Power, Motherhood And Murder: On The Life And Death Of Agrippina The Younger

My first constituent of interaction pinch Agrippina nan Younger’s communicative was her murder. I was connected my commute, listening nan radio, erstwhile a sound wended from nan speakers, describing nan dreadful specifications of her death. Or I was successful a museum, her corpse abruptly earlier maine connected an tremendous canvas, fixed successful a goldleaf frame. Or I publication of it—a searing statement of it successful a wall of footnotes. Or possibly personification (an historian? a factoid-loving friend?) said it offhand. Whether done oculus aliases ear, Agrippina’s decease wormed its measurement in. What I do remember: Agrippina nan Younger was murdered by her son, and he trim her unfastened to look astatine her womb. His desire to spot his constituent of root to much afloat understand his ain magnificence of people only illustrated his monstrousness.

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The root of this item remains lost—a short-lived spark that fell connected a fuse. Like truthful overmuch of history, I will simply ne'er know. Maybe because this communicative changed nan people of my life for a decade, my encephalon threw it nether a veil, rendering it intolerable to remember.

Agrippina’s convulsive assassination was grotesque, bordering connected nan absurd. Her boy nan Emperor Nero’s bid truthful baldly overlaid to a woman’s maternity pinch her vulnerability it blew my mind. Who was she? I thought. What could she person perchance done… (the extremity of that question, unuttered moreover to myself: to merit that?). I had capable acquisition arsenic a imaginative philosopher to cognize to travel nan power of curiosity. So, hoping to scratch retired a poem astir Agrippina, I began to read. It was past I recovered this was conscionable 1 type of Agrippina’s death—and aft respective grounded attempts. There was different pinch poison (she survived), past a self-sinking vessel (she survived this too). In yet another, she boomed to her assassin, “Strike here,” pointing to her center, “strike here, for this bore Nero.” And pinch that, I was abruptly tumbling into nan rabbit spread of this singular woman’s life.

According to ancient Roman annals, Agrippina joined 3 times and murdered 2 of her husbands. She killed aliases exiled her enemies. Through sex, murder, and manipulation, she became empress, positioning her boy into nan spot of emperor and utilizing him arsenic a prosthetic to tally nan empire. Modern historians mostly title nan astir scandalous of these claims. Yet contempt Agrippina’s undeniable power connected Imperial Rome, location stay fewer verifiable specifications astir her—and these mostly circle astir her antheral family members (along pinch having Nero for a son, nan dastardly Caligula was her brother).

What is definite is nan Romans of her era were bent connected villainizing Agrippina owed to 1 of nan fewer provable facts of her life: she was a female who gained and wielded powerfulness done her ain deliberate actions. While galore ancient Romans were slandered via intersexual misadventure (see: Messalina), Agrippina was an oddity of a different sort: to them, she was power-hungry, masculine even. She wanted power, attaining it astatine a level moreover men of her era clamored for. She managed to recognize this intolerable extremity successful a nine successful which women were legally second-class citizens.

Considering her superb governmental mind, I struggle to slope my rage complete nan enduring obsession pinch Agrippina’s body. Her decease and Nero’s commencement loom ample successful ancient literature, but nan circumstantial specifications from immoderate turns my stomach. Pliny, for example, made claims astir Agrippina’s teeth. “Those females who hap to person 2 canine teeth connected nan correct broadside of nan precocious jaw, person committedness of being nan favourites of fortune,” he wrote, “as was nan lawsuit pinch Agrippina.” And then, for illustration a crippled of humanities telephone, we study done Pliny that Agrippina wrote 3 memoirs (!), 1 of which describes nan ordeal of Nero’s breech birth. Pliny provides nary quotation, listing it nether “of prodigious and monstrous births.” So galore of my poems subsequently tried to pursuit nan female who built a concealed entranceway into nan Senate truthful she could perceive successful connected discussions different reserved to men—a female who described giving commencement successful nan autobiographical shape usually utilized to picture subject conquests.

As I entered nan last stages of editing my manuscript astir Agrippina and my obsession, I learned my fixation’s root story—how Nero murdered Agrippina and looked wrong her corpse—was a fiction. Even successful nan opaque uncertainties of ancient history, we tin pinpoint erstwhile group made it up full cloth. In nan illuminated texts of nan medieval and early Renaissance periods, artists decided to rachet up nan horrors of Agrippina’s matricide.

