife, niece, mother and sister of some of the most famous emperors of ancient Rome, according to Emma Southon, author of "Agrippina: The Most Extraordinary Woman of the Roman World" (Pegasus, 2019).
Q: Why is Roman Emperor Caligula remembered as the cruelest Emperor? Shortly into Emperor Caligula's rule, he fell ill from what many suggest was syphilis. He never recovered mentally and became a ruthless, wanton killer of Roman citizens, including even his family. No one was safe.
However, in the first century AD, even they were appalled by the murders and practices of a woman known as Locusta the Poisoner. Involved in the deaths of countless people, Locusta—possibly the first documented female serial killer in history—played a crucial role in the history of the Imperial Family.
Agrippina actually does end up being killed by Nero's guards after her return to the city. Both Suetonius and Tacitus tell us that when the guards came knocking on Agrippina's house, our First Lady of Rome knew exactly why they were there.
After Caligula's death, Claudius became the new Roman Emperor. Nero's mother married Claudius in AD 49, becoming his fourth wife.
It was Suetonius who first published claims that Caligula committed incest with his three sisters. (The Roman historian added that these trysts even occurred during banquets, as guests and Caligula's wife gathered around.)
Nero was the 5th emperor of Rome and the last of Rome's first dynasty, the Julio-Claudians, founded by Augustus (the adopted son of Julius Caesar). Nero is known as one of Rome's most infamous rulers, notorious for his cruelty and debauchery. He ascended to power in AD 54 aged just 16 and died at 30.
Born in what is now Cologne, Germany, but raised in Rome, Agrippina rose quickly into imperial politics. She was married by the age of 13 to a high-ranking first cousin, but she first found real power when Emperor Tiberius died in 37 CE without a son, and her own brother, Caligula, became the new emperor.
According to Rome's legal and social code—written and unwritten—the ideal Roman woman was a matron who spun her own cloth, oversaw her family's affairs, provided her husband with children, food and a well-run household, and displayed suitable modesty. Females who defied this stereotype often ended up outcasts.
Julia Drusilla (Classical Latin: IVLIA•DRVSILLA; middle of AD 39 – 24 January 41), sometimes known as Drusilla the Younger (Classical Latin: DRVSILLA•MINOR; transcribed as Drusilla Minor) during her lifetime, was the only child and daughter of Roman Emperor Gaius (Caligula) and his fourth and last wife Milonia Caesonia ...
Although the Roman patriarchy controlled how marriage was defined and observed, and men were expected to have extramarital dalliances, there was still room for honest, loving relationships between husbands and wives based on mutual trust and affection.
Marriage in ancient Rome was a strictly monogamous institution: under Roman law, a Roman citizen, whether male or female, could have only one spouse at a time.
Commodus (/ˈkɒmədəs/; 31 August 161 – 31 December 192) was a Roman emperor who ruled from 177 to 192. He served jointly with his father Marcus Aurelius from 177 until the latter's death in 180, and thereafter he reigned alone until his assassination.
Aileen Wuornos: The Selling of a Serial Killer (1993) Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer (2003)