At first glance, successful nan illumination supra it seems possibly Agrippina is successful charge, pushing her uterus forward—I ideate her shouting “Strike here!” But then, no. Her arms are tethered to a post, Nero’s pointing digit perfectly aligned pinch nan leaf drafting her blood. Another illumination takes retired immoderate of nan uncertainty of Nero’s interests. Where successful nan erstwhile (figure 1) everyone is turned toward Agrippina, nan halfway of attention, present successful fig 2 she is already dormant pinch nary 1 paying her immoderate mind. Agrippina’s insides are simultaneously vaginal and a mesmerizing spiral. The segment is absurd to nan constituent of funny—four men successful tight quarters pinch an exposed corpse and yet affably disinterested. (There are others akin to these illuminations—and others still, someway much gruesome.)

The painters 2 hundreds of years aft nan French and Italian artists of nan precocious medieval play seemed to reread nan ancient histories. Nero “hurried disconnected to position nan corpse, handled her limbs, criticising immoderate and commending others,” wrote Tacitus. According to Cassius Dio, Nero said, while looking Agrippina’s body, “I did not cognize I had truthful beautiful a mother.” Luca Ferrari’s Nerone davanti al corpo morto di Agrippina began a caller attack successful nan 17th century, followed by Pietro Negri not agelong after. The paintings point, immoderate much softly than others, astatine nan fabricated rumor that Agrippina was truthful hopeless for powerfulness she seduced moreover her son.

As Jennifer Nelson, nan writer and clever clever of early modern European art, told me, nan medieval illuminations of Agrippina’s execution were much for illustration crass jokes “that are past supplanted by a baroque indulgence successful nan sensuality of her corpse.” In each, Agrippina is dead, luminous, successful opulent jewelry aliases surrounded by good furs and cloths. In each, Nero looks. He is putting her connected display, aliases acts for illustration her assassination is a surprise, aliases is trying to absorb nan reality of her death. In each, her breasts are exposed, immoderate different cloth leaving small to nan imagination. In some, location is blood. In some, Nero lifts cloth arsenic if he is peeking astatine something, for illustration a kid uncovering a forbidden secret.

When I delved into nan useful of Tacitus, Cassius Dio, Suetonius—the ancient chroniclers of nan lives of imperial figures who overlapped pinch Agrippina’s—the empress’ absence stunned me. Despite her relationship by humor to illustrious Roman nobility, Agrippina would vanish almost arsenic swiftly arsenic she was named. After a speedy explanation of 1 of her marriages, aliases nan commencement of nan early monstrous emperor, she evanesced down nan foreground of imperial Roman men. Agrippina’s communicative was 1 that was simultaneously immense and absent. It contained nan entirety of nan Roman Empire’s lineage, yet her appearances were often vague aliases fleeting—a mini whirring portion wrong an expansive strategy of patriarchal humanities narrative. While basal and captious to that system, she was overlooked. Agrippina’s 3 memoirs were mislaid successful nan 2 millennia since her death. Her desire to show her communicative from her position was truthful important to her, yet what endures are words from nan antheral historians who lived only aft her assassination. And past nan painters, scandalized by those words complete a 1000 years later, took up their golden leafage and paintbrushes.

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Of each nan renditions of Agrippina I person travel across, my favourite is by Gustav Wertheimer entitled Der Schiffbruch der Agrippina (The Shipwreck of Agrippina) from 1874.

In Wertheimer’s painting, Agrippina’s friend and attendant Acerronia Polla clings to her for beloved life arsenic nan opulent vessel built to autumn isolated is doing its soiled work. Agrippina throws a protective limb astir Acerronia, flinging backmost nan silks while nan waves clang astir them. In nan shadows to nan right, we spot Acerronia’s future—after she shouts to men pretending to beryllium nan erstwhile empress truthful Acerronia mightiness beryllium saved. They stab her to death. Agrippina instantly realized nan sinking vessel was an assassination attempt. Wertheimer shows her successful nan grip of terror. Even afraid, she is powerful. I tin spot her effort to activity retired really to get retired of this alive.

Agrippina stayed quiet. She swam. A worried crowd had assembled connected shore, knowing nan erstwhile empress was connected committee nan vessel that was abruptly sinking. Once she safely emerged from nan water, they celebrated Agrippina’s survival. Not agelong aft this chaotic brushwood pinch death, men came to her pinch blades. I ideate (hope) 1 detail, astatine least, was not invented. That she named who ordered her execution and said, “strike here”—claiming immoderate powerfulness moreover astatine nan infinitesimal of her death.

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Agrippina nan Younger: Poems by Diana Arterian is disposable from Curbstone Press, an imprint of Northwestern University Press